Cavendish Update 7/12/24: SB Mtg/Film/Warning/Talk/News/Events
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The Forgotten, a documentary film from Red Vault Productions (Wendy & Stefan of Depot Street, Proctorsville) is about the July 2023 floods that devastate a street but not the community spirit. The film will be screened Saturday night (July 13) approximately 8:45 pm at The Crow, 73 Depot St. It’s BYO chair and beverage. People will be gathering starting around 7:30.
The Town Office will be closed on Tuesday, July 16, 2024 in order to print 2024-2025 property tax bills. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. The office will be open regular hours the rest of the week.
Helping our neighbors to the North: While Cavendish dodged a bullet from Beryl, many of those communities that were heavily damaged in VT in 2023, were hit again. If you can volunteer to help clean up sign up at Vermont.gov/volunteer or go through a local group. To donate to flood recovery through the state, call 888-653-7715 or e-mail donations@vermont.gov . We will be posting to Facebook other options in the coming week. If you are organizing fundraising or volunteers, e-mail cavendishconnects@gmail.com and we will post.
7/12/24
1. Cavendish Select Board Meeting 7/8/24
2. 18th Century Rural Vermont Healers
3. VT Warning and Primary Election
4. Cavendish Related News
5. Events Calendar
1.CAVENDISH SELECT BOARD MEETING 7/8/24: Cavendish Select Board (SB) meetings are videotaped by Okemo Valley TV and available at their website. Unapproved minutes are available at the Town Website.
A significant portion of Monday’s SB meeting pertained to the school restructuring being discussed by the Green Mountain Unified School District (GMUSD). Wendi Dowst-McNaughton, along with two of the Cavendish representatives to the GMUSD, Kate Lamphere and Steve Parini, and other community members, thought it was important that the SB understand the changes being discussed by the GMUSD and the ramifications it could have on the town. As Steve Parini said to the board about CTES, “you build it, they usurped it.”
The catalyst for coming to the SB, was the proposed plan to move the 6th grades from CTES, and Chester Andover Elementary, to Green Mountain Union High School (GMUHS) in a year. Given that CTES enrollment is now well below 100, 76 full time students for 23/24 and potentially 70 or fewer in the fall, losing the 6th grade would make the school more vulnerable to closer. The chair of Ways & Means, Emilie Kornheiser, has gone on record wanting schools of less than 100 to be closed. Yet, such a move is also concerning because of the PCBs at GMUHS, where the acceptable standards are lower for 6th graders, In addition, socially and developmentally, it wouldn’t be appropriate for many students.
Frustration was voiced about the Chester representatives (6 reps), who can easily out vote Cavendish (3 reps), Andover (1 rep) and Baltimore (1 rep), and are pushing for the 6th grades to move to GMUHS. Note that the restructuring committee is to come up with ways to “right size” the schools in the GMUSD, which would then be voted on by the full board. While the move would benefit Chester by reducing overcrowding, it would not “right size” the school district, as it would leave CTES with even fewer students.
Several people called for the closure of GMUHS, which has low enrollment, and needs to be over hauled for both PCBs and structural issues. Parini gave a quote of around $30 million to replace/rebuild the school and pointed out that with current utilization, the school is projected to have an enrollment of less than 200 in eight years. Current enrollment is below 300.
While the SB chair, Bob Glidden, was very clear that the SB has no authority on school issues, Dowst-McNaughton and others wanted help from the town’s attorney to file a petition to begin the process of withdrawing from the Supervisory Union. This was believed to be the only recourse if Chester pushes through the 6th grade change,
Per VT State Statute the procedure to withdraw from a unified union school district is a lengthy one. This begins by filing a petition, To initiate the process set forth in this section, the voters residing in the petitioning town shall submit petitions to the clerk of the unified union school district indicating the petitioners’ desire to withdraw the petitioning town from the union district.
Approved
• Errors and omissions in the adjustment of the 2024 Grant List
• Issuing a safety order to the owners of 236 and 246 Depot St. After last month’s SB meeting, town manager, Rick Chambers along with the health officer, Doris Eddy and Deputy Chief of the Proctorsville Fire Dept., Bobby Glidden, conducted a site visit. They found the building to be extremely dangerous and immediate action is needed. The safety order gives the property owner 30 days to take corrective action, and 60 days to remove the building. If the building is not removed by Sept. 15, the town will have to remove it.
• Increasing the Cavendish Library ARPA request up to $5,000 for work at the library.
Discussed
• John Arrison’s Report: Cavendish’s state rep addressed the board about bills passed that could potentially have an impact on the town. One such bill was the Yield Bill, how schools are funded. While close to 14% of homeowner property tax and 26% of non-resident property owners taxes are earmarked for the $1.3 Billion education budget, money is also accrued from the lottery, sales and use taxes and other revenue streams. Arrison is not seeking re-election in November.
• Paving projects: Moving faster than anticipated, with activity in Whitesville and on Twenty Mile Stream near Johnson Rd
• Junkyard Ordinance: While the ordinance is in place, there haven’t been calls for its usage in the past year. When there have been issues, they’ve been covered under health codes or access issues. The concern was that if you charge one property owner with a violation of the ordinance you have to deal with all the properties in town that are in violation. Chambers estimated that there are 20 plus properties that would be in violation.
