Meeting Minutes
Town of LeicesterSelectboard Meeting Minutes Monday, December 17, 2012*Unapproved*** See subsequent minutes for any changes Members Present: Diane Benware, Ron Fiske, Ken Young, Brad Lawes Members Absent: Tom Barker Others Present: Julie Delphia, Arlan Pidgeon, Victor Gittens, Sandra Trombley, Secretary Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Review of Agenda: Agenda reviewed. Victor Gittens asked to speak to the Board. He explained that he is from Barbados. He is a citizen of the United States and lives in Leicester and is an entertainer. He explained that he was very moved by the tragedy with the shooting of the children. He has two songs that he sang and recorded on a CD that he thought would bring hope to those people. He doesn’t want to do it by himself but wants to contribute them from the Town of Leicester to those people. He stated he would like to get the songs to those people on behalf of Leicester. In his little way, he would like to do something. He would like the Board to listen to the songs and see what they can do. The Board listened to the songs. Diane asked how he planned on getting the CD to Newtown. He thought the Board would have more contacts in their capacity to get it there than himself. He said he would like to go there, but he doesn’t have the power to do so. He really would like to pass this on if the Board could help to assist him in any way. He would like to get it there as soon as possible. Diane thinks they can probably figure out a way. Victor will prepare the CD and get it to Julie. Diane and Julie will look into it and figure out a way to get it there. Approval of December 3, 2012 Minutes: Motion by Ron and second by Brad to approve the minutes of December 3, 2012 with the correction: under Others Present it should be Ashley Delphia, not Julie. Julie was not present. All in favor. So approved. Review/Authorization to pay bills: Bills making their rounds for signatures. Reports from Town Officials, Committees: Town Clerk/Treasurer: Julie reported an ongoing dog issue on Dorrey Lane. The dogs were running around; getting into the neighbors stuff. Paul went up to see them and told them they had to get them registered. The rabies shots are not up-to-date, so they have to get the rabies shots first. There were further complaints so he actually went and got two of the three dogs because they were running loose around town and Paul brought them to the Humane Society. Julie reported that someone was calling repeatedly and hadn’t gotten any good response, so Julie told them to call Paul on both numbers and to call Diane if there was no response. There have been several different people calling regarding the dogs. Julie put the bill for the lawyer back in the bills. In the new bill there was another charge for a conversation with someone that wasn’t a Leicester employee. Julie is concerned that they are already significantly over budget with legal fees and we’re paying our lawyer to discuss our case with people that do not work for this town. Julie provided a copy of the budget. She had a couple questions. When they did the vote the time before last, we asked the town to allow us to put level funded appropriations in our regular budget and only Australian vote on items that changed an amount. Julie got a call from Janet Mondlak, at the Brandon Library and she explained that in comparison to other towns, Leicester is paying significantly less per person that uses the library than Sudbury and Brandon and that they would need to increase us to $2,000. Janet asked what that would require. After some research, it was determined they do not need a petition because it is an assessment and not an appropriation. This year, so far, Julie has received an appropriation request from ACTR that increases their request. They did submit a petition to do that. She also received a request from another, but they did not submit a petition. Julie confirmed with the Board that in order to request an increase in appropriations, you do need a petition. Insect Control is $14,177; a 14% increase to all the towns. Listers: None Town Foreman: Arlan reported they finished grading and took the shoulders off Cram Road from Harold Nicklaw’s down to Foley’s. They took a rock down about 6” with a jackhammer. They did one on the Hooker Road. They tried one on the Bullock Road, but ruined the tip on the jackhammer. They picked up trash on Bullock Road. There is some lumber that he is just going to burn. There is another deer that needs to be buried. Arlan got a load of salt tonight. He thinks someone got in there and took some. He took the key and put it inside. Zoning Administrator: None Correspondence: Diane reported that Gary Meffe sent an email last week. The Mosquito District Board members met and considered several people and are recommending Gary Gibbs, a former driver for BLSG (Brandon, Leicester, Salisbury, and Goshen) Mosquito District to the Board as the new Leicester Representative to the BLSG Mosquito District. Diane indicated to him that she would bring the name to the Board and he would hear from the Board in the next few days. The Selectboard gave approval of Mr. Gibbs. Diane will inform Mr. Meffe. NEW BUSINESS: None OLD BUSINESS: Drug/Alcohol Testing Policy Adoption: Diane sent two emails last week to Jim Carroll’s office and emailed his paralegal on Friday reminding them of tonight’s