Selectboard Minutes
Regular Meeting of Monday September 8, 2025 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 (arrived at 7:03), Anne Zolotas
Board Members Not Present: none
Others Present: Sue Arguin, TA. Also see sign in sheet. *Attendance SB 2025-09-08-2025
1. Called to Order:
– The meeting was called to order by Chairman David Carter at 7:00 pm.
2. Adjustment to Agenda:
– Add Executive session for legal matters
3. Minutes:
-David Lane made a motion to approve the minutes of August 25, 2025. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
4. Public input:
A. Sandy Gregg asked Greta Brunswick about the upcoming Brownfield informational meeting that is occurring on Thursday, Sept. 11. More info will be available after the meeting.
5. New Business:
A. Greta Brunswick of Northwest Regional Planning (NRPC) was present to discuss possible next steps about planning for the Lavin Property. The Town purchased the property for its wastewater potential, but there are almost 100 acres and some other uses may be planned. NRPC will assist with the process and suggested that the Town apply for a Municipal Planning Grant (MPG). The first step will be a meeting with the Planning Commission (PC) to develop a scope of work and possible budget. Then, a meeting with the Selectboard will occur to finalize the application parameters. Eventually there should be a steering committee formed with various Boards from the Town to examine the potential project. There will be community engagement and focus groups formed to define priorities. Keeping in mind that the main purpose of the property is for wastewater and the other uses should be sensitive to this. Peter Zamore of the Wastewater Committee stated that there is some grant funding leftover to begin the planning for a system, but that the final preliminary engineering report is still pending. The DEC has stated that if the Town sells off portions of the property, then any funds received should go to the wastewater project.
B. Greta Brunswick also discussed the Municipal resolution regarding the Vermont Statute, 10 VSA Section 6033 request for Tier 1B status for the purposed of Act 250 jurisdiction. See Attached *Municipal Tier 1B Opt In Memo_South Hero. This basically states that the Town can ask for Act 250 exemption in a mapped village area. Draft maps have been proposed and should be updated to include the Lavin Property. Anne Zolotas made a motion to approve and have the Chairman sign the Resolution. See Attatched *municipal resolution. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried.
C. There was no referral from the Old South Hero Meeting House committee because there were not enough bids received and the deadline has been extended.
-There was a pornographic Zoom “bomb” and the Zoom was shut down for short period. No people except the pornographer were on Zoom at the time so the meeting continued while it was shut down.
6. Town Administrator (TA) and Zoning Administrator (ZA) Reports:
A. No ZA report attached this week.
7. Old and Ongoing Business:
A. See above for NRPC updates re: ACT 181 mapping and Village Center designation.
8. Announcements and Communications:
A. none at this meeting
9. Other Business:
A. David Lane made a motion to sign the orders 26-05a and 26-06 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: none at this meeting
C. Recreation Commission (RC) update: See https://southherovt.org/rec/ for more info.
D. Road Department update: The remaining dirt roads that are scheduled to be paved are being prepared. Paving is anticipated in September, weather permitting. The fire truck will be consigned to a company called Garage.
E. Lister Updates: The Town wide re-appraisal process will begin soon and a letter will be sent to homeowners when inspections will begin in their area.
F. Lavin Property updates: There will be future long range planning of what the Town will do with this property in addition to the wastewater aspect. See above.
G. Town Hall Committee update: See https://southherovt.org/town-office-building-committee/
H. Tree Warden Update: None at this meeting
I. Steve Robinson made a motion to go into executive session for legal real estate matters at 8:08pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Steve Robinson made a motion to exit executive session at 8:28 pm. The motion was seconded, all in attendance so voted and the motion carried. Upon exiting executive session, the consensus of the Board is to hire an attorney and to forward questions and all pertinent documents and maps, including but not limited to: the Dubuque Lane right of way, the ZBA/DRB decisions, the easement over the Straight property and the deed for the former Town landfill. This is to get advice regarding the emails sent from Tracey Chagnon and the Town’s rights and obligations for this private road.
10. Adjournment:
-Skip Brown made a motion to adjourn at 8:32 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