DRAFT
Town of Charlotte
Board of Selectmen
Minutes
Monday, November 10, 2003
7:00 PM, Charlotte Town Hall
Jennifer Steele Cole
Eleanor Russell
Francis Thornton
OTHERS: Dean
Bloch (Select board Assistant)
Gregg
Beldock
Stephen
C. Brooks
Peter
Coleman
Tricia
Coleman
Brendan
Cosgrove
Pete Demick
Jim
Emerson
Dick
Greene
Clark
Hinsdale, III
Pete
Kahn
Al
Karnatz
Mac
Keyser
Virginia
Keyser
Sylvia
Knight
Jeff
McDonald
Robert
Mack
Dave
Miskell
Robin
Reid
George
Reynolds
Lynn
Reynolds
Jocelyn
Bolick (clerk)
The meeting was called to order at 7:07 pm.
The items on the agenda were as follows:
Adjustment to Agenda /
Approve Minutes for October 27 / Public Discussion / Recreation Committee:
Request for expense outside of budget to purchase play structure for beach / Approve
$60K Expenditure from Conservation Fund for Charlotte South Greenbelt Project –
Al Karnatz / Carl Moulton: Discussion of fine related to Notice of Violation / Waldorf
School: Approval of temporary access / GBIC: Presentation & Discussion / Interview
Applicant for Recreation Commission / Clark Hinsdale III: Amendment of Open
Space Agreement at Kingsland Subdivision, Highway Access Permit, Road name /
Selectboard Updates: VELCO, Fire & Rescue / Bills and Warrants / Adjournment
Adjustment to Agenda
·
Ellie relayed a
request from the Recreation Committee that their agenda item either precede or
follow the applicant interview.
·
Peter Coleman had an
inquiry from a group that wants to rent the Old Lantern. It would be possibly 5 to 6 thousand people
on a July weekend. Because of the traffic,
he would need to do what Mr. Burns did and rent town property as a parking lot. He would like to start the ball rolling on
that proposition. He would lease it for
the weekend. Peter would make sure the
property insurance is bound over for the weekend. The property would be cleaned up; there would be policemen
on-site. The town’s liability insurance
will be looked into. Jennie asked if it
would expand on other parts of the property, or just remain in the
building. The building holds 350, so
there would be people all over the lawn.
Francis asked how many cars would be there for 5000 people. Peter said there would be a lot of cars; events
have been held there with 2000 people.
He just wanted to open up the possibility – they won’t be able to fit all
the cars on the Old Lantern property.
People would start arriving Friday night and depart sometime Sunday
afternoon.
Dean
asked if they would be spending the night there. Peter said they would rent a large truck for bathroom facilities
– some people would be staying overnight.
Peter tells people he is not renting them a campground, he is renting
them the facility and the land. Ellie
said the boards concern is the impact on the town. Charlie asked when they would need an answer for booking. Peter said he would need to get back to them
within a week or two with a tentative reaction. Ellie said they would need more specifics. Charlie asked if it should go on the agenda
for the next meeting to get impact from the public. Peter agreed.
Approve Minutes for October 27
Motion made by
Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennifer Cole:
“To approve
the select board meeting minutes with corrections for October 27th ”.
Vote: all in favor.
On page 2, under Short-term use of the Thorpe Barn, change “…
see if she can pin him down on what he intended to do there” to “…see if she
can talk with him again about a possible project there”.
On page 3, under Approve minutes for October 13th,
change “Stephen Bock” to “Stephen Vock”.
On page 8, under Approve Burns Planning Process, change
“…defend the line item” to “…defend the agenda item”. Also, change “…plan of auction “ to “…plan of action”.
On page 9, under Discussion of Draft By-Laws, change “Ellie
said CVFRS’ owns it” to “Ellie believes CVFRS’ owns it”.
On page 11, change the motion to go into executive session
to discuss the By-Laws to read “To go into executive session to discuss the
proposed Fire and Rescue By-Laws”.
On page 12, under Select board Updates/ New State Septic
Regulations, add Charles as an attendee of the meeting with the chair of the
Planning Commission/Zoning Board.
