Cavendish Select Board Agenda for 1/22/14

Cavendish Board of Selectmen Budget Meeting, Wednesday, January 22nd,
2014 in the Cavendish Town Office Meeting Room beginning at 6:00 PM.

................................................................ AGENDA ................................................................

1. Call the meeting order
2. Review Selectmen’s Correspondence
3. Sign Orders
4. Continue work on the FY 2014-2015 Selectmen’s Budget
5. Review draft of the Town Meeting Warning for approval
6. Discuss list of topics for inclusion in the Annual Report of the Town Manager and
Selectmen for the 2013 Town Report
7. Adjourn by 8:00 pm sharp

Cavendish Update: 1/17/14 SB/News/Internet/Events

This issue of the Cavendish Update is made possible by the Cavendish Community and Conservation Association (CCCA), a non-profit membership organization that is dedicated to the conservation of land and natural resources and to the preservation of historic sites within the context of sustainable economic growth. FMI: PO Box 605, Cavendish VT 05142 or 802-226-7736

Information can also be posted on the Cavendish VT Facebook Page.

 The 1/17/14 Cavendish Update Contains the Following:

1. Select Board Meeting 1/13/14

2. Cavendish Related News

3. Is Your Cavendish Address Covered by High Speed Internet?

4. Ignat Solzhenitsyn Lecture

5. Be More Tech Savvy: Parent Night

6. Events

1. SELECT BOARD MEETING 1/13/14

Select board (SB) meetings are recorded by LPC-TV and are available at their website and on Comcast Television.  

As the SB is preparing the budget for the coming year, they are meeting several times a week during January. Monday night’s monthly meeting included budget items as well as monthly business.

 A. Town Projects

• Davis Road Bridge: Destroyed during Irene, the original estimates were to replace the 25 foot bridge with a 36 foot one and funding of $527,000 has been secured from FEMA. Recent reports from the various engineers call for a 40 foot span. Consequently, the bridge will be 40 feet but there are no additional funds to reflect the increase in length. If the project goes over the $527,000, the town will have to pay those costs. Rich Svec, town manager, stated that using galvanized trusts-similar to the Howard Hill Bridge-should bring the project in on budget.

• Carlton Rd: Owners of the Atherton Mill property, who experienced flood damage during Irene, are the reason for the Weston & Sampson report on the drainage and hydraulics study of Carlton Rd. Another $2,000 is needed to complete the study, which is showing that no structure will prevent damages from 60 year floods. The SB approved the additional expenditure. Svec will see if funding is available through flood hazard mitigation. Phase II will be completed in the spring.

B. Town Meeting/Budget Items

• Cavendish Library: The board approved level funding for the library, which includes a 2% cost of living increase for the librarian. Several projects are being planned by the library-replacement of carpeting in high traffic areas with flooring and a new air conditioner-which will not be part of the town’s budget.

• Cemetery Commission: The SB approved a budget, which reflects increases in labor and fuel costs as well as funds to help determine where ledge might be. The latter is needed since ledge can be a major problem when trying to dig graves. A line item on repayment of debt was eliminated as the town has already paid this and the board thought it prudent to allow the Commission to start the year with a “clean slate.”

• Warning: The Cemetery Commission requested a warning for town meeting whose purpose is to see if the voters would approve $10,000 for the expansion of the Twenty Mile Stream Cemetery. A landowner has offered to give the town 2/10 of an acre, which abuts the existing cemetery. In exchange, he is requesting a lot for his family that would contain four burial plots. The $10,000 is needed to clear the land and make it usable for internment purposes. The SB approved the warning.

• Zero Sort/Transfer Station: While the new recycling program is not even two months old, the transfer station is on their 3^rd container. It would be ideal to have more information about what actual costs and savings might be, still the board voted on a budget that was a “best guest estimate,” recognizing that it may need to be modified as actual costs become available in the coming months.

• Printing of Town Report: RC Brayshaw & Co, who printed the town report last year, was again the low bidder and was given the contract for the 2013 Town Report.

• Town Manager’s Report: SB members were asked for topics to be included in the Town Manager’s Report. This report will include such items as Zero Sort, Davis Rd Bridge, Chubb Hill Road and Paving Program.

