Cavendish Update 11/12/21: SB Mtg/News/Events
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DEER SEASON BEGINS THIS WEEKEND
11/12/21
1. Cavendish Select Board Meeting 11/8/21
2. Cavendish Info
3. Covid update
4. Events
1. CAVENDISH SELECTBOARD MEETING 11/8/21: A video of Monday’s select board (SB) meeting is now available at the Okemo Valley TV website. Unapproved minutes will be posted to the town’s website and the VT Journal has filed a report on the meeting.
Items discussed/voted on:
• Junkyard Ordinance: Town Manager, Brendan McNamara, has spoken to other towns about how they implement such ordinances, which appears to be more by complaints received. The approach favored by the SB is to be equitable-everyone is accountable to the same standard. The board agreed to postpone further discussions until after the new year. Details of who, how and when to enforce the ordinance remains to be dealt with. In the interim, McNamara is working with various residents on cleaning up their property.
• Approved Snowmobile crossings for 2021/2022
• Use of ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Funding: Possible projects discussed include: digitize land records; updating the equipment at the Municipal water pump station; telemetry items for water plant; storm water and ditching; purchasing a hydro seeder for grass line ditches and replacing water meters. Project costs, as well as whether they meet the guidelines of the ARPA funding, need to be determined.
• Other Town Projects
- Replacing well 2’s pump -could tie into ARPA funding. Hoping to replace this week.
- New security system for the Town Garage is going in. Will include cameras. Looking to several grant sources to pay for project
- Installing two new plate glass doors on the town office.
- Still working on town personnel policy
- Two new digital speed signs will be placed in Cavendish Village to help control speeding, which has increased with the completion of the route 131 project.
2. CAVENDISH INFO
• Construction 131 Update: No report has been received by VTrans. New information will be posted to the Cavendish VT Facebook page.
• Board of Civil Authority Proposed House District Map: At Monday night’s Board of Board of Civil Authority meeting, state representative, John Arrison, discussed the proposed House District Map, which will expand the current district of Cavendish and Weathersfield to include Baltimore. To learn more about the proposed redistricting for Vermont, see Redistricting Panel Goes All in on Single-Member Vermont House Districts.
• Christmas Tree Sales: Cavendish fire department will be selling trees starting the weekend after Thanksgiving
• PFD Stuff a fire truck to benefit BRGN: The Proctorsville and Ludlow Fire Departments have teamed up to sponsor a “Stuff a Fire Truck” to benefit the Black River Good Neighbors Food Shelf. The event will take place on Dec. 4 (Saturday) 9-5 at Shaw’s Plaza
• Heartbreak: GM roars back in 2nd half of soccer final but falls short to Enosburg 4-3
• How Vermont Will Spend Money from the Federal Infrastructure Bill
• IRS announces standard tax deduction increase for tax year 2022 to adjust for inflation
3. COVID UPDATE: Weekly data on community cases showed 3 new cases for Cavendish (57 total); 3 for Ludlow (133 total); 5 Chester (219) and Springfield 25 (647 total).
The VT Dept of Health’s school report for Nov. 8, showed that CTES for the first time has had a case in the past week. A number of students are home in quarantine, with a second student testing positive the beginning of this week. No cases were reported for GMUHS for the same time period. There were 217 cases last week in Vermont schools and 1,502 since the start of the school year.
Note that cases in schools are a reflection of Covid in the general community. In the last two weeks of reported data, there have been 9 new cases among Cavendish residents.
IT’S MORE THAN NUMBERS: With the Governor and his team once again wearing masks at Tuesday’s press conference, the discussion was on a post Halloween surge.
According to Tuesday’s report, VT cases have increased 42% in the past week and increased 55% over the last 14 days. VT has the ninth-highest case rate overall in the country. VT hospitalizations and deaths have remained high and the forecast is it will remain that way for the coming weeks.
As if to prove the point, yesterday 11/11/21, the one daily total was 591 new cases. There are currently 53 people hospitalized, with 14 in the ICU.
