| | MINUTES COLCHESTER SELECTBOARD MEETING JULY 23, 2013 @ 6:30 p.m. MEETING HOUSE, MAIN STREET, COLCHESTER, VT __________________ |
6:00 p.m. Training on I-pads
6:15 p.m. Executive Session- Interview for Governance Committee
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chairwoman Scibek called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
2. ROLL CALL
SELECTBOARD: Nadine Scibek (Chair), Marc Landry, Herbert Downing, Kathrine Niquette and Tom Mulcahy.
ADMINISTRATION: Dawn Francis (Town Manager). Joan Boehm (Asst. Town Manager/CFO), Karen Richard (Town Clerk), Amy Akerlind (Rescue Chief), Bob Vickery (Assessor) and Mike Chmielewski (Fire Chief).
3. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD
Josie LaMountain of River Road presented a letter to the Selectboard (See attachment A) and explained she was representing a cluster of neighbors who live on the far end of River Road by the curve. Speed was an issue for the residents when motorists round the curve. Drivers have taken out mailboxes, ran into a house, and hit a maple tree. Two weeks ago there was a hit and run that took out the chain link fence along with mailbox posts. She requested that the Town install speed bumps. She has spoken with Bryan Osborne who had done a traffic calming study in the straight area of the road but not at the curve. Board consensus was to have Bryan Osborne look into options for that section of road.
Shirley Meier was curious about the Casa Romano building. The building was still there and she asked what was happening. Dawn Francis stated there was asbestos in the building which was delaying the demolition. The Board recommended that Ms. Francis ask Sarah Hadd for an update and timeline.
Agenda Item 11 was brought forward at this time.
11. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS – MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATIONS
a. Execution of Quit Claim Deed
Ms. Francis explained that the Agency of Transportation was seeking a Quit Claim Deed for the intersections of U.S. Rt. 7/Bay Road and U.S. Rt. 7/Creek Road. Bryan Osborne has reviewed the plans and deed, and has discussed them with VTrans and he is recommending approval.
MOTION was made by Herbert Downing and SECONDED by Kathrine Niquette to approve the Quit Claim Deed with the Vermont Agency of Transportation to allow for the reconstruction of the Rt. 7, Creek Road, Bay Road intersection project and recommend the Selectboard Chair sign the Property Transfer Tax Return as well.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
4. CONSENT AGENDA
a. Minutes of July 9, 2013
b. Minutes of July 11, 2013 Retreat
MOTION was made by Herbert Downing and SECONDED by Tom Mulcahy to approve the minutes of July 9 and July 11, 2013 with the following corrections:
July 9 minutes, page 2, 5a: replace ‘The MOTION carried 4-1-0’ with ‘The MOTION carried 4-0-1’.
Page 3: replace ‘who’s Doctor’ with ‘whose doctor’.
Page 4, 1st Motion: replace ‘The MOTION carried 4-1-0’ with ‘The MOTION carried 4-0-1’.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
5. SPECIAL BUSINESS ITEMS
a. Action: Park and Ride Grant Application
Dawn Francis explained there was usually only $250,000 available throughout the state and last year we applied for $120,000for a Park and Ride within the Circ. Highway right-of-way near Heineberg Drive. Bryan Osborne has recommended an option to phase the project over two years to reduce the grant request.
Discussion included when construction would begin if the grant is received, if a drop-off center would be built with Phase I or Phase II, restrooms and size of the park and ride.
MOTION was made by Herbert Downing and SECONDED by Kathrine Niquette to approve an application for the State’s Municipal Park & Ride Grant Program for construction of a Park & Ride Facility on Heineberg Drive with construction to be phased over a 2-year period as presented in memo from Bryan Osborne dated July 15, 2013.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
b. Action: Appeal of Wastewater Official’s Decision of 76 Lakeshore Dr. – Denise Johnson-Terk
MOTION was made by Herbert Downing and SECONDED by Kathrine Niquette to continue the Appeal of the Wastewater Official’s Decision of June 20th to the August 13, 2013 Selectboard Meeting pertaining to a notice of Appeal by Neil Gardner, 76 Lakeshore Drive.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
6. MONTHLY REPORT FROM TOWN MANAGER
a. Chief Financial Officer’s Report
Joan Boehm reported for the month of June recognizing that there will be more reports to come as they continue to record revenues and expenditures through June 30th and make adjustments throughout the audit preparation.
