TOWN OF WILLIAMSTOWN

BOARD OF SELECTBOARD MEETING

JUNE 20, 2011

WILLIAMSTOWN MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY

MINUTES

PRESENT: Larry Hebert, Chair, Bill Ashe, Vice Chair, Art Stone, Francis Covey, Rodney Graham

TOWN MANAGER: Garrett Earls

VISITORS: Kathleen Lot, Mike Sprano, Chris Peloquin, Horace Duke, Becky Watson

At 7:00 pm L. Hebert called to order the June 20, 2011 Williamstown Selectboard meeting.

SELECTBOARD MEETING

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Becky Watson reminded everyone about the community party for Rachael's garden on June 25th. She said that the land was donated to the Town by Bernie Duff, who was the Town Manager. To honor his wife Rachael he wanted the garden to be named after her.

VISITOR'S COMMENTS:

B. Watson talked to a person in the State who is knowledgeable about crosswalks. She has noticed that Williamstown doesn't have any and thought that some were going to be put in the Town. G. Earls said it wasn't allowed in the sidewalk grant. He said that the speed limit will be changed to 40mph. Based on a traffic study done by the State they came up with a safe speed of 40mph. B. Ashe brought up the elderly housing across from Pump & Pantry and that they should have a crosswalk there. G. Earls will follow up with the State, and provide the Board with a copy of the study. B. Watson asked who it was that G. Earls has been working with; he said that it was Amy Gambell. B. Watson also suggested a crosswalk be put in by Lennys. L. Hebert promised to check into this. R. Graham mentioned that this topic was brought up last fall. He does think that the Town needs to petition the State again for the crosswalks.

REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF WARRANTS:

L. Hebert asked for a motion to approve the warrants, G. Earls made a change to the payroll dates. B. Ashe made a motion to approve payroll warrants April 18 thru May 22, and May 22 thru June 4, SB101 and SB102 warrants, R. Graham second. SB101 warrant B. Ashe asked about a charge from Tenco New England. G. Earls said that it was for cutting edges on the grader. Motion passed by voice vote 5-0. L. Hebert excused himself for the approval of SB100 warrant. B. Ashe asked for a motion to approve SB100, F. Covey made a motion to approve, A. Stone second. Motion passed by voice vote 4-0.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

L. Hebert asked for a motion to approve the May 16th and June 6th minutes. R. Graham made a motion to approve the minutes from May 16th, B. Ashe second, motion passed by voice vote 5-0. F. Covey made a motion to approve the minutes from June 6th, R. Graham second. B. Ashe asked to have his name corrected. F. Covey pointed out a typo. Motion passed by voice vote 5-0. The minutes from June 13th R. Graham made corrections to remove executive session to special meeting. R. Graham made a motion to approve, B. Ashe second. Motion passed by voice vote 5-0.

MANAGER'S REPORT:

G. Earls wanted confirmation that the next meeting will be on Tuesday, July 5th, F. Covey agreed. G. Earls said that the next meeting will have 2 warrants, one for 2011 and one for 2012 fiscal year. He provided the Board with information to review. A schedule of equipment replacement, a draft of the journal adjustments, a cost of flood damage to date valuing $79,291, but still missing labor from the crew, more gravel, concrete blocks and hauling charges. G. Earls is still waiting to hear from FEMA, waiting for the declaration. L. Hebert thinks there will be more costs from Flint road, and still need to upsize the culverts. G. Earls agreed with L. Hebert that costs may be as high as $150K. He mentioned the damage to the sewer plant and has taken pictures. There are trees in the water that is redirecting the water to the effluent channel. R. Graham asked about the work on Falls Bridge Road. G. Earls said they won't be out of there until after July 4th, may have to extend the closures for two weeks. One of the roads that need work from the flood damage, Flint road, will delay the reopening of the Falls Bridge. G. Earls hopes that the project will come in at $190K plus what the match is. The total for the grant is $246K so the Town is under budget.

G. Earls provided a tally of all the vacation and sick time he has taken for the last three years. He pointed out he has only used 10.5 days of sick leave and 39.75 for vacation in three years, the point is that Town Manager gets 15 days off a year and he only used half of that, he attends 22.5 hours of Select Board meetings a year also. G. Earls asked for an Executive session to discuss personnel.

M. Sprano asked of the $79K for flood damage to date, what is being paid to other people, besides Hebert Excavating. G. Earls explained that most of it is for contractor's work and material. Also, with accounting adjustments it goes up to $94K to date.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Notice for the Hebert road Salvage yard is due and Art Kramer told G. Earls that nothing has changed. B. Ashe brought up that the dates made were dates that Mr. Griffin set and agreed upon. B. Ashe made a motion to contact the State for enforcement, A. Stone second. Motion passed by voice vote 4-0. F. Covey recused himself.

NEW BUSINESS:

1. Washington Electric Cooperative (WEC) Permit - Ferno Road Electric Distribution Line

R. Graham made a motion to approve, F. Covey second. Motion passed by voice vote 5-0.

2. Execute Orange County Sheriff contract

B. Ashe said the amounts were approved by the voters and made a motion to approve, R. Graham second. L. Hebert made a suggestion to separate the contract one for $50K and the other for $20K; so there won't be a precedent set. B. Ashe modified his motion to separate the contract one for the original and one for the additional $20K. R. Graham seconds the modification. Motion passed by voice vote 5-0.

