Select Board Minutes 6-20-2023

Select Board Minutes 6-20-2023

TOWN OF RUTLAND SELECT BOARD OPEN MEETING

RUTLAND TOWN MUNICIPAL TOWN HALL

181 BUSINESS ROUTE 4, CENTER RUTLAND, VT  05736

JUNE 20^th, 2023

 

• The meeting started at 5:00 P.M. with the pledge of allegiance.
• Board members present Mary Ashcroft, Joe Denardo, Sharon Russell, Kurt Hathaway, and Matt Getty
• Members of the public present Sherman Hunter, Julie McKenna, Stephen Dardeck, Stephanie Cornell, Richard and Hester Bateman, Lisa and Jason Swett, Melody Hemenway, Jay Warren, Dana Peterson, Andy McKane, Demetrio Gagnon, Shelley Dumas, Don Chioffi

Approval of Orders

The Board approved the orders.

Approval of Select Board Minutes for June 6^th:

Selectman Getty moved to approve the minutes.  Selectman Hathaway seconded the motion. There was a clerical change made, the next Board meeting will be July 5^th at 6PM. The motion passed 3 – 0. Selectwoman Russell abstained.

Announcements

Selectman Getty recently attended the award ceremony at Rutland High School to award the Town scholarships. It was a wonderful experience.

New Business: Board to meet with Andres Torizzo from Watershed Consulting to discuss MS4 topics.

1. Discussed the requirements and action items for our state permit.
2. Inspections have been completed at the various MS4 sites, and ones which need to be included as well.
3. Reports based on inspections are being submitted, and there will be action items based on the report.
4. Moonbrook storm water improvements are still needed and are being worked on. Permission from VELCO to work in the right-of-way will be needed.
5. There is a new grant opportunity, which is up to $200,000. A letter from the Board is needed. Other details, such as a match requirement, are not known right now.
6. Andres and Dave Sears will meet to discuss the action items and to provide an overview.
7. Andres plans to have information for the July 5^th meeting on the grant. Either him, or another representative will attend the meeting.

Mike Rowe Rutland Town Recreation Director:

1. The pool is open. End of year programs for the town school kids have been done. Some of the groups made new picnic tables for the pool. The students built the tables.
2. Swimming lessons started yesterday. Over 100 kids have signed up.
3. New shade awnings have been installed at the pool and playground.
4. The back 9 of the disc golf course is being installed soon.
5. The park has been very busy.

David Sears Rutland Town Road Commissioner:

1. Roadside mowing is going well. The first round is almost complete. Depending on the need from Mendon, a second round may start right away.
2. A new road crew member has been hired. He will be introduced to the Board at the next meeting.
3. The new compost area at Northwood has been built.
4. The signs coming into town have all been replaced. A new one has been added on the South end of town at Aldermans.
5. Work on East Pittsford Road continues. The topcoat will be done when the contractors equipment is repaired.

Marcia Chioffi Town Head Lister

1. A letter requesting an additional 30 days to lodge the Grand List was provided. It may not be needed but the timing will be close to the limit of the first extension. It is anticipated the Grand List will be lodged the second week of July with grievance notices going out shortly after.
2. Gail Gantick has helped identify several new businesses in Town which have not registered.
3. The tax rate will be set in time to allow tax bills to be printed and mailed on time.
4. Selectwoman Russell moved to approve the 30-day extension request and to authorize the Chair to sign on behalf of the Board. Selectman Hathaway seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0.
5. Jack and Marie, the new Listers have been working very well together so far.

Chris Clark Rutland Town Fire Chief:

1. The Fire Department will plan to be in attendance for the fireworks on July 2^nd.

Kari Clark Rutland Town Clerk and Treasurer:

1. Current budget status sheets were provided. A summary at the end of the fiscal year will be provided soon.
2. Susan is intending to reduce her weekly hours worked to 32.
3. Discussed an issue with one of our vendors. Amazon does not bill us with statements, and only uses invoices. With multiple people making purchases and items being returned, it is creating some issues with credits on the account not being applied. One solution may be to have only 1 person make all the purchases, but this would be more difficult for that individual.

John Paul Faignant Town Health Officer / 2^nd Constable / Public Safety Building Clerk

1. A preliminary construction schedule for the Public Safety Building has been created and distributed.
2. The contract is with the Town attorney for review. Some final changes were being discussed but a completed review has not been forwarded to us yet. After discussion, Selectwoman Russell moved to authorize the Chair to sign the AIA contracts for the construction of the new Public Safety Building. Selectman Hathaway seconded the motion. The changes proposed by our Town Attorney are waiting for approval by VMS Construction. After discussion, the motion was tabled.
3. The property on Perkins Road which was subject to a Board order for clean-up under the Town Nuisance Ordinance has been cleaned up and is much improved. It would no longer be subject to the order.

Mike Delehanty Town 1^st Constable

1. No report this time due to being out of town recently.
2. There are plans to support the patrols on the south end of Town.

Ted Washburn Rutland Town Deputy Police Chief:

1. Recent calls for service were provided.
2. Officers have been not on as much due to needing to use up leave time before the end of the fiscal year.

