Cavendish Update: 2/27/15 Forum/Memoirs/News/Events

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2/27/15 EDITION OF THE CAVENDISH UPDATE

1. Town Meeting Informational Forum

2. Cavendish Related News

3. Memoirs of Philip W. Tiemann: Prelude

4. Iphonology Workshop

5. Events

1. TOWN MEETING INFORMATIONAL FORUM: On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the Cavendish Community and Conservation Association (CCCA) hosted their annual Town Meeting Informational Forum. While Town Meeting, Monday, March 2 at 7 pm, will start with the school agenda, the Forum began with the Town’s report. LPC-TV filmed the meeting and will be aired on Comcast and on-line.

Speaking for the Town, Rich Svec, town manager, explained that while many of the articles are similar to past years, there is a new article to bring the cemeteries under the selectmen’s jurisdiction. This was recommended since several members of the Cemetery Commission had resigned in the past year and of the three vacancies for the Commission, only one person was running. The town budget is up by 1.7% but if the voters approves article 4, the town taking over the burial grounds, the actual increase will be less than 1%.

George Thomson, Principal, discussed the CTES budget, which will be voted on by Australian Ballot on March 3. There has been a significant increase in students since October-13 in total-which requires the addition of a new teacher-once again the school will have one teacher per grade. Overall the school budget is up by 9.2%, however, the increased revenues brings this number down to 1.8% and when it’s all said and done, the tax rate will actually be slightly less this year.

For a full report on the Forum, please go to The Dish. 

2. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS

CCCA Winter Newsletter: The winter 2015  newsletter for the Cavendish Community and Conservation Association is now available on-line. 

 Vermonters Affected by Anthem Security Breach: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont said Tuesday that 23,000 of its customers may have had their personal information compromised by a data breach at another insurance company. The BCBSVT customers in question are those who were treated in the 14 states in which Anthem, Inc. operates. The two companies have “reciprocal agreements,” through which some medical services are covered. Press Release 

 Scam: Vermont State Police would like residents to be  aware of an identity theft scam that is occurring. There have been reports of people receiving letters from both the IRS and Vermont Department of Taxes. The letters advise to complete the tax return they need more information. If you receive any letters asking for information that should be on the Form 1040  contact the IRS, Vermont Department of Taxes and the State Police.

VT Broadband Service Falling Short: Vermont has the second worst broadband internet access in the country according to a recent report from federal regulators. In 2013 Governor Shumlin announced 99-percent of Vermonters were connected to broadband. But the Federal Communications Commission just redefined what "adequate broadband speed" is, and when that standard is applied, Vermont has only 20 percent of the population covered. The FCC released a report in January about broadband availability in America. According to the report, at the end of 2013 80 percent of Vermonters did not have access to internet speeds of 25 megabits per second. WCAX 

 FCC Endorses Net Neutrality: The Federal Communications Commission has endorsed net neutrality in a 3-2 decision, which would regulate the Internet as a public utility. The decision means Internet providers, such as Comcast and AT & T, would not be allowed to create Internet “fast lanes” for users who pay more. The companies would also not be allowed to “throttle” or slow down delivery speeds. NPR 

3. MEMOIRS OF PHILIP W. TIEMANN: PRELUDE : Recently Mary Anne Butler and Peter J von Bartheld provided the Cavendish Historical Society copies of their National Registry of Historic Places Nomination Form  as well as “Coming to Cavendish, Vermont, During the Great Depression” Memoirs of Philip W. Tiemann. In addition to congratulating Mary Anne and Peter for having their property- Windy Hill,1715 Brook Rd- listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, we thank them for providing a copy of Tiemann’s Memoirs.

Philip Tiemann was born in New Jersey in 1900. He moved to Brook Road in Cavendish, VT from Chatham, New Jersey with his wife Isabel (Carr), and three children Wyeth, Ann and Joyce in 1933. Naming the property “Windy Hill Farm,” Tiemann wrote of the family’s early years in Cavendish in 1966, after his wife had died (1958) and just a few years before his own death in 1969.

