TOWN OF RUTLAND
SELECT
BOARD MEETING
NOVEMBER 24, 2009
MINUTES:
The meeting
opened at 6:50 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Board members
present: Joe Dicton, James Hall, Steve
Hawley, Stanley Rhodes III and Josh Terenzini.
Review of the 11/10/2009 Minutes
Mr. Terenzini
motioned to approve the 11/10/2009 minutes as written. Mr. Hall seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Questions from the Floor
There were none.
Clerk/Treasurer – Marie Hyjek
Ms. Hyjek said
she would have bids for the Town Report at the next meeting.
BCA tax appeals
started on October 23, 2009 and there are thirty four left to go. The goal is to complete them by mid January
2010. The last certified mailing was
done on November 20, 2009. Ms. Hyjek
thanked the BCA members for their work and also the tax payers for their
patience.
Wright Appraisal
has fifteen hours left on their contract to attend the BCA meetings before they
will charge $80 an hour.
Ms. Hyjek thanked
Vaillancourt Tree Service for the use of their bucket loader in decorating the
tree in front of the Town Office. The
electrical hook-up was not working as happens each year but has been fixed.
Charlie Hall
will not be doing the Christmas wreath in front of the monument this year.
Red Roof Inn has
made another payment on their delinquent sewer bill and now owe
$18,032.23. Dick Lloyd has been
collecting payments.
Ms. Hyjek has
researched the cost to the Town to continue to carry the fire districts on the
VLCT insurance policy. It would be $3000
which would have to be billed to and collected from the districts causing more
work in the office. Fire District #1
would pay less if they were on their own.
However, this is not true of the other districts. Ms. Hyjek asked the Board what they wanted
to do. Mr. Hall asked about the lead
time to the fire districts to set up their own policies. Mr. Zingale agreed that it would be more
work for the office. Mr. Hall made a
motion that the fire districts will no longer be carried on the Town’s policy. Mr. Diction seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hawley said to make sure the districts
get the contact information for VLCT.
Red Roof Inn
There was a
lengthy discussion on the monies owed the Town by Red Roof Inn and the procedures
in place regarding the collection of delinquent payments.
Mr. Rhodes asked
why a lien was put on the Red Roof Inn.
Mr. Lloyd said it was because Mr. Hall had asked Ms. Hyjek to do so at
the last meeting.
Mr. Rhodes read
a letter from the Town attorney, Kevin Brown, that stated the Town should not
have put a lien on the property as this is only done for delinquent tax
payments. Mr. Lloyd said that Mr. Brown
was aware of the intent to put a lien on the property and should have notified
the Town of his concern before the lien was placed. Mr. Zingale had notified the Town attorney due to his own
concerns about the placement of a lien, even though he did acknowledge liens
have been used in the past. Mr. Hall
asked if there was a conflict with what the Town has been doing vs. the Sewer
Ordinance. Mr. Zingale said that the Uniform Disconnect Code should be followed
in dealing with delinquent users and that he is the Administrator for this
procedure. Mr. Zingale will get
paperwork from the Town attorney on the Uniform Disconnect Code to record.
Mr. Lloyd asked
if he should continue to collect from the Red Roof Inn. Mr. Hawley and Mr.
Terenzini said that Mr. Lloyd has been successful so far in collecting nearly
half of what the Red Roof Inn owes the Town and feel that he should continue to
collect. Mr. Dicton said he felt the
lien should be recused and then start fresh.
Mr. Rhodes asked Mr. Lloyd to wait until the Town attorney has what he
needs in place to make sure the Town is covered. Mr. Hall said that Mr. Lloyd should then continue to collect from
the Red Roof Inn and anything new should be handled by the Uniform Disconnect
Code.
Mr. Dicton said
a plan needs to be put in place as to whether the Town should continue to pay
the City for delinquent users. Ms.
Hyjek mentioned the five percent late charge incurred when this is not
done. Mr. Zingale brought up that the
North Clarendon Airport Park users have not been billed. Mr. Rhodes said that Ms. Hyjek and Mr.
Zingale need to work more closely together.
Mr. Shields said that he felt this discussion should have taken place in
executive session.
(2)
Mr. Hall made a
motion to no longer front money to the City for delinquent sewer users and Mr.
Dicton seconded the motion. The motion
passed unanimously.
Mr. Zingale
asked why the Clarendon Industrial Park users had only been charged ten percent
for O&M costs instead of twenty percent.
Ms. Hyjek said that the company that prints our checks was unaware that
these businesses are charged at a higher rate.
Mr. Terenzini said he felt all businesses should be charged the same
rate. Mr. Rhodes said that the City has
told the Industrial Park users that there may be a reduction next year in their
rates and the Town’s fee is contingent on what the City does.
At 8:25 P.M.
representatives from the Red Roof Inn came in to discuss their delinquent sewer
bill and contractual issues on the same.
Present were Mike Alazo, attorney for the group that owns the Red Roof
Inn, Ashok Patel and Chetan Patel. Mr.
Hawley motioned to go into executive session at 8:25 P.M. and Mr. Hall seconded
the motion. The motion passed
unanimously. The executive session ended at 9:17 P.M.
Swac (Solid Waste Alliance Communities) –
Charlie Shields
Mr. Shields said
there has not been a meeting and therefore had nothing to report. Mr. Zingale will check with the Hubbards to
see if they will provide the Town with a container for mixed paper.
Rutland Regional Transportation Council – Charlie
Shields
Mr. Shields reported that
there was a discussion at his last meeting on the bridges that need repair in
the County. They put eight of them in
order of need. He said there were three
in Pawlet, one in Brandon and one in Hubbardton on the list. He added that there are bridges on the list
from years past. Mr. Shields added that
the funding for the repair to the Champlain Bridge could affect funding for the
other bridge projects.
