Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of Monday January 13, 2024 at 7:00 PM
At South Hero Town Hall and via Zoom
Board Members Present: David Carter/Chairman, David Lane/Vice Chairman Skip Brown/Board Secretary, Steve Robinson, Anne Zolotas
Board Members Not Present: none
Others Present: Town Personnel: Naomi King/Town Clerk Sue Arguin/TA and Martha Taylor-Varney/ZA (via Zoom). Also see sign in sheet of in person and Zoom attendees. *Attendance SB 2025-01-13-2025
1. Called to Order:
– The meeting was called to order by Chairman David Carter at 7:00 pm.
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
– none
3. Minutes:
-Steve Robinson made a motion to approve the minutes of December 9 and December 16, 2024. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Public input:
A. Newly elected State Senator Pat Brennan was scheduled, but did not attend the meeting.
5. New Business:
A. The general Town budget was discussed. Since the 1970’s, the Town has had a line in the budget to transfer money to Folsom Educational and Community Center. The building is used as a Town facility that can be used by the community and it is also an emergency center for the Town. Now that the State school funding formula has changed drastically over the years, the Town now collects approximately $10,000,000.00 for educational funding. The Town uses approximately $4,900,000.00 for the education of the South Hero students and approximately $5,100,000.00 is sent to the State that they distribute to other schools. This means that for every dollar used from the Town budget rather than in the school budget, the taxpayers will save a dollar that is not sent to State. The school has several capital projects that need to be done, such as furnace updates, a new sidewalk, the bus turnaround pavement and more. The Board has decided to increase a line in the Town budget line 10-7-15-81”Other Town Buildings” to $24,311.00, which will help to fund the rebuilding of the sidewalk in front of the building.
-David Lane made a motion to accept the Town Budget with the “Other Town Buildings” line increased to $24,311.00. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
-David Lane made a motion to accept the Highway budget as presented. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. The articles for the Town warning were discussed. There was a discussion about keeping or eliminating the 3% discount if the full real estate taxes are paid by September 30, 2025. Note that the auditors hired by the Town do not recommend this practice. Also, the due dates for the taxes of September 30 and January 30 are not enforced by any interest penalty as most other Towns’ do. The auditors hired by the Town recommend a 1% interest payment for late payments. See Attached * Article 8& 7(1)These articles will be discussed further and the Board will approve the Official Warning before the due date.
C. The Selectboard will be adding a written page update report to the Town Report.
D. The State of Vermont Dept. of Taxes has sent the Town the 2024 Equalization Study Results document. This State calculation will affect the CLA and how the educational taxes are figured. See Attached *equalization study results
E. The State has raised the cost of dog licenses by $2.00. Steve Robinson made a motion to increase the total cost of the dog licenses that the Town charges by $2.00. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
F. The Town Republican committee submitted a document asking for appointment of Republican Representatives to the town Board of Civil Authority (BCA) for the purpose of BCA election duties. See Attached *RepublicanBCAappointees updated Anne Zolotas made a motion to appoint Ethelyn Dubuque, Jill Lowery and Robert Melcher to the Town BCA for election duties. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
6. Town Administrator and ZA Reports:
A. See the written reports posted with these minutes.
7. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. none at this meeting
8. Announcements and Communications:
A. A possible special meeting may be held to finalize the Warning for Town Meeting.
9. Other Business:
A. David Lane made a motion to approve and sign the orders 25-12A, 25-13, 25-14 and 25-15 and to pay the bills associated with the orders. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. Town Clerk/Treasurer updates: The Town Report will be sent to the printer next week.
C. Recreation Commission (RC) update: none
D. Road Department update: Steve Robinson made a motion to increase John Beaulac’s vacation time by 1 week. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
E. Old South Hero Meeting House (OSHMH) project: Fundraising is ongoing. See the minutes of the committee for more info.
F. Lister Updates: Reappraisals will begin soon
G. Wastewater (WW) update: There will be updates at a public information meeting on January 16, 2025 at 6:00 pm at the Worthen Library.
H. Town Hall Committee update: The plans for a new Town Hall have been finalized enough to an extent where an estimate of the cost has been made. Additionally, the former McGregors Pharmacy building was looked into as a possible Town Hall last year, but it was not for sale. Recently the owner lost his long term tenant and approached the Town about buying the building. It is +/- 25 years old and is not set up for a new Town Hall, but the committee feels that due diligence is necessary to explore the possibility of its use as a Town Hall.
-Anne Zolotas made a motion to spend up to $5,000.00 for an Existing Conditions Survey and Scope of Work, a Construction budget estimate and a Budget Comparison Chart to the building and the former proposal. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
-Skip Brown made a motion to approve an amount up to $900.00 for a mailer outlining the Town Building Committee’s updates about a new Town Hall. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
I. Tree Warden Update: The Town has signed a contract for work to be done at the beach and the work is scheduled for later this month.
10. Adjournment:
-Steve Robinson made a motion to adjourn at 8:40 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown, Secretary David Carter, Chairman
January 13, 2025 ZA’s report to the SB
1. I received an email from Elijah Schumacher regarding John Beaulac’s request t use the
quarry on RT 2, near Town Line Rd.) as a stump dump. The previous State wetlands
specialist had classified the quarry as Class 2 and would not allow it. However, while
meeting with VT Wetlands back in June about the Martin Rd. after-the-fact permit, John
asked them to visit the site again for another evaluation. I was notified in mid-December
that they had agreed to re-classify the quarry as Class 3, allowing a stump dump to be
put there. This decision is nearly through the required 30-day public comment period
and am hopeful that we will receive a final designation soon.
2. The Agency of Natural Resources’ Environmental Notice Board noted on November 19
that the Town’s after-the-fact permit application for the widening of Martin Rd. to create
more parking at the bike trail was missing some data.is in review. I spoke with Fitzgerald
Engineering and received confirmation that the additional information has been
submitted to the State and the application is deemed complete. I am waiting for
confirmation of the review process and an estimate of when the permit will be issued.
3. NRPC will be updating their Housing Dashboard for 2025 and have requested
information on permits for housing issued in 2024. The dashboard was created last year
and initial dates requested were for permits issued from 2020 to 2023. The deadline for
the 2024 information is February 28.
4. David Carter signed the quit claim deed re 41 Lake Dr. (Gordon Stewart) approved by
the Selectboard on August 26, 2024. This removes all claims that the Town may have a
small parcel of land at the corner of Lake Dr. and Martin Rd. for which the surveyor could
not identify ownership. This was a condition of approval by the DRB, of a boundary
adjustment/setback waiver application that they were reviewing at a summer 2024
hearing.
5. I received an application and boundary plat today for the boundary adjustment between
the Town’s Meeting House property (RT318), the red fire station building (RT310), and
the 1.88- acre lot being donated to the Town for a Town Park. The application was
approved today and the approval will become effective on January 28, 2025.
Planning Commission
The Planning Commission has not met since Dec. 18. Their next meeting is this Wednesday
(1/15). Discussion and research on a combined walking/bike path along South St., from RT 2 to
the school continues, in addition to wastewater options regarding the Lavin property.
Northwest Regional Planning has announced that applications for Municipal Planning Grants
are now open.
Development Review Board
The DRB finalized 2 setback waivers at their January 8 meeting. There are no hearings on the
schedule at this time. The Board will not meet until any hearings are scheduled. This is a
typically slow time for the DRB. I anticipate the hearing schedule will pick up again by late
February.