Town of Charlotte
Board of Selectmen
Minutes
Monday, October 13, 2003
7:00 PM, Charlotte Town Hall
Paul Arthaud
Jennifer Steele Cole
Eleanor Russell
Francis Thornton
OTHERS: Dean
Bloch (Selectboard Assistant)
Peter
Coleman
Robert
Fletcher
Frances
Foster
Al
Karnatz
Sylvia
Knight
Bob
Wright
Jocelyn
Bolick (clerk)
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm.
The items on the agenda were as follows:
Call to Order / Adjustments
to Agenda / Public Discussion / Expenditure from Conservation Fund for DeVos
Project / Request for Hedge in Road Right-of-Way on Greenbush – Charlie Proutt
/ Questions for Public Service Board Regarding VELCO Testimony and Project /
Recreation Commission Issues – Robin Reid / Selectboard Updates: Fire and Rescue Issues; Scheduled
Informational Meeting re: New State Septic Regs; Greenbush Road Landfill
Erosion / Approve Maintenance Agreement for Town Hall Air-conditioning /
Approve Job Description for Planner and Selectboard Assistant Position /
Preliminary Budget Planning / Approve
Minutes for September 18, 22, and October 3 / Adjournment
Adjustments to Agenda
Charlie
said we could shut down Greenbush Road and have people walk, but you can’t shut
off ferry traffic. Jennie suggested
designating an area along the roadside where people could walk. But they are trying to go to both sides of
the street. Paul suggested stationing a
policeman at the intersection of Ferry Road and Route 7.
Ellie
suggested identifying temporary crosswalks.
Perhaps a group of interested parents can be deputized for an
evening? Paul suggested asking some
members of Rescue or Fire. Charlie said
you could shut down Greenbush Road down by the Old Lantern north to Chris Davis’
house. Ellie said if you’re going to
shut down roads, you need to start a lot earlier – you have to get
advertisements out and people have to understand it.
Ellie
suggested for practicality, see if Dale and Cowboy and some Rescue people can
help. Paul will attempt to round up
help.
·
Peter Coleman was
curious about the by-laws for CVFRS – Charlie said they will be discussed
later.
·
Peter asked about the
use of town buildings and properties.
Is there a policy about renting the Senior Center? Charlie said there is a contract that was run
by the town attorney relative to renting the place. That contract still holds.
·
Peter asked what’s
going to happen with Barber Hill. The
top has not been cleared off for a couple of years now. People are asking about having weddings up
there. He doesn’t think there’s much of
a view anymore, but he tells them to contact the selectboard. He would like to see the top of it cleared
so there is a view, as when it was first turned over to the town.
Charlie
said he was up there this summer and was surprised at how little you can see. He feels it is the kind of thing to add to
lands maintenance – have the view maintained up there.
Ellie
said there was some talk about developing a policy on rental of town land; it’s
still on the list of things to do. Paul
said there was something in writing – rules about curfew and dogs and trash,
etc.
·
Jennifer wanted to
remind people to get their animals vaccinated for rabies – she had a rabid
woodchuck last week.
·
Peter posed a
question on behalf of Stephen Brooks.
In the September 22nd minutes, Stephen had asked about
Thompson’s Point strategy, and Ellie said she would love a group of
volunteers. Stephen asked what you
would like the public to do, and Ellie said “we will get back to you”. Apparently the previous sentence did not
make it directly into the minutes.
Ellie said she did not remember saying more than “she would love a group
of volunteers”. Charlie said that’s the
danger of getting detailed minutes. A
sentence can get left out here and there, when all that really needs to show up
is a general discussion of what was going on, motions, and attendance. Yet detailed minutes let you know what was
really going on at the meeting.
Expenditure from Conservation Fund for DeVos Project
Frances Foster
(President of Charlotte Land Trust) and Al Karnatz (from the Vermont Land
Trust) came to request $30,000 from the Conservation Fund for the DeVos Farm
Conservation Project. It is similar to
the Pierce Farm project in that there is a lot of land in Ferrisburg as well as
Charlotte. 73 acres of the farm is in
Charlotte, and 120 acres are in North Ferrisburg. The VLT has secured support from the Vermont Housing Conservation
Board and the bulk of the funding for the purchase and development rights of
this project will come from them.
