Meeting Minutes
Town of Leicester
Selectboard Meeting Minutes
Monday, July 16, 2012
*Unapproved*
** See subsequent minutes for any changes
Members Present: Diane Benware, Ken Young, Tom Barker, Ron Fiske, Brad Lawes
Others Present: Arlan Pidgeon, Julie Delphia, Jeff Lee, Jim Russo, Paul Crosby, Tweeter Felion, 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.
Review/Authorization to pay bills: Bills making their rounds for signatures.
Approval of July 2, 2012 Minutes:
Motion by Tom to accept the minutes of July 2, 2012 as written. Second by Ron. All in favor. So approved.
Reports from Town Officials, Committees:
Listers:
Jim reported they are working to get the grand list lodged. Working on contiguous properties, a few things on current use and setting up some records. Hopefully the grand list will be lodged before the next Selectboard meeting in August.
Julie mentioned that the Statute requires the grand list to be lodged by the 25th; otherwise they need to request an extension. They need to request the extension by tomorrow, if it’s needed.
Jeff submitted a letter of resignation due to family concerns. Jim mentioned the proposal that was submitted for Nemric. There are no set hours a lister has to work; as long as the work gets done.
Motion by Tom to table letter of resignation from Jeff Lee for six months. Second by Ron. All in favor. So approved.
Health Officer:
Jim received a message from someone named Tom. He didn’t say why he needed the Health Officer. Jim left a return call message on Tom’s phone. His phone number began with 483 which is a Pittsford number. No return calls to date.
Town Foreman:
Arlan reported that they finished up behind the Town Shed getting it up to grade. They got the cement blocks from Rutland. They cut a few trees one day. They repaired the chloride truck.
Arlan called Tom Roberts about the final approval of the grant, but was unable to reach him. Arlan will follow up with him.
Town Clerk/Treasurer:
Julie reported that delinquent taxes are at $66,284. Certified letters were sent to delinquent tax owners by Beth Ripley prior to tax sale.
Julie reported that the general practice has been to pay appropriations around July 1st. Julie has paid a couple assessments that have come due. She paid the appropriation for the Little League because they asked for it early and the Feral Cat Program because they have been calling her. Julie would like to wait until September to pay the other appropriations when she gets some tax money; unless they have a good reason why they need it earlier. She always needs to borrow money to pay them in July. The Board supports waiting, unless the funds are necessary.
Cemetery Committee: Tom reported they did not meet.
NEW BUSINESS:
Animal Control Officer:
Julie reported there is a State Statute about warrants, but when you read it, Paul cannot actually follow through with what it states. He can ticket owners. He can’t impound or put down dogs. Leicester has a dog policy which states that after April 1st, Julie has to give a list of delinquent dogs for people that didn’t pay to register them. Then, the Selectboard does a warrant to Paul, telling him to go get all the dogs and fine all the owners and if they don’t pay, take the dog to impound or euthanize and give the Board a letter back telling them how many he euthanized. This is not what we do or can do.
The Selectboard can authorize to give tickets up to $500 and then make a decision if they haven’t paid fines.
Paul asked about going onto people’s property which is posted with “no trespassing” signs. The Board agreed that Paul should not go onto properties that are posted “no trespassing”.
Paul inquired about the door knob signs for the census. Julie has been working on them and the Selectboard approved them to be printed.
Paul is working on some forms he can use for any type of call he goes on. The form that Jim uses for dog bite is right out of the State’s Health Officer Manual. With dog bites, both Jim & Paul will probably be doing their own forms. Jim gets involved with any animal bite, not just dogs.
Paul went to an 8 hour class in Rutland at the Animal Shelter. He got certified on Animal Cruelty Investigations. Paul reported that it was a good class and he learned a lot.
Paul gave Julie some forms on a disk to review and show the Selectboard.
Paul has identification. Julie will order some magnet identification for his vehicle.