·
Peter Coleman wanted
to publicly apologize about the hedge in front of the Atkins property; it is
easily 25 feet from the center. Charlie
said there was a dump truck parked there today and it was off the road.
Recreation Committee: Request for expense outside of budget
to purchase play structure for beach
Robin Reid said the
purchase of recreation equipment for the beach was originally for $1400, but
the owner had an offer for $2200. It
was a play structure made out of redwood for the younger children to use. Ellie asked if it’s still a good buy at
$2200. Robin said it was probably still
a good buy, but they did not want to get involved in a bidding war.
Stephen Brooks said
the Charlotte/Shelburne Rotary loves to do playground equipment. It’s appropriate to make the argument that
they built one in Shelburne a few years ago, now they need one in Charlotte.
Approve $60K Expenditure from Conservation Fund for
Charlotte South Greenbelt Project – Al Karnatz
Al said this property
gets attached to the Berry Farm, so the Berry Farm easement needs to get
amended. The documents in the packet
are: the map, the development rights, conservation restrictions, right of first
refusal, draft of grant of trail easement, contingent right of the USA, draft
letter of figure or relocation, amendment to development rights to the Berry
Farm, draft letter on Route 7 widening project, and the charitable contribution
sheet.
Ellie asked what was
envisioned with the farm stand – is it more than locally grown produce? Al said the language states “products
predominantly produced on the protected property”. Ellie was concerned with the language – it inferred selling items
other than produce. Al said its point
of sale (not mail order) and the farm stand itself will have a limit to its
size. He doesn’t envision anything more
than what the Berry Farm is doing now, it’s just a more visible location.
There is a curb cut
on Route 7. Dave Miskell said it is
just to the north of Danny’s old house.
Charlie said the 2 blanks – the number of acres and the square footage –
is that what you’re trying to determine tonight? Al said no, this is a draft that will be completed prior to
closing. Al said they are looking for
approval for the spending of $60,000.
Ellie said they can approve it in concept, but can’t sign the document
without the numbers filled in.
Peter asked where the
elimination of potential mail order sales come into play. Al said the idea that it is not a
distribution point or a warehouse – it’s to be used primarily for sale to the
general public. Peter said if you’re
concerned about traffic, the best situation you can have is mail order. Stephen Brooks said if you’re comfortable
with VLT and the Greenbelt Alliance; why not just approve the expenditure?
Charlie asked if
there is any idea of the square footage being considered. Al said anywhere from 1500 to 2500 square
feet, they haven’t really talked about it in depth. Dave Miskell said this item was warned for 7:30 PM, and it’s not
7:30 yet – Clark Hinsdale was planning on being here and could answer some of
these questions. This point was tabled
until later in the meeting.
Francis was
questioning the language concerning the ownership of the development rights on
the property. It was decided to talk to
the town’s attorney to make sure the language satisfies the select board.
Francis asked where
the rest of the money is coming from. Al
said the Vermont Housing Conservation Board is putting in $125,000; the
Champlain Valley Greenbelt Alliance is hoping to raise between $140,00 to
$170,000; the money from the town of Charlotte; Vermont Land Trust has $40,000
from private donors as well. Al said
the amount that would be paid to Clark Hinsdale was $395,000. The actual appraisal by Rodney Haggett was
$660,000. Francis noted that the Vermont
Agency of Agriculture and the Vermont Housing Conservation Board are listed as
joint owners, but the town of Charlotte was not on there. Al said that’s typical language; the town is
left off because they are kept out of the day to day drudgery of stewardship of
the property.
Francis asked what
edge the town has to protect its interest.
Ellie said the edge was the executory interest. Francis said there are limitations with the
executory interest. Charles asked about
naming the town as one of the co-holders.
Al said he does not know the answer to that; this seemed to work fine
for all the other projects that had come to the board over the last few
years. Francis said he thinks this is a
fine project but he wants to protect the town’s interest, and he doesn’t feel
these papers do that at the moment.
Al said the papers
grant the town an executory interest.
Ellie said it worked okay in the past and she is comfortable with
it. She would like to take it to the
town’s attorney and discuss Frank’s concerns.
Charlie said none of these have been tested – it may be 50 years before
it is hashed out.
