Reorganizational + Regular Selectboard Meeting
Minutes of Meeting of March 13, 2023
South Hero Town Hall and via Zoom, Monday 7:00 PM
Board Present via Zoom and in person (after swearing in): David Carter, Ross Brown, Anne Zolotas, Charles “Chuck” Hulse (arrived at 7:07), and Graham “Skip” Brown
Board Not present: none
Others Present: Naomi, Town Clerk, and Martha Taylor-Varney, Administrative Assistant. Also, see sign in sheet of in person and Zoom attendees. *Attendance SB 2023-03-13-2023
1. Called to Order: The meeting was called to order by Naomi King at 7:00 PM.
2. Board Reorganization and appointments:
A. The meeting was opened by the Town Clerk, Naomi King, for reorganization. Graham “Skip” Brown and David Carter were sworn in by Naomi King.
B. Naomi King asked for nominations for the Chairperson of the Selectboard. Ross Brown made a motion to nominate David Carter as Chairman of the Selectboard. The motion for David Carter as Chairman was seconded. The nominee did not vote, the others voted for the nominee and the motion carried. The meeting was then turned over to David Carter.
C. David Carter made a motion to appoint Skip Brown as clerk to the Selectboard. The nominee did not vote, the others voted for the nominee and the motion carried.
D. David Carter made a motion to appoint Ross Brown as Vice Chairman to the Selectboard. The motion was seconded. The nominee did not vote, the others voted for the nominee and the motion carried.
E. David Carter made a motion that the regular Selectboard meetings will be at 7:00 pm at Town Hall and via Zoom on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, unless otherwise noted. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
F. Ross Brown made a motion that postings of agendas and other official posting locations will be the Town Hall, the Post office, The Worthen Library and the Town website. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
G. Ross Brown made a motion that The Islander would be the paper of record for legal notices. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
H. Appointments:
– Ross Brown made a motion to appoint David Carter as Animal Control Officer. The nominee did not vote, the others voted for the nominee and the motion carried.
-Ross Brown made a motion to re-appoint Anne Zolotas as Tree Warden. The nominee did not vote, the others voted for the nominee and the motion carried.
-Ross Brown made a motion to re-appoint John Roy as Road Commissioner. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
I. -Skip Brown made a motion to appoint David Carter Emergency Management Officer. The nominee did not vote, the others voted for the nominee and the motion carried.
J. David Carter made a motion to approve and sign the FY2023/2024 Selectboard Rules of Procedure. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Adjustment to the Agenda:
-Add: to New Business, Appoint Lister and to Other Business, Executive session for personnel matters.
Minutes:
-Chuck Hulse a motion to accept the minutes of meetings of February 27, 2023 and March 4, 2023 as written. The motion was seconded, the others in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
5. Public input:
A. Devin Hackett of Hackett’s Orchard was present to ask if the parking lot at Folsom Educational and Community Center could be used during the annual Easter Egg hunt. Anne Zolotas made a motion for the use of the parking lot at Folsom from about 9:30 to 11:30 on April 8, 2023. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. Joan Falcao received and read part of a letter from a Nancy Tracy who was distressed that she could not see all speakers at the informational Town Meeting while on Zoom. This was the first time that Town Meeting has happened in the gym at Folsom since the pandemic, and the video did not aim at each speaker. It was felt that the audio was more important than the video for the Zoom attendees. Note that this meeting is not run by the Selectboard. If there is such a meeting next year, then perhaps other methods could be used to have clearer videos, but it will be discussed closer to the time of that meeting with the people involved in setting it up.
6. New Business:
A. David Carter made a motion to re-appoint Jonathan Shaw as delinquent tax collector. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. Ross Brown made a motion to allow the Road Commissioner and/or Road Foreman to sign road permits and postings. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
D. Anne Zolotas made a motion to appoint Jonathan Shaw a Lister for 1 year until the next Town Meeting vote. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. He or another person may then run to complete the 3 year term.
7. Administrative Assistant Report:
A. Martha presented a written report. See the written report available in Town Hall or on the Town website for all of discussion points.
