Select Board Minutes 9-12-2023

Select Board Minutes 9-12-2023

TOWN OF RUTLAND SELECT BOARD OPEN MEETING

RUTLAND TOWN MUNICIPAL TOWN HALL

181 BUSINESS ROUTE 4, CENTER RUTLAND, VT  05736

SEPTEMBER 12^th, 2023

 

• The meeting opened at 6:08 P.M. with the pledge of allegiance.
• Board members present Mary Ashcroft, Joe Denardo, Sharon Russell, and Matt Getty. Selectman Hathaway is absent due to a fire in Clarendon.
• Members of the public present Ryan Getner, Don Chioffi, Keith Whitcomb, Lisa Sears, Shelley Dumas

Approval of Orders

The Board approved the orders.

Approval of Select Board Minutes for August 29^th:

Selectman Denardo moved to approve the minutes.  Selectman Getty seconded the motion. The motion passed 3 – 0. Selectwoman Russell abstained.

Announcements

Selectwoman Russell thanked everyone for their support during her time recovering from surgery.

Update from the Select Board Chair

Briefly reviewed the site visit to The Cortina Inn last week, and the meeting with its owners just before this meeting. An executive session will be needed at the end of this meeting.

Articles for The Circle are due by September 15^th.

Question from the Floor / Public Comment

Don Chioffi commented on the meeting with the owners of The Cortina Inn.

Marcia Chioffi Rutland Town Head Lister

All the Listers have been attending classes lately with full day classes around data collection. Site visits around town will start soon.

There were no grievances for taxes this year.

Kari Clark Rutland Town Clerk and Treasurer:

1. Discussed the status of payments received from The Cortina Inn and The Days Inn.
   1. No payment has been received from The Cortina Inn since June.
   2. The Days Inn has continued to pay as agreed.
2. The first installment of taxes was due yesterday. Approximately 95% of what was due was received on time.
3. Advertising the opening for a third person in the office will be done by Friday. Not having the extra help during this tax payment window was noticed.
4. The new phone system has been installed. It is working very well.
5. The option to pay taxes through automatic withdrawal should be available soon. Anyone wishing to sign up for it will need to complete some paperwork and should reach out to the office for all the information.
6. Reviewed a contract with Cott Systems to digitize our land records. The Town attorney has reviewed it, made some suggested changes, all of which were accepted by the vendor.
   1. Selectman Denardo moved to approve the contract. Selectman Getty seconded the motion. Discussed the scope of the project and the associated costs.
      1. This will digitize our land records and the index from 2014 to current day.
      2. No additional workstations will need to be purchased.
      3. Half of the cost is due up front, and the other half will be due when they are done. There will be an ongoing monthly maintenance fee.

1. Contacted the Clerk at the Bristol Town Hall. They have this same service and they had very positive things to say about them.
2. There is $369,822 in the capital improvement fund. Discussed previous commitments to these funds. The highway department trucks, and the Northwood Park bike trails have already been paid for out of this account. $350,000 of this has been committed to the Public Safety Building project. The contract will cost $40,885.

1. The motion passed 4 – 0.
2. Selectman Denardo moved to authorize the Chair to sign on behalf of the Board. Selectman Getty seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0.

7. Discussed a meeting regarding financing options for the Public Safety Building. The two prevalent options are a loan from a traditional bank, or a loan from a bond bank.
   1. The exact amount needed is not known. A payment schedule from the contractor should give us a better idea once it is received.
   2. A meeting with the architect may be required depending on the funding sources due to the complexity of some of the application processes.
   3. There would need to be a bid request for a conventional loan process. Bond applications would be due by December 15^th.

Ed Dumas Rutland Town Police Chief:

1. Recent calls for service were provided.
2. Selectman Denardo thanked the Police Department for their help recovering a vehicle stolen from his farm recently.
3. Discussed hiring a part time officer, which has been brought up before. This will be added to the Police Committee agenda topics.
4. The new cruiser is expected soon.
5. Discussed an ordinance the City of Rutland recently passed specific to loud mufflers. Copies will be made available to the Board for a future meeting.
6. Discussed a parking issue on McKinley Avenue.

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

1. Work on the new Public Safety Building has started. It is expected to take one year to complete. The existing building is nearly completely gone. A full set of construction plans is available.
2. The generator from the Fire Station has been moved to the Highway Garage and will be installed there.

Barbara Pulling Rutland Town Planning Commission Chair:

1. Discussed river corridor regulations. This would help the Town recover more money if a disaster was declared. FEMA is updating their flood maps. Once they are done, there will be new requirements. Once those are in place, if the Town doesn’t pass ordinance to meet the new requirements, flood policy holders will not be able to renew their policy or purchase a new policy. There are some State models which can be implemented in a short time. There are at least 30 structures in Town flood plains currently.

David Sears Rutland Town Road Commissioner:

1. The generator from the fire station will be connected to the garage soon.
2. The barriers at the end of Dyer Road have been removed. There is a process to give up the road. We will follow the advice of our Town Attorney.
3. Stop bars on various roads have been repainted.
4. Contacted the representative from the State who is assisting us with the Post Road sidewalk. Grant. He will get back to us on our request for an extension to submit for reimbursement. It will be made passable until a determination is made.

Bill Sweet Town Administrator:

1. Discussed the E-911 address issues on Gleason Road and Grover Drive. A majority of the property addresses on these 2 roads are incorrect. The Grover Drive issues go back to when the road was first numbered and was done incorrectly. After discussion, Selectman Denardo moved to update the incorrect addresses for Grover Drive and Gleason Road, with new addresses to be posted on January 1^st, 2024. A letter will be sent to all the affected property owners. Selectwoman Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0.
2. Provided an update from Green Mountain Power. They are asking the Board to vote on withdrawing the application due to an amendment not being necessary. Selectman Denardo moved to accept the letter and withdraw the amendment request and have the matter closed. Selectman Getty seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0.

 

Brenda Siegel discussed the housing of homeless people at The Cortina Inn with the Board. Ms. Siegel works around Vermont with clients using the voucher program. The Board shares her concern about the living conditions in The Cortina Inn.

Selectman Denardo moved to enter executive session to discuss pending litigation. Selectman Getty seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0. The Board entered executive session at 8:34 PM.

Upon leaving executive session, with no action being taken, Selectman Denardo moved to adjourn. Selectman Getty seconded the motion. The motion passed 4 – 0. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Bill Sweet, Town Administrator.

 

_______________________________________________

Mary Ashcroft, Chair

 

_______________________________________________

Joseph Denardo, Clerk

 

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Sharon Russell

 

__________________ABSENT_____________________

Kurt Hathaway

 

_______________________________________________

Matt Getty

 

Center Rutland, VT.