Select Board 12-6-07

Weathersfield Select Board Minutes December 6, 2007 Present:        Henry C. Cobb Daniel Boyer             Norman John Arrison             Patricia Daniels             C. Peter Cole Others Present:    Larry Melen, Town Manager             Lisa Sargent, Recording Secretary             Rolly Cann             Michelle Gould             Flo-Ann Dango             Edith Stillson             Darrin Spaulding             Max Frazer             Shep Thomas, Baltimore             Walter Rich, Baltimore             Christopher Adams             Julia Lloyd Wright, Eagle Times             Deborah Ostrom, SAPA TV             Chief Brown             Darlene Johnson             Wayne Johnson             John Mudgett             Bonnie Lasage 1.  Call to Order by Chairperson: Mr. Cobb called the meeting of the Weathersfield Select Board to order at 7:00 p.m. at Martin Memorial Hall.     It was mentioned that we would move item #8 up after #5. 2.  Review Minutes from Previous Meeting(s): Mr. Boyer made the motion to approve the minutes dated November 15, 2007, Mr. Cole seconded the motion.  Mrs. Daniels noted corrections.  Motion carried 3 – 0 with 2 abstentions.     Mr. Cole made the motion to approve the minutes dated September 17, 2007; Mr. Arrison seconded the motion.  One correction was noted.  Motion carried 3 – 0 with 2 abstentions. 3.  Comments from Citizens: Ms. Lloyd Wright said the energy audit at Martin Memorial Hall would be December 19, 2007 and she would let us know how it goes on the 20th.   4.  V.L.C.T. Health Trust, Inc.     A.  Leader Program, Dan Roda-Member Relations Representative: Mr. Melen said Mr. Roda is not here tonight but he wanted to present the Board with a refund check from the Health Leadership Program, he said the refund was about $3,000.  Mr. Melen acknowledged Flo-Ann Dango who started this program and Michelle Gould who keeps it going.       B.  2008 Health Insurance Coverage-vision Rider Changes: Mr. Melen asked to table this discussion. 5.  Fiscal Year 2007 Audit     -Mudgett, Jennett, and Krogh-Wisner, P.C.  Mr. Melen introduced the auditors, Mr. John Mudgett and Ms. Bonnie Lasage.  Mr. Mudgett gave a brief explanation of the information contained within the financial statement report.   Mr. Cobb talked about the capital assets inventory recommendation and mentioned we have discussed this quite a bit in the past.  Mr. Cann mentioned assigning “id numbers” to the assets so it is easier to track items.   Mr. Mudgett said he feels we are in a good financial state with a small surplus.  Mrs. Daniels thanked the auditing firm as well as Larry, Chris and Michelle for their work.  Mr. Melen gave thanks to John Clough too.   8.  Inter-municipal Services: Request Consideration of Patrol Coverage from Walter Rich, Selector, Town of Baltimore: Mr. Rich said he has talked to Chief Brown about patrolling the Town of Baltimore and wanted to bring it before the Select Board for their input.  He said they currently have a constable but he is not certified to answer a lot of the calls and the State Police can take up to one and one half hours to get there.  He said he feels the Town of Baltimore would benefit from more local police presence.     Mr. Cobb asked him if he was looking for road patrol.  Mr. Rich said yes, more visibility as well as someone locally that people could call.       Mr. Arrison said we do not have 24/7 coverage either and asked if he had the statistics of the number of times the State Police responded to their town.  Mr. Rich said no but they don’t respond too often.    Mr. Melen said we have 40 hours of coverage with Chief Brown and another 20 hours from the part-time officers.          Mr. Arrison questioned why he didn’t go to Springfield for coverage as they do have 24/7 coverage.  Mr. Rich said he thought of Weathersfield first since two of our roads lead into Baltimore.  Mr. Cobb asked the total road mileage, Mr. Rich said 7.3 miles.  Mr. Cobb asked the number of 911 calls, Mr. Rich said maybe 10 - 15 per year.     Mr. Melen asked the population, Mr. Rich said 250.  Mr. Melen asked if they were looking for motor vehicle enforcement.  Mr. Rich said yes but they do not see a big problem with speeders, there is a bigger problem with ATV’s and snowmobiles riding on town roads etc.       Mr. Boyer asked if we would increase the part-time positions.  Chief Brown said he doesn’t hear of too much activity in Baltimore while he is on duty.  He agrees ATV’s are a larger problem than speeding vehicles.  He suggested he goes and talks with the Town of Baltimore Select Board to see what they are interested in.  The Board agreed that he should talk to the Town of Baltimore and then come back and let us know what they are looking for. 6.  Reauthorization of Borrowing: 4-Wheeled Loader: Mr. Arrison made the motion to approve signing the note with Chittenden Bank for $78,000 for one year at an interest rate of 4.5% for the 4-Wheeled Loader.  Mr. Cole seconded the motion, which passed without dissent. 7.  Fiscal Year 2009 Budget     A.  Meeting Schedules: Mr. Melen said we would discuss the Solid Waste Management Fund on December 13, 2007, the Highway and General Fund on December 27, 2007 and January 10, 2008 and then finalize all budgets on January 24, 2008.   B. Presentation of Town Manager’s Budget Proposal 1.  Revised Cost-of-Living and Wage Adjustments: Mr. Melen said he entered the increase of 3.5% and generally it is a 60-cent per hour increase. 2.  Revised Long Term Debt: Mr. Melen gave spreadsheets to the Board showing the projected long term debt schedules.  He also gave the Board updated comparative budget reports to review. 4.  V.L.C.T. Health Trust, Inc.     