Clark said that if
they achieve the open space goal in town, there will be twice as much as there
is now. From the towns view, keeping
the documentation consistent will be easier for the town.
Charlie said now that
Clark is here, we can pick up the discussion about the square footage of the
farm stand. Clark said the town has far
more control over the commercial farm stand through town zoning than what would
be found in the easement. Charlie asked
if the square footage was the building footprint. Al said it could be 2 stories with 1000 square feet. Clark said it is tough to get a permit for a
public 2 story building – it’s expensive.
Peter defended orders
by mail and electronically. He feels it
creates jobs; it’s not something that should be dismissed. Dakin Farms is going to hire 95 people in
the next couple of days to get out orders for Christmas.
Clark said
theoretically it would be easier to keep a 2 acre lot out of the easement for
the farm stand, but that’s not how VLT does things. Charlie asked what’s being contemplated for the acreage number –
Al said 2.5 to 3 acres. They do not draft
the final mapping until they get close to closing.
Charlie asked how to
approve this without the numbers filled in.
Clark said you do it “subject to review and acceptance of the final
documents”. Stephen asked if it is
correct to say the property owner of the land would need to file an application
to build a farm stand – the answer is yes.
Motion made by Ellie
Russell, seconded by Jennie Cole:
“To approve $60,000 toward the
Champlain Valley Greenbelt Alliance Route 7 Greenbelt project subject to
approval and acceptance of the documents by the board of selectmen and review
by the town attorney”.
Vote: all in favor.
Clark
suggested that the board talk to Tim Eustace about the executory interest
document and find out why they did what they did. The town is buying into a joint venture; make sure the town is
getting what they agreed to. There is
going to be more of these, so if it’s not right get it fixed now. Charlie said there’s a tradeoff. How deeply does the town want to be involved
with the administrative stewardship issues; if something happens, it’s less
completed to have a direct interest.
One solution does not necessarily work for every project.
Carl Moulton: Discussion of fine related to Notice of
Violation
Dick Greene asked
about the violation for Carl Mouton.
Charlie said there was significant improvement of the land without
getting prior permission. Dean said he
did not request a building permit until after the violation occurred. Dick said he is an adjoining property
owner. The property used to be family
property and there were covenants at the time.
Dick feels that Carl had the right to log the property. Charlie said that logging was not the issue;
Francis said the attorney thought the topal activity that took place was
extensive.
Dick was concerned
about why someone would get fined for cutting trees on their own property, yet
not fine someone for cutting down trees on town property, even though it was
suggested by 2 tree wardens. Charlie
said they do not have the opinion from the town attorney yet whether or not the
tree warden can fine someone without getting others involved. Dick is concerned that landowners are losing
their property rights too fast. Charlie
said the zoning administrator does not have any discretion when he fines
people.
Dick said he’s never
seen as much wildlife since it was logged.
It’s been fully seeded. Peter
said the more frightening aspect is that a fine can be levied because of
“substantial redevelopment”. It sounds
arbitrary. Francis said it appeared to
be that he was in the process of developing the property.
Waldorf School: Approval of temporary access
They have permits to
build ball fields at the site, and they are looking to get a permit for a
temporary access so that trucks bringing in fill will not use the main driveway
for the school. They would like to put
the temporary access about halfway down the property and through the
fields. Charlie asked how long they
would need it. They won’t need it until
the spring, but the fill may not be available at that time. Since the approval would only be good for 1
year, they may need to come back and reapply.
Peter asked if the planning commission is looking at wetland and
wildlife habitat – close to the fields seems to be a major wildlife path. Dean said they have a state permit for the
wetlands.
Motion made by
Francis Thornton, seconded by Ellie Russell:
“To approve the temporary access
into the Waldorf School as shown on the plans with the provision that there be
a culvert as necessary as determined by the road commissioner and to be removed
when the job is completed within one year”.
Vote: all in favor.
GBIC: Presentation & Discussion
Brendan Cosgrove of
the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation presented a slideshow. They have been in the process of creating a
strategic economic development plan by looking at the underlying pieces of the
Chittenden economy.
They are the 6th
region in Vermont to create an economic development plan, using a community
development block grant through the town of Essex. The goal has been to develop focused strategies, promote good
jobs and broad-based prosperity in Chittenden County.
