Select Board Minutes 12-22-2020

Publish date: December 23, 2020

Select Board 12-22-2020

TOWN OF RUTLAND SELECT BOARD OPEN MEETING

HELD VIA PUBLICALLY ACCESSABLE CONFERENCE CALL LINE

DECEMBER 22nd, 2020

Out of an abundance of caution around the covid-19 virus, this meeting was held via a conference call line which was made publicly available for anyone to call into.

  • Board members present Mary Ashcroft, Joe Denardo, John Paul Faignant, Sharon Russell and Aaron Jones
  • Meeting opened at 6:00 P.M.
  • Members of the Public Present: Lydia Flynn, Michael Carlson, Chris Howland, Howard Burgess

Approval of Orders

The Board members will approve the orders as they come into the office.

Approval of Select Board Minutes for December 8th:

  • Ms. Russell moved to approve the minutes of the 6PM meeting; Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-0.
  • Mr. Denardo moved to approve the minutes of the 430PM meeting; Ms. Russell second the motion. The motion passed 4-0.
  • Ms. Russell moved to approve the minutes of the 5PM meeting; Mr. Denardo seconded the motion the motion passed 4-0.
  • Mr. Jones abstained from the vote because he was not eligible to vote at those meetings.

Questions from the floor, public comment:

  • Town Lister Howard Burgess discussed a spelling inconsistency with Conner Drive. Some maps have it spelled Connor and some have it Conner. The correct spelling is “er” and goes back a long time. Mr. Burgess contacted the Vermont 911 board and they stated it needed action by the Select Board to correct it.
    • Mr. Faignant moved to have the spelling corrected to Conner. Ms. Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.

Bill Sweet Administrative Assistant to the Select Board:

  1. Provided an updated meeting schedule and committee agenda items
  2. Provided a list of Municipal Planning Grants awards from around Vermont, including the Town of Rutland.
  3. Discussed a letter from VT AOT about a change in delivery of the certificate of highway mileage.
  4. Discussed a letter from Rutland High School about their scholarship award process for the end of this school year.

Kari Clark Rutland Town Clerk/Treasurer:

  1. The auditors were in the office this morning to go over the audit. It should be finalized soon. The report should be available for the board to review in a couple of weeks.
  2. Followed up on the previous discussion of establishing a transfer station depreciation account. She has spoken with TD Bank and Ms. Clark is asking for a discussion to clarify the process and wording to properly establish a cap on the fund. Ms. Ashcroft also suggested involving the auditor for input.
  3. Discussed a recent conversation with the school supervisory union, they had asked what date the town was thinking of for pre-town meeting.
    1. Ms. Ashcroft discussed the date with school board member Lynette Gallipo. They had discussed it being Tuesday January 19th. Ms. Russell moved to approve this as the date and to have it be a virtual meeting. Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. The meeting will have options to allow participants to submit questions live through email or using meeting functions on zoom. The motion passed 5-0.

Barbara Noyes-Pulling Rutland Town Planning Commission Chair:

  1. A copy of the site survey from the archaeological area on the Thomas property has been received as well as additional supporting information. Mr. Faignant moved to have the map put on file in the office, but not allow copies to be made. Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
  2. Discussed the recently awarded Municipal Planning Grant. The information was sent around to the board members. The award is for $13,500 with a match from the town of $1350. Mr. Denardo moved to accept the grant award and authorize Ms. Ashcroft to sign electronically on behalf of the board. Ms. Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
    1. The grant allows for planning and engineering services. A complete survey will be done, as well as assembling a list of required permits and identifying historically significant items to be included.
    2. An agreement with the Rutland Regional Planning Commission will need to be drawn up since they will be administering the grant.

