Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of Monday June 23, 2025 at 7:00 PM
At South Hero Town Hall and via Zoom
Board Members Present: David Lane/Vice Chairman, Skip Brown/Board Secretary, Steve Robinson, Anne Zolotas
Board Members Not Present: David Carter/Chairman
Others Present: Sue Arguin, Kim Julow + see sign in sheet. *Attendance SB 2025-06-23-2025
1. Called to Order:
– The meeting was called to order by Acting Chairman David Lane at 7:00 pm.
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
– Add Treasurer requests Auditor contract signature in New Business and an Executive session for contract matters at the end of the meeting
3. Minutes:
-Steve Robinson made a motion to approve the minutes of June 9, 2025. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Public input:
A. Bob Fireovid and Cynthia Kelley of the South Hero Conservation Commission (SHCC) were present to discuss a meeting that they had with the new county forester on the former Lavin property. The SHCC would like to identify some forested land where a trail already exists for eventual use as a Town forest access area. Tree Warden Anne Zolotas would like to be included in any future planning. In the immediate future, it is suggested that at least a trail be brush-hogged due to poisonous parsnip plants. Anne Zolotas will speak to the Town highway dept. to see if it is possible for them to do this, or if it needs to be contracted out.
5. New Business:
A. Grand Isle Sheriff Ray C. Allen was present to discuss the contract for FY 25/26. Besides the cost per hour, the contract hasn’t changed in many years. There was a discussion of Section Five of the contract, where it seemed that a 5% surcharge would be due. Sheriff Allen stated that figure is already factored into the total. The consensus of the Board is to continue with the contract.
-The Grand Isle Sheriff Dept. if now fully staffed.
-He stated that DUI’s are up, which is a usual summer occurrence due to the increase in tourists.
B. Anthea Dexter-Cooper of RunVT was present to discuss the Island Vines 5K-10K foot race to be run as before on Sept. 14, 2025. See attached *Island Vines 2025 Race Plan Anne Zolotas made a motion to approve the Island Vines 5K-10K race on Sept. 14, 2025 beginning at 9:00am originating from Snow Farm Vineyard. The motion was seconded. David Lane did not vote, the others in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
C. Town Treasurer Kim Julow was present to discuss the contract for a Tax Anticipation Note (TAN). Anne Zolotas made a motion to approve the Tax Anticipation Note (line of credit) in the amount of $150,000.00 for FY 25/26. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
D. The funds from the bond for the proposed new Town Hall are not paid to the Town until the project is complete. A Bond Anticipation Note (BAN) is necessary. (Sort of like a construction loan). More than one BAN may be applied for during the construction phases. Steve Robinson made a motion to allow the Treasurer to apply for a $300,000.00 BAN for a term of 2 years. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
E. The contact for the auditors, Sullivan Powers & Co. was presented. Steve Robinson made a motion to approve and sign the Sullivan Powers & Co. contract for auditing the Town. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
6. Town Administrator and ZA Reports:
A. No ZA report.
B. Anne Zolotas made a motion to re-appoint Michele Gammal to the Planning Commission. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
C. Town Admin. report. See Attached *
7. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. There are no updates re: ACT 181 mapping and Village Center designation.
8. Announcements and Communications:
A. none at this meeting
9. Other Business:
A. Anne Zolotas made a motion to sign the orders 25-26 and have the Treasurer pay the bills as presented on the orders. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. Town Clerk/Treasurer updates: none at this meeting
C. Recreation Commission (RC) update: The RC would like to include other Grand Isle County teens for the Wednesday Volleyball games. The Consensus of the Board is that this is fine. Also, if the weather for a summer weekend seems bad, then a beach attendant can be postponed if Sue lets company know with 2 days notice. See https://southherovt.org/rec/ for more info.
D. Road Department update: None at this meeting
E. Lister Updates: None at this meeting
F. Wastewater (WW) update: The Lavin Property has closed. See https://southherovt.org/wastewater-committee/ for more info.
G. Town Hall Committee update: See https://southherovt.org/town-office-building-committee/
H. Tree Warden Update: There is a dead poplar tree west of the culvert at the beach. Several of the branches have been removed.
I. Anne Zolotas made a motion to go into executive session at 8:00 to discuss contract matters. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Executive session ended at 8:10 pm. Upon exiting the executive session, Steve Robinson made a motion that due to lack of specific required building guidelines in the previous RFP for the Town Garage, submitted bids were not sufficiently comparable and therefore could not be approved as submitted. A more detailed RFP will be issued shortly. We thank those who took the time and effort to submit bids. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
10. Adjournment:
-Anne Zolotas made a motion to adjourn at 8:15 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown, Secretary David Carter, Chairman
For a video of the meeting, see: www.lcatv.com