Select Board Minutes 8-29-2023

Select Board Minutes 8-29-2023

TOWN OF RUTLAND SELECT BOARD OPEN MEETING

RUTLAND TOWN MUNICIPAL TOWN HALL

181 BUSINESS ROUTE 4, CENTER RUTLAND, VT  05736

AUGUST 29^th, 2023

 

• The meeting opened at 6:00 P.M. with the pledge of allegiance.
• Board members present Mary Ashcroft, Joe Denardo, Kurt Hathaway, and Matt Getty
• Members of the public present Shelley Dumas, Lisa Sears

Approval of Orders

The Board approved the orders.

Approval of Select Board Minutes for August 15^th:

Selectman Denardo moved to approve the minutes.  Selectman Getty seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0.

Approval of Select Board Minutes for August 17^th:

Selectman Getty moved to approve the minutes.  Selectman Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0.

Update from the Select Board Chair

The deadline for articles to go into The Circle is September 15^th.

Sharon Russell is recovering from surgery in the hospital and is doing well.

Thanked everyone for their involvement in the Town Wide Celebration. We are already looking forward to next year and August 24^th is the planned date. We received the bill for the food just before the meeting. The total was $1267.59. To get it paid timely, Selectman Hathaway moved to approve payment this week. Selectman Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0.

Question from the Floor / Public Comment

Both the former, and the new, owner and operations manager of The Cortina Inn were present. They requested a special meeting with the Board to discuss the ongoing issues they are experiencing, and to discuss the obligation to pay for police services. After discussion, the meeting will be warned for Tuesday September 12^th at 530PM. The new fence should be up in the next few days.

Chris Clark Rutland Town Fire Chief:

1. There have been 5 calls for service in the past 2 weeks.
2. The McKinley Avenue station will be empty by Wednesday night in preparation for the start of construction next week.
3. Discussed what to do with items being left in the building and which are not being reused in the new building. The Fire Committee is recommending anything salvageable be left to the Fire Department members to handle. Any money received would be donated to the members memorial fund account. Selectman Denardo moved to approve this. Selectman Hathaway seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0.
4. Discussed the gate at the entrance to Northwood Park. It will be closed nightly but will still allow members to access the park easily to get to the trucks.

Kari Clark Rutland Town Clerk and Treasurer:

1. The first installment of taxes are due September 10^th. Because this is a Sunday, the due date will be by close on Monday September 11^th.
2. Discussed the proposed contract for digitizing land records. The latest version has been reviewed by our Town Attorney. After discussion, copies of the new contract and comments from Kevin Brown will be included for the next meeting. The monthly maintenance fee will need to be included in the next budget.
3. Discussed a recent meeting with a representative from TD Bank where options for borrowing money for the Public Safety Building were reviewed. Several options were discussed. Additional meetings will be needed once more details, such as when we need the money and how quickly we anticipate repaying it are decided.

Mike Delehanty Town 1^st Constable

1. Discussed timing of securing the gate at Dewey Field, and applying the same rules there that are at Northwood Park. After discussion, the same rules and gate procedure in place at Northwood will apply to Dewey as well.

Ed Dumas Rutland Town Police Chief:

1. Discussed issues at the Cortina Inn, and whether a site visit by the Board would be appropriate. A visit will be coordinated for next week. Various individuals and agencies will be invited to go. To effectively handle the volume of issues being experienced, it could take up to 3 more full-time officers to handle it.

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

1. Utilities are planning to disconnect from the building next week. Job trailers will be onsite late this week or early next week.
2. Discussed Dewey Field security. Selectman Hathaway moved to adopt the Northwood Park rules at Dewey Field. Selectman Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0.
3. Discussed some buildings which have been subject of nuisance issues in the past, and some that may be subject to the ordinance. No action was taken.

Barbara Pulling Rutland Town Planning Commission Chair:

1. GMP is still working on their relicensing process in Center Rutland. Its moving slowly. Once done it will turn its focus to the park.
2. Work on ordinances will continue at their next meeting on the 14^th.

Mike Rowe Rutland Town Recreation Director:

1. There was some leftover food from the Town Wide Celebration. It has been given out to some Town departments and the open-door mission.
2. The pool is closed for the season.
3. Updated signs for disc gold are planned and will be installed.

David Sears Rutland Town Road Commissioner:

1. Provided the Board with the names submitted in the name the plow contest from the Town Wide celebration. Board members gave their top 3 choices back to Dave. He will tally them up and follow up at the next meeting with the top choices.
2. The crew recently attended a class for flagging and another on tree cutting safety.
3. Line striping on Post Road was redone ahead of the start of the school year.
4. There are some town roads which are waiting for full line striping. This is done by the State. East Pittsford Road and Town Line Road are both on the list to be done.
5. Discussed topics from the recent Highway Committee meeting.
   1. No paving bids were received for the post Road sidewalk paving. Commissioner Sears contacted some vendors are they are not sure they can complete it this season. Commissioner Sears will contact our grant coordinator and ask if we can have an extension on our grant submission deadline.
   2. Discussed Dyer Road. The committee is recommending to give the road up. There are several challenges with the Town keeping the road. There is a process for this which we will get and begin.
   3. Residents from the Town of Clarendon living on the North side of Quarterline Road went to the recent Clarendon Select Board meeting and petitioned them to resume talks about maintenance. We expect to hear a request from them soon.
   4. Plans for plowing are in place for this year.
   5. Commissioner Sears spoke with a resident who owns the property which has the pull-off on Boardman Hill about closing the pull-off. The owner is supportive of this. Work in the area will be done and the pull-off will be eliminated.
   6. Discussed hiring an engineering firm to help redesign a section of North Grove Street which has poor line of site. No action was taken.
   7. We received a request for reimbursement from a resident who had drainage work on their property in the Town right-of-way but did not get a permit to do so ahead of time. The committee is not recommending reimbursement.

The Listers Office provided a request to correct an error on a parcel. The correction will combine 2 parcels into 1. This should have already been done. This omission resulted in an overcharge in the tax bill to the resident. Selectman Getty moved to approve the correction and to authorize the Chair to sign on behalf of the Board. Selectman Denardo seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0.

A thank you card was received from the 8^th Grade class thanking the Board for their contribution toward their DC trip.

Bill Sweet Town Administrator:

1. The consultant working on our personnel policy has, or is, making contact with various department heads and vendors needed to help make the updates.
2. The office will be closed on Monday September 4^th for the holiday.
3. Several vendors and contractors have reached out about various aspects of the new Starbucks project.
4. Spirit Halloween is moving into the former Bed Bath and Beyond store in the Green Mountain Plaza. They should be open in the next 2 weeks.
5. Discussed making the donation to the Foley Cancer Center as a thank you to Happy Cow Cones for their participation in the Town Wide Celebration. Selectman Denardo moved to make a donation in the same amount as we did last year. Selectman Hathaway seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0.
6. Discussed some E-911 issues in Town. Gleason Road and Grover Drive have a significant number of issues. After discussion, a map showing the issues will be included for discussion at the next meeting.

 

Selectman Hathaway moved to adjourn. Selectman Getty seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:10 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Bill Sweet, Town Administrator.

 

_______________________________________________

Mary Ashcroft, Chair

 

_______________________________________________

Joseph Denardo, Clerk

 

___________________ABSENT____________________
Sharon Russell

 

_______________________________________________

Kurt Hathaway

 

_______________________________________________

Matt Getty

 

Center Rutland, VT.