B.  2008 Health Insurance Coverage-Vision Rider Changes: Mr. Melen said vision costs have been split from medical costs and the enhanced program provides coverage in full for an exam each year, coverage in full for lens, $140 a year for frames and $130 a year for contacts if in the network.  If you are out of the network, a co-pay applies.  Mr. Arrison made a motion to direct the Chair to sign the letter offering the enhanced program to covered employees and to offer non-covered employees the option of purchasing the plan at their cost.  Mr. Cole seconded the motion, which passed without dissent. 7.  Fiscal Year 2009 Budget     C.  Mileage Reimbursement Rate: Mr. Melen said he recommends the mileage rate for calendar year 2008 be set at 50.5 cents per mile as this is the IRS rate as of today.  Mr. Cole made the motion to authorize the mileage reimbursement rate to be set at 50.5 cents per mile for the calendar year 2008; Mr. Boyer seconded the motion.  Mr. Cobb said he thinks this will change before the first of the year, Mr. Melen said he would come back and ask for a change if needed.  Motion carried unanimously.     D.  United States Army Corps of Engineers Contract Cost Proposal: Mr. Arrison made the motion to approve the contract with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and authorize the Town Manager and Chief of Police to sign it.  Mr. Boyer seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. E. Request for Appropriations: Mr. Melen said this is for information only. Moved to item #10 E 10.  Old Business:     E.  Request to Approve Private Road, Maxwell Frazer: Mr. Melen said he went to Town Counsel and he said the Riszen property is #1, the Wyman property is #2 and the others parcels were considered undeveloped land therefore, the policy is if more than two residents the road ceases being a driveway and becomes a roadway.  Mr. Melen said the Planning Commission will not approve the right-of-way until this is resolved.  Mr. Frazer said two houses on South Mountain Road are using this right-of-way so he would actually be the 5th residence.       Mr. Melen said our sub-division by-laws need to be rewritten and this needs to be addressed more clearly.  Mr. Cobb asked if we could make an exception this time since we do not know who is the third residence.  Mr. Melen said we could but we would be setting a precedence, Mr. Cobb said that is why this would be an exception.     Mr. Cobb asked who would maintain and plow this roadway. Mr. Melen said the residents would, as this would become a private road.   Mr. Arrison made a motion to approve the private right-of-way serving lands currently owned by Wilson, Jarvis, Riszen and Wyman for access for a private road with the following conditions: 1. Prior to development of the Wilson piece of land the owner must construct an acceptable turn around of sufficient size and quality for fire apparatus and proof of acceptability must be given by the Ascutney Volunteer Fire Department. 2. The Town of Weathersfield shall not accept the road until it is fully brought up to Town specifications.   Mr. Boyer seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.      9.  Monthly Reports: A. Fire Commission 1.  Designation of Emergency Shelter and Power Supply: Mr. Boyer said Mr. Thomas is working on grants to obtain three generators.  One for Weathersfield Elementary School, one for Weathersfield Middle School and one for the Town Office.  Mr. Melen said he understands they are talking about installing a generator in the new school and he will follow up on that.  It was noted that the grants being applied for would require the Town to pay 20% of the purchase price so Mr. Arrison asked Mr. Melen to look at how we would come up with those funds. 2.  Medical Information Privacy Practices for Emergency Responders: Mr. Boyer said neither Fire Department asks for medical information, this is done by Golden Cross Ambulance personnel.  Mr. Arrison said there was talk about the community that the Fire Departments talked about medical information. Mr. Boyer assured the Board that the Fire Departments do not ask for or receive medical information.   3.  Budget Request – Repair of E-2, Ascutney Volunteer Fire Department: Mr. Boyer said if repair is done now it will exceed the budget but if we wait the cost to do the repairs will increase substantially.  Chief Spaulding said he talked with Dingy today and we are ok for now going with the estimate we received a few months ago for a total of $2,909.50 but if we wait until the next budget cycle the quote will increase by $1,200 - $1,500.  Mr. Melen asked how serious the repairs are, Chief Spaulding said the fenders are starting to rust and we can’t tell what is behind the surface problem.  Mr. Arrison said he has looked at this and we are foolish not to fix it now even if it exceeds the budget.  Mrs. Daniels made the motion to authorize the repair of E-2 Fire Engine for Ascutney Fire Department not to exceed $3,000 per the quote stated dated September 6, 2007.  Mr. Boyer seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.   Chief Spaulding said the repairs would take approximately two weeks and told the Board, if they didn’t object that we would borrow a truck from an area department for that time.  Mr. Melen asked Chief Spaulding to talk with him before this happens about the insurance.   B. Land Use: Report provided. C. Southern Windsor/Windham Counties Solid Waste Management District: Report provided. D. Municipal Assessing Property Service, LLC: Progress report provided. 10.  Old Business     A.  