Select Board Minutes 12-27-18

Publish date: December 28, 2018
Select Board 12-27-18Download

TOWN OF RUTLAND

SELECT BOARD MEETING – OPEN MEETING RUTLAND TOWN MUNICIPAL BUILDING

181 US BUSINESS ROUTE 4, CENTER RUTLAND, VT  05736

DECEMBER 27th, 2018

  • Board members present: Mary Ashcroft, Sharon Russell, Joe Denardo, JP Faignant
  • Meeting opened at 6:00 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance

Approval of Orders

The Board approved the orders

Approval of Select Board Minutes for 12/11/18

  • Mr. Faignant moved to approve the minutes, Ms. Russell made second to the motion. The motion passed 3-0 with Mr. Denardo abstaining.

New Business: Board to meet with Devon Neary from the RRPC regarding grant opportunities;

  • Mr. Neary presented the board with details about a planning grant opportunity for better connections.
  • Discussed what projects would qualify for this grant. A pre application conference call is required prior to applying. Bill will participate in this call on 12/28.
  • Application needs to be turned in by January 31st.
  • A 10% match is required.

Howard Burgess and Marcia Chioffi Town Listers:

  • Mr.Burgess provided the board with follow up information from a previous meeting when the board inquired about an over spend in the listers salary line for FY 2018.
  • An increase in the work load caused them to work more hours.
  • Ms. Chioffi reviewed the roles each of them have in their office.
  • A request was made to increase the rates for the listers salaries. Mr. Faignant asked for them to bring a proposal to the board for consideration.
  • Mr. Faignant moved to update the listers salary line to $60,000. Ms. Russell made a second to the motion.  The motion passed4-0.
  • Ms. Chioffi presented the board with a list of listers responsibilities.
  • Mr.Burgess reviewed the expenditure for appraisal update. The vendor who completes this for us has had an increase in costs. Mr. Burgess asked the amount be increased to $6500 from $6000.  Mr. Faignant moved to approve the increase.  Ms. Russell made a second to the motion. The motion passed 4-0.
  • Mr.Burgess does not expect an increase in the cost to update the property maps.
  • Ms.Chioffi informed the board as a justice of the peace she qualifies to be a notary at no cost to the town.

Bill Sweet Administrative Assistant to the Select Board:

  • Presented the board with a summary of a grant award received by the Police Department
  • Presented the board with a contract from Northstar Fireworks for a fireworks display on July 4th. Mr. Faignant moved to authorize Ms. Ashcroft to sign the contract on behalf of the board. Ms. Russell made a second to the motion. The motion passed 4-0.

Kirsten Hathaway Rutland Town Clerk/Treasurer:

  • Discussed the board meeting with Andrew from A.M. Peisch on January 8th to review the recent town audit.
  • Reminder the office will close early on Monday and will be closed all day Tuesday for new years.
  • 2019 dog licenses will be available after January 2nd.
  • Anew tool will be added to the website soon. An anonymous reporting tool for issues with dogs will be available. It will send a notice to the Town Clerk and the Town Police Chief.

Byron Hathaway Rutland Town Road Commissioner:

  • Updated the board on a minor accident involving one of the town highway trucks. There were no injuries and only minor damage.
  • Reviewed recent correspondence received from the Solid Waste District on Gleason Road.They are reviewing a recent construction project and upgrades to the culvert running under Gleason Road.
  • Updated the board on the progress of the logging operation at Northwood Park.
  • The transfer station has a section set aside for residents to drop off Christmas trees. The highway crew will chip tress dropped off.
  • A grant reimbursement has been submitted to the state, we are waiting for the funds to come back from the state.

Frank Cioffi Rutland Town Fire Chief:

  • Reported there has been a decrease in calls lately
  • Austin Pearo has recently been certified as a Level 1 firefighter and the chief is asking for him to be accepted as a full member. Mr. Faignant moved to approve him, Ms. Russell made a second to the motion. The motion passed 4-0.

New Business: Board to discuss door locks at the Center Rutland Fire Station;

  • There have been issues with the door locks at the Center Rutland fire station. 1 is currently inoperable.
  • 2 new locks need to be purchased and relocating the 1 existing working lock to the door on the East side of the building.
  • Ms. Russell moved to approve purchasing new locks for the Center Rutland fire station for approximately $1500.  Mr. Denardo made a second to the motion. Bill will contact the vendor who gave the quote to get an updated price. The motion passed 4-0.

Ed Dumas Rutland Town Police Chief:

  • Mr. Dumas provided the board with recent calls for service.
  • Presented the board with updated language for a mandatory retirement age.
  • Mr. Faignant moved to approve the preferred language presented. Ms. Russell made a second to the motion. Ms. Ashcroft asked if the Police committee had seen it,Mr. Dumas indicated it has been discussed. The motion passed 4-0.

John Paul Faignant Town Health Officer:

  • Presented the board with letters to be sent to the 3 property owners from the previous Board of Health meeting giving them the decision in the form of an order.
  • Ms. Russell moved to have Ms. Ashcroft sign as the Clerk of the Board of Health. Mr. Denardo made a second to the motion. After discussion and review the motion passed 3-0 with Mr. Faignant abstaining.

Committee meeting updates:

  • Reviewed a recent meeting of the Town Report committee. Reminder to department  heads individual reports are due the 28th.
  • Reviewed a recent meeting of the Finance Committee. More will be discussed when the auditor is able to attend a board meeting.

Old Business; Board to review Draft of FY 2019 budget:

  • The rate for the second constable needs to be adjusted to reflect the 3% raise. The total budget line will not be affected, just the rate.
  • Mr. Denardo suggested the salary line for the Select Board stay unchanged and just adjust the rate for the next budget.
  • Kirsten presented an activity log of her activities over the last 2 week period. Discussed her request to allocate funds for an additional person for the clerks office. It would require an additional allocation of approximately $18,000.
    • No progress has been made on finding someone from VT seniors programs to help on an interim basis.
  • Reviewed remaining lines on current draft. Health insurance was the biggest remaining change due to employee changes at town hall.
  • Reviewed the reason for changes in the new equipment lines.
  • Mr. Faignant moved to approve the draft of the new budget as reviewed and discussed tonight. Mr. Denardo made a second to the motion. The motion passed 4-0.

New Business; Board to discuss staffing at the Transfer Station;

  • Mr. Faignant moved to appoint Larry Delleveneri as a new transfer station attendant nd to promote Bill Bauer to the Transfer Station Manager. Ms. Russell made a econd to the motion. The motion passed 4-0.  

Mr. Faignant moved to enter executive session for pending litigation with Mr. Bill Sweet attending. Mr. Denardo made a second to the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The board entered executive session at 7:22 PM.

Upon leaving executive session, with no action being taken, Mr. Faignant made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Denardo made a second to the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Mr. Bill Sweet

  _______________________________________________

 Joshua Terenzini, Chairman

  _______________________________________________

 Mary Ashcroft, Clerk

 _______________________________________________
John Paul Faignant

 _______________________________________________

Sharon Russell

  _______________________________________________

  Joe Denardo

Center Rutland, VT. 

Rutland Town News

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