The Airport Manager gave a
presentation at the RRTC meeting on the affect of wind towers on the
airport. He talked about the possible
need for lights and how these towers could affect future expansion at the
airport. Mr. Hall said that it could be
a big problem if the airport loses approach space.
Planning Commission – Bill Matteson
Mr. Matteson said that
Charlie Shields, Jim Hall and he had attended the Route 7 Corridor study
meeting last week and feels that their concerns are being met. Mr. Hall said that Mr. Zingale did a good
job of explaining the Town’s concerns.
Mr. Zingale had given a
presentation at the last Planning Commission meeting on a proposed road to
alleviate traffic on Route 7 South near Randbury Road. They hope to connect this to the Route 7
project for funding.
The Planning Commission is
changing their meeting scheduled for December 3rd to December 10th
so they can attend an educational session.
(3)
Rutland Regional Planning Commission – Fred Nicholson
Mr. Nicholson reported that
the RRPC has completed applications for funding to the Department of Energy and
he expects a response in early December.
The RRPC voted not to have a
holiday party this year and are donating money that would have been used for
the party to the Food Shelf.
Highway – Byron Hathaway
Mr. Hathaway reported that
he had moved a sign for “Children at Play” on Sunset Drive further down as it
was hampering a resident from moving his trailer.
Mr. Shields said that a
resident had told him he thought the stop sign on the hill by Susan Drive is a
dangerous stop for the school bus. Mr.
Hathaway is to check this out.
Mr. Dicton asked if Mr.
Hathaway received all the proof of insurance paperwork from the
subcontractors. Ms. Hyjek said she had
received some of them. Mr. Dicton asked
about valid licenses. Mr. Zingale said
that VLCT doesn’t require CDL licenses.
Mr. Hathaway is to expedite the rest of the paperwork from the subcontractors.
Police Department – Chief John Sly
Chief Sly reported that they
have investigated several burglaries.
He advised people to lock their cars when shopping and to move their
cars when putting packages into their cars as they could be watched by
potential thieves. He also advised
people be careful how they carry their pocketbooks. He also explained the difference between identity theft and
credit card theft.
Recreation – Jody Hall
Mr. Hall advised that all
the parks have been closed up for the winter and water has been shut off. He is still checking on the sensors for the
lights.
Northwood Park had a door
kicked in but there was nothing to steal.
The repair will cost about $1,400.
He has submitted a claim to the insurance company.
The Recreation Commission
will have a meeting at the Town Office on December 3rd at 7:00
P.M. The budget will be discussed and
Mike Rowe will have information on the resurfacing of the pool.
Mr. Hathaway asked about the
locking of the gates at Northwood and Mr. Hall said he would check on this.
(4)
Town Administrator – Joseph Zingale Jr.
The Army Reserves, currently
located on North Street Extension in the City, is planning to purchase property
from the Thomas family near CVPS on Post Road.
They will be requesting the Town take over a road that leads to Post
Road. Mr. Zingale has advised them that
the road needs to be centered within the parcel. A cul-de-sac or hammerhead will be needed for the Town plow to
turn around. Mr. Terenzini asked what
the incentive was for the Town to take over the road if the Army Reserves do
not have to pay taxes. Mr. Rhodes said
that other properties in the area do pay taxes and that the Army Reserves will
be paying for water and sewer usage.
The Planning Commission will
be involved in the subdivision of this property.
John Sly said that the
reserves currently have an indoor shooting range and they will probably have
one at the new facility.
Mr. Zingale gave a
presentation on a proposed road on Route 7 South that would help alleviate
traffic congestion in the area. As
stated previously, it is hoped that this project will become part of the Route
7 Corridor project for funding purposes.
Mr. Zingale has spoken to some of the landowners about the proposed
road. The road could also be extended
to the proposed Kalish development. A
study needs to be done on the feasibility of the road. There will be a meeting in December on this
proposal and the Select Board is invited to attend. Consultants said the same idea could be implemented on the
Diamond Run side of the road to help handle traffic.
Mr. Zingale said someone has
to tell Ms. Hyjek, the Town Treasurer, to bill the sewer/water users at the
Clarendon Airport Park. Mr. Rhodes said
that she should get a memo on the procedures to follow. Mr. Hall said that he would follow up with
Ms. Hyjek.
Nothing has been received
from the Chamber on the railroad museums.
Mr. Zingale asked if the
Board would tape their holiday greeting for PEGTV at the next meeting.
Mr. Zingale has been
updating the Town’s website adding forms people have requested. It is also possible to see the Select Board
meetings on line. People can also
contact Town employees via e-mail addresses that are posted. The Circle, the Town’s newsletter, is also
on the website.
The Vermont Community Energy
Mobilization project was discussed.
Volunteers are needed for this project.
Ten homes will be weatherized by volunteers after they are trained on
weatherization.
Mr. Dicton motioned to sign
the letter of support for this project and Mr. Hall seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
(5)
Correspondence
The meteorological test
tower for CVPS was discussed. Mr.
Dicton said he would like to see more landscaping done around the borders to
soften the look. He did say that he
would not vote on any motions concerning CVPS.
A donation to the Boy Scouts
was discussed and tabled.
VLCT dues are owed for 2010.
A reappraisal summary was
reviewed. According to the State, the
Town has a 99.18% CLA.
The Vermont Agency of
Transportation is upgrading curb ramps and some are located in Rutland Town.
The Department of Public
Service has Energy/Efficiency/Conservation block grants available at a 10%
match. These are for municipal
buildings and schools.
The Town Hall chimney needs
repair. It is a safety issue. The Select Board building committee is to
look for estimates for the repair work.
Mr. Hall motioned to end the
meeting. Mr. Terenzini seconded the
motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting ended at 9:37 P.M.
(6)
.