Cabot Planning Commission Meeting

January 10, 2013

Willey Building, 1^st Floor Meeting Room

6:30 pm

 AGENDA

      1.       Issuance  of Request for Proposals – Zoning Revisions

      2.       Flood Hazard Regulations – process and timeline for adoption process

      3.       Planning Commission membership and recruitment

      4.       New Business

Submitted by Gary Gulka 1-8-13

This has been a difficult time for more of our Joe's Pond community.  On Friday, Charles R. Talbot 2nd passed away in Boca Raton, Florida.  He was a frequent visitor here at the pond, spending time with the families of his son, David and Marti Talbot or daughter, Carolyn and Ned Hamilton.  He will be sadly missed by his family and many friends; our thoughts and prayers are with Carolyn and David and their families.  You may send condolences to Carolyn at 23377 Water Cir., Boca Raton FL 33486; and to David at 8 Courtney Rd., N. Woodstock NH 03262.

We just had a notice that last week's "Butter's Jam" was a huge success - the actual message was "It was a hoot!"  Above are pictures taken during the jam session, and I'm sure you'll recognize some of the folks who were enjoying the get together.  Anyone can join, and they are planning a sing-along segment this week.  Gwen Halsmith, one of the organizers, writes: 
I'll bring Rise Up Singing books with me so we can do a sing along.  Come prepared to sing your favorite songs.  Bring instruments!  I'll have a keyboard, drums, and at least one guitar.  Bring music to share!

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I also received from the organization that has been helping plan ways Cabot may develop a more vibrant, sustainable community, their report after several meetings with citizens and resource people with expertise in the areas Cabot's initial steering committee defined as needing work:

Hi Cabot Folks,

The Cabot Community Visit Report and Action Plan is back from the printer and is available at the Cabot Town Office in the Willey Building or online at: http://vtrural.org/webfm_send/630.

The Report is a consolidation of all testimony from the Visit Day and school forums, the prioritization work done at the Community Meeting, and the Action Step development accomplished at the Resource Day.  It includes recommendations from the Visiting Resource Team designed to help the Cabot Task Forces as they address the priority challenges identified by the community. The report is also a wonderful compilation of assets and ideas from a large number of residents. Task force groups have been actively meeting and are already making progress.

Thank you all for participating and contributing your ideas and energy to the Community Visit process in Cabot. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or needs related to moving action steps forward. Your local Community Visit Chair, Jan Westervelt, is a good contact for information about getting involved and/or for task force updates. You can reach him at 563-2489 or jrwcabot@yahoo.com.

All the best,

Margaret Gibson McCoy
Office and Communications Manager
802-223-6091
info@vtrural.org

Paul Costello
Executive Director
802-223-5763
pcostello@vtrural.org

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On a very sad note, we just received notice that long-time Joe's Pond resident, Dr. Irv Pollack passed away yesterday in Arizona where he and his wife, Barbara have a home.   He was 85.  Condolences may be sent to Barbara and family at:  13500 N. Rancho Vistoso #423, Tucson AZ 85755.  The Pollacks have had a summer home on West Shore Road, Joe's Pond, for many years.

I will post a link to the full obituary when it is published. 

Cabot Meetings This Week

Jeanne Johnson – Cabot Plains Rd

There are a number of important meetings going on in Cabot this next week:

Monday, January 7
Cabot School Board 6:00 p.m. School Library

Tuesday, January 8
School Choice Meeting, 6:00 p.m. Masonic Hall
Committee to Improve Community Communications, 7:00 p.m. Willey Building

Wednesday, January 9
Cabot Corridor Revitalization Committee, 7:00 p.m., Willey Building

Thursday, January 10
Committee to Develop a Cabot CommunityArts Center, 6:30 p.mm., Willey Building

Posted from January 6 posting on Front Porch Forum

Brrrrrrr!!  This was our first below zero night of the season, and it did itself proud.  One of our thermometers got down to 14 below, while the one outside my office read 20 below at the lowest point - early this morning.  Now the sun is shining brightly and we've warmed up to a more moderate zero.

We went to St. Johnsbury for groceries and haircuts, and it was cold there, too, but not as cold as here.  Burke Mountain fairly sparkled in the crisp early morning air as we came down Dole Hill heading northeast.  There wasn't much traffic, and the grocery stores were not busy at all, so we zoomed through our shopping and were back in West Danville by about 10:30.

