TOWN OF RUTLAND
SELECT BOARD MEETING
December 21, 2010
MINUTES:
The meeting opened at 6:35 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Board members present: James
Callahan, James Hall, Steve Hawley, Stanley Rhodes III and Josh Terenzini.
Review of 12/7/2010
Minutes
Mr. Hall cited a correction that needed to be made on page four that
should list Mr. Callahan on the Fire Department subcommittee, not Mr.
Hall. Mr. Hall made the motion to
accept the minutes with this change and Mr. Hawley seconded the motion. Three were in approval with Mr. Callahan and
Mr. Terenzini abstaining due to their absence at the last meeting.
Water and Sewer O &
M Fees
It was discussed that at a prior meeting the motion to put the O &
M costs for water and sewer levied by the Town on temporary hold was not
totally verbalized. Mr. Hawley made the
motion to retroactively place the Town sewer and water operation and
maintenance charges on hold, effective November 2010, for one year. The Board will review this decision in April
of 2011 and the Sewer and Water accounts cannot fall below $750,000. Mr. Hall seconded the motion. All were in approval.
Ice Rink
Burt McMahon, his son Mike and several other young gentlemen were
present to discuss making an ice skating rink at Dewey Field. The proposed rink would be 40' X 100'. They intend to purchase the frame boards and
tarp and the McMahons and Olsens will maintain the rink. Burt McMahon will plow the parking area and
take care of locking the gate. The Fire
Department will fill the rink initially .
The use of the lights needs to be looked into as far as higher winter
rates and Mr. McMahon will need a key to enter the field. There will be hockey hours and regular
public hours which extend to 10:00 P.M. and these will be posted. There will be
no admission fees. Mr. Rhodes added there should be garbage cans. A question as to whether the lights would
disturb residents in the area was raised. Jim Hall, who is a resident in the
area, said that there have been no complaints in the past about lights used at
night. He stated that he feels it would
be appropriate for the Town to pay for the lighting and is in favor of the
rink.
Mr. Terenzini motioned to authorize the creation of the rink at Dewey
Field. Mr. Callahan seconded the
motion. All were in approval.
Town Clerk/Treasurer -
Marie Hyjek
Ms. Hyjek said that seven of the land record books are out for
microfilming and this was posted in the Rutland Herald to notify the
public. They should be back within two
weeks.
The Town Office will be closed
on 12/24, 12/27 and 12/31 for the holidays.
Ms. Hyjek reminded all departments to get their reports and pictures in
to her by the deadline date for the town report. Mr. Hall asked when the Board's picture would be taken by Charlie
Shields. A date was not determined.
The July Fourth fireworks are the same price this year, $6,100 and can
remain at this price through 2012 if the Board signs a contract to this affect.
Mr. Hall made a motion to sign this agreement with the stipulation providing
funds would be available. Mr. Hawley
seconded the motion. All were in approval.
Traffic Study - Mark
Blucher
Mark Blucher from the Rutland Regional Planning Commission was present
to discuss the traffic study analysis to be performed on Route 7 South in
regards to obtaining a curb cut to accommodate Farrell Distributing's
vehicles.
Taco Bell and Farrell Distributing have already paid their share. The Hampton Inn, Aspen Dental and the Green
Mountain Plaza should also be paying sometime in January. Rutland Town will also be paying towards the
study.
Mr. Hawley motioned to sign the Traffic Study agreement once all
parties have paid their share. Mr.
Terenzini seconded the motion. All were
in approval.
Intergovernmental US 7
Corridor Agreement
Since Clarendon made some changes on boundaries from the previous
agreement, it was necessary for the Select Board to vote to sign the new
agreement. Mr. Callahan motioned for
the Board to sign the agreement. Mr.
Hall seconded the motion. All were in approval. Mr. Zingale said that this agreement mentions the proposed
service road so this is an advantage.
SWAC - Charlie Shields
May 7, 2011 and October 15, 2011 will be the dates for hazardous waste
disposal. Mr. Shields will advertize
this in the Circle.
(2)
Mr. Shields said that the SWAC budget will be level funded this coming
year.
Rutland Regional
Planning Commission - Fred Nicholson
Mr. Nicholson reported that the audit on the RRPC has been completed
and they ended the year with a very small surplus on their budget. The audit said they need more control on
blank checks and signature stamps. Dues
for the upcoming year will be increased by $100.
Highway - Byron
Hathaway
Concerning the advertisement of the old Town truck, Mr. Hathaway was
asked to include a phone number for interested parties to call and include the
language that the Town reserves the right to reject any and all bids. The bids should be sealed in an envelope and
will be opened at one of the Select Board meetings. The registration, title and tax will be the responsibility of the
new owner.
Mr. Terenzini said that he felt the minimum price should be raised from
$10,000 to $12,000. He was asked why
and said that if the truck was on a dealership lot, in season, with the plow,
it would go for $15,000. The Board
decided to raise the minimum to $11,000.
Town Administrator -
Joseph Zingale Jr.
Mr. Zingale said that he had signed the State permit on behalf of the
Board with Mr. Rhodes' verbal okay for Pete's Tire Barn's water
connection. Mr. Callahan motioned to
approve Mr. Zingale signing the permit and Mr. Hall seconded the motion. All were in approval.
The question was raised as to what to do with the old transfer station
containers when the new ones arrive.
Mr. Hathaway said it is a good time to scrap them as the price of metal
is high currently. Either Israel Mac or
Hubbards will be asked to haul them away at no cost. Mr. Hathaway was asked to handle their disposal.
