Meeting Minutes
July 16, 2007
Selectboard Meeting Minutes
Unapproved - *See subsequent meeting minutes for any changes
Present: J. McDonough, R. Oliver, M. Stacey, T. Barker, D. Benware (recorder)
Others: Donna Pidgeon, Harry Smith, John Hughes, Mary Hughes, Lawrence Felion, Jr., Ken Patterson, Shirley Hendricks, Mark Hendricks, Bucky Shackett, Cecile Todd, Virginia B. Wolf, Lynda Rheaume, Bonnie Johnson, Charles Johnson, Melissa Streeter, Arlan Pidgeon, John Lawson, Judy Lawson, Ann Kenni, Matt Kenni
Meeting called to order at 7:00 p.m. by the Chair.
Flag salute recited and agenda reviewed.
FERN
Agenda was put aside to hear the concerns of folks living/vacationing near Fern Lake Access. Ken Patterson spoke about youths believed to be under the age of 16 that have broken out lights, broken into a shed, have thrown rocks and have been verbally abusive to him and other family members. Lynda Rheaume agreed, saying that they have not yet been bothered and that a neighbor recognizes the 3 offenders and is willing to give names to the authorities. This action is in violation of the terms of the access ordinance that calls for youths under 16 to be accompanied by an adult. Calls to the VSP have brought no results.
ACTION: John M suggested that they can call Don Isabel of Fish and Game Dept.
Chair to check with Town Constables to see if they are willing to go over and speak to youths.
Tom made the motion, Mark the second, to contact the Sheriff’s Dept and request officers make their presence known more often in the area. Motion passed unanimously.
Mark will pass on information to the Sheriff and relay the intent of the above motion to the department.
John M made the motion, Tom the second, that, if necessary, to increase the hours per week we have contracted with the Sheriff’s Dept in order to address this situation. Motion passed unanimously.
Melissa Streeter asked to speak about the
ACTION: Chair to meet with Linda Boudette on July 26 to complete the larger grant application, which will then be submitted to the Selectboard for their approval. Interim measures call for the berm on the east side of the road below Mark’s house to be eliminated, when grading the road to slant it slightly more to the west, and to cut back the slope on the right of the Kelly driveway.
Chair has requested that the Agency of Natural Resources put in writing their requirements for the treatment of any water that may make its way to the lake.
Mark noted that the stone walkway on the Kelly property will be addressed as a zoning issue. The issue of trees marked for removal have been handled by the Tree Warden. Mr. Kelley has agreed to wait to cut any further trees.
Melissa and Mark have both been asked to take photos of water damage and any sedimentation along the shore to be used as supporting evidence for the grant applications.
MINUTES OF JULY 2, 2007
Minutes of July 2 were approved with one correction (adding Beth Ripley’s name to those present), on a motion by Tom, second by John. Motion passed unanimously.
REPORTS FRO M TOWN OFFICIALS
Listers: Harry reported that decisions relating to grievance hearings went out today.
The budget for Wright Appraisers, except for the $6,700 held back, is nearly depleted.
Harry indicated that he would feel more comfortable having Mr. Wright or Lisa defend their appraisal of million dollar properties should the need arise. If this should be necessary, funding will need to come from the local budget. V Wolf seeks verification of the number of grievances held.
Town Clerk/Treasurer: Donna presented a letter from Property Valuation and Review relating to the cost of the Marshall Swift program. Cost to town of $183.12 approved and letter signed by Chair.
Donna has placed $70,000 in a CD at National Bank of Middlebury at 5.3% to be applied to bridge costs. This leaves enough in the Money Market acct to fund the monthly payments for the remainder of the year.
Per action approved at Town Meeting, $10,000 has been transferred to the Equipment Fund and $2,500 has been transferred to the restricted fund for the professional audit.
Donna has calculated an estimated tax rate, after consultation with the Dept of Ed and Brenda Fleming of RNESU. It is estimated that the
Road Foreman: The initial road inventory was completed by Robert Turner Associates last week. Bonnie asked about the tree by Route 7, indicating she felt it should come down. Arlan will cut it down by the end of the week.
ACTION: John M and Bob agreed they would contact the Bridgmon’s to inform them of branches to be trimmed off their red maple that blocks the view on the corner by Roger Scarborough’s.
Bucky noted the grader hasn’t been used much and asked about
Tom indicated his availability. He offered to donate any wages he earned while grading to be split between the Leicester Little League and the Historical Society.
