Select Board Minutes 3-30-2021

Publish date: March 31, 2021

Select Board 3-30-2021

TOWN OF RUTLAND SELECT BOARD OPEN MEETING

HELD VIA PUBLICALLY ACCESSABLE CONFERENCE CALL LINE

MARCH 30th, 2021

 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.

  • Meeting opened at 6:00 P.M.
  • Board members present Mary Ashcroft, Sharon Russell, Joe Denardo, John Paul Faignant and Don Chioffi
  • Members of the public present Greg Cox, Mike Carlson, Stephen Wilk, Howard Burgess, Jim Scholtz, Linda Flynn, Larry Dellveneri, Keith Whitcomb, Andres Torizzo, Aaron Jones

New Business Board to meet with Doug Richardson and Kevin Walker Regarding a Proposed Housing Project

  1. Mr. Richardson reviewed a presentation showing similar projects they have developed around New England and discussed the type of project they are proposing to build in Rutland Town, off Middle Road.
  2. They are proposing to purchase approximately 140 acres with only about 8% being developed.
  3. 5 buildings, 260 units with 400 parking spaces is proposed.
    • 28 1 Bedroom and 24 2 Bedroom per building
    • 140 1 Bedroom and 120 2 Bedroom total for the project
  4. They expect a low population of school age children, typically about 8%. This is based on demographic data from their 4 other project sites.
  5. 10 Full time positions would be needed, filled from hiring area residents.
  6. Discussed possible traffic concerns created in the area. Mr. Richardson said a comprehensive traffic study will be completed.
  7. Discussed why the project would be good for Rutland Town. This is targeted to professionals in the area, such as the medical center, and manufacturing facilities. This type of project can allow Rutland Town to attract and retain professionals. This lines up with initiatives the State has started with people moving here to work remotely.
  8. Discussed vacancy statistics in their other projects. Mr. Richardson said they are at about 0%, with waiting lists for people to move in.
  9. A local engineer and attorney have been retained to assist with completing the Act 250 process. They expect the application to be filed within the next 90 days.
  10. Mr. Chioffi asked the developers to make sure they refer to the project being in Rutland Town, and not referring to Rutland generically. Mr. Chioffi encouraged them to discuss their project with the City of Rutland Fire Chief as well.
  11. The presentation will be available in Bill’s office for anyone who could not view it.

Approval of Orders

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

Approval of Select Board Minutes for March 16th:

  1. Mr. Denardo moved to accept the minutes. Mr. Chioffi seconded the motion. After additions were made and notated on the copy to be signed, the motion passed 4-0.

New Business Board to meet with Andres Torizzo from Watershed Consulting

  1. A deadline of April 1st needs to be met to submit a phosphorous control plan. This is a required filing under the MS4 permit.
  2. There are 2 forms, a Notice of Intent and the MS4 annual report.
  3. Additional projects should be rolled into the existing MS4 permit. They are Curtis Crossing, the Wynnridge Development, and the Town Garage. This will save the town money in the future and reduce paperwork processing.
  4. Discussed rolling additional projects in Northwood Park into the operational Storm Water permit. Mr. Torizzo indicated he thought they would be, after their initial approval.
  5. The documents to be signed were provided to all board members. Mr. Denardo moved to approve the documents and authorize the chair to sign on behalf of the board. Mr. Chioffi seconded the motion. Mr. Chioffi asked if this information was shared with others within the Moonbrook Watershed. Mr. Torizzo indicated they do some crossover but the plan for Rutland City is separate. Mr. Torizzo indicated there may be some grant funding available for future projects, including a town master storm water plan, which could be beneficial. The motion passed 4-0.
  6. Additional information will be discussed with Mr. Hathaway and Mr. Sweet about the future projects and possible grant funding.

