Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of Monday February 13, 2023 at 7:00 PM
At South Hero Town Hall and via Zoom
Board Members Present: David Carter/Chairman, Ross Brown/Vice Chairman, Skip Brown/Board Secretary,
Anne Zolotas (via Zoom)
Board Members Not Present: Chuck Hulse
Others Present: Kim Julow, Treasurer, Naomi King, Town Clerk and Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA. Also see sign in sheet of in person and Zoom attendees. *Attendance SB 2023 02-13-2023
1. Called to Order:
-The meeting was called to order by Chairman David Carter at 7:00 pm
2. Public Hearing:
-Cindy Reid of Cathedral Square was present via Zoom to hold the final public hearing for the Vermont Community Development Program (VCDP) grant for the construction of Bayview Crossing senior housing. The total cost of the construction for the 30 apartments was about $10,700,000 and the VCDP grant total was $730,000. Currently all of the apartments are rented and there is a waiting list of 86. There is a mix of income ranges and about half of the tenants are, or were, previous Island residents. Cindy Reid thanks the Town and Martha Taylor-Varney for all of the support to see this project through completion. Any questions, please email Cindy at: [email protected].
3. Adjustment to Agenda:
-Add executive session for personnel matters at the end of the agenda
4. Minutes:
-Ross Brown made a motion to acknowledge the minutes of January 23, 2023 and January 30, 2023. The motion was seconded, all in attendance at the meeting so voted and the motion carried.
5. Public input:
A. none at this meeting
6. New Business:
A. Fred Bartle resigned from the Planning Commission (PC). Ross Brown made a motion to appoint Donald Bedard to the PC to complete the term of Fred Bartle. The motion was seconded, all in attendance at the meeting so voted and the motion carried. Donald Bedard was present via Zoom and thanked the Board for the appointment.
7. Administrative Assistant Report:
A. See the written report filed with these minutes (Below on the website or in Town Hall).
B. Chair of the PC, Sandy Gregg, explained the special PC meeting of February 7, 2023 to ratify the letter that she presented to the Selectboard on January 23, 2023. See the PC minutes of February 7, 2023 for an explanation.
8. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. none at this meeting
9. Announcements and Communications:
A. See other business
10. Other Business:
A. Ross Brown made a motion to approve and sign orders 23-16 &23-17 and to pay the bills associated with the orders. The motions were seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried.
B. Town Clerk/Treasurer updates: The ballots came in, so the absentee ballots will be sent out soon. The Town Report is due in soon and will be sent as soon as possible. The informational Town Meeting will be at Folsom Educational and Community Center on March 4th and the Australian ballot vote will be on March 7, 2023.
C. Recreation Commission (RC) update: none at this meeting.
D. Road Department update: Due to the warm weather, the Road Dept. will be monitoring the roads for posting.
E. Old South Hero Meeting House (OSHMH) project: There will be an advisory article be voted on at Town Meeting for a feasibility study about moving the Town offices to the Old South Hero Meeting House property.
F. ARPA fund updates: The Selectboard should plan on beginning public hearings after Town meeting about the use of the funds.
G. Wastewater (WW) update: Letters have gone out to see if test holes can be dug on certain properties to see if there are areas for small community septic capacity. WW chairman, Peter Zamore, will be at the next meeting to give an update.
H. Ross Brown made a motion to go into executive session for personnel matters at 7:50 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance at the meeting so voted and the motion carried. Executive session ended at 8:15 pm. Upon exiting executive session, David Carter made a motion to offer the position of Town Administrator to Sue Arguin at the salary as budgeted with the standard Town benefit package. The motion was seconded by Skip Brown. Ross Brown recused himself from voting. The others in attendance at the meeting so voted to and the motion carried.
11. Adjournment:
-Ross Brown made a motion to adjourn at 8:20 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown, Secretary David Carter, Chairman
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Administrative Officer’s Report to Selectboard February 13, 2023
- I received an email on February 8 from Stephen Hilfiker of VHB with results of the recent water supply well samples. The total PFAS concentrations in all 10 water supply well samples were below the Vermont Cumulative Maximum Containment Level. A report summarizing the next steps will be completed in March.
- There was an article in the St. Albans Messenger on Friday (2/10) about a proposed Park and Ride at Jasper Mine Rd. near Exit 17 on Interstate 89. This would be a designated stop for the Green Mountain Transit St. Albans link. Currently, there are no stops between Winooski and St. Albans. Nothing is finalized. The proposal is now before the Colchester Selectboard for additional discussions.
- I am currently attempting to renew the Town’s SAM.gov registration, with a deadline of Feb 28. The registration must be renewed annually for the Town to be eligible for Federal grants.
Planning Commission
2023 Town Plan discussion – NRPC will be attending the Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, February 15 to present additional content for the 2023 Town Plan. The Commission had a special meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7 in response to a complaint issued by Bob Fireovid regarding a violation to Open meeting law, related to a letter produced by the Commission regarding the proposed articles reducing the size of the 2 village zoning districts that will be on the ballot for the March 7 Town Meeting. Agendas for PC meetings now include time limits for discussion to allow for all agenda items to be presented. The workplan for the Town Plan is on a strict timeline to allow for enough time for review and edits to the document and required public hearings before the August 2023 deadline for adoption.
Development Review Board
The DRB had a short business meeting on February 8 to approve minutes and review their upcoming schedule. The Board last met on December 14, 2022. There will be no meeting on February 22nd, but the Board has a hearing scheduled for March 8.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA and Asst. to the Selectboard.