The proposal to turn off several of the Town's lights as a cost savings
was discussed. Mr. Zingale reported
that he and John Grace from CVPS decided on twenty-four lights to turn off. The cost to turn them back on would be $20
per light if the public felt this was needed.
Mr. Grace will report back as to the availability of replacing lights
with LED bulbs. Currently, the Town
pays about $14,000 for street lighting to CVPS for sixty-three lights. Mr. Nicholson pointed out that the savings
in turning off lights could be determined by dividing the number of lights into
$14,000 and then multiplying by the number turned off. He said there is no advantage to owning the
lights but the lights the Town already owns could be changed to LED now, with
help from a grant. Mr. Zingale will
check out the grant process.
(3)
Ray and Linda Leonard wrote a letter stating opposition to turning off
some of the Town's lights. They live on
the West Proctor Road. Mr. Rhodes asked
how soon lights could be turned back on if residents wanted them turned back
on. Mr. Zingale will find this
out. Mr. Zingale added that the LED
lights shine on a broader area and work well in cold weather.
Mr. Hathaway said there is a light at the pool that is on 24/7 and Jody
Hall will have an electrician check this out.
Police - Chief John Sly
Chief Sly weighed in on the turning off of the street lights. He said that since crimes occur in broad
daylight, lights are not a deterrent in this regard.
Chief Sly reminded the public to properly clean off their cars after a
snowfall in order to drive safely.
Recreation - Jody Hall
Mr. Hall said that he was in favor of the proposed skating rink and
would cover the use of the lights with those maintaining the rink.
He asked about the budget and was told that the whole Board had not met
as yet since there were still some subcommittees working on other departments.
The Rutland Town 6th Grade boys won the Snowball Tournament. Mr. Rhodes added that money raised for the
tournament goes into the Booster Fund.
Local Tax Stabilization
Options
Mr. Rhodes had asked the Town attorney to research tax
stabilization. Briefly, there is a ten
year maximum time for any agreement.
Such agreements do not affect the Education Property Tax Grand List, but
the Town has to make up the difference.
Agreements must be approved by the Economic Progress Council and the
plan should involve economic development and create jobs. Mr. Jim Hall passed out a report from IGE
which was a statement of taxes paid.
Mr. Hall and Mr. Terenzini said they were in favor of pursuing tax
stabilization. Mr. Callahan and Mr.
Hawley both work at GE and did not weigh in.
Mr. Rhodes said that they should wait to see how the tax appeal by GE
turns out before moving forward. He
stated that GE is bringing in more equipment which will create more jobs.
(4)
Correspondence
The Vermont Rural Studies Program from UVM sent a report that included
Town Crime and Tax information. The
Board felt more information on the criteria used to make up the report was
needed. Chief Sly will review the
report as well.
The Vermont Adult Learning Program, a State-run organization, is
requesting funding. Mr. Hall called and
talked to a representative from the Agency and told her that Rutland Town is a
gold town, which means that the Town pays in to the State more than they
receive back and he didn't feel that the Town needed to donate any more. The representative said that the request
would be retracted and in the future more discussion may take place before such
a request.
REDC is requesting $2500 which is the same as last year.
The Rutland Natural Resources Conservation District is requesting $250
and it was thought this is usually taken out of miscellaneous funding. Ms. Hyjek is to check to see if this amount
is the same as the last request and if this request has been made each
year. A motion would be in order once a
bill is received.
There was a letter from VLCT concerning renewal of contracts for HR ,
Worker's Compensation, etc. and Mr. Zingale will check out if the Town is part
of this particular program.
The Board received an invitation to the Vermont Association of the
Chiefs of Police in the Governor's ballroom on 1/12/2011.
The name of Amanda Place will change to either Lane, Drive, etc since
it will be a Town road and "Place" is reserved for private roads.
The Town has received about $661,000 from the one percent tax for sales
and about $102,000 for meals. $125,000
needs to be subtracted for the renovations to the pool and Ms. Hyjek will check
out any other monies used from this fund.
The State Department of Taxes has a coefficient of dispersion
percentage and if a town is at a ten percent or lower percentile this shows a
high level of equity. Rutland Town is
at 5.89%. The Common Level of Appraisal
is at 100.91 %.
Fire Department - Chief
Joe Denardo
Chief Denardo reported that the Town is not eligible for the Emergency
Management Grant due to deficiencies in a couple of areas. He says he will try to work on these for the
future.
(5)
The annual meeting to elect officers for the Fire Department will
either take place on 1/3/2011 or 1/10/2011at the Center Rutland Station. There are seven positions open. The current two assistant chiefs do not
intend to run again.
Chief Denardo said he would be unable to attend the next Select Board
meeting. He will meet with the Select
Board subcommittee on the Fire budget on Tuesday,12/28/2010, at 1:00 P.M.
General Budget
The Board will meet on Thursday, 12/30/2010, to discuss the General
budget. This meeting will be
warned. Since some members may not be
able to attend this meeting, more will be discussed at the next regular Board
meeting.
At 8:02 P.M., Mr. Terenzini motioned to go into executive session to
discuss pay raises. Mr. Hawley seconded
the motion. All were in approval.
The Board came out of executive session at 8:14 P.M. Mr. Hawley wished everyone a Merry
Christmas.
The meeting ended at 8:15 P.M.
______________________________ __________________
Stanley Rhodes III, Chairman Date
______________________________ __________________
James Callahan Date
______________________________ __________________
James Hall Date
______________________________ __________________
Steve Hawley Date
______________________________ __________________
Josh Terenzini Date
(6)