New Business, Board to meet with Kyle Mason, State Forester regarding the Forest Management Plan

  1. These plans were developed at the request of the town. The plans are required to be filed by April 1st, 2021.
  2. There are 2 lots, the McCune Lot and the Mead Lot. Mr. Mason suggested letting the McCune Lot continue to grow as harvesting took place recently. There are some Ash trees, which are a concern for the Emerald Ash borer, but there is a low volume of them. The Emerald Ash borer has been found in West Rutland near the lots. The current plan is not to harvest them. The Mead lot was harvested in 2011. There are 2 stand of trees, one stand has regrown with hardwood trees despite it being expected to regrow pine trees. The plan suggests harvesting the hardwood tress to encourage regrowth of pine in the area.
  3. Mr. Denardo moved to accept the forest management plan as presented. Ms. Russell seconded the motion. Mr. Denardo asked when the ideal time to harvest the timber would be. Mr. Mason said between 2022 and 2028. It would ideally be done before the trees produce the seeds.  Discussed timing the harvest to market. Mr. Mason said that is a difficult thing to predict. Some more work will need to be done to mark it and mark roads.  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 the list of 2021 Select Board committee assignments. This has been distributed to all department heads.
  3. Reviewed the state statute regarding Health Officer appointments. It’s a 3-year term and will be up in August of 2021.
  4. Discussed the disbursement of funds from the Federal Government for Covid relief. No new information has been received since the last meeting.

New Business Board to review for approval the tax map maintenance proposal.

  1. The vendor the town has used for the past several years is not able to be used any longer. A new vendor, CAI Technologies, has given us a proposal for $2450. This is the same cost as in years past. There are some additional services they offer, which would allow us to put a lot of information online and make research easier. This was not included in our current budget. Mr. Burgess discussed the process they will go through to update our maps and move our information over. Mr. Chioffi moved to approve the proposal as presented. Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. Ashcroft suggested taking out the lines which refer to additional cost. Mr. Chioffi stated his motion was for no more than $2450 so it would exclude the additional cost. The motion passed 5-0.

New Business Board to review for approval contract with Northstar Fireworks.

  1. The contract is for $7500 and would have fireworks at Northwood Park on July 4th.
  2. Denardo moved to accept the contract and authorize the chair to sign on behalf of the board. Mr. Faignant seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.

Kari Clark Rutland Town Clerk/Treasurer:

  1. The latest installment, received in February, of the local 1% tax has come in meeting projections.
  2. Dog licenses are due by close of business April 1st. Several registrations have been received with missing or incomplete information. Please call the office if you have questions. If the dog was not registered last year, there is a different process to follow.

Barbara Noyes-Pulling Rutland Town Planning Commission Chair:

  1. There is a public hearing this Thursday night for a subdivision from VELCO.
  2. John Zicconi will be meeting with the group to talk about helipad permitting and options.
  3. A meeting was held with Green Mountain Power recently about the pocket park. A new survey is needed. A MOU will be needed to allow us to do what we would like to. A meeting with stakeholders should be had in the next few months. Both with recreation and historical groups. Several groups are very interested in working with us. Mr. Denardo asked about Forest and Parks being involved. Ms. Pulling said she reached out and was referred to someone working on a paddling trail project in the area currently.
  4. Discussed potential conflicts from the historic preservation office regarding doing work in this area. Ms. Pulling said she will be talking to them soon about this.

Mike Rowe Rutland Town Recreation Director:

  1. The park maintenance will start in the next week or two.
  2. Baseball is moving along, still waiting for guidance form the governor.
  3. Requested a rec committee meeting on April 13th at 530PM. This will be warned.

Byron Hathaway Rutland Town Road Commissioner:

  1. Bids for the Gleason Road culvert replacement will be available at the next meeting.
  2. The storage barn work has begun.
  3. The road erosion inventory work has started, this will resume in the fall.
  4. Discussed the sugar maple inventory on town owned land, this could be investigated for future income allowing people to tap the trees.
  5. Reviewed the paving bids received for this coming paving season.
    • Fuller Sand and Gravel Total Bid – $571,603
    • Wilk Paving Total Bid – $574,597
    • Pike Industries Total Bid – $671,787
    • Mr. Faignant moved to approve the bid from Fuller Sand and Gravel. Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. Mr. Denardo asked if this included the projects which were not completed last year. Mr. Hathaway said it does. The motion passed 5-0.
    • A contract will be provided for the next meeting.
    • A joint bid with Mendon was not done this year due to the lack of proximity to the projects.
  6. A highway committee meeting was requested. This will be scheduled by the committee members.

