Boards And Commissions Selectboard Select Board 5-01-08
| Select Board 5-01-08 |
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Weathersfield Select BoardMinutes May 1, 2008  Present:                       Daniel Boyer                                    Glenn Fisher                                    Norman John Arrison                                    Patricia Daniels  Others Present: Larry Melen, Town Manager                                    Lisa Sargent, Recording Secretary                                    Deb Ostrum, SAPA                                    Julia Lloyd Wright, Eagle Times                                    Wes Hazeltine, Road Superintendent                                    Emery Morse                                    JoAnne Morse                                    Edith Stillson                                    Melissa Snyder                                    Steve Snyder                                    Lynn Esty, Town Constable                                    DeForest Bearse, Zoning Administrator  1. Call to Order by Chairperson: Mr. Arrison called the meeting of the Weathersfield Select Board to order at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday May 1, 2008 at Martin Memorial Hall.  2. Review Minutes from Previous Meeting: Mr. Boyer made the motion to approve the minutes dated April 17, 2008, Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion. Corrections were noted. Motion carried unanimously.  3. Comments from Citizens: Mr. Morse asked what was going to be done on Tenney Hill Road. Mr. Arrison said the intention is to grind the road this year but not pave it. He said the Board does not intend to leave it as dirt indefinitely but there is not any money available to pave it now so it will stay as dirt for a year or so.            Mrs. Bearse said the Planning Commission has voted to accept the master plan on the I-91 Interchange Plan and they recommend the Select Board approve the final grant for payment. Mr. Arrison said the Board just received their copy of the “final plan†tonight so he is not comfortable accepting it tonight. Mrs. Bearse said the acceptance of the plan does not mean the end of the plan.  4. Request to allow ATV Use on Class III Road: Mr. Melen said Doris Wright could not be here and she sent him an email to postpone this until May 15th. Mrs. Daniels said she disagrees with postponing it. Mrs. Daniels made the motion to approve the use of ATV’s on Old Bow Road only; Mr. Fisher seconded the motion. Mr. Arrison said he would vote against it. He said he does not agree it is proper transportation for kids and he talked with Chief Brown and he is against it. Mr. Fisher and Mr. Boyer agreed with Mr. Arrison. Motion 0 – 4; motion failed.  Mr. Melen asked the Board to rearrange the agenda for the people that are here.  10. Ordinances and Policies            B. Proposed Website Policies: Mr. Fisher said he didn’t know the new website was going to happen. He said he took the existing website policy and modified it some. Mr. Melen said he took Mr. Fisher’s revision and wrote a much more legalistic one. He said the purpose is quite blunt – the website is a convenience to assist not a public record.            There was discussion on the forum part of the website, Mrs. Snyder said the schools forum has not been used in the past year, she said it is easy to set a forum up for one or two boards and it is monitored. She said she feels it should be open to everyone, not just to the residents of Weathersfield. Mr. Melen said forums should not be used to conduct town business. He said he checked with the Secretary of State and there is not a law on website use yet.            Mr. Arrison suggested Mr. Fisher and Mr. Melen meet to discuss the policy and bring it back to the Select Board. Mrs. Snyder said there had been discussion about the site upgrade for quite some time and the content on the new site is from the old site, the updates make the site easier to get around and will eventually allow certain people (with approval) to update their own page.            Mr. Boyer said he doesn’t understand why there is a problem now; Mrs. Snyder has maintained and updated the site in the past as needed. Mr. Boyer made the motion to go with the new site and have Mrs. Snyder update and maintain the site as in the past; Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion. There was discussion on the domain name; Mrs. Snyder said Weathersfield.org would go to Weathersfieldvt.com temporarily. Motion carried 3 – 1.  9. Old Business            B. Vermont Department of Safety, Division of Criminal Justice Services, CITRIX: Mr. Boyer made the motion to table this discussion until May 15, 2008. Mr. Fisher seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.  11. New Business            C. Request for Work Space, Lynn Esty – Constable: Mr. Melen said the problem is a lack of space. Mr. Arrison wondered if there was room at the Highway Garage, Mr. Hazeltine said he doesn’t believe so but Mrs. Esty could look. Mrs. Esty said she has been to the Highway garage and there isn’t any room there either. After discussion it was decided to buy a rolling filing cabinet and a laptop computer for her use.  5. Highway            A. Murray Flats Bridge: Mr. Melen said there is no resolution as of this afternoon; Mr. Fisher said he would like to discuss this in executive session for possible litigation.            