TOWN OF RUTLAND
SELECT BOARD MEETING
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
MINUTES:
The meeting opened at 6:45 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Board members present: Joe
Dicton, James Hall, Stanley Rhodes III and Josh Terenzini.
Review of the 2/2/2010
Minutes
Mr. Hall motioned to accept the minutes from 2/2/2010 as written. Mr. Terenzini seconded the motion. All were in approval.
Questions from the
Floor
Representatives from IVS (Information Visualization Services) were
present to make a brief presentation on their company in relation to doing the
Town maps. One representative, Harry Rouche, worked for the State in the
Property Valuation and Review Department for thirty years and another, Mike
Sheletal, has worked for IVS for eleven years and previously in Boston doing
similar work.
The advantages of changing to IVS from Russell Graphics would be
linking to the Grand List and having web site availability for the general
public. Property transfers would also be tracked. All these advantages would
mean less work for the Town office workers.
The cost for maintaining the Mini-Web would be $500 per year. The initial cost to the Town for set up and
maps would be somewhere between $3,700 and $6,300, depending on the information
received from Russell Graphics. The maps
would be maintained every year for $2,000 and this did not always happen with
Russell Graphics. Russell Graphics
charged $3,000 per year for paper maps only.
Ms. Hyjek asked if there would be a guidebook that would go with the
paper maps along with the Book and Page of deeds. This would depend on information coming from Russell Graphics.
Mr. Zingale said it would help him get a quick list of abutters to any
certain property when doing subdivisions.
Mr. Dicton asked where the extra $3,000 would come from if Russell
Graphics does not share information.
Ms. Hyjek said it would probably come from the Professional Services
account. He also asked the IVS
representatives what kind of increase in price is to be expected from year to
year and was told it would be minimal.
Mr. Dicton asked how secure the web structure was and he was told it
was a read only site and the servers are located at the IVS facility.
Mr. Zingale is to contact Russell Graphics about the proposed change.
Recreation – Jody Hall
Mr. Terenzini asked if the tennis court windshield could be secured
once again. Mr. Rhodes suggested that
next year the windshield be removed for the winter season.
SWAC (Solid Waste
Alliance Communities)
Mr. Terenzini motioned to reappoint Charlie Shields to the Solid Waste
Alliance Communities for Rutland Town and have Fred Nicholson as an
alternate. Mr. Dicton seconded the
motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Clerk/Treasurer – Marie
Hyjek
Ms. Hyjek said that she would like to have all bids, grants and
contracts be filed with the Town Clerk.
Currently, there is $6.600.05 grant money left.
The Town Reports will be delivered the week of 2/15/2010 to meet the
deadline of February 19th.
Ms. Hyjek asked if anyone would prefer to deliver copies to the families
or businesses of those to whom the report was dedicated. She said she would deliver them if not. Eleven hundred reports are being mailed out.
Checks for sewer have been cut to the City three times to help avoid
further interest for late accounts.
Ms. Hyjek passed on information to the constables concerning
certification of lights for the DMV.
The furnace at the Town office was out on Sunday, February 14th,
as reported by Bart Reczek. Johnson
Energy was notified. The second furnace
did not kick in. Johnson’s will supply
a red light that will show when the temperature drops below 50 degrees.
The next Select Board meeting will be at the school library at 6:00
P.M. Monday, March 1. 2010. Mr. Zingale
is to secure the library for this meeting.
Another check was just received from the State for the local options
tax.
The Board has a Liquor/Tobacco license to sign for the Hannaford
Supermarket.
Police Department –
Chief John Sly
Chief Sly reported that there have been several car accidents due to
the recent snow
He gave his opinion on the request from Don Chioffi for surveillance
cameras on McKinley Road and other troubled spots. He said he didn’t feel the quality of the pictures from the $300
range cameras were of much value. For example, you wouldn’t be able to read a
license plate. Once detected they would most likely be vandalized. He also expressed a concern about the right
to privacy of residents.
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Mr. Terenzini asked if Mr. Chioffi could put up his own camera and
Chief Sly said yes he could. Chief Sly
added that good cameras would cost in the thousands of dollars. Mr. Hall asked if the Board should consider
these cameras looking toward the future.
Chief Sly said there were things that were needed more, like portable
radios, and said he would ask Mr. Zingale to apply for a grant. Mr. Dicton asked that Chief Sly would talk
to Mr. Chioffi and he said he would.
Chief Sly said he could borrow a camera from the Forest Service to try
out.
Mr. Rhodes suggested that signs be put up saying that certain areas are
under video surveillance. Mr. Terenzini
said he favored this idea as well.
Chief Sly is to get with the Road Commissioner, Byron Hathaway, to order
these signs.
Mr. Terenzini reported on an incident at the Transfer Station where a
cat was found in the recycling bin with duct tape around its neck. It is unknown if the cat got in by itself or
was put there with the duct tape. The
cat was taken to the Humane Society and Chief Sly is to check out the incident.
Chief Sly asked residents to check out their credit reports to help
avoid identity theft. He also cautioned
people planning to travel out of the country to let their credit card companies
know so that purchases they make will not be barred as unusual activity.
Town Administrator –
Joseph Zingale Jr.
Mr. Zingale reported a junk vehicle complaint on Post Road. The residence has been reported in the
past. Mr. Zingale said that the amount
of vehicles is over what the State allows.
Previously, an agreement was signed by the homeowner with the Town
concerning the amount of vehicles allowed.
