All Entries in the "Latest News" Category
Incumbents Bock, Jonynas returned to selectboard; school budgets pass
Photo on the Homepage: Christine Balch, Muriel Briggs and Sindy Pisha hand out ballots at Chester Town Hall on Election Day, Tuesday, March 6, 2012. Photo by Cynthia Prairie By Cynthia Prairie With 638 Chester residents voting by the time polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Tom Bock and Arne Jonynas were returned to office […]
Town, school district funding, resolutions approved at Town Meeting
By Cynthia Prairie With about 160 voters in attendance, an early 6 p.m. start, several failed article amendments and some lively discussions, Chester’s Town Meeting went off relatively smoothly Monday night. Voters first passed the Chester Town School District budget of $227,657 for early childhood and special education for those not in kindergarten, then tackled […]
Proposed N. Springfield biomass plant draws concern, support
by Stephen Seitz As a 35-megawatt biomass electric plant proposed for North Springfield inches forward, some in Chester are raising questions about traffic while others are fully supporting the project. Years may pass before ground is broken: The Public Service Board has yet to issue a certificate authorizing the plant’s construction at the North Springfield Industrial […]
News in Brief: Citizens United, Food Sovereignty resolutions up for vote
Two non-budgetary resolutions that will be voted on Monday, March 5 are Articles 21 and 22. The first is U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ resolution urging the state Congressional delegation to propose a constitutional amendment to declare that money is not speech and that corporations are not people. This is an attempt to overturn the U.S. […]
2012 Chester budget calls for slight tax hike
Chester voters will address the town budget and a number of budget articles at Town Meeting, to begin at 6 p.m. Monday, March 5, in Town Hall, 556 Elm St. Elections will be from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, also at Town Hall. by Stephen Seitz Chester taxpayers will see a slight […]
Business in Brief: Dollar General hearing March 12
Next DRB Hearing on Dollar General Set for March 12 The Development Review Board will reconvene its hearing for a conditional use permit for the Zaremba Group to build a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General store next to the Zachary’s Pizza House building at 7 p.m. Monday March 12 at Town Hall, 556 Elm St. A […]
Three vie for two Selectboard seats
by Stephen Seitz Two incumbents and one former state representative are vying for two, one-year seats on Chester’s five-member Selectboard in early March: incumbents Arne Jonynas and Tom Bock and former state Rep. Kathy Pellett. Selectman Derek Suursoo is running unopposed for a third three-year term. In separate interviews, Pellett, Jonynas and Bock discussed the […]
New sidewalks slated for 2013
by Rebecca Salem Armed with $279,000 in federal funds and $40,000 in town funds, Chester will begin reconstructing and widening 2,300 feet of downtown sidewalk on the south side of Main Street starting in summer 2013. The project will begin at School Street, run east along Main Street on the Whiting Library side to Maple, […]
Dollar General hearing delayed til March
The Chester Development Review Board has postponed the Feb. 13 continuance hearing on the Dollar General request for a conditional use permit, Zoning Administrator Michael Normyle has announced. The hearing will be delayed until Monday, March 12, at the request of the applicant, the Zaremba Group, the company that is proposing to build the 9,100-square-foot […]
Town Meeting reverts to Town Hall; Pellett runs for selectboard
Only 25 to 30 voters braved the icy roads on Monday night, Jan. 23, to vote at Green Mountain Union High School on two articles that will change the date and place of this year’s town meeting, Town Clerk Deb Aldrich said today. The meeting lasted for about five minutes, she added. On a quick […]
Residents Testify Against Dollar General
By Cynthia Prairie Monday’s hearing on the conditional use permit sought to allow construction of a Dollar General store was more emotional and contentious than previous ones, this time with several members of the Development Review Board expressing doubt about the project and more Chester residents testifying against it. Within the next two weeks, the […]
Town Meeting Place, Date Change Proposed; Correction
T he Chester Selectboard will be holding a meeting for the legal voters of Chester at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 at the auditorium of Green Mountain Union High School to vote on two proposals: Article 1: To see if the Town will vote to change the date and time of the annual Town […]
Impact of Dollar General concerns Lisai
‘Lucky I didn’t see a meat counter or a deli,” said Lisai’s Grocery store owner Lonnie Lisai, after viewing the Dollar General’s interior plan Monday night, Dec. 12. “There’s a lot of overlap” between what his store offers and what a new 9,100-square-foot Dollar General would offer, he added. “About 90% (overlap) … aside from […]
Smart Growth Chester testifies against Dollar General
Monday’s Development Review Board hearing was to be an opportunity for a local group to testify on a Dollar General store proposed to be built next to Zachary’s Pizza House. But, for almost half of the two-hour hearing, it became semantics gymnastics when the developer’s attorney repeatedly questioned one witness on her characterization of New […]
School Board Won’t Alter ’07 Stand on Quarry
The majority of the board of Green Mountain Union High School decided Thursday night, Nov. 10, that it would not alter its 2007 position on the quarry next door, on 139 acres owned by O’Neil Sand & Gravel. Owner Amy O’Neil said her company is considering seeking an amended permit for blasting at a gravel […]
O’Neils Return with New Gravel Pit Proposal
Is a curtailed project on the same property the same as an earlier proposal or is it a new project in and of itself? That is the question surrounding a proposal posed by Amy and Mike O’Neil Wednesday night before the Chester Select Board and a small group of concerned residents. The O’Neils, who live […]
Updated Dollar General Proposal
The Zaremba Group returned to the Chester Development Review Board Monday night, Oct. 10, with altered plans for a proposed Dollar General Store for the Zachary’s Pizza House site that it claims are in line with the town plan and its zoning regulations. Before those issues could be addressed, however, the DRB approved the subdivision […]
Jack’s Diner expansion; Dollar General update
Two commercial development issues drew more than 30 Chester residents to Town Hall Monday night, Sept. 26, as the Development Review Board attempted to address construction plans for each, both of which sit along Route 103 South. The more contentious of the two, an expansion of Jack’s Diner, 521 Main St., would allow for seating of […]
VIEWPOINT: Would a Mercantile Suffice?
By Shawn Cunningham We’ve been hearing many valid arguments for and against a Dollar General locating in Chester. One of the arguments for a national discount chain is that there is a need for such a store in town; that a number of our residents can’t or don’t wish to drive to Springfield or New […]