• Culvert Crawlers: The Dartmouth College students continue to provide assistance with the culvert survey, clearing of ditches, drains and culverts as well as debris removal. Chambers reminded home owners that they are responsible for the maintenance of ditches, drains, and culverts on their property. Home owners who are in need of assistance can contact Black River Action Team’s (BRAT) Culvert Crawlers program at blackrivercleanup@gmail.com or 802-738-0456
• VT Alert: Chambers encourages people to sign up for VT Alert (vtalert.gov) as the town is now part of the system.
• New Town Truck: The new truck is almost ready for delivery
2. 18th CENTURY RURAL VERMONT HEALERS: As towns like Cavendish started to be settled in the 18th century, physicians were generally not among the first inhabitants. In Cavendish, it was approximately 26 years after the town was chartered before a doctor arrived. Who then was responsible for the health care needs of the newly forming communities and how did they practice?
While women served as doctor, nurse, midwife, pharmacist, and therapist, ministers were also crossed trained and referred to as “minster/physician.” The medicinal and kitchen gardens were one and the same, that women maintained and used in the care of their families, following “recipes” handed down within families and among friends.
The Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) will be hosting a talk-18th Century Rural Vermont Healers- on July 21 (Sunday) 2pm at the CHS Museum, off route 131 in Cavendish Village. The talk will include the history of 18th Century healers, treatments, as well as how plants and herbs were used then and now. A brief medicinal plant walk around the Museum will conclude the program. This event is free and open to the public.
One of the speakers will be Dr. Charis Boke, a member of the Dartmouth College faculty in anthropology. She is currently writing Poison, Power, and Possibility: Building Relations with Medicinal which will explore the poetics, politics, and practices of contemporary herbalists in North America, leaning on ethnographic research, botanical histories, and lived experience to examine what it takes to remedy what ails us. Dr. Boke was involved in helping with the Benjamin Rush Medicinal Garden at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. FMI: 802-226-7807 or e-mail margocaulfield@icloud.com
3. VERMONT WARNING AND PRIMARY ELECTION: The statewide primary election will be held on Tuesday August 13, 2024 to vote for candidates for the following offices: US Senator; US Representative; Governor; Lt. Governor; State Treasurer; Secretary of State; Auditor of Accounts; Attorney General; State Senators; Stare Representative and High Baliff. Absentee ballots are now available from the Town Office. You have until August 12, to pick up an absentee ballot. You or a family member can request early ballots in person, in writing, by telephone or on your My Voter Page. An authorized person can request ballots for you in person on in writing.
There is no deadline to register to vote. You will be able to register to vote on the day of the election. Please register early by visiting the town clerk’s office or going online to olvr.vermont.gov
Read the full Warning by clicking here
4. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS
• Outer Limits Closed for the Summer: According to the Outer Limits Facebook site, “We have made the decision to close our doors for the remainder of summer. We’re going to be taking OLB in a slightly different direction and to do so requires time and resources. The decision to close was abrupt but is the best choice for what is needed to accomplish over the next few months. Stay tuned for details. We hope you all have a wonderful summer and we’ll see you again soon.”
• Culvert Crawlers: It's a property owners responsibility to maintain the culverts and ditches on their property. IT'S EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY NOT TO PITCH IN THE DITCH. If you need help, or can help, call the Culvert Crawlers! blackrivercleanup@gmail.com or 802-738-0456
• Cavendish Town Wide Tag Sale: Last year, in spite of the flooding, the sale went ahead and was spread out over two days. This year, in an effort to continue expanding Cavendish’s preparedness activities, the Cavendish Connects booth (Gazebo on the Proctorsville Green) will have a special table set up so that families can make “Go Kits,” to help them be ready if they need to evacuate suddenly. The sale is Saturday July 27 from 9-2. Be sure to check out the web page and register if you wish to be in the on-line directory. Starting Monday we will be posting items for sale and their location on the Cavendish Facebook page.
5. EVENTS
JULY 17 (WEDNESDAY): 6 PM Proctorsville Green Summer Concert Series-Yankee Chank (Cajun/Zydeco Dance Band) FMI cavendishcommunityconservation@gmail.com
JULY 18 (THURSDAY): Community Luncheon at the Ludlow Community Center. Serving starts at 11 am. Meat loaf dinner. Chair Yoga follows. This is a free event and open to the public, provided by the Black River Good Neighbors Services.
JULY 21 (SUNDAY): 18th Century Village Healers in Rural Vermont 2 pm at the CHS Museum. One of the speakers will be Dr. Charis Boke who will talk about the herb gardens of this era, how plants and herbs were used then and now. This will include a brief medicinal plant walk around the Museum.
JULY 24 (WEDNESDAY): 6 PM Proctorsville Green Summer Concert Series-East Bay Jazz Ensemble FMI cavendishcommunityconservation@gmail.com
JULY 27 (SATURDAY): Cavendish Town Wide Tag Sale. 9-2 pm
JULY 31 (WEDNESDAY): 6 PM Proctorsville Green Summer Concert Series-Rick Redington & Tuff Luv FMI cavendishcommunityconservation@gmail.com
AUGUST 7 (WEDNESDAY): 6 PM Proctorsville Green Summer Concert Series-Bear Mountain Boys FMI cavendishcommunityconservation@gmail.com
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