They wanted to talk
to governing boards to get advice and input on their efforts so far to make
sure they are following priorities that the community feels are important.
Their goal is to
develop specific, focused strategies for renewed economic success in Chittenden
County.
Since January, 2001, eight
thousand nine hundred manufacturing jobs have been lost in Vermont. 2,350 have been lost in our area. They want to make sure people understand
there is a real issue out there and action needs to be taken.
What they have
learned so far – global markets offer challenges and opportunities;
technological innovation is advancing rapidly, and aging baby-boomers are
demanding more quality of life.
Potential threats include the recent job losses at IBM, 2,350 lost factory
jobs (before the recent IBM layoff), and the overall economic recovery of the
state.
The largest job
increases are coming in low paying service jobs rather than higher paying jobs. Our economy is vulnerable because we have a
high concentration in just a few industries.
The region has a
higher percentage of high school graduates (versus Vermont and versus the
U.S.). The region also exceeds the state
and national averages in the percentage of people with post-graduate degrees.
There is a full copy
of the development plan on the GBIC website (www.vermont.org/gbic).
Stephen Brooks wanted
to know if it’s true that 40+% of reported personal income in Vermont is
unearned income. Brendan said they did
not talk about unearned income. Stephen
asked if Vermont is the 2nd highest state in unreported income. If that proportion is true, what does that
say about who is living here, why they are coming here? There is a market in the charm of Vermont
because people can pick themselves up and recapitalize their home because they
have an unearned income. Stephen wanted
to know if their discussions considered regional elements; for instance, did
they consider Charlotte as a rural preserve relative to that larger
vision.
Brendan said the
tourism piece was discussed at length.
They are focused on the fact that they want to support the existing
businesses, but the quality of life is key.
Stephen said for Charlotte it may mean the donation to the future is to
maintain the rural charm. Brendan said
they need to have that balance regionally.
They need to have places for people from other areas who want to come
and bring their business here. They are
trying to support clean, high paying businesses coming to Vermont.
Brendan stated that
if anyone has any more information that they would like to pass on to him,
he’ll leave his contact information with the select board.
Clark said 95% of the
money for milk comes from out of the state, and it’s a $400,000,000 industry. Brendan said agriculture is one of the areas
they are looking at as well.
Stephen said the
entire presentation left out agriculture.
Clark said Vermont has the most dairy dependent economy in the nation. We export 95% of our milk, and import 90% of
our non-dairy products.
Interview Applicant for Recreation Commission
Gregg Beldock came to
interview for the Recreation Commission.
He said he likes to do things for the kids in town. He feels he will be less effective if he
does things on his own rather than being part of the recreation commission. He also has an interest in the preservation and
utilization of open land and open space.
He feels open space ties into the recreation commission by utilizing the
open land as fields. He has built
Nordic trails on his land, and they are getting used.
Ellie said that the
Recreation Commission has taken on a new role with the sports program, what is
Gregg’s philosophy on coaching? Gregg said
he has coached 5000 children over the past several years. Unless there is the ability to teach the
volunteer coaches a subset of the skills taught to the 7th/8th
graders, a lot of confusion occurs and philosophies get lost. If there is a coaching strategy at the 7th/8th
grade level all the way down to the 1st/2nd grade level,
you will be able to coach many more children with much less capital intensive
resources.
Charlie asked what
would be done differently than what is done now. Gregg said there has been a huge step within the last 6
months. The coordinated intramural
effort was in play this fall with soccer.
There were more kids signed up, now there needs to be more time for the
kids to play.
Charlie asked about
the fields. Gregg said the greatest
athlete of the 20th century was Pelé; he grew up with dirt and playing with a bag of sand. We get caught up thinking about spending
money when it doesn’t really need to happen.
We’re very lucky in this town; our kids have great facilities, great
teachers. There is room up there for
more fields.
Gregg feels the
programs need to be self-funding and self-perpetuating. Ellie asked about the goals of the
Recreation Commission. Gregg feels a
trail system is great; a series of classes sponsored by the town could develop
fees over a period of time. Jennie
asked how far the town should go providing recreational opportunities for
people of all ages. Gregg feels if they
do a good job, they can develop a fee based program. The natural resources are available here.
