Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of May 22, 2017
South Hero Town Hall, Monday 7:00 PM
Board Members Present: Jonathan Shaw, Skip Brown (also Board Secretary), Anne Zolotas, George Rice, David Carter
Board Members Not Present: none
Others Present: Sharon Roy, Town Clerk. Also see sign in sheet.
1. Called to Order:
-The meeting was called to order by Chairman Shaw at 7:00 pm.
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
Add:
-Discuss Manure spreader repair in “New Business” and Stop sign at Tracy and Station Rds. Intersection in “Old Business”
3. Minutes:
– David Carter made a motion to accept the minutes of the meeting of May 8, 2017 as written. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Public input:
A. Gretchen Patterson noted that clapboards fell off of the Granny’s Attic building. Some Selectboard members have volunteered to re-attach them. Also, she will clear brush from around the building and asks that the Road Crew dispose of it, as in the past.
5. New Business:
A. David Carter made a motion to appoint Patrick Robinson as the new Fire Warden for a 5 year term ending on June 30, 2022, and to sign the State form. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Patrick will be available by cell phone to issue burn permits at 324-8161.
B. There will be a Highway Board DOT meeting in Montpelier on June 12, 2017 and the speed limit on Route 2 near the Community Health Center will be discussed. Some members of the Planning Commission will plan to attend.
C. The Vermont Dept. of Tourism is doing an ad campaign for the State featuring all 251 towns. They ask for a photo the represents the Town, with a signed release. The public is invited to submit a digital image that represents the Town, through the Town website, www.southherovt.org. The Board will select a photo to submit.
D. The consensus of the Board is to allow road crew employee, Eddie Wendel, to help repair the manure spreader owned by the Brownell family due to a personal medical hardship. This will be done in the Town Garage after hours, on his own time, and there will be no cost to the Town.
6. Administrative Assistant Report:
A. Martha was not at the meeting and a written report was submitted. A hard copy with discussion points can be seen in Town Hall filed with these minutes or on www.southherovt.org.
7. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. South Street reconstruction project from Landon to Martin Roads updates:
-Work began on April 25 at the Martin Rd. end. Note that the State is in charge of the project, and that the road was designed by a State hired engineering company and the Town hired a consulting engineer for their input. There is also an onsite project supervisor who needs to be notified if there are any irregularities, comments or changes. He will then consult with the State and others for a solution. The Town road crew is not involved.
-The rough surface on the unpaved portion and potholes on the old pavement was discussed. Jonathan will ask the project supervisor if the gravel can be smoothed out, and will ask our Road Crew if they can fill some of the worst potholes.
B. The Fire and Rescue emergency services building was discussed:
– An agreement between the Town and the users of the building will be drafted. George Rice will try to have a draft of a proposed agreement by next meeting.
C. A Request for Proposal (RFP) for an audit accounting firm for FY 2016/2017 will be necessary. VLCT has a template for a RFP. It may be prudent to request a full audit for FY 2016/2017 as well as an interim audit on selected items before Town Meeting 2018, due to the fact that there may be a new Town Clerk and or Treasurer.
A final draft will be reviewed at the next meeting.
D. There has been an ongoing discussion regarding a proposed street light for the parking area along South St. by the side entrance of Folsom. Martha submitted a report. To summarize, after inspection by VEC, 2 lights would be recommended. But, VEC feels that the lights will be an annoyance to the surrounding houses, as the lights cannot be on a timer and will be on all night. The Board recommends that the school board research this issue and decide on a solution. Note that the main parking lot is lit and it is a choice of where to park at night.
E. The intersection of Tracy and Station Roads is somewhat confusing, as it is not clear which road is the through road. A stop sign was removed from Station Rd. and added to the eastbound Tracy Rd. intersection with the input of the Road Commissioner. Now that is has been installed, the Road Crew feels that it would be better to reinstall the stop sign at eastbound Station Rd. and to keep the stop sign at Tracy Rd. David Carter made a motion to reinstall the stop sign at Station Rd. and to also install a “stop sign ahead” sign as a warning. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
8. Other Business:
A. Anne Zolotas made a motion to sign orders 17-24 and pay the bills associated with this order. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. Skip Brown made a motion to sign the Property Map Maintenance Agreement Update for 2016-2019 as presented by the Listers. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
C. Anne Zolotas made a motion to sign the contract between the Town and the Grand Isle County Sherriff. The motion was seconded, George Rice voted no, the others in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
D. Anne Zolotas made a motion to sign the “dog warrant” as presented by the Town Constable. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
E. Some adjustments to the Personnel Policy and Rules were discussed. A draft copy with the changes will be reviewed and possibly adopted at the next meeting.