C. Ice Jams/Weather: The recent rain and warm weather created a number of ice jams on the Black River, which in turn caused flooding for some of the homes in Proctorsville that are close to the river. About three homes needed to have their cellars pumped out. Svec noted that the town can not interfere with ice jams for two reasons-the Agency of Natural Resources, which oversees rivers and streams, would not allow it and the safety dangers the ice dams present. However, once the water is flowing normal, this is the time to study whether there is something in the river that is causing the ice dams to form in the first place.

While sand and salt are being used faster than normal, the sand is from last year’s budget.

D. Board of Abatement Meeting: The board agreed to hold the Board of Abatement meeting at 5:30 on Wed. January 15, just prior to the SB’s budget meeting.

2. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS

Flu is Being Reported in Cavendish: The flu is now in town and wide spread in VT and surrounding states. Flu shots are available and state health officials are urging people to get them as the flu could be around for several more weeks or months. Learn more ways to prevent flu-Don’t have time for the flu. Take Time to Prevent it. 

BRAT Makes the Top Ten: Last September, many people in Cavendish participated in River Sweep to help clean up the Black River. Kelly Stettner , the head and heart of the Black River Action Team (BRAT) was taking photographs and submitted one of them to the American Rivers competition. They’ve made the top 10. Congratulations! You can support BRAT’s chances of winning by going to the American Rivers’ website and casting your vote.

License to Scan: VT Police Stored Millions of Plate Readings Last Year: Vermont law enforcement agencies recorded almost 8 million license plate readings through the use of Automated License Plate Recognition Systems (ALPRs) between July 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2013, according to a state police report to lawmakers. VPR 

3. IS YOUR CAVENDISH ADDRESS COVERED BY HIGH SPEED INTERNET?

When Gov. Shumlin was elected, he promised that all of Vermont would have high speed internet connections by the end of 2013. On November 20, 2013 Shumlin announced that the state was 99% there.

Recent postings to the Cavendish VT Facebook page indicate that at least one area of Cavendish, Tarbell Hill, is not covered by high speed. Are there other areas of Cavendish that are not covered?

According to the Broadband VT website, the message for Tarbell Hill lists a number of mobile providers for the area and the message, “Great news-faster internet is coming to your area. The Broadband provider(s) will be Vtel.”

VTel has received $116 million in federal stimulus money to provide coverage for the under served areas of the state. The bulk of that money is going toward a fiber-to-the-home network that will serve roughly 16,500 homes and businesses in the Springfield area. The rest is being spent on a wireless broadband project that will cover much of the rest of the state and reach into remote areas that have never before had anything faster than dial-up. So far, more than 3,000 customers are connected to VTel’s fiber network and VTel is rolling out the wireless service around the state. Much of the wireless, however, is still in the testing phase, including in the communities near Mount Ascutney. Valley News 

4. IGNAT SOLZHENITSYN LECTURE

On February 5 (Wednesday), Ignat Solzhenitsyn, conductor, pianist and Cavendish resident will be the lecturer for the Vermont Humanities Council’s 1^st Wednesdays program. He will be talking about his father’s writing The Red Wheel and his family’s life in Cavendish during the 1980’s. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was exiled from the Soviet Union after The Gulag Archipelago was published in 1974 in France. Of the 20 years he was exiled, he lived almost 18 of them in Cavendish.

The lecture will take place at 7 pm at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro. Members of the Cavendish Historical Society will be attending this lecture. If you are interested in attending, and wish to carpool from Cavendish, please call 802-226-7807 or e-mail margoc@tds.net

5. BE MORE TECH SAVVY: PARENT NIGHT

Black River School is hosting a Parent Night on the evening of Monday, January 27th.  There will be sessions on teenage trends in social media, tech tips for parents, Internet addiction, and use of technology in the classroom.  This is similar to the program that was made available to parents in the fall with some new and current additions. 

Thanks to the Okemo Mountain Challenge Grant, we will be able to offer free dinner at 5:15 p.m. in the Community Center. DJ's Restaurant will be preparing stuffed shells, sausages, marinara sauce, salad, and dessert for our enjoyment. Childcare will be provided and all attendees will have a chance to win a gas card.

