Meeting Minutes
Town of LeicesterSelectboard Meeting MinutesMonday, January 13, 2014*Unapproved*** See subsequent minutes for any changes Members Present: Diane Benware, Ron Fiske, Tom Barker, Ken Young Members Absent: Brad Lawes Others Present: Julie Delphia, Arlan Pidgeon, Kate Briggs, Sandra Trombley, Secretary Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Review of Agenda: Approval of December 16, 2013 and December 30, 2013 Minutes: Motion by Tom and second by Ron to approve minutes of December 16, 2013 and December 30, 2013 as written. All in favor. So approved. Review/Authorization to pay bills: Bills making their rounds for signatures. Julie mentioned there are a lot of places to sign. Reports from Town Officials, Committees: Road Foreman: Arlan got the new sander and will put it on the other truck. The cat walks for the sides are on order. He repaired the old one. He hauled sand today. Tom mentioned a chunk of tree in the road by Kevin Clark’s. Tom spoke to Arlan about putting up frost heaves signs by Bob Oliver’s. Arlan reported the shed is full of salt. He has ordered 300 ton this fall. Ken mentioned that the sand pile has been taking a beating this year. Arlan has run some people out. There was some discussion about what they might do to monitor who is taking the sand. There is no problem with residents taking sand, but it’s the commercial people that are taking sand. It is very hard to distinguish who is who. This winter has been a hard year. Zoning Administrator: Kate received an email from the State saying that the town needs to send the original signed first page of the Grant Agreement. Kate reported that there has been some turnover at the VLCT in the Municipal Assistance Center. She recommends that they go with VLCT for the zoning changes and revisions. Kate needs some help formatting. It is not a huge job. She needs some help in order to get it out to people. The Planning Commission has a meeting tomorrow night. Sue Stroud-Speyers is very good at formatting and would help. Kate asked about Lynn Bisbee and if she is still interested in being on the Planning Commission. Diane explained that Lynn requested the Board consider appointing her husband for our ACRPC delegate. She is happy to continue as an alternate on the Planning Commission. Kate received a letter from EBI Consulting for comments. Tom and Ron explained that this project has been around for some time and they are just renewing their permit. We are all in support of the cell tower. Kate talked with Rick Oberkirch about the Town Access Road problem. Rick said he didn’t know and he would look into it. Rick contacted someone and he left Kate a long message that they had received complaints from neighbors and you cannot put in a bubbler without a permit. They talked with the landowner and the landowner has stopped using the bubbler. The ordinance reads that this reserve road would only be used in the winter months; specifically from December 1st to April 1st. Kate talked with someone from VLCT and he would refer to the underwriters and said they would get back to Kate. His thought is that the town would be covered by their general liability if someone went through the ice. Kate wondered if the ordinance should be followed or changed. Diane talked with Jim Carroll on January 2nd. He needs a copy of the survey, tax map and ordinance before he speaks to the situation. Kate wrote her section for the Town Report. Listers: None Cemetery Committee: None Conversation with Tax Collector: Diane again reiterated to Beth that she has the Board’s support in aggressively collecting taxes. Beth received a letter from an attorney that she needs to back up due to the bankruptcy of his client and she would need court approval. Beth will write a letter to the Bankruptcy Court in regard to the agreement and report that the taxpayer has not paid anything as agreed with the court and apprise the court where the Town is at. They have not fulfilled their obligation and the Town needs to proceed with a tax sale. With others, they have been negotiable and she will send certified letters and give them 30 days to pay. She will contact banks and mortgage companies; as well. Julie mentioned that she can publish delinquent taxpayer names in the Town Report, but cannot publish amounts. She can publish the total dollars due and total dollars collected. Again, the Selectboard gives Beth their support. Motion by Tom and second by Ken to approve the bills. All in favor. So approved.Motion by Tom and second by Ken to approve payment of all State and Federal taxes and fees as required. This includes Federal 941 payments, Vermont Withholding payments, State Education Tax, State Dog Fees, and State Marriage Fees. All in favor. So approved. Motion by Tom and second by Ken to pay Presiding Officer and election workers $10 per hour. All in favor. So approved. Motion by Tom and second by Ken to approve the payment of $238.81 to the VT Department of Taxes for the Marshall & Swift license. All in favor. So approved. NEW BUSINESS Budget 2014 Preliminary Look: Julie provided draft copies of the Town Report and budget and gave explanations and thoughts on pages within the report. Julie is still waiting on some reports. Diane and Julie will work on some wording. Julie would like to finish this and send it to everyone and hopefully have it done for next Monday’s meeting. She would like to sign the warning next Monday. Preliminary budget review. Add $2,000 for professional audit in anticipation of upcoming audit. Add $2,000 for tax map update and dropped the listers salary by $2,000 to $6,000. $10,500 for building expenses. Add $300 to cemetery and $200 to office & town green & Fern Lake access grounds care. Add $5,000 under transfers as a multi-year plan of restoration of the cemetery perimeter. Add $250 to Town Clerk and add $250 to Treasurer. Add $400 for electricity and drop telephone by $200. Add $50 to Humane Society up to $550. Add $5,000 to Equipment Rental. Materials:
- Add $1,000 to Chloride
- Add $5,000 to Salt
- Add $5,000 to Sand, Stone & Gravel
- Add $5,000 to Winter Sand