B. Petition to Reclassify Portion of Town Highway 54, Roberts Road: Mr. Melen said he has the information he needs but it isn’t finished yet. 11. New Business            D. Award Building and Grounds Maintenance Contract: Mr. Melen said this is for a two-year term. Mr. Hazeltine noted that Jim Losee (J L Lawncare) bid by the hour for cleaning because he was concerned with the amount of leaves left from last year. Mrs. Daniels made the motion to award the Building and Grounds Maintenance Contract to J L Lawncare for a two-year term as proposed, Mr. Boyer seconded the motion. Mr. Arrison asked to try and leave the mulched leaves as it helps the trees. Motion carried unanimously.             Mr. Melen said the reconstruction and paving projects did not get on the agenda but their bids were opened yesterday. He said there were five bids received for reclamation of Tenney Hill. Mr. Hazeltine said he recommends going with Gorman Brothers as they are the lowest and they have done work with us before. He said we would run the grader. Mr. Fisher made the motion to award the bid to Gorman Brothers for the reclamation of Tenney Hill for a price of $1.74 per square yard. Mr. Boyer seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.            Mr. Melen said there were five bids received for Ascutney School House Road too. Mr. Hazeltine said again, he recommends Gorman Brothers. Mr. Boyer made the motion to award the reclamation of Ascutney School House Road to Gorman Brothers for a price of $1.74 per square yard. Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion, which passed without dissent.            Mr. Melen said six bids were received for the 2 ½†course base layer from Route 5 to the school.  Mr. Hazeltine said the wrong numbers were used, we are doing 680 feet this year. He said he spoke with everyone before the bids were opened and Lane Construction would not do the project because it was too small. Mr. Melen said Springfield Paving is the lowest and he recommends awarding the bid to them. Mr. Boyer made the motion to award the base layer bid to Springfield Paving for $69.50 per ton. Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.  6. Weathersfield Fire Commission, Fire Hydrant Issues: Mr. Melen said Mr. Boyer gave him a list of problem with dry hydrants.                1. Weathersfield Bow: The inlet is above the level of water, Mr. Melen called Daniels Construction and since this one is less than one year old Daniels Construction will fix it.            2. Tenney Hill Road: This one may not be fixable due to the change in the water level. It is no longer assessable. Mr. Boyer said he would talk to Chief Spaulding and contact Troy Dare.            3. Ascutney Store Road: Mr. Hazeltine said this is an erosion problem. He said the water off the surface of the road is eroding the bank. It was decided to put rip rap on the bank. Mrs. Daniels asked if this was a contractor issue. Mr. Hazeltine said it could have been graded different.            4. Cowdry Road: Mr. Hazeltine said this has the same problem as the one on Ascutney Store Road.            5. Perkinsville: Mr. Hazeltine said that when the fire department used Ascutney’s ladder truck, that pumps 1000 gallons a minute, during a test, they were only getting between 400 – 500 gallons per minute. Wes wondered if it might be an electrical problem. Mr. Arrison said he would have to see a flow test. Mr. Arrison asked if he had looked at the strainer. Mr. Hazeltine said he hasn’t yet because of the water level, he will look at the strainer and if that isn’t the problem he will take the pump off to see if it is a pump problem.            The consensus of the Board was to go ahead and take care of the two hydrants that have road erosion problems.  7. Insignificant Waste Management Event Approval & Application: Mr. Boyer made the motion to have the Town Manager sign and submit the permit for Insignificant Waste Management Event, Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion. Mr. Arrison suggested getting signs up soon. Motion carried unanimously.            Mr. Melen noted we received a grant to receive a free standing 8 X 12 textile shed through the Solid Waste District.  8. Monthly Reports A.    Constable: No comments B.    Highway: No report C.    Land Use: No report D.    Police: No report E.                 Municipal Assessing Property Service, LLC: Mr. Melen said the booklets will go to the printer on May 15th and will be ready for the public on May 20th. He said the mailings to individuals will go out on May 19th and the pre-grievance hearings will start on May 21st. (The official grievance dates are June 9th and 10th)  9. Old Business            A. Establish Procedure for Handling of Complaints and Citizens Inquires: Mr. Boyer asked why the signature had to be notarized. Mrs. Daniels said she took this from something else so changes need to be made during the readings. Mr. Arrison recommends deleting the notarized requirement. This was moved to the 1st reading on May 15th. B.    