Selectman Denardo joined the meeting at 6PM.

New Business: Board to hold a public hearing on the proposed Short-Term Rental ordinance.

1. Selectwoman Russell spoke at the start of the hearing about her feelings on adopting the ordinance. She is concerned about the financial burden on residents.
2. Planning Commission Chair Barbara Pulling spoke on the process the Planning Commission went through to work on the ordinance and bring the final draft to the Board.
3. Selectman Denardo spoke in favor of the ordinance. He feels it levels the field for everyone.
4. Members of the public in attendance were given the opportunity to speak on the ordinance.
   1. There were questions on why Short-Term rentals are being treated differently, and the reason for needing the ordinance.
   2. There was support for the ordinance, so there could be some assurance of a process to handle issues if they arose.
   3. People encouraged the Board to do more research before adopting an ordinance. Suggested online resources for Air BNB.
   4. There was concern about the registration fees increasing year over year and being subject to ADA requirements.
   5. There were questions about the applicability of our nuisance ordinance. It may not be able to address a majority of concerns.
   6. Discussed the designation of properties used as rentals becoming a commercial, not a residential property.
5. The Board did not take any action on the ordinance. It will be discussed at a future meeting.

New Business Board to meet with Marty Wasserman on updating the Town LEMP

1. Updates have been made to reflect the current town officials.
2. After discussion, Selectwoman Russell moved to approve the plan, and to authorize Select Board Chair Ashcroft and Selectman Hathaway to sign where needed. Selectman Getty seconded the motion. The motion passed 5 – 0.
3. There is an emergency management conference coming up later this year he will be attending.

New Business Board to discuss bids received for the Town owned land offered for sale.

1. Reviewed the bids received at the June 6^th
2. Selectwoman Russell moved to accept the bid from Mark Foley in the amount of $55,555,55. Selectman Hathaway seconded the motion. The motion passed 5 – 0.
3. There are some steps which need to be taken prior to the sale being finalized, and once the funds are received a determination will be made on what to use them for.

Bill Sweet Town Administrator:

1. The grant reimbursement from VLCT has been received for our sewer inspection camera.
2. The new phone system at Town Hall is being installed next week. There will be changes to extensions as part of this project to make future enhancements easier.
3. Met recently with George Ambrose from the Clarendon Select Board about the short section of Quarterline Road which is not paved. They asked for a meeting to discuss this section of road. After discussion, it will be planned for several weeks out.
4. Provided the scope of work, and fee structure, from VHB to complete the service road project documentation. There is money allocated in the Highway Budget to cover the costs. The service will cost $41,915. Selectman Hathaway moved to approve the proposal from VHB. Selectman Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed 5 – 0.
5. Updated plans for the downstairs remodel have been provided by the architect. The Building Committee should review them for additional comments and discuss the next steps.
6. Discussed a window which was ordered for work and was unused. It was not able to be returned and has been stored for some time. Several individuals have offered various amount to purchase it. Selectman Denardo moved to sell the window for $300 to Ed Dumas. Selectwoman Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 5 – 0.
7. There is a group of chairs which are not being used any more at the Town Hall. They were offered to town departments first, and none were taken. They will be posted to the public if anyone would like them. There is no charge.

New Business Board to discuss Northwood Park Town and School property.

1. The School Board Chair has reached out to see if the Town is interested in acquiring their portion of the land.
2. After discussion, the two Board Chairs will have an informal meeting to discuss it and will report back.
3. It would be helpful to have the history of the property and how it came to be under ownership of the Town. The school property was originally purchased to build a Town High School on it.

New Business Board to discuss hiring a Human Resource Consultant

1. Various aspects of the personnel policy have been modified over the years to fit departments and situations.
2. Discussed hiring a consultant to review our current policy and give recommendations and advice on the issues.
3. There is a proposal from a local person for $2500 to do this work for us.
4. The original template came from the Vermont League of Cities and Towns and has been reviewed by them during the last big review. Discussed looking into State resources to see if there is someone who could advise us.
5. To be consistent with the purchasing policy, additional proposals should be solicited.

New Business Board to hold deliberative session on vicious dog complaint.

1. Selectwoman Russell was not present for the hearing but did listen to the meeting afterwards. Selectman Denardo was not present for the hearing and will not participate in the hearing.
2. Selectman Hathaway moved to enter deliberative session to discuss the complaint. Selectwoman Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 5 – 0.
3. Upon leaving the deliberative session, Selectman Getty moved to approve the draft findings of fact and conclusions of law on the vicious dog complaint. Selectwoman Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0. Selectman Denardo abstained. Copies will be sent to both the parties involved.

Selectman Hathaway moved to adjourn. Selectwoman Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 5 – 0. The meeting adjourned at 8:31 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Mr. Bill Sweet

 

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Mary Ashcroft, Chair

 

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Joseph Denardo, Clerk

 

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Sharon Russell

 

 

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Kurt Hathaway

 

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Matt Getty

 

Center Rutland, VT.