However, they do require matching funds to make it work. Charlotte is in the fortunate position of
having the Conservation Fund which could supply the matching funds. The purchase price for the project is
$485,000, with additional expenses such as stewardship, appraisals, closing
costs, etc., bringing the total project cost to $536,000.
There is 9,000 feet
of road frontage on Greenbush, Town Line and Long Point Roads. The land is beautiful, with beautiful
views. The purchase of the land excludes
the purchase of the development rights from the house and farm buildings – it’s
just the land.
There is quite a bit
of farmland up and down that corridor. It’s
important to keep a high concentration of successful farms in the same area, so
that the businesses are there to support the farmers. The request is for $30,000, which is about 5.5% of the total
project cost. They have the support of
the conservation committee as well as the recreation committee. The DeVos farm plans on converting to organic
– it’s a 3 year transition period of no commercial fertilizer or pesticides in
order to be certified. During that
transition period, you can’t get the organic price, yet you still have to do
all the organic inputs and pay for organic feed.
Motion made by
Eleanor Russell, seconded by Paul Arthaud:
“To approve $30,000 from the Conservation Fund to support the
DeVos Farm Project”.
Vote: 4 in favor
(Francis Thornton abstained).
Request for Hedge in Road Right-of-Way on Greenbush –
Charlie Proutt
They are talking
about putting a hedge in front of Leon Theoret’s house. They would need to get the selectboard’s
okay. Ellie would like to get an
opinion from the road commissioner and find out specifically what they would
like to do.
Peter Coleman said there’s
a safety issue – if they put it in right next to the road, people walking would
need to walk in the road.
Questions for Public Service Board Regarding VELCO Testimony
and Project
Jennie brought a list
of questions for the Public Service Board concerning VELCO that’s a work in
progress. Jennie asked if the town got the
responses from VELCO from the first batch of questions. The answer is yes – they can be obtained
from Robert Fletcher.
Charlie said the
Public Service Board will conduct a site visit on October 28th and
29th. On the 28th,
the site visit will cover the proposed 115 kV transmission line from the Queen
City substation to the New Haven substation.
The site visit will not address any of the proposed modifications to the
substation. It will start at 8 AM at
the Queen City substation and it is anticipated that it will take all day. VELCO has arranged for one or more buses for
the site visit. All individuals, entities or parties with pending motions to
intervene should notify VELCO by October 17th of their intent to
attend the site visit, along with the number of representatives that will
attend each site visit. The Charlotte
segment is the 28th of October.
They are just looking at the line, not the substations.
Jennie said that the
town has party status to the PSB proceedings regarding the VELCO transmission
line project. One of the steps in the
process is that you can ask VELCO questions about the testimony that they have
given; the first deadline has passed, so some information has been
obtained. The 2nd deadline
is October 22nd. The next
deadline is December 17th for exhibits and reports.
Jennie said some of
the questions concern right-of-way issues, as well as clarification of
information that was given in their testimony.
Also, finding out rights of property owners, compensation, how VELCO
will negotiate with property owners, where there may be additional rights of
way that aren’t given in the testimony as well as additional properties that
might be purchased, inconsistencies with rights of way, wet lands, herbicides,
etc.
Jennie said they’ve
been trying to ask questions about how much information is still left to be
gathered about rights-of-way and how it could actually be done in
Charlotte. Francis asked about the
section asking for financial data from VELCO concerning the costs associated
with the project. Francis feels that’s
an awful lot of data to acquire, why would the town need it? Jennie said it seems that there are some
financial inconsistencies that may have an effect on the overall cost of the
project. She feels the data would be
useful later on when trying to determine if the actual cost was near VELCO’s
projected cost of the project.
Charlie asked Bob
Fletcher if the town would be looked at as obstructing the process if we ask
for this sort of data. Mr. Fletcher
said it is the Public Service Board’s job to find these inconsistencies. VELCO has to either object to the question
or answer it. If they object to it as a
repetitive question, then they have to point the town to the answer.
