All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Chester Select Board raises sewer rates, green-lights design of water system upgrade
By Shawn Cunningham © 2014 – Telegraph Publishing LLC In a busy Nov. 5 meeting run by vice chair Derek Suursoo, the Chester Select Board raised sewer rates effective immediately for its 600 users, gave a nod toward hiring Golden Cross for a winter ambulance restructuring and OK’d a $155,000 contract to design a $4.6 […]
New zoning bylaws complicate Chester armory development
By Shawn Cunningham © 2014 – Telegraph Publishing LLC An application for a conditional use permit to convert the former Army Reserve armory on Route 11 west for light manufacturing met with a friendly reception from Chester’s Development Review Board on Monday night. But a snafu in the new Unified Development Bylaws made the process […]
As Grafton begins to look at updating Town Plan, its citizens brainstorm
By Cynthia Prairie © 2014 – Telegraph Publishing LLC Almost 50 Grafton residents turned out at the elementary school Monday night to offer up their views of and hopes for the town that they call home. The input will be gelled into a more concise form and will likely become part of a new Grafton […]
Amid steady turnout, governor’s race tight, Huntley holds slight lead against Lindberg
By Cynthia Prairie @The Chester Telegraph – 2014 In what appears to be a tighter than expected race, incumbent Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin will retain his seat for another two years despite a strong showing from Republican Scott Milne. Statewide, and with 231 of 275 precincts reporting by 3 a.m., Shumlin was ahead 84,015 to […]
Grafton Select Board mulls Town Office repair bids, new town garage
By Shawn Cunningham @The Chester Telegraph – 2014 The Grafton Select Board opened bids for repairs to the town offices at its Tuesday, Nov. 3 meeting, but the project ended up back on the table when one of the bids failed to include major portions of the work. The town received two bids for the […]
Children’s safety at the fore at DOC meeting on transitional housing
By Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 The safety of Chester’s children was the main concern expressed by many of the 50 residents who turned out last Thursday to hear from three officials with the state Department of Corrections on how it chooses a home and inmates to take part in transitional housing programs […]
Overturned truck closes Route 11 for five hours
By Shawn Cunningham © 2014 The Chester Telegraph A clickable photo gallery follows the story. A tractor-trailer carrying a load of 2 by 4 lumber west on Route 11 left the pavement yesterday, spilling its cargo and closing the road from Church Street to Andover Road in Chester for about five hours in the afternoon. […]
Chester Select Board talks budgets, sets date for referendum
By Shawn Cunningham ©2014 The Chester Telegraph The Chester Select Board set 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17 for a special town meeting and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18 for the vote on the question of whether the sales and service of automobiles and other vehicles and the sale of fuel should be […]
Furnace, wall replacement, chimney repairs in store for Weston
By Sophia Veltrop and Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 WESTON At its Tuesday, Oct. 14 meeting, the Weston Select Board decided to contract with Piper Hill Plumbing and Heating to install a new dual oil/wood furnace in the town garage, repair the chimney at the Wilder Memorial Library, continue working on an employee […]
Automotive section of Chester zoning changes to go to referendum
Chester Town Clerk Deborah Aldrich said the town has certified the signatures of 148 voters on a petition submitted on Tuesday, Oct. 7 asking for a town-wide vote on the question of whether to add automotive sales, service and fuel sales to the Residential/Commercial district of Chester. That district runs from the St. Joseph’s Catholic […]
Sawdust christens Chester Festival Grounds as carving event creates a Big Buzz
By Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 The sawdust flew under bright blue skies as the Big Buzz Chainsaw Carving Festival christened the new Chester Fairgrounds this past week. About 40 carvers from as far away as Germany traveled to Chester for the weeklong event, which culminated in a busy Columbus Day weekend of […]
Chamber bandies local option tax for regional marketing
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 The head of the Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce has approached the Chester and Ludlow town managers asking for their thoughts on a local option tax, saying that it could be used to market the area and hinting that the money would go to the chamber. […]
Chester board eyes shortfall, ‘edging’ toward balance
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 Entering the last quarter of the year and with budgeting ahead, the Chester Select Board’s attention at its Oct. 1 meeting was focused on money. With the collection of taxes and water and sewer bills lagging, storm expense awaiting reimbursement and the underpayment of the emergency services […]
Grafton voters overturn junk ordinance
By Mark Burbela Grafton ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 In a 56 to 37 vote, the voters of Grafton defeated an ordinance that would have limited the number of unregistered vehicles that could be stored on a residential property and required screening from view of so-called “junk.” The ballot was taken at a special town […]
Chester wrestles with tight budget; Hearse House planning moves ahead
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 During the Chester Select Board’s regular meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 17, town manager David Pisha reported that funds – including property taxes — are coming in slower than last year. Select Board member Derek Suursoo noted that the financial report handed out didn’t give him the detail […]
Objections to zoning changes fail to sway Chester Select Board
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 On Wednesday, Sept. 17, about 25 Chester business owners and residents gathered at the Chester Select Board to express their views on several proposed changes to the town development bylaws. Most were concerns about two specific changes — raising a minimum residential lot size and rezoning a […]
Green Mountain Flyer Fall excursions right on track
Yesterday, Tuesday, Sept. 23 was the premier run for the Green Mountain Flyer’s Fall Foliage excursions running out of Chester Depot. About 75 passengers boarded the morning train, most coming from outside the area. Cars in the newly refurbished Vermont Railway’s parking area in front of Erskine’s sported license plates from as far away as […]
High waters: Two neighboring towns face very different challenges
By Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph – 2014 Londonderry and Chester are 14 miles apart and lie in two different river valleys: Londonderry in the West River; Chester in the Williams. Both were flooded in 2011 by Tropical Storm Irene, but Chester fared far worse. Then, on July 28 of this year, torrential rains soaked […]
High waters: Vermont adopts ‘counter-intuitive’ approach to river management
By Cynthia Prairie ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 “One hundred years ago,” says Vermont river engineer Todd Menees, “it made sense to build on rivers — for hydro-power for mills, for commerce, for travel … ” as well as for some of the best farmland that lies in the floodplains. But, he says, “We now […]
Chester residents take aim at proposed 3-acre lot size, gas sales zone expansion
By Shawn Cunningham ©The Chester Telegraph — 2014 Residents who turned up to offer input on Wednesday, Sept. 3 on Chester’s proposed Unified Development Bylaws complained about a suggestion to change the minimum lot size to 3 acres and to extend gasoline sales on Main Street from St. Joseph’s Church to Pleasant Street in an […]
