All Entries in the "Andover" Category

Area towns shuffled, separated under proposed redistricting plan
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Vermont House yesterday passed H. 589 to bypass the work done by a tri-partisan board set up to create a legislative redistricting plan. The move substitutes the bill as the design for the “initial district plan.” The text of the legislation says that lawmakers will be […]

Chester Dems hold annual Share Heat fundraiser
The Chester Town Democratic Committee is holding its annual Share Heat Fundraiser to provide financial support for those in our community in need of assistance in paying for the cost of home heating fuel. As fuel prices have risen significantly, the need for heating fuel assistance to provide warmth and comfort continues to grow. The […]

Andover board opts for in-person Town Meeting; Bodin says voters’ voices are being disrespected
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Long simmering disagreements over a number of issues boiled over at Monday’s Andover Select Board meeting after the board decided on a 3 to 2 vote to return to a “floor vote” Town Meeting rather than using Australian ballots as it did last year due to the […]

Andover Select Board agenda for Dec. 13, 2021
The Andover Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday Dec. 13, 2021 at Town Hall, 953 Weston Andover Road and via Zoom. To join the meeting, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8690215007 Passcode 146374. 1. Call Select Board meeting to order. 2. Act on Agenda. 3. Act on Minutes: Act on the minutes […]

Stigers Rd. pond hydrant provides water supply for rural firefighting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC One of the big challenges to rural firefighting is getting enough water to the scene quickly enough to make a difference. A call for mutual aid can bring a fleet of tankers from surrounding towns, but those trucks have to get water from somewhere and the farther […]

Area towns look — cautiously — to spend large ARPA allocations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC There’s a lot of extra money in the bank accounts of town governments across the state with more coming next year. But most towns are taking cautious steps in deciding how to spend the funds. That’s because the money comes from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan […]

Andover board OKs dollar amount for emergency services; tables ATV ordinance till Town Meeting Chester now must draw up contract for fire, ambulance
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC During the calm portion of what turned into a headache-inducing meeting on Monday, the Andover Select Board decided that it would accept a $55,754.67 contract from the Town of Chester to provide emergency fire and medical/ambulance services, should one be offered. The price of service will fluctuate based […]

Chester board votes to offer emergency services to Andover If accepted, $55,755 annual fee would be $22,000 above 2021 contract
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Wednesday night, the Chester Select Board voted to offer fire and ambulance coverage to the Town of Andover for 2022 at the cost of $55,754.67. That represents a 69 percent increase over the $33,000 that Chester charged Andover for fire, ambulance and dispatch in 2021. The […]

Negotiations with Chester to begin as Andover residents weigh in on fire, ambulance Tensions cool as select boards seek to find an equitable route
Video by Cynthia Prairie/Video editing by Leah Cunningham ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC More than 35 Andover residents attended the Andover Select Board on Monday night to voice their concerns over Chester’s decision to discontinue fire and ambulance service to the town at the end of this year. […]

Chester Select Board to end contracting emergency services to Andover in 2022 Cites 'heightened animosity' and 'clear distrust' of Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Wednesday night, the Chester Select Board decided — after a one hour executive session — that the town would no longer provide its fire and ambulance coverage to Andover after the end of this year. When the board came out of the closed door meeting, board […]

Chester emergency departments explain costs, training, services in Andover
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC An informational meeting on emergency services between the Andover and Chester select boards Monday night was winding down when Andover board member Chris Walker slammed a travel mug on the table and walked out saying that the Town of Chester wasn’t listening and would force Andover to pay […]

Caretakers seek winter home for ‘Jersey 5’ Hope has cancer; nearby permanent lodgings sought for small herd
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Andover folks who rescued the “Jersey 5” are currently seeking winter room and board for the small herd as they also deal with the news that the eye infection of one cow, Hope, was indeed caused by cancer that will likely recur. Two weeks ago, a disparate […]

Andover community action spares ‘The Jersey 5’
By Cynthia Prairie and Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Andover neighbors and town officials came together this past week to get help for a single ailing Jersey cow then ended up with a small herd. The “Jersey 5” are now lounging and dining in a green field of high grass on an undisclosed […]

Michigan man pleads guilty to 2019 GMUHS bomb scare, threats
© Telegraph Publishing LLC A 24 year-old Holland, Mich., man pleaded guilty, in federal court in Burlington to making a threat to “shoot up” Green Mountain Union High School in February of 2019. The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont announced the plea deal on Friday, Sept. 24. According to a […]

Andover Select Board agenda for Sept. 27
The Andover Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday September 27, 2021 at the Andover Town Office. Below is the board’s agenda. 1. Call Select Board meeting to order. 2. Act on Agenda. 3. Act on Minutes: Act on the minutes from the September 13th meeting. 4. Public Comment (Time […]

Andover Board, residents complain about Chester emergency service, cost Negotiations, creating a fire department among strategies
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC A discussion of the amounts charged by the Town of Chester for fire protection and ambulance service took up a large portion of the Monday, Sept. 13 Andover Select Board meeting with one board member saying he had been shopping the service around but no other town […]

Chester board mulls cost of fire, ambulance coverage for Andover
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC Members of the Andover Select Board came to the Sept. 1 meeting of the Chester Select Board to begin discussing the cost of fire and ambulance coverage. Vermont towns are required by statute to provide fire service, however those that are too small to have a fire department […]

Andover board gets legal advice on short-term rentals
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Two weeks after hearing residents speak of a short-term rental “tsunami,” the Andover Select Board received advice from attorney Jim Carroll on how they should and should not regulate that business. Via Zoom, Carroll told the board that there are a number of municipalities that either have […]

Andover confronts short-term rental ‘tsunami’
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC With a growing number of dwellings in Andover becoming short-term and vacation rentals, the Andover Select Board on Monday, Aug. 9 took public comment as well as advice from the town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment/Planning Commission on what steps can be taken to get a handle on […]

Towns set new info sessions, Town Meetings, votes in response to Covid-19 pandemic
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing, LLC With Town Meeting Day just four weeks away and the rules for gathering during the Covid-19 pandemic still restrictive, select boards are looking at the options presented to them by the Vermont Legislature. With the passage of H. 48, the state gave municipalities – including school districts […]