Cavendish Update 1/14/22: SB Mtg/News
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1/14/22
1. Cavendish Select Board Meeting 1/10/22
2. Cavendish Info
3. Covid update
4. Events
Wind Chill Warning: From 7 pm Tonight to 4 pm Saturday. Wind chill temps as low as 35 to 45 below zero.
1.CAVENDISH SELECT BOARD MEETING 1/10/22: A video of Monday night’s Select Board (SB) meeting is available at the Okemo Valley TV website. Unapproved minutes will be posted to the Cavendish Municipal website.
Discussed/Acted On
• Request from Black River Valley Senior Center: As part of the budgetary process, Black River Valley Senior is requesting $5,000 to cover the costs for 10 people in Cavendish who receive Meals on Wheels.
• Recent ACT 250 ruling: Recently the VT Supreme Court ruled that projects less than an acre in towns without local zoning regulations don’t need Act 250 permits. While this ruling pertains to the proposed stone quarry at the end of Tierney Rd, the SB, town and Planning Commission are aware that the ruling has much broader implications for Cavendish, which does not have zoning. Cavendish’s state rep John Arrison was on hand and said the legislature needs to update Act 250, which is now 50 years old. While the initial goal was to control the development of the ski areas, today’s goal is to concentrate development within the villages and reduce sprawl. Note: On Wednesday the Supreme Court reheard arguments, with Act 250 administrators and environmental groups asking the justices to reconsider their decision regarding the Stone quarry. A video of the hearing is available online and WCAX had a brief report. State Rep. Amy Sheldon introduced a bill last week that would erase the clause in the law under debate. Legislature, Supreme Court Consider Act 250’s power in towns with limited land use regulation.
• Town Meeting Due to the recent increase in Covid cases, legislation has been passed that Town Meeting can be held virtually, in person, hybrid or on a different date. Last year Cavendish’s Town Meeting was an informational meeting via Zoom with voting taking place by Australian Ballot 10 days later. Few participated in the meeting, but a number of voters went to the polls. This year Town Meeting will be March 1. While there was no decision about town meeting, it was noted that SB meetings can be completely virtual or a hybrid. Town Manager, Brendan McNamara noted that he is working with Okemo Valley TV to equip the town’s conference room so it can be used for hybrid meetings.
• ‘Right of Way Agreement’ with Green Mountain Railroad (GMR). As GMR will be replacing the crossing at 131 and 103 the summer of 2023, they want to purchase right of ways in order to bring a crane down Greven Rd Extension. McNamara needs more specifics from VTrans before the SB approves the agreement.
• ‘Certificate of Highway Miles’ Approved as written
• Animal Control Issue- dogs on Rogers Ave. While not vicious dogs, they run all over the town, into traffic and create a nuisance. In the last year and a half the dogs been taken to the pound at least six times. McNamara has tried to work with the family to resolve the issue. Fines levied against the owner are now up to $7,000, which McNamara was willing to wave if the family took the dogs back to NY, as the son was out of town. Michael Mills is now back on Rogers Drive and the dogs haven’t gotten out since he returned. However, given past history, it’s likely they will return to running the streets. This has been an ongoing issue for the last eight years. It was agreed that McNamara should talk to the town’s attorney.
• Fire Warden: Voted to accept Roger Sheehan’s resignation as Fire Warden with regret and thanks. Approved Chris Marks as the new Fire Warden.
• Town Budget: McNamara distributed the first working draft of the FY ’22-’23 Budget.
• Highway Dept: Town crew is back to full staff. The current Trackless, used for cleaning sidewalks, is in need of replacement, the cost of which could range from $52,000 to over $100,000. An alarm and security system is now in place at the Town Garage
2. CAVENDISH INFO
• Tree of Remembrance: The Tree of Remembrance shines brightly in Veteran’s Park, welcoming us all to a New Year filled with good health, happiness, and maybe the end of Covid. Let us all remember our loved ones by making a contribution to the Okemo Valley Women’s Club fundraiser. By making a donation to the Tree of Remembrance and naming a loved one, you will contribute to a scholarship given to a deserving senior from Ludlow, Mount Holly, Cavendish, or Proctorvillle.
• Chester Tables Cannabis From Town Meeting Vote
• Ludlow Votes No Again on Cannabis: This week, Ludlow once again voted against having a cannabis store-249 "no", versus 204 "yes."
• Ludlow Rotary Hears Plans for Divided Sky: Melani Gulde, program director for Divided Sky Foundation, spoke about plans for the future drug and alcohol recovery program on Fox Lane in Ludlow.
• Lucky Mackenzie Spay/Neuter Clinic: Their next clinic is Feb. 7. For more information, please see their website.
3. COVID UPDATE: For local information on testing, vaccinations, boosters, notifying contacts as well as other resources, including for Long Covid, please see the Cavendish COVID-19 Resource Guide.
WEEKLY DATA:
Cavendish & Surrounding Towns: For the week ending Jan.5, Cavendish had 19 new cases (114 total); Ludlow 33 (219); Chester 40 (428); Springfield 57 (1,374) and Weathersfield 1 (190).
Schools: The state’s Jan. 10 report shows that CTES had one new case (4 total) as did Chester Elementary (16 total). GMUHS had 5 (26 total) while Ludlow Elementary had none. There were 322 new cases in VT schools in the last 7 days with a cumulative total of 3,610.
