Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of Monday March 27, 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 (via Zoom) and Chuck Hulse
Board Members Not Present: none
Others Present: Kim Julow, Treasurer, Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA and Sue Arguin, Town Administrator. Also see sign in sheet of in person and Zoom attendees. *Attendance SB 2023-03-27-2023
1. Called to Order:
-The meeting was called to order by Chairman David Carter at 7:00 pm
2. Public Hearing:
-none
3. Adjustment to Agenda:
-Add to New Business discuss fire truck payment.
4. Minutes:
-Ross Brown made a motion to acknowledge the minutes of March 13, 2023. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried.
5. Public input:
A. none at this meeting
6. New Business:
A. Marlena Valenta of NRPC was present via Zoom to discuss the upcoming Municipal Energy Resilience Program (MERP). The Town can apply for grants to upgrade energy efficiency in Town buildings. See Attached *.MERPOutreachFlyer1 MERP Outreach Flyer 2
There is a webinar coming up in April and more info will follow.
B. David Roy from the PC was present to discuss the ARPA funds and possible allocations. The Selectboard will hold a public hearing with a projected date of May 1, 2023. The possible projects will be discussed at this public hearing. Note that projects have to be planned with money allocated by Dec. 31, 2024, and the funds have to be spent by Dec. 31, 2025.
C. The Town purchased the salt shed property in August of 2022. Approximately $1241.00 real estate taxes were due. Since the Town does not need to pay taxes to itself, no action needs to be taken.
D. Skip Brown made a motion to approve and have the Chairman sign the mobile vendor application for Folino’s Pizza food truck which will be sited at 466 Route 2, Keeler Bay Marina property. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
E. The final bill for the fire truck is due. The vendor has added an approximately $19,000.00 “chassis” surcharge. When the contract was signed, the price was locked in and all additions or changes must be in writing and agreed upon by both parties. This surcharge was not agreed upon. The consensus of the SHVFD and the Board is to pay the balance now of $162,517.13 which does not include the surcharge. See the letter from the SHVFD attached *.SHVFD March 27,2023 letter
7. Administrative Assistant Report:
A. See the written report filed with these minutes (Below on the website or in Town Hall).
8. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. The personnel policy signature page was discussed. Edits will be made and it will be discussed at a future meeting.
9. Announcements and Communications:
A. The Board received a brochure from the farmer’s market about being a sponsor. The request was received after the budget was voted on and will not act.
10. Other Business:
A. Chuck Hulse made a motion to approve and sign orders 23-20 and to pay the bills associated with the orders. The motions were seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motions carried.
B. Town Clerk/Treasurer updates: see above
C. Recreation Commission (RC) update: Dylan Degree presented a wish list for ARPA fund upgrades at the beach area. The RC got approximate prices for some upgrades, but it appears that much of the work can be done with Town Road dept. equipment. Ross Brown will meet with the Road foreman to go over the work envisioned. Also, the out of town beach parking pass lottery will begin on April 3. There will be 70 offered at $55.00 each. The in-town parking passes will be $5.00 each and up to 2 will be available per address.
D. Road Department update: The Road Dept. has begun site work on the salt shed property.
E. Old South Hero Meeting House (OSHMH) project: There will be an ad placed in the Islander for volunteers to apply for a committee to study the feasibility about moving the Town offices to the Old South Hero Meeting House property.
F. ARPA fund updates: see above
G. Wastewater (WW) update: Test pits will be dug in the spring to look at feasibility of small septic areas.
11. Adjournment:
-Chuck Hulse 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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Administrative Officer’s Report to Selectboard March 27, 2023
1. I am planning to begin monthly Zoning 101 meetings on Thursday, April 27 at
6PM, and continue o the last Thursday of each month until we’ve covered
everything. Each session will be about 1 hour and will include some sort of
snack or light dinner (pizza, etc.) These would be fact-based presentations with
no editorializing.
2. The Bayview Crossing Implementation grant Final Program Report was issued
on March 14,2023, successfully completing the VCDP grant.
3. Vermont League of Cities and Towns will be launching their Municipal Access
Portal on Thursday of this week. This will be for member Towns to access
resources and content and register for events (seminars, presentations, etc.),
among other features. Each user will need to have their own password.
4. Steve Hilfiker of VHB said that the anticipated report on next steps for the PFAS
investigation at the landfill will be available the middle of next week.
Planning Commission
2023 Town Plan discussion – The PC continues to finalize the draft Town Plan. Special
meetings were scheduled for March 23 and 29 to stay on track. The first public hearing
is tentatively scheduled for May 17. 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.
I attended a meeting last week with PC Chair Sandy Gregg and Greta Brunswick of
NRPC to discuss the next steps for the Sidewalk Scoping Study. VTrans’ process of
procuring a consultant requires a consultant selection committee. This committee will
include ZA Martha Taylor-Varney and new Town Admin Sue Arguin as municipal
representatives, Greta Bruswick of NRPC, and Sandy Gregg and Michele Gammal of
the Planning Commission. A list of pre-qualified consulting firms has been supplied by
VTrans and the selection committee will prepare an RFP for the highest ranking
consultant using a qualifications evaluation matrix. I will attach a flow chart of the
scoping project process with this report. This feasibility study will include RT 2 in South
Hero and Keeler Bay Villages and South St, from RT 2 to the school.
Development Review Board
The next DRB hearing is on April 12, and the continuation of a final site plan review of a
hearing that began on March 8 on April 26. The Town is an abutter to the applicant for
April 12 (Pan’s Pizza). Does the Selectboard want to send a representative to the
hearing?
Respectfully submitted, Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA and Asst. to the Selectboard.