Chelsea Shouldn’t
Have To Fix Road
To the residents of Chelsea in response to the article "Tensions High at Hearing" in the February 7th Herald:

The Feb. 4 meeting of the Development Review Board was described as "contentious" by the reporter for the Herald. We prefer to call it emotional, which tends to happen when one's safety, way of life and pocketbook are being threatened.

The Wellspring School was granted a conditional change of use for the Mattoon Farm on Densmore Road by the DRB in August 2007, the condition being that Wellspring not use Densmore Road as their access. The property can be accessed via Route 113, and although the Vermont Utilities and Permits Supervisor stated a preference by the state for using town roads for access, he did not deny the Rt. 113 access. Wellspring appealed the decision of the DRB.

Given the fact much testimony has been given to the dangers and challenges of winter and spring travel on Densmore Road and the many concerns of the Densmore Road residents for their own safety as well as that of the Wellspring community, we can only conclude that Wellspring is insisting on the Densmore Road access in order to shift the cost of maintenance to the town of Chelsea.

This could be astronomical considering the senior transportation planner at Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission, after conducting a study of Densmore Road for the proposed location of Wellspring School, has recommended that the town must prep the road and then pave .2 miles from VT 113 past the point of the severe road grades to provide a safer traveling surface and allow for winter salting; and the town should strongly consider gravel road reconstruction from the school access to the pavement using additional base materials and geotextiles.

The residents of Densmore Road have learned to live with this road just as it is, and don't want to lose its country character. Further, Chelsea struggles to fund the public school and other town services. How can we further increase the burden on our taxpayers to subsidize a private school whose student population is made up primarily of children from other towns?

While it is any parent's right to send their children to a private school, they should expect to assume all costs associated with that choice. Wellspring has outgrown its present facility and we understand their need for more space, but the town of Chelsea cannot afford their relocation to Densmore Road.

David and June Leggio

Chelsea