Cavendish Update 2/4/22: Elections/News/Events
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2/4/22
1. Cavendish Info
2. Ludlow Rotary Hears from Cavendish Town Manager
3. Covid update
4. Events
1. CAVENDISH INFO
• Cavendish Open Elected Positions - Deadline Extended: Due to Town Meeting being moved to March 28th, 2022, filing a “consent of candidate” form, if you are interested in running for a Town elected position, has been extended to 5 pm Monday, February 21, 2022. It is not necessary to submit a petition signed by the voters in order to run this year. The list of open elected positions for the Town of Cavendish is available by clicking here. Please call the Town Clerk’s Office at 802-226-7292 if you are interested in any of these positions.
• GMUSD approves budget and support staff agreement: During their Jan. 20 meeting, the Green Mountain Unified School District approved their FY23 budget, district support staff agreement, postponed their annual meeting date, and got the latest update on how the district is faring under the statewide change in school Covid testing. The board approved the total of $14,705,015, which represents a 3.26 percent increase and an anticipated tax rate of $1.45. The cost per equalized pupil is $18,770, which is approximately $1200 under the state threshold of $19,997. Districts that go over the state threshold face penalties. VT Journal
• Informational Meeting for GMUSD Budget: The Green Mountain Unified School District (GMUHS) informational meeting will be on Feb. 24, 6 pm via Zoom. Joe Fromberger, board chair, will be at the GMUHS library along with Okemo Valley TV to coordinate the broadcast. The GMUHS budget is available at the TRSU website. The Twin Rivers Supervisory Union Budget is also available online. Voting for the school budget will be by Australian Ballot on March 1 (Tuesday) at the Proctorsville Fire Dept from 10-7.
• CHS Briefs for Feb: If you didn’t get a chance to read the latest ghost story from the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS), you can read it along with other news from CHS.
• Ludlow proposes study evaluating micro transit for area: The Town of Ludlow has proposed a draft micro transit study for the Ludlow/Okemo area. The Town of Ludlow partnered with the Mount Ascutney Regional Commission to secure a grant allowing them to conduct a study evaluating the feasibility of micro transit to address some of the region’s mobility needs that are flexible in scale and in terms of schedule. They are seeking input from the community on this draft micro transit study. Submit your comments before the deadline of Monday, Feb. 7, 2022 to Otis Munroe at MARC via email: omunroe@marcvt.org.
• Improved E Books Access Statewide: The Vermont Department of Libraries (VTLIB) is pleased to announce agreements with two eBook and eAudiobook content providers, LYRASIS, Inc. and Baker & Taylor. Both vendors provide a huge range of eContent from a wide variety of publishers. VTLIB contracted with LYRASIS, Inc. to provide free access to their Palace app to all Vermonters through their local public libraries. The Palace app aggregates eBook and eAudiobook content from multiple vendors into a single interface, increasing access, ease of use, and appeal. Palace will launch with a large collection of eBooks and eAudiobooks already in place. The Palace app will access content from Baker & Taylor as well as from Listen Up Vermont! (LUV), the statewide eBook and eAudiobook platform administered by the Green Mountain Library Consortium (GMLC).
• VT Spray Neuter Incentive Program VSNIP helps financially challenged Vermont residents spay/neuter cats and dogs for $27.00.
2. LUDLOW ROTARY HEARS FROM CAVENDISH TOWN MANAGER : The February 1 meeting of the Ludlow Rotary Club (LRC) featured Brendan McNamara, Cavendish Town Manager. He reported there are concerns about the aging infrastructure in the water and sewer systems as well as the need for larger stormwater capacity. He wants the Town to be ahead of any concerns rather than reacting to a crisis. The Town is looking at the use of Covid recovery funds in ARPA to address some of the issues. As Town Manager for the past several years, McNamara spent his first five years continuing projects that were underway or in the planning stages from the prior Town Manager Richard Svec. Since then, he has enjoyed addressing new issues and projects.
Asked about the repaving of VT 131, McNamara stated he is glad it is completed and while it wasn’t pleasant to experience, the finished project is much nicer than the potholes. Regarding broadband, he said service to the community is spotty and inconsistent. It is an issue the Town is trying to address. When asked about increase in residents due to the pandemic, he noted that judging by the increase volume at the transfer station, there are several new residents.
