Meeting Minutes
Town of LeicesterSelectboard Meeting Minutes Monday, January 14, 2013*Unapproved*** See subsequent minutes for any changes Members Present: Diane Benware, Ron Fiske, Ken Young, Brad Lawes, Tom Barker Others Present: Julie Delphia, Arlan Pidgeon, Kate Briggs, William Shouldice, Lynn Bisbee, Sandra Trombley, Secretary Call to Order: Reconvened meeting at 6:30 p.m. by Chair, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Kate Briggs handed out letter from William Shouldice expressing his interest in holding a position on the Planning Commission. William is also present. Kate explained that Lynn Bisbee and Sue Stroud-Speyers attended the Planning Commission meeting on January 9th to introduce themselves, but Bill was unable to attend. Lynn Bisbee is also willing to be the town representative on ACRP. Lynn also has come; however, Sue has a sick child and cannot be at the meeting. Introductions were made with the Board. Lynn Bisbee introduced herself. Her and her husband moved here from South Carolina. Her husband is in the military and she is a veteran. Lynn has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and a Graduate Degree in Counseling. She has a lot of experience with town and state government and courts. She worked with a Planning Commission in Arizona. She thinks with her varied experience, she would be a good candidate for the Board. She has studied the Town Plan for Leicester and the state government. She has read other town plans. She looked at the maps. William Shouldice introduced himself. He has been on and off the lake since the early 60’s. They took his wife’s family residence and turned it into a year round home. He grew up in Rutland and went to Champlain College. He worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield for 25 years. He retired and opened his own government public relations business. He worked in the State House. He lived in East Montpelier. He is recently semi-retired; his daughter taking over the business. They represent the VT Municipal Treasurers and Clerks Association and he also has knowledge in the solid waste industry and state regulatory process. He was involved in politics. He would like to get involved. He would be willing to serve on the ZBA; as well. Donna Swinington wrote a letter to the Board recommending Lynn and Sue and has no problem with Bill. No one has heard from Jim. Diane will email Jim to see what his intentions are for serving on the two boards Kate explained that at the next ZBA/PC meeting on January 29, 2013, they are going to try to work on major issues, such as the overlay and home-based business topics. She provided Brad & Ron with some reading material. Kate wants the Selectboard to be involved from the very beginning. She wants input early on. There was discussion about enforcement and being fair and equitable to all.2013 Budget Calculations: Julie provided copies of the new budget. The three pieces missing are the Selectboard salaries, Meeting House and Town Hall Building Expenses. The auditors are coming back tomorrow; hopefully they will have numbers for the salaries. Julie spoke to Royden and he is coming tomorrow to look at the furnace; however he thinks that part of the pipe is new. Brad reported that they had Dave Crane, a licensed plumber from Sudbury look at the furnace. He thinks the furnace is o.k. It should be just serviced. He wants to replace the copper pipe from the fuel tank to the furnace because it’s not up to code. He wants to put a thimble in the chimney. It shouldn’t cost more than $300. He also talked about a new thermostat. Dave is fully licensed, but Royden is not. Motion by Tom and second by Brad to approve Dave Crane to do the work on the Meeting House not to exceed $400 to be completed in the near future. All in favor. So approved. Dave will need to see Julie for paperwork before he can begin work. Brad will contact him. Tom said they needed about eight light bulbs. Julie will get them. Julie will cancel Royden. Brad explained that at the Senior Center, they need to tear out the floor, it needs new floor joices, a new entrance to the basement, new sill, they need to reframe the front entrance, door, clapboards need to be replaced, probably some insulation, paint. Until they get into it, they don’t know exactly what they are dealing with. No one should go in until this is fixed. Julie and Ron have keys, but shouldn’t give them out for now. The Board thought that they should budget $10,000 and hire a carpenter to work under the direction of the Selectboard. For the Meeting House (Brick Building) under Building Expenses budgeted $900. For the Town Hall (White Building/Senior Center) under Building Expense budgeted $10,000. Tom brought up that they had talked about putting some money under the Cemetery Expense to pay for some new fence. The old fence is not salvageable. Ron, Tom & Brad will measure the fence on Tuesday at Noon. They will call Middlebury Fence for a quote. Julie reported that the budget looks good right now. Next week she should have the final numbers to plug in. The municipal portion is dependent upon the grand list. Tom reported that Bob Oliver would like to see a guardrail down on the new section of road and one out where it comes out onto the Leicester Whiting Road. He said they also didn’t go far enough where they put the other guardrails. Ken stated that to do a very short section of guardrail would be very costly. Ken recommended that the next time we have a guardrail project; we could consider Bob’s recommendation at that time. Ken asked if we should bring the quarterly tax payment option to the voters. Julie stated that it would be nearly impossible until we go to a fiscal year. They would have to pre-bill two full payments before they knew what the tax rate was. It would be a mess with revised tax bills, refunds, etc. Ron mentioned, if there was a little left in the budget after level funding, he would recommend that it go to the Equipment Fund. Others agreed. Julie mentioned a request to build a removable riser for the stage in the Brick Building to help to see the small school children. No cost to the town. Julie asked if the piano needed to be up on the stage. Diane & Tom mentioned that the only criteria is that it needs to be plugged in because it has a dehumidifier. Tom had some concerns about continually moving the removable risers causing damage to pews. Diane and Ron will go and look at possibilities. Julie will coordinate a meeting for Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Review/Authorization to pay bills: Bills making their rounds for signatures. Motion by Ron and second by Tom to approve bills. All in favor. So approved. Selectboard Report for Town Report: Diane contacted Stephanie Smith, lawyer at VLCT in regard to dogs. Stephanie confirmed that if a dog bites a dog, it is a civil matter to be settled in civil court. If a dog bites a person, the Selectboard needs to conduct an investigative hearing. Brad asked if Diane would be looking into grant money for historical preservation. Diane has not had a chance, but will look into it. Next meeting, Monday, January 21, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. Motion by Tom and second by Ken to adjourn at 8:04 p.m. All in favor. So approved. Respectfully submitted, Sandra L. Trombley, Secretary