Minutes - 12-07-2020 - 2020 - Welcome to Leicester, VT

Minutes - 12-07-2020

Friday, December 11, 2020 at 12:40 PM

Town of Leicester

Selectboard Meeting Minutes

Monday, December 7, 2020

*Unapproved*

** See subsequent minutes for any changes

Members Present: Diane Benware, Brad Lawes, Tom Barker

Members Absent: John Rouse, Ron Fiske

Others Present: Julie Delphia, Arlan Pidgeon, Sandra Trombley, Secretary

Call to Order: Called meeting to order at 6:45 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance:

Review of Agenda:

Approval of November 16, 2020 Minutes:

Motion by Brad, second by Tom to approve minutes of November 16, 2020 as written. All in favor. So, approved.

Review/Authorization to Pay Bills:

Tom questioned the amount of time sheriffs are spending for only two tickets. He is questioning whether it is worth having patrol. The State Police have been sitting at the Town Shed and Fern Lake Access.

Julie will invite the Sheriff to our next meeting for feedback.

Motion by Brad, second by Tom to approve bills. All in favor. So, approved.

Reports from Town Officials, Committees:

Town Clerk/Treasurer:

Julie reported the Digitization Grant is all done and in and they are reviewing it and they expect town to be reimbursed by the end of the year.

The CTCL Grant is complete and paid and Julie just needs to report.

The Secretary of State paid the town for the August primary and Julie has submitted her expenses for the November General Election. Town should be paid by the end of the year.

Lake Dunmore Fern Lake Association just sent their data to Julie. Milfoil Grant will be out in the next week or two. Money will come in 2021.

The LGER Grant is just way too complicated and difficult in Julie’s opinion.

Julie ordered air purifiers for the Town Office and for the White Building or Brick Building. She ordered things for remote work, more masks, laminator for signs. She will order more cleaning supplies and maybe a couple more air purifiers and filters. There will still be more money on the grant so she will submit the grant short.

Road Foreman:

Arlan reported they did some grading. Diane asked about winter sand. Arlan stated it was good.

He has the new plow.

He inquired about the new guard rail. Julie got the bill and reported the guard rail was replaced.

Weight Permits:

CORRESPONDENCE:

Julie provided the Board with Zoom trainings and grants. Julie recommends the Zoom town meeting brainstorming meeting with VLCT.

OLD BUSINESS:

Watershed Study Report:

Jeff Schumann, Evan Fitzgerald and Dave Johnson were participants on the zoom meeting for the Lake Dunmore Fern Lake Association. Introductions were made.

Jeff stated that they wanted to share with the Board one of the initiatives the Lake Association is moving forward on. It is to try to determine why the phosphorous level in the lake is going up. They are seeing a growth of natural plant growth that they haven’t seen before. They have been dealing with the milfoil but all of a sudden natural species have started to really take off. The Lake Association through the efforts of Dave Johnson have contracted with Fitzgerald Engineering to try to understand this whole process and try to come up with some ideas as to how they might move forward. Jeff stated that as they move forward that the partnership with the Leicester Selectboard and the Salisbury Selectboard is going to be really important.

Dave thanked the Selectboard for their role in the past with the milfoil efforts. About two years ago their Water Quality Committee noticed that the phosphorous levels have been increasing. They are concerned about the risks and talked with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and other experts. They recommended creating a Watershed Action Plan. This plan will list and prioritize a number of actions to take in the future to try to reduce phosphorous loading in the lake. He wanted to highlight some of the risks:

Lake George had its first sign of bacteria bloom, ever
Mirror Lake in Lake Placid had blooms; as well
It will impact tourism, property values

They contracted with an expert Engineering Firm.

Evan explained their appreciation of Leicester’s two lakes. They have focused on lakes throughout the state. The main objective of their work is to do the on the ground survey and reconnaissance work to find the opportunities to stem the flow of sediment and phosphorous to the lake with the appropriate funding and solutions. They have spent quite a bit of time touring the watershed and looking for opportunities on private property and lake property to slow the flow of storm water runoff and capture and infiltrate. They have focused lakeshore area and on private roads.

There may be some State funding down the road the town could apply for. The end goal is an Action Plan town wide.

Brad asked where the phosphorous was coming from.

Evan stated the soil content from erosion and ditches. Sucker Brook is a big run off. They are focused on upland forces and not internal loading.

Dave stated they are looking into internal loading.

This is a multi-year project to report back in September with completed plan.

Brad thought it would be nice to get periodic updates; not waiting until September.

Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Policy:

There was discussion of very minor change.

Board formally named Julie as DER.

Motion by Brad and second by Tom to adopt the CMV Policy. All in favor. So, approved.

Julie will provide Arlan with forms to be signed.

NEW BUSINESS:

Planning for Town Meeting 2021:

There was discussion of Town Meeting 2021. Julie reported that there are Municipal options to be discussed when legislature goes back in January. None of these are mandatory, just options:

Moving the date out
Paper Ballots
Giving BCA the option of mailing ballots to every voter
Giving Secretary of State flexibility to offer support & guidance
No help with postage

Julie recommended going on to Vermont Leagues of Cities and Towns web-site for FAQ. Vlct.org.

Tom and Brad think they need to wait for more guidance and to see what happens. The vaccine is coming.

Julie will have a rough first draft view of the budget for the next meeting on December 21^st.

Brad will have a BLSG budget for her.

Julie asked everyone to send any budget ideas before next meeting.

Diane asked how Julie was feeling. Julie mentioned this is a very busy time of year for her. Hopefully, getting the grants done will help. Zoom meetings are very time consuming in general. In person is a lot less work.

NEMRC Software Agreement:

Motion by Brad and second by Tom authorizing Julie to sign the NEMRC Software Agreement on behalf of the town. All in favor. So, approved

Road Maintenance Agreements/COOP:

Tom and Brad felt if the contracts are the same amount as last year, then they are ok with them.

Diane will contact Lem and Calvin. Tom will talk with Gus.

Julie asked about the Contingency Plan for Road Crew.

What happens if road crew employees get Covid?
Some towns are talking mutual aid agreements between towns.
Some towns are talking with private contractors.
There are links to VLCTs web-site and Emergency Management.

Tom mentioned the Town does not own the equipment in town. It would be Arlan’s responsibility. Tom has heard the mutual aid agreements are not popular.

Tom and Brad think they need to wait for more guidance and to see what happens. Julie mentioned that the vaccine is coming.

Donation:

Motion by Tom and second by Brad to make a donation of $500 to come from Animal Control Funding to Homeward Bound in John Rouse’s name to acknowledge all the work he has done as Animal Control Officer. All in favor. So, approved.

BUILDING NEEDS:

HIGHWAY CONCERNS/NEEDS:

Motion by Brad, second by Tom to adjourn at 8:15 p.m.

Next Regular Meeting: December 21, 2020.

Respectfully submitted,

Sandra L. Trombley

Selectboard Secretary