Meeting Minutes
Town of LeicesterSelectboard Meeting Minutes Monday, April 16, 2012 *Unapproved* ** See subsequent minutes for any changes Members Present: Diane Benware, Tom Barker, Ron Fiske, Ken Young, Brad Lawes Others Present: Julie Delphia, Arlan Pidgeon, Kate Briggs, Van Denton, Paul Crosby, Sandra Trombley, Secretary Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Chair, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Review of Agenda: Agenda reviewed. Dealing with Trash/Recycling: Ken introduced Board to Van Denton. Ken recused himself from further discussion due to the fact it could be a conflict of interest as he and Van are cousins. Van explained that he purchased Humiston’s trash/recycling business as of May 1, 2012. Van is willing to take over Leicester’s trash/recycling if the Board is interested. There was discussion about price and the two employees. Van said he can keep the process the same as it is now; or change, if the Board wanted a change. There was discussion of Van taking over the help and the Town only paying Van one time per month. There was discussion about transporting to Williston or transporting to Middlebury. There was discussion on how he could handle the process with his equipment so no one would need to go up any stairs. Van will stop over on Saturday to see how the process currently works. Van will be back on Monday, April 23rd special meeting at 6:30 p.m. with a proposal for the Board. Animal Control: Paul Crosby came to talk about the Animal Control Officer position. The position has peeked his interest. Introductions were made. Paul is retired from the Fire Department in Burlington. He currently works part-time as a substitute teacher at Mary Hogan. He worked a couple years for the Addison County Sheriff’s Department as a jailor. He worked at the Burlington Humane Society fifteen or so years ago for a short time. Paul asked questions about the Ordinance and the ticketing process. The Animal Control Officer does not collect the fines from the tickets; the Judiciary Bureau handles that. The Animal Control Officer uses their best judgment. The Board wants the Animal Control Officer to enforce the Ordinance and as part of that, conduct a dog census door to door. If someone calls with a complaint or a dog bite, they want someone to investigate, communicate and follow up; and report back to the Selectboard. The Health Officer may become involved. A vicious dog report needs to come back to the Board. The Board stated that the procedures are not totally in place, but expect forms can easily be made to log all calls and record data. The Humane Society will take strays, but won’t take dogs that have bitten. Julie explained the violations; and each one could include a fine. The Board explained some dog issues that Leicester has had; and also a pig issue. Leicester doesn’t have a holding facility. If necessary one of the Town Constables could go with the Animal Control Officer. The Board hasn’t decided on the financial piece to this position. The Officer would have a badge for identification and possibly a identification magnet to place on their vehicle door when going door to door. The Board would expect regular reports. Communication and follow up is the biggest factor. Paul will review the dog ordinance and think about forms and procedural things and a reasonable rate per call per incident and will possibly come back to the April 23rd meeting. Minutes April 2, 2012: Motion by Tom to approve minutes of April 2, 2012 as amended. Second by Ron. All in favor. So approved. Review/Authorize Payment of Bills: Bills making their rounds for signatures. Motion by Tom to approve bills. Second by Ron. All in favor. So approved. Reports from Town Officials, Committees: Town Clerk/Treasurer: Julie reported that delinquents were at $83,000 including interest and penalty. Julie has registered 218 dogs. She has 40-50 dogs that she is aware of that need to be licensed. Julie had someone call this morning to say they had called the Fire Department because their neighbor on Shackett Road was burning and there is a burn ban. They were burning close to a building and tree and flames were really high. Julie went over the accounts at the bank. Julie reported that the collateralization on our accounts is too low; so she asked them to collateralize up to $850,000. Julie provided an agreement for the collateralization for signature. It requires one signature. Motion by Ron to authorize the Chair to sign the Collateralization Agreement on behalf of the Board. Second by Tom. All in favor. So approved. Road Foreman: Arlan reported that someone stole the four batteries out of the grader. Tom stated that Arlan should report it to the State Police. Ken agreed. There are seven or eight more damns in Seymour Brook. Arlan will go out with the excavator and pop them out and he will call Kurt to set traps. The chloride truck needs tires to get it inspected and a seat. It has big wide tires. We don’t need the same size back on the truck. They are expensive. Arlan has a set of wheels with new radial tires that he will trade for the two that are on there with the bald tires for $100 apiece. All in agreement. Ken stated that the seat is all shot. The Board agreed to purchase a seat not to exceed $200. Ken asked about clarification of his duties and limitations as Road Commissioner. He wants to clarify what the job is; of the Road Commissioner. Ken had concerns about not being able to purchase needed items for equipment around $150. The Purchasing Policy allows the Road Foreman to purchase equipment repairs, materials, culverts and signs up to the budget line limit. Julie read; the Road Commissioner plays an important but limited role as the individual charged by the Selectboard to maintain the town’s highways. The Road Commissioner has no independent authority to act and can only carry out the orders of the Selectboard. This is true whether the Road Commissioner is elected by the voters or is appointed by the Selectboard. The Road Commissioner must work closely with the Selectboard to maintain the town highways and keep the bridges, culverts and roads in good and sufficient repair. The Road Commissioner generally supervises the Road Crew and makes suggestions to the Selectboard with respect to personnel matters; in addition, in many towns, the Road Commissioner regularly reports to the Selectboard on the status of town roads and requests specific expenditures, suggest when roads should be reclassified and sees that roads are properly graded, surfaced, graveled and maintained for winter use. Road Commissioner will sign weight permits. Arlan reported that the chloride truck did a little work.Zoning Administrator: Motion by Tom to reappoint Kate Briggs as Zoning Administrator for a three year term. Second by Ron. All in favor. So approved. Kate reported that she went to the annual zoning meeting of VLCT’s. Kate explained that when someone applies for waivers or setbacks, she automatically referred them to the ZBA, when in fact; she should turn down those applications if she feels they are not applications that should or can be approved. Variances are different. It puts a burden on the ZBA to hear things that either there is no chance they would approve or were not really properly presented. Kate is just informing the Board that she is going to do that from now on. An example of this is Mr. Smith; which she is going to deny. That is why she asked the PC to approve the application with three choices, I approve, I deny or I refer. Kate will have a training session with ZBA and go over materials at the May 1st meeting. Jeff Smith made his application and came back later and dropped off a check and paid a larger amount. In the letter Kate is writing him, she is going to tell him that we are giving him a refund of $200. Motion by Tom to refund $200 of the $350 application fees Mr. Jeff Smith paid per Kate’s request. Second by Brad. All in favor. So approved. Lister: None Health Officer: None Cemetery: Tom reported that Gus cut the brush, tree and filled the pothole. Tom assumes he will submit an invoice. Julie will call him. Weight Permits: None NEW BUSINESS: Green Up: Kate reported that Lem said he would do it. Kate delivered things to the school and we have the bags and posters. Agreed to use same format as last year; prizes, donations, raffle, hot dogs. Bridge Inspection Report: The Bridge Inspection Report for signature. The signature indicates we have reviewed it; not necessarily agree with it. OLD BUSINESS: Water: Senior Center: Diane reported there was no hot water on Saturday. Ron said to just throw the switch. Ron had been working on it. Town Plan Grant Follow-up: From the meeting on April 9th, Julie was going to look at the Planning Grant to see if she agreed that we are complete and we don’t need to do anything else to make the date and get our money. Julie doesn’t know that she necessarily agrees with Claire; even though she has put it into emails. It says that we:
- Shall satisfactorily perform work for attachment A