Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of September 23, 2019
South Hero Town Hall, Monday 7:00 PM
Board Members Present: Jonathan Shaw, Skip Brown (also Board Secretary), Anne Zolotas, David Carter, Sharon Roy
Board Members Not Present: none
Others Present: Janet Yates, Town Clerk. Also see sign in sheet.
1. Called to Order:
-The meeting was called by Chairman Shaw at 7:00 pm
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
– Add: Paving contract info and Conflict of Interest Model Policy
3. Minutes:
-David Carter made a motion to accept the minutes of both meetings of September 9, 2019 as written. The motion was seconded, Sharon Roy abstained, the others in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Public input:
A. David Hobbs asked about the fog lines on South Street from Landon Rd. to Route 2. The Road crew is aware, but the line painters are busy. Hopefully this painting as well as the new painting on Tracy Rd, will be done this fall. If not it will be done in the spring
B. Tim Maxham wants to remind the residents that the public hearing for the new Zoning Regulations will be held on Wednesday, October 2. The venue will be either Town Hall or the Library and will be confirmed soon.
5. New Business:
A. Dan Batsie, Chief of EMS Dept. of Health was present to discuss the challenges about emergency services in general. Some takeaways are listed here, but the full discussion lasted about 45 minutes and can be seen on www.lcatv.org.
-Towns are not required to provide emergency services in Vermont, but ethically, most Towns do provide it.
-Most Towns including South Hero rely on volunteers, and there are generally not enough to cover all shifts.
-Per surveys in other states, most volunteers leave due to dissatisfaction with leaders.
-Training is burdensome and studies show that most volunteers last only about 4 years.
-Current Ski Patrol members may take the EMR exam.
-The Town is under the auspices of District 3. South Hero, Grand Isle and Milton rescue squads are working with Distrcit 3 to make Milton Rescue the 2nd on call if South Hero cannot respond. This will relieve some pressure on Grand Isle Rescue, who is currently the 2nd on call squad.
-SHVFD had a first response squad. They help with initial care of an injured person until an ambulance is available, but are not charged with transport.
-The Selectboard has the authority over SHR and SHVFD and can apply to District 3 for 1st Response should the need arise.
-There will be an Executive leadership class on Oct. 28 at the Hilton in Burlington.
B. The lease agreement between the Town and the Island Craft Shop will be up in April. They would like to renew, so another agreement will be discussed at a future meeting.
6. Administrative Assistant Report:
A. See the report on www.southherovt.org or filed with these minutes.
B. David Carter made a motion to have VHB+The Johnson Company continue with testing the landfill. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
C. A Road Crew member has turned in his resignation. An ad for a new member will be placed in several places.
7. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. The Grand Isle County Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) working group has received a grant for public education of the pest. An informational meeting will be held in each Town of the County. More info on a date for the South Hero meeting will be discussed at a future meeting. Also regarding EAB:
B. David Carter made a motion to approve and sign the agreement between the Town and the Worthen Library. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
C. David Carter made a motion to allow the Road Foreman, John Beaulac, discretion on which paving contractor to hire to pave a section of Station Rd. from the new culvert to Lakeview Rd. in a timely manner. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
8. Announcements and Communications:
A. See other business
9. Other Business:
A. Anne Zolotas made a motion to sign orders 20-06 and to pay the bills associated with the orders. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
B. VLCT has a new model Conflict of Interest policy. It will be reviewed and discussed at the next meeting.
10. Adjournment:
-David Carter made a motion to adjourn 8:19pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
Respectfully submitted, Approved by,
_______________________________ ________________________________
Graham Brown Jonathan Shaw, Chairman
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Administrative Officer’s Report to Selectboard September 23, 2019
Discussion Items:
1. The landfill post-closure certification application has been submitted by Joel Behrsing of VHB. Applications deadline is end of the month. Primary contact will be the Town Clerk, and the secondary contact will be the Zoning Adminisrator. The last time the landfill was certified was 2014, so I assume this is an every-5-years requirement.
2. I received a letter from Joel Behrsing today asking if the Town would like VHB to conduct the annual sampling of the landfill wells in October. He said they could also complete the sampling of the Hoar well at 145 US RT 2 as part of the earlier sampling of wells for PFOA’s.
3. The Sign Ordinance became effective on Saturday, September 21st.
4. Northwest Regional Planning Commission is preparing an application for a 2020 Municipal Planning Grant for the Town of South Hero, to pay for a feasibility study for water and/or wastewater infrastructure for South Hero. The application has been uploaded onto the GEARS website and is ready for Jonathan to submit. The deadline for submissions is October 1, 2019.
5. An ad for a new member of the Town Road Crew has been approved by John Beaulac. With the Board’s permission, I will place it in the Islander, the VLCT on-line classifieds, and the St. Albans Messenger (this will also include weekly papers in Milton, Essex, and Colchester).
6. As a reminder, the Zoning Administrator’s annual evaluation needs to be conducted in September each year.
-Planning Commission: The Planning Commission is scheduling their public hearing for the final draft of the updated Development Regulations for Wednesday, Oct 2, 2019 at 7PM. Should this hearing not result in substantial changes to the document, a Selectboard public hearing can be scheduled.
-Development Review Board:
– The hearings scheduled this Wednesday (9/25) are a final plat a 2-lot subdivision on Whipple Rd., and a continuation of a conditional use and site plan review for Keeler Bay Campground and Marina. The August 28th Conditional Use and Site Plan review for RL Vallee to build a Maplefields at McKee’s was recessed to November 13. The DRB is currently booked through the end of November.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Taylor-Varney, Zoning Administrator and Assistant to the Selectboard