DRAFT MINUTES
 | DRAFT MINUTES COLCHESTER SELECTBOARD September 22, 2020 @ 6:00 PM Colchester Town Offices 781 Blakely Road Outer Bay Conference Room, 3rd Floor __________________ |
1. Call Meeting to Order | Roll Call
Selectboard in Attendance: Jacki Murphy, Julie Hulburd, Tom Mulcahy, and Pam Loranger.
Staff in Attendance: Town Manager Aaron Frank, Police Chief Doug Allen, Fire Chief Steve Bourgeois, Asst. Fire Chief Seth Lasker, Asst. Fire Chief David Weissenstein, Battalion Chiefs Colby Delaire, and Erik Haversang.
Others in Attendance: Charlie Papillo and Bridget Higdon; Karen Dolan and Jill Evans, Essex Community Justice
2. Possible Executive Session 6:00 PM
a. Personnel
MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Pam Loranger to enter executive session to discuss personnel under the provisions of Title1, Section 313 (a)(1)(a) of the Vermont Statutes, Executive Sessions.
The MOTION carried 4-0.
3. Pledge of Allegiance – 6:30 PM
4. Selectboard Re-Organization Meeting
MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Julie Hulburd to appoint Pam Loranger as Chair.
The MOTION carried 4-0.
5. Citizens to be Heard *
Chair Loranger made the public, staff and Board aware of our COVID protocol. The board may remain unmasked if they choose, given that they are safely distanced. The public, staff and guests presenting may unmask when they are speaking.
Chair Loranger noted the Selectboard is accepting information for Citizens to be heard via email to townmanager@colchestervt.gov including the issue of interest, your name and your address. The email will be shared with the Selectboard prior to the meeting and placed in the Selectboard packet for the public to see for the following meeting. She also said that for citizens to be heard in person, if you have an item to comment on that is not on the agenda, please come forward, state your name, and address and address the issue to the Selectboard. This week, we had a citizen write in concerned about bicycle riders rights, responsibility, safety and bicycle licenses. Town staff is making some inquires about these issues and will respond back.
6. ACTION | Consent Agenda
a. Minutes of August 25, 2020
MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Julie Hulburd to adopt the Consent Agenda as it may have been modified by the Board and to take the actions indicated for each item:
a. Approve the Selectboard Minutes of the meeting of August 25, 2020
The MOTION carried 4-0.
7. Special Business Items
a. Fire Department Update – Chief Steve Bourgeois reported that:
• The Department is doing well: everyone is healthy and morale is good.
• The department has responded to 203 incidents since July 1st of which 154 are during the weekdays Monday through Friday and 124 of these calls are during the hours that the daytime staff are on duty.
• The career staff are making a big impact on daytime calls, both with staffing and response times. We responded to a call of a reported structure fire and arrived on scene before the homeowner new their house was on fire. We had to wake them out of bed.
• Training is going well we split the Battalions and are training two nights a week. 76 members of the department have trained a total of 1,431-staff hrs. since July,1. They have been familiarizing themselves with all the department apparatus and equipment, standardized evolutions so we are all training the same.
• Worked with Colchester Police to implement new run cards for the dispatch center and is now tied to Colchester Police’s Valcour system which saves the dispatchers several steps and time taken to dispatch resources. Chief Bourgeois thanked Chief Allen, Deputy Chief Barton and their staff for helping to make this change happen.
• We have been working closely with the Town Garage staff on repairs and maintenance of the fire department apparatus.
• Have been working with Peterson Consulting and have just received preliminary reports on the condition and needs of the three fire stations now and in the future.
• The department has just completed a promotional process to fill some vacancies at the Battalions.
• Overall things are going very well with the merger. There are a lot of little pieces to merge into the one department and those things are moving along very well.
b. Police Department and Essex Community Justice Center Update: Community Problem Solving – CPD Chief Doug Allen, Jill Evans, ECJC Director and Karen Dolan of ECJC
The three presenters spoke about how alternative justice works in Colchester from the perspective of the offenders and victims and how it impacts society as a whole including the advisory board from Colchester. In the last year there were 55 Colchester referrals to community justice in Colchester. Ms. Evans spoke of the value of the offenders discussing the effect their actions had on the victim and the community. There are about fourteen volunteers from Colchester who engage in this process on an ongoing basis. Selectboard Member Mulcahy asked about the need for transitional housing, which Ms. Evans said was one of the primary needs for success of people who are released from incarceration. She spoke of the Circles of Support and accountability for people who are released to help them successfully re-enter society. Chief Allen spoke of how the CPD’s goals to reduce crime in the community and change behaviors were supported by Restorative Justice by their efforts to successfully meet these goals. Ms. Evans also spoke about the value of keeping youth and young adults out of the criminal justice system. Selectboard Member Hulburd asked about recidivism which Ms. Evans said was substantially reduced.
c. Budget Input
Town Manager Frank noted that the FY 22 Budget was an evolving target and that unemployment reduced by half between the Thursday and Friday before, which was extremely welcome. He noted that tax collection delinquencies from August narrowed to $201,000 after 30 days from $308,000 after 15 days. This is 1.2% delinquent by total amount which was more than last three years, but considering FY 17 was 1.3% it was certainly within normal ranges.
He explained The Town has historically taken a conservative approach to budgeting, first reducing expenses, then using non-tax revenues, and using property taxes as the last dollar in. We also take a business approach to providing public services: aggressively bidding out contracts (our health insurance costs are going up only 4.18% this year) and assertively going after federal and state grants. Colchester has managed to offer a high level of services yet maintain the third lowest tax rate per resident in inner Chittenden county.
He noted that Colchester is a desirable community with national rankings, investment in property, and a slowly growing population; most property investment is expected to be in the residential side this year given national retail trends and the pandemic.