Motion by Ron to authorize Julie to purchase a snare, up to $100, if needed. Second by Tom. All in favor. So approved. Paul will check around to see if he can find one.
Paul and Selectboard received a letter today from Lars Lundeen of 98 Merchants Row in Rutland who is representing Mr. Erickson in regard to Dayton’s dog bite. Jim Russo did not get a copy because the hospital called the health officer in Salisbury and not in Leicester because there was confusion about where it was. Jim hasn’t been in the loop on this. Brian Webb got a letter also. Mr. Lundeen is requesting a copy of the minutes of our meeting concerning the dog and any other documents and photographs which may shed light on what happened. He requested any prior hearings regarding the dog. There have been no prior hearings.
Assessment Agreement:
Assessment Agreement from NEMRIC which was presented at the last meeting, outlining the scope of the work that NEMRIC would perform for the Town; as well as, the timeline and what the expectations would be from the Town.
Jim explained that Ed sold the business to NEMRIC. NEMRIC will be using subcontractors for appraisals. Jim stated that the lister’s recommendation is to go with NEMRIC.
Tom asked about bidding and maybe they should be getting bids. Are there other companies out there? Jim offered to check it out if the Board wants.
Julie shared her personal concerns and the tax bill access concerns. She has concerns about extra people having keys to the building. Ed was here last week, but he now works for NEMRIC. We need to get the keys back. How do we control access to the building and how do we control access to our software? Julie just received a response back from Bill Johnson. Julie has to read the five page response more carefully to fully understand who has access to homestead credits. She needs to determine who qualifies as an agent of Commissioner of Taxes. It could create some dilemmas in controlling this data. This is very serious. Julie stated that she takes this very seriously since it can affect her job. If Julie were to give tax information to someone she shouldn’t, she could lose her job and not serve in her office for 5 years, be fined $1,000 and go to prison for a year. Having others come into the Town Office makes Julie very nervous. We need to change the passwords and get the keys back from the appraisers.
Julie asked the question, what if you have a computer problem and need to call NEMRIC? The same people that just purchased Ed’s business.
The Board felt there needs to be some controls.
Jim explained that there are controls in the software to determine who has access to what.
Julie thinks we should wait and sort all this out.
Motion by Tom to table the Assessment Agreement until August 20, 2012 meeting. Second by Ken. All in favor. So approved
Tweeter Felion came and was interested in who gave permission for the digging on Bullock Road and Old Jerusalem Road.
Diane explained what she found out. Hannah Sessions and Greg Bernharht who bought the Dave Pierpont place are one of the ones who gave permission for the digging to happen. The people are from the National Conservation Resource District Service. They are an organization that is working to reclaim wetlands. According to Greg, the Otter Creek flood plane in all New England has the most diverse; both fish, bug, aquatic wildlife in the wetlands. NCRDS approached landowners that border along the creek and asked them to consider turning over the agricultural rights to this land for an amount of money. The folks from NCRDS come in and plug up the ditches and create ponds to reclaim the wetlands. They hope the ponds will sustain the kind of wildlife that would feed on the mosquitoes. If these healthy ponds are created, fish will eat the larva that will prevent the mosquitoes from growing to adults. It’s only within the specific areas the landowners have agreed to. They are not supposed to spill on other people’s property and are not supposed to make the flood area worse. They have landowner permission and the Selectboard as a municipality can do nothing.
Ron explained that this is the U.S. Department of Agricultural doing this. It is the Federal Wetlands Act.
Tweeter feels that people should know about this. The ponds are going to be stagnant.
Tweeter asked what was being done behind the Town Shed.
Diane explained that they are cleaning up behind the shed.
Tweeter asked if they were building something there or a sand pile. He’s concerned about seepage there with the salt.
Ron explained that the State is probably going to make us build a new salt shed in not too many years. They want concrete all covered.
Tweeter said five years ago you would not have been able to put stones in there. He said we took stones out and filled it back with crushed stone.