This offer was accepted on a motion by Mark, second by John H. Voting aye were Stacey, Oliver, Benware, McDonough with Tom abstaining. Motion approved to have Tom grade the roads when he is available.
Bids for tree removal: McCullough’s of
Placed a bid of $500 for the same service.
ACTION: John M made the motion, Tom the second to accept the bid from Vallaincourt Tree Service for $500. Motion passed unanimously. Arlan will call Vallaincourt’s and Scott will remove debris same day trees are cut.
OTHER:
The resignation, for personal reasons, of John Hughes as Lister was accepted with regret on a motion made by Tom, seconded by Bob.
Discussion followed, including praise for the professional manner in which John H. conducted himself. It was clarified that the town cannot stipulate that the candidate be here all year. V Wolf told the Chair to “shut up”. Chair replied that a respectful and civil manner needs to be shown or she would be shown the door. John H reiterated he was leaving for personal reasons when asked by John M for more information related to his resignation.
ACTION: The resignation of John H as Lister was accepted with regret on a 3 to 2 vote.
Voting yes to accept his resignation: Barker, Benware, Oliver. Voting no: McDonough and Stacey. Mark and John said they would like to not have to accept his resignation.
ACTION: Chair to place an ad in the Independent, the Rutland Herald and the 2
This authorization to place ad was made on a motion by Tom, second by John. Motion passed unanimously.
For information purposes:
HONOR ROLL:
3 names (Calvin Trudo, Frank Mussaw, Roderick Shackett) are to be added to the Honor Roll, on a motion made by John, second by Tom. Motion passed unanimously.
Discussion of new Honor Roll to honor post WWII veterans. Bonnie has 2 discs of names that she can’t open with her computer.
ACTION: Ceil will try to open and make a copy. Agreement that names of residents who enlisted or were drafted from here will be included. Tweeter and Bonnie agreed to serve on a committee that will gather names and prepare a proposal for another Honor Roll with a Memorial Day 2008 deadline. Chair will ad to Leicester News a request for anyone interested in serving on the committee, to contact Bonnie or Tweeter.
SECRETARY POSITION:
Discussion as to whether names of applicants should be made public at this time or to be addressed in Executive Session. Also discussion as to whether this is a contracted service or an employee. Consensus that this is a part-time, temporary employee.
ACTION: John M made the motion to have the applicants’ names made public at this time, second by Mark. Vote was 4 to 1 in favor of making the names public at this time.
Voting aye were McDonough, Oliver, Benware, Stacey. Voting nay Barker.
Candidates interested in secretary position are Cecile Todd and Julie Dawson of
OLD BUSINESS:
POSTING OF ROADS:
Bob, Diane and Arlan met with Steve Jerome of VT Local Roads to discuss designating a particular road as the truck route in the spring, in addition to posting some roads. Steve agreed with that idea and recommended that they be posted from March 15 to May 1 or May 15. He recommended that
ACTION: Bob made the motion, John the second, to designate
Chair provided copies of letter she would like to send to owners of property within a one mile radius of the
ACTION: Mark made the motion to approve the sending of the letter, second by John.
Motion passed unanimously.
Selectboard members are reminded that Fred Nicholson, Rick Kehne and Tom Roberts will meet at the Town Office at 1:00 Wed., July 25, and then go over to
The marble marker on
PUBLIC OPINION
Bucky, as Town Health Officer, reports that the Brandon bank is having an environmental study conducted on the Coons’ property on
Virginia Wolf apologized to everyone in the room, with the exception of the Chair.
Bucky noted he felt it was a good decision by the board to publicly disclose the names of possible secretarial candidates.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
Motion by Tom to go into Executive Session at 9:29 p.m., second by Mark. Board took a brief recess and went into Executive Session at 9:40 p.m.
For the purpose of discussing personnel matters.
Motion to come out of Executive Session at 10:18 p.m. made by Bob, second by Tom.
Motion passed unanimously.
Tom made the motion to eliminate the position of Road Commissioners, to have only the Road Foreman making decisions and answering to the Selectboard as a whole. Mark made the second to the motion. After discussion, the vote was 3 nay (McDonough, Oliver, Benware) and 2 yes, in favor of eliminating the position of Road Commissioners,
(Barker, Stacey). Motion to eliminate position failed.
No action taken this evening on the position of secretary.
Motion to adjourn made at 10:20 p.m. by Tom, second by Mark. Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted:
Diane Benware