HAVERHILL—For now, there will be no new cell tower built in North Haverhill.
The Haverhill Zoning Board of Adjustment has denied Vertex Tower Assets LLC’s application to build a 161-foot-high lattice tower on Teepee Road in North Haverhill.
The board held a public hearing on Jan. 4 before voting on the application at a follow-up meeting on Jan. 10. The ZBA issued its written decision on Jan. 18.
THETFORD CENTER—Less than 12 months after new signs went up on an historic covered bridge frequently struck by oversized motor vehicles, an oversized motor vehicle struck the bridge knocking down the new signs.
Sayre Bridge on Tucker Hill Road was damaged earlier this month by a truck passing through that was too large for the covered bridge. According to a Thetford Police Department press release, the bridge was struck on Jan. 14 at 3:22 p.m. by an oversized truck.
BRADFORD—School employees throughout Orange East Supervisory Union may soon need a COVID-19 vaccination to keep their jobs.
The OESU Board will take up the requirement at its meeting next month.
Under a Biden Administration workplace safety mandate issued in November by OSHA, employers with 100 or more employees were required to implement a vaccine requirement for all staff unless they were granted a medical or religious exemption.
NORTH HAVERHILL—Seven members of the Grafton County legislative delegation approved more than $2.5 million in one-time spending over the next three years on Monday morning.
The seven members form the executive committee of the legislative delegation, the county’s state representatives.
It is the second round of American Rescue Plan Act funding the delegation has approved. In total, the county has $17 million in ARPA funding at its disposal.
NORTH HAVERHILL—A Bradford woman pleaded guilty last week to criminal charges related to an incident last year when she swiped a handgun from one car and took the phone from another as she made her way from New Hampshire to Vermont.
Jennifer Fornwalt pleaded guilty on Jan. 12 to a misdemeanor charge of obstructing the report of a crime and a felony charge of theft.
WELLS RIVER—The Blue Mountain Union School Board has approved a budget of $8.7 million for the 2022-2023 fiscal year that will now go to voters on March 1.
The BMU board passed the budget resolution unanimously during a Jan. 12 meeting. The budget will increase by $450,997 from this year’s budget, which is $8.3 million.
WAITS RIVER—Classes at Waits River Valley School resumed last week after a post-holiday surge Covid and other illnesses prompted closures at all Orange East Supervisory Union schools.
At a school board meeting, held via Zoom, on Jan. 13, WRVS Principal Carlotta Simonds-Perantoni said that between Jan. 5 and 12, there were 14 students and six staff members that tested positive with 15 additional people quarantining. There were also six cases that were community-based, which means they were not caught at school.
GROTON—Groton selectmen will send a budget with a roughly 6% increase in spending to voters at town meeting.
The budget’s approval came only after board members voted to reopen budget discussions after initially approving a $1,170,799 spending plan on Dec. 16. That plan incorporated a 5.9% cost of living increase for the town’s four employees, three of whom are elected.
MONTPELIER—State Rep. Topper McFaun, R-Barre, has introduced a bill that would open an emergency juvenile correctional facility in Windsor.
The bill would set aside $3 million in existing Vermont Department of Children and Families funding in order to operate the temporary facility, which would consist of 10 beds at the former Southeast State Correctional Facility. The Windsor facility would house up to 10 adolescent boys who are involved with the Vermont juvenile justice system.
BRADFORD—Orange East Supervisory Union board members talked big dollars at their monthly meeting on Jan. 4.
In addition to preparing a $7.5 million budget for the central office for 2022-2023, the board reviewed more than $10 million in federal pandemic relief funding that the district could receive.