Greensboro Selectboard
Minutes – July 8, 2009
Present: Jefferson Tolman, Peter Gebbie, Warren Hill, Jr., Peggy Lipscomb, Anne Stevens, Josh Karp, David Drown, Ken Williams, Charman Salls, Laurie Randall, Erwin Salls, Jr. Bea Devlin, Erna Bartlett, Peter Roudebush, Stan Polchlopek, Richard Stoner, June Cook
Called to order: 7:00 PM
MINUTES:
6/10/09 approved as amended.
PUBLIC CONCERNS
1. Town meeting babysitting. The town clerk felt that the town was not responsible to pay for babysitting during town meeting.
2. Charmin Salls, Laurie Randall – benefit street dance. Salls and Randall asked the Board for permission to hold a street dance next year, to benefit the GFD. The dance would be held after the town’s traditional July 4 celebrations, and tents already in place on the town hall green could be used in case of rain. Discussion of possible locations for the dance, including the Lakeview School gym, the town hall green, and the village green. The Board was supportive of the dance.
3. Jr. Salls – GFD. Jr. showed the Board the septic design he’s received from the civil engineer. He explained to the Board that the design, a holding tank, should be OK’d by the state soon. In order to keep the project moving, the MVCC needs to survey the property; Anne will discuss this with Rob Brigham and/or Nat Smith of the MVCC.
Peter Roudebush recommended the GFD use a composting toilet if possible, and would be happy to share any information he has about this. Discussion ensued about Peter’s suggestion.
4. Makau – dog fence. The Makau’s have asked the town for permission to put up a dog fence on what they thought might be an ‘ancient road’. According to Bridget and Valdine, the town Zoning Board previously determined there is no town right of way there.
Jefferson asked Makau neighbor Laurie Randall what she thought about the fence. Though she had some concerns, the Selectboard, given the fact that there is no town R.O.W. there, felt this was a neighborhood issue, not a town issue.
5. Richard Stoner. His family camp is #719 E. Craftsbury Rd. He feels the deep ditch on Perron’s side of the road collects water, which moves under the road onto his and other’s property, causing problems for property owners, and for the road. Richard would like the Board to investigate and see if this water problem can be fixed.
David Drown noted that the ditch has not been scooped out for some time, but that it has not caused road problems, as far as he knows. He will look for a buried or hidden culvert; he thought a new culvert under MacNeil’s driveway might help the water flow out of the ditch.
6. Ken Williams – Eligo Lake Association. Two proposals for milfoil control with weevils have been received; the Association has decided to hire Enviroscience, Inc.,out of Ohio. This would be a five year contract: a first year evaluation (mapping the size and location of the milfoil beds); the second year weevils are installed; in the third and fourth years more weevils are introduced as needed. In the fifth year, the project results are evaluated. Ken noted that the contract can be broken at any time with no penalty. Eligo would be the first lake in the state to attempt milfoil control with weevils.
Anne moved that based on the Association’s recommendation, the project should move forward. Peggy seconded; the motion was carried (P.L., W.H. in favor, P.G. opposed, A.S. , J.T. abstaining.) The Board then signed the contract with Enviroscience, Inc.
7. Erna Bartlett, Bea Devlin – Greensboro Bend Methodist Church. Erna asked the Board if they’d come up with any solutions to the water draining off town roads onto Church property.
Discussion of the movement of water onto the church grounds. David Drown observed that some of the water is coming from Smith’s Grocery. He said that in winter, he will try to keep snowbanks away from the roadside near the church, to reduce meltwater in the spring. Peggy will look into town liability for the church’s foundation repairs and get back to them before the next Board meeting.
Peter Roudebush told those present that David does ‘marvelous’ work and he would certainly trust Dave’s judgement in this situation.
8. Peter Roudebush - fitch fuel catalyst. Peter told the Board about an energy-saving technology called ‘fitch fuel catalyst’, and asked the town to consider using it. The Board was intrigued by the concept and gave Peter approval to further investigate the technology, but to spend no money doing so. Peter will begin by getting information from Bridget about town fuel usage.
OLD BUSINESS / PROJECTS IN PROGRESS
1. Bidding Policies Update (Warren).
· Woodbury. According to Brian Shatney, the town does not use a formal bidding process for spending/purchasing. In amounts of $1500-$2000, requests for proposals are sent out to several contractors. For large equipment purchases, prices are solicited from all the ‘major players’.
· Craftsbury. According to Bruce Urie, the town has an informal bidding process. For purchases over $10k, bids (not sealed) are solicited.
· Out of four or five towns Warren checked with, only Hardwick has a formal bidding policy.
Warren suggested that the town come up with some type of policy, perhaps using Hardwick’s as a model; he will ask Hardwick to send their policy electronically so it can be more easily worked with.
2. Animal Hazards in Road (Peggy). After comparing our existing animal control ordinance with those of other towns, Peggy found that ours probably needs updating. She noted that a complete rewrite of our ordinance would take a lot of work, and wondered if this was a priority. Discussion about the animal hazards centered around two issues: public safety, and town liability in the case of an accident.
Jefferson asked Peggy to ask the town attorney the following: if the town knows about an animal control problem, takes no action and there is an accident, is the town liable?