Stove Depot in Clarendon is involved in arbitration with the City and
REDC over rates. Mr. Zingale was asked
by the Board to check with the Town Attorney, Kevin Brown, if there would be
any liability for the Town.
Mr. Zingale sent letters to all the abutters of the land on RT 7N that
Mr. Nutting is interested in buying from the Town. One abutter asked that there be a condition that the land not be
developed or clear cut.
There are tires in a Casella container at the Transfer Station and
Casella would like their container back.
It was agreed to have Casella take the tires away for a cost of $110 to
haul and $130 a ton for disposal. Once
this is gone, the Board asked that the Highway Department put up Jersey
barriers as in the past. Mr. Zingale is
to talk to the Hubbards to see how they could handle disposal of tires in the
future. Mr. Zingale added that the
State requires that each municipality allow for the disposal of tires.
Mr. Zingale has heard from several engineers interested in taking out
proposal requests for the job of overseeing the McKinley Bridge project.
To date for this fiscal year, the Town has received $732,765.38 from
the local options tax. More businesses
are starting to file. There are
currently 1100.
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Mr. Zingale has rewritten some of the language in the Route 7 Corridor
Agreement which he hopes will be accepted.
The new language involves the following categories:
·
Curb cuts in use for
over 15 years cannot be taken away
·
Curb cuts in use less
than 15 years could be taken away as a compromise with the State
·
The statement that the
Town could pay for a business to get access to Route 7 has been removed
·
If a project is being
evaluated by the State and the State’s decision coincides with the Town’s
regulations, than that is what will be approved. However, if the State does not agree with the Town regulations,
then the Town regulations take precedence.
·
Concerning #11 on the
agreement, those already having an Act 250 permit cannot have it revoked.
A copy with the new language is to be sent to Clarendon for their
input.
Mr. Zingale is to send a letter to the City concerning a meeting with
the Red Roof Inn and the City Aldermen on their sewer bill.
Stantec took a look at the drainage problem by Seward Road and the
Green Mountain Plaza. They said some of
the pipes need to be larger and the distance between the catch basins needs to
be closer together.
Mr. Zingale received a landfill monitoring report and six of the wells
showed volatile organic compounds such as those used in solvents and
medicines. The report is going to the
State and the Town will hear back if they have concerns.
Mr. Zingale wrote up a petition to add “Richard J. DelBianco Memorial
Park” to Dewey Field. Mr. Zingale
researched where the name Dewey came from and Ella Dewey originally owned the
land. She sold the land to the Vermont
Marble Company who later sold it to Rutland Town with the condition that it
would always be used for recreation.
Mr. DelBianco’s son, Rick, said he would like the gesture of naming the
park for his father. Mr. Terenzini
motioned to add “Richard J. DelBianco Memorial Park” to Dewey Field and Mr.
Dicton seconded the motion. The motion
passed unanimously. Mr. Zingale will
look into getting a new sign.
There were eight overdue sewer notices sent out. Two have responded. Taco Bell said the land they lease was sold
to another company who never got a bill and they have since paid. Blodgett Supply did not receive a bill and
paid once contacted. Mr. Terenzini
asked if both Mr. Zingale and Mr. Lloyd were working on delinquent sewer bills
for the Red Roof Inn. Mr. Zingale said
this was because the Board had decided to have Mr. Lloyd finish the what was
owed previously and Mr. Zingale was to take over from there. There has been a misunderstanding, however,
as to how much is due the Town. Mr.
Zingale said he would reduce the amount he told the Red Roof Inn by the amount
Mr. Lloyd is trying to collect, which is a difference of about $9,000.
Mr. Dicton asked if there had been a follow-up on the logs in the flood
plain on the corner of Business Route 4 and the West Proctor Road. Mr. Zingale said he had called committee
members but it is difficult to get with Mr. Enman, the engineer.
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The 911 issue of two numbers on a business on Route 4E is still a
problem. The business originally
numbered their building as if it were an extension of Woodstock Avenue and it
is actually part of Route 4E. Mr.
Zingale spoke to the leasing agent for the owner and they have been given a
mandate to remove the old number by February 26th or be charged
$50/day, which could increase.
Correspondence/Miscellaneous
There was a discussion on the value of having VOWP (Vermont Offender
Work Program) mow the recreation fields or having someone else do it. The VOWP charges $300 per mowing. There have been some complaints as to the
quality of the work. Mr. Terenzini said
that VOWP didn’t know they were to mow at the Fire Stations. Jody Hall said that Chad Wilson could clean
up anything else that isn’t quite right.
Mr. Hall asked if the contract was sealed with VOWP. Mr. Terenzini said no, that it was possible to
look at other options. It was decided
that it could not be done any cheaper after everyone’ input.
Mr. Hall motioned to continue with the proposal from VOWP for mowing
the recreation fields. Mr. Terenzini
seconded the motion. The motion passed
unanimously.
Mr. Hall read a letter of support he wrote to Representative Jim McNeil
concerning the proposed new rules to reduce the unfunded mandate liability to
municipalities.
The board received a letter from Linda Leonard regarding the rail yard.
The Vermont Country Store was thanked for their donation.
Storm water information was received from the State and the Town may
have to comply in the future, which will affect the businesses in Town
financially.
Town use values for land, i.e. the price per acre, were received from
the Department of Taxes for 2010.
Mr. Hall motioned to approve the Liquor and Tobacco license for
Hannaford’s Supermarket. Mr. Terenzini
seconded the motion. All were in
approval.
Mr. Hall motioned to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Terenzini seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting ended at 8:20 P.M.
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