Paul said it was a
good question to ask why the rights-of-way range from 150 to 350; that’s a huge
difference.
Francis said his
concern is that we’re asking for a lot of data that is not relevant to the
town.
Mr. Fletcher said VELCO
would not provide anything that is just as accessible to the town as it is to
VELCO – such as public records.
Paul said he owns a
lot of property along the railroad lines, but he has not yet been contacted by
VELCO. He wonders what percentage along
the railroad line has been obtained versus what they need.
Jennie said nothing
is intended to be obstructionist; it’s just to make sure everyone is clear on
what their rights are as property owners.
Charlie asked if it’s the towns concern whether they’re compensating
land owners properly. Sylvia Knight said
it can become a concern if the citizens start losing property value and the tax
base declines. Jennie asked if we
should be speaking on behalf of the townspeople.
Jennie said they’re
creating a corridor by putting these lines in.
Charlie asked if VELCO or GMP has the right of way now. Sylvia said GMP has the right of way, but
GMP is one of the owners of VELCO. All
the utilities in the state own a portion of VELCO. Mr. Fletcher said GMP’s typical right of way is 35 to 50
feet. So, VELCO will need to negotiate
for more access to the property.
Paul asked how much
the town can influence putting the power lines underground. Mr. Fletcher said we’re in an open session,
so keep in mind any advice he would give would be public record. It would not be confidential.
Motion made by Paul
Arthaud, seconded by Francis Thornton:
“To go into executive session to talk about the VELCO project”.
Vote: all in favor.
Motion made by Paul
Arthaud, seconded by Ellie Russell:
“To come out of executive session”.
Vote: all in favor.
Recreation Commission Issues – Robin Reid
Charlie said Robin is
not coming in, she sent in a memo. It’s
a letter to try and use the state land down by the railroad station for soccer
field(s). They would like to write a
letter to the Agency of Transportation to see if it’s even worth pursuing. They would like the permission of the
selectboard to write that letter.
Charlie said the
planning commission put a restriction on it running east and west so that
soccer balls don’t go flying into Ferry Road.
Their second issue –
they would like to form a subcommittee of the rec commission to oversee the
sports coordinator. Three of the people
on the rec commission have been working with the sports coordinator; they just
want to make it more formal. Charlie
didn’t feel there was a decision to make there.
Their third issue –
do we want to expand the basketball program to include 7th and 8th
graders. There will be
significant demand for the program if it’s expanded. Charlie feels if it’s paying for itself, then he doesn’t see
anything wrong with that. Soccer
collected a lot more money than was spent.
The Rec Commission has
an evaluation form for feedback on the soccer season. They wanted to know if the selectboard has any suggestions on the
evaluation form. They would like to
know by Wednesday morning if there are any suggestions. The selectboard did not have any at this
time.
Selectboard Updates
·
Fire and Rescue
Issues. Ellie said the RFP’s have gone
out on the fire truck earlier this month.
They expect to get responses back the end of this month, and will be
making a decision in mid-November. They
will be coming to the board approximately 60 days later asking for money, so
the selectboard needs to be prepared.
With
regard to the Barrows will, the preliminary findings were ruled as final, but
the dispersion of the money is not yet final.
They won’t know for quite awhile because it is going through the probate
system. So it is still pending. Paul asked about the conditions of the will
– the terms of the payout could make a big difference.
The
by-laws are almost done; there are 2 small changes that are being
rewritten. They expect to vote on those
at their next corporate meeting – either this week or next week.
Francis
asked if anyone has looked at when the fire department was originally started
in the 1950’s – there was an agreement between the fire department and the town
that one of the commissioner’s of the fire department would be a member of the
board. Francis will see if he could
find the information.
Ellie
said they are experiencing severe staffing problems in the rescue squad. Paul said they hired a mediator to hear the
concerns from the officers and members.