Mike Rowe Rutland Town Recreation Director:

  1. Mr. Rowe was not present but passed along holiday wishes.

Byron Hathaway Rutland Town Road Commissioner:

  1. Two grant application have been submitted for a culvert replacement and the road erosion inventory project.
  2. Clean up continues after the recent storm. The sidewalk leading up to Home Depot from the Mobil station is difficult to clear. Snowplows for Mobil and VTrans have piled a lot of snow in the area and it won’t be cleared right away.
  3. Sidewalks along Cold River Road and in Center Rutland have been cleared as best as can be done with the amount of the snow received. There are a few that have not been cleared yet, but they will be soon.
  4. Mr. Denardo discussed the guardrails which were approved at the last meeting for the intersection of Post Road. He supports not installing the guardrail based on comments from the report which stated the guardrail was not appropriate for what the intended purpose is. Mr. Denardo moved to reverse the decision of installing guardrails and focus on the recommended signage. Mr. Jones seconded the motion.
    • Ms. Russell moved to table the discussion. Mr. Faignant seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-1 with Mr. Denardo voting against the motion.
    • Mr. Faignant discussed some information he has reviewed from the NTSB on guardrail impacts at a perpendicular fashion. He stated it can lead to more cars flipping causing more injury to the vehicle occupants.
    • Mr. Hathaway said the landowner was adamant about a guardrail. The signage has been ordered and will be installed as soon as it can be. Mr. Hathaway recommended to wait on installing the guardrail.
  5. Mr. Denardo asked for Highway Committee meeting to discuss a previous road project as well as some other topics. This will be scheduled in the next few weeks.

Mr. Denardo moved to enter executive session with Town Attorney Kevin Brown to discuss pending litigation and legal advice from town council. Ms. Russell seconded the motion. The board entered executive session at 6:39 PM.

The board came out of executive session at 7:19 PM with no action to be taken.

Chris Clark Rutland Town Fire Chief:

  1. There have been several calls in the last few weeks, and the department participated in a recent Toys for Tots parade.
  2. Mr. Faignant moved to suspend the RTFD bylaws for the purpose of not requiring an annual meeting. Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. Chief Clark said he has discussed it with the officers, and they are ok serving another year. He will notify the entire membership. The motion passed 5-0.

Ed Dumas Rutland Town Police Chief:

  1. Recent calls for service were provided via email to the board.
  2. Discussed discontinuing the Omya contract for the upcoming year. This was discussed at a recent Police Committee meeting and the committee is recommending discontinuing it. Mr. Faignant moved to not renew the contract. Ms. Russell seconded the motion. Ms. Ashcroft reviewed the origin and intended benefit of the contract. The motion passed 5-0.
  3. Discussed a recent award of a STOP grant. Chief Dumas said this will be used primarily by Officer Houle. It covers the position plus 3 hours of overtime. The grant is for $24,990. It requires a $8189 match with in-kind donations able to contribute toward this. Mr. Faignant moved to approve. Ms. Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
  4. The department will soon be shifting its reporting software to be in line with changes coming to the state and to also save money.

Committee meeting updates:

  1. Police Committee minutes were reviewed.

John Paul Faignant Town Health Officer:

  1. Clerk’s office procedures are working well and there is nothing to change currently.

Update on the project list:

  1. Reviewed the project list. Several items were completed, and a new list will be created.

New Business Board to review Emergency Management Plan:

  1. Town Emergency Management Director Marty Wasserman had requested an update to our plan due to the change in the Chair position.
    1. Mr. Denardo moved to update the plan. Mr. Jones seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.

New Business Board to discuss designating all town employees as essential:

  1. Discussed the origin of the topic, a question from a town resident. Mr. Faignant said based on what he has read, and by definitions, all town employees except for the Select Board members themselves should be considered essential.
  2. Mr. Faignant moved to include the transfer station employees, and all other town employees are essential. Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. After a discussion of who is essential, the motion passed 5-0.

Ms. Ashcroft wished all town residents, town employees and everyone watching a happy holiday.

Mr. Faignant moved to adjourn. Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:39 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Mr. Bill Sweet

 
Mary Ashcroft, Chair
 
Joseph Denardo, Clerk
 
John Paul Faignant
 
Sharon Russell
 
Aaron Jones

 

Center Rutland, VT.

Rutland Town News

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