It is so important it is to keep up with you teenager's life online.  It is also important to know that you can monitor and control the amount of time your child spends using electronic devices. With students using devices in the classroom, it is an advantage for parents to know what to look for in their child’s device use and how to encourage your child to use it effectively for school. Let Black River show you how!

Again, dinner is from 5:15 to 5:45 in the community center.  Sessions will start at 6:00 and the program will end at 8:00 p.m.

6. EVENTS

This week, the following activities will be taking place in Cavendish:

• Martin Luther King Day (Monday, January 20): No School, Federal Holiday, Town office and banks closed.

• In-service Day-No School (Tuesday, January 21)

To learn more about upcoming events in Cavendish and surrounding towns go to:

• Events listed by month 

• Events listed by day 

To register an event

Select Board’s Meeting Agendas for Jan. 13 and 15

The Select Board monthly meeting will be on Monday, January 13, at 6:30 pm in the Cavendish Town Office. The Agenda will include the following

• Update on Davis Road Bridge #37

•  At 6:45 pm meet with representatives of the Library Board and the Town Librarian to consider the library request for FY 15 town appropriation

•  At 7:00 pm meet with members of the Cavendish Cemetery Commission to review and consider the cemetery request for FY 15 town appropriation. A Cemetery Commission request for a warned article on this years Town Meeting Warning will also be discussed. The purpose of the proposed article is to have the voters consider approval of a special appropriation to expand the usable space at the Twenty Mile Stream Cemetery.

•  Discuss results and conclusions of the Weston & Sampson report on Carlton Road drainage and additional hydraulics study. After a review of the findings, the Board of Selectmen will decide whether an additional study is warranted and, if so, when will this occur and how will the expenditures, previous,

 current and future, be financed.

•  Discuss the first available data on the costs associated with the “Zero Sort” single stream recycling program operations which began November 23^rd recycling on an annual basis and what needs to be included in the FY15 budget for same.

•  Discuss Town Report preparation and printing contract award for the 2013 report.

• Town Manager to solicit topics for inclusion in the Town Manager and Selectmen’s Report for the 2013 Town Report

• Update on various other town activities

• If time permits, continue work and discussions on the FY 2013-2014 Selectmen’s Budget

Selectmen’s Meeting Jan. 15 (Wednesday) 6 pm at the Town Office

1. Call the meeting to order

2. Review Correspondence

3. Continue work on FY 2014-2015 Selectmen’s Budget. The work tonight will begin with consideration of the town highway elements. Highway Foreman, Phon Chambers, will be present to participate in the discussion.

4. Continue consideration of the Town Meeting Warning.

5. Adjourn by 8:00 pm sharp

Cavendish Update 1/10/14 News/Support/Events/Prohibition

Information can also be posted on the Cavendish VT Facebook Page 

The 1/10/14 Cavendish Update Contains the Following:

1. Support for Proctorsville Resident Whose Home was Destroyed on Jan 3.

2. It’s Cold-Follow Red Cross Safety Tips When Heating Your Home

3. Cavendish Related News

4. Cavendish Underground-Rum Running: 94^th Anniversary of Prohibition

5. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Discussion January 11

6. Events

1. SUPPORT FOR PROCTORSVILLE RESIDENT

Proctorsville resident Jessica Jet Thompson lost her home and most of its contents on Friday, January 3 as a result of a chimney fire. While she has temporary housing, she is in need of the community's support. A web page has been established to assist those who wish to donate items or make contributions.

 Both Cavendish and Proctorsville Fire Departments responded to this house fire. In sub zero temperatures, they were the first to arrive and the last to leave. Our town is fortunate to have such dedicated men and women. Don’t forget to support your local fire department this year. 

2. RED CROSS SAFETY TIPS ON HEATING YOUR HOME

Winter weather contributes to many fires, since people are trying to stay warm. To prevent a fire in your home, review the following safety tips from the American Red Cross.

Home Fire Safety Tips

• Keep items that can catch on fire at least three feet away from anything that gets hot, such as space heaters.

• Never smoke in bed.

• Talk to your children regularly about the dangers of fire, matches and lighters and keep them out of reach.

• Turn portable heaters off when you leave the room or go to sleep.

The most effective way to protect yourself and your home from fire is to identify and remove fire hazards. About 65 percent of house fire deaths occur in homes with no working smoke alarms. During a home fire, working smoke alarms can save lives.