Three or four committees were spun off to address issues - staffing,
morale, communications, etc. They are
going to present their first report tomorrow with a request for an
extension. Paul said it was a great
start and opened up channels of communication. Staffing needs addressing sooner rather than later. They need to find funding for more
people. Paul feels that benefits are a
large part of what people are looking for as paid personnel. One idea is for town employees being paid to
work at Fire and Rescue. Several years
ago a company called Lamoille (an independent ambulance service) let people
come out of the squads to work for other agencies. However, Fletcher Allen now owns them completely, so we can’t
seek people through that avenue anymore.
It’s
a statewide problem. Short term, Paul
would be surprised if they don’t get a conditional license. They are so understaffed that they are out
of service almost every day. Ellie said
they may become a first response agency instead of a full service agency.
Francis
asked why there are problems finding people – the town hasn’t gotten smaller. Paul said that people work during the day,
volunteering is way down, not so many farmers around anymore. Jennie said training requirements take a
long time. Paul feels they are in code
red for staffing right now. We’ll have
to deal with that going forward. They
can’t hire anyone right now under the structure that currently exists. Paul has been told by many per diem
employees that they would not have a lot of these problems if there were
benefits involved.
Ellie
said the fire department got a homeland security grant for $62,000 which they
will use to buy air packs and a radio system for the truck. They will also get a FEMA grant (perhaps for
$50,000) that is a 50/50 match.
Peter
Coleman asked how often the ambulance is out of service now. Paul said he didn’t have the stats in front
of him and he doesn’t want to put that info out in public without the stats. Peter wondered if the per diem people are
working 20 hours per week or more to qualify for benefits under the town
policy. Paul said the per diem people
are working above that threshold, but they need more of them. They only have 2 or 3 of them right now.
Peter
asked what the per diem rate is. Paul
said he’s not sure, but he thinks it ranges from $11 to $14 per hour. The membership has fallen, and they’ve lost
a lot of great members lately.
Peter
asked if the air packs that they plan on purchasing with the grant were the
same ones that were to be acquired with the truck. Ellie said yes, this should reduce the cost of the truck. The same is true with the radio system,
also.
Ellie
said they wanted to put the staffing problem on the agenda tonight to recognize
it as an issue.
·
Scheduled
Informational Meeting re: New State Septic Regulations. Spencer Harris cannot make Monday night
meetings. Dean was asked to schedule a
meeting with the 5 selectboard members, Dean and Stephen Bock. The board feels it should be an evening
meeting.
·
Greenbush Road
Landfill Erosion. Charlie said there
are a couple sections where that is eroded and need to be looked at. Francis asked if planting sod on it would
help. Charlie feels the turf was killed
and the land eroded because of that.
Are
there any restrictions on what can be done with the landfill? Do we need to go to the state or get an
engineer involved? Francis feels there
may be some state requirement on what you can do.
Approve
Maintenance Agreement for Town Hall Air-conditioning
The
maintenance agreement is an annual payment of $1220, or two installments of
$628.30 (whichever the town chooses).
They have already cleaned the ducts.
They suggest changing the belts once per year, chemical cleaning once
per year, and change the thermostat battery once per year (labor is
included). Paul said there’s a leak in
the entryway – you can see stains on some of the panels. He feels in the contract it would be great
to check leaks – the mildew is coming from somewhere. Ellie said Mary highly recommends signing this contract.
Motion
made by Ellie Russell, seconded by Francis Thornton:
“To have Charles Russell sign a program maintenance agreement with
New England Air Systems for our HVAC equipment for $1220 paid once per year”.
Vote: all in favor.
Paul
would like to make sure they check for leaks.
Ellie will pass that request on to New England Air.
Approve Job
Description for Planner and Selectboard Assistant Position
The job description has been cleared by Tim Eustace.
Motion made by
Jennifer Cole, seconded by Ellie Russell:
“To approve the job description for planner/selectboard
assistant”.
Paul suggested
removing the baccalaureate degree (or equivalent) from the qualifications. He feels it would chase some very qualified
people away. Ellie said 2 years of experience
is equivalent to one year of college.
Francis agreed with Paul.
Vote: 3 in favor, 2 no’s (Paul Arthaud and Francis
Thornton).
