All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Chester Planning Commission begins drafting sign law, comments still sought
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC Having taken several hours of testimony from business owners and residents at two earlier meetings, the Chester Planning Commission met on Monday, Jan. 12 to discuss and organize the work of revising the town’s sign ordinance. Commission chair Tom Bock referred to the complexity of the work […]
SAPA-TV announces video on demand; seeks donations to further broadcasting
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC If living on a Class 3 road out in the woods has always meant missing the thrill of watching a Chester, Springfield or Weathersfield select board meeting in your pajamas, you won’t be deprived any longer. As Springfield Area Public Access Television begins its video on demand service, […]
Chester board considers eliminating votes during town meeting; adopts budget proposal for voter approval
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015 The Chester Telegraph The Chester Select Board is considering whether voting from the floor at town meeting should be eliminated. Two articles were proposed for consideration at the Monday March 2 meeting. Article 2 asks “Shall the Town of Chester vote on all public questions by Australian ballot.” Article 3 asks […]
Commentary: Do it in public — a call for transparency and accountability
By Cynthia Prairie ©2015 The Chester Telegraph The Chester Telegraph has sent a formal letter of complaint alleging that on Nov. 19 of last year the Chester Select Board held an illegal executive session. You can read a copy of that complaint here. That seems like a pretty serious step. But the fact is that […]
Public Funds bring tidy return, Hearse House project to receive grant
By Shawn Cunningham © 2015 Telegraph Publishing LLC The three-member board that oversees more than a dozen funds given to the town for designated purposes met Tuesday to hear from representatives of People’s Bank who manage the $660,000 public funds portfolio and to announce a grant to support the rehabilitation of the Hearse House at […]
Chester planning board, DRB address problems in new zoning regs
By Shawn Cunningham ©2015 The Chester Telegraph The Chester Planning Commission and Development Review Board met in a joint session on Monday Jan. 5 to discuss questions and problems associated with interpreting the town’s new Unified Development Bylaws. The bylaws, which were developed by the Planning Commission over five years, consist of revised zoning regulations, […]
Our year in review: Land rights, wrecks, fires, floods and friendships
©2014 Telegraph Publishing LLC When The Chester Telegraph began publication three years ago, more than a few people (including the publisher of a local newspaper) warned us that “nothing ever happens” in these communities. And yet, over the past year, keeping up with “nothing” has often been hectic work. Here’s a selection of some of […]
Environmental judge upholds Chester DRB on Dollar General permit
By Cynthia Prairie ©2014-Telegraph Publishing LLC Environmental Judge Thomas Walsh handed the billion dollar Tennessee-based Dollar General corporation an early Christmas present by striking down an appeal of the Chester Development Review Board’s OK of a developer’s plans for a 9,100-square-foot store across from the Country Girl Diner. The decision was signed on Monday, Dec. […]
Chester board delays budget decisions; discussed land purchase in questionable executive session
By Shawn Cunningham ©Telegraph Publishing LLC – 2014 The Chester Select Board took up the 2015 budget at its Wednesday Dec. 17 meeting, discussing several issues from earlier meetings. But it was agenda item No. 7 – the proposed purchase of land – that raised questions about transparency in the town government of Chester. Town […]
$20 AND UNDER: Gifts they’ll love without breaking your bank
By Cynthia Prairie © 2014 Telegraph Publishing LLC Welcome to the 3rd annual Chester Telegraph Shop Local Holiday Gift Guide. Although the economy seems to be on the upswing, we felt that this year it was a good idea to focus on gifts priced at $20 and under. You may be under the impression […]
Chester Planning Commission looks at signs, ponders ‘appropriate funkiness’
By Shawn Cunningham © 2014 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Planning Commission continued to take comments from the public, especially small business people, regarding new sign regulations that the commission is beginning to work on. While the crowd was not as large as the previous meeting, several who were not at the Monday, Dec. 1 […]
Paving, police, library and health insurance among Chester budget topics.
By Shawn Cunningham ©Telegraph Publishing LLC – 2014 Taking up next year’s budget first on the agenda again at its Wednesday, Dec. 3 meeting, the Chester Select Board looked at issues from the cost of changing police and fire dispatch from Springfield to Hartford, to the need for a fifth full-time police officer and whether […]
Chester business owners seek changes to sign regulations
By Shawn Cunningham ©Telegraph Publishing LLC — 2014 About 25 people, most of them local business owners, attended the Chester Planning Commission’s Dec. 1 meeting to tell members about problems they have had with the current and past sign laws and offer advice on what they think is needed in the new sign ordinance that […]
J&L shelves Armory expansion plan; 2nd snafu, VTrans objection arise
By Shawn Cunningham ©Telegraph Publishing LLC — 2014 Peter and Nathalie Klepp, owners of J&L Metrology, continue to work at securing the permits needed to move their business to the former Chester Army Reserve Center on Route 11 west. But as soon as one problem was set aside, two more arose at a meeting of […]
CAES spaghetti supper raises more than $1,400 for biennial Keewaydin trip
More than 200 people were served a homemade spaghetti dinner at Chester-Andover Elementary School last Thursday night to raise funds for the biennial Keewaydin trip for fifth and sixth graders. SEE PHOTO GALLERY BELOW. Diners had to wait to tuck into their meals when, about 20 minutes into the service, a fire alarm went off […]
Chester board addresses school funding, police resources, Popple Dungeon Road
By Shawn Cunningham ©Telegraph Publishing LLC — 2014 At its Nov. 19 meeting, the Chester Select Board continued to review a proposed town budget and received updates on a number of projects including the solar farm to be built on town land behind the Jeffrey Barn, the long delayed Popple Dungeon Road project and improvements […]
Chester sign regs to be addressed Monday: Public, business input sought
The Chester Planning Commission, which recently revised zoning regulations into new Unified Development Bylaws, will take up a revision of the town’s sign ordinances at its Monday, Dec. 1 meeting. (Read sign regulations at right.) The ordinance was left as is in the bylaws, since revising it was deemed too complex and several members questioned […]
Appeal of Environmental Court OK of Dollar General goes before VT Supreme Court
By Cynthia Prairie ©2014 – Telegraph Publishing LLC MONTPELIER Chester’s Dollar General opponents took their fight to the Vermont Supreme Court Tuesday, a venue that — by its very nature as the court of final decision — awards more technical wins based on nuances of law than KOs delivered by an attorney’s one-two punch. Thirty […]
Chester voters keep new auto uses in Residential-Commercial zones
By Shawn Cunningham ©2014 – Telegraph Publishing LLC A 3-to-1 majority of Chester voters who turned out to cast ballots at town hall on Tuesday voted against leaving a 40-year-old prohibition on automotive uses in the town’s new zoning bylaws. The 160 to 460 vote was colored by a number of issues including a proposed […]
An explainer: Clearing up some confusion surrounding Chester’s referendum
By Shawn Cunningham ©2014 — Telegraph Publishing LLC On Tuesday Nov. 18, Chester voters will have the opportunity to cast a ballot – Yes or No – on a zoning issue. Over the past few weeks, there have been many posters, letters to the editor, Facebook posts, a petition and even a mailing from the […]
