Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of Monday June 12, 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 and Chuck Hulse
Board Members Not Present: none
Other Staff Present: Sue Arguin, Town Administrator, Kim Julow, Treasurer, Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA Also see sign in sheet of in person and Zoom attendees. *Attendance SB 2023-06-12-2023
1. Called to Order:
-The meeting was called to order by Chairman David Carter at 7:00 pm
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
-Add: Discuss Scoping Study to Old Business
3. Minutes:
-Chuck Hulse made a motion to approve the minutes of May 22, 2023. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried.
4. Public input:
A. David Carter is pleased to announce that Sandy Gregg has been named the 2023 Vermont Citizen Planner of the Year. Congratulations Sandy!
B. Tim Maxham is glad to see that the roadsides have been mowed and that the tall growth is continuing to be mowed back away from the roads on some key places.
5. New Business:
A. Bridgett Kerr was present to advise the board that Sue Straight has resigned from the Conservation Commission and to nominate Cristin Lemieux Pullis to the Commission. Ross Brown made a motion to appoint Cristin Lemieum Pullis to the Conservation Commission. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried.
B. A Vermont AOT Small Scale Local Safety Grant Program was brought to the Board’s Attention. Ross and Sue will follow up and see if this something the Road Dept. should take part in applying for.
C. The newly formed Town Hall Feasibility study group ordered an engineering report on the current Town Hall building. Several deficiencies and problems were noted in this report. It is attached here and has now been uploaded to the Town Website. * Town Hall Building Inspection Report More info will follow.
D. Ross Brown made a motion to hire J&J Property Services as the mowing contractor for some Town properties in the FY 2023/2024 period. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried.
6. Town Administrator and ZA Reports:
A. See the written reports filed with these minutes (Below on the website or in Town Hall).
B. Ross Brown made a motion to approve and sign the letter of support for the Vermont Agency of Community Recovery and Revitalization grant application for the Wastewater Commission. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried.
C. Martha noted that the legislature has passed a bill that will become law on July 1, 2023 allowing duplexes wherever any single family home is allowed without conditional use and with the same zoning requirements/setbacks as single family homes.
D. Chuck Hulse made a motion to approve the mobile vendor license for the Sausage Shack food truck that will be at Snow Farm winery. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried.
7. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. Testing at the landfill will be ongoing. It will be studied if the testing can be done in the spring when the water table is high, as often the test wells are too dry in the fall.
B. There is approximately $442,600.00 left in the ARPA fund. Chuck Hulse made a motion to allocate funds as follows: -New Town Park infrastructure + Pavilion $135,000.00, -Salt Shed $150,000.00, -Old South Hero Meeting House $100,000.00,-White’s Beach improvements $15,500.00, -Weekend in the Islands $500.00, -Town Office Technology upgrades $3,400.00,-South Hero Recreation Park boardwalk improvements $12,000.00.00. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried. Note that approximately $$26,200.00 will still have to be allocated.
C. There will be 3 public hearings at the next Selectboard meeting for updating the White’s Beach Ordinance, Approve the draft of the Town Charter and Approve the Town Plan update.
D. The Town received a $50,000.00 grant for a sidewalk scoping study. It was assumed that the study would cost approximately this amount, but the first estimate came in at approximately $84,000.00. Some options to reduce the cost are to either ask the consultant to trim the amount, to reduce the size/scope of the project or to hire a different consulting company. More info will follow on these options so that the Town can decide what to do.
8. Announcements and Communications:
A. Jonathan Shaw has resigned as a Lister. An ad will be placed to try to find another person to fill the position.
9. Other Business:
A. Skip Brown made a motion to approve and sign orders 23-25 and to pay the bills associated with the orders. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried.
B. Town Clerk/Treasurer updates: Chuck Hulse made a motion to approve and initial the updated Personnel Policy. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried. Ross Brown made a motion to approve and initial the Mileage Reimbursement Policy. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried.
C. Recreation Commission (RC) update: Phil Scott asked how to submit bill for projects using ARPA funds. They have to presented directly to the Town and the Treasurer will pay them directly. Do not pay them with personal funds and ask for a reimbursement.
D. Road Department update: Paving is now scheduled for July.
E. Old South Hero Meeting House (OSHMH) project: see above
F. ARPA fund updates: see above
G. Wastewater (WW) update: see above
H. Skip Brown made a motion to go into executive session for personnel matters at 9:00 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried. Executive session ended at 9:02 pm. Upon exiting session, Chuck Hulse made a motion to pay the salary increases in FY 2023/2024 as budgeted. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried.
10. Adjournment:
-Chuck Hulse made a motion to adjourn at 9:04 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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June 10, 2023 ZA’s report to the SB
1. On May 30 th I attended a virtual seminar on determining Substantial
Damage/Substantial Improvement after a flood event. There was a recommendation
that a Town should have a written policy for determining substantial damage – (current
market value of structure only)
– Tax assessed value (no older than 2 years);
– Hiring an appraiser ahead of time for properties within the flood plain; homeowner
supplies an appraisal from a licensed professional appraiser. Need to be recent (1 to
2 years).
– Zoning administrator will make the determination (not in my lifetime…).
2. Planning Commission members Sandy Gregg and Dave Roy’s terms will be up at the end
of the month. Both members have requested reappointment to the Commission for
another 3-year term.
3. I have registered for the VLCT Spring Planning and Zoning Forum. It will be held via
Zoom on 2 different dates – Wednesday, June 14 from 9:30 to noon and Thursday, June
22 from 9:30 t o noon. The June 14 session will cover recent housing legislation and
review the legal roles and responsibilities of the Planning Commission; the June 22
session will focus on zoning, including regulating short-term rentals and the roles and
responsibilities of the DRB. Members of the Planning Commission and DRB can ‘attend’
these sessions at the Town Office. I can put the sessions onto the screen in the
boardroom if any PC or DRB members want to attend.
4. There is 1 Mobile Vendor License for the Board to sign this evening, for Folino’s at 464
US RT 2.
5. The Selectboard public meeting for the proposed 2023 Town Plan is scheduled for the
SB meeting on June 26.
6. The DRB is not holding its second Wednesday-of-the-month meeting this month
because of a lack of quorum due to the Folsom graduation.
Respectfully submitted,
Marta Taylor-Varney, ZATown Administrator Report
Town Administrator Report.
1. Mary Harwood and I attended the Village Meet Up in Strafford last Tuesday, June 6 th for the day.
The people in attendance were folks from rural local governments that shared some of their
experiences and ideas on what they do in their towns. It was a great display of different models
for economic and community development for towns much like South Hero. A great day!
2. I’ve been working with Andy Julow from Lake Champlain Islands Economic Development to
submit the CRRP Grant that would help with the Wastewater Grant. There are items that I’m
gathering to give to Andy so he can complete the application and one is the letter of
recommendation from the selectboard that needs to be voted on and signed.
3. Next Tuesday, June 20 th is a meeting that I’m hosting in hopes of introducing myself as the Town
Administrator and to also have all the committees, boards and/or commissions in one room to
talk about how we can come together as a group.
4. The Landfill update is to continue to test the site either in the fall or spring months. We are
going to suggest that testing in the Spring may be better due to the standing water that is there
rather than the fall when things have already dried up.