Meeting Minutes
Town of LeicesterSelectboard Meeting MinutesMonday, December 2, 2013*Unapproved*** See subsequent minutes for any changes Members Present: Diane Benware, Ron Fiske, Tom Barker, Ken Young Members Absent: Brad Lawes Others Present: Julie Delphia, Arlan Pidgeon, Jeff Lee, Tim Bouton, 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: Approval of November 18, 2013 Minutes: Motion by Tom and second by Ron to approve minutes of November 18, 2013 as written. All in favor. So approved. Review/Authorization to pay bills: Bills making their rounds for signatures. Reports from Town Officials, Committees: Road Foreman: Arlan reported that he fixed the spot in the road by Fern Lake. They had to sand a few times. Tom mentioned some roads that might need more sanding. Arlan talked with Melvin about the incident on Leicester/Whiting Road. Melvin indicated that he said very little and the other party did all the talking. Arlan talked with Kurt Kimball about the grate at the Rte 7 intersection. Arlan asked him to get another grate and they could put it in on top of the one that is currently there for the drain in the road. Tom mentioned that when Arlan is talking with Kurt again to remind him that on the inside of the Rte 7 intersection, going north, something should be dumped in there. The State of Vermont’s stop sign at the end of Ferson Road needs to be replaced. Tom asked if Arlan had taken the Hazardous Waste Course from VLCT. Municipal employees all need to take it. It is an on-line course and then there is a certificate of completion that can be printed. Town Clerk/Treasurer: Julie reported that the town received the award for the Municipal Planning Grant. Diane and Kate wrote the grant for the maximum of $10,000.Motion by Tom and second by Ron to authorize Chair to sign on behalf of the town. All in favor. So approved. The meeting on November 19th that Julie was planning on attending at the Department of Taxes to talk about the late homestead was canceled. She had to pay the bill. Julie received notification from criminal court that Mr. Nicholson paid the $50 fine. The quote for the map racks is $5,268 which was over the $5,000 approved, so Julie wanted to run it by the board before ordering them. The board approved the extra $268 to purchase the map racks. Julie was asked by a resident if she heard about a petition going around to have the Sheriff’s patrol year round. She had not heard anything; nor had the board. Delinquents are at $119,200. Julie reported that the wreaths that were put up at the school had been stolen within half a day of putting them up. They did report it to the Sheriff’s Department. Diane mentioned that she had noticed, a couple times, the door at the Meeting House had been pushed in about 3” or so, but no one had been able to get in. They might need to check the pin to make sure it is in place. Cemetery Committee: Tom reported there has been a burial. Zoning: None Listing: None CORRESPONDENCE LaRose Contract: Motion by Tom and second by Ken to accept the LaRose proposal. All in favor. So approved. Chair signed on behalf of the Town. Fire Contract with Brandon Fire Department: Discussion of pros and cons about the BFD contract. Tim Bouton had shared information about New Haven’s Fire Department of 30 firefighters. Motion by Ron and second by Tom to approve a 3-year agreement at $32,000 a year with BFD. (3) Yes and (1) No by Ken. So approved. Julie will contact the Fire Chief of BFD and Chief will send the agreement and something for the Town Report. Chair will sign on behalf of the Board. Chair shared other correspondence about open burning and VT Air Quality. There was a form about highway and bridge weight restriction filings. Julie will respond. NEW BUSINESS Hazard Mitigation Plan: Tim Bouton presented information on the Hazard Mitigation Plan. He sent information to towns about a year and a half ago asking if they were interested in him applying for funds to support his development of a hazard mitigation plan for communities. Leicester responded and he applied. This is FEMA money. Tim stated that this is definitely going to happen for Leicester. Tim would like a motion from the Board that indicates that the Board supports Tim continuing on with it. He needs this for the Plan to show to FEMA. Tim explained about a hazard mitigation plan. In a hazard mitigation plan, they identify natural hazards in the town; snow storm, ice storm, wind, flooding, earthquake, etc. He asked for a committee to be formed of town residents; hopefully someone from the Selectboard, Emergency Management Director, Road Foreman, Planning Commission member, someone from the school and anyone that might be interested. Tim will facilitate. The committee would go through each of these hazards and identify areas in town that would be of greater risk. Years ago, they identified Old Jerusalem Road as starting to slide into Otter Creek and one of the potential solutions might be to move the road back. Tim explained that if you have a plan; that makes you eligible to apply for FEMA Hazard Mitigation Funds. The potential is to have a fair amount of money. A Hazard Mitigation Grant would cover 75% of the cost. You would need to prove that over the years that there had been a substantial amount of damage to justify moving the road. Tim provided three copies of a draft. One for the Town Office and two for the Board. Once all is said and done, Tim passes it on to the State. Once it meets their requirements, it gets sent to FEMA. The whole process probably takes about a year and a half. Eventually, Tim will come back with what FEMA says is an adoptable plan. The plan will be good for five years. To update in five years will not take a lot of work because the meat of the plan will have already been done. Tim explained that the reason you want to have a Hazard Mitigation Plan is because the State is increasingly going to that as being one of the requirements for highway funding. The State is now requiring codes & standards. With the plan and codes and standards in place, FEMA would pay 75%, the State 12.50% and the Town would pay 12.50%. There are other things that could move the State’s share to 15%. Julie asked what the cost to the Town would be. Tim said there would be no cost to the taxpayers of Leicester. The Leicester Selectboard would be adopting the plan. Tim explained that the grant is handled through ACRP. ACRP maintains the files for statutory requirements. The only downside to the plan is the amount of time it takes to complete the plan and possibly getting volunteers. Motion by Ron and second by Tom to support the hazard mitigation efforts being conducted with ACRP. All in favor. So approved. Julie reported that the Board signed the 2013 Road & Bridge Standards on 4/1/13. Julie will get names and emails to Tim and he will take it from there. Tim anticipates 3 or 4 meetings with the committee for an hour and half in January. Committee will help by identifying potential hazards and Tim is doing the bulk of the work. Motion by Tom and second by Ken to approve the bills. All in favor. So approved. OLD BUSINESS Senior Center Building Needs: Ron and Ken reported that Bob Munger stated he is going to get the project done this month. He has the flooring done in his shop and the door made. He’s putting another coat of primer on the clapboards. The final paint will have to be done next spring. The concrete pad had already been poured and a trap door will be made. Diane mentioned the emergency lighting in the back of the kitchen looks like it’s broken. When someone is over there, it needs to be checked out. LIMITED PUBLIC OPINION: None Motion by Tom and second by Ron to adjourn at 8:07 p.m. Next Meeting December 16, 2013. Respectfully submitted, Sandra L. Trombley, Secretary