TOWN OF RUTLAND
SELECT
BOARD MEETING
AUGUST 18, 2009
MINUTES:
The meeting opened at 7:00
P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Board members present: Richard DelBianco, Joseph Dicton, James
Hall, Stanley Rhodes III and Josh Terenzini.
Review of the 8/4/2009 Minutes
Mr. Hall corrected the name
of Earth Waste Systems on page four.
Mr. Hall motioned to accept the minutes with this change. Mr. Dicton seconded the motion. The motion
passed unanimously.
Questions from the Floor
Howard Burgess, Town Lister,
wanted to update the Board on the appraisal grievances. The grievance hearings are complete and numbered
about 370. Mr. Burgess and Mr. Davis, another Town Lister, have been working
evenings and Saturdays reviewing the notes and determining a possible
outcome. The market on residential
property has been declining and some people brought in appraisals they had done
that reflected this. Therefore, the
Listers are exploring whether or not to do an across the board adjustment to
all residential properties, yet Mr. Burgess said that would be concerned about
the CLA (Common Level Appraisal) if this is done. Mr. Dicton asked if there
were commercial properties that grieved and Mr. Burgess said there were but the
commercial properties did not escalate over the last few years like the
residential properties.
Mr. Burgess has been talking
to the Town attorney, Kevin Brown, and the State concerning adjustments.
Notices need to be sent to taxpayers on the outcome of their grievances. If an across the board change is made to
residential properties, then there would need to be a town wide mailing and
everyone would have fourteen days to appeal again, thereby extending the
waiting time for finalizing the Grand List and the ability to print tax
bills. Any grievances after a town wide
adjustment would have to be handled only by the Listers or the Town would have
to pay the Wright Company more money.
The current best guess on the timing of printing tax bills is three to
five weeks.
Recreation – Rick DelBianco
Mr. DelBianco wanted to
thank Burt McMahon for donating his time to install shelves at Northwood.
Chad Benz, a former major
league player, wants to have a clinic at Northwood starting Sunday, 9/6/2009,
that will last about six weeks until the weather turns. Mr. DelBianco asked for
approval to do this. He also asked if
the usual $150 fee should be charged.
The Board was agreeable to both items.
There will be a PTO Golf
Tournament fund raiser and the Recreation Department is looking for
player. It will be held Monday.
9/14/2009. They are also looking for
prizes to be donated, for example, autographed balls and bats.
Mr. DelBianco said that he
reminded the Littler Softball League that they still owed $1500 to the Town for
use of Dewey Field.
The Rutland Town Pool has
been closed and many residents were not pleased with this. However, most of the lifeguards and other
workers were getting ready to head back to school so there would not have been
enough workers to keep it open another week.
Someone broke into the pool
and removed the cover on Monday night, 8/17.
Luckily, nothing appeared to be damaged. Mr. Rhodes suggested that Jim Hall and Josh Terenzini take a walk
through to check things out.
Soccer sign-ups are in
progress and soccer will start up the week of 8/24. It is early this year due to being under the guidance of Rutland
City/
Mr. DelBianco said he would
hold a close up meeting was soon as all Recreation Commissioners are available.
Mr. DelBianco said he would
put in his resignation as soon as another person is ready to take over. He said
that the other Commissioners would probably take turns coming to the Select
Board meetings.
Solid Waste Alternative Communities (SWAC)– Charlie
Shields
No meeting; no report.
Rutland Regional Transportation Council – Charlie
Shields
No meeting; no report.
Rutland Regional Planning Commission – Fred Nicholson
No meeting; no report.
(2)
Highway Department – Byron Hathaway
Mr. Hathaway reported that
they have cleaned up after paving and there are still a couple of drainage
projects to be taken care of and then they will be on general maintenance.
The Park and Ride signs are
available to be put up on Route 4 and in the parking lot.
Mr. Hathaway has to work on
grant paperwork and financials for the bridge on McKinley Avenue.
The Select Board had invited
all winter maintenance sub-contractors to the meeting to discuss issue and
routes. The Hubbard Brothers were
unable to attend but Tony Flory, The Quirk Brothers and Mr. McKirryher were present.
There was a lively
discussion concerning the changing of routes.