Chris Clark Rutland Town Fire Chief:

  1. The department responded to several calls over the last 2 weeks, including a large structure fire.
  2. In person meetings will resume this coming Monday.
  3. The department is going to be working on a list of questions and concerns regarding the proposed housing project. This will be discussed with the Fire Committee.

Ed Dumas Rutland Town Police Chief:

  1. Discussed recent calls for service.
  2. There is an issue with trespassing at the Diamond Run Mall. This will be handled with mall management.
  3. At the last meeting, raises were discussed but an effective date was not declared. After some discussion, they will be effective July 1st, 2021.
  4. Discussed the progress of the restructuring of the department. Chief Dumas said he has already come out of CFAC. The changes in patrol have already begun.

John Paul Faignant Rutland Town Health Officer

  1. The restrictions are changing on social gatherings based on vaccination status. The Department of Health website has the list of changes. Group outdoor activities are not yet permitted but may be soon.
  2. Mr. Denardo encouraged everyone to stay vigilant with the masks and social distancing and not make wrong assumptions that the crisis is over.

Committee meeting updates:

  1. No committees have met recently.
  2. The town policies and ordinances are ready for the committees to meet and review.
  3. Ms. Ashcroft attended a meeting recently with VLCT where they suggested reviewing and updating policies. This topic has been added to committee agendas.

Project List

  1. The list of projects still pending, and projects board members would like added to the list will be discussed at the next meeting. Encouraged board members to think of what they would like added.

New Business Board to Discuss Grand Juror Appointment

  1. This position used to be an elected one but after some research it is now done by appointment.
  2. Mr. Faignant nominated Ed Dumas. Ms. Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.

New Business Board to Discuss Digitizing Town Records

  1. Work has been underway to increase the efficiency of data storage and retrieval for inside the office and departments outside of the office. Most recently the Fire Department was connected to the office server to allow them to store data more easily. The next step is to connect other external departments, Rec, Highway, and the Transfer Station. Our IT vendor, Vermont Digital, estimated it would cost $800 for software and labor to connect those 3 departments to the office server. This would allow them to back up their data and protect the town information.
  2. Mr. Faignant moved to approve this plan. Ms. Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.

Mr. Denardo commented on a proposal Marty Wasserman for work on the lawn at the office. Mr. Sweet has the bids, they are included with the project list to be brought up to the building committee at their next meeting.

Discussed the topics under old business. The tabled motion for the guard rail at the intersection of Post Road and Post Road Extension was reviewed. The parties involved in this discussion previously will be contacted to attend the next meeting so this can be reviewed. Most board members felt this would not move forward.

Discussed inviting the library representatives to a future meeting. They will be contacted to ask them to attend the April 16th meeting.

Mr. Chioffi apologized to his fellow board members for his emotional response at the last meeting [regarding the Regional Ambulance Service appointment]. He asked the personnel committee to discuss criteria and the process for appointing people to various positions in the town. This topic will be added to the personnel committee agenda. Mr. Faignant discussed the difficulty in pursuing this. He commented that people are appointed at the discretion of the board. Ms. Ashcroft commented that there are term limits that apply to some of these positions as well.

Discussed the appointment to the Regional Ambulance Board. The meetings conflict with the schedule of Select Board members so it would not be appropriate for a Select Board member to hold this position. Mr. Faignant commented he has spoken with our Town Emergency Management Director, Martin Wasserman, and he would accept the position. Mr. Faignant moved to nominate Mr. Wasserman as the Town Representative to the Regional Ambulance Board. Mr. Chioffi seconded the motion. Mr. Chioffi commented that he appreciated the time he has served the Town on this board. The motion passed 5-0.

Mr. Hathaway said he will have an agreement for the board to sign at the next meeting for work with the railroad and the Town Cemetery in Center Rutland.

Mr. Wasserman thanked the board for appointing him to the Regional Ambulance Board.

Mr. Chioffi wished his fellow board members and the residents of the Town a Happy Easter.

Mr. Faignant moved to adjourn. Mr. Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:02 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Mr. Bill Sweet

 

 
Mary Ashcroft, Chair
 
Joseph Denardo, Clerk
 
John Paul Faignant
 
Sharon Russell
 
Don Chioffi

 

Center Rutland, VT.

Rutland Town News

Posted in