Clark said that a
fundamental decision was made in this town along time ago. Gregg is talking about taking private
efforts and integrating them into the community system. Clark feels that taking someone with a track
record of private contributions to recreation over many years– accept those
efforts. Having Gregg on the commission
would be a very good thing. Robin Reid said
there is a subcommittee of the Recreation Commission in place right now to
handle a lot of the issues involving the sports program. Gregg could provide some good contributions.
Clark Hinsdale III:
·
Amendment of Open Space Agreement at Kingsland Subdivision. Clark, and George
and Lynn Reynolds are working on modifying some existing permits on a 50 acre
piece of land that the Reynolds own south of East Thompson’s Point Road, access
of which is currently through the Palmer Estate. Property was previously approved as a 9 lot subdivision in the
1980’s. Danny and Lynn bought the
property at public auction. Danny got
sick and died. The property that exists
down there is still the same 9 building lots and 2 open space lots that were
created in the 1980’s. The modification
is to go to a total of 5 lots. The
recommendation from the Conservation Commission and the town planner was to eliminate
of some of the lots with the brook and to convert one open space lot into a
residential lot. This has been approved
at the sketch plan level and was scheduled for final approval on November 8th,
but the Planning Commission did not have a quorum.
There is a chicken
and egg issue here. The planning commission
is now entertaining a sub division in which a portion of an open space lot will
become a residential lot and several residential lots will become open
space. We don’t have a clear policy in
town on how to proceed with something like this. To do it, you need approval of the planning commission and the
select board. Clark wanted to review
the current status of the open space agreement.
The 11 lots would now
become 5 lots. Three would be house lots,
one would be a house lot until the person who is interested in buying it
donates it as an open space lot, and one would be open space. But, it would require the town to modify an
existing legal agreement. Both boards
need to approve this. Charlie said the
normal process would be the planning commission would draw it up and the select
board would approve it. Clark said that
would be the policy if you were starting with a blank piece of land, but here
we’re starting with an approved subdivision.
The question is the policy at this point – how do we proceed? The select board view is that it’s the same
as if it were not a subdivided piece.
Sylvia Knight asked
how many acres are being preserved. Clark
said there’s about 6 acres of building envelope on 50 acres. Tricia Coleman asked who has the
responsibility of keeping all this land open.
Clark said it is the landowner’s responsibility, open space just means
lack of development.
·
Highway Access Permit. The road that serves
the property goes across the Palmer Estate to the north. The curb cut moves the road over to the
hedgerow quickly and follows the hedgerow, getting it out of the field where it
is now. It keeps the curb cut far
enough to the west to have adequate sight distance for 50 mph traffic. There is no agreement with the town for
ongoing maintenance of the roads (plowing, etc.).
Motion by Francis
Thornton, seconded by Jennie Cole:
“To move the curb cut to the
point described in the permit application HAP-02-03 dated 11/7/03”.
Pete Demick said the
road should be residential use only, but the permit has agricultural use
checked. Clark said the land that it
goes through is agricultural. Charlie
said this permit only deals with the curb cut, not the road itself.
Vote: all in favor.
·
Road name. Pete
Kahn and Pete Demick have the only 2 families currently living on the road. There’s
a conflict with the road name. Burdock
Lane is one name, Fieldstone Way is another.
Jennie said there is a road named Fields Farm Lane. Pete Demick said there was already an
existing name, and that was Fieldstone Way.
A road name is needed for final approval; Charlie suggested that the
parties involved come up with a consensus name.
Motion by Ellie
Russell, seconded by Jennie Cole:
“To name the road Burdock Lane”.
Stephen asked why the
select board is naming this road. Pete Demick
would like to table the motion until all parties involved discuss it further. Motion tabled.
Selectboard Updates:
·
VELCO. Charlie read portions of the Objection and
Statement of the Position of the Town of Charlotte. Jennie said this has to do with the Public
Service Board’s order to consolidate the parties. This is just an objection to the consolidation, and a statement
of position as required by the Public Service Board. There was a status conference last Friday. The thought was that if the groups were
grouped together, it would be more efficient and less duplication of questions.