Already discussed C.                Emergency Dispatch Communications Services: Mr. Fisher asked if there was a legal requirement for toll calls, Mr. Melen said no. The consensus of the Board to to re-imburse people for their calls instead of getting “ a local†line.  10. Ordinances and Policies A.    Sign Parking Ordinance: Board members signed the ordinance. B.    Proposed Website Policies: Already discussed.  11. New Business            A. Town Network Management & Maintenance Contract, Competitive Computers: Mr. Melen said we service out with Competitive Computers and we are on our forth year with them. Mr. Fisher said he has a problem with out servicing to India. Mr. Arrison asked what went through India, Mr. Melen said it’s a real time monitoring service. Mr. Arrison asked Mr. Fisher and Mr. Melen to get information from other companies. Mr. Melen said he is concerned with the response time (if there is a problem, it has to be within two hours).            B. Town Fair Quilt Project, VLCT: Mr. Melen said Weathersfield hasn’t submitted a square yet and he encouraged anyone that quilts to contact him for information. C.    Already discussed. D.    Already discussed.  12.   Appointments            (i) Animal Control Officer: Mrs. Daniels made the motion to table the appointment of Shirley A. Parry indefinitely, Mr. Fisher seconded the motion. Mr. Melen said he would talk with her. Motion carried unanimously.  13. Sign Treasurer Warrants:            Mr. Boyer made the motion to authorize the release of payment to RSG Inc for the Interchange I-91 study. Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion, which passed without dissent.            Mrs. Daniels made the motion to approve the Treasurer Warrants as follows: General Fund Payroll                                                $16,982.60 General Fund Operating Expense                                       $19,854.25 Highway Fund Payroll                                                           $15,054.95 Highway Fund Operating Expense                                      $15,796.74 Solid Waste Management fund Payroll                               $ 2,031.29 Solid Waste Management fund Operating Expense           $ 1,084.56 Reserves                                                                               $ 1,410.00 Library                                                                                   $      10.10Mr. Fisher seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.  14. Next Meeting’s Agenda Items: Complaint policy, CITRIX, website policy, town network maintenance contract.  15. Executive Session: Mr. Boyer made the motion to go into Executive Session for pending litigation. Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion, which passed without dissent.  16. Adjourn: Mr. Boyer made the motion to adjourn. Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion, which passed without dissent. The Weathersfield Select Board meeting was adjourned at 9:42 p.m.                                                                                     Respectfully Submitted,                                                                                     Lisa A. Sargent  Approved by the Weathersfield Select Board May 15, 2008                                                                                                                       ________________                                                                                    John Arrison
                                                                                  ___________________                                                                                    Patricia Daniels
                                                                                   ____________________                                                                                    Daniel Boyer
                                                                                   ____________________                                                                                    Glenn Fisher Appendix
                       Name of chairpersons of various committees - Chip                        Website policy - Larry                        Ancient roads (continue working on) - deForest                        Posting sign policy - John                        Use of Weathersfield Elementary School - Chip                        Capital asset inventory – Chris Adams                        No Parking Signs by Thomas residence                        Review and increase of land use fees - deForest 03/08/07         Procedure for handling of complaints and citizen inquiries - Pat 05/03/07         Emergency communication - Dan 05/03/07         Radio Station designation for emergencies – Mike Thomas 08/16/07         large gathering permit - John 10/18/07         Economic depreciation factors from AMPTA - Pat 11/01/07         Designation of emergency shelter and power supply - Dan 03/20/08         Cascade Falls Road Parking Area (maintenance)
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