Selectboard Minutes 6-21-2022

Publish date: June 23, 2022

Selectboard Minutes 6-21-2022

TOWN OF RUTLAND SELECTBOARD OPEN MEETING

RUTLAND TOWN MUNICIPAL TOWN HALL

181 BUSINESS ROUTE 4, CENTER RUTLAND, VT  05736

JUNE 21st, 2022

 

This meeting had a virtual attendance option available for anyone to join.

  • Meeting opened at 6:00 P.M. with the pledge of allegiance
  • Board members present Don Chioffi, Mary Ashcroft, Sharon Russell, and Kurt Hathaway
  • Members of the public present Jim Scholtz, Nick Paquette, Byron Hathaway, Dani Bradtmiller, Lydia Moriarity-Flynn, Keith Whitcomb, Howard Burgess, Marcia Chioffi, Art Peterson, Mary Beth Poli, Andy McMillan, Shelley Dumas, Robyn Sweet, Rob Stubbins

Approval of Orders

The Board approved the orders.

Approval of Selectboard Minutes for June 7th:

Selectwoman Russell moved to approve the minutes.  Selectwoman Ashcroft seconded the motion. The motion passed 3 – 0.

Announcements

Selectwoman Ashcroft reported on the recent area High School events they attended where they gave out the scholarship awards. Awards were presented to students at Proctor High School and Rutland High School.

Question from the Floor or Public Comment

State Representative Art Peterson was present and introduced himself. He is one of the candidates running for State office as part of the newly aligned districts. He has been going door to door to houses in the parts of Rutland Town which are now part of his district. Representative Peterson encouraged anyone with questions to reach out to him.

Town Resident Nick Paquette was present to discuss a recent notice of violation he received. Mr. Paquette provided the Board with some information about his property. Mr. Paquette recently met with the Town Listers at his property. He is requesting a waiver of the fines in the violation notice. After some discussion, the Board will hold a hearing on this specific topic on July 5th at 530PM.

Mike Rowe Rutland Town Recreation Director:

  1. Baseball is done for the season. Mr. Rowe thanked all the coaches and parents who helped make the season possible.
  2. The new fencing has been installed at Dewey Field.
  3. The pool is fully open now and swim lessons have started.
  4. Discussed the overview of plans for the July fireworks, on July 3rd. It is expected to go as it has in the past. The pool will be open all day.
  5. Discussed the Act 250 permit amendment application presented to the Board at the last meeting.
    1. Selectwoman Ashcroft said she has looked it over and it looks very good.
    2. Selectwoman Ashcroft moved to approve the application and to authorize the Chair to sign on behalf of the Board. Selectwoman Russell seconded the motion. After some discussion, the motion passed 3 – 0.
  6. Selectwoman Russell thanked Mr. Rowe for all of the work he has done in the park.

Chris Clark Rutland Town Fire Chief:

  1. There were only 4 calls for service in the last 2 weeks.
  2. The new radios ordered as part of a grant award have been received at CVC and are being programmed now.
  3. The new truck in on its way to the dealer in Massachusetts and should arrive there soon. Once it arrives, we will bring our equipment down to be mounted. It should be delivered to the station a couple of weeks after that.

Kari Clark Rutland Town Clerk and Treasurer:

  1. Provided a summary of the estimated balances for the end of the fiscal year. This is based on projections because the orders for tonight’s meeting have to be included. Final numbers will be available at the next meeting. The various department balances were reviewed. A surplus is expected, largely due to more than $400,000 being received above projection for the local option tax.
  2. The new tax rate will be set at a July meeting so tax bills can be created in August.
  3. Preparation s underway for the August primary. The new ballots have been received and look different due to the redistricting. Some help may be needed at the polling place in order to help residents.
  4. Discussed training additional personnel on the tabulator machines so there are backups. Currently Kari and Susan are the only ones trained on the new machines. The board is in favor of the additional training.

David Sears Rutland Town Road Commissioner and Walter Tripp Town Road Crew member:

  1. Discussed the Transportation Advisory Council appointment. The Road Commissioner has typically held this role in the past. Mr. Sears is not familiar with it but will investigate it and discuss a possible appointment at a future meeting.
  2. Walter Tripp reported on the roadside mowing. The first round is done.
  3. Clean up from the paving projects is underway. This involves shoulders and some driveway work.
  4. The work on Cheney Hill Lane is underway. It has been reclaimed. Some work by the Highway crew needs to be done before the final paving is completed.
  5. A meeting is planned for Wednesday morning to review the progress of the Post Road water line.
  6. Tripp announced his retirement at the end of August this year.
    1. The Board members thanked Mr. Tripp for his more than 30 years of service to the Town and for all of the help he has given since the crew has been shorthanded.
  7. Commissioner Sears discussed a line-of-sight issue at the corner of Town Line Road and Conner Drive. There is a tree with branches that block the view of traffic being able to turn off Conner Drive.
    1. A letter has been sent to the property owner in the past with no response.
    2. The current state of ownership is not clear, but it is an occupied property.
    3. Chairman Chioffi plans to go to the residence and talk with them about the issue to try and reach a resolution.
  8. Discussed the issue on Dyer Road. There has been additional debris dumped there. It appears most of the debris is outside the Town Right of Way.
    1. The matter will be referred to our 2nd Constable to investigate.
  9. Discussed a culvert on Ox Yoke Drive where the outlet has been blocked by rip rap stone. It appears it is on private property, but the ownership is not known.
    1. The culvert does not appear to be draining properly.
    2. Research into who owns the section of property the culvert outlet is on, and maintenance responsibilities will be done.
    3. The matter will be referred to the Highway Committee for further review and recommendations.
  10. The pump station on Post Road had an alarm, due to build up in the storage tank. A1 was contacted to come and clean it. A regular check and maintenance schedule will be implemented.