meeting and has not heard from Jim Carroll. Board agreed to postpone adoption of the Drug/Alcohol Policy. Leicester Winter Operations Policy Adoption: Board agreed that it should be called Road Maintenance Policy. Brad questioned paragraph 3 about “prohibits the encroachment of the Town ROW without prior approval from the Selectboard. He asked if this would be under the auspices of the Zoning Administrator. He was questioning whether the Selectboard got involved with something like this. Ron explained, no, not on a regular basis. Anything being built in the ROW would go to the Zoning Administrator; who would deny it, and then it would go to the ZBA. Diane explained that she was quoting this from the statute. Brad recommended paragraph 4 should read, “This includes, but not limited to” and examples. Diane agreed and will fix it. She put the language up above in paragraph 2, but forgot it in paragraph 4. Julie recommended adding trees to the examples. Brad recommended adding signs, or any type of obstructions, etc. Julie remarked on Paragraph 1, where it mentions, this easement is a public ROW that is typically 3 rods wide. A good section of the roads is 5 rods. Julie recommended putting; Leicester’s roads vary between 2 and 5 rods (16.5 feet = 1 rod). Diane will make edits. Once adopted the Policy will go into the Town Report in February. Motion by Ron and second by Ken to adopt interim policy until formal adoption on January 7, 2013. All in favor. So approved. 2012 Budget Review: Julie explained the green sheet in the bills. On the green sheet is the transfer for records restoration, clerk training, the lister education, money set aside for the tax account for true up, $10,000 for the budget for reappraisal plus the stuff the state sent to the wrong account, $20,000 budgeted for the equipment fund, $30,871.26 which is the remaining paving money from what they budgeted minus the grant. This is the left over money, not spent. Julie explained that they don’t have money from the Sheriff’s Department to transfer this year. They are definitely going over on equipment rental, but not hitting the payroll for highway yet. Highway is under budget, right now. Motion by Ron and second by Brad to authorize Chair on behalf of the Board to meet with Julie on December 31, 2012 to decide if there should be transfer of funds. All in favor. So approved. Ron reported that the Senior Center’s floor needs repair/replaced. The floor as you go in the front door is falling in. It’s something the Board needs to keep in mind for budget time. Ken asked about sending out bids for grounds and roadsides. Diane stated they haven’t put out a request. Diane reported that Van Denton wasn’t going to change the figures he had for the Town unless they raised the fees for him. Diane stated that in the past, Ken talked with Gus and Lem and she talked with Calvin. In the past, the Board said if they were willing to hold their price, the Board wouldn’t put it out for bid. We gave them the specs. Ken thinks that two years without an increase is very decent to the Town. Ken had the discussion this fall with Lem on the excessive mowing which upset him. Ken feels it is less expensive to have Lem do the extra intersections than have the brush grow up. It beautifies the Town. He would rather see him do what he did last year. Ken suggests we be happy with what he did last year and looking to have him do the same next year. Ken will talk with Gus and Lem. Diane will talk with Calvin. The Board would not be opposed to a little increase. If they can afford them, the Board wants them to do it. If they need a sizeable increase, the Board would request them to come and talk with them. January 7th Board will try to work on the budget and plug in some figures with their best estimates. Auditors are coming tentatively on Wednesday. Diane will type up a Board Report for Town Report. We will talk about the Road Policy, dogs, bus & safety. Motion by Brad and second by Ron to approve bills; which includes attorney fees. All in favor. So approved. Motion by Ken and second by Brad to authorize Treasurer to pay remaining 2012 bills. All in favor. So approved. FYI: VLCT is sending us a Resolution of Participation. Information on equipment grant. Feasibility Study for bike path which the Town would need to pay half. Julie went to the Town Fair. Disaster Shelter Initiative offering to all towns in Vermont and New Hampshire to train for free one whole day. They give supplies to set up an emergency shelter. You need 10 volunteers to do it. Julie has an email address. Julie will call to get more information. Diane reported that our Common Level of Appraisal is 103.15. Julie talked about current use and Error & Omissions. Two tax bills had changed. Julie explained the events and timelines. Motion by Ron and second by Brad to go into Executive Session at 8:08 p.m. to discuss pending legal action. All in favor. So approved. Motion by Brad and second by Ken to come out of Executive Session at 8:40 p.m. All in favor. So approved. Motion by Brad and second by Ken to authorize Chair to contact town attorney Jim Carroll to represent the town in pending legal action. All in favor. So approved. Motion by Brad and second by Ken to adjourn at 8:41 p.m. All in favor. So approved. Next regular meeting, Monday, January 7, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sandra L. Trombley, Secretary