All Entries in the "Weston" Category
Short-term rentals: Towns’ pace for regulation between snail and speedy State legislature, however, puts the onus on local jurisdictions
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the growth in the number of homes in area towns that are being converted into short-term rentals — like Airbnb and VRBO — is concerning to many residents, state and local governments are moving at different paces to address the trend. The Vermont legislature has taken […]
Vermont jobless rate falls in January Both Windsor, Windham counties see rise in employment
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The state has seen a slight drop in the unemployment rate for the month of January, the Vermont Department of Labor announced on Monday, bringing it down to a seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of 2.9 percent. The United States rate for January was 3.4 percent. Both the state and […]
Election results: Andover, Cavendish, Chester, Grafton, Weston, GM District budget
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Residents in area towns made some big changes and rejected others as Town Meeting 2023 unfolded. Chester voters chose two new select board members out of a field of five — Arianna Knapp and Peter Hudkins — and gave that body the power to appoint the town […]
RUN FOR OFFICE! Open seats in Andover, Athens, Cavendish, Chester, Grafton, Londonderry, Weston & Windham
© 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Vermont’s towns are run by community minded folks who step up and serve in local government positions – from town clerks and select board members to Library Trustees, Listers, Constables and more. This is the time of year that residents can take out a petition to get on the ballot […]
Turnout is high in local primary voting; November matchups decided
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Held in the hot and vacation rich month of August, Vermont’s primaries are generally sleepy affairs in which a relatively small number loyalists from the state’s three parties – Democratic, Republican and Progressive – come out to reaffirm the incumbents and chose the occasional challenger. But this […]
Morrow pulls out of Windsor Senate race Remaining contenders are from northern part of county
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Just one week after formally announcing his run for the Vermont Senate to represent the Windsor District, Chris Morrow of Weston, former owner of Northshire Books in Manchester, has pulled out of the race. Because of Windsor County’s population — the 4th largest in Vermont with 57,753 residents […]
Green Up Day events throughout the region Andover, Athens, Cavendish, Chester, Grafton, Londonderry Weston & Winhall
By Stacia Spaulding ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Although Green Up Day officially takes place on the first Saturday in May, many area residents have gotten a jumpstart on cleaning up the roadsides in their towns. If you would like to help, there are still plenty of opportunities to take part on Saturday, May 7. This […]
News Analysis: Legislature shuffles the districts in spite of local wishes Local towns need to leverage new representation
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the text of House Bill 589 said that lawmakers would be seeking public — and municipal — input on their reapportionment plan to determine what State House districts will look like for the next 10 years, for officials in most area towns, they apparently were not […]
Andover elects historic board; Chester voters return Whalen to Select Board after hiatus
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Andover residents, faced with three select board vacancies, created what is likely an historic board with a majority of women as members. With one member resigning his unexpired three-year seat and two members deciding not to run for re-election, Andover residents were voting to put three new […]
Variations on a Town Meeting Day Area towns choose formats, new dates for annual votes
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Once again this year the Vermont legislature has taken its cue from the continuing Covid pandemic and is giving municipalities options in how they can manage Town Meeting Day. And area select boards have chosen several variations — from fully remote meetings and Australian ballots for all […]
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 […]
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 […]
Weston board mulls zoning enforcement, talks reappraisal
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its Tuesday, Aug. 24 meeting, the Weston Select Board heard from Zoning Administrator Will Goodwin who spoke about a rewrite of the town’s development bylaws and asked whether the board wanted to move forward on enforcing violations of the zoning regulations. Goodwin told the board that […]
Kinhaven employees test negative for Covid following positive results
By Cynthia Prairie ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The five employees of Kinhaven Music School in Weston who tested positive for Covid-19 have all been retested at least two more times with negative results for the contagious coronavirus, school co-executive director Anthony Mazzocchi told The Telegraph on Tuesday. While expressing disappointment that the school had to […]
Weston board changes planning and zoning structure, sets tax rates
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Weston Select Board revised the planning and zoning structure of the town at its meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 10, moving from a Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Adjustment to a Planning Commission and Development Review Board. This shifts the responsibility for a number of zoning […]
Weston tax rate still up in the air Public hearing set for Aug. 10 on switching from Zoning Board to DRB
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Weston Select Board on Monday, July 27, once again passed on approving the town tax rates but did reinstate a 3 percent late fee for property taxes that had been waived last year due to the pandemic. At its July 13 meeting, the board had questions […]
Weston board considers reappraisal, tables municipal tax-rate decision
By Shawn Cunningham © Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Tuesday evening, the Weston Select Board heard from Listers Greg Carroll and Dan Hanenberg who suggested that the town might want to consider a reappraisal of properties for the grand list. Noting that last appraisal was in 2005 and that the “cost table” and “land value schedules” […]
Weston considers replacing Zoning Board with Development Review Board
By Mallory Hopkins ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC During the Weston Select Board meeting on Tuesday, June 22, members began discussing replacing the Zoning Board of Adjustment with a Development Review Board, which would allow landowner to have a “one-stop shop” when it comes to seeking decisions on land-use issues. Board vice chair Jim Linville said […]
Weston board continues speed sign discussion; Act 64 compliance road work continues
By Mallory Hopkins © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Weston Select Board met for the first time since the delayed Weston Town Meeting on May 25. Members opted out of their regularly scheduled meeting that would normally have taken place the same day. The town’s annual meeting had been postponed from March, due to Covid-19. […]
Pandemic postponed annual meetings take place under sunny skies After 3-month delay, Weston, GM school district meet
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC As the Covid-19 pandemic seems to be winding down, a number of municipalities are catching up with meetings (under sunny skies) that could not be held in their traditional March time slots this past winter. By the time the country was shutting down in mid-March 2020, most […]
