Cavendish Update 10/23/20: SB Mtg/ATVs/Halloween
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Voting Reminder: The Post Office recommends sending in your ballot no later than this Saturday, October 24. After that, drop your ballot at the town office. You can still vote in person on Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 3) or drop off your completed ballot at the Proctorsville Fire Dept (Cavendish’s official polling place) from 10-7.
10/23/20
1. Cavendish Select Board Meeting 10/19/20
2. Cavendish Info
3. ATVs: Not allowed on town roads
4. Cavendish Halloween
5. Covid-19 Update
6.Events
1.CAVENDISH SELECT BOARD MEETING 10/19/20: The Zoom meeting is now available at the Okemo Valley TV website.. The Vermont Journal also contains an article on the meeting.
• Approved
- Renewed ‘Tax Anticipation Note’ in the amount of $175,000.
- Appointment of Doug McBride to the Planning Commission
- Hiring Bazin Brothers for paving of Cavendish Gulf Rd and Stone Way for $99,600. Note work has begun on the Gulf Rd. Please use caution.
• Roads
- Town highway department will be working with the Crown Point team at Mack Molding in completing the culvert project on Mill St/parking lot project.
- Ditching is being completed and preparations are underway for winter. At this point, the sand has been delivered and “we’re as ready as we can be.”
- The mesh along the embankment on 131 is being left there with the expectation that the vegetation will begin to cover it in the spring. If it doesn’t, VTrans will hydro seed it then.
- Curbing for Cavendish Village is being explored.
• Town Wi-Fi Hotspots: Due to recent outages of TDS and VTel, it is apparent that the town needs “hotspots” for Internet connection during such events. TDS was down for several days due to a cable cut in New York. Cavendish Baptist Church and Proctorsville Fire Department are considered good options. David McGuire of Cavendish offered to donate wi-fi option points. Town Manager, Brendan McNamara, will follow up.
• The electric vehicle station, slated for the Proctorsville Green is moving forward with a final site visit this week and work beginning next week.
• Taxes are coming in at a reasonable rate despite concerns of financial impacts due to Covid.
2. CAVENDISH INFO
• CHS Newsletter Now online: The fall 2020 edition of the Cavendish Historical Society is now available at their blog.
• 6th Grade Calendar Raffle: Once again the CTES 6th grade will be doing a calendar raffle for the month of November. Tickets are $10 and you have 31 chances to win (there is a bonus day in December). Lots of great prizes, including $50, free range turkey, restaurant gift certificates, Scratch tickets and so much more. Tickets can be purchased at Community Fletcher Library, Brewfest Beverage (Ludlow), a 6th grade parent or contactless pay. For the latter, PayPal the teacher Lindsay.turgeon@trsu.edu Checks should be payable to CTES 6th grade.
• GMUSD Board Sets Graduation Date as State Cuts Required Days: The last day of school is set for Thursday June 17, 2021. This should be a secure date as snow days, unless there’s a power outage, will be remote learning days. Graduation has been set for June 18, 2021. Teacher and Support staff negotiators brought recommendations to the board that replace sick days for teachers with “absence” days that can be used for a variety of reasons and can be accumulated and a “one step” raise that amounts to around 2 percent. Support staff will receive four days of paid professional development, new policies around a sick leave bank and a “one step” raise that represents about 1.68 percent. Dennis Reilly of Cavendish was voted to fill the remaining term of Doug McBride who resigned several months ago. Chester Telegraph
• Black River Valley Senior Offering Curbside Meal Pickup: The Black River Valley Senior Center is closed for usual activities, but are open every day, but Tuesday, during the week for Meals on Wheels delivery or curbside pickup. Books are also available from the Senior Center’s lending library. Call the Senior Center 802-228-7421 to arrange meal pickup, to obtain a menu or to arrange a time to browse the lending library. For Meals on Wheels call Senior Solutions at 802-885-2669.
• $2.3 million program offers Vermonters free classes at state and community colleges: Free college classes and trainings are now available to any Vermonter whose job was trimmed or eliminated because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Legislature approved using $2.3 millions of federal money for the new Vermont State Colleges initiative. More than 100 courses are being offered across the four schools — Community College of Vermont, Castleton University, Vermont Technical College, and Northern Vermont University campuses in Lyndon and Johnson. The classes focus on high-demand careers, such as early childhood education, health care, manufacturing and business.
3. ATVS-Not allowed on town roads: With an influx of new property owners in VT, combined with COVID limiting opportunities, more people are using ATVs (all-terrain vehicle) and it’s creating problems in various parts of Cavendish.
ATV users please be aware of the following:
• ATVs are not allowed on state or town highways or roadways. While municipalities can sanction town roads for ATV use, Cavendish’s Select Board has made no exception and drivers need to be aware that in Cavendish no ATVs are allowed on town roads.
• You can only travel on any public land or body of water that has been designated for ATV use by the Secretary of Natural Resources. Cavendish has several natural resource areas, none of which have been approved for ATV use.
• You cannot operate an ATV within a cemetery, public or private
• You can cross a public highway at an angle approximately 90 degrees to the direction of the highway and at a place where no obstruction prevents a safe and quick crossing.
• You can ride on your own property or property where you have permission by the landowner.
• ATVs registered for agricultural purposes may be operated beside a public highway no closer than three feet from the traveled portion and only within the confines of the farm.
