|
TOWN OF WILLIAMSTOWN MEMBERS: Larry Hebert – Chair, Bill Ashe – Vice Chair (absent), Rodney Graham, Francis Covey TOWN
MANAGER – Jacqueline Higgins SELECTBOARD MEETING CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7pm by L. Hebert. SET THE AGENDA: F. Covey made the motion to approve the agenda, need to remove tax rate 12/13 as the information was not available yet, seconded by B. Ashe, and so voted. REVIEW OF OPEN PUBLIC COMMENT: available for viewing at all meetings. OPEN PUBLIC COMMENT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: #1 – M. Sprano would like to talk to the Board at the next meeting about the end of year budget figures. The figures have not been presented to the Board yet. SELECTBOARD ANNOUNCEMENTS: None REVIEW & APPROVAL MINUTES: R. Graham made the motion to accept the minutes of the July 16, 2012 meeting, with corrections, seconded by F. Covey, and so voted, with B. Ashe abstaining as he wasn’t at the meeting. REVIEW & APPROVAL WARRANTS: R. Graham made the motion to accept the payroll warrant 7/1 – 7/15, and 7/15-7/28, SB147 and SB148, seconded by B. Ashe, and so voted. R. Graham made the motion to accept warrant SB146, seconded by F. Covey, and so voted, with L. Hebert abstaining. TOWN MANAGER REPORT: Cross walks have been painted and a crosswalk sign has been ordered for the Business Ctr/Route 14 cross walk. We have a state permit that allows us to put up the sign in the road between 7am and 5pm. Delinquencies update as of 8/1/12 – taxes $127,184.54, water $36,909.63, sewer $35,035.32. 17 parcels sent to attorney for tax sale. 16 water/sewer users were sent shut-off notices. We have been notified that the trees on Route 14 that impair visibility coming off from Meadow Street are not in the right-of-way. We will talk with land owners to see if they will trim. HIGHWAY – work completed in last 2 weeks – storm clean up, resurfacing section of Weir Road, and equipment maintenance. Roads graded were Tower, Sugarhouse, Grandview, Washington, Therriault Hill, Old Baptist, Boyce, Birch and Trip. Work to be done in next 2 weeks – Roadside mowing (Stone Road area), Portions of Tower Road & Baptist street resurfacing with ¾”. Grading schedule – Gilbert, Baptist, Chelsea, Stellar, Carpenter, South Hill, Menard Crossroad, Graham Rd. M. Sprano asked if all roads would be road side mowed, and J. Higgins reported that they were. R. Graham asked about the new speed limit sign for Route 14. J. Higgins reported that the state was taking care of that and that the signs had been ordered. F. Covey asked about Road name signs. J. Higgins reported that many have been ordered, but the highway department hasn’t had a chance to put them up yet. NEW BUSINESS: #1 – INVENTORY TAX – T. Knight spoke to the board about the inventory tax. We are 1 out of 10 or so towns in VT that still charge this tax. Many did away with it when ACT 60 was implemented. There is no state education tax on inventory, just municipal. There are currently about 90 parcels that pay “personal property tax” – which includes equipment & inventory. It results in about $20,000 in revenue to the town. There would need to be a town vote in order to abolish this tax. Some have said that if they knew about the tax in advance they would not have located their business in Williamstown; therefore it is a deterrent to new business coming to town. T. Knight said that it takes about 20 hours for her to do the work associated with the annual calculation of the tax. It requires mailing letters to all 90 parcels, receiving the mail in, calculating depreciation, tracking information down, etc. If this tax goes away it would raise the tax rate approximately 1 – 1.5 cents. The discussion was tabled until Town Meeting time when it would be placed on the warning for the town to vote on. #2 – NORTH EAST MATERIALS – N. E. Materials has requested to open up the access on Pirie Road for aggregate, as well as possible future asphalt operation. E. Morton stated that within a year, they would be willing to given enough asphalt to shim/overlay 