Regular Meeting of the Dover Board of Selectmen Dover Town Office October 4, 2011

Selectmen Present:Linda Holland-Chairman,Randall Terk, Colby Dix,Victoria Capitani and William “Buzzy” Buswell

Public: Linda Anelli, Ken Black, Joan Black, Gail Filler, Patty Westlake, Richard Werner, Mike Eldred, Jim Martin, Kathy Martin, Sherman Jenne, Linda Sherman, Lori Ohern, Becky Snow, Christian Helmstetter, Bob Holland, Alice Veraguth, Dave Cerchio, Chris Donnelly and Bob Edwards

Chairman Holland called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

I.Public Comments

Christian Helmstetter stated that there was a conflict of interest on the Board of Selectmen relating to a vote to expend $100,000 on a marketing campaign because three of the board members are either Chamber of Commerce members and/or serve on the Chamber Board of Directors. Also, the Chamber is not including non-chamber members in the marketing campaign as they agreed to do at the last meeting, and he thought it was a tactic to strong-arm businesses to join the Chamber.

Jim Martin asked for the status of relocating a VAST trail to Upton Road instead of Blue Brook Road. The board did not know the status, but later in the meeting Chief Edwards confirmed that he is having a follow-up meeting with VAST sometime in mid-October regarding relocating the trail.

Jim Martin wanted to know what happened with a petition to have the Economic Development Fund externally audited. Treasurer Patty Westlake said all town funds are audited by Sullivan, Powers.

Jim Martin said Economic Development Funds can’t be used for education purposes, therefore, he asked the board to get back the money the town paid for a trunk line.

II.Emergency Order: On a motion by Colby Dix, seconded by Buzzy Buswell the board lifted the town of Dover’s emergency order.

III.Highway Department: Road Commissioner Bob Holland

  1. Truck Bids: On a motion by Colby Dix, seconded by Victoria Capitani the board accepted Stewart and Sons truck bids for a 2012 F350 for $48,651.00 , and a 2012 F250 for $28,146.00.
  2. Valley Trail Winter Maintenance: Discussion ensued about grooming the trail for snowshoeing and cross-country skiers only due to the fact that non-motorized vehicles are not allowed on the trail. Holland will look into contracting for the service.
  3. The board approved hiring a contractor to replace a culvert because the town’s equipment can’t perform the task.
  1. Lister Office: Town Office Basement Office Clean-up Update: On a motion by Buzzy Buswell, seconded by Victoria Capitani the board agreed to hire a professional mold remediation company to test for mold in the Town Office basement, and then provide a recommendation for best method to address the air quality in that area, etc.

IV.Police Department: Chief Robert Edwards

  1. Air Conditioning Bids: On a motion by Colby Dix, seconded by Buzzy Buswell the board accepted Bennington Cooling & Heating bid for $8,361.00 for central air conditioning at the police station.
  2. Request to Purchase Vest via a Grant: On a motion by Colby Dix, seconded by Buzzy Buswell the board agreed to use a Block Grant for the town’s 50% match to offset costs to purchase vest for the officers.
  3. Blazer Trade-in: Per Chief Edwards, the police Blazer is still in good shape and he suggested waiting until spring of 2012 before trading it in. The board agreed.

V.New Business

  1. Letter from Patricia Sanborn re: Request for Sponsorship by Town of Dover via the USDA Watershed Protection Program: The board agreed that they could not be a sponsor and/or offer in-kind services to remediate bank stabilization. Nona Monis will follow-up with Sanborn, and contact the USDA Water Shed Program about other programs that might be able to assistresidents with remediation.
  2. Offer by Hermitage Inn Real Estate Company, LLC to Purchase Summit Village (Parcel HSS02) Owned by the Town of Dover for $430.6455: The board agreed to have the town’s attorney look over the Purchase & Sale Agreement before selling the property to Hermitage Inn Real Estate Company, LLC.
  3. Economic Development Revised Job Description: On a motion by Buzzy Buswell, seconded by Victoria Capitani the board accepted the Economic Development Specialist revised job description as submitted.

VI.Economic Development: Ken Black (See Attachment A for report)

  1. Survey: Survey deadline is October 19, 2011.
  2. Marketing: On a motion by Victoria Capitani, seconded by Colby Dix the board ratified $403.10 for additional direct mailing costs for the marketing campaign, and approved contracts relating to thecampaign.
  3. Economic Development Specialist Proposal by Ken Black: Black proposed deferring hiring a permanent replacement for at least 4-6 months, and he would commit to staying on in his current capacity. Also, he proposed hiring a part-time assistant to compliment the work he is doing on a part-time basis. Both positions would be equal to or less than the cost of a full time position with the added benefit of savings for benefits.

On a motion by Buzzy Buswell, seconded by Randall Terk the board accepted Ken Black’s proposal to extend his interim position as the Economic Development Specialist to March 31, 2012.

Black will draft a job description for a part-time assistant.

VII.Minutes & Weekly Warrants

A.Minutes: On a motion by Colby Dix, seconded by Victoria Capitani the board approved the minutes from September 20, 2011 as amended, and September 21 and 27, 2011 as submitted.

B.Warrants: On a motion by Colby Dix, seconded by Victoria Capitani the board approved warrants for September 22, 2011 for $23,805.73, September 24, 2011 for $112,411.55, September 29, 2011 for $1,703.10, and September 30, 2011 for $2,720.50.

VIII.Review Unfinished Business List & Upcoming Meeting Schedule: See attached list.