Right now there is a $529,000 surplus. June had less revenue than expenses and expenses were less in 2013 than in 2012 due to health insurance changes and unfilled positions. Property tax collections were slightly higher this June than last June and charges for services were lower this June. Other Funds showed positive with revenue over expenses with the exception of the Reserve Fund.
As of June 30th, 99.5% of revenues and 93.5% of expenses have been received which results in the surplus. She reviewed revenues and expenses for different areas. The Town Clerk covered 72% of their budget with revenues from fees, Recreation 65%, Rescue 59% and Planning and Zoning 55%. The audit will occur the last week in September and she is beginning work on the FY’15 budget. She compared the actual Grand List as opposed to the projected Grand List over time, the relationship of changes in the Grand List, Tax Rate and Budget over 25 years and the percentage change in Grand List, Tax Rate and Budget over time.
7. APPROVAL OF PETITIONS & LICENSES
a. Catering Permit for Wine Works, Inc.
MOTION was made by Herbert Downing and SECONDED by Kathrine Niquette to approve a Catering License for Wine Works, Inc. for an event to be held August 8, 2013.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
8. APPROVAL OF LIQUOR LICENSES
There were none.
9. OLD BUSINESS
a. Action: Economic Development Implementation Recommendations
MOTION was made by Herbert Downing and SECONDED by Kathrine Niquette to approve and endorse the Economic Development Plan Implementation proposal as put forth in a Memo from Dawn Francis dated July 17, 2013 and authorize the staff to engage in conversations with the CCDC and CCI groups to ascertain their willingness to absorb CEDAC members, focus efforts on the Mallett’s Bay area, as well as Severance Corners and Exit 16/17 (the latter two intended to be a focus for CCDC).
Dawn Francis explained that she’s had a lot of conversations regarding Economic Development with the groups involved with development. From the Selectboard Retreat, she heard that Malletts Bay Development was a major priority. Since there were so many groups involved in development, she was recommending that these groups and efforts be consolidated. She reported on obtaining resources to do preliminary engineering on the Hazelett Bayside Property and the Selectboard has given her permission to hire an Economic Development Director.
A friendly amendment was made by Nadine Scibek and approved by Herbert Downing and Kathrine Niquette to change the motion to read: approve and endorse the Economic Development Plan Implementation Proposal as put forth in a Memo from Dawn Francis dated July 18, 2013 and authorize the staff to engage in conversations with CCDC and CCI groups, focus efforts on the Malletts Bay area, as well as Severance Corners and Exit 16/17 (the latter two intended to be a focus for CCDC) and to move the plan forward as presented.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
10. NEW BUSINESS
a. Action: Appointment to Governance Committee
This item was postponed until later in the evening.
11. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS – MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATIONS
A portion of this agenda item was moved to earlier in the agenda.
- There will be a Floodplain and Shore Land Regulations Meeting on August 6th to solicit public input.
- The Regional Planning Commission will be holding a similar meeting on Tuesday, July 30th at 7:00 p.m. explaining where the Legislative Committee is in terms of shore land issues.
- Ads have been placed for the Chief Financial Officer/Assistant Town Manager and Economic Development Director.
- Lara Alemy of Burlington has been hired as the new Finance Officer who was previously with the City of Burlington. Susan has already left the Finance Office and Coral and Joan will be leaving. There is an interim recent college graduate filling in the gaps until the end of October when they will reassess.
- The Rescue Department is having difficulty covering shifts. They are down four people and Amy Akerlind will discuss the issue in executive session.
- There was significant public attendance for the Clay Point Road and Route 2 Intersection improvements put on by VTrans. VTrans will come back in January with their final deliberation as to what they want to do. They are proposing turn lanes.
- The new Police Chief Jennifer Morrison will be sworn in on Monday, July 29th at 12:00 Noon at the Police Station and Ms. Francis requested that a Selectboard member do the introduction. Marc Landry volunteered.
- They are getting a number of public comments on the Fast Trash proposal and some are included in the Selectboard packets. The cost seems to be a concern. Fast Trash will begin every Saturday in August from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon at the Malletts Bay Fire Dept.
12. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
a. Week Ending July 19, 2013
It was noted that in the Governance Committee minutes, a recommendation in the Charter was made. The charter currently states that when the Town overspends more than 2% of the Budget it would need to go to the voters. The new recommendation proposes it be 5% of the budget before going to the voters. This was a concern to at least one Selectboard member.
13. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
August 12, 2013
• 5:00 p.m. Joint Meeting with School Board (Town Hall)
August 13, 2013
• 6:30 p.m. Public Hearing on Amendments to Code of Ordinances, (Town Meeting House)
• Chapter 12 Traffic: Caleb Court,
• Chapter 12 Traffic: Fox Run Extension,
• Chapter 12 Traffic: Blakely Road and Heineberg Drive, and
• Chapter 14 Construction Standards Applicable to Land Development
• Gardner Health & Wastewater Appeals
• Meet and Greet new Police Chief, Jen Morrison and Library Director, Kelly Tomaseski
14. ANNOUNCEMENTS
There are summer concerts at Bayside Park every Thursday night. Citizens are encouraged to attend.
The Governance Committee is still looking for two people. If you are interested call the Town Offices at 264-5509.
Last week Ms. Scibek and Ms. Francis met with Emerson, Elsie and Suzanne Lynn of the Colchester Sun along with the School District. It was a productive meeting discussing how to get the word out about Town issues and how to get the Colchester SUN to all residents in Colchester. The Town and School are looking at placing an insert newsletter in the SUN every two months.
Aerial photographs were shown to demonstrate how the causeway was holding back sediment from the Winooski River near Mills Point and Colchester Point. You could also see the effects of the Lamoille River on the outer bay. The Legislature is looking at shore land legislation that proposed restricting development within 250’ of the lake, excluding farms, municipalities and transportation. Where Malletts Bay has their high density housing on the shore land, the water is blue. The pictures demonstrate the rivers are causing a significant problem with water quality.
15. APPROVAL OF WARRANTS
a. Warrant #’s 13-38 and 14-03
MOTION was made by Marc Landry and SECONDED by Kathrine Niquette to approve warrant # 13-38 in the amount of $147,142.93 warrant #14-03 in the amount of $253,268.92.
Discussion included a payment to Champlain Water District for a water line break, payment for a cab installation and the large number of tax refunds.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
16. EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 7:55 p.m. MOTION was made by Herbert Downing and SECONDED by Tom Mulcahy to enter executive session to discuss personnel where premature general public knowledge would clearly place the state, municipality, other public body, or person involved at a substantial disadvantage and invite Robert Vickery (left at 8:30), Amy Akerlind (left at 8:50) and Joan Boehm (left at 9:15) to attend.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
At 9:20 p.m. MOTION was made by Kathrine Niquette and SECONDED by Herbert Downing to exit executive session.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
MOTION was made by Herbert Downing and SECONDED by Kathrine Niquette to approve the Stipulation and Agreement for the pending 2011 assessment appeal for the Temer property and authorizes the Town Attorney, Bryan Monaghan and the Town Manager to execute any documents necessary to resolve these issues.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
MOTION was made by Herbert Downing and SECONDED by Kathrine Niquette to approve the Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release with Diversity Hill Associates and authorizes the Town Attorney, Bryan Monahan and the Town Manager to execute any documents necessary to resolve these issues.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
MOTION was made by Herbert Downing and SECONDED by Marc Landry to appoint Mickey Palmer to the Governance Committee.
The MOTION carried 5-0.
17. ADJOURNMENT
At 9:38 p.m. MOTION was made by Herbert Downing and SECONDED by Kathrine Niquette to adjourn the meeting. The MOTION carried 5-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:38 p.m.
Minutes respectfully submitted by June Campbell, Recording Secretary.
Attachment ‘A’
SIGNATURE PAGE:
These minutes of July 23, 2013 were approved on August 13, 2013.
COLCHESTER SELECTBOARD:
__________________________________ ___________________________________
Nadine Scibek Marc Landry
__________________________________ ___________________________________
Herbert J. Downing Kathrine R. Niquette
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Thomas Mulcahy