CHESTER, Vt. – Prior to their Wednesday, Nov. 1 meeting, the Chester Selectboard met in their capacity as water and wastewater commissioners, to set new water and sewer rates for the town. Town manager Julie Hance explained that Chester had not raised water or sewer rates in a number of years, and that these rate increases were meant to bring Chester’s rates up to date with current operating costs.
The board voted to raise the water base rate by $3, to $67, and to raise the usage rate by $0.50, to $2. Sewer rates had been raised more recently, and as such the base rate was not increased. The usage rate was increased by $0.25, to $4.75.
The board went on to a discussion of short-term rentals (STRs), keeping it short due to two members of the board being absent. Planning Commission Chair Hugh Quinn was present at the meeting, and told the board that he had compiled a list of what he felt were the goals of the STR discussion at the joint meeting of the planning commission and the selectboard, and offered to share those with the selectboard for their consideration. Selectboard Chair Arne Jonynas suggested that another joint meeting may be in order.
The board then heard from the chiefs of the Chester Police Department, Ambulance Service, and Fire Department, concerning their 2024 general fund budget. The chiefs outlined the ways in which their departments utilize the funds they are granted, generate revenue, upcoming needs, as well as grants and other ways in which they have covered costs to their departments without resorting to taxpayers’ money. All departments have seen an upward trend in the number of service calls they receive yearly, for the past several years. “We’re going up anywhere from 10-20% on calls every single year,” Fire Chief Matthew Wilson told the board. “When I took over as chief 10 years ago, we ran 72 calls. Last year, we ran 255 calls.”
Jonynas thanked the department heads for their service to the town, and their diligence in seeking ways of funding their departments to keep costs to the taxpayers low, saying, “I just want to thank all the first responders…for the job that you guys do, and the fact that you are always looking for ways…of getting revenue without that being the main objective, [which is] the safety of the people of the town.”
Finally, the board moved on to their discussion of Chester’s flood response and forthcoming emergency response initiatives. Frank Kelley, a member of Chester’s Citizen Advisory Committee, which acts as a liaison between the citizens and the police department and other public safety agencies in Chester, spoke to the board regarding a flood response survey which the committee was developing and hoped to make available to citizens of Chester in the near future. The survey would ask about people’s experiences with Chester’s emergency response in the wake of the July 10 flood, in order to gather feedback for future improvements to Chester’s readiness for floods and other emergency events. Kelley also noted that the advisory committee had set up an email account, and was also working on an online form through which townspeople could communicate with the committee.
Alicia DiPietro, police department administrator, briefed the board on Chester’s efforts to establish an emergency response operation center, which would bring together the public safety department heads and town personnel who are critical during an unfolding disaster, under one roof, to better facilitate communication, planning, and execution of the response. This effort also involves infrastructure updates, such as creating redundancy in systems like radio transmission towers, in order to maintain communication channels between personnel should one tower be rendered inoperable.
DiPietro also told the board that lack of personnel to handle things such as road closures and redirecting traffic during the flood has led to discussion of a community emergency response team (CERT). “They are not law enforcement,” DiPietro said, “but they are citizens who volunteer, who get special training…to become part of the public safety factor, and they can do things like put out signage, they can help with traffic control.”
The need for a shelter during emergencies other than the high school was also discussed, as the high school had proven to have many drawbacks during previous emergencies, including being cut off by floodwaters during the recent flood.
The Chester Selectboard’s next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 6:30 p.m.