3. Representative from Board - June 23, 2011 Tax Sales

The meeting will be Thursday at 2:00pm. There are two properties left for sale. R. Graham made a motion for L. Hebert to represent the Town for the tax sale. F. Covey second and motion passed by voice vote 5-0.

4. Brent Slayton Request - Permit to Work in Town ROW

Mr. Slayton wants to dig a ditch under the road for a conduit. L. Hebert said that in the past the Town required a metal sleeve, dug at least four feet down. B. Ashe asked if the road will be closed. Are there rules for signage, flaggers, what safety precautions will be taken? It is a well-traveled road. F. Covey thinks that the Board should follow the same procedures as before. He does agree with signage considering the traffic. B. Ashe would like to see if Mr. Slayton will come in to meet with G. Earls to discuss safety issues. R. Graham wanted to know if it would be approved. R. Graham made a motion to approve the permit under those conditions, F. Covey second. Motion passed by voice vote 5-0.

5. Chris Peloquin Request - Permit to Work in Town ROW

C. Peloquin said that a tire wall is about to fall into Weir road. F. Covey asked if he was going to be doing any digging in the road. C. Peloquin said that a tree will be removed and one end is on the Town's property or right of way. B. Ashe approved F. Covey second, motion passed by voice vote 5-0. R. Graham asked if the wall could be moved back off of the Town's ROW. F. Covey said that as long as it stays behind the trees it won't be an issue. C. Peloquin said that he intends to move it back. He said that the tires are being eliminated completely. L. Hebert would like for him to move it back as close to the right of way line as possible.

6. Transportation Paving Plan Recommendations

L. Hebert asked about the $383K as of July 1rst. G. Earls chronologically ordered the same numbers just in a different format. L. Hebert asked if the 1" topping is like the one on Brockway Hill road, which just cracked up. His opinion would be to spend more money on less roads to make the improvements last. G. Earls explained the logic behind the roads chosen, Brockway Hill, Brush Hill, Circle Street and Chelsea Road. F. Covey made a remark that the culverts needed to be done before the paving. R. Graham thinks that some of the roads should be done; roads like Mountain View should wait until it can be done right. L. Hebert would like to pick three roads and get bids then see where that leads the Town. F. Covey mentioned Brush Hill where the road was washed out, he said that needs to be done. L. Hebert said that needs to be done before school starts again. L. Hebert said he would like to use Pike Industries. F. Covey wants a list of the order for what needs to be done. B. Ashe said that Chelsea road needs to be finished. L. Hebert discussed a material that is being used in Barre that flexes better during frost. G. Earls said that the material is cold pavement and is laid down 6"; it may not be cheaper but does hold up longer. He will ask Gorman about the cold mix material, and chip sealing. F. Covey said that Brush Hill, Circle Street, Brockway Hill and Chelsea road are the first priorities. May have more done after seeing what funding is left over. The Board would like to get three bids, Pike Industries, RG Paving and Blacktop. Need to send proposals out by July to have enough time to get done before September. L. Hebert asked if the Board was in agreement to fix the four roads. F. Covey agreed. G. Earls will ask for bids to be submitted. R. Graham made a motion to allow G. Earls to ask for bids to pave Brush Hill, Circle Street, Brockway Hill and finish Chelsea road, F. Covey second. Motion passed by voice vote 5-0.

VISITOR'S COMMENTS:

C. Peloquin asked about the process the Board follows regarding the salvage yard problem. He specifically asked if Hebert road is the only one that was arbitrarily picked. L. Hebert said that when residents bring it to the attention of the Board they must look into it. F. Covey said it is complaint driven. L. Hebert brought up the new laws in effect now. B. Ashe said that a plan will be evolving over time; this is just the first one. C. Peloquin asked if the State reimburses the Municipality for the labor paid to follow the laws. R. Graham said that A. Kramer will be checking into other properties that may fall into this area. The Town is putting in a lot of time to find out what is required by the State. Mr. Kramer's work so far has been volunteered. B. Ashe said that he is a very reputable person and very thorough in his work. G. Earls said that the Municipality can approve a permit for a location not necessarily to become a salvage yard. This particular location had already been selected for enforcement by the State and they found out the Board was trying to resolve this issue. The Board told the State that they would try to work this out with the resident. The State left it up to the Board to get it cleaned up. L. Hebert said now that he hasn't followed thru with the dates set it will go back to the State. F. Covey said that the Board has made suggestions to get this cleaned up, not from an enforcement position.

AROUND THE TABLE:

R. Graham mentioned two culverts that are plugged up. Resident called him about the lower part of Chelsea Rd. has some branches hanging down near the road.

A. Stone said that a resident called about Flint road, he is asking to have it graded soon.

F. Covey said the guard rail on Graniteville road beyond Bailey Road is still damaged. It would be very dangerous if someone hit it. Someone needs to take inventory of the damaged culverts.

B. Ashe nothing

L. Hebert brought up the emergency plan. B. Ashe thought it would be good to bring it up later, after the Board has had time to review it.

R. Graham made a motion to adjourn the Selectboard meeting at 8:35pm, B. Ashe second. Motion passed by voice vote 5-0.

Executive Session - Personnel

R. Graham made a motioned to enter Executive session to discuss a personnel issue at 8:40pm, F. Covey second. Motion passed by voice vote 5-0.

B. Ashe made a motioned to exit Executive session at 9:05pm, R. Graham second. Motion passed by voice vote 5-0. Meeting adjourned at 9:06pm.

Selectboard approved minutes on July 5, 2011.