Present: Daniel Boyer
Henry C. Cobb
C. Peter Cole
Norman John Arrison
Patricia Daniels
Others Present: Larry Melen, Town Manager
Lisa Sargent, Recording Secretary
Edith Stillson
Roland Whitney
Nathalie Whitney
Julia Lloyd Wright, Eagle Times
Deb Ostrum, SAPA TV
Tony Daniels
Peter Daniels
Darrin Spaulding, Fire Chief
Ray Stapleton
Steve Aikenhead
Peter Korbet
Wes Hazeltine, Road Foreman
Betty Adams
DeForest Bearse, Zoning Administrator
Steve Mongeon
Susan Boyer
Clive Morris
Rhona Morris
1. Call to order: Mr. Melen called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Cobb made the motion to go into executive session for personnel; Mr. Boyer seconded the motion. After review, Mr. Melen advised it did not meet the conditions for an executive session. Mr. Cobb withdrew his motion; Mr. Boyer withdrew the second.
2. Election of Chairperson: Mrs. Daniels nominated Henry C. Cobb as Board Chairperson, Mr. Arrison seconded the nomination. Mr. Cobb nominated C. Peter Cole as Board Chairperson; Mr. Boyer seconded the nomination. Mr. Melen called the vote, three voted in favor of Mr. Cobb, two voted in favor of Mr. Cole. Mr. Cobb is Chair.
3. Election of Vice-Chairperson: Mr. Cole nominated John Arrison as Vice-Chairperson, Mrs. Daniels seconded the nomination. Nomination passed 5 – 0, Mr. Arrison is Vice-Chairperson.
4. Election of Board Clerk: Mr. Arrison nominated Patricia Daniels as Board Clerk, Mr. Cole seconded the nomination. Nomination passed 5 – 0, Mrs. Daniels is Board Clerk.
5. Appointment of Recording Secretary: Mr. Arrison made the motion to appoint Lisa A. Sargent Select Board Recording Secretary. Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion, which passed without dissent.
6. 7:30 p.m. Public Hearing (Not 7:30 p.m. yet so will skip ahead)
Comments from Citizens: Chief Spaulding said the Ascutney Volunteer Fire Department voted in favor of purchasing a cargo trailer to hold equipment. It will be 7’ X 14’ and will have dual axles, electric brakes, two folding doors off the back and one off the side. It will have to be ordered and should be available in seven weeks. Mr. Cole said it would be registered and would need insurance. Mr. Melen said the practice is the Town covers all rolling stock. Mr. Korbet asked what it would be pulled with. Chief Spaulding said it could be pulled with a ¾ ton truck so the Forestry or Rescue Truck would pull it. Mr. Cobb asked where it would be parked, Chief Spaulding said in between Engine 2 and Forestry. Mr. Arrison thanked Chief Spaulding for keeping the Select Board in the loop. Ms. Lloyd Wright asked if it would have decals on it and Chief Spaulding said yes. The consensus of the Board is the Town will provide insurance for this trailer.
Mr. Korbet said he watched the Town meeting on SAPA and questioned if it was a 1000-gallon concrete septic tank under the driveway by the Library. Mr. Melen said he is not sure the function of the tank but yes, there is a tank. Mr. Melen said that shortly after the driveway was paved it was dug up so the tank was pumped. Mr. Korbet said a reasonable solution for pumping would be to install a manhole. Mr. Korbet asked if the water lines would create a conflict with the new proposed septic plan for the Library. Mr. Melen said an engineer would be hired and would be aware of the water lines.
Mr. Hazeltine said he met with Mr. Read regarding the extended warranty for the new fire truck and he would have the information to the Board members before the next meeting for their review.
Mr. Hazeltine said the grader is at Southworth for the noise in the pump and is looking to get it back next week.
Mr. Korbet asked who was on the water/sewer study committee. Mr. Cobb gave names of members participating and explained that the committee meets once a month on the third Thursday of the month at 6:00 p.m. at Martin Memorial Hall. He said they are currently exploring options and the public is welcomed to participate.
7. Designate regular meeting dates, times and location: Mr. Arrison made them motion to meet the first and third Thursdays at Martin Memorial Hall at 7:00 p.m. unless other scheduled elsewhere. Mr. Boyer seconded the motion, which passed without dissent.
8. Designate newspaper of record for the Town: Mr. Melen said he asked Mrs. Bearse to get information on area papers. Mrs. Bearse said that the Eagle and Message are the cheapest. She said a daily paper is better in her opinion because of timing, she said it is sometimes hard to meet the timing deadlines (for posting and publishing) because the Message is published weekly. Mr. Arrison made the motion to designate the Claremont Eagle Times the newspaper of record for the Town of Weathersfield; Mr. Cole seconded the motion. Mrs. Daniels said she would like to look at the size of ads used, she said sometimes the ads appear to be larger than they need to be. Mr. Korbet said he is in favor the Message because it is delivered to homes and is readily available at convenient stops in the area plus it is free. Motion carried 5- 0.
