Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of Monday July 14, 2025 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: Sue Arguin, Kim Julow, Martha Taylor-Varney (via Zoom) + see sign in sheet. *Attendance SB 2025-07-14-2025
1. Called to Order:
– The meeting was called to order by Chairman David Carter at 7:00 pm.
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
– Remove Executive Session for personnel matters. David Lane requested an Executive Session for legal matters.
3. Minutes:
-Steve Robinson made a motion to approve the minutes of June 23, 2025 as amended. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Public input:
A. none
5. New Business:
A. Treasurer Kim Julow presented the 2025/2026 real estate tax rate. See attached * Tax Rate FY 2025-2026 Note that the State sets the school portion without control of the Town. Skip Brown made a motion to accept the 2025/2026 residential tax rate at $2.6958 and the non-residential tax rate at $2.6467. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. There has been discussion about the 1% Local Option Tax (LOT) money that the Town has begun to receive. The voters approved the LOT $ for Town owned building maintenance and for recreation expenses. Now that money is available, the needs should be budgeted during the Selectboard budget planning, which usually occurs in the fall months.
C. The RFP for the improvements to the Town Garage was re-done. See attached *rfp highway. It will be posted and sealed bids are requested for July 28, 2025.
D. Now that the former Lavin Property is owned by the Town, the open fields should be mowed. Anne Zolotas and Steve Robinson will develop and RFP to locate a contractor to mow it.
E. The Town received a letter from Todd Chagnon re: Dubuque Lane. See attatched * Chagnon Letter 2025-6-7-2025 Tracy Chagnon came to the meeting and discussed with the Board that this is private road. There are 6 houses on the road and the Town has a right of way at the end to the former landfill property, so the Town is a 1/7th member of the ad hoc road association. It is unclear where or when, as the letter states, “when a vehicle will show up and drive through our backyard”. The Town does not encourage use of the road or condone parking on private property and suggests that the owners notify the Grand Isle County Sheriff if this occurs. Mrs. Chagnon stated that she will come to the next meeting to discuss this matter further.
6. Town Administrator and ZA Reports:
A. See the ZA report attached *7-14-25
B. Anne Zolotas made a motion to waive the $180.00 zoning application fee for the proposed new town park property. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
C. Martha also reminded the Board that the new Town office project will have to go before the DRB for approvals. It was suggested that the Town Office Building committee be involved in this process.
-Regarding the former Lavin Property, easements already exist and that they need to be considered when future plans occur.
7. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. There are no updates re: ACT 181 mapping and Village Center designation.
8. Announcements and Communications:
A. Anne Zolotas made a motion to approve and sign the mobile vendor license for AR Designs and Carvings. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
9. Other Business:
A. Steve Robinson made a motion to sign the orders 26-01& 26-02 and have the Treasurer pay the bills as presented on the orders. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. Town Clerk/Treasurer updates: none at this meeting
C. Recreation Commission (RC) update: See https://southherovt.org/rec/ for more info.
D. Road Department update: None at this meeting
E. Lister Updates: The Town wide re-appraisal process will begin soon
F. Wastewater (WW) update: The Lavin Property has closed. See https://southherovt.org/wastewater-committee/ for more info. Chairman Carter suggested that this heading be changed to the Lavin Property updates, as there will be future long range planning of what the Town will do with this property in addition to the wastewater aspect.
G. Town Hall Committee update: See https://southherovt.org/town-office-building-committee/
H. Tree Warden Update: None at this meeting
I. David Lane made a motion to go into executive session at 8:40 to discuss legal matters. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Executive session ended at 8:58 pm. Upon exiting the executive session no action by the Board was taken.
10. Adjournment:
-Anne Zolotas made a motion to adjourn at 9:00 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown, Secretary David Carter, Chairman
For a video of the meeting, see: www.lcatv.com