Having no previous experience, they taught themselves subsistence farming and became involved in the Cavendish community-Teimann was at various time library trustee, auditor and selectmen. The Tiemann family gave up ownership of Windy Hill in 2000, when the youngest member of the family, Joyce, sold the place to a couple who used it as a second home. The house was resold to Mary Ann and Peter in 2012.

As a joint effort between the Cavendish Historical Society and Cavendish Connects, Tiemann’s Memoirs will be serialize in the coming weeks in the CHS blog and will include Cavendish history relevant to the various chapters.

A special note of thanks to Rich Svec for helping to convert  files.

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” was key to the Tiemann’s and other Cavendish residents way of life during the Depression. In recognition of the importance of these skills and their relevance to today, Cavendish Connects now has a Pinterest Board Yankee Thrift  to help users to “live within their means.”

If you have photographs of Windy Hill Farm and the related area, please either mail copies to CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish, VT 05142 or e-mail to margoc@tds.net so they can be included in this project.

In the Prelude, Tiemann describes their reasons for coming to Cavendish. CHS provides an historical overview of Cavendish in the 1930s.

4. IPHONOLOGY WORKSHOP : Use your IPhone, Ipad or Ipod touch as a paintbrush! Janelle wilfong will conduct a four week class at the Cavendish library teaching participants how to: Use camera and video capture, and art apps Crossing platforms and making postcards, movies, using a light box to make video stills, and masking mediums and watercolors. Classes will be Saturdays at 4:00-5:00, from March 7th thru March 28th. Cost of class is 20.00. For more info or to register, call Terry O'Brien at 226-7289, or at dthuskies@hotmail.com

5. EVENTS: Upcoming events this week includes: The Cavendish Historical Society’s Annual Meeting and Irish in Cavendish Workshop (Saturday); Town Meeting (Monday);  and Voting (Tuesday);  For more information about these and other upcoming events, go to the Cavendish Connects Calendar. For events in the area, see the Okemo Valley Calendar.

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Town Meeting Informational Forum

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On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the Cavendish Community and Conservation Association (CCCA) hosted their annual Town Meeting Informational Forum. While Town Meeting, Monday, March 2 at 7 pm, will start with the school agenda, the Forum began with the Town’s report. LPC-TV filmed the meeting and will be aired on Comcast and on-line. 

Town: Rich Svec, town manager, explained that while most of the articles are similar to previous years, pages 10 and 11 in the Town Report, articles 6 and 7 are being done separately this year.

Article 6 is the adoption of the FY 2015-2016 Budget while 7 pertains to setting the tax rate. The state does not acknowledge the town’s exemptions for Fletcher Farm and Black River Health Center and they will only give a tax break on $10,000 of property value for disabled veterans, while Cavendish provides tax relief for $40,000. Therefore to meet the state’s school tax requirements for these exemptions, taxpayers will need to make up this difference.

Article 4 (page 10) asks voters to approve of taking the town’s burial grounds out of the charge of the board of cemetery commissioners and place same under the charge of the selectmen. Svec said that the selectmen came to the conclusion that this was necessary for the following reasons:

• At the beginning of 2014, there were five commissioners, two of whom resigned before the year was over.

• Of three positions available for election this year, only one person signed up to be a commissioner.

• Since several of the commissioners were also contractual seasonal employees, there was a concern about the propriety of commissioners signing their own paychecks and giving themselves a raise.

Svec said that a part time Sexton would be hired and that contractual seasonal workers would still be needed to do the work in the cemeteries, which includes the continued expansion of the Twenty Mile Road Cemetery.

Several members of the Cemetery Commission were present and explained that historically each cemetery had its own paid sexton, who served on the cemetery commission. They also discussed the low wages of seasonal workers ($12 an hour) and that given the requirements of mowing five of the seven cemeteries by hand, the town would be hard pressed to find workers for such low wages.

