Cavendish Update: 10/16/15 SB Mtg/News/Events
/
If you haven’t taken the Cavendish Connects Internet Speed Test Survey please do so as the survey ends on Oct. 19 (Monday).
10//16/15 Cavendish Update Contains
1. Select Board Meeting 10/13/15
2. Cavendish Related News
3. Report on East Rd Beaver Pond-Boat Outing Oct. 18
4. Events
1. SELECT BOARD MEETING 10/13
Select board (SB) meetings are recorded by LPC-TV and are available at their website and on Comcast Television. Written minutes are available at the town’s website. Tuesday night’s meeting included an update on the activities of the Cavendish Telecommunications Committee; the Planning Commission’s current draft of the Flood Hazard Regulations; pending changes in E-waste recycling and the SB’s approval to close out the Flood Relief Account ($500) and move it to the Cavendish Family Fund. For a more in-depth report, go to The Dish.
2. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS
• Cavendish Culinary Winners: Congratulations to1st Place Winner of the Singleton's Soup Cook Off-Madeline Harper-a CTES alum and daughter of 4th grade teacher Jenn Harper. Her soup was Broccoli Cheddar. Congratulations are also in order to Chef Alphonsus Harris of the Castle Hill Resort who took home the People’s Choice First Place Award at the 25th Annual Ludlow Rotary Club Chili Cook-off
• For Cavendish Poultry Owners: The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets is encouraging poultry owners, producers and enthusiasts to prepare for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), which is expected to impact the East Coast in the fall of this year or spring of 2016. Go to The Dish for more information and ways to prepare.
• 2nd Annual Yogi Run/Walk Fest: The Second Annual Yogi Run/Walk Fest will be held on Saturday, Oct. 24 at GMUHS in Chester. The 10K race will begin at 9 a.m. The 5K will start at 10:30 a.m., with both taking place on the running/walking trails at the school. The 1 Mile Fun Run will start at 11:30 a.m. and will be held on the GMUHS track. Former Proctorsville resident Roger ‘Yogi’ McNamara was a Guidance Counselor at the River Valley Technical Center in Springfield for 30 years and coached high school Cross Country Running for decades. All race registration costs and donations are used to support area schools and organizations including the Cavendish Recreation Department, Ludlow Ambulance Service and the Cavendish and Proctorsville Volunteer Fire Departments. The 10 K Pre-Race registration is $20 in advance, and $25 on race day. Participants 18 and under run for free. The 5 K and Fun Run are free or by donation. For pre-race registration, go to https://g2racereg.webconnex.com/yogisrun2015. FMI: Michael McNamara at (802) 226-7850.
• Income Inequality Grows With Age: A Tale of Two Seniors: This Oct. 12 article in the New York Times features Susan McNeely of Proctorsville.
• Vermont’s On-line Voter Registration is Now Available: Vermonters can register to vote from the comfort of their own homes. Secretary of State Jim Condos says the new online voter registration system will improve access to democracy, and will also make elections less vulnerable to fraud. VPR
• Test Your Well: The Vermont Department of Health wants more homeowners to get their water tested. The state says an estimated 40 percent of Vermont households drink water from private wells or springs, but only 5 percent of those sources have been tested for contaminants, like arsenic and uranium. The health department has test kits available for sale and a new grant will help vulnerable populations pay for the testing. The grant will also allow the state to start a database to identify geographic areas where water supplies are more likely to be contaminated. FMI: Dept. of Health’s Safe water Resource Guide.
• Got Leaves? Learn what you can do with them other than raking and taking to the transfer station. What to Do With Fall Leaves.
• Vermonters are Using Less Gas/Study to Reassess Gas Tax: Vermonters are driving fewer miles and using less gasoline, and the resulting decrease in gas tax revenue is draining transportation funding. As a result gasoline tax revenue decreasing by about a sixth over the last decade. Environmental groups, business interests and state agencies will convene in upcoming weeks to come up with a list of possible tax alternatives. Those alternatives could include increases in “an array of fees,” such as higher vehicle inspection fees, tire fees, lease taxes and heavy vehicle registration fees. Some form of carbon tax will also make the list of possible gas tax alternatives. VT Digger
3. REPORT ON EAST RD BEAVER POND: BOAT OUTING 10/18
From Pieter van Schaik:
Last week I finally acquired two flat bottomed aluminum row boats and took a boat out on the beaver pond yesterday with a smalI group. It was a bit of a hassle wending our way from the shore through the felled trees in the pond but in 1/2 hour we were cruising in open water.
Much of the beaver pond is covered with lily pads and they do make rowing more strenuous even with just three people in the boat. For this reason I have acquired two boats so that a small group of up to six people can be accommodated at any one time. Each boat has seating capacity for six people but that is too much weight for a leisurely outing on the beaver pond. Eventually we encountered a second species of lily pad and hundreds of salamanders .Years ago I saw two otters in the great blue heron rookery area but I have not been on the water enough to learn what fish, if any, are present.
My plan is to construct a small structure near the boat launch site for storage of oars and life jackets secured with a combination padlock with the same combination for that lock as for the locks securing the boats to trees with 3/8 chain. Each club member will be given the combination and will be able to access the beaver pond waters any time at their convenience. How workable this plan will prove to be remains to be seen.
The site I have finally selected for boat launch is a channel excavated by the beavers themselves located just 75 ft over flat terrain from the parking area under the Velco transmission line off East Rd. west of Caton Place camp ground. People are free to access the pond with their own boats with no motors and life jackets . Boating is restricted to post bird nesting season, which until further notice is set to begin on August 15.
Sunday ,Oct 18 from 9 AM -3 pm , if it is not raining, the two row boats and a canoe will be available on a pre registration basis by calling me, prior to Sat Oct 17 at 5 PM, and leaving a message with return phone number at 226 -7374.
This event is free and open to the general public.
In August Pieter conducted a tour of his nature preserve, including beaver pond. To see pictures of the preserve and the pond, go to The Dish.
4. EVENTS
Upcoming events for Cavendish include:
• Oct 18 (Sunday): Boat outing on Beaver Pond.
For more information on this and other events, go to the Cavendish Connects October Calendar. For regional events, check out the Okemo Valley Chamber of Commerce Calendar.