While being unvaccinated leads the reasons for becoming infected, there are more breakthrough cases. In part this can be explained because VT vaccinated early and by the time the Delta variant appeared, the effectiveness of the vaccines was starting to wane, with Johnson N Johnson starting to wane just two months after the initial injection. Fortunately, even with waning, the vaccines are effective in significantly reducing the risk of hospitalization and death.
The highest rate of new infections is occurring among the 5-11 year old population, which is now available for vaccination. Approximately 30% of this population has been registered for vaccination, with first doses starting last week.
VT deaths are one of the lowest in the country. However, this figure does not speak to the demands on VT’s health care system now and in the months/years to come. The Governor spoke at length about concerns of having sufficient ICU beds for the state.
Many people postponed care during the pandemic and are now sicker, requiring a higher level of care. With the surge in Covid cases, the state could reach a point where there are no ICU beds for those with emergent needs such as a heart attack or accident.
There are now “long hauler” clinics at Dartmouth and University of VT for patients who continue to have Covid symptoms four weeks after the initial infection. Studies show Long haul COVID-19 afflicts 1 in 4 COVID-19 patients, regardless of severity. This would mean that of the more than 43,000 cases of Covid that have occurred in VT, potentially 11,000 will become “long haulers.” It does not appear to matter whether non-hospitalized patients had more severe cases of COVID-19, mild cases or even cases that caused no symptoms at all. While some patients will make progress, it’s very slow. This is not just an adult problem as it’s now being reported in children. Some experts warn that it is ''our next public health disaster in the making."
MASKS: The Governor continues to ignore the legislature’s pleas to reinstate the mask mandate, as it requires a “state or emergency.” Instead, he and his team continue to strongly recommend “personal responsibility” and the wearing of masks indoors regardless of vaccine status. The Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) is now asking municipalities to create their own mask mandates. Read more Seeing no action from governor, Vt. Legislature plans for targeted mask mandates
GET A BOOSTER/VACCINE: Locally boosters are available at Rite Aid-register at their website and the Ludlow Health Center 802-228-8867. First, second and booster doses are available at walk-in Vaccine Clinics. Be sure to note the “vaccine type” column. You can also register through the state website or by calling 855-722-7878.
For children 5-11: Vaccination clinic at Cavendish Town Elementary School on Monday Nov. 15th. If you are interested in having your child vaccinated, register online. Parents who have no internet access can call 855-722-7878. To learn more about vaccines for children, and to make an appointment, go to the VT Dept. of Health website. You can make an appointment on line or call 855-722-7878.
LITERATURE/NEWS REVIEW
• COVID-19 Vaccines Provide 5 Times the Protection of Natural Immunity
• Pfizer Says Covid-19 Pill Cuts Hospitalization and Death Risk by Nearly 90 Percent
• Phase 3 Study of Merck’s Antiviral Molnupiravir: An investigational oral antiviral medicine reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 50% in patients with mild-to-moderate Covid-19
4. EVENTS
NOVEMBER 13 (SATURDAY)-28 (SUNDAY): Deer Season
NOVEMBER 15 (MONDAY): 2nd Quarter Property Taxes Due
- CTES School vaccination clinic for children 5-11
NOVEMBER 18 (THURSDAY): Cavendish Volunteer Fire Department’s “Stop and Shop” Tupperware sale from 5-6 pm. FMI: Rebecca Nareau 802-226-7790
NOVEMBER 19 -21 (FRIDAY-SUNDAY):Okemo Ski & Swap, Round House at Jackson Gore Inn. Friday 4-7 pm; Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 9-1.
NOVEMBER 25 (THURSDAY): HAPPY THANKSGIVING Town Office Closed
NOVEMBER 26 (FRIDAY): Town Office closed
DECEMBER 4 (SATURDAY): Stuff a Fire Truck Food Drive for Black River Good Neighbors Food Shelf. From 9-5 at Shaw’s Parking Lot. This is being sponsored by Proctorsville and Ludlow Fire Departments.
DECEMBER 12 (SUNDAY): Christmas Ghost Walk-Proctorsville. 7 pm, meet at the Proctorsville War Memorial. Free and open to the public. FMI: 802-226-7807.
CA❤︎ENDSH VAXXING & MASKING TO PROTECT SELF & OTHERS