Preliminary
Budget Planning
Ellie
passed out a worksheet and a memo titled “Proposed Budget Process”. The sheets would be handed out prior to the
next selectboard meeting. Commissions
would have until November 3rd to work out their budgets, working
with a liaison from the selectboard.
When the
budgets come back in writing, they would meet with the selectboard on the 24th
or December 8th. It would
be approved by December 22nd or January 5th. Charlie feels that it should go quicker
since we’ve been through this process last year and know which ones will take
longer. Also, having the liaison should
help too.
Paul suggested
putting in the 6 month YTD actual.
Ellie said if we want to send the budget out within the next couple of
weeks, do we want to decide on a percentage of increase? The board decided to take out the 3% goal. Brief justifications shall be included on
the worksheet.
Paul stated
if we’re going to go into a bidding process for certain things (such as the
maintenance of the town lands) – we need to get that ball rolling. Francis said that some years ago, the selectboard
stated that anything that costs more than $5,000 must go out to bid. That’s still the guide that is used today.
Charlie
said that we need to collect the data from all the different groups and decide
what is similar and what can be bid out as one combined contract.
Ellie said
she will review the draft and put Dean to work!
Paul said that he has an EMTI transition
course and they are on Monday nights – it starts next week for the next 6
Mondays. That will make Paul miss at
least 2 or 3 meetings. They are
transitioning their intermediates to carry 5 new drugs on the ambulance. He will be around and active on selectboard
issues, but just not available on Monday nights.
Approve Minutes for September 18, 22, and October 3
Motion made by
Eleanor Russell, seconded by Paul Arthaud:
“To approve
the selectboard meeting minutes with corrections for September 18th ”.
Vote: all in favor.
On page 1, change motion to go into executive session to
“…discuss the selectboard assistant position”.
On page 1, add the following to the motion to go into
executive session: “Motion made by
Eleanor Russell, seconded by Paul Arthaud”.
Motion made by
Eleanor Russell, seconded by Francis Thornton:
“To approve
the selectboard meeting minutes with corrections for September 22nd ”.
Vote: all in favor.
Change
name (throughout document) from John Quincey to John Quinney.
On page 2,
change name from McGill to Magill.
On page 2, change ”didn’t have the septic to handle
the replacement” to “didn’t have the septic to handle the septic replacement
area”.
On page 3,
change to Ed Burleigh to Mr. Burleigh.
On page 4,
change 2nd bullet “… and the management consulting thing” to “… and
the HR personnel policy rewrite being done by an outside consultant”.
On page 4,
answer to “has it been shared with the selectboard? Is it their intention to share it with the selectboard” to
“Charlie said no, it has not been shared, but they do intend to share it”.
On page 5,
eighth bullet: Change “Ellie said … and
assist with these items” to “Ellie said … and assist with all of the above
items”.
On page 5,
ninth bullet: Change “Chip Patullo from Champlain Public Housing and Debbie
Ramsdell” to “Chip Patullo and Debbie Ramsdell from Champlain Co-Housing”. State that they “appeared to discuss a
conflict between the state’s wastewater regulations and the town’s
regulations”.
On page 8,
starting with Peter Richardson said Charlie wrote a letter … remove “with a Democratic
counsel”. Change “that identified
housing …” to “that identified affordable housing …”
On page 9,
middle of paragraph starting with “Dana says …”: change “…aggressively pursuing
land that makes them nervous” to “… “… aggressively pursuing ideas that make
them nervous”.
Vote: 4 in
favor (Paul Arthaud abstained).
Motion made by Ellie
Russell, seconded by Jennifer Cole:
“To approve
the selectboard meeting minutes with corrections for October 3rd ”.
Vote: all in favor.
On page 5, change
“…complimentary to the Charlotte Park and Wildlife …” to “…complementary to the
Charlotte Park and Wildlife…”.
Adjournment
Next
meeting: Monday, October 27th
at 7 PM.
Motion
made by Paul Arthaud, seconded by Ellie Russell:
“To adjourn the selectboard
meeting”.
Vote: all in favor. Meeting adjourned at 10:00 PM.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Jocelyn Bolick.