Meeting Minutes
Town of
Selectboard Meeting Minutes
Monday, September 15, 2008
*Unapproved*
** See subsequent minutes for any changes
Members Present: Diane Benware, Bob Oliver, Ken Young
Members Absent: Tom Barker, Ron Fiske
Others Present: John Hughes, Mary Hughes, Arlan Pidgeon, Sandra Trombley, Secretary
Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 6:35 by Chair, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Agenda Review: Agenda reviewed.
Review Minutes of September 2, 2008: Motion by Bob to approve minutes, seconded by Ken. All in favor. So approved.
Review Minutes of
Review and Sign Orders for Bill Payments: $731 invoice was listed under Scott Pidgeon’s name and should have been under Arlan’s name. Check was made out to Arlan but posted under Scott. Attached a note on invoice and Arlan will discuss with Kylee.
Reports from other Town Officials or Committees: Arlan reported he had been hauling sand. He will start getting some of the salt out of the shed. He will be using some of the salt to put on the sand and trying to move some of the salt back. There are shoulders of the asphalt to be done, culverts to change and trees to remove from the creek, but the sand is top priority right now. He did get the pipe for the drainage for the school yard. Arlan talked with Mr. Charbonneau about the salt shed and Mr. Charbonneau said before he could do it for the original price, he wanted to check about the costs and length of the timbers first because they could be quite expensive.
Kylee could not be at the meeting, but reported thru Diane, that Shelly Mason called about a culvert that was supposed to have been done awhile ago, and the storm damage has affected their water system. They live opposite Pioneer Auto. Bob and Arlan will check to see what the damage is within the next couple days. Ken will go if he is available to do so.
Arlan reported that cylinders on grader were leaking and needs packing. Arlan has ordered the packing and will call in the morning about his order.
Bob reported that the key to the back door of the meeting house does not unlock the door. Check with Kylee to see if the locksmith came. Bob reported most of the painting has been done by Paul Pecor. Two or three window sills need repair and painting. Paul will try to do them before winter. He painted the gables. Some cross boards are not in good shape and Paul is going to replace them. Diane reported that there was $10,000 in the budget for the Meeting House and Town Hall. According to Kylee’s printout of 9/8/08, we have only spent $5,708. The $10,000 includes the salt shed as well.
Diane reported for Kylee that the tax bills are coming in and the elections went fine. Kylee appreciated the help that she received.
Arlan reported that the center line had been painted on
Ken asked whether we get police protection late at night. Diane thought generally “no”. We are contracted for 30-32 hours a month. No one does any patrolling between 2:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.
Diane will inquire about police patrol. Bob asked where we were with our Neighborhood Watch. Diane will contact Jim Coones about Neighborhood Watch information.
New Business:
Action: Paying for Roadwork: We have a 9/3/08 bill from Gary Dupoise, D&F Excavating, $208,951.90 for the Leicester/Whiting Road of which the Grant pays for $167,898, leaving a balance of about $40,000 that we would have to pay. He charges 2% added monthly thereafter. We have to pay the entire bill; and then get reimbursed. The bill to pay for
Motion by Bob to authorize Town Treasurer to pay D & F $100,000 toward
Action: Capital Planning: Two years ago we were awarded a Class A Capital Improvement Grant from Better Back Roads which included the purchase of the RFMS software and the MS software. It also paid for Robert Turner to do the road inventory with Arlan. The inventory has been done. The software has been purchased. Donna Pidgeon and Deb Miner have both been trained on how to enter the data. There are two pieces left to do before we get the Grant money. Diane has to type an article for the newspaper explaining everything and the other piece is to prepare a Capital Planning Budget. This would include a listing of the roads in town, their current condition, and costs that we think that we would incur; such as sand, gravel, asphalt to maintain the roads or improve the roads. Deb & Donna are taking that on. They would need to ride around town with Bob and Arlan and look at the roads. Arlan and Bob would tell them what needed to be done to the roads, and they would write it down and enter the information into the computer. We need to prioritize the problems. We need to report the condition of the shoulders of the roads, the base of the roads, the alligator cracks in the roads. We will need a projection on the cost of the materials; such as gravel, sand, asphalt and also calculating labor costs for the budget.
Diane will talk with Donna to see if September 24th works for Donna & Deb to ride around town with Bob & Arlan to document areas in need of road work. This would be a collaborative effort to come up with numbers for projecting a budget.
Old Business:
Zoning Information: After the last meeting, there was discussion on improving communication. Diane had emailed Heidi, Shelley, and Gerry about the need for a hearing in regard to the Johnson’s appeal. The hearing has been scheduled for September 30, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Office. The purpose of the meeting is that the Johnsons are appealing Andrew’s decision not to issue a notice of violation of noise standard. The ZBA is also hearing the Harrington application to build a new garage.
Bob stated we should have something in the Planning Commission by-laws about guidelines for landscaping. Right now it is very vague and doesn’t address shoreline. Diane had given the low impact development guidelines that came from the Agency of Natural Resources to the ZBA/PC. Diane asked them to incorporate this.
Old Business: None
Limited Public Opinion: Mrs. Hughes asked if the hearings September 30th were open to the public. Answer is “yes”. No public opinion.
Any Other Business: Bob was confronted by people that wanted to have the polls open at 7:00 a.m. in the morning on Election Day. No need to. All they have to do is get an absentee ballot.
Executive Session: No reason for executive session tonight.
Motion by Bob and seconded by Ken to adjourn at 7:35 p.m. All in favor. So moved. Meeting adjourned 7:35 p.m.
Next meeting Monday, October 6, 2008, 6:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sandra L. Trombley
Selectboard Secretary