Cavendish Update 6/15/18 SB Meeting/News/Events

 

On Saturday, June 16, the dedication of the Proctorsville Green and the Celebration of Life for former town manager Rich Svec, begins at 2 pm.

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6/15/18 Cavendish Update

1. Cavendish Select Board Meeting

2. Cavendish Related News

3. Events

1. CAVENDISH SELECT BOARD MEETING 6/11/18: Select board (SB) meetings are recorded by Okemo Valley TV and are available at their website  and on Comcast Television.  Written minutes are available at the town’s website.  The following was discussed/action taken at Monday night’s meeting:

Zoning & Ordinances: Two issues were brought before the select board, which triggered a discussion about zoning and the use of ordinances.  A Brook Rd resident wants the town to require a new homeowner on Brook Rd to bury 1,600 feet of utility wires for esthetic purposes. The residents of Tierney Rd, in an effort to stop a property owner from quarrying on his land, are proposing that the town adopt a Civil Ordinance Requiring Approval For Residential Business Operations. The state has informed the town manager that such an ordinance doesn’t hold water as the town doesn’t have zoning. Over 10 years ago the town soundly defeated zoning. Cavendish is only one of two towns in the area, the other being Mt. Holly, that does not have zoning.  Tim Calabrese, of the Planning Commission,  spoke to the major hurdles for small towns with such laws. It requires significant detail to be enforceable and can be cost prohibitive. Members of the audience thought it was time that this issue be voted on again as times have changed.

Approved:

• Health officer Doris Eddy contacting the mortgage company for the foreclosed property at 186 Knapp Pond, which is being used by squatters and has mounds of trash around it. It will be the mortgage company’s responsibility to clean the property.

• Beginning the process of fining a property owner on 131 in Proctorsville, whose property is a source of rats and poses a health risk to neighbors. The owner has been warned numerous times to clean up their property.

• Beginning the process outlined in the town’s Dangerous and/or Derelict Building Ordinance for 53 Depot St. in Proctorsville. An independent engineering evaluation shows the building to be a health hazard as well as structural unsound and beyond repair.

• Liquor permits for Brook Farm Vineyards LLC, Neal’s LLC, and LaPizza Lupo event on July 20 next to Singletons.

• Use of the Proctorsville Green for an Overnight Camp Out with the CTES 1st grade.

• To accept the lowest bid from Infrastructure construction, depending on negotiations to bring the project into budget, for the replacement of the town’s Waste Water Treatment Aeration System. The bond vote for this project was March 2017. The cost difference between the engineer’s estimate and the lowest bid received was around $10,000. 

• Considering moving the town’s polling place to the Town Office, with the Proctorsville Fire Department as an interim placement. This is being recommended for security purposes. A town vote will be needed to approve this change.

Town Project Updates

Town Garage: The switch of locations for the town garage is requiring a lot more time than first estimated. However, the steel building is in production and the plan is to have it ready for occupancy this fall.

Depot Street Bridge: Bids have gone out for to bury the utility lines that currently span the bridge to the river below.

2. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS

CTES Has a New Principal: The Green Mountain Unified School District (GMUSD) has hired Debra Deaupre as the new principal for Cavendish Town Elementary School (CTES). Deaupre is assistant principal in the North Country Supervisory Union and has worked for more than two decades in elementary education, including as a Title I reading teacher. Her job begins in July, while current principal George Thomson leaves at the end of June. As we say goodbye to George, and wish him the best on his retirement, we extend a warm welcome to Debra Deaupre to our school and community.

Mack Molding Invests $5 Million to Upgrade Facilities: Mack Molding recently announced that it is investing more than $5 million to increase its manufacturing capabilities in its North Carolina and Vermont facilities. In Cavendish, the company has increased its day to day operations by including a new automated work cell, resin drying system, fork life and crane upgrades. With the investments in the Mack’s Vermont facilities, -Cavendish, Arlington and East Arlington, the company is expected to add another 50 employees through the course of the year. Medical Design & Outsourcing

TRSU Exec Committee Holds Last Meeting: At its last meeting before disbanding, the Two Rivers Supervisory Union Executive Committee on Thursday declined to approve a number of administration requests including TRSU job descriptions, a curriculum management program and other purchases totaling $130,000 – one of which had been removed from the SU budget this spring. With the merger that created these districts taking effect on July 1, the eight-member Executive Committee and the 22-member full SU board will be replaced by a single six-member panel beginning next month. Committee members questioned many of the expenditures for which Superintendent Meg Powden proposed to use $130,000 of the Transition Facilitation Grant-a 3 day leadership retreat at the Killington Mountain Resort ($7,650); TRSU board retreat ($3,500) and purchase of 130 to 140 copies of Leaders of Their Own Learning ($6,000), Chester Telegraph

Affordable Housing out of reach for many Vermonters: A Vermonter making minimum wage would need to work 1.7 jobs to afford a one-bedroom rental home or apartment, according to a report released Wednesday. Vermont has a housing wage of $22.40 — the 13th highest in the country. The state also has the fifth largest gap between the average hourly wage renters make, $12.85, and housing wage. Erhard Mahnke, coordinator of the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, said that those statistics show that although unemployment in Vermont has decreased in the past few years, most of the jobs created have been “lower wage, service sector jobs.” “We thrive on tourism, but those jobs don’t pay the way old style manufacturing jobs did, where you could earn $60,000 a year with a high school education,” said Mahnke. VT Digger

3. EVENTS

JUNE 15 (FRIDAY): Last day to pay property taxes before 8% delinquency fee is attached

JUNE 16 (SATURDAY): Rich Svec Celebration of Life and Dedication of the Proctorsville Green, 2pm at the Proctorsville Green.

JUNE 22 (FRIDAY): George Thomson’s retirement party, 6-8 pm, Proctorsville Green. Potluck dinner-please bring a dish, other than dessert, to share. Two bands

JUNE 27 (WEDNESDAY): Grievance Day, Cavendish Town Office.  Call the Town Office at (802)226-7291 or 226-7292 if you would like to schedule an appointment to grieve property assessments.

For information on upcoming events, go to the Cavendish Connects Calendar. For area events, check the Okemo Valley Chamber of Commerce calendar.  

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