ROADS
1. Jefferson reminded David to submit his roads report prior to the monthly Selectboard meeting.
2. Page Stegner, curb cut. The road is too high after repaving to park off of; the road crew will put material at the roadside so Page can pull off the road and park. If a culvert is required, Page will purchase.
3. Rocking Rock Rd. David has concerns over accesses to farm fields. There was ditching there originally that has filled in; either re-ditching or a culvert is needed to keep water off the road. Ditching could make access difficult. Who’s responsibility to pay for a culvert? Discussion. Warren asked if a decent used culvert would make sense for cases like this. Jefferson thought that any under-spec culvert would preclude FEMA money in case of major damage due to torrential rains.
No decision was made by the Board. The Board will discuss a culvert policy at a future meeting.
4. Gravel Pit overburden. David proposed the town seek bids to deal with the overburden at the gravel pit; he would like the work to be done this fall. The Board gave David permission to seek bids.
5. T.H. 41 (Jasper Hill Farm). David would like to expand the mouth of the road, now that there’s a large business and lots of truck traffic. He received permission to move Stuart Hill’s mailbox.
6. E. Crafstbury Rd. paving. David noticed irregularity on a part of the new pavement near Black’s Point Rd.; he has a call in to Pike.
7. Miller’s Thumb parking. The road crew will stencil ‘no parking’ on the pavement next to Miller’s Thumb, near Janet Long’s.
8. Farmer’s market parking. Discussion. Warren will talk to the organizer of the market, and ask her to put up ‘no parking’ signs on the Craftsbury Rd. each time the market is held. Parking along the road on the opposite side of the green is OK.
9. Free gravel. Walter Donahue has been loading residents’ free gravel with the town loader; as he is not a town employee, he or the machine is not covered when he operates it. Discussion. The suggestion was made to hire Walter as a town employee for $1/yr., so he’d be covered by town insurance. After discussion, Peggy moved that the Board take no action at this time. Warren seconded; the motion was carried (P.L., W.H. in favor, P.G. opposed, A.S. , J.T. abstaining.)
Discussion of free gravel in general. Some thought that part of the town’s gravel pit purchase agreement with the voters was free gravel for all residents as long as the town owned the pit; others thought that free gravel had been a policy before the pit was bought.
10. Stimulus funds for bridge repairs. The state has picked Bridge #26 (near Mike Cloutier) to be repaired using federal stimulus funds. The town would be responsible for 5% of the total cost. Warren moved that the Board sign the initial bridge repair agreement, as long as town funds aren’t committed at this time. Peter seconded; the motion was carried (W.H., P.G., A.S., P.L. in favor, J.T. abstained).
POLICE:
Warren observed that the HPD has been very reactive to recent incidents in the Bend, and that the Dept. is not as much of a presence as it used to be. He will ask Chief Laporte to attend the next Board meeting in order to discuss these and other concerns.
OTHER BUSINESS
1. Board Chair Jefferson Tolman noted that in general, he will not vote during meetings unless there’s a tie.
2. Altmans/Library paving. Peter and Stephanie discussed the situation with the Altmans. Although options were brought up (such as trading land with the town) they didn’t want to discuss them; they want the pavement removed and ‘blue ledge’ put back. Discussion about the fact that the Altmans are mowing town property which abuts their lawn. Warren suggested that the town stake it’s boundaries. Discussion of the town mowing the property. David noted that he use to brush mow it when he had his own business.
Warren moved that David ask Patenaude (currently mowing the town roadsides) to brush mow the said town property. Peter seconded; the motion was carried (W.H., P.G., A.S., P.L. in favor, J.T. abstained).
3. Dispatch. After satisfying a question from Jr. Salls about double billing, Peter moved that the Board approve the dispatch contract with Lamoille County Sheriff’s Dept. Peggy seconded; the motion was carried (W.H., P.G., A.S., P.L. in favor, J.T. abstained).
4. Tax rate. The Board set the town tax rate at $.6246 .
5. Fred’s / pre buy. The Board would like information on Fred’s pre-buy program for fuel oil.
6. Schiavone/Sullivan vs. Town of Greensboro. A lawsuit has been filed against the town, demanding that it enforce the terms of the Lakeview Inn’s 1997 conditional use permit.
Discussion. The town attorney is currently assessing the suit. Warren wondered whether VLCT (the town’s insurer) would cover such a lawsuit against the town; if so, VLCT should be working on the case rather than the town attorney (who is likely far more expensive). Anne will discuss this with Bridget.
7. Executive session. Peter moved that the Board enter executive session at 9:40 PM to discuss a personnel issue. Warren seconded; the motion was carried unanimously.
The Board left executive session at 10:50 PM.
Anne moved that the personnel policy contain the following language: employee vacation dates must by approved by the road foreman. Peggy seconded. After discussion, the Board voted on the motion, which was carried (W.H., P.G., A.S., P.L. in favor, J.T. abstained).
8. Personnel Policy. Peter moved that the Board enact the personnel policy. Warren seconded; the motion was carried (W.H., P.G., A.S., P.L. in favor, J.T. abstained).
9. Special Meeting. There will likely be a special meeting on Wednesday, July 22 at 7 PM to discuss Sullivan/Schiavone vs. Town of Greensboro, and issues with the Hardwick Police Dept. Board clerk Josh Karp won’t warn the meeting unless he hears a confirmation from Jefferson.
Adjourned: 11:00 PM
Respectfully submitted , Josh Karp, Selectboard clerk
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