  1. Department Liaison Update: None
  1. Other Business
  1. Selectmen Dix said he was interviewed by Vermont Public Radio about the marketing campaign.
  2. Selectmen Buswell suggested looking into forming a Youth Council.
  3. The board agreed to include in the 2012 Town Report a budget for Economic Development in the same format as other department budgets. Monis will assist Ken Black with the budget format. Also, Monis will follow-up with Jim Martin about the petition he was referring to regarding an outside audit for the Economic Fund.
  1. Executive Session: On a motion by Colby Dix, seconded by Randall Terk the board went into executive session for personnel matters. Bob Holland and Nona Monis were present.

The board came out of executive session at 8:14 p.m., and on a motion by Victoria Capitani, seconded by Randall Terk the board agreed to have Bob Holland handle the situation.

There was no further business to come before the board so the meeting was adjourned at 8: 15 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted by Nona Monis

Theses minutes are not official until accepted by the Board of Selectmen

Posted: Dover Town Clerk’s Office, Dover Elementary School, Dover Administration Office, East Dover Post Office, Dover Free Library and at

Unfinished Business

Upcoming Business

  1. 10/18/11Valley Trail Winter Maintenance

Upcoming Special Meetings

10/17/11 4 p.m. Dover Town Office

2012-2013 Budget Review for Highway,Police, Fire Departments (East & West), Planning Commission and Development Review Board

Pending Business (Completion Date t/b/d)

  1. Copier Replacement
  2. Review Job Descriptions
  3. Personnel Policy Review
  4. Look into Hiring a Bookkeeper & Separating Treasurer Duties
  5. Cost to Hire an Appraiser
  6. Town Plan Status Report: Assign Tasks and Follow –up by SB
  7. Water Study for West Dover
  8. PACE Program/Energy Upgrades for Designated Areas
  9. Town Trail Use Policy

Other Business

  1. Officer Vacancies: Town Auditor, Council on Aging Representative, Energy Coordinator, Windham Solid Waste Representative and alternate representative.
  2. Dunns Corner: Rescope by VTrans. On VTrans project list for elevating road/corner

Attachment A: Economic Development Update as submitted by Ken Black

October 4, 2011

Telecommunications

Fairpoint (Broadband to East Dover)

Nothing to report.

Earthtone (Cell Service)

Sent email to Joe Cusato of AT&T in an effort to get the temporary cell tower on Dover Hill Rd made permanent. Got the contact info from Bob Edwards. No response at this time.

VTEL

Nothing to report

Survey

Gave UNH the go ahead – surveys should be arriving shortly.

eVermont

Seminars

The next 3 seminars are set. They are:

VSC Social Media & Communication Tools for Beginners – Tuesday Oct 18 at 6PM

VSC Learning To Go – Saturday Oct 22 at 12PM

VSC Internet Safety Basics – Tuesday Nov 1 at 6PM

Advertisements have been made and appropriate emails will be sent to my mailing list of previous attendees and other businesses.

Wi Fi Hotspots

Still waiting for a date for the site survey. It appears they use a retired Systems Engineer who has numerous activities of which site surveys is just one. He is currently working to implement the Bristol network and Dover is next.

Website

Adam Sroczynski of eBusiness Technology, LLC has offered to reduce the Google search by the full cost of the web search piece ($850) taking the cost to $1150. It appears that this is as far as he is willing to go. He feels that he has met his contractual obligation and gotten system acceptance, but is extremely willing to work with the town to implement a viable product. The site as I understand it, after looking at the documentation and speaking with Adam, is adaptable in that it can be organized and configured in certain areas (ie additional categories, pages, etc). I have not actually attempted to perform any reorganization, so I cannot verify any of this. We currently have several examples of town websites that we have found functional and easy to use. I suggest that we first attempt to organize at least a portion of the site within the bounds of the software provided to see if it truly meets our needs. It is then that we can make a determination as to the site’s effectiveness and our next steps. Regardless of what direction we take concerning the Website, we need to consider a webmaster position (probably part time) to take responsibility for ensuring the site’s organization and its timely update. This will be particularly important as we move to a portal front end. In the upcoming weeks, I will develop a job description of this position for review.

Trails

The trails committee has been expanding in recent days and now has 7 members. They are all very interested in expanding and exploiting our trail system for recreational activities.

The names of the property owners have been determined relative to our selected route of the so-called B+ trail portion. We are scheduled to walk this route again later this week, weather permitting, with emphasis on the proximity of the path to residential properties.

We have also agreed to walk through a portion of the Dover Town Forest area to see if it is a viable spot for recreational activities to visitors. We will make a determination and then discuss with the Conservation Commission before proceeding with any recommendation.

Beautification

The RFP for a Landscape Architecture Plan for Route 100 is still ongoing. I would expect completion of the RFP within the next 2 weeks, barring any other immediate issues.

Linda Anelli has reach out to the Beautification group from Wilmington regarding a coordinated effort within the valley for seasonal lights.

Marketing

The Direct Mail postcard campaign has gone out. The additional funds of $403.10 needs to be ratified, but was approved by a majority of the Selectboard via email.

The Dover Advertising Support Program needs additional work to account for the inequities of applying for the grants. I suggest a small group of myself, 2 Selectboard members and 1 business member meet to discuss the issues of how to best implement this program.

Events

Nothing new to report.

Interpretive Signs

RFP in progress.

Financial

Nothing new to report

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