Arlan explained that the stones were just piled up on the further side that comes from Ricky’s.
Ron explained that we only went to the edge of the cattails. All fill was given to the Town by CVPS, free. It’s not on the maps as a wetland. We have no definite plans at this point. Ron stated that we will be making it cleaner.
Ron explained that other towns are covering their piles. We want to improve ours.
Ron offered to go over to the Town Shed with Tweeter and show him.
Discussion about Sheriff Patrol invoice. Julie will fax request for more patrol on Lake Dunmore Road.
Motion by Tom to authorize Treasurer to pay bills as written. Second by Ron. All in favor. So approved.
Julie reported she has the new air conditioner. Tom will help install.
OLD BUSINESS:
Draft Drug Disciplinary Policy:
Julie presented the policy based on the sample; bare minimum requirements. The Board cannot make a decision on this policy without the next policy of Drug and Alcohol Policy.
Draft Drug and Alcohol Policy:
Julie is working on this policy. She will give the Board copies to review. It is lengthy and the Board really needs to review it carefully. Decide who the person is that will be put in the blanks and provide the information, etc.
Board agreed that Arlan and Scott should go to Rutland to be tested under the pre-employment testing so Town can be compliant. Julie hasn’t received the kits or paperwork.
Accepting Town Plan: Next Steps
The Board thanked Julie once again for all her work. The one change was Kate’s narrative on page 3 about Silver Lake that replaced what was there.
This is the submission by the Planning Commission of the report and plan to the Selectboard. The Selectboard has to have a meeting to present this to the public. The date of September 17, 2012 from 6:00 – 6:30 p.m. was chosen for the special public meeting for the Town Plan and regular Selectboard following at 6:30 p.m. The special public meeting will need to be warned 15 days in advance. Julie will post in the paper and Diane will put up notices.
Cement Pads for Town Green:
Ken contacted three local contractors in town about bids on the cement pads.
Ken recused himself from the discussion and decision.
The 6x8 tables, thanks to the Harvest Program, are almost done; and free to Town. The anonymous donor has decided to do something else so the cement pads will be funded by the Town. The bids are from Rakowitz Construction, Miner Construction, and Robert Munger Construction. Bids read.
- Rakowitz $2,050 8x10 slabs with anchor bolts includes color concrete
- Miner $1,230 8x10 slabs with anchor bolts or $1,350 with color concrete
- Munger $2,050 10x12 slabs with anchor bolts or $2,800 with color concrete
Motion by Brad to accept Miner Construction bid of $1,230. Second by Ron. All in favor. So approved with Ken’s abstention. No color is necessary.
Miner needs to provide proof of insurance with the Town’s name on it; the normal liability and workers compensation. Diane will contact Derrick.
Tom and Ken will stake out where to put the cement pads at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night.
Diane shared a copy of a notice that was sent to her in her Brandon tax bill. It was a notice about constructing things in the town right of way; including mail boxes. She wanted the Board to see this, in the event that the Board wanted to adopt a policy separate from what might be in the zoning by-laws. They can discuss Brandon letter at the August meeting.
Hannah and Greg and other families have been going to Fern Lake access during this hot weather. Hannah told Diane that some teenagers and young adults were using awful language and little kids are hearing it. They didn’t dare approach them to ask them to stop. She knows the town cannot police that area, but wondered about a sign restricting inappropriate language.
No action taken at this point by the Board.
Executive Session:
Motion by Tom to go into Executive Session at 8:40 p.m. to discuss personnel. Second by Ron. All in favor. So approved.
Motion by Tom and second by Ken to come out of Executive Session at 8:43 P.M. with the following action: upon review of CDL driving records, Board made a motion to keep Arlan and Scott Pidgeon, and Steve Morrison. All in favor. So approved.
Motion by Ken and second by Tom to adjourn at 8:44 P.M. All in favor. So approved.
Next regular meeting, August 6, 2012.
Respectfully submitted,
Sandra L. Trombley, Secretary