Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of May 28, 2018
South Hero Town Hall, Monday 7:00 PM
Board Members Present: Jonathan Shaw, Skip Brown (also Board Secretary), David Carter, Sharon Roy, Anne Zolotas
Board Members Not Present:
Others Present:
1. Called to Order:
-The meeting was called to order by Chairman Shaw at 7:00 pm.
-There was a moment of silence in honor of Memorial Day
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
-none
3. Minutes:
-David Carter made a motion to accept the minutes of the meeting of May 15, 2018 as written. The motion was seconded, Jonathan and Anne abstained, the others in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Public input:
– none
5. New Business:
A. Skip Brown made a motion to go into executive session at 7:03 to discuss a personnel matter. Sharon Roy was asked to recuse herself from this executive session. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Executive session ended at 7:17. Upon exiting executive session Anne Zolotas made a motion to hire Austin Menard at the rate of $17.00/hour with a 60 day probation period. The motion was seconded, Sharon Roy abstained, the others in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. Anne Zolotas made a motion to go into another executive session to discuss personnel matters. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Executive session ended at 7:30. Upon exiting executive session, the consensus of the Board was that John Beaulac will prepare an employee review letter.
C. David Carter made a motion to approve and sign the engagement letter from Sullivan & Powers, PC for the interim audit. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
D. David Carter made a motion to approve and sign the Grand Isle Sheriff contract for the upcoming 2018/2019 fiscal year at the amount budgeted of $127,088.00. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
6. Administrative Assistant Report:
A. 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. The Emergency Services Building (ESB) construction is underway and will hopefully be complete in Mid-June. The closing should take place soon after. The joint agreement between the Town and the SHVFD/Rescue will be discussed, and hopefully signed, at the June 11 meeting.
B. The parking area around the (soon to be) former red fire station was discussed. There was a discussion whether to make this a municipal parking area. More info will follow.
8. Announcements and Communications:
A. The SHVFD asked if they can continue to use the space under the Granny’s Attic floor for storage while they move to the new building. Also, the 4th of July SHVFD chicken barbeque will still be held at the current site.
9. Other Business:
A. David Carter made a motion to sign orders 18-24 and pay the bills associated with this order. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. David Carter made a motion to go into executive session to discuss a legal matter at 8:25 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Executive session ended at 8:35 pm. Upon exiting executive session, David Carter made a motion to allow attorney Charles Merriman to make an offer to settle the Evslin property tax appeal. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
10. Adjournment:
-Anne Zolotas made a motion to adjourn 8:36 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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Administrative Officer’s Report to Selectboard May 28, 2018,
Discussion Items:
1. I attended the VLCT Spring Planning and Zoning Forum held in Rutland on May 23rd. Excellent information on the Vermont Energy Building Standards; procedures of the Vermont Superior Court, Environmental Division (E-Court) and how appeals to the Court are handled; and how the Vermont Clean Water Act applies to the Municipal Roads General Permit; and ZA strategies for enforcing the Town’s land use regulations.
2. Update on 5 Railroad St. – I have been in touch with Vincent Chiorgno of the State Salvage Yard Division of the Dept. of Conservation regarding the State’s order to remove junk cars from his property on Railroad St. Some cars have been removed but, as of May 24, there were still a truck (with attached plow), 2 boats, and an old backhoe still on the premises, in addition to a lot of additional junk (old appliances, building materials, etc.) that is not covered by the Salvage Yard Division of the DEC. Furthermore, a lot on Lake St. (that appears to also be owned by Mr. Poquette) has 2 junk cars and an old Winnebago on it. My concern is that Mr. Poquette intends to reduce the number of unregistered vehicles on his properties to only the maximum allowed by the State (3). Mr. Chiorgno said that the rest of the junk on the parcel(s), or any others in town, are not under the State’s jurisdiction. Since the Town has no junk ordinance, there is no further recourse to continue the clean-up of these properties.
3. I met with the Vermont E911 Trainer on May 22 to go over the responsibilities of the Town 911 Coordinator. It was an excellent meeting and I will be working on the Town’s Annual Review and updating the map for the June 1st deadline.
-Planning Commission: The Selectboard is scheduled to meet with the Planning Commission and the DRB on June 4th for discussion on several issues related to the Development Regulations updates. This will be warned as a Planning Commission Special meeting. The PC will not hold a meeting later that week on its regular 1st Wednesday of the month.
-Development Review Board: No hearings were conducted on May 23rd. There are 2 hearings scheduled for June 13 and 1 hearing (so far) scheduled for June 27th.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA and Asst. to the Selectboard