The town budget is up by 1.7% but if the voters approve article 4, the town taking over the burial grounds, the actual increase will be less than 1%. The increase represents a 2.5% increase in cost of living for town personnel, increases for road salt and highway equipment and for the Cavendish Historical Society. The latter is responsible for maintaining over a half million dollars of town property (Museum Building and Cavendish Stone Church) and significant upgrades are needed for the Museum Building. “It’s a way to protect our investment,” Svec noted.

Overall, the town budget increase is less than the cost of inflation.

School: Principal George Thomson provided an overview of the Cavendish Town Elementary School’s (CTES) budget. Even though the report shows 93 students enrolled at CTES in October 2014, the number has increased by 13, with two students being “tuitioned in” by other school districts, and 11 children attending because their families have recently moved to town.

The increase in students requires that another teacher be hired for the 2015-2016 school year. For the last several years, there has been a combined 1st and 2nd grade. The new teacher would return the school to “one teacher per grade” for a total of seven teachers.

There have been shifts in how the supervisory union is dealing with special education, reflecting Act 153, and so there are higher costs in the supervisory union budget for this service and a significantly lower cost item in the CTES budget.

Thomson noted that the contracts with the teachers and para educators have yet to be signed and that what appears in the report is a best guess estimate. There has been an increase in health insurance by 4-½ %. There has been an increase by $5,000 in the technology budget, since nearly everything is being done digitally now. Slight reductions have been made in nursing hours and maintenance.

Overall the school budget is up by 9.2%, however, the increased revenues (tuition costs are $15,000 per out of district students), brings this number down to 1.8% and when it’s all said and done, the tax rate will actually be slightly less this year.

Town Meeting: The March 2 (Monday) meeting will start at 7 pm in the CTES multi purpose room. While the school portion is first, this is an informational meeting as the budget is voted on by Australian ballot on Tuesday, March 3, 10-7 at the CTES Arts room. There will be a short break between the school and town meetings. A copy of the town report is available on-line and at the town office.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cavendish Update 2/20/15 News/Grants/Workshop

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2/20/15 EDITION OF THE CAVENDISH UPDATE

1. Cavendish Related News

2. Cavendish Community Fund Accepting Grant Applications

3. Irish in Cavendish Workshop

4. Events

1. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS

Cavendish 2014 Town Report is Now Available: The 2014 Cavendish Town Report is now available on-line at the Municipal website and was mailed on Feb. 19.  For additional information, please contact the town office at 226-7292.

 Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) Newsletter is On-line: The CHS Winter 2015 Newsletter is now available at the CHS Blog. Learn more about how to date Cavendish photographs as well as how to preserve photographs for future generations.

Citizens Bank in Springfield Robbed: On Tuesday, Feb. 17 Citizen’s Bank in the Springfield Plaza was robbed of an undetermined amount of money. The suspect was described as a white male subject, young in age approximate 20’s, 5’4 to 5'8" in height, with a slender/petite build. Offender was also described as wearing chocolate brown cotton style gloves, a black coat, flannel type shirt possibly beige and green in color, with blue jeans and black logger style boots. The male suspect was said to also be wearing a black winter hat and a fake black beard. The suspects voice was described as being soft, yet high pitched, and young. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Springfield Police Department at 802-885-2113

 Good Roads and Economic Development are linked, town leaders tell legislative committees: Concerns about winter road maintenance and pleas for economic development help topped the lists of area leaders Tuesday when two Vermont House committees came to Springfield. The House Commerce Committee and the House Transportation Committee, of which Cavendish State Rep Mark Huntley is a member, listened to concerns. Frank Heald, town manager of Ludlow, said that Proctorsville Gulf on Route 103 is a perennial problem area. “In fact, the entire Route 103 from Rutland to Gassetts can be interesting. ” Rutland Herald 

 Supporting Green Up Day Via Tax Return: For the first time you can donate to Green Up Day on your Vermont Tax return. This annual event almost did not happen last year for lack of funding. But corporate sponsors stepped in to keep it going and lawmakers approved the tax return check off. Green Up Day 2015 is Sat., May 2. For more information on how to participate, you can email -- greenup@greenupvermont.org Press Release 