Area Nursing Homes: Springfield Rivers Nursing & Rehab is reported to have 10 cumulative cases, an increase in one case from the prior week.
State: As a result of a lab reporting issue, from Jan 7-10,, roughly 40,000 lab results, of which 4,375 were positive, had to be redistributed. The states “dashboard” was not updated until Wednesday, where the data saw a new case record with almost 3,000 new cases on Friday Jan. 7. Hospitalizations hit a new record with over 100 on Monday. As of yesterday, which reported 1,963 new cases, VT has 91 people in the hospital, with 28 in the ICU. This month has seen seven new deaths, bringing the state total to 490. Note. Modeling slides presented on Tuesday have not been made available on the Dept. of Financial Regulation’s website.
With more than 10,000 new COVID cases in just the last week, and forecasts of up to 6,000 new cases a day, the state is preparing for the impact of possible mass quarantines. The next few weeks in Vermont are easily the most challenging of the pandemic so far,” reports Jeff Tieman, president of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems. Staffing shortage could have numerous consequences. “Postponing or canceling elective procedures, reassigning nurse leaders to work at the bedside, moving people to different units in the hospital, hiring travelers which is difficult and expensive.”
OMICRON REQUIRES A SHIFT IN TESTING & CONTACT TRACING: What worked for Delta doesn’t work for Omicron. Spreading like wildfire, Health Commissioner Mark Levine noted on Tuesday, “Many are talking now about not if but when,” they will be infected with this variant.
Due to omicron’s high rate of transmission and shorter incubation period, the state is opting out of contact tracing, as have many other states. By the time someone tests positive on a PCR, which takes 1-3 days for results, close contacts would already be infected. Instead, the state is asking individuals who test positive to inform their close contacts ASAP. The state will do limited contact tracing, such as for outbreaks.
In addition, more emphasis is being placed on the use of rapid antigen tests at home, along with the use of the LAMP test in place of the PCR. Where time is of the essence, the rapid test provides results in about 15 minutes, while the LAMP, which is considered equivalent to the PCR and can be used for travel purposes, provides results in under an hour. However, not all test sites offer LAMP. As was noted by the state in December, by March the majority of testing in VT will be done at home or with a LAMP, which if available, can be administered at home.
As Covid goes from pandemic to endemic- it becomes part of daily life much like the flu-a different approach is being outlined for VT. Instead of relying on the state to handle much of the response, the individual will have more of the responsibility via home testing and notifying contacts.
The Vermont Agency of Education noted a week ago In 2022, the way testing for COVID-19 looks in Vermont schools will be different. These changes are necessary due to the speed at which the Omicron variant transmits. Many of the tools that we have used successfully in the past are no longer a good use of resources because they cannot keep pace with how quickly Omicron spreads.
Parents will be notified when a student tests positive in their child’s classroom. Children who are close contacts but unvaccinated can remain in school as long as their parents/guardian test them daily with a rapid antigen test. Test kits will be provided by the school. Note that school nurses will be able to test anyone in the school community with a rapid antigen or LAMP test.
PCR surveillance at schools is being dropped. As noted by Dr. Levine, “We believe PCR surveillance testing has lost much of its value.”
On Wednesday, the state launched its Say Yes Covid Test, which will send two rapid antigen kits (two tests in each kit) to Vermont families for free. Within five hours, supplies were gone (350,000 kits). Note if you ordered the kits, they will arrive in 1-2 weeks. Kits should not be left outside in mail boxes overnight. If you are going to be gone during this time, please have someone check your mail box.
On Wednesday, the state began distribution of rapid tests to child care programs, who can learn more about Test for Tots by clicking here.
To move forward the message is vaccinate/boost; use a good quality mask, such as N95s, stay home when sick and test frequently.
AT HOME TESTING COVERED BY INSURANCE: Starting Jan. 15, Americans who are covered by a health insurance plan can receive reimbursement when they buy over the counter COVID-19 diagnostic tests that are authorized or approved by the FDA. This means that most people with private health coverage can go online or to a store, buy a test, and either get it covered up-front or through reimbursement by submitting a claim to their plan, the White House said. Insurance companies and group health plans will cover eight free at-home tests per person per month, the White House said. A family of four on the same health plan, for instance, could be covered for 32 tests per month. "We are requiring insurers and group health plans to make tests free for millions of Americans. This is all part of our overall strategy to ramp-up access to easy-to-use, at-home tests at no cost," Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement. NOTE: Those on Medicare and Medicaid are not covered under this program. However, the President announced yesterday that free tests and masks can be ordered online next week. The website has yet to be launched.
OTHER NEWS
• CDC designates Canada a ‘highest risk’ travel area: The CDC advises people to avoid traveling to countries rated level 4. Canada now joins more than 80 other destinations in being a Level 4.
• Omicron Waves Appears to Slow in NYC and Major Metropolitan Areas
• Bidden Announces Plans to Buy 500,000 million more Covid tests and to offer free masks Details on both to be announced next week.
4. EVENTS
JANUARY 15 (SATURDAY): Monthly Utility bills due
JANUARY 17 (MONDAY): Martin Luther King’s Day Town Officer Closed
CA❤︎ENDSH VAXXING, BOOSTING & MASKING TO PROTECT SELF & OTHERS