Meeting Minutes
Town of LeicesterSelectboard Meeting MinutesMonday September 7, 2015*Unapproved*** See subsequent minutes for any changes Members Present: Diane Benware, Tom Barker, Ron Fiske, Brad Lawes, Ken Young Others Present: Julie Delphia, Arlan Pidgeon, Mary Anne Sullivan, Sandra Trombley, Secretary Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair. Pledge of Allegiance: Review of Agenda: Added: Fern Lake Road Culvert under Highway Concerns/Needs Approval of August 17, 2015 minutes: Motion by Tom and second by Ken to approve minutes of August 17, 2015 as written. All in favor. So approved. Reports from Town Officials, Committees: Town Clerk/Treasurer: Julie reported that delinquents are at $78,600 and Beth informed her that there should be a couple more coming in soon. Julie reported there was a letter in correspondence from Chris Bray about water quality and how it affects municipalities. There is also a letter from Mike Montagau about the railroad crossing. He wrote a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration asking why they did the railroad crossing on a little rural road and why one and not the other. He never got a response. Tom remembered that they were doing the crossing because of the angle of the tracks. Julie will call to help Mike find someone that he can talk to. Julie hadn’t received payment for the advertising for the railroad road closure in four weeks. Julie sent another invoice for advertising related to the railroad road closure. In the future, Julie recommends we should get a pre-pay or partial pre-pay. Motion by Tom and second by Ken to authorize Treasurer to pay against the town loan and school taxes as money is available. All in favor. So approved. Road Foreman: Arlan reported they worked one day doing the shoulders on Fern Lake Road. Brad asked about the tree on Maple Run Road. Arlan had not contacted GMP. Julie mentioned she get calls about a tree near Dunmore Acres on the phone lines. Julie stated if Arlan gets the pole numbers; she will contact Green Mountain Power. Tom mentioned a white birch near Lackard’s. Tom mentioned a bad section of road at the end of Wheeler Road. Arlan told Steve to take care of it. Brad mentioned that Rick Hansen is having trouble with his culvert lifting. Arlan will look at it and report back. Arlan reported that they need to do some grading once it rains. Arlan wants to replace the old sander. Motion by Ken and second by Brad to authorize Arlan to purchase a hopper sander; funds to come from the equipment restricted fund. All in favor. So approved. Tom recommended keeping an eye on the Alden House property in case in comes up for sale. Health Officer: Diane reported at the last meeting that ACSW waived their tipping fees and Van has a roll off dumpster for $225. Diane and Tom will make another site visit inspection and contact legal counsel and come back and report. Cemetery Committee: Tom reported that Don Durkee has finished cleaning the stones in the cemetery. They are waiting for the bill. Weight Permits: None Review/Authorization to pay bills: Motion by Tom and second by Brad to authorize Julie to pay the bills. All in favor. So approved. CORRESPONDENCE: BLSG: Julie explained that the question came up at a prior Selectboard meeting about a request of the list of “no spray zones” for BLSG. Julie made the comment that they were public record and advised the person requesting the information to make a public records request; which they did. BLSG said no. The request came back to town. Julie called the Department of Agriculture because they oversee BLSG and they said they could not give a legal opinion; but said probably they should have to follow open meeting law and public records, but the town should contact their own counsel. Diane called Jim Carroll and he said he believes they would be subject to open meeting law and public records, but there could be an exemption he is not aware of. Julie told the requester that she should contact someone else. Julie called the Secretary of State’s office and spoke with Chris Winters, Deputy Secretary of State. He said to give her his information and he responded to her; giving her information and links on how to do public records requests. He responded back to Julie that he believes they are a municipal entity because they were created by statute and they receive state funds and that would require them to follow the same rules as a municipality, therefore they would have to follow open meeting law and public records law and she should make the request. If they refuse they would have to put in writing why they feel they aren’t a municipal entity. Julie did clarify in the email to the person making the request that the town is not a player in this. The town is not in charge of BLSG. The Board of BLSG directs BLSG. The town is not the one to follow up or enforce anything. Julie was just a facilitator to get an answer. NEW BUSINESS: Appointment to Planning Commission: Diane reported that Bill Shouldice sent a message that Duncan Rollanson III had expressed an interest in joining the Planning Commission. There was a question whether his interest was in Planning and Zoning or just Planning. Lister E & O: There were three pieces of corrective action. Board signed the Lister E&O Certificate. OLD BUSINESS: Next Steps: Planning Commission: Diane referred to the joint meeting between the Selectboard and Planning Commission where definitions and a few changes were made by Ron and Mary Anne and the current document was reformatted. Diane asked if the definitions are capatible with the rest of the document. Diane asked if the Planning Commission walked away with the reformatted document. Ron said they gave it to them right there, but Mary Anne confirmed that they did not give the reformatted document to them, but only the definitions. Ron stated they were only suggestions and it would go back to them. Diane clarified that the Planning Commission did not receive the reformatted document. They went away with the definitions. They have not seen the reformatted document. Diane had a conversation with Peter and he said the PC had the feeling that the Selectboard was basicly saying that the work they had done on the Poultney plan was no good and that the Selectboard was saying that they simply wanted some definitions changed and a few tweeks