New Business Board to meet with Robert Clark from Otter Creek Engineering

  1. A list of town projects was provided to Board members.
  2. The Town Line Road culvert replacement is still pending delivery of the culvert piece itself. The work is planned to begin in early August, based on the anticipated delivery of the culvert.
  3. The Northwood Park Shared Use Path was discussed. A letter was sent to the bidders informing them bids were being rejected and the project is on hold due to funding not being available.
  4. The Post Road water line is nearing completion. The new line is waiting to be connected to the existing section. There has been a total of 4 connections installed, based on requests from before and while the project is being done. The final costs are still expected to be below budget due to less ledge being encountered than anticipated. We are still waiting for permission from the City of Rutland to shut the line down so a new valve can be installed. Once this is done the final steps can be taken.
  5. Conceptual plans have been put together for the Post Road sidewalk. They will be available at the Highway meeting tomorrow.
  6. Discussed the town water system study. There have been some delays at the State level, so this is delaying the project at a high level. The timeline for it to be available is not totally clear. Discussed if we should submit a letter of intent of not. It would not be necessary for this program.
  7. Discussed the new 3 acre storm water rule. The plan is to have forgivable loans made available to municipalities to assist landowners in designing updates to their properties. The language has not been written yet that clearly shows how this would work. There is no recommendation to try and move forward currently.

Ed Dumas Rutland Town Police Chief:

  1. Recent calls for service were provided and discussed. Chief Dumas again asked everyone to lock their cars.
  2. Deputy Chief Washburn had forwarded information to Board members regarding the decrease in the amount of money from fines being given back to the local municipality from the state.
  3. Discussed a recent meeting which was held to discuss the use of hotels for housing the homeless. Representatives from the State and the City of Rutland as well as our Board and Police Department attended. There was frustration expressed about the lack of transparency from the State representatives.
  4. Discussed having a meeting with representatives from the Cortina Inn and the LIT team. Everyone agreed this is necessary. Town Counsel will be consulted before a meeting would take place.

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

  1. The Public Safety Building is on schedule and provided updates on projects and timelines.
    1. Work on the interior drawings is ongoing. They should be complete in early October.
    2. Bid documents should be ready by early October with a 30-day due date. Awards could be announced in early December.
    3. The fees are on track with the estimates.
    4. Thanked Chief Washburn for his work on securing grant funding of approximately $213,000 for security systems in the building.
  2. As 2nd Constable, an issue on Perkins Road is still being worked on.
    1. Pictures of the issues were forwarded to Board members.
    2. There is probable cause to say the property is in violation of the Towns Public Nuisance Ordinance.
    3. Requested the Board schedule a hearing, after proper notice has been given to the property owner and to consider ordering the property be cleaned.
    4. It is possible the Town will have to cover the expense and lien the property to recover the costs.
    5. Town Counsel will be consulted to ensure proper notice timelines. July 19th is the anticipated hearing date if proper notice is given, and 30 minutes should be enough time.

Bill Sweet Town Administrator:

  1. Discussed the meeting room request made by Fire District #5.
    1. Chairman Chioffi asked Board members if they would be in favor of allowing Bill to approve the requests without having to come to the full board. The board agreed it was ok. Approved requests will be added to the calendar in the Board room.  The policy will be checked to ensure the authority exists to allow this.
    2. Selectwoman Ashcroft moved to approve the request, with the understanding Andy McKane will be the person responsible for the room and opening / closing the building. Selectwoman Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed 3 – 0.
  2. The grant application for the Route 7 North sidewalk was submitted and accepted.
  3. The issue creating a problem with Howard and Marcia having a program blocked should be resolved. It will be watched to make sure it worked.
  4. CIC Health, which has been using downstairs to distribute Covid-19 tests, will be ending their operation by next week.
  5. One of the two companies who exceeded the 2021 sewer discharge allocation has contacted us to resolve the issue. An application should be coming in soon. No word yet from the other.
  6. Paperwork for changing phone and internet service town wide over to Consolidated Communications is being finalized and should be available for the next meeting.
  7. Provided paperwork to change our Senior Municipal Official from Selectwoman Ashcroft over to Chairman Chioffi for the Pocket Park Municipal Planning Grant. This is needed in order to be able to close out the grant by the end of June.
    1. Selectwoman Ashcroft moved to approve the change. Selectman Hathaway seconded the motion. The motion passed 3 – 0.
  8. Discussed appointing Dave Sears to the Regional Transportation Council.
    1. Information will be given to Commissioner Sears about the meetings.
    2. Discussed the reimbursement rate for attending these meetings. This will be the same as any other appointment to town committees or positions.

Committee meeting updates:

  1. The Scholarship Committee has finished all of its duties for this year.

Flyers for the Town Wide Celebration are available at Town Hall and at the pool.

The next edition of The Circle should be out soon.

New Business Board to Review Bids for the Highway Garage Heating System

  1. Three bids were received for a new heating system
    1. Fitzgerald Services bid – $11250
    2. Johnson Energy bid – $12400
    3. Bill Lohsen Plumbing bid – $13175
  2. The bids will be given to the Highway Committee for review.

Selectman Hathaway moved to enter executive session to discuss legal advice. Selectwoman Russell seconded motion. The motion passed 3 – 0. The board entered executive session at 8:15 PM.

Upon leaving executive session, with no action being taken, Selectman Hathaway moved to adjourn. Selectwoman Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 8:42 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Mr. Bill Sweet

 

 
Don Chioffi, Chair
 

ABSENT
Joseph Denardo, Clerk
 
Mary Ashcroft
 
Sharon Russell
 
Kurt Hathaway

 

Center Rutland, VT.

Rutland Town News

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