Highway Department – Sale of Town-Owned Vehicles: Mr. Melen said Mr. Hazeltine couldn’t come tonight but he is not comfortable selling the 1989 truck at this time, he feels we should keep it through the snow season.  He said area dealers are saying the market is low.  Mr. Hazeltine thinks the value should be around $20,000 and he’s been told Mack is having problems getting $10,000.  Mr. Cobb recommended advertising it for sale, as the only thing we’ll be out is the money for advertising.       B.  Proposed Spay/Neuter Assistance Program: Mr. Melen asked to table this discussion.     C.  National Incident Management System FY2006 Baseline Survey: Mr. Melen said this has been sent to Mr. Thomas.  Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Melen to send an email to the Board members with the information so they can take the self-test.     D.  Calendar Years 2007 -2008 Mr. Cobb asked the Board to look at the power point presentation and go over the list attached to the minutes each week so we can discuss them on at the meeting on the 20th. E. Already discussed F.Request to Purchase Town Land: Mr. Arrison said he looked at this land with Mr. Hazeltine and he recommends denying the request to purchase or use the land for a couple of reasons.  One being the buffer required for the sandpit and Act 250.   Mrs. Daniels made the motion to deny the request from Mr. and Mrs. Buck to purchase or use the land and have the Town Manager send a letter to them and list the reasons discussed.  Mr. Cole seconded the motion, which passed without dissent. 11.  Ordinances and Policies:     1.  Solid Waste Fee Assessment Policy: Mrs. Daniels said she feels every property owner should be assessed once even if it is vacant land.  After discussion it was decided Mr. Melen would work on the wording again and bring this back to the next meeting.     2.  Road Surface Cut Policy: The Board is ok with this policy, Mr. Melen has one small change to do and will bring it back for approval. 12.  New Business     A.  Request for Sales at Town Office, Weathersfield Tales 2: Mr. Arrison made the motion to approve Steve Aikenhead’s request to sell Weathersfield Tales 2 at the Town Office.  Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.     B.  Municipal Planning Grant Award: Mr. Melen said we have been notified we have received a grant of $10,050 to update our sub division regulations.     C.  Proposal for Fiber-Optic Service District, Valley Fiber: Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Melen to contact them to come talk with us after the budget season.  We would like to know what they could do for us and how much it will cost.     D.  Approve contract for replacement photocopier: Mr. Melen said the old contract is up.  He said he went with the same contract the State has.  Mr. Boyer made the motion to grant the Town Manager authority to enter into a contract with OCE Imagistics for $197.87 per month. Mr. Cole seconded the motion, which passed without dissent.     E.  Request to use Town maps as samples, Cartographic Associates, Inc: Mr. Boyer made the motion to grant Cartographic Associates, Inc. permission to use our maps as samples.  Mr. Arrison seconded the motion, which passed without dissent. 13.  Sign Treasurer’s Warrants: Mr. Arrison made the motion to approve the Treasurer Warrants as follows:     General Fund Payroll                    $   24,603.55     General Fund Operating Expense                $ 918,355.61     Highway Fund Payroll                    $   22,966.02     Highway Fund Operating Expense            $   16,876.89     Solid Waste Management Fund Payroll            $     2,331.89     Solid Waste Management Fund Operating Expense    $     1,732.56     Grants                            $     3,210.73     Reserves                            $     6,196.46     Library                            $        328.92 Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. 14. Next Meeting’s Agenda Items: Budget workshop 15.  Adjourn: Mr. Arrison made the motion to adjourn.  Mr. Cole seconded the motion, which passed without dissent.  The Weathersfield Select Board meeting was adjourned at 10:16 p.m.                             Respectfully Submitted,                             Lisa Sargent Approved by the Weathersfield Select Board on December 20, 2007                             __________________                             Daniel Boyer                             __________________                             C. Peter Cole                             ______________________                             Norman John Arrison                             ______________________                             Patricia Daniels Appendix         Name of chairpersons of various committees         Internet policy         Procedure on utility easements         Ancient roads (continue working on)         Sign posting policy         Use of Perkinsville Elementary School         Capital asset inventory         No Parking Signs by Thomas residence         No Parking signs on Route 131 near exit 8 and Tenney Hill         Review and increase of land use fees Martin Memorial Hall/Town Office Building (where one ends and the other begins) 02/27/07    New Map for Town Report 03/08/07    Procedure for handling of complaints and citizen inquiries 05/03/07    Emergency communication 05/03/07    Radio Station designation for emergencies 08/16/07    large gathering permit 08/16/07    Welch – National Historic covered bridge grant 09/06/07    Annual SWMF – waive? 09/06/07    ROW for underground utilities 10/18/07    Economic Depreciation Factors from AMPTA 11/01/07    Designation of Emergency Shelter and Power Supply 12/06/07     Valley Fiber Service 12/27/07    Reading/W. Windsor solid waste fees payment schedule