Selectboard Minutes
Special Meeting of Monday December 18, 2024 at 4:00 PM
At South Hero Town Hall and via Zoom
Board Members Present: David Carter/Chairman, David Lane/Vice Chairman (arrived at 4:07), Skip Brown/Board Secretary(arrived at 4:18), Steve Robinson, Anne Zolotas
Board Members Not Present:
Others Present: Town Personnel: Sue Arguin/TA and Martha Taylor-Varney, Kim Julow, Treasurer. Also see sign in sheet of in person and Zoom attendees. *Attendance SB 2024-12-18-2024
1. Called to Order:
– The meeting was called to order by Chairman David Carter at 4:00 pm.
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
– None
3. Business:
A. The bond for the construction for a new Town Hall was discussed. The estimate for the construction is about $2,875,000.00. If the Town approves a 30 year bond for this amount, then the tax amount for a $500,000.00 house will be about $60.00-$65.00/year. Anne Zolotas made a motion to accept the estimate of $2,875,000.00 and prepare bond documents with that amount. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Please see the minutes from the Town Office Building Committee for more information.
B. Clay Point Assoc. has requested to do more testing for asbestos in the joint compound in the Town Hall Building. See attached *Clay Point Asbestos info. Anne Zolotas made a motion to approve an amount up to $2200.00 for testing of asbestos by Clay Point Assoc. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
C. Hayward 310 US Route 2, LLC is offering a donation of 1.88 acres for a future “Town Park” and has submitted a donation agreement document for this donation. See attached* Hayward Donation Agreement – Town of South Hero (Park) – 4913-7555-1492 3 with exhibits 12.10.24 rfs David Lane made a motion to approve and have the chairman sign the donation agreement between Hayward 310 US Route 2, LLC and the Town of South Hero. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
– Also regarding the Town Park: Buermann Engineering, LLC has submitted a “Proposal for Engineering Services” for the proposed Town Park. See attached *Engineering Proposal 20241212. Steve Robinson made a motion to approve and have the Chairman sign the contract with Buermann Engineering LLC for the proposed Town Park. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
D. The general Town budget and Road budgets were discussed. Note that the Board has agreed to reduce the paving amount by $200,000.00 in the proposed highway budget since the Road Department has carried a surplus and paving was not done in 2024. The final Town budgets will be done and approved by the January 13, 2025 Selectboard meeting.
-Note: The Board has not yet finalized any of the above amounts in the budget until the entire budget is finalized, and that the Town will vote for the budget on Town Meeting Day.
4. Adjournment:
-David Lane made a motion to adjourn at 5:06 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown, Secretary David Carter, Chairman
Zoom recording link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/9ee3najUDzDwMi3j1i7s51xzbhcpJ4HxxVXRUXU2ORWzUvgU7aymgyv3-bi1BTty.8nSAOw44s64FLUrK
Passcode: SB7uV@pL