CHESTER, Vt. – During the Chester Selectboard’s May 6 meeting, Town Manager Julie Hance told the board that the town’s auditing firm, RHR Smith, had assured her that their review of the town’s finances in 2024 and 2025 showed no deficit. Hance told the board at a previous meeting that the 2024 audit, completed in June 2025, had showed a deficit, which Hance did not notice until October of the same year and about which the auditors had not alerted her. However, Hance explained at a previous meeting that the 2024 audit also contained some irregularities, and so it was decided that it would be reviewed while RHR Smith also completed the audit for 2025. That process is still ongoing, but Hance said that the auditors were confident at this point that there is no deficit.
The board also heard from Courtlandt Pennell, one of Chester’s trustees of public funds, who explained to the board that the trustees had initiated a process by which nonprofit organizations in Chester can apply for grant money from the public funds. Pennell explained that, over the town’s history, the trustees have managed the public funds – which originate from various sources, such as donations, bequeathments, and the 1984 sale of mineral rights to Cyprus Minerals – and because of this, the town is now in a position to utilize those funds to aid the community through grants. To that end, Pennell told the board that the trustees have created a new mission statement over the previous year, which states that the trustees will manage and disperse the public funds to “benefit the welfare, education, and cemetery needs of the community.” The trustees will accept grants from 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations which serve the Chester community, with two grant cycles per year, ending on May 30 and Nov. 30.
Selectboard Chair Lee Gustafson thanked Pennell for his and the other trustees’ work on this issue, saying that, while the town had previously utilized the funds on an as-needed basis, he appreciated that there is now consistent guidance in place for the use of and access to the funds.
Moving on, the board heard from Tim Jones, of Green Mountain Power (GMP), about the upgrades to and burial of power lines along Lovers Lane. While Jones assured the board that GMP would restore the road and culverts to “as-good or better” condition than that in which they started, the board expressed concern about the kind of road material GMP would utilize to do so. Hance noted that, after the 2023 floods, Highway Director Kirby Putnam had made the decision to use a material called Shur-Pak, and that he attributed the roads’ increased durability during subsequent mud seasons to its use. GMP agreed to use this material when reconstructing the portions of the road which are disturbed during the project, and the language in the project proposal was updated to reflect that. Jones also told the board that the project would not begin until the 2027 construction season.
The board also discussed sending a letter to the Vermont Legislature expressing their disapproval of portions of Act 181, specifically Tier 3 and the so-called “Road Rule.” At the time of the meeting, the legislature was already in the process of repealing these portions of the act due to large-scale public backlash across the state to what was seen as overly restrictive curbs on landowners’ use of their properties. However, Vice Chair Arne Jonynas noted that the repeal was not yet finalized, and so he voiced support for sending the letter urging the legislature to move forward with the repeal.
The board did acknowledge, however, that portions of Act 181, particularly Tier 1, which allows for bypassing of Act 250 review for projects within designated town centers which meet certain criteria, are beneficial to Chester. Because of this, it was the general consensus that only the offending portions of Act 181 should be repealed.
“The part I struggle with just tossing the whole thing is that there are some highly sensitive ecological areas that I don’t think we as a town have the scientific background to manage,” said board member Tim Roper, while subsequently acknowledging that he does not believe the state has done well on this front, either. However, he said, Act 250 “is responsible for the landscape we see in Vermont today.”
Ultimately, the board decided they would send their notes for revision of the current draft of the letter to Hance, and she and Gustafson would revise it for the board’s review at their next meeting.
Finally, the board adopted a Code of Ethics, Investigation, and Enforcement ordinance, which lays out the process for investigation of ethics complaints against municipal employees; a conflict of interest policy, which sets guidelines concerning when board members are expected to recuse themselves from a vote to avoid influencing a matter which may substantially benefit them personally; and an updated fee schedule for municipal services, which can be viewed at www.chestervt.gov/forms.html (scroll to the bottom and click on “View full Fee Schedule.”).
The Chester Selectboard next meets on Wednesday, May 20, at 6:30 p.m., at the Chester Town Hall.