Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of Monday September 14, 2026 at 7:00 PM
At South Hero Town Hall and via Zoom
Board Members Present: David Carter: Chairman, David Lane: Vice-Chairman, Skip Brown: Board Secretary, Steve Robinson, Anne Zolotas
Board Members Not Present: none
Other Town personnel + public present: Sue Arguin, TA, + Public: Matt Reed, Peter Zamore and Joan Falcao
1. Called to Order:
– The meeting was called to order by David Carter at 7:00 pm.
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
– Add resolution for easement for Meeting House to ongoing business
3. Minutes:
-Steve Robinson made a motion to approve the minutes of August 24, 2026. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Public input:
A. none
5. New Business:
A. Matt Reed of AES was present to discuss the new Town Hall updates. In the contract there is an allowance for a graphic to go on the back wall behind the Town clerk. Matt showed some examples of possible ideas. After viewing the options, the consensus of the Board is to not do a graphic and instead install a picture rail for rotating art and separate lettering “Town of South Hero”.
B. Peter Zamore of the Wastewater Committee discussed updates for the project:
-David Lane made a motion to approve and have the Chairman sign the Standard Grant Amendment as presented by the Vermont Dept. of Environmental Conservation/Agency of Natural Resources. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
-The engineers, Weston and Sampson would like the Town mounds adjacent to each other to increase capacity. Right now, the other lots owned by the future mini-golf and CIDER are shown between the town owned lots with specified mounds. The possibility of swapping mounds will be looked into.
– This is an excerpt from the Wastewater minutes of August 31:
“Because a substantial aspect of the project design involves the collection system, the
committee discussed the need to obtain information concerning the location, type and needs of
potential wastewater system users. One significant factor is whether the wastewater project
service area should be limited to the Lavin property, or also serve the existing homes and
businesses in the Route 2/village area. Peter reviewed the significantly increased cost of serving
the village, due to the need to work around the existing utility infrastructure and to drill under
Route 2, as described in the Otter Creek report. He also described the additional revenues from
Lavin parcel development due to land sales and property tax revenues. Further, he discussed the
fact that some portion of Route 2 properties may not want wastewater service, since an early
wastewater committee survey indicated that over half of the respondents indicated that their
existing systems were adequate. Finally, he referred to the recent Lavin vision project
workshop, where there was widespread support for development on the Lavin project, in addition
to green space, recreation/community facilities and trails. As a result, the committee decided to
recommend that the selectboard decide that the project should prioritize service to the Lavin
parcel.” See the complete minutes on the Town website.
The Board will consider this at a future meeting.
C. Anne Zolotas made a motion to accept the Errors and Omission as presented by the Listers for Span # 603-189-11484 (Skyland camper that changed) and Span # 603-189-10915 (South Street where subdivision had changed lot size). The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
D. Budgeting for 2027-2028 will begin soon.
6. Town Administrator (TA) and Zoning Administrator (ZA) Reports:
A. No ZA report filed with these minutes
B. VHB has asked to continue the testing of the landfill for fall of 2026 and spring of 2027. More information will be at a future meeting.
7. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. David Lane made a motion to resolve that South Hero accept the easement for the Old White South Hero Meeting house as presented by the Vermont Housing Conservation Board and the Preservation Trust of Vermont. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
8. Announcements and Communications:
A. Note that due to the transition between the old and new Town Halls, the October 26 and November 9 Selectboard meetings will be held in the Worthen Library. Other boards and commissions will also have alternate locations, so make note and plan for where they will be held.
B. The voting for the mid-term elections on November 3 will be at the Congregational Church of South Hero on South St.
9. Other Business:
A. Steve Robinson made a motion to sign the orders 27-06, 27A-06 and have the Treasurer pay the bills as presented on the orders. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. Town Clerk/Treasurer updates: Hero Haulers was hired to clean out the 2nd floor of the Town Hall and it was completed. Hero Haulers will be hired to move and install the vault shelving when ready to move.
C. Recreation Commission (RC) update: https://southherovt.org/rec/ for more info.
D. Road Department update:
-David Carter made a motion to hire Rubber Ducky cleaning to wash the Town Garage east and south exterior and soffits at a cost of $985.00. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
E. Lister Updates: Appraisals are ongoing
F. Old South Hero Meeting House (OSHMH) update: See above plus: The building has been moved back to the original location.
G. Lavin Property update: The public outreach meeting went well. Most of the attendees at the vison workshop would like to see housing, recreation, trails and commercial development on lot 1. The Committee will summarize and discuss the information with some ideas of locations of each idea at their next meeting. Another public vision workshop meeting will be sometime in the fall.
H. Town Hall Committee update: See above plus: https://southherovt.org/town-office-building-committee/
I. Tree Warden Update: none
J. New Town Park updates: The parking area that has been staked out will be started soon now that the Meeting House has been put back on the foundation and is out of the way.
K. Liquor License/Mobil vendor applications: Anne Zolotas made a motion approve the liquor and tobacco license application for Stewarts Shop. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
10. Adjournment:
-Steve Robinson made a motion to adjourn at 8:40 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown, Secretary David Carter, Chairman
For a video of the meeting, see: www.lcatv.com