Selectboard Minutes
Special Meeting of December 17, 2018
South Hero Town Hall, Monday 7:00 PM
Board Members Present: Jonathan Shaw, Skip Brown (also Board Secretary), David Carter, Sharon Roy, Anne Zolotas (Who had to leave at 7:10 for Rescue call and returned at 7:40)
Board Members Not Present: none
Others Present: Janet Yates, Town Clerk
1. Called to Order:
-The meeting was called to order by Chairman Shaw at 7:00 pm.
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
-none
3. Minutes:
-Anne Zolotas made a motion to accept the minutes of the meeting of December 10, 2018 as written. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Public input:
A. none
5. New Business:
A. Budget requests: none received at this meeting
B. The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is in the County and is 100% fatal to ash trees.
Anne Zolotas and David Carter attended a meeting regarding the EAB. Franklin/Grand Isle State Forester, Nancy Patch, was also at the meeting. It was suggested that a County wide committee to monitor and plan for the EAB and death of ash tree be formed. Anne and David have begun to inventory trees in the Town right of way. Individual landowners should inventory their own ash trees and determine a plan of action. Note that there is a chemical treatment to save any ash trees, and that landowners should contact a certified arborist who is knowledgeable about the treatments if they have specimen trees to save. More information will be shared as it becomes available.
6. Administrative Assistant Report:
A. A written report was submitted. A hard copy with discussion points can be seen in Town Hall filed with these minutes or on www.southherovt.org.
B. David Carter made a motion to appoint Doug Patterson and Gareth Hunt to 3 year terms on the Development Review Board (DRB). The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
C. David Carter made a motion to appoint Bob Krebs and Jim Brightwell to 1 year terms as alternates on the DRB. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
7. Old and Ongoing Business:
-none at this meeting
8. Announcements and Communications:
-Sharon Roy made a motion to approve the “Animal Control Intake Contract” with the Humane society and have the Chairman sign it. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
8. Other Business:
A. The General Town budget was worked on. The preliminary budget figure for South Hero portion of the County budget is $163,894.00. Final figures for the complete Town Budget will be reviewed at the next Selectboard meetings.
B. Petitions for Town Articles are due to the Town Clerk by January 17,, 2019.
-Petitions for open Town positions are due to the Town Clerk by January 28, 2019.
Any interested person may request a petition in Town Hall during regular business hours.
9. Adjournment:
-David Carter made a motion to adjourn 8:00 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown Jonathan Shaw, Chairman
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Administrative Officer’s Report to Selectboard December 17, 2018
Discussion Items:
1. There will be a Conditional Use and Site Plan review hearing with the DRB on January 9, 2019 for proposed development of an office for SeaComm Federal Credit Union on the recently-subdivided 2-acre lot directly west of Island Racing on US RT 2. The Town of South Hero owns abutting property and has been sent a warning for the hearing. Does the Selectboard want to send a representative to the hearing?
2. I will be sending in a warning to the paper for a road-naming public hearing to be held during the Selectboard’s January 21st meeting. The Town’s road ordinance requires a hearing for naming all new roads. The warning will include the proposed names for Lavin Lane and (hopefully) the proposed name for the road serving the health center/library/FD/Rescue/Wally’s. Once these names are official, new 911 addresses will be assigned.
3. I will not be taking the Certified Flood Manager’s exam in Montpelier on January 11 due to my workload. I’ve notified the coordinator and hope that there will be another opportunity in 2019 somewhere in New England or eastern New York State.
4. The terms for Alternates on the Development Review Board are 1 year so need to be re-appointed each year. Alternates Jim Brightwell and Bob Krebs have both requested to be re-appointed. An advertisement placed in the Islander for anyone interested in serving on the DRB, with a deadline of 12/17, got no responses. I am, therefore, enthusiastically supporting Doug Patterson’s and Gareth Hunt’s requests to be re-appointed to full 3-year terms by the Selectboard.
-Planning Commission: The next meeting will be January 2, 20 19. The commission members are currently discussing possible incentives for Planned Unit Developments rather than more conventional subdivision where there would be an emphasis on open space, possibly community septic systems rather than numerous individual systems, and more affordable housing. The Commission hopes to meet with representatives of local/state land trusts and developers to get their input.
-Development Review Board: One of the hearings scheduled for December 12 was rescheduled to January 23, 2019. There will be no 2nd meeting in December. The Board will resume its 2nd and 4th Wednesdays-a-month meetings in January. Hearings are already being scheduled into late February.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA and Asst. to the Selectboard