Select Board Minutes 12-12-19

Select Board Minutes 12-12-19

TOWN OF RUTLAND SELECT BOARD OPEN MEETING

RUTLAND TOWN CENTER RUTLAND FIRE STATION

619 US BUSINESS ROUTE 4, CENTER RUTLAND, VT  05736

DECEMBER 12^th, 2019

 

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

Mr. Denardo moved to enter executive session for a personnel matter. Ms. Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0. The board entered executive session at 6:01 PM.

The board came out of executive session at 6:25 PM with no action being taken.

The board is meeting to review, discuss and approve budget proposals for 2020 – 2021.

1. The highway budget will be reviewed first. Town Road Commissioner Byron Hathaway was present to answer questions on the proposed budget.
   1. Hathaway revised some of his projections since the committee meeting and has reduced some proposed spending in paving. He has removed $50,000 from paving and this reduction will not affect the paving plan.
   2. Faignant moved to approve the budget to include the changes proposed by Mr. Hathaway. Ms. Ashcroft seconded the motion.
      1. Discussed items affecting engineering services, mainly sidewalk projects.
      2. Spending some carryover money and grant income is included.

• The motion passed 5-0.

4. The fire department budget will be reviewed. Town Fire Chief Chris Clark was present to answer questions on the proposed budget.
   1. Faignant moved to approve the budget. Ms. Ashcroft seconded the motion.
      1. Mr. Clark requested a change in the name of a budget line from SCBA maintenance to equipment maintenance to more accurately reflect the use of the account.
      2. The motion passed 5-0.
   2. The recreation budget will be reviewed. Recreation director Mr. Mike Rowe was present to answer questions on the proposed budget.
      1. Faignant moved to approve the budget. Ms. Ashcroft seconded the motion.
         1. There were no questions from the board.
         2. The motion passed 5-0.
5. The police budget will be reviewed.
   1. Faignant moved to approve as presented. Ms. Ashcroft seconded the motion.
      1. There was a budget decrease due to the retirement of the School Resource Officer John Sly.
      2. Discussed any changes which could be made to the part time officer position.

• The overtime line was increased to allow some flexibility in hours.

1. The motion passed 5-0.

5. The general budget will be reviewed. Town Clerk and Treasurer Kirsten Hathaway was present to answer questions from the board.
   1. Reviewed various line items in the general budget
      1. Discussed the health officer proposed budget. There are some new responsibilities and reporting requirements for that coming year which will require substantial time.
      2. Discussed increasing the budget for office help for the Clerk & Treasurer office.
         1. Hathaway told the board of new reporting requirements from the state and some tasks are not being done on a timely fashion as some of the reasons for the need of an additional person.
         2. Faignant moved to keep the office help line as it is with no increase. Ms. Russell seconded the motion. Discussed the expenditure during this fiscal year, of $147. Ms. Hathaway started it is difficult to bring in someone when needed with a small budget. The motion passed 5-0.

• Transfer station manager Larry Dellveneri was present to discuss the transfer station budget.
  1. Faignant spoke on the increase to the recycling costs, due to recycling costing money to dispose of rather than being an income source. Also, new parkas will be purchased from that budget.
  2. A 3% wage increase was also applied to their salary line.

1. Reviewed needs for the municipal town hall building. The building maintenance line will come down from years past due to major renovations being completed.
2. Discussed upcoming stormwater projects as recommended by Andres Torizzo from Watershed Consulting. There are some projects which will need to be completed this coming fiscal year.
3. Reviewed insurance costs and projections. Costs were lower last year than expected but are expected to go up this year with the addition of the new police officer.

• The Planning Commission budget will remain the same
• The line for costs related to The Circle is increasing slightly due to needing to attract and compensate a new editor.

1. Most other remaining lines are level funded.
2. Discussed again the additional office help for the Clerk and Treasurer office. Mr. Terenzini suggested increasing the line item to $4000. Ms. Ashcroft moved to increase office help to $4000 and decrease building maintenance from the proposed $30,000 to $28,000. Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-1 with Mr. Faignant voting against.
3. After all adjustments the increase over last year is $107,666 which equates to a 3.92% increase.

• Mr. Faignant moved to approve the general budget. Ms. Ashcroft seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.

6. Ashcroft moved to approve all 5 budgets. Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.

Ms. Russell moved to adjourn. Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0 and the meeting adjourned at 7:45 PM

 

Respectfully submitted, Mr. Bill Sweet

 

Joshua C. Terenzini, Chairman

Mary Ashcroft, Clerk

John Paul Faignant

Joseph Denardo

Sharon Russell

 

Center Rutland, VT.