The Quirk Brothers did not want to change routes after forty years. Mr. Hathaway said he felt they used too much
salt and that it would be easier for sub-contractors to plow closer to their
own home area. He also said his
decision as Road Commissioner should stand since the taxpayers had voted him in
to run the Highway Department and he doesn’t’ think the Select Board needs to
micro manage. Mr. Shields spoke up as a
taxpayer and said he agreed with Mr. Hathaway.
Don Quirk said one reason he
didn’t want to take over Post Road was because of past issues with well
contamination. Mr. Zingale said that
there should no longer be an issue since those wells at risk are now on public
water. Mr. Quirk said he was expecting
more reports from Mr. Hathaway during the last winter season and they only got
one at the end of the season which he felt was too late. He also said that he felt that Mr. Hathaway
had an agenda to buy more town trucks and hire fewer sub-contractors.
Mr. Rhodes said he would
like to meet with Mr. Hathaway and Mr. Hall at a later date to discuss the
issue further. Mr. DelBianco said he
felt the discussion should have been in executive session.
Fire Department
There was no one present to
represent the Fire Department.
Planning Commission – Bill Matteson
Mr. Matteson reported that
Ann Marie Dickinson is in the process of a sub-division on Route 3 and that the
Planning Commission is planning on a site visit on Thursday, August 20th,
prior to their regular meeting.
(3)
Police Department – Chief John Sly
Chief Sly reported that the
annual roller ski climb was held and there was a good turn-out.
He reported that there was a
dog bite incident on 8/17 and that the dog involved has had four other such
incidents. The dog was off leash and
not under the owner’s control on each occasion. Chief Sly is investigating and will prepare a report for the
Select Board along with his recommendation.
The dog owner lives in Wallingford and Chief Sly said that it is
possible for the Town to go to Superior Court to get an injunction to bar the
dog from Rutland Town.
Chief Sly said he received a
letter from a Town resident expressing a concern about a conflict of interest
if Chief Sly investigates a city officer.
Mr. Sly said that there is help available to the Town in such cases from
the State Police and the Sheriff’s Department.
They are particularly helpful in major crime cases as they have more
resources.
Mr. Dicton asked about the
dog shooting in the Town. Chief Sly
said that he was not on duty the evening of the incident but that an
official report will be given to the
Board after an investigation.
Officer Faignant reminded
people to watch their driving speed and mentioned in particular the newly paved
roads.
Mr. Rhodes asked that
Officer Dumas attend an occasional Select Board meeting.
Mr. Hall asked who to
contact if he felt someone was burning without a permit. Chief Sly said the Town Police could come
and check to see if a permit was issued.
Mr. Flory asked who was in
charge of closing the gates at
Northwood Mr. Rhodes said it was
typically the last coach off the field.
Mr. Flory said the gates are not being locked and people are bringing in
their brush at night.
Town Clerk/Treasurer – Marie Hyjek
Ms. Hyjek reported that the
Town received $184,000 from the State for the Local Options Tax for the second
quarter.
Mr. Lloyd has collected
money for delinquent taxes reducing the amount from $269,000 to $60,000.
The tax bills are on hold
pending the finalization of a new Grand List.
Ms. Hyjek has worked with the bank to secure a loan to operate the Town
in the meantime.
The Herald contract is on
hold until Ms. Hyjek can get together with Mr. Terenzini.
(4)
Ms. Hyjek has talked to the
CPA that Mr. Dicton recommended for Town Audits. It was decided that this year is not the time to change
auditors. However, Ms. Hyjek said that
it could be looked at for the next year if the Select Board so chooses.
The cost for the Town audit
with A.M. Peisch is $14,300 with another $200 possible out of pocket
expense. The cost for the School audit
is $11,000.
Mr. Hall motioned to approve
the audit with A.M. Peisch and Mr. DelBianco seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Ms. Hyjek had provided some
figures to Mr. Dicton on the amount of money available to upgrade the Transfer
Station. There is about $2,000 which
won’t cover the major items that need addressing. Mr. Dicton has a list of smaller items that Mr. Zingale will put
in the Rutland Herald for bids. Mr.
Zingale added that the rails at the Transfer Station that were discussed at the
last meeting do not fall under OSHA regulations per the State. Mr. Dicton said he would like to check with
the insurance company on this.
Town Administrator – Joseph Zingale Jr.