F. David Carter made a motion to give permission for Joe Flynn to speak with the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife regarding the Roy March Trail license and to try to get it back to the 2012 version, which the State said they did not receive. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
G. Anne Zolotas made a motion to go into executive session for legal matters at 8:38 pm. Sharon Roy is asked to attend. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Executive session ended at 8:54 pm. No action was taken after executive session.
9. Adjournment:
-Anne Zolotas made a motion to adjourn 8:56 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown Jonathan Shaw, Chair
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TOWN OF SOUTH HERO
Administrative Officer’s Report to Selectboard May 22, 2017
Discussion Items:
1. Have received 2 letters of interest so far for Planning Commission. Deadline is the Selectboard’s June 12 meeting.
2. The proposed stump dump on Town-owned land off Landon Rd. will require no further reviews by the Development Review Board as the proposal requires no change of use.
3. Letter from Efficiency Vermont re: replacing streetlight fixtures with LED streetlights. Does Town wish to respond or take part?
4. Fifth Monday in July – DRB and Planning Commission to meet with Selectboard. NRPC would like to attend to explain to the Board the proposed updates to the Development Regulations. Public Hearings with both the Planning Commission and the Selectboard will be scheduled in the weeks to follow. The Planning Commission is hopeful that these meetings will be well attended.
Planning Commission: Continuing to meet with NRPC for Development Regulations updates. Met on May 17 with draft of Articles 1 through 4, and Definitions. The PC continues to encourage public participation in this process.
Development Review Board: 2 scheduled hearings on May 24; 2 on June 14; and 2 on June 28.
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May 22, 2017
Report to Selectboard regarding a light at the small parking area along the road on the south side of Folsom School:
I met with Bill Johnson of Vermont Electric Co-op on Tuesday, May 9th to discuss options for lighting the parking area to the south of the Library entrance and secondary school entrance of Folsom School. The sidewalk from the school door and across the front of the building heading north already has lighting. There are 2 Handicap parking spaces at the foot of the entrance sidewalk and 3 to 4 parking spaces next to those that are reserved for the Library. The remaining spaces to the south of these (estimated to total 8) are fronted by a 6-foot hedgerow that separates the parking from the school lawn. There are 2 homes directly across South St. which are set close to the road, and another just to the south on the same side of the street.
There is a telephone pole by the reserved Library parking and another at the south end of the area. VEC and Efficiency Vermont recommend 20 LED downward-directional street lights. [The closest examples of this application that are currently in use are the new street lights in Alburgh]. They would need to be placed on both poles and cannot be shielded or cast in any particular direction. Bill said they can install the lights for no additional cost beyond the monthly lighting bill to the Town ($12.88 per light). However, they are required to place them above any communication wires on the poles. This would result in light shining directly into the windows of the houses across the street due to their height. No lights installed by VEC can be used on a timer or an on/off switch, meaning they will be on every night, all night.
Another option that VEC could install would be a flood light like the one that is in the large parking lot to the north of the school. This light covers a greater amount of space and could be mounted on an existing pole between the 2 house across the street. This would, however, also be on all night and reflective light would be an all-night nuisance to those two homes, not to mention the indirect light that would shine onto the home and property just south of the school.
Options that would not involve VEC (and whose costs would include installation and materials in addition to the added monthly fee for power) would be to install lighting at the base of the bushes that would only light up the parking spaces themselves, and could be turned on/off from the building on the nights when they may be needed. Power would be available from the sidewalk light closest to the road from which to trench an underground line to the area. This would require an electrical contractor.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Taylor-Varney, SB Assistant and Zoning Administrator