He explained that the Town has three areas that we need to consider this coming budget year:
- our commitment to provide more adequate weekday daytime fire protection services, of $207,000 a year
- the possibility of needing to take a loan to cover some of the education taxes, and with interest cost of $37,000 with a rate of 2% on 5% of unpaid education taxes at $37M, which is at this point just a contingency
- additional time in our part time position of emergency management to make the position 20 hours a week at a cost of $27,000 annually.
He explained that other services would be budgeted at current levels which would include some cost increases as certain products and services are increasing. He noted that the average of the last three years budget increase, 2.6% and the average of the last three years tax increase 1.4%.
Selectboard Member Mulcahy said he wanted to use savings from FY 20 to help cover the special expenses and that he expected the overall budget and tax rates to be in line with past years.
Town Manager Frank introduced the budget timeline, explaining that it incorporates the same number of elements but in a slightly more compressed time.
Mr. Frank noted that the public safety capital plan was up for renewal this year. He noted that it was long term plan to provide specialty resources to Rescue, Technical Rescue and Police; the largest element is the backup police boat replaced ten years ago but we would need to save a few thousand a year in advance. We will avoid a tax spike in 15 years when it needs to be replaced at 25 years of age.
d. Action: Reappointment of Boards and Commissions Members
MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Tom Mulcahy to re-appoint the following Boards and Commissions members, all to begin on October 1, 2020 and end on September 30 of the years stated:
To the Board of Ethics:
· Inge Schaefer for a three-year term to expire in 2023
To the Colchester Conservation Commission:
· Theresa Carroll and Patrick Volz, both for a four-year term to expire in 2024
To the Development Review Board:
· Angela MacDonald for a four-year term to expire in 2024
· Evan Fitzgerald and Zafir Bludevich, both for a two-year term to expire in2022
· Bert Severin for a one-year term to expire in 2021
· Mickey Palmer as an alternate member for a one-year term to expire in2021
To the Planning Commission:
· Sarita Austin, Rebecca Arnold, and Robert Scheck, all to two-year terms to expire in 2022
· Prinsha Neupane to the Planning Commission’s Get Engaged Youth Seat for a one-year term to expire in 2021
To the Library Board of Trustees:
· Thomas Buckley to the Library Board’s Get Engaged Youth Seat for a one-year term to expire in 2021
To the Recreation Advisory Board:
· Dick Pecor and Jim Neary both for a two-year term to expire in 2022
To the Winooski Valley Park District:
· Susan Gilfillan as the Colchester Representative for a three-year term to expire in 2023
The MOTION carried 4-0.
e. Action: Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission Alternate Selection Pam Loranger
MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Julie Hulburd to appoint Pam Loranger as the alternate representative to the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission for the remainder of the current two-year term to end on June 30, 2021, per a memo from Aaron Frank dated September 22, 2020.
The MOTION carried 4-0.
f. Action: Delegate to VLCT Annual Business Meeting 2020 Aaron Frank
MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Julie Hulburd to select Aaron Frank, Town Manager, as the voting delegate to represent the Town of Colchester Selectboard at the Vermont League of Cities and Towns’ 2020 Annual Business Meeting, the VLCT PACIF Annual Business Meeting, and the VLCT VERB Annual Business Meeting to be held remotely from September 28 – October 2, 2020, per the Delegate Registration Form and a memo dated September 22, 2020 from Aaron Frank, Town Manager.
The MOTION carried 4-0.
g. Action: Appointment to the Selectboard
MOTION was made Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Julie Hulburd to appoint Charles Papillo to fill the vacant seat of a two-year term on the Selectboard, to begin on September 23, 2020 and to end on Town Meeting Day, 2021. This is with the understanding that:
• if the appointed wishes to continue to serve as a member of the Selectboard until the end of the two year term cycle that will end on Town Meeting Day, March 2022 s/he must fulfill the Vermont statutory requirements to run for the office in the March 2021 election and
• it will be necessary to run for election again on Town Meeting Day in March 2022 for the next full two-year term cycle.
The MOTION carried 4-0.
8. Town Manager’s Report for August 2020
Mr. Frank provided a sample of activities from each department from the report.
9. ACTION | Approval of Petitions & Licenses
a. Action: Amusement License for Spanked Puppy
MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Julie Hulburd to approve an amusement license for Vermont Community Investments d.b.a. Spanked Puppy located at 116 Main Street, Colchester Vermont.
The MOTION carried 4-0.
10. Additional Business | Manager’s Recommendations
a. Action: Refinance of 2019 E-0 Fire Truck
Mr. Frank noted that Colchester Fire district 2 and 3 transferred their assets and liabilities to the Town. He explained that CFD2 had two fire trucks on lease purchase at higher interest rates. He was able to refinance one with the same lender after getting quotes, but the second one was refinanced with a different lender saving $42,000.
MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Julie Hulburd to authorize the signing of a resolution which will permit the refinancing of a 2019 Pumper Fire Truck acquired from Colchester Fire District #2 with financing through a tax-exempt lease purchase agreement with U. S. Bancorp Government Leasing and Finance, Inc. as outlined in a Memo dated September 16, 2020 by Town Manager Aaron Frank.
The MOTION carried 4-0.
Selectboard Member Mulcahy encouraged the Town Manager to consider ways to reward employees for suggesting workable ideas that can save money or do things better.
b. Action: Cancellation of October 13, 2020 Meeting
MOTION was made by Jacki Murphy and SECONDED by Julie Hulburd to cancel the Selectboard meeting of October 13, 2020 and to authorize Town Manager, Aaron Frank, to sign the warrants for the first half of October.
The MOTION carried 4-0.