Mr. Zingale provided the
Board with paperwork that the State would like the Town to sign off on
concerning the construction that was done on Route 7N. Mr. Zingale advised that this could be
liability as the Town could be sued if anything went wrong in that area. It was discussed that perhaps the paperwork
could be signed but with a written disclaimer.
The State does not have any
Planning grants available this year.
Mr. Zingale received a
request from Hans Ettinger for a street sign for his development off the East
Pittsford Road. The Town does not
usually assign one unless there are at least three houses on the road and in
this case there are only two. The two
homes are having trouble with UPS deliveries.
Mr. Zingale also said that Mr. Ettinger does not want “Place” after the
name of the street even though this is typical of streets that are privately
owned or unapproved. Mr. Ettinger asked
for the Name of Thistle Hill. Mr.
Zingale said that for 911 purposes it is considered part of the East Pittsford
Road. The Board felt that there was no
need to deviate from the usual procedures at this time. Chief Sly said he thought that the residents
could name the street themselves at their own expense.
There will be a ribbon
cutting on Thursday, 8/27, at 10:30 A.M. at the new Hillside Market owned by
Mr. Dicton and the Board is invited.
The Chamber of Commerce will also be there. Mr. Dicton said he will double check on the date and time with
the Chamber.
Mr. Zingale asked the Board about
whether he should send out the sewer allocation letters as discussed at the
last meeting. MR. Rhodes said he would
prefer to wait on a decision when the whole Board is present.
(5)
Mr. Zingale spoke to the
Hubbards about the proposal from New England Quality Services of a 60/40 split
with the Town on metal revenue. He said
the Hubbards may respond in their yearly contract proposal for re-cycling
service in October.
Chris Wilk has submitted a
flood hazard application but needs more information on it per Peter Andrews of
Stantec.
Mr. Zingale reported that
the Town has received the first payment on the sewer non-payment issue from
REDC. Mr. Zingale added that he would
like to apologize for his wording at the last meeting concerning this and said
he did not mean to offend anyone.
A letter was received from
Mike and Linda Leonard who live on the West Proctor Road. They are having problems with water drainage
into their driveway and garage. Mr.
Hathaway said this is caused by wheel ruts funneling the water in their
direction. A berm was tried in the
front of his driveway but Mr. Leonard didn’t like it and Mr. Hathaway removed
it. Mr. Dicton suggested that Mr. Hathaway
get together with Mr. Leonard again to work out a solution.
Mr. Zingale reported on
research he did for an eagle to put on top of the monument in from of the Town
office. The least expensive quality
eagle is bronze, six feet high and would cost about $3,000. The Board said to put it on hold for now as
fund raising may be needed. Mr.
Matteson suggested a marble finial and Mr. DelBianco will check on the price of
this.
Correspondence
Dues need to be paid to the
Vermont Coalition of Municipalities.
Mr. Hall said he felt that this organization has been helpful in keeping
the tax rate down. Mr. Hall motioned to
pay the dues to the Vermont Coalition of Municipalities and Mr. Dicton seconded
the motion. The motion passed
unanimously.
The Board reviewed the rules
for hiring a Recreation Commissioner.
Mr. DelBianco motioned to approve
sending a letter of approval signed by Chairman Rhodes to The Bus for adding
another vehicle. Mr. Hall seconded the motion.
The motion passed unanimously.
The Board received a timber
harvest update from Bob Burt. Mr.
Zingale said that Mr. Burt would be in to see the Board in one month.
The Board received an offer
to possibly lower the Town’s interest rate on its sewer loan but Ms. Hyjek said
she didn’t think there were enough payments left to bother with
refinancing. She will check to see just
how many payments there are left.
The State is contemplating
having a grant fund for people to repair their septic systems.
(6)
John Sly is to investigate a
claim that $250 in traffic revenue is owed to the City.
Mr. DelBianco heard from a
resident on West Ridge Terrace that the pavement is breaking up on that
road. Mr. Hathaway said it was paved
tow seasons ago.
Mr. Zingale reminded the
Board that a new procedure needs to be formed for collecting sewer revenue from
the Airport Industrial Park. In order
to do this a meeting should be set up with Rutland City as the City reads the
meters. The Board authorized Mr.
Zingale to set something up.
Mr. Hall motioned to end the
meeting. Mr. Dicton seconded the
motion. The motion passed
unanimously. The meeting ended at 9:05
P.M.
(7)