Smoke Alarm Safety Tips

• Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas.

• Teach your children what smoke alarms sound like and what to do when they hear one.

• Once a month check whether each alarm in the home is working properly by pushing the test button.

• Replace batteries in smoke alarms at least once a year. Immediately install a new battery if an alarm chirps, warning the battery is low.

• Smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years. Never disable smoke or carbon monoxide alarms.

• Carbon monoxide alarms are not substitutes for smoke alarms. Know the difference between the sound of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.

For more information: http://www.redcross.org/news/article/Its-Cold-Follow-Red-Cross-Safety-Tips-When-Heating-Your-Home

3. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS

Cavendish and Proctorsville Firefighters Battle Blaze and Bitter Cold: Area firefighters from six departments battled temperatures that hovered at 6 below zero early Friday morning-Jan.3- when a fire broke out at a home at 601 Main Street in Proctorsville. The fire was later traced to a wood stove. Proctorsville Fire Chief Bob Glidden Sr. said that the woman living in the house was able to escape with her dog and cat — although the cat ran back into the house. “She ran out in the road barefoot and without a coat, and I guess it was a good thing she didn’t wait,” said the chief. Rutland Herald  and The Vermont Journal 

PVFD’s Stats for 2013: In 2013, the Proctorsville Volunteer Fire Department responded to 61 calls, totaling 869 man hours. The top five responders for the year were Karlene Glidden (65 calls and 97 hours on calls), 1^st Captain Bob Glidden (51 calls and 91 hours), Deputy Chief Roger Sheehan (51 calls and 88 hours), Chief Robert Glidden (49 calls and 89 hours), and Matt Flinn (49 calls and 89 hours). To read more about PVFD’s 2013 activities, go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Proctorsville-Volunteer-Fire-Department/130553286913

Proctorsville Post Office Included on List of Post Offices to have Reduced Hours:  A new postal proposal would spare facilities but cut hours at 145 post offices in Vermont including Proctorsville. Hours at the Cavendish PO have been reduced from 8 to 4 for the last year. Proctorsville is slated to go from 8 to 6 hours per day starting in October. Lobby access would not be affected. http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/assets/pdf/postplan-affected-post-offices-120509.pdf

Friendly’s Closes Abruptly in Springfield: The family restaurant abruptly closed its doors Sunday night, with no plans to reopen, and notified its employees Monday morning that they no longer had a job, said one employee’s daughter.
Alyssa Stevens, a spokesman for Friendly’s, said Monday the restaurant’s lease in the Springfield Shopping Plaza had expired, and that was the reason for the closing. Rutland Herald 

VT Journal Has Moved: Due to flooding, the Vermont Journal has relocated to No. 10 High Street in Ludlow upstairs over The Black River Senior Center. VT Journal 

Flu on the RiseAcross Region: Cases of influenza have been reported in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. In Vermont, the number of people who've become sick with the virus has increased weekly. Health officials urge anyone older than 6 months to get the shot. There are no reports of a lack of available vaccine in the area, unlike other parts of the country. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the strain of the virus circulating this year is similar to the 2009 swine flu epidemic, which disproportionately affected young and middle-aged adults. WPTZ 

4. CAVENDISH UNDERGROUND-RUM RUNNING

Many people in Cavendish will proudly tell you how their house, or one of the houses in their neighborhood, was part of the underground railroad. While former slaves found safety here, there was no need to hide them. Vermont outlawed slavery in 1777 and continued to pass laws that made it difficult for those trying to recapture slaves to come to far into the state as they could easily be caught and prosecuted.

Yes, there are tiny rooms and odd places in many of the old houses in our town. Some had very practical purposes. If they were close to a chimney they could have been used for curing meat and storing large cooking pots etc. Tunnels and other hiding places had other practical purposes-rum running and smuggling.

Because Vermont shares a border with Canada, smuggling has been part of the state’s “underground” employment from the early days of its settlement.

On January 16, 1920, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes" went into effect. Breweries, distilleries and saloons closed their doors. This did not sit well with Vermonters, who believed the government had no business interfering with their drinking habits. Consequently, more people drank more alcohol during Prohibition than they did before or since.

