Meeting Minutes
Town of LeicesterSelectboard Meeting MinutesMonday, July 7, 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, Lesley Wright, Elise Haydon, Jim Ellefson, Sandra Trombley, Secretary Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair. Review of Agenda: Approval of Minutes of June 16, 23 & 30: Motion by Tom and second by Ron to approve minutes as amended with date Monday, June 24th corrected to Monday, June 23rd. All in favor. So approved. Review/Authorization to Pay Bills: Motion by Tom and second by Ken to approve the bills. All in favor. So approved. Reports from Town Officials, Committees: Town Clerk/Treasurer: Julie requested metal pieces for town shed and town office for posting notices. By having metal sheets postings can be put up with magnet sheets which makes it much easier for everyone involved. Ken mentioned that Brandon Lumber can make anything we want. It must be nice enough so notices do not get wet. Diane will contact Brandon Lumber. The new Zoning Administrator is starting on Monday. His hours will be 9:00 – 12:00. He will be coming to the Shoreland meeting and possibly the other public forum; as well. Julie needs to get a new slider for the change in zoning hours. Motion by Tom and second by Ken to authorize Julie to purchase the new slider for new zoning hours. All in favor. So approved. Julie would like to set the municipal tax rate at the next meeting. Julie spoke to the school in regard to insurance when students are on/using town property. They sent Julie a Certificate of Coverage that lists the Town as a certificate holder and additional named insured. Stacey Sherman from Bridport is looking to start Zumba classes in other communities and wonders if there is a space in Leicester available. Julie will contact Stacey and advise that the town only allows residents to use town buildings but will recommend she contact the Nazarene Church. Julie received an email from R. Dodson from nomorehate.org and would like us to add a link to our web-site that deals with hate and bias crimes. Julie will answer the email and tell him no per the Board. Julie mentioned the appeal to Environmental Court about the permit that was denied. There is a new Park & Ride Grant. There is a new Municipal Planning Grant 2015. Will not apply; already have a grant. There is a Community Advisory Board Meeting at New Haven Barracks July 23rd at 6:00 p.m. There is a complaint about the man hole on Fern Lake Road. Arlan is getting in touch with Brian Roberts. Arlan talked with Brian last year about the same problem. Julie gave a survey for road crews from ACRP to Arlan. Julie has received a couple of phone calls from a lady in Goshen concerned that the BLSG folks are not responding. One of our Leicester residents has not responded to her. Julie gave her the number for Gary Gibbs and he hasn’t responded. Today Julie sent an email to the whole BLSG Board and asked that they please respond to her. Julie explained to her that the Town has no control over the BLSG Board. The lady hasn’t had any help from the Goshen reps. She said she has a medical issue that spraying could kill her. She is trying to have a “no spray zone”. This isn’t the first time there have been concerns about communication with BLSG. Road Forman: Arlan reported that they hauled sand and graded Shackett Road, Delorm Road, Cram Road, Ferson Road and Old Jerusalem Road. Julie mentioned that Leicester has received several compliments about Leicester Roads; so kudos to the road crew. Tomorrow morning at 10:00 at Old Jerusalem Road/Leicester Whiting Road, Daryl Benoit and others from the State are coming to view the concern of vehicles going off the road into the ditch when turning. Ken, Ron and Arlan will be there. Weight Permits: None CORRESPONDENCE: 2013 Grand list Form for Signatures: Board signed the certificate indicating no appeal or suit pending for 2013. Recycling Certification/Changes: Addison County Solid Waste sent a form and when Diane called and talked with Terry Kaczynski about the deadline, Terry explained that since Leicester has gone mobile, Diane does not have to complete the form. Terry sent a letter certifying Leicester has gone mobile. Diane signed this form and faxed back. Terry sent the latest laws passed VT’s Universal Recycling Law #148. Diane touched briefly on leaf and yard wastes and food wastes. There will be more discussion in the future. NEW BUSINESS: Mosquito Concerns: Lesley Wright, Elise Haydon and Jim Ellefson came to talk about their concerns of spraying for mosquitoes. Introductions were made. Lesley and Elise explained concerns about the spraying and “no spray” zones. The truck drivers don’t seem to know where the zones are. They have found some new studies from Mount Sinai Hospital on effects of the pesticides on people; linking the pesticides to autism and developmental delays in newborns and other studies on effects of pesticides on fish, aquatic life, invertebrates. Lesley provided copies of these studies. They discovered from the Dept of Agriculture that the amount of Malathion sprayed was 20 times greater this year than last year. The EPA says residents are supposed to be warned when the spray trucks are out. BLSG says that it isn’t realistic to have any kind of warning. The Advisory Board in Montpelier suggested coming to the Selectboard. The new studies caused them to move to start a dialogue. There is some problem with the larvicide program so BLSG has been using more adulticide to make up for it. The problem with BLSG and the State is about paperwork and application that were not in order and BLSG has not been reimbursed. Adulticide is not effective for long term. Elise explained that there is a lot of inconsistent information and miscommunication between community members and BLSG. The truck drivers don’t seem to know the “no spray” zones or what they are spraying when Mort told them they wouldn’t be sprayed. Not returning phone calls is a big issue. The Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, Department of Environmental Protection Conservation all say their hands are tied because it is a town funded program; as long as they sign off on the permit, then BLSG can apply these pesticides. There was a lot of discussion about the impact on the community. Citizens are not well educated on the process and the chemicals and the hazards of the chemicals. They recommend that we just slow down and really evaluate the program and recommend they have a healthy larvicide program and use less adulticide. They recommended an Opt In approach instead of an Opt Out approach. That would satisfy both sides of the issue. The Board thanked them for the information and they will discuss this and decide where to go from here. They will talk with Brad, who is not here tonight, and ask his opinion on how to approach BLSG to be more effective since he is on the BLSG Board. OLD BUSINESS: BUILDING NEEDS: HIGHWAY CONCERNS/NEEDS: Limited Public Opinion: None Next Meeting: July 21, 2014 Motion by Ken to adjourn at 8:03 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sandra L. TrombleySelectboard Secretary