Present:

Daniel Boyer
C. Peter Cole
Henry C Cobb
Norman John Arrison
Patricia Daniels

Others Present:

Larry Melen, Town Manager
Wes Hazeltine, Road Superintendent
Chief Brown
Timothy Watkins
Rachel Frank, Budget Advisory
Rolly Cann, Budget Advisory

1. Call to Order:
Mr. Cobb called the joint Select Board/Budget Advisory meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday January 18, 2007 at Martin Memorial Hall.

Mr. Melen said there were two additions to the agenda.

Planning Commission Alternate: Mr. Boyer made the motion to appoint Julie Levy an alternate to the Planning Commission. Mr. Arrison seconded the motion, which passed without dissent.

Old Bow Road: Mr. Melen explained Mr. Timothy Watkins would like to maintain Old Bow Road from Mr. Newton’s driveway to his residence, this is currently a Class IV road. Mr. Watkins said he has purchased the last lot on Old Bow Road and would like to maintain the portion of the road to his house that is not maintained by the Town. He will plow, sand, york rake and do shovel ditch work as needed.

Mr. Cobb said he is concerned about emergency vehicles being able to travel that portion of the road and to turn around down there. Mr. Watkins said the last 100’ of the road is a mud pit due to four wheeler traffic but he wants to be sure emergency vehicles can travel to his house too as he has children.

Mr. Cole asked if any more lots would be using this part of the road. Mr. Melen said two more lots are there. Mr. Cole asked if we could discontinue the last part of the road. Mr. Melen said if that is done then everyone that abuts the road can have assess as a private right-of-way.

Mr. Boyer made the motion to let Mr. Watkins maintain the Class IV portion of Old Bow Road to his residence. Mr. Arrison seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Watkins to have the Fire Chief look at the area and be sure they can get down there and turn around.

2. Review Minutes from Previous Meeting (s):
None to be reviewed

3. Treasurer’s Warrants:
Mr. Arrison made the motion to approve the Treasurer warrants as follows:
General Fund Operating Expense $13,249.64
General Fund Payroll $ 8,590.13
Highway Fund Operating Expense $15,358.59
Highway Fund Payroll $12,150.71
Solid Waste Management Fund Operating Expense $ 1,682.23
Solid Waste Management Fund Payroll $ 8,362.74
Grants $ 14.34

Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion. Mr. Cobb asked what the State Line Truck Service invoice for $634.21 was for. Mr. Hazeltine explained it was for a few different items, a hand valve for air brakes, valves for heater on new truck, mirror for 1999 truck, door assembly, instrument panels etc. . Motion carried 5 – 0.

4. Budget Workshop:
Mr. Melen said this is another revision tonight and it is down another penny.

Mrs. Frank said she looked and COLA is at 3.3% tonight.

Solid Waste Management Fund: Mr. Arrison made the motion to approve the Solid Waste Budget at $246,614.00. Mr. Boyer seconded the motion, which passed without dissent.

Highway Fund: Mr. Melen noted with the change from last week and the transfer of the grant funds right now the Highway Fund is .003 less than last year.

Mr. Melen said the Grand List is down, after discussion Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Melen to challenge this with the Listers because the new grand list should be higher. After reworking the Grand List number the overall increase is 3.82%. Consensus of the Board was to use the 2006 Grand List for this years budget purpose.
It was noted the Land Use budget is up 33%, Mrs. Frank said benefits for Mrs. Bearse is an increase of $11,000.

Mr. Cann asked what would happen to taxes after the reappraisal. Mr. Melen said 25% will increase, 25% will decrease and 50% will not change.

Mr. Melen said as of now the Highway shows a 1.3% increase, the Solid Waste shows a 1.24% increase and the General Fund shows an increase of 8.2%. Mr. Melen noted the bond payment for the new fire truck is in the General Fund increase and that is about a 2% increase itself.

Mr. Cobb noted the Listers were under budget in 2006 and not even at ½ of their budget for this year yet. Mr. Boyer made the motion to leave the number of Listers hours as the current year; Mr. Cole seconded the motion. Mr. Melen said that would have Lister #1 working 24 hours, Lister #2 working 13 hours and Lister #3 working 8 hours.

Mr. Arrison noted there was an article in the Vermont Standard that West Windsor Listers and Select Board had a discussion about hours during their reappraisal and two major reasons were given. One is that the Appraisers used sub contractors and the second reason is the Lister’s did not work with them close enough. Mr. Melen said it is in our contract that a sub contractor will only be used with prior authorization. Mr. Cobb asked if the Appraisers were responsible for hearing grievances. Mr. Melen said they do the first round and the Listers are involved after that but that will not be until 2008. Motion carried unanimously.

Mr. Arrison made the motion to fund the Assistant Town Treasurer position at ten hours per week; Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion. Mr. Cobb asked what impact on the budget this motion would have; Mr. Melen said ¼%. Motion carried unanimously.

Mr. Boyer said all Fire Commission members he talked to agreed to decrease the pathogen prevention to $1,000. And, he said they would like the $3,000 that is in the fund no one is sure where it came from to be put into the fund for non-motorized equipment and gear.

The consensus of the Board was to increase the Center Grove maintenance by $200.

Mrs. Daniels confirmed that Mr. Melen would talk to Mrs. Bearse about looking at the fee schedule and increasing as needed to make up the difference in revenue. Mr. Melen said he will and she will come to the Board at the end of May with a revision so it will be effective in the new fiscal year.

Mr. Melen said there would be an article added to the Warning to move funds from the sale of Highway Equipment surplus equipment to Highway Equipment Reserve Fund.

Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Boyer to have Chief Stapleton submit a revised budget showing the estimated revenue information.

Mrs. Daniels asked to add the mobile home in the Bow to the next agenda along with the Fire District letter. It was also decided to start the formalized procedure for no parking signs to be put up by the Thomas residence.

Mr. Cole made the motion to adjourn. Mr. Arrison seconded the motion, which passed without dissent. The Weathersfield Select Board was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Lisa Sargent

Approve by the Weathersfield Select Board on January 25, 2007

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Henry C. Cobb

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Norman John Arrison

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Daniel Boyer

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Patricia Daniels