• The Vermont All Terrain Manual is a handy resource.
• Vermont’s ATV Sportsman’s Association provides helpful information about enjoying your sport including how to join VASA and use of the VASA trail systems.
• ATV Trail maps for VT, NH and Maine
As the ATV season draws to a close, if you like to snow mobile, please consider joining the Cavendish Green Mountain Snow Fleas. Their website and Facebook Page can help ensure a fun and safe winter season.
Whether its by ATV or snowmobile, please enjoy the scenery and be respectful of our landowners and wildlife.
4. CAVENDISH HALLOWEEN: Unlike previous years, CTES will not be hosting a Halloween party nor will there be a particular “town wide” event. Instead the Select Board has asked that the community follow the state’s Halloween guidelines which suggest the following ways to celebrate & trick or treat:
6-Foot Spaces: Keep a safe 6-foot distance between your family and other people who don’t live in your household. Bring a flashlight so you’re visible in the dark. You can get creative if you’re giving out candy. Some ideas are to have bags ready to grab on your front steps, or slide the treats down a candy slide.
Masks on Faces: Make sure you and your family are wearing a face mask or covering when you go out. Find a fun way to make it part of your costume. But don’t wear a costume mask over your face mask, which could make it harder to breathe.
Uncrowded Places: Keep your group small, and consider skipping crowded indoor parties.
Both Cavendish and Proctorsville fire departments will be “trick or treating.” Ludlow is planning a Trunk or Treat at the Ludlow Community Center, Main St. Ludlow from 4-7.
5. COVID UPDATE : Springfield Hospital has implemented a no visitor policy effective Oct. 16 due to an upswing in local Covid-19 cases that appear to be community acquired. Patients are still welcome for outpatient appointments, including lab and diagnostic imaging. However, no accompanying visitors are allowed unless the patient is a minor, at end of life care; or cognitively impaired.
Since last week, there have been 84 new cases, for a total of 1,987 cases in VT. There have been no deaths since July 23rd and there was only one case in the hospital for one day this past week.
Press Conferences
• Due to the Central Vermont Memorial Civic Center hockey outbreak, which has spread to 34 people and exposed one college, three K-12 schools and five workplaces, the Governor ordering Vermont ice rinks not to take any new reservations until Oct. 30. They are able to maintain current schedules.
• Cases of in-school transmission have been reported at the Union Elementary School in Montpelier. The school has moved to remote learning.
• New waivers will allow every VT student to receive free school meals.
• The state will be handing out $25-million in federal Lost Wage Assistance benefits later this month to about 3,400 people. These benefits can be up to $300 per person. It replaces the $600 that went away at the end of July.
• Winter Farmers’ Markets will be allowed to open according to new guidelines issued by the Agency of Agriculture.
• $76 million more in small business grants are coming to the hardest hit by the pandemic. This third round of grants will not be on a first-come, first-served basis this time. The state is looking at more than one month of losses this time around -- from March through September. The maximum grant size will be $300,000 but previous grant money will be factored into what businesses get this time. Grant amounts will be determined based on the number of applicants and there will be a two-week application process.
• The number of people allowed to visit VT without quarantine has been reduced from 1.8 down to 1.6 million. Only 3% of the country would qualify under VT’s criteria for admission to the state without quarantine.
• Levine talked about a new study on the drug Remdesivir that showed little or no effect on survival in COVID patients. He said the medical community hasn’t lost faith in it because it helps with symptoms in really sick people, but acknowledged the study showed it doesn’t help with mortality. The drug was just approved by the FDA as the first treatment for Covid-19.
• The state colleges have updated their spring semester colleges as of Oct. 15. They are very similar to the fall guidelines. Classes will not resume until Feb. 1.
Travel Restrictions: Quarantine is now required for nonessential travel between Vermont and New Hampshire’s Grafton County. This includes Lebanon and Hanover. The Canadian border is closed until Nov. 21; Mexican border continues to be closed
Going Remote: St. Michael’s College due to eight new positive Covid cases
Outbreaks: A wedding in Cambridge VT is responsible for seven Vermonters becoming infected and several non-residents.
6. UPCOMING EVENTS:
OCTOBER 24 (SATURDAY): Drug Take Back Day from 10-2. Closest drop-off sites: Chester Police Department; 556 Elm St.; Weathersfield Transfer Station (operated by the Weathersfield Police Department); 5024 Vt. Rt. 106 in Perkinsville; Springfield Police Department; 201 Clinton St.; Ludlow Police Department; 19 West Hill Road. FMI: (802) 457-5211. PLEASE NOTE: The following having “drop boxes” that are available year round: Ludlow Police Dept., Ludlow Pharmacy; Chester Police Dept., Springfield Pharmacy, Green Mountain Pharmacy and Springfield Police Department.
OCTOBER 31 (SATURDAY): HAPPY HALLOWEEN
NOVEMBER 3 (TUESDAY): ELECTION DAY! Voting takes place from 10-7 at the Proctorsville Fire Hall.
NOVEMBER 30 (MONDAY): Deadline for the GMP Covid 19 assistance. FMI: Department of Public Service website.
CA❤︎ENDSH-A SAFER SIX COMMUNITY
Covers mouth & nose
Always masks in public
Vermonters keep each other safe
Elbow coughs
Never forgets to wash hands
Disinfects common surfaces
Is alert for symptoms
Stays 6 feet apart
Has respect for personal space