Garey at Larrabee's told me long-time Joe's Pond summer resident Irv Pollack (West Shore Road) is very seriously ill.  I was very sorry to hear that, and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Barbara, and the family.

You will also be saddened to learn of the death of Dr. Roderick Goyette, Joni Calcagni's father.  Condolences may be sent to the family at the following address:  Joseph and Joni Calcagni, 18 windywood Rd, Barre VT 05641.

Cold as it is today, there was a fisherman out on the ice by the boat access this morning.  There was a pop-up shelter, and I expect a heater inside because when we stopped to take a picture there was no sign of anyone outside.  With the sun beating down, it was probably toasty inside the little tent - and that's right where I'd want to be if I had to be out on the ice today. 

On the way home, with our seat warmers on and the steering wheel warmer on, and the car nice and warm inside, Fred and I were reminiscing about how we used to put cardboard behind the grill of our cars on below-zero days.  I don't know if people still do that or not - perhaps on some older model cars?  And occasionally I see something like the canvas snap-on covers we used to have on a truck.  Most vehicles have improved thermostats these days - and the design of cars is different than it used to be, too.  

Lots of things have changed over the years.  There was a framed picture of Hastings Store on their counter today.  It showed a snowbank right in front of the store that reached nearly to the porch roof.  James said it was taken in March, 1933.  That must have been some winter - or some storm!  I'm sure we did get more snow back then, and the wind there would pile the snow right into the roadway, I expect.  Back then there were buildings across the road from Hastings, so there wasn't a lot of room to plow snow out of the way, either.  March in Vermont still often brings heavy snow and stormy weather, but that picture looked as if they had a hard winter in 1932-33.  I did a short Google search and found there was serious famine in the Ukraine, that winter, and at Crater Lake in Oregon, they had a tremendous amount of snow:  Here's an excerpt from Crater Lakes National Parks Service website: 

"The average snowfall at Crater Lake is 533 inches every year. That's about 44 feet. The greatest cumulative snowfall for one season was 879 inches (73 feet) the winter of 1932-33. The greatest depth on the ground at one time was 258 inches (21½ feet) the winter of 1983. Most of the snow usually melts by the beginning of August, although after particularly heavy seasons, there are drifts that fail to melt before the snows return again in the early Fall."

Joe's Pond probably won't see that kind of snow ever - but with all the crazy weather patterns we've had recently, we could see an increase in winter storms here.  For the time being, we're stuck with the cold, and like someone said to us this morning, "Where's global warming when you need it?"
 

We are enjoying (?) another cold day today.  I think our thermometer is frozen in place.  On days like this I only like to look at the one on the kitchen window that always reads a few degrees warmer than the one near my office window, so I'll report the temperature now is 14 degrees, where it's been all morning, even now, after the sun is sort of shining.  It is showing a low in the past 24 hours of 3.9 degrees.  Darned close to zero.

When Fred and I were out to climb the hill this morning, fairly early (like 7:30ish), it was cold, but there was no wind, so I didn't mind it at all.  Now I'm seeing snow sifting off the roof and watching clouds scudding across the sky, so I know there is a strong NNW wind.

I "de-decorated" this morning.  I hadn't put up very many decorations this year - lazy, I guess.  So it wasn't a big job taking stuff down and putting it away.  I still haven't removed the lights on the deck, and will probably leave them there until it's a whole lot warmer than it's been lately.  Besides, I kind of like seeing them on.  I took about eight inches of snow off them yesterday (they are wound around the deck railing), and now there's another inch or so built up.  These new lights burn very cool, so there aren't any melted "cups" around them - they just glow under the snow, and unless I keep the snow off, some don't show up at all.  I'm thinking there will be a January thaw in a week or so and I can retrieve them then.

We got only another inch, more or less, of snow yesterday.  It's very pretty, all the trees are draped with snow except on some of the hillsides that were exposed to the north and west winds.  I was worried when Diane Rossi told me about ice fishermen being out on the ice around Christmas, but even with a good cover of snow on the ice, I think it's been cold enough lately to make plenty of ice in most locations.  We'll try to talk with someone who has been fishing to find out how thick the ice really is.  I haven't seen anyone out in back of the islands at the north end of the pond.  There has usually been one or two fishermen there very early in the season and they continued until well after I would have thought it was unsafe to be on the ice in the spring.  They must really like perch.  They are good - great in fish chowder.

