All Entries in the "Chester" Category
New name, mascot for GM? Not yet, but Principal Broadley is developing a plan
By Cynthia Prairie © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC John Broadley wanted to give the school mascot/name issue some breathing room before bringing it back up again. In December, shortly after the name “Chieftains” was voted down 6 to 3 by a vote of the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District, Broadley, the new […]
Chester Board addresses preserving ancient roads Conservation Committee could aid with public accessibility
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the middle of a rather routine “housekeeping” meeting last Wednesday, the Chester Select Board took time to discuss the town’s 16.67 miles of Class 4 roads. Often called “ancient roads,” Class 4 roads are town-owned rights-of-way that are no longer maintained. Some are still recognizable as […]
Local short-term rental regulation one year later
By Shawn Cunningham ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC A a year ago, The Telegraph published an article about where area towns stood in dealing with short-term rentals such as AirBnb and VRBO. At Town Meeting earlier this month, Andover residents voted down making short-term rentals a conditional use while the Town of Londonderry began advertising for […]
Chester hones STR ordinance changes as moratorium nears end
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After a routine reorganization following Tuesday’s Town Meeting Day election, the Chester Select Board, with new member Tim Roper, got down to working on some proposed changes to its Short-Term Rental Ordinance. The board’s six month moratorium on new un-hosted rentals ends on April 1 and it […]
Voters nix GMUSD budget; Other area results Wunderle, Leahy win school board seats; Roper wins, Knapp re-elected to Chester Select Board
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last year was a rocky one for the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District and to cap it off, on Tuesday, voters shot down the proposed $17.4 million budget by a vote of 699 to 620 in a turnout substantially higher than one year ago […]
Chester voters approve $3.975 million for budget; $39,811 for social programs Ballot voting til 7 p.m. today; officers to be elected
By Cynthia Prairie ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The 60 or so Chester voters attending Monday night’s Town Meeting in person approved, with a few objections, to raising $3.975 million in taxes to fund the town budget, a budget that Town Manager Julie Hance said is “what it takes to maintain the services that we now […]
New group seeks public input on events for Chester Town Hall Upstairs at Town Hall to hold open house on March 13
©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC A small group of volunteers is spearheading an effort to bring back music, theater and arts events to the 2nd floor of Chester Town Hall, 556 Elm St., the refurbished theater space that seats 245 and is currently used mostly for Select Board and other government meetings. The group, known as […]
Chester Police arrest armed road rage suspect Two songs and a cellphone picture aid in the arrest
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a case that a Chester officer described as an example of how technology can help in crime investigations, police arrested a 19-year-old Bellows Falls man who allegedly brandished a gun in a road rage incident on Route 11 on Thursday. Around 3 p.m. Thursday, 911 dispatchers […]
Meet three candidates for Chester Select Board
© 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Telegraph sent a series of questions to the three candidates who are vying for two one-year terms on the Chester Select Board. Those two seats are currently held by Heather Chase and Peter Hudkins. Chase, who also serves as a state representative, is not seeking reelection and Hudkins […]
Meet the three candidates for the GMUSD board
©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Telegraph sent a series of questions to the three candidates who are vying for two three-year terms on the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District, which oversees Cavendish Town and Chester-Andover elementary schools and Green Mountain Union High. One of those two Chester seats is currently held […]
Chester Republican Committee launches inaugural candidates’ event
©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After years of dormancy, the newly revived Chester Republican Committee held its first event on Sunday, drawing an audience of about 35 residents to hear from several “conservative-leaning” candidates running for Chester Select Board and the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District. The event was held at the Chester […]
Partisan candidates forum sparks concern in Chester New local GOP committee is hoping to grow dormant party
By Cynthia Prairie ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC A Chester candidates forum that has excluded half the candidates running for contested seats on the Chester Select Board and the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District is drawing concern that it could be injecting partisan politics into local elections that have not seen them in […]
Julians appeal Chester’s notice of violation
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Friday brought the latest twist in the ongoing saga of the Julian quarries in Gassetts as Julian attorney Mark Hall submitted an appeal to the Town of Chester’s notice of violation in which he said the entire operation would be shut down for 2 to 3 weeks […]
Despite objection, Chester board refuses to remove road from list Community coalition hopes to build 'safe space' for youth in Chester
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Signing the annual certification of road mileage is usually a low-key, pro forma task in a select board’s first February agenda, but last Wednesday night a land owner who objects to the classification of an old road became increasingly agitated, raising his voice and insisting the board […]
Julians are back with a new gambit and engineer
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Seven days after Chester Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow sent a Notice of Violation to the Julian companies,which operates quarries in Gassetts, he received an answer. The notice had given the Julians the choice of correcting five violations or appealing the notice to Chester’s DRB. The Julians chose […]
Chester cites Julians for quarry violations
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After years of complaints and a recent conditional use application that dragged on but eventually went nowhere, the Town of Chester has cited the operator of three quarries for five violations and is demanding that a number of steps be taken immediately. On Jan. 17, Julian Materials […]
Who’s on the March 5 ballot for offices in Andover, Cavendish, Chester and Grafton?
© 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Monday, Jan. 29 was the deadline for candidate petitions to be turned in at Town Clerks’ offices all over Vermont. Here are the candidates for offices in our area who will be voted on by Australian ballot on Tuesday, March 5. Those running for offices in Weston and Londonderry will […]
Chester board hones STR regulations, focusing on unhosted rental limits and raising annual fee
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC After several months of discussions, the Chester Select Board, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, closed in on several additions that would tighten the town’s short term rental ordinance, especially with regard to unhosted rentals. Back in early September of last year, after many months of discussions of additional […]
UPDATE: Julians pull out of zoning application; Will DRB proceedings go on?
UPDATE- DRB accepts Julian withdrawal, Town to file notice of violation On Monday night, Chester’s Development Review Board issued an order accepting Julian Materials’ withdrawal of its zoning application for three quarries in the Gassetts area. And in answer to neighbors asking “where do we go from here” Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow said would “file […]
Chester snowmobilers: Class 4 road change could ‘cripple’ club Smokeshire land owners say road no longer belongs to town
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The discussion of a Class 4 road generally won’t fill the benches at Chester Town Hall, but last Wednesday more than 20 people turned out in person, with more attending via Zoom for a request to make a town road private. Paul Bidgood, who owns land in […]
