CAVENDISH, Vt. – The Cavendish Selectboard did not renew the city’s mask mandate during the Feb. 14 session. The city also plans to revise its speed ordinance and prepare for upcoming warm-weather projects.
The original mask “rule” had been decided at the December 13 selection committee meeting and had remained in effect for 45 days, after which it had to be renewed in order to continue.
The four board members present were split on the issue, with Bob Glidden and George Timko voting against the extension and Mike Ripley and Sandy Russo voting in favour. Since no voting was approved either way, the mask rule remains in force.
City Manager Brendan McNamara said he believed the majority of people would continue to wear masks themselves as a precaution. Businesses can still post mask requirements if they choose.
The city has decided to revise the city’s speed enforcement ordinance, which has been in effect since early 2008. According to the Sheriff’s Department, a number of speeding violations are subject to penalties because the speed on the city’s byways, which is 35 mph, is not specifically listed in the municipal ordinance and is not marked with a speed limit sign.
McNamara will restate the ordinance to include the speed limits of all roads, posted and unposted. Changing the ordinance requires a warning, a public hearing, and then the Selectboard can adopt the change. He expects the update to be complete by summer.
The city expects to finalize the budget in preparation for the town hall meeting this week. The hybrid meeting will be held Monday, March 28 via Zoom and in person at Cavendish Town Elementary School, with all voting the following day, Tuesday, March 29, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Proctorsville Fire Station take place by Australian vote. A link to the meeting will be posted on Cavendish Town’s website.
Voting on school budgets, including the Green Mountain Unified School District budget, which includes CTES, Green Mountain Union Middle/High School and Chester Andover Elementary School, and the River Valley Technical School budget, is still taking place at the original city meeting on Tuesday, March 1, at the Proctorsville Fire Station from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The GMUSD Budget briefing is scheduled for Thursday, February 24 at 6 p.m. via Zoom or in person at GMUHS. The link to this meeting can be found on the TRSU website.
Plans have begun for a summer cleanup of the site of Cavendish’s former highway garage, located adjacent to the Cavendish Historical Society building on Main Street. The plans include smoothing and leveling the area, watering the site and the CHS building, transporting a fuel tank and salvageable parts of the pole barn to the site of the new city garage, and testing the soil to ensure a public park could possibly go there.
Cavendish Streetscapes and local landscape architect Tim Calabrese are working on a design for parking lots and the potential park, and McNamara said he is working with regional planning to secure funds that may be available for site testing. He said he wants to make sure the potential park site is contamination-free before proceeding.
In the city manager’s report, McNamara said all of the cameras and alarms in the city garage were installed in response to two previous burglaries.
A ruling on Act 250 came from the Vermont Supreme Court, which appears to have reverted to its original interpretation of the statute that any property larger than one acre requires an Act 250 review. McNamara said it gives cities that don’t have zoning, like Cavendish, more control.
The city is working with Ludlow Electric to convert Proctorsville’s streetlights to LED bulbs, which will provide significant cost savings. You should also be able to get discounts from Efficiency Vermont to help with some of the upfront costs.
The e-charging station on Proctorsville Green is said to cost users money for a fee. In the first year, the city covered all costs for the energy and for the e-charging station, which was to be tracked via a GPS system. A credit card reader is now installed on the charging unit, meaning that these costs are now borne by users.
The next regular Cavendish Selectboard meeting is scheduled for Monday 14th March at 6.30pm in the Cavendish Town Office.
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