Meeting Minutes
Town of LeicesterSelectboard Meeting MinutesMonday December 28, 2015*Unapproved*** See subsequent minutes for any changes Members Present: Diane Benware, Tom Barker, Ron Fiske, Brad Lawes Members Absent: Ken Young Others Present: Julie Delphia, Arlan Pidgeon, Craig Mencel, Sandra Trombley, Secretary Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair. Pledge of Allegiance: Review of Agenda: Added Lake Dunmore/Fern Lake Assn to Old Business and a couple building items under Building Needs. Approval of December 7, 2015 and December 22, 2015 minutes: Motion by Tom and second by Ron to approve minutes of December 7, 2015 as written. 3 yes and 1 abstention by Brad. So approved. Motion by Tom and second by Ron to approve minutes of December 22, 2015 as written. All in favor. So approved. Access Permit: Craig Mencel came to find out what was going on with the McDonnell access permit. Arlan and Brad have been to visit the site of the original plan, but the original plan has changed. Steve called Diane and was concerned about blocking his access to Rt.53 and messing up his yard. Craig is concerned that it is an accident waiting to happen. Steve stated that she has moved rocks. Craig was also concerned with water runoff going down onto other properties. The Board and Craig reviewed the plan. Arlan and Brad will make another site visit making sure they have the new layout of the plan. Tom stated that the changes to the access permit application need to be marked and measured before it comes back to the board. Brad will contact the applicant. Reports from Town Officials, Committees: Town Clerk/Treasurer: Motion by Tom and second by Brad to allow Treasurer to pay December bills and transfer funds as needed. All in favor. So approved. Board agreed to a BCA meeting at 6:25 p.m. next Monday, January 4, 2016. Julie stated that at some point the Superintendent and someone from Leicester School should be attending a Selectboard meeting. She hasn’t heard anything, but we are running out of time. Julie shared concerns about the warning and requirements of statute. Julie did get an explanation from the Department Education about why the town specific representatives are being voted on by all the towns. The federal law requires one person, one vote. When you have a board made up of a number of towns, it has to be proportional. i.e. in Goshen, 1 vote = 283 people while in Leicester, 1 vote = 1100 people and so on. Brandon and Pittsford are much larger. In order for it to be proportionate, the board would have to have about 50 members which is not reasonable. In order to make it proportional that would be accepted as 1 vote, 1 person, the whole electorate has to vote. They are kind of doing a hybrid version of an at-large directors and it’s basically a hybrid of the Statute. The other issue is; if you vote this through on January 19th, in March, we won’t have a school budget to vote on, we will only have a unified district budget to vote on. Julie stated there is a lot of confusion about this, the clerks, and she is waiting on answers. Tom stated that he is against everything and protests this whole school business and feels it’s just another way of losing control at the local level. Julie reported that the Addison Independent reported an information meeting on January 7th at 5:30 with a potluck and then the meeting on the 18th. Brad asked if we would really be closing schools. Julie explained what it says is that for four years, all the schools will remain operational. They are guaranteed the schools will be operational for four years. The make-up of students may change. After that, should the board so decide by a super majority they could close the school, if it was no longer necessary for the district. Then, for the sum of $1, it will be turned back over to the town, provided the town uses it for a term of 5 years for municipal or public use. Motion by Tom and second by Brad to approve payment of the bills. All in favor. So approved. Last year the board allowed the school board to print their report with us provided they pay their portion. The board approved again this year; provided they can get their report to Julie in the time frame that works for Julie. Road Foreman: Arlan reported that they graded, hauled gravel and put up some signs. Arlan mentioned, for budgeting purposes, they need to get a tank if Brad wants his tank back. Brad will check on and put some numbers together on various size tanks for next meeting. CORRESPONDENCE: Request for Building Use: There was a request from a young lady for the use of the meeting house for her parent’s to renew their wedding vows. The board approved the request. Diane will contact her. NEW BUSINESS: 2016 Budget Work: Julie mentioned a few options to consider for next year’s budget. The options are; to remove the office of Lister and have a professional assessor and have a person be the listers clerk. Also, the ability to remove the office of constable. An option to change the delinquent tax collector from elected to appointed. If any of these three are of interest, Julie can look for wording for articles. Board was interested in these options for listers and constable. The Board would like Julie to contact NEMRC for numbers so they know what they are looking at for budget purposes. Julie provided an updated budget spreadsheet to review. The spreadsheet was reviewed line item by line item. Diane provided a rough draft of the Selectboard Report for review. Next meeting, January 4th, the goal will be to finalize the budget. Julie will not have the warning on the 4th; so the following meeting on the 18th, she will have the warning. OLD BUSINESS: LDFLA: Brad said the LDFLA sent the permit application; along with the $500 fee, to the State and they are asking not to be reimbursed by the town. They will need to know all abutters to the shores of Fern Lake and Lake Dunmore and also need to know who is drawing water from the lake. Everyone needs to be notified. BUILDING NEEDS: Ron reported that the roof over the kitchen of the Senior Center needs replacing. It is curling and breaking up. The brick building handicap access is going to cost about $32,000 to replace and install the 70’ of handicap ramp and steps with aluminum. The rules and regulations are quite stringent on handicap accessibility. Julie and Ron did some brainstorming and came up with an option of 30’; less than half the distance that would work and for half the price. HIGHWAY CONCERNS/NEEDS: Town Shed: Arlan had a quote of $5,882 for materials for the town shed from Vermont Structural. Arlan said it needs a strip all the way around the bottom that is not in the quote. Limited Public Opinion: None Executive Session: None Motion by Tom to adjourn at 8:40 p.m. Next Meeting: January 4, 2016 Respectfully submitted, Sandra L. TrombleySelectboard Secretary