Big cable gets yanked
DUMMERSTON — DUMMERSTON - During the Roads Report at the Sept. 30 regular Selectboard meeting, Board member Jerelyn Wilson noted the recent removal of the large cable at the West River swimming hole.
The town has been trying to remove it for years because it presents a possible hazard to swimmers but, in the past, nobody was able to locate the cable's point of origin.
Last month, Road Foreman Lee Chamberlin and his crew successfully dug out the cable using a backhoe.
During the cable's removal, Chamberlin said “we uncovered more” of the cable than he initially thought was there.
“It actually ran pretty much under the bridge, underneath the sand,” Chamberlin said, adding that the piece of the cable that attached to the ledge was obscured by stones someone had placed over it.
“That cable was pretty long,” Chamberlin said.
Trashy corner is trashy again
DUMMERSTON - Although someone removed the discarded furniture from the corner of Route 5 and Johnson's Curve Road, a new set has taken its place.
At the Sept. 30 regular Selectboard meeting, the board and Roads Foreman Lee Chamberlin discussed new developments and what to do about it.
“I saw somebody setting stuff out there the other day,” Board member Steve Glabach announced at the meeting.
Chamberlin said he left a message with the Vermont Agency of Transportation [AOT] staff at the District 2 garage, offering to work with the AOT to discourage dumping on that patch of land, but he never heard back.
The state owns most of the pull-off as part of the Route 5 right-of-way. The abandoned furniture is “not on town property, but it's close,” Chamberlin said, noting he and Treasurer Laurie Frechette checked the boundaries on a map.
“It continues to be a problem,” Glabach said, suggesting the town “put a snow fence or something around there to discourage” dumping.
Drivers told to slow down
DUMMERSTON - The Selectboard reports it has received lots of emails about cars speeding on East-West Road “just east of the village,” according to Board Chair Zeke Goodband.
This problem is nothing new, and the Selectboard receives frequent complaints about speeding along East-West Road.
At the Sept. 30 Board meeting, Goodband reported the Windham County Sheriff's Department has placed a mobile speed-monitoring device along that stretch of road.