10. Request the Town Office to sell raffle tickets for the Veteran’s Memorial Committee: Mr. Cobb explained the Veteran’s Memorial Committee is doing a raffle for a leather purse and asked to have tickets available for purchase at the Town Office. Mr. Melen said he checked with the League and it is ok for raffle tickets to be sold as long as the committee doing the raffle is non-profit. Mr. Boyer asked how long the raffle would be, Mr. Cobb said a few months. Mr. Cole expressed reservation because it could open the door for other people looking to sell tickets in the future. Mr. Arrison made the motion to approve the request for the Town to sell raffle tickets for the Veterans Memorial Committee at the Town office; Mrs. Daniels seconded the motion. Motion failed 0 – 4.
6. Public Hearing (continued from 25 February 2006): Mr. Cobb opened the Public Hearing. Mr. Melen said there was testimony on both sides at the previous meeting.
Mr. Mongeon said he has three maps that are showing the road was discontinued. Mrs. Morris said she had an email from Mike Tuttle, VTrans Hydraulics Engineer that states the sole purpose of the culverts under the interstate are to allow the passage of storm water runoff, streams, brooks and their associated sediments.
Mr. Melen said in book 52, page 241 of the Weathersfield Town Land Records it shows a D over the road but the map does not have a legend. He asked Johnathan Croft from VTrans Mapping about the symbol and he replied in writing that a D indicates a discontinued road and this has been consistent with Vermont mapping all along.
Mrs. Adams said she has a petition with 48 signatures (of 50 people asked) to present to the Town to keep this road as a trail. She read the wording of the petition and then gave it to the Board. She said she feels the Town should keep this as a trail for recreational use.
Mr. Peter Daniels said he is here tonight representing Neil Daniels Inc and they do not wish to have this as a trail as it is possible there could be a liability issue on their property that is at the other side of the culvert on Roberts Road.
Mr. Arrison made the motion to affirm discontinuance of Town Highway 46 from point of Girdlock Road east; Mr. Cole seconded the motion.
Mr. Mongeon noted Town Highway 48 goes up to the Center not Town Highway 46. Mr. Melen said Town Highway 46 met with Roberts Road; it originally showed as a Class 4 road that goes into the Bow.
Mr. Korbet commented on his experience with discontinued roads and referred to State Statutes. He said he walked the road today and the culvert doesn’t lie in the roadway, it lies in the brook off to the side and there is no way to determine the culvert was part of the roadway. Mr. Korbet showed the Board several maps from past years and said that relying just on a map is not justifiable.
Mr. Tony Daniels said the Board should focus on the facts and consider continuing with this road as trail status, people can walk down there and back.
Mr. Mongeon said he did make an attempt to find Select Board minutes that talked about this back in the 60’s and could not find them. There was discussion that some records are missing and have not been located since the move from Perkinsville others are downstairs and were not looked at for this.
Mr. Arrison withdrew his motion and made a new motion to discontinue Town Highway 46 from Girdlot Road east to the Interstate, Mr. Cole seconded the motion.
Mrs. Daniels said she hopes the Town is prepared to pay for deeding property properly as there are a lot of deeds out there not correct at this time. Mr. Melen said if the Bill that is up now passes we will have until the year 2012 to prove every road we have, this will cost us money.
Mr. Peter Daniels said five miles of old Route 5 was recently discontinued and we should give the Morris’ the same satisfaction. Motion passed 3 – 2. Mr. Cobb closed the Public Hearing.
9. Establish procedure for handling of complaints and citizen inquiries: The consensus of the Board is to continue with past practices, the Town Manager or any member of the Board can bring one forward at any time.
11. Approve and sign Treasurer’s Warrants: Mr. Arrison made the motion to approve the Treasurer’s Warrants as follows:
General Fund Payroll $ 19,635.41
General Fund Operating Expense $963,120.44
Highway Fund Payroll $ 23,526.30
Highway Fund Operating Expense $ 14,577.52
Solid Waste Management Fund Payroll $ 2,064.34
Solid Waste Management Fund Operating Expense $ 7,327.99
Reserves Fund $ 3,058.28
Mr. Boyer seconded the motion. Mr. Melen said the general fund included the quarterly payment to the school.
Mr. Melen said he received an invoice from Valley Fire for $165,350 plus 5 alterations and additions that totaled $480. He said the payment in the warrant for $148,815 represents 90% of the $165,350 per the verbal agreement to hold back 10%. Mr. Stapleton asked the Board if they were aware of retaining funds and there was discussion if this would affect the delivery time. The consensus of the Board was this was the verbal agreement at the time of the bid and they asked Mr. Melen to contact Valley Fire to remind them of this agreement. The Board agreed with the changes that were made and agreed to have Mr. Melen issue the change order.
Mr. Melen said the Vermont Department of Public Safety did and audit and it was found appropriate purchases were not made with grant money so we had to pay back $2,958.28. Mr. Cobb asked for additional information about the purchases to be provided at the next meeting. Motion passed 5 – 0.
The next agenda will include fire truck extended warranty discussion, sign order to discontinue TH46, discuss Board priorities, appointments, reserve fund expenditures.
Mr. Cole made the motion to adjourn; Mr. Boyer seconded the motion, which passed without dissent. The Weathersfield Select Board was adjourned at 8:58 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa Sargent
Approved by the Weathersfield Select Board on March 23, 2006
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Daniel Boyer
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C. Peter Cole
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Henry C. Cobb