1. Call Meeting to Order | Roll Call

Chair Jeff Bartley called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM.

Selectboard: Jeff Bartley, Chair; Tom Mulcahy; Jacki Murphy; Julie Hulburd

Staff: Aaron Frank, Town Manager; Geoffrey Urbanik, Deputy Town Manager; Seth Lasker, Emergency Management Coordinator via telephone.

Others in Attendance: None

2. Citizens to be heard

None

3. ACTION | Special Business Items

No special business items were addressed.

4. Additional Business | Manager’s Recommendations

Aaron Frank spoke about the Town’s role in COVID 19.

Your Town staff is focused on continued delivery of crucial municipal services such as rescue, fire, police, dispatch, winter road maintenance, and other critical infrastructure maintenance. We must support these services with facilities, equipment, and support such as: information technology, human resources, finance, treasury, coordination of resources and local public information.

Colchester has had an emergency operations plan for years. We update it annually and this year, after part time Emergency Management Coordinator, Seth Lasker and I were tracking COVID-19 in January, we added another step to produce departmental continuity of operations plans. Those are now in place and we are still delivering services in all Town departments, but differently.

As Town Manager, I declared an emergency at our last Selectboard meeting on March 17th, acknowledging that we were not running the town in its everyday fashion. An emergency ordinance was codified into our Town Ordinances long ago under Chapter 16, Emergency Management and allows the Town to exercise emergency powers to help protect the public health and safety of our community.

Town offices are closed to public visits until further notice. We have staff working remotely and in the office to keep essential public safety services (fire, police, rescue and emergency management) and critical infrastructure maintenance up and running. We have Human Resources, information technology/telecom, Finance, Treasurer, and purchasing in support as well.

The Town Manager and the Deputy Town Manager have never been busier helping support and coordinate these crucial public services. We have advocated with the congressional delegation for medical and protective equipment on behalf of Chittenden County first responders.

Recreation programs and after/before school care have been cancelled. Staff is doing some videos and planning for summer and fall recreation programs.

Parks are open but people need to maintain distance of 6’ or more from people and no contact sports like basketball or soccer.

Burnham Library building is closed; we have online books and staff can help the public obtain access via telephone.

The Town Clerk, Planning and Zoning, Assessor, and Public Works administration are providing most services remotely. The staff of these departments have spent the last seven years providing duplicate online services so much of what you could obtain in person is available online, via email, and by phone.

A departmental directory is available at https://tinyurl.com/Col-Town-Dir

We worked with a local software developer, Sergei Serdyuk of Red Leaf software who developed and donated Colchester Helping Colchester, a peer-to-peer effort to connect those in need of non-emergency assistance with those who have offered assistance such as making deliveries or doing other errands. It uses a web-based form, cell phone technology, geographic information system, a two factor logon, a text messaging system, and an algorithm in its need and assistance matching.

Colchester Helping Colchester can be found here:

https://colchesterhelping.colchestervt.us/

To register to offer or ask for non-emergency assistance enter your name, address, cell phone, verify that you live in Colchester, and specify whether you need or are offering assistance. If asking for help, street name and the type of the need will be shared publicly. The name, street address, and phone number will not be made public, but will be communicated to the person who agrees to provide assistance.

You will then receive text messages with status updates and reminders.

We recommend the following to any volunteers bringing items to those who need to stay home:

· Keep a distance of six feet away.

· Avoid entering the recipient’s home.

· Wash your hands regularly, avoid touching your face and cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

· If you feel sick or learn that you have had contact with someone who is sick, stop doing community support work immediately.

· Keep a list of anyone you come into close contact with in case contact tracing is required.

· Wear clean gloves when handling items that may be given to people with a weaker immune system, and when you are close to someone who may be sick.

· 211, run by the United Way, maintains a directory of human services available in Vermont.

· We drafted a flyer with key information about COVID with input from the Vermont Department of Health that will be sent to all residents. We hope to publish and mail in the next week.

The Colchester Sun is online only at this time. Town information, including newsletters, are available at this link: www.tinyurl.com/Col-Town-COVID

Please, follow the governor’s work and travel restrictions, for your safety and that of others.

5. Announcements

Colchester and Champlain Housing Trust (CHT) did not receive tax credits from the Vermont Housing Finance Agency for the 36 unit property at the Southeast quadrant of Severance Corners. CHT will ask again next year, however this was a key element to the financial plan and this delays the project. They still have a grantcfrom the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board.

6. Executive Session

a. Personnel, Contracts and Litigation

Pam Loranger joined the Executive Session via telephone.

MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy to find that premature general publicknowledge of contracts, personnel and litigation would clearly place this Selectboard at a substantial disadvantage because the Selectboard risks disclosing its negotiation strategy if it discusses the contracts, personnel and litigation in public.

MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Tom Mulcahy that the Selectboard enter executive session to discuss contracts, personnel, and litigation under the provisions of Title 1, Section 313 (a)(1)(a) and (b) of the Vermont Statutes, Executive Sessions; and personnel under the provisions of 1 V.S.A. § 313(a)(3), Executive Sessions.

The MOTION carried 5-0.

MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Tom Mulcahy to exit the executive session at 7:25 pm.

The MOTION carried 5-0.

7 Adjournment

MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Tom Mulcahy to adjourn the meeting.

The MOTION carried 5-0.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 pm.