B. Skip Brown made a motion to approve and sign a letter to the office of Senator Peter Welsh for a Congressionally Directed Spending Request to help finance preservation of the Old South Hero Meeting House as discussed and edited. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
8. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. The discussion of the updated personnel policy is tabled for this meeting.
B. Anne Zolotas mentioned that there is about $6000.00 remaining in the ash tree removal fund. It was decided to keep this money on hand for now in case trees need to come down in the next fiscal year.
9. Other Business and announcements:
A. Chuck Hulse made a motion to sign orders #23-19. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. David Carter the following liquor license applications:
-Snow Farm Vineyard and Winery, 1st Class license.
– Snow Farm Vineyard and Winery, 3rd Class license.
-Snow Farm Vineyard and Winery, Outside Consumption license.
The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
C. Town Clerk/Treasurer update: Things are status quo, so no update
D. Recreation Commission update: There is a meeting next week. Anne Zolotas will run the July 4 Parade and will hope for help from anyone.
E. Road Dept. update: Site work on the salt shed area will commence.
F. Old South Hero Meeting House: Estimates for stabilization of the existing structure should be available soon. Now that the article for feasibility of moving the Town offices has passed, an ad for a study committee will be discussed at a future meeting.
G. ARPA funds update: It is hoped to set up a meeting in the near future with David Roy and set up public hearings.
H. Wastewater update: none at this meeting
I. Ross Brown made a motion to go into executive session for personnel matters at 7:57. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Executive session ended at 8:12 pm. Upon exiting executive session, Skip Brown made a motion to offer health insurance to new hire Sue Arguin from the commencement of her employment. The motion was seconded, Ross Brown did not vote, the others in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
10. Adjournment:
-Skip Brown made a motion to adjourn at 8:15 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown David Carter, Chair
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Administrative Officer’s Report to Selectboard March 13, 2023
- I Have still been unable to renew the Town’s SAM.gov registration. The deadline was Friday, February 24. The website has been down for several days. The registration must be renewed annually for the Town to be eligible for Federal grants.
- I received a 45-day Notice for the solar facility proposed for Lavin property by Encore Renewable Energy. This notice is in advance of Encore filing a petition for public good to the Vermont Public Utility Commission. I’m a bit confused because the letter is dated September 1, 2022. I responded to the email to say that a subdivision amendment will be needed before development can begin. This 45-day notice was dated September 22, 2022.
- Applications are open for Municipal Energy Resilience Grants. Community Capacity Building Mini-Grants of up to $4000 for improvements to municipal buildings to reduce energy costs while decreasing greenhouse emissions. These are first come, first serve. I believe the best source for further information here, and if South Hero qualifies, would be Northwest Regional Planning.
- I have a letter for the Select board to review to Senator Peter Welch asking for support for a Congressionally Directed Spending Request to help finance the historic preservation of the Old Meeting House. Sandy Gregg will have more information on this.
- I would like to propose offering a series of Zoning discussions –Zoning 101, as it were – for members of the community who may be interested in better understanding the ins and outs of zoning here in South Hero. I’m thinking perhaps monthly meetings that would be in-person but also available over Zoom, that will start with the basics and move on through all aspects of the zoning process. The meetings could be here in the Town Office boardroom on, I’m thinking, the last Thursday of each month. These would be fact-based presentations with no editorializing. Would the Selectboard support this?
Planning Commission
2023 Town Plan discussion – NRPC will be attending the Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, March 15 to present their last drafts chapters for the 2023 Town Plan. The Commission also proposes 2 additional special meetings on March 22 and 29 to give Commission members an opportunity to proofread the document and make any additional edits. 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.
The final contracts have been signed with NRPC and VTrans to begin preliminary work on the Sidewalk Scoping Study. The study is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2023.
Development Review Board
The DRB will has 2 hearings on March 22, one hearing on April 12, and the continuation of a final site plan review of a hearing that began on March 8 on April 26. The Board’s schedule is getting to be busy again after an extended vacation.
Respectfully submitted, Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA and Asst. to the Selectboard.