Everywhere people helped bootleggers, hid them in barns from chasing customs agents, covered up, covered over, and supported them by making bootlegging a very profitable venture. Stories abound showing the bootleggers as the folk heroes they quickly became, and revealing the customs patrol as being slow minded, dim witted, and unpopular spoil sports. VT Historical Society http://vermonthistory.org/research/research-resources-online/green-mountain-chronicles/prohibition-1920

When Suzanne Beyer, author of “The Inventor’s Fortune Up for Grabs,” and granddaughter of Una and Leon Gay visited Cavendish in 2011, she related that her great Uncle Art Hadley was engaged in rum running during prohibition at her grandparents home-Glimmerstone. Were other people in town involved in rum-running? Probably.

If you have stories about Cavendish’s involvement in various bootlegging or smuggling activities, please send them to the Cavendish Historical Society , PO Box 472, Cavendish VT 05142 or e-mail margoc@tds.net or call 802-226-7807.

5. ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH DISCUSSION

December 2013 marked two important dates in the life of the Soviet dissident and Nobel Laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. December 11 would have been his 95^th birthday and December 28 was the 40^th anniversary of the publication of “The Gulag Archipelago” in Paris. Describing the horrors of the Soviet forced labor camps, the book was translated into 40 languages and some 10 million copies were printed around the world. Two months after the book’s publication, Solzhenitsyn was arrested, stripped of his citizenship and expelled from the USSR. Of the 20 years he was to be exiled from his homeland, Solzhenitsyn spent almost 18 of them in Cavendish, VT.

To mark these significant events, the Cavendish Historical Society will be screening the movie based on Solzhenitsyn’s book “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” at noon on Saturday,  January 11. At 2 pm, the Cavendish Fletcher Community Library (CFCC) and CHS will host a discussion of the book/movie. A Russian tea will be provided, thanks to Kata Welch, the librarian for CFCC. Meet at the Cavendish Library, on Main Street in Proctorsville, for all events.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is set in the Soviet labor camp (gulag) in the 1950’s and describes a single day of an ordinary prisoner, Ivan Denisovich Shukov. The novella was published in the magazine Novy Mir and was the first written account of  the camps. Millions of copies were circulated from hand to hand in the Soviet Union.  The West hailed the author as a “truth teller,” while the ordinary Soviet had confirmation of stories family members, who had been in the camps, had been telling.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is available at the Cavendish Library, most book stores and from ebookbrowse.

Film adaptations of the book are available at the following sites:

• 1970 Version 

• Bob Hope Presents Chrysler Theater 

For more information: margoc@tds.net or 802-226-7807.

Please note that if the library is closed due to weather, this event will be rescheduled in February.

6. EVENTS

This week, the following activities will be taking place in Cavendish:

• One Day in the Life Of Ivan Denisovich Discussion: Jan 11 (Saturday). Movie screening at noon, book discussion and Russian Tea, 2 pm. All events at the Cavendish Library in Proctorsville. FMI: 226-7807 or margoc@tds.net Please note that if the library is closed due to weather, this event will be rescheduled in February.

•  Guy Burlage Acoustic Guitar and Vocals: Jan. 11 (Saturday) and Jan. 16 (Thursday) at the Glimmerstone Inn. FMI: http://www.glimmerstonemansion.com

• Raise the Roof Concert Series: True Tales January 12 (Sunday). Eight local storytellers from Cavendish, Ludlow and Mt. Holly will tell true stories of the area. This is a benefit for the Cavendish Community Fund, which provides grant support for projects in education, history and the arts. Modeled after NPR’s popular Moth Radio Hour, each presenter will tell a story from real like in ten minutes or less without a script. True Tales will take place at Gethsemane Episcopal Church on Depot Street in Proctorsville starting at 4 pm. Donations of $10 at the door will help keep culture alive and well. FMI: 226-7497.

• Select Board Meeting: Jan 13, 6:30 pm at the Cavendish Town Office. The agenda will be posted to www.cavendishvt.blogspot.com as soon as it becomes available.

• Local’s Night: Jan. 16 (Thursday) Music, Burger and Beer for $12 at the Glimmerstone Inn in Cavendish. 6-9 pm . FMI: http://www.glimmerstonemansion.com

To learn more about upcoming events in Cavendish and surrounding towns go to:

• Events listed by month 

• Events listed by day 

To register an event