TOWN OF RUTLAND

SELECT BOARD MEETING

October 26, 2010

MINUTES:

The meeting opened at 6:40 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Board members present: James Callahan, James Hall, Steve Hawley, Stanley Rhodes III and Josh Terenzini.

Review of 10/12/2010 Minutes

Mr. Callahan pointed out an error on page three regarding the $200,000 grant money. Mr. Hawley corrected an error in regards to the timber sale on land owned by the Town in West Rutland. Mr. Hawley motioned to accept the minutes with corrections and Mr. Hall seconded the motion. All were in approval.

Miscellaneous

Mr. Rhodes asked that the issue of new trash containers for the transfer station be put on the agenda for the next meeting. Ms. Hyjek said that there is $11,368.81 left in the budget for these containers.

Mr. Rhodes said that memos have been sent to all department heads concerning getting paperwork for the Select Board orders into the Town Clerk by the Friday before the next Board meeting.

Mr. Hawley said that he would not be able to make the next Select Board meeting.

Town Clerk/Treasurer - Marie Hyjek

Ms. Hyjek reported that there have been a lot of requests for absentee ballots.

She has called the Secretary of State concerning absentee requests not signed by the voter. She was told to honor these anyway.

10/27/2010 is the last day to apply to be on the voter checklist for the November 2nd election.

The Town meeting regarding the upgrades needed for the pool is scheduled for 10/28/2010 at 7:00 P.M. at the Town Office. Mr. Rhodes asked that Mike Rowe be present as well as any other Recreation Board members. The Halloween party is also scheduled for that night and could be a conflict.

Ms. Hyjek said that she has enough people to work the polls and count the paper ballots.

The new owners of the Holiday Inn have applied for a first and second class liquor license. Mr. Hawley motioned to sign the application and Mr. Hall seconded the motion. All were in approval.

Highway - Byron Hathaway

Mr. Hathaway made out the paperwork for reimbursement from the AOT for the culvert grant. The Town is to receive $10,787.51 from the State.

Mr. Hathaway discussed with the Board the need to start upgrading street signs and stop, yield and speed signs to come into compliance with the new guidelines for size and reflectivity. Mr. Hathaway attended a workshop to help guide the municipalities in this regard. The Town needs to come up with a maintenance plan by 2012. Originally stop, yield and speed signs needed to be upgraded by 2015 and street signs by 2018. However, it has now been mandated that street signs be in compliance by 2012 which Mr. Hathaway said will be a difficult thing for municipalities to do. The money to accomplish this will have to be put in the Highway budget.

There were three plans laid out at the workshop to plan for needed signage. One is the visual inspection method, one is the blanket method whereby a certain section in Town would be done on a rotating basis and the third would involve buying a piece of equipment to check the signs which is costly. Mr. Hathaway said he is already over budget this year on signage. He will try to come up with a plan and put money in his future budgets to accomplish this plan.

Mr. Rhodes said that the emergency vehicle entering signs put up when the McKinley Bridge project was in progress need to be taken down. Mr. Hathaway said they are in the City and he will contact the City concerning the signs.

Mr. Hathaway reported that the new standards for State highways is still in draft form. Along these lines, he noted that there is a difference between the Town ordinance for roads and the subdivision requirements. He said he feels that the A76 standard is excessive for a subdivision. Mr. Hall said that there is a process to follow to amend this.

Questions from the Floor

Rebecca Majoya, Director of the Mentor Connector, an agency that tries to provide adult leadership for needy children, was present to discuss the Town donating $200 to this cause. She was told that new agencies that want to have their requests put on the ballot in March need to have a petition signed by five percent of the voters.

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The requested amount of money is directly related to the number of children helped in each community. Currently there are six children in Rutland Town that are part of the program. The Mentor Connector office is located on Woodstock Avenue but serves all of Rutland County. Mr. Rhodes said that she could meet with Jim Hall to discuss more specifics in confidentiality. When Mr. Hall reports back, the whole Board will vote on whether or not this request will be added to the March ballot.

SWAC - Charlie Shields

Mr. Shields reported that only twenty -four people partook in the Hazardous Waste Day at the transfer station despite good media coverage. He said he thought the weather was a factor in the low turnout. SWAC will have a budget meeting in a couple of weeks.

Rutland Regional Planning Commission - Fred Nicholson

The RRPC met last Tuesday. The yearly audit was completed and they were asked to make a couple of bookkeeping changes. There was a small surplus to last year's budget.

The RRPC has been working with REDC and they intend to work on some projects together.

Mr. Nicholson said that the RRPC did not vote for or against the tower in Wells as there were too many unanswered questions.

The proposed biomass to energy plant in Fair Haven may have some trouble getting started. Mr. Nicholson said that when the RRPC met with them there were several questions that could not be answered. There is also a traffic issue for access to the proposed plant.

The Green Mountain College energy project is up and running and there is a plan to produce wood chips locally for this operation.

Recreation - Jody Hall

The annual Halloween party is scheduled for Thursday, 10/28/2010.

