Voters buy backhoe, delay bridge repair

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BATH—It may have been sunny and hot outside instead of dark and cold, but Bath got its 2021 town meeting done.
Town meeting was held on the afternoon of June 5, pushed back from its traditional March date due to the pandemic. The location, however, remained unchanged with residents gathering in the Bath Village School cafetorium for Saturday’s session
Nearly three dozen residents breezed through a meeting warrant easily approving a new piece of equipment for the highway department in a paper ballot vote while tabling a proposal for bridge repairs on Dodge Road.

Graduation plans vary at area high schools

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BRADFORD—Even as area high schools plan to hold in-person graduations ceremonies this year, not everything will look as it did in the past.
Graduation celebrations will thus vary from school to school as administrators and others make plans with guidance issued by Vermont and New Hampshire health and school officials.
In Vermont, officials anticipate that by July 4, there will be no limits on gatherings either indoors or outdoors. But until then, according to the Vermont Forward Plan, outdoor events are limited to 900 unvaccinated people plus any number of vaccinated individuals provided there is adequate spacing.

DCF: No adults at Covered Bridges

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NEWBURY—The Vermont Department of Children and Families has no plans to house young adults at a proposed juvenile detention center in Newbury.
DCF Commissioner Sean Brown told legislators on June 3 that the Covered Bridges facility will not be taking in “emerging adults.”
The comments came during a session of the Vermont Legislature’s Joint Justice Oversight Committee on June where members were discussing Gov. Phil Scott’s recent veto of S.107, a bill that would allow defendants up to age 20 to avoid public disclosure for a long list of serious crimes in Vermont.

Class project raises funds for clean water

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WAITS RIVER—What began as a library class research project, three 6th grade students took several steps further.
The project asked students to select one of many global issues to study: food insecurity; human trafficking; natural disasters; and others. Kobin Ellsworth, Aiden Otterman, and Gabbi Snider chose to research access to clean water.
Finding clean drinking water in Vermont is usually not a problem. But around the world, there are entire communities that cannot reliably access clean water, which, in turn, has a devastating effect on the health, nutrition, agriculture, and education within these communities.
As part of their study, the group learned about the Water Project, an initiative that provides access to safe water across subSaharan Africa. For the Water Project, much of its work means building and improving supply chains, learning from trends, and keeping the water flowing in communities to build trust and resilience.

Fair eyes 2022 return, but parades will line up

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BRADFORD—Even as much of the region emerges from the throes of the pandemic, organizers of some annual events are planning for another year without their feature attractions.
The Bradford Fair recently announced it was cancelling its 2021 event.
“It was a difficult decision to postpone the annual Bradford Fair until July of 2022,” Tammy Coffin of the Bradford Fair Association wrote in a letter notifying patrons, sponsors, and vendors. “The Bradford Fair is typically one of the first fair events scheduled in Vermont and New Hampshire, and we had hoped to be back in full swing for summer of 2021. But unfortunately, the pandemic has changed the world and even our local communities.”

Next generation takes up Chapman’s torch

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FAIRLEE—On Sunday, May 6, 2007, a raging fire consumed the Colby Block in Fairlee, displacing a number of apartment residents and several businesses on Main Street. Since then, not much has happened to rebuild the site. That is beginning to change.
The former Colby Block parcel is now owned in partnership as Appleseed, LLC. It is being renamed Chapman’s Place.
On May 8, volunteers helped transform the site into a family friendly park for the season while bigger plans for the future percolate. Since then, a gazebo, picnic tables and Chapman’s Elixirs, a coffee and pastry truck, were installed on site. Over Memorial Day weekend, a tent was hoisted in which the Chapman family envisions hosting musical performances and other activities.
Across the street, more changes are afoot.

Roads discussion continued in Orford

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ORFORD—At least some of the tension from Orford Town Meeting appears resolved.
At its meeting on May 26, the Orford Selectboard voted to direct the highway department to grade two dirt roads in town by the end of this week unless there are exigent circumstances.
During town meeting on May 22, roads and highway maintenance dominated discussion. Among the items on the meeting warrant was a petitioned article asking voters to establish a town highway commission.

Corinth holds delayed annual meeting

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COOKEVILLE—Calling the meeting to order, moderator Gary Apfel mentioned a few obvious departures from tradition: For the first time in 257 years, Corinth’s Town Meeting was held in May, outdoors, under what Apfel described as “a circus tent.” Those attending wore masks and took their seats in chairs widely spaced apart.
No sooner had the proceedings begun than Apfel called for a recess so that Orange-1 state representatives Rodney Graham, R-Williamstown, and Samantha Lefebvre, R-Orange, could address the meeting and take questions.

ATVs get OK for 2021

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WOODSVILLE—The Haverhill Selectboard voted on Monday night to approve ATV access for several months on all roads in Mountain Lakes as well as two class VI roads that will tie into an existing bypass route on town roadways.
Specifically, the board authorized ATVs riders to travel Mountain Lakes roads and use class VI Morse Road and Tewksbury Road, which connects to the existing Augie’s Bypass route traveling along Briar Hill Road. The authorization is not permanent and will only be effective from May 23 through Sept. 30 with 2021 serving essentially as a trial run.

Roads take center stage in Orford

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ORFORD—Residents once again declined to make the road agent position an elected one, but agreed to form a highway advisory commission during the annual town meeting on Saturday afternoon.
For the second year in a row, voters rejected a petitioned article to elect the town’s highway chief. In a paper ballot, voters defeated the article 56-29. In 2020, voters defeated a similar article 76-74.