Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of Monday November 25, 2024 at 7:00 PM
At South Hero Town Hall and via Zoom
Board Members Present: David Carter/Chairman, Skip Brown/Board Secretary, (Steve Robinson and Anne Zolotas via ZOOM)
Board Members Not Present: David Lane/Vice Chairman
Others Present: Town Personnel: Naomi King, Town Clerk, Sue Arguin/TA and Kim Julow, Treasurer. Also see sign in sheet of in person and Zoom attendees. *Attendance SB 2024-11-25-2024
1. Called to Order:
– The meeting was called to order by Chairman David Carter at 7:00 pm.
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
-none
3. Minutes:
-Anne Zolotas made a motion to approve the minutes of November 11, 2024. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Public input:
A. Chairman Carter described the dedication of the newly built Salt/Sand shed at the Town Highway Dept. property today. The building is dedicated to Road Commission John Roy. He also wants to acknowledge Tim Maxham’s 71st birthday today.
B. David Roy and Michele Gammal of the Planning Commission (PC) stated that the PC is in favor of the Town acquiring land and designing a possible community septic project with the grant money obtained. The costs of designing a system will be separate and cannot be determined until the land is obtained and the designs are done by an engineer.
5. New Business:
A. John Beaulac of the Road Dept. presented the budget for the Town Highway Dept. The total is not yet calculated due to variables of the payroll taxes and insurance expenses.
B. Andy Julow of the LCIEDC was present to discuss the final report of the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative, aka VOREC, grant. See attached * 241024 SHORE Report FinalDraft[50] The gist of the attachment is that there will be a designated bicycle route with new signage and kiosks routing bike ferry cyclists around a circuit in South Hero. Signs and map kiosks will hopefully clear up confusion and lost cyclists, help to minimize two way bike traffic on South St. and help the flow past key businesses in the Town.
C. Ken Kowalewitz and Liz Wirsing of the Worthen Library presented the budget of $165,960.00 of which $125, 960.00 are to be raised by taxes.
D. Mark Naud and Bob Fireovid of the Conservation Commission (CC) presented a budget request in the amount of $1500.00. The CC will continue to pursue grants for specific projects. Since the budget will be set with a certain amount, any grant money will need to be accounted for. More info will follow when a process is set up to hold such funds.
E. Naomi King and Kim Julow discussed budget amounts for the Town Hall building and other line items in the budget.
– The Recreation Commission was scheduled to present a budget tonight, but will be on the December 9 agenda instead.
-Note that the amounts listed above are asks from various organizations. The Selectboard has not yet included any of the above amounts in the budget until the entire budget is finalized, and that the Town will vote for the budget on Town Meeting Day.
6. Town Administrator and ZA Reports:
A. See the written reports posted with these minutes.
7. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. none at this meeting
8. Announcements and Communications:
A. David Carter made a motion to approve and sign the annual contract from Brookfield Service for the Town generators. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
9. Other Business:
A. Skip Brown made a motion to approve and sign the orders 25-11 and to pay the bills associated with the orders. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. Town Clerk/Treasurer updates: See above.
C. Recreation Commission (RC) update: See above
D. Road Department update: See above
E. Old South Hero Meeting House (OSHMH) project: No new updates.
F. Lister Updates: Reappraisals will begin soon
G. Wastewater (WW) update: See below
H. Town Hall Committee update: The building committee has a meeting on November 26, 2024.
I. Tree Warden Update: The Town has signed a contract for work to be done at the beach, but it has not happened yet.
J. Anne Zolotas made a motion to go into executive session to discuss a real estate matter at 8:15 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Kim Julow, Jeff Sikora, Peter Zamore and Nate Hayward were asked to join the executive session. Executive session ended at 8:40 pm. After the executive session, Anne Zolotas made a motion to approve and sign a purchase and sale agreement for the Town to purchase the remaining lots 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the “Lavin Property” on Route 2 using grant money awarded to the Town due to the work of the Wastewater Committee. There are several parameters in the contract including: stipulating that a minimum of 5,000 gallons of septic must be available, the land must appraise for a least $750,000.00 and that there are time restrictions noted. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Note that the cost for the property and design of a community septic would be entirely funded with grants that have already been awarded to the Town due to the hard work of the Wastewater Committee. See https://southherovt.org/wastewater-committee/ for more info.
-The Board would like to thank Ray C. Allen for all of the support and dedication to the Wastewater Committee’s efforts when it was thought that a possible wastewater site was found on the Allenholm property.
10. Adjournment:
-Skip Brown made a motion to adjourn at 8:46 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown, Secretary David Carter, Chairman