made. Peter was curious where to go from here. Peter would like to know from Jim Carroll how he thinks they should proceed. Diane reported her conversation with Jim Carroll. Jim stated that the Planning Commission is the body charged to do the work and it is to their credit that they want input from the Selectboard but it’s their authority to proceed as they see fit. They have to have a public meeting for citizen input. The Planning Commission has to provide a report to the Selectboard. There is a specific process. Jim thinks there needs to be clarity of the process and rules to proceed and is willing to come to help facilitate a conversation between the Planning Commission and Selectboard. There seems to be philosophical differences. Ron felt the PC asks for input, but when they give input, the PC refuses to accept any input. Ron stated that Tom has said things; as well. Diane stated that they can’t sit there and just say they don’t like it; the input has to be specific, constructive input and not personal opinions. Diane feels they need to move forward and wants to know what is the best way to move forward. Mary Anne mentioned that Julie did a lot of work. Things are happening so fast in Regional Planning and there are still issues with boat house language. There needs to be a lot of coordination to make the regulations effective. Diane reminded everyone that at the last Selectboard Meeting the suggestion was made that Ron and Mary Anne authorize Julie to reformat the old document so the Planning Commission would have it at their meeting and that didn’t happen. Diane reminded that Julie had done a lot of work in reformatting the current plan and incorporating the changes that Ron and Mary Anne had done in order to have it at their meeting and the Planning Commission does not have it. Ron commented about three court cases and judge’s decisions that can be incorporated in the regulations. There were other varied opinions, but Diane’s stated her intent is to move forward and work together to come up with a document that works for the town, for residents and administratively feasible for the zoning administrator to administer. Mary Anne objects to the sense of confrontation, always. When the definitions were presented, there was a remark they were completely wrong. She said they were not wrong. She has suggested in the past that L1 needs to have something on lot coverage. It came up at a hearing. If there is a sense of coordination and working together, that is one thing, but not the confrontation. Tom stated he looks at the legality of things and potential cost to the town. Diane doesn’t want to spin wheels any longer. It’s a long process. Julie will provide the reformatted document to the Planning Commission for tomorrow evening. The Planning Commission will need to decide if they are proceeding with the reformatted current document or the Poultney revised plan. Julie stated she is going to the meeting tomorrow night at 6:00 and bring a copy of the reformatted current plan. Julie is going to explain to them that the reason this is all happening is because she didn’t want to waste any more time on a plan that wasn’t going to pass. The idea was the Selectboard and the Planning Commission would sit down and have a discussion about what was going to happen going forward to get a plan that could go through both boards. Julie’s intent was not to pit two boards against one another. Her intent was to have two boards work together. That’s not happening. Her intent was not to have concern that the PC was going to walk out or ultimatums made on how things should happen, but to do something similar to the Town Plan where everybody had input and it would pass through two boards. It has to be something everyone can buy into. Diane stated the intent was not to put Julie in the middle. Approve Zoning Forms: These forms contain the recommendations Jim Carroll had made. Diane mentioned that another of Jim’s recommendations was that the footer should have Town of Leicester Zoning Administrator and not Mary Anne’s name. Motion by Ron and second by Brad to accept revised zoning permit pack forms; including the No Permit form. All in favor. So approved. Mary Anne will email Julie the documents for the web-site. Access Permit – Robinson: Arlan and Brad made a site visit. Arlan most recently met with Jim Robinson on Hooker Road. Robinson will keep the cement retaining wall back 6’ away from the edge of the road. Access permit was signed. BUILDING NEEDS: Foundation Brick Building: Julie sent letters to five individuals for bids. Two responded. Dave Peters Masonry $ 925Jerry McCray $1,500 Motion by Brad and second by Tom to accept Dave Peters Masonry bid with 50% paid at beginning of job, contingent on providing liability insurance and completes independent contractor papwerwork. All in favor. So approved. Heat Pumps: Green Mountain Power has heat pumps. Julie went on line. They charge $40 a month and they install everything and maintain them. If it doesn’t cost anything, Julie will have GMP come out to evaluate and make recommendations. HIGHWAY CONCERNS/NEEDS: Town Shed: Ken suggested they take off two eaves on east and west sides. Scrape or sand blast support beams where necessary and paint with DeRusto paint. Replace tin close to current color. Fix any insulation where necessary. Diane will send letters to Paul Francoeur, Naylor & Breen and Bud Carpenter with Ken Young as the contact person. Beaver Dam: Arlan will look at it. Arlan will contact Kurt Kimball for trapping. Fern Lake Culvert: Ken wants Selectboard to contact Brian Sanderson about the culvert. He is concerned about the constant traffic and school buses. Julie and Diane already contacted him to see if there was something he could do and he said “no”, that the town is responsible. There was discussion on repairing the culvert. Arlan will look into repairing it. Tree Concerns: Discussed under Road Foreman reports. Limited Public Opinion: None Executive Session: Motion by Tom and second by Ken to go into Executive Session to discuss pending zoning issue at 8:50 p.m. Motion by Tom and second by Brad to come out of Executive Session at 9:29 p.m., with no action taken. Motion by Ken and second by Tom to adjourn at 9:30 p.m. Next Meeting: September 21, 2015 Respectfully submitted, Sandra L. TrombleySelectboard Secretary