Welcome to Leicester, VT

Town of Leicester

Selectboard Meeting Minutes

Monday, December 15, 2008

*Unapproved*

** See subsequent minutes for any changes

Members Present:  Diane Benware, Bob Oliver, Ken Young, Ron Fiske, Tom Barker

Others Present:   Arlan Pidgeon, Sandra Trombley, Secretary

Call to Order:  Meeting called to order at 6:30 by Chair, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Agenda Review:  Agenda reviewed. 

Approve Minutes of December 1, 2008: 

Motion by Tom to approve minutes of December 1,, 2008.  Seconded by Ken. All in favor.  So approved.

Review & Sign Orders for Payment:

Bills are making their rounds for signatures.   

Tom asked Arlan what he purchased from Howard P. Fairfield for $5,000.  Arlan stated it was for two edges for the two plows and one each for the wings and the chain.

Ken asked what the Town owns for equipment.  Arlan explained the Town owns (2) front plows and (3) sanders; not the wings or trucks.

Reports from Town Officials, Committees:

Arlan:  Just plowing and sanding

Lister Report:  None

Auditors Report:  None

Cemetery Report:  None

Treasurer:  None

Ken asked if we had received any interest on the positions placed in the newspaper for PC/ZBA.  Diane was not aware of any to date.

New Business:

Opening of Mowing Bids: 

Town Green

Kevin Bagley, Salisbury, $70 trimming and mowing, $40 per hour for spring cleanup, fall raking and cleanup $45 per hour, edging $38 per hour (estimate 3 hrs.), hedge trimming $38 per hour (estimate 4 hours), mulching $35 per hour plus cost of the mulch.  He would need to know what mulch to use.

Cal Loven, Leicester, $75 per mow, spring and fall cleanup for $500, insurance certificate on file.

Ray Germain, Bristol, $70 per mow, or $1350 for the season, spring and fall cleanup $375, no insurance certificate.

Phil Letourneau, Deer Run Road, Forrestbrook Development, $70 per mowing, $450 for spring and fall cleanup. 

Motion by Tom to award bid to Cal Loven.  Seconded by Ron.  All in favor.  So approved.

Cemetery

Phil (Gus) Letourneau, Deer Run Road, Forrestbrook Development, $150 per mowing, $400 spring cleanup, $400 fall cleanup.

Ray Germain, Bristol, $70 per mow or $1350 per year, spring and fall cleanup $400.  He included a business card, but not the required certificate of insurance.

Motion by Ken to award bid to Phil Letourneau.  Seconded by Ron.  All in favor.  So approved.

Roadside Mowing

Ernest Codding, Ripton, first mowing $2,400, second mowing $4,800.  Total $7,200

Lem Palmer, Leicester, first mowing one swath on all roads, second for two swaths, includes mowing back as far as feasible at all corners.  $50 per hour.  Approximately 120 hrs/$6,000.

Kevin Bagley, Salisbury, $58 per hour for first and second mowing. 

Motion by Ken to award bid to Lem Palmer.  Seconded by Tom.  All in favor.  So approved.

Action:  Chair will send letters to all parties.

Chair read a letter from Ms. Joan O’Neil Gittens requesting the Town’s empathy and understanding in regard to delinquent taxes and asks that the Town not proceed with any action.   Ms. O’Neil is about $25,000 in arrears with taxes, interest, and penalties.  This is just the garage.  It goes back to 2003.

Selectboard reviewed the delinquent tax list going back to 2003.  A year ago there was $98,105 in delinquent taxes due. 

Delinquent taxes collected by Tax Collector:

2003   $2,554

2004   $4,764

2005   $8,525

2006   $29,053

2007   $45,519

Almost $100,000 still delinquent.  Selectboard reviewed delinquent tax collector’s policy.

Motion by Tom to authorize Beth Ripley to do whatever necessary to recover all delinquent taxes due to the Town.  Seconded by Ken.  All in favor.  So approved.

Let the minutes reflect that this is not just in regard to Ms. O’Neil Gittens, but all delinquent taxes in the Town.

Action:  Chair will contact Beth Ripley.

Whiting Fire Department requested a donation for their efforts of washing the bridge with power washer earlier this year.  Tom made a motion to authorize Kylee to pay them $250.  Bob seconded.  All in favor.  So approved.

Old Business:

Ron took some time to review public records in regard to the ZBA/PC and could not find any records pertaining to Mackey, the condominium stuff at Dunmore Acres.  It looks like they are trying to skirt Leicester zoning.  Ron couldn’t find any permits or records of any kind.

Chair read a memo from Andrew, ZA.  Ron stated there is some confusion on ZA’s part about which issue they are dealing with and issues at hand.  The conditional use permit back in 2007 was for a totally different issue.  It had nothing to do with the condo set-up.  Ron recommends that we might call Cindy Hill; as she is familiar with condominium requirements.

ZA  was not available for tonight’s meeting.  Discussion around Diane’s email to ZA and ZA’s responses to her.

Topics of concern were; working with people, communication, and timeliness in responses.

 Tom made a motion to invite the Zoning Administrator to the December 29, 2008 meeting to discuss Board’s concerns in person.  Seconded by Ron.  All in for.  So approved.

Action:  Diane will invite ZA

Fire Protection Update:

We did make suggestion that bills come more than once a year.  Diane walked out of the meeting thinking they heard us.  They seemed receptive to that.  They let us know what a good deal we were getting.  In the future there will be a flat fee.  Calls canceled on route by police are still considered a call; as volunteers become employees of the Town at that time.

Diane wrote a letter to Tom Whitaker thanking him; and reiterating the hope of timely bills, and could they confirm their intentions.

Diane asked Bob Kilpeck to look into Mr. Churchill situation with the alarms.  Christopher Pike, Town Farm Road in Brandon said fire was not his fault, named a Gordon Christian from Brandon involved in this automobile accident.  Bill Brooks wrote saying he was being invoiced for a structure fire, there was no structure, and the fire was contained in a fire pit by trespassers.  There were no trespassing signs.  Diane wants to follow-up with Bob about these two and the Churchill situation.

We need a protocol. 

Action:  Ron will talk with Middlebury Fire Department for copy of protocol.

Bob gave information about his contacts.  He talked with Mike Wilbur in Whiting.  Mike can’t do anything for us because he has the Town of Sudbury.  Bob talked with Salisbury Chief, Gary Smith and he said he would help us in any way he could.  He talked to the Commissioner of the Firefighters Association.  Bob asked Gary Smith how he would feel about Leicester joining the Salisbury Fire Department.  Gary will talk with Salisbury Board about possibility of combining Salisbury and Leicester fire district.

Tom reported there has been another house fire at Harrington’s.

Public Comment:  None

Executive Session:

Into Executive Session at 8:12 p.m. to discuss pending legal action and personnel issues.

Out of Executive Session at 8:25 p.m.

Next scheduled meeting December 29, 2008 will be the Budget Planning Meeting.  Sandy will attend to take minutes.    The Board needs to formally make a motion to direct Treasurer to transfer funds if there is any surplus.

Action:  Diane will contact Kylee about providing end of year figures for the budget planning meeting.

Motion by Ron to adjourn.  Seconded by Ken.  All in favor.  So approved.  Adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sandra L. Trombley

Selectboard Secretary