Mr. Hall will speak to Mike Rowe about attending the Town meeting on the pool issue.

Jim Hall said that he had an opportunity to speak with some of the people at the Cheney Hill Senior center concerning the pool issue.

Mr. Rhodes asked that Mr. Hathaway put something by the second speed bump at Northwood so that people don't tear up the lawn. He also said he would like the constables to check this area earlier in the evening to see who might be doing the damage. He added that both Northwood and Dewey Field need to be locked up when done for the season.

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New bulbs are needed for the tennis courts and LED lights may be a good idea.

The Recreation Board will have a budget meeting after the election and would like input from the Select Board. The playground equipment at Dewey Field may need to be replaced as some people have reported that it is unsafe.

Town Administrator - Joseph Zingale Jr.

Mr. Zingale reported that he and Mr. Nicholson attended an energy efficiency meeting at the Holiday Inn. There was a discussion on the merits of going with LED street lights and perhaps shutting off street lights that are not really needed. Mr. Rhodes said that he would like input from Chief Sly in regards to needed street lights.

Mr. Zingale showed a map of the Town street lights to the Board which number eighty- one. The largest quantity are in Center Rutland. Currently, CVPS does not have a rate for LED lighting. If a program is adopted, the Town would own the lights but rent the poles from the power company. The lights cost about $500 per fixture. The Town already owns some of the existing lights at Dewey Field and Northwood. Mr. Nicholson said these could be changed now. He added that some other towns that have gone with LED lighting, such as White River and Hartford, have seen payback in two years. It was asked that this issue be put on the next Select Board meeting agenda.

Mr. Zingale showed the Board a letter he typed up on the hiatus for the operation and maintenance charges for Town users on water and sewer. He showed the Board a list of new users which numbers seventeen that will not only have to pay ad valorem tax but five times the rate of City users. He said the City gets $204,929 a year from the Town.

Mr. Zingale showed the Board a map of Evergreen Cemetery and surrounding lands of which it appears the Town owns about a five to seven acre parcel behind the cemetery. He said that State and City maps already reflect this but the Town maps do not and need to be changed.

Paper maps from the new company are due to arrive in about one week.

There is an Act 250 permit amendment requested to change the tree line at the Wynnridge development. Mr. Hathaway said that the trees have already been cut. Mr. Zingale will bring this issue up at the next Planning Commission meeting.

Stantec, which will be closing its local office, has requested that they meet with the Town on any paperwork they have that the Town may want. Mr. Rhodes said he would represent the Board at this meeting.

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Mr. Zingale said he would like an electrician to check out the wiring at the Town Office as he has experienced his computer shutting down and doesn't want to lose data. He feels it could somehow be related to the furnace.

Mr. Rhodes said that he had Brad Russo check out the boiler situation whereby the second boiler does not fire when needed. He was told that it is not properly wired and may need replumbing.

Fire Department - Chief Denardo

The Fire Department did fire training at the school.

They also took part in the Safety Day at Home Depot.

Chief Denardo is to get with Mr. Hawley on the ordinance for lock boxes.

Work on the roof towers has been approved by the voters but the work has not been done as yet.

Mr. Zingale asked if the Fire Department could provide any information they have on accidents on Route 7 South from the Town to Clarendon to help with the Town's request for a curb cut in that area.

Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Zingale are to meet with the lawyers for the Green Mountain Plaza who have written up an agreement for other businesses to sign in order to help pay for the cost of a needed traffic study.

Correspondence

Mr. Zingale said that it is starting to look positive for a right turn only curb cut for the Kalish project.

The Vermont State Employees Credit Union is asking for an increase of eighty gallons per day more of waste water allocation. Mr. Zingale will get with Ms. Hyjek on what has already been paid. Mr. Hall motioned to allow the eighty gallon per day increase and Mr. Terenzini seconded the motion. All were in approval.

Mr. Hall motioned for Mr. Zingale to mail out his letter on the hiatus on O&M costs for Town water and sewer users. Mr. Hawley seconded the motion. All were in approval.

There was a brief discussion on the procedure to follow for receiving and opening bids for the timber sale.

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The Board reviewed information provided by Ms. Hyjek on those accounts close to or over budget.

Mr. Terenzini said that he attended the ribbon cutting of a new business in the Diamond Run Mall called the Chill Out Zone since he just happened to be there at the time of the event.

Mr. Hall said that he plans to attend the next Community Advisory meeting. He also asked about when the Town Office chimney would be repaired. He was told there were no bidders and that it would be revisited in the spring. Mr. Rhodes said it will be a costly project due to the height of the roof, the fact that it is a slate roof and there will be many OSHA regulations to follow.

Mr. Hall motioned to end the meeting. Mr. Terenzini seconded the motion. All were in approval. The meeting ended at 8:35 P.M.

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Stanley Rhodes III, Chairman Date

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James Callahan Date

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James Hall Date

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Steve Hawley Date

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Josh Terenzini Date

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