Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of Monday January 22, 2024 at 7:00 PM
At South Hero Town Hall and via Zoom
Board Members Present: David Carter/Chairman, Skip Brown/Board Secretary, Ross Brown/Vice Chairman, Anne Zolotas and Chuck Hulse
Board Members Not Present: none
Other Staff Present: Sue Arguin, Town Administrator, Naomi King Town Clerk, Martha Taylor-Varney ZA and Kim Julow, Treasurer. Also see sign in sheet of in person and Zoom attendees. *Attendance SB 2024-01-22-2024
1. Called to Order:
– The meeting was called to order by Chairman Carter at 7:01 pm.
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
-Re: Add Mark Naud of Conservation Commission to New Business and an Executive session to Other Business
3. Minutes:
-Chuck Hulse a motion to approve the minutes of January 8 and January 15, 2023. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Public input:
A. David Carter testified before the State Ways and Means Committee about the Town Charter. The Committee voted to approve it, so hopefully the legislature will finalize it and the Town will be able to begin to collect the local option tax that was voted for in 2022.
5. New Business:
A. Ken Kowalewitz of the Worthen Library was present to discuss the solar panel project for the building. A $57,000.00 grant was awarded and $57,000.00 match was raised by donations. Green Mountain Solar will be the contractor. As of now, 34,000 KWH will supply most of the electricity usage for the library. But to generate that much power, the number of panels required to do that will not fit on the building. The Worthen Library is looking into placing some panels on the nearby buildings. More info will follow about this aspect. Ross Brown made a motion to allow panel placement on the Worthen Library, which is owned by the Town. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. Guy Maguire of SHLT was present to discuss a proposed trail public access agreement between landowners Steve and Kelly Robinson, Isle of Patmos Lodge #17 and Alice Wells, The Town of South Hero and South Hero Land Trust as presented at the January 8 Selectboard meeting. Ross Brown made a motion to approve the public access agreement and have the Chairman sign the document. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
C. Peter Zamore of the Wastewater Committee was present to update the Board on the project. Test pits were dug at 4 sites and the only viable area found was at Allenholm Farm. A 60% preliminary engineering report will be finished soon, and public comment will be welcomed before another meeting with the Selectboard. To date, grant funding of approximately $2.1 million has been awarded should a system be approved. Note, that since Allenholm Farm is conserved by VT Land Trust and SHLT, a public infrastructure system easement will still have to be obtained. More info will follow on this matter.
-Ross Brown made a motion to allow the committee to apply for grants from the Northern Border Regional Commission/USDA Rural Development. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
-Ross Brown also made a motion to allow the Committee to sign a contract with Lake Champlain Island Economic Development Corp. (LCIEDC) with an amount not exceed $1500.00. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
-Also, the consensus of the Board is to have the Town pay an $805.00 invoice to LCIEDC.
D. Mark Naud of the Conservation Commission was present to ask for budgeting for a Town natural resource inventory in conjunction with SHLT and for a Kestrel study in South Hero. The consensus of the Board is to have $2750.00 budgeted for the Conservation Commission.
E. There was a general budget and Town articles discussion with Treasurer, Kim Julow. Several line items were discussed and finalized in on the worksheets. Ross Brown made a motion to approve and sign the Official Warning for the Annual Town Meeting of South Hero to be held on March 5, 2024. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. See Attached * Articles to vote 2024 Note that an informational meeting will be held on March 2, 2024.
6. Town Administrator and ZA Reports:
A. See the written reports from the ZA filed with these minutes (Below on the website or in Town Hall).
B. The Town was notified that it was awarded a MERP grant. The dollar amount of the grant has not been disclosed.
7. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. see below
8. Announcements and Communications:
A. none at this meeting.
9. Other Business:
A. Chuck Hulse made a motion to approve and sign the orders 24-15 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: See above.
C. Recreation Commission (RC) update: See above.
D. Road Department update: The highway budget was discussed.
E. Old South Hero Meeting House (OSHMH) project: none at this meeting.
G. Wastewater (WW) update: See above
H. Town Hall Feasibility study committee: Has been disbanded.
I. Anne Zolotas made a motion to go into executive session for real estate matters at 8:30 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Executive session ended at 8:43 pm. Upon exiting executive session, no action was taken.
10. Adjournment:
-Skip Brown made a motion to adjourn at 8:45 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown, Secretary David Carter, Chairman
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January 22, 2024 ZA’s report to the SB
1. Rebecca Pfeiffer, State Floodplain Manager and VT NFIP Coordinator with the VT Agency
of Natural Resources will be a guest speaker at the February 29 Zoning 101 class. Due to
record water levels on Lake Champlain for this time of the year, there has been a lot of
concern about possible flooding this spring. Since I suspect that there may be a lot of
interest, I have tentatively reserved the use of the downstairs room at the South Hero
Congregational Church on South St. to guarantee enough room for attendees and
parking.
2. Related to this, I recently received an email copy of a “public interest statement” issued
by the National Weather Service, dated August 1, 2023, announcing that on Oct. 16,
2023 announcing changes in flood category elevations. High lake levels will now occur
at slightly lower levels than in the past. Minor Flood Levels, which used to be
considered at 100 ft. are now 99.5 ft.; Moderate Flood Level has been reduced from 101
to 100.5 ft.; and Major Flood Level has been reduced from 101.5 to 101 ft. I need to
find out if this will affect the base flood level of 102 ft. in the Town’s development
regulations’ Article 9 (Flood Hazard Area). Updated FEMA Flood maps for this area were
supposed to be available for review a year ago. The maps currently being used were
produced in 1976.
Planning Commission
The Planning Commission’s recent meetings agendas have included discussions on further
dividing the 2 village districts into Village Core and Village Neighborhood districts. These
discussions are a result of public concern about the current village districts related to lot sizes
and setbacks. The agendas are posted in the Town Office, Post Office, and Library, in addition
to being on the Town website. Since these discussions began, there has been no public input
and nearly no public attendance at these meetings. At their January 17 meeting, the Planning
Commission decided to table the issue until there is public input.
Development Review Board
– The next meeting, on the 24 th , will be a short business meeting followed by a deliberation for
the hearing held on the 10 th . There will be no meeting on February 14. The Pest Pro site plan
amendment is scheduled for February 28.
-The proposed mini golf at Lot 2 on the Lavin parcel was approved in May 2023, but the
applicants decided not to move forward with the project. The project has been purchased by a
new owner who intends to keep the project scope the same with a few changes to the course
features and the ‘clubhouse’ design. This will require an amendment to the original conditional
use and site plan approvals. No date has yet been set for that.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA