Minutes - 08-03-2020
Town of LeicesterSelectboard Meeting MinutesMonday, August 3, 2020*Unapproved*** See subsequent minutes for any changes Members Present: Diane Benware, Brad Lawes, Tom Barker, John Rouse, Ron FiskeOthers Present: Julie Delphia, Arlan Pidgeon, Sandra Trombley, Secretary Call to Order: Called meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance: Review of Agenda: Added equipment grant, bicycle grant, BLSG Rep, roadside brush, access permit, executive session for legal not personnel. Approval of July 20, 2020 Minutes: Motion by Tom, second by Brad to approve minutes of July 20, 2020 as written. All in favor. So, approved. Review/Authorization to Pay Bills: Motion by Tom, second by John to approve bills. All in favor. So, approved. Reports from Town Officials, Committees: Road Foreman: Arlan reported that they paved from the grain store to the town line. Diane reported that Julie sent an email to Brian and he responded that Leicester would most likely not receive a paving grant this year. Arlan reported they hauled 500-600 yards of sand. Arlan reported he wants to talk to their salesman about fenders. Tom and Brad offered to talk to salesman; as well. Town Clerk/Treasurer: Julie reported they came and put the windows in the white building today. All agreed they look nice. Julie reported the window blinds in the office have paper towels and cups in them because of the condensation. The wooden window sills are staying wet and not drying out. Julie stated they could take down the blinds or buy a dehumidifier. Nothing she does is working. The air conditioner runs around the clock. Ron mentioned they are metal framed windows. Metal windows can be a problem. They may need to get storm windows. Brad mentioned he has a one-time used dehumidifier that he will bring down to try. Tom stated he also has one if they need it. Julie reported that the census representative assures her that addresses are correct. He was wondering if it would be ok to go to recycling on recycle days to set up and talk with people about completing their census. They apparently have had good luck doing it that way. Board was fine with them setting up at recycling. Julie reported that as of today, there is one person appealing their grievance; which means there needs to be a BCA meeting. It needs to happen before the 19th of August. Julie thought perhaps 5:30 on August 17th before the next Selectboard meeting or another night. Due to the size of the group, it would have to be partially remote and partially in the brick building to meet Covid guidelines for social distancing. Julie will try to get the grievance scheduled for 5:30 pm on the 17th or 6:30 pm on the 24th. Julie reported on the primary election coming up. At this point in time, Julie is leaning toward having the election inside because they are going to have to do the same thing in November. Julie reported that the Department of Taxes found a vulnerability in their property transfer tax program. If you purchased any land from February 17, 2017 to July 2020 that your property transfer record could have been accessed and they could get your social security number. The State doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal because you would need to do them one by one. You would need to have a code and you would need to go to a Town Clerk’s office to get the code. They have addressed the vulnerability. Animal Control Officer: John reported a serious dog fight/attack at the lake with Chris Trombetta’s German Shepard and Rich Goodwin’s Rottweiler/Pit Bull. John visited with both parties. John got two different stories. Neither dog was on a leash. Chris decided he just wanted John to bring it up at the Selectboard meeting tonight so that it was on public record as to what happened so that if it happened again, something could be addressed. John talked with Rich too. Rich Goodwin told John he was going to build a fence around his property this fall after everyone went home. Tom asked about the pony situation. John got a call from the State Police about a month ago and wanted information about the case. John told them all he knew. He hasn’t heard anything since then. Cemetery Committee: CORRESPONDENCE: FYI notification of a USDA Timber Stand Improvement Project. Virtual Vermont Preparedness September 29 and September 30. OLD BUSINESS: Town Office Roof: Tom contacted contractor about meeting with Julie for worker’s compensation paperwork and choosing a color. Julie hasn’t heard from him. Julie prefers the roof repair not happen until after August 11th due to the election. Julie put an ad in the Front Porch Forum about glazing and painting interior windows. Diane contacted Desabrais Glass to get some names. They gave her a name, but she has not been able to reach him. She also talked with Connie Carroll and Connie didn’t have any suggestions. Pete Fjeld mentioned Bob Reed. DRB Update: Peter sent Julie an email with copies of the findings of fact for the site plan review of Johnson sub-division. Tom stated there should be a hard copy for the file. Diane spoke with Peter about a collaborative meeting. Peter told Diane he was not continuing after November. NEW BUSINESS: BLSG Representative: Brad reported that Jay asked if the Selectboard would consider Doug Perkins as the BLSG Representative in Jim Bosman’s place. Doug is a new member of the LDFL Association. Julie will invite Doug to the next meeting. Brad reported it has been a great year with few mosquitos. They are on a 3-month budget. No promises for future grants. Communications Unified District Possibilities: Julie reported that she received an email that the OV Unified Union School Board would like to discuss the idea of a few board members attending future Selectboard meetings. They wanted to know how to get added to the agenda. Their presentation/discussion would take about fifteen minutes; in September, January, and May. Julie provided Diane’s contact information and responded to them that for September and however long social distancing is required, there are issues with the town office space and social distancing. Having a group come to the meeting will create space issues and would most likely require the group to attend electronically. Another option would be to have the Selectboard go over to the school for the presentation if they have space to adequately social distance everyone. January meetings tend to be very busy with calendar year budgeting, town report and warnings, perhaps consider February meeting instead. Board will wait to be contacted. Equipment Grant: Mike Winslow from ACRP sent Diane information about COVID money to support municipalities with an 80% match. Arlan needs to choose his first pick from the list. He chose a bale shredder. Bicycle & Pedestrian Program Grant: No action by Board. Roadside Brush: Ron brought up the need for brush cutting along the roadways. Ron stated that the brush is a problem. Old Jerusalem Road is a big problem. Arlan may have some time and will take care of the brush. Access Permit: The access permit for Sherwin’s on Maple Run Road was signed by Arlan and Keith. Brad signed the preliminary approval for the Board. BUILDING NEEDS: HIGHWAY CONCERNS/NEEDS: Arlan mentioned that the plow he uses is a 92 or 93 and pretty well used up. Arlan has a quote of $6,600 from Mike Murray of Viking Equipment. There is money in the equipment fund. Arlan will talk with Mike Murray. Executive Session: Motion by Tom and second by Ron to go into Executive Session to discuss legal issue at 7:33 p.m. All in favor. So, approved. Motion by Tom and second by John to come out of Executive Session with no action taken at 7:45 p.m.All in favor. So, approved. Motion by Tom to adjourn at 7:45 p.m. Next Regular Meeting: August 17, 2020 Respectfully submitted, Sandra L. TrombleySelectboard Secretary