Motion by Jennie Cole,
seconded by Ellie Russell:
“To approve the Objection and Statement
of the Position of the Town of Charlotte filed on 11/7/03”
Vote: all in favor.
Jennie said there was
a meeting of the towns along the transmission line in Vergennes. The group is called the Coordinating Committee. It may just be a group used to share
information. At the town committee
meeting last Tuesday, most of the time was spent putting together what has come
out of site visits for stipulations. It
includes the possibility of some underground work, some pole height changes,
etc. Perhaps we want to talk about how
to put this information to VELCO. Do we
want to set a meeting in a couple of weeks to put out our stipulations? The town has not gotten responses from
questions yet; they should be back next week.
Stephen said at some
point, the committee produces a work product that proposes the town’s position,
and the work product comes to the select board for discussion. Jennie said there are 2 things going on at
once. The PSB process is continuing on,
and we’re part of that. And VELCO wants
us to bring our list to them. Stephen
wants to know if the town of Charlotte is going to take a position to VELCO or
the PSB. Is that going to be a public
product before it goes and is represented to VELCO as the town’s position? Charlie said that has to happen. The process needs to be spelled out. Jennie said we need to figure out what order
we want things to go.
·
Fire & Rescue. Charlie and Ellie had a meeting with Eric
Van Vlandren, Christian Campbell and Kyr Walker, and they would like to update
the board and the public. They ran
through a list of concerns about what they had heard and witnessed at the
rescue meeting last Tuesday.
Ellie said the
paperwork submitted for the grant required that a receipt be shown. The grant required that before reimbursement
could take place, they would have to have a receipt dated by October 15th,
which was not possible. However, the
grant writers were willing to take check numbers. This was for the 50/50 matching grant.
Charlie and Ellie tried
to get an idea when the by-laws would be final; they pushed for the end of the
year. Eric Van Vlandren said they would
make it a top priority to have them done by the end of the year. Charlie said they would come up with some
sort of understanding with Fire & Rescue.
Francis found the
paperwork for the Fire Commission dated 1962.
The fire commission is the fire chief, the senior selectman, and the
senior lister. The reason for fire commissioners
is to have a closer liaison between the fire department and the town.
Stephen asked what
will happen if they come up with by-law language that the select board does not
feel is appropriate. Ellie said they
told them that the board holds the purse strings – the board does not want to go
there.
Charlie said that
Eric is going to call a meeting next Tuesday.
This will be the meeting for all of Fire & Rescue to talk to
management about all these things.
Charles and Ellie will be at that meeting. Peter Coleman asked about the number of hours the rescue squad is
out of service. Peter Demick said they
won’t divulge the numbers, but he guesses that there are four or five 12 hour
shifts every week that are not covered.
People are leaving the rescue squad in abundant numbers because of the
management.
Jennie said people in
the squad are working hard to make the management transition smooth and getting
Fire & Rescue going again. Peter Demick
said that a lot of those people will come back when the management changes.
Robert Mack asked why
it wasn’t warned. Charlie said it was
on the agenda. This problem isn’t
something that the select board is going to solve. It needs to be solved over at CVFRS with Eric in front of the
whole crew.
Tricia Coleman asked
if we have ever seen a written quote on this fire truck. Why doesn’t Fire & Rescue have to
provide written quotes before getting the money, like they have to do at the
Senior Center? Ellie said they are
going to review every written quote with CVFRS. CVFRS doesn’t have the money yet.
Tricia asked about
the status if the Barrows Will – Ellie said the lawyers are arguing; it will be
a long time before any money comes across.
Stephen asked what
happens on December 31st.
Ellie said they will see a draft of the proposed by-laws. If the board likes them, then the problem is
over. If the board doesn’t like them,
there are avenues to take – one of which is to cut off the money. The select board will discuss the
consequences before December 31st.
Bills and Warrants
Signed as
appropriate.
Adjournment
Next
meeting: Monday, November 24th
at 7 PM.
Motion
made by Francis Thornton, seconded by Ellie Russell:
“To adjourn the select board
meeting”.
Vote: all in favor. Meeting adjourned at 10:45 PM.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Jocelyn Bolick.