Changes in Net-Metering Energy Projects Proposed: The financial incentive for net-metered projects could be reduced as lawmakers work out a new renewable energy policy for Vermont. VT Digger 

 Education Reform Bill Calls for Larger Districts by 2019: The third draft of the working House Education Committee bill was presented Wednesday, calling for “integrated education systems” or larger regional school districts of at least 1,000 students unless the State Board of Education grants a waiver to permit alternate governance structures. Cavendish is part of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union, which includes four towns-Cavendish, Ludlow, Mt. Holly and Chester. Even though this district includes two high schools and middle schools, GMUHS has an enrollment of 342 students, while Black River HS/MS is only 171. When combined with the elementary schools in the four towns, Two Rivers Supervisory Union would not meet the 1,000-student requirement. VT Digger  

Agreement Reached in Fair Point Strike: Fair Point Communications and striking workers have reached a tentative contract agreement. The announcement comes after weeks of negotiations under the auspices of the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), which says FairPoint’s striking employees will return to work next Wednesday. VPR 

 2. CAVENDISH COMMUNITY FUND ACCEPTING GRANT APPLICATIONS: The Cavendish Community Fund is now accepting grant applications for spring 2015 grant awards. The deadline for applying is April 1st. Applications that miss that date will be considered in the fall. In 2007 the fund inaugurated its program of giving cash grants to individuals or organizations for educational, artistic or cultural projects, programs or events. 2014 grants went to Stepping Stones Preschool for curriculum expansion, to Cavendish elementary school for a drama-based collaborative project with the Weston Playhouse, and to Gethsemane Church’s Raise the Roof concert series.

Grants are available for projects, programs or events that directly benefit the Cavendish community in some way. A panel of local citizens reviews the applications and recommends awards based on the quality and feasibility of each proposal. The number of grants and the amount of each depend on how many applications are received. Application guidelines are available at the Cavendish Community and Conservation Association’s website under the Community Fund tab.  Hardcopies are also available at Crow’s Bakery in Proctorsville and at the Cavendish town office.

For further information on applying, on eligibility or on any other aspect of the grant program, or for help completing the application, please call Barbara Dickey at 226-7187 or Peter LaBelle at 226-7250.

3. IRISH IN CAVENDISH WORKSHOP: If you thought the first Irish immigrants in Cavendish came here from Ellis Island you would be wrong. Most came through Canada and worked in the mills, farmed and/or help to build Vermont’s railroad. In fact, it was the Irish work crew at the site of the Phineas Gage accident that alerted Dr. Williams to his injury and directed him to the boarding house where Gage was taken. As the expression goes, “the rest was history.”

On Feb. 28 (Saturday), as part of the Cavendish Historical Society’s Annual Meeting, a “hands on history” workshop will be held on the Irish in Cavendish. Not only will more information be given about the Irish impact on the town, but also participants will learn how to make a St. Brigid’s cross and various forms of Celtic knots.

Believed to be a protector of home and hearth, the St. Brigid’s cross is made on Feb. 2 in Irish households. It remains hanging in the home, often the kitchen, until a new one is made the following year. While made of reeds in Ireland, early immigrants would have used flax, straw or whatever may be poking up through the snow.  

The CHS annual meeting begins at 5:30 pm with a potluck supper, followed by a short business meeting and then the workshop. It is anticipated that the workshop will begin between 6:30 and 7 pm. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at Gethsemane Episcopal Church’s Parish Hall, located off of Depot Street in Proctorsville. FMI: 802-226-7807 or margoc@tds.net

4. EVENTS: Upcoming events this week include: Little Caesar’s Pizza Sale (Monday); GMUHS Annual Meeting and CCCA Informational Forum for Town Meeting; the solar/electric workshop for Ludlow Electric subscribers (Friday).  For more information about these and other upcoming events, go to the Cavendish Connects Calendar.  For events in the area, see the Okemo Valley Calendar.

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