McNamara is a lifelong Cavendish resident who is pleased to be able to serve his home town in this capacity. He is a Green Mountain High School and Keene State College alum.
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 January 26, Cavendish and all surrounding towns, with the exception of Chester, have seen a decline in cases.
State: It appears that Vermont is on the backside of the omicron variant. Tuesday’s modeling reports Cases in Vermont this week plummeted by more than 3,000—a decrease of 40%. In the last two weeks, cases have fallen 56%. Forecasts predict these trends will continue…Vermont hospitals remain short-staffed with high inpatient counts. January 2022 was tied for the second-deadliest month of the pandemic in Vermont with 62 fatalities. However, as Omicron became dominant and cases soared, the proportion of infections resulting in a fatality dropped to 0.15%—the lowest figure since Fall 2020 when no deaths were reported for three straight months…While the rate of death for those under 70 is less than 1% (and close to zero for younger age groups), the case fatality rate for the oldest Vermonters is over 7%...Across the US, the average weekly chance of a boosted person dying of Covid was about one in a million… but older and unvaccinated Vermonters face increased risk from the virus. For the latter group, state data continues to show the risk of death is ten-fold that of boosted Vermonters.
At Tuesday’s press conference, health commissioner Mark Levine spoke about the hope that we’re moving into a new phase of Covid, where it becomes “endemic,” a manageable disease similar to flu. Since 2020, a lot has been learned about prevention and treatment. The message from the state is it’s time to “get back to normal.” What that “new normal” will look like will depend on a number of issues, including what the next variant will be like.
Seropositivity, the percentage of PCR tests that are positive, continues to drop and yesterday was down to 9%. Deaths continue to rise and currently stands at 548. Jan. 31 (Monday) was the first day hospitalizations dropped below 100 since Jan. 13.
FREE VACCINE/BOOSTER CLINIC: There will be a free clinic at the Cavendish Volunteer Fire Department Monday, February 7 from 4-6 pm. No appointment needed. For other vaccine/booster pop up clinics, click here.
FREE MASKS: Adult and children size KN95s will be distributed at the Feb. 7 vaccine clinic. They can also be picked up-one per person-Monday through Saturday from 9-4 at the Cavendish Fire Dept.
OTHER NEWS
• In Super-Vaxxed Vermont, Covid Strikes — But Packs Far Less Punch: Vermont serves as a window into what’s possible as the U.S. learns to live with covid. Although nearly universal vaccination could not keep the highly mutated omicron variant from sweeping through the state, Vermont’s collective measures do appear to be protecting residents from the worst of the contagion’s damage. Vermont’s hospitalization rates, while higher than last winter’s peak, still rank last in the nation. And overall death rates also rank comparatively low.
• The New Clues About Who Will Develop Long Covid
• Over-the-counter COVID tests will soon be free for Medicare recipients
4. EVENTS
FEBRUARY 5 (SATURDAY): Once Upon a Time, a fairy tale event at the Cavendish Library from 2-3 pm at the Cavendish Town Elementary School. FMI: 802-226-7503
FEBRUARY 7 (MONDAY): Free Vaccination/booster clinic at the Cavendish Volunteer Fire Dept. 4-6 PM
FEBRARY 13 (SUNDAY): Dinner and a Movie at the Cavendish Library. Queen Bee, 1 pm FMI: 802-226-7503
FEBRUARY 14 (MONDAY): Happy Valentine’s Day
- Select Board Meeting
FEBRUARY 15 (TUESDAY): 3RD Quarter Property Taxes Due
FEBRUARY 16 (WEDNESDAY): Cavendish Library Book Club meets at 7 pm. This month’s book is DogTripping. FMI: 802-226-7503
FEBRUARY 21 (MONDAY): President’s Day. Town Office Closed
FEBRUARY 21 (MONDAY)-25 (FRIDAY): School winter break.
FEBRUARY 24 (THURSDAY): GMUSD Informational Budget Meeting, 6 pm via Zoom.
FEBRUARY 27 (SUNDAY): A visit with David Rosenfelt, 1 pm Cavendish Library. FMI: 802-226-7503
MARCH 1 (TUESDAY) Mardi Gras
CA❤︎ENDSH VAXXING, BOOSTING & MASKING TO PROTECT SELF & OTHERS
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