We were noticing this weekend that there are no tracks in the snow anywhere around our house.  Finally, I think it was Monday, we noticed there was a track along the tree line beyond the garage.  We didn't go out to try to identify it, but I expect it was either a fox or a coyote.  Or it could have been a deer.  The deer usually make more than just one track when they come to feed at night, though.  The snow is light enough so they could easily reach the grass underneath, but there has been no sign of them where they usually feed.  We have seen a few bunny tracks along Jamie and Marie's driveway, but that's all.  Perhaps on stormy days and deeply cold nights like we've been having, most of the animals stay quiet in the shelter of the deep woods.  Or maybe the deer that we usually see didn't make it through hunting season . . . 

I'm having a hard time figuring out if it's snowing outside or if the snow I'm seeing in the air is being blown by the wind.  It looks like there's snow falling even while the sun is shining - and the air is cold enough so that could happen.  There isn't a lot of warmth in the sun yet.  But it should be improving with each day, right?

By the way, I was going through some old photos, cleaning up files (starting the New Year off right!) and found this one taken on January 7, 2007.  We had a brown Christmas in 2006,  but we must have had plenty of good ice because the block dropped ending the Ice Out Contest on May 1st that year.   

Happy New Year's Day!

What a gorgeous one it is - to look out at!  Not so much if you have to be outside.  There is bright sunshine (and a few cloudy periods) but the temperature is still in the low teens and the wind is bitterly cold and strong.  Woody spent much of the morning looking longingly outside and then wanting to go out.  We've let him out twice, but he's come back in a matter of minutes.  He finally gave up and is asleep on his bed in Fred's office. 

I took these pictures earlier this morning.  I think the sun is brighter now - not as many clouds passing between it and us, but it hasn't warmed up at all.  The thermometer outside my office window is reading 8 degrees - the one at the kitchen window is reading 14, and has a low of 12 for last night.  I guess it's going to be colder tonight, and even colder yet tomorrow.  We got three inches of new snow yesterday, and I have 16 inches at the stake.  It is very light and dry, so isn't packing down much, even with the wind blowing it.

Diane Rossi said she went snowshoeing yesterday and it was great.  We haven't been out yet - I'd like it to warm up just a tad, although in the woods where we're protected from the wind it wouldn't be so bad, I guess.  I have lots to do inside today, so I guess except for my daily climb up Jamie's driveway, I'll take care of business inside.

I still have some greeting cards to send out.  Yes, sometimes I don't get them done for Christmas.  In my defense, I have a notion it may bring a smile to the face of whoever receives my very late card; and after the rush of receiving and giving all those greetings, gifts and well wishes, it may just be nice to receive a message during "down time."  These are really letters, in the guise of  holiday greetings.  One is to a cousin who lives in Niagara Falls.  She doesn't have a computer, so we communicate the old fashioned way - by letters.  Only we don't do it often.  At Christmas and sometimes in between if there's an event in her family or mine.  It's most often been me writing to tell her another of our cousins died.  We're down to the younger ones now, so I haven't had to send one of those letters for a while.  I hope she doesn't shudder when she sees a letter from me in her mailbox, thinking it will be sad news.  She often sends me one of her cards with a drawing or painting of hers on it.  She's a talented artist, and I keep all her cards.  Actually, I keep LOTS of cards and letters.  It's not the same with e-mails, is it?

Another who will get a late card is a friend I was in college with living in Florida now.  There again, several of our friends from those days have died, others we've lost track of.  Such is the state of things as the years pass.  It's sad to look at my address list for Christmas cards and see all the names crossed off - some altered to one name instead of Mr. and Mrs.; others crossed off altogether. 

On the bright side, this is the time of year I get those lovely family picture cards and a note telling me who everyone is; and in response to my e-mail greetings to some cousins this year, I had an update on their children and grandchildren - the generations after ours - and that's so much fun.

So it's a time to reconnect or to continue connections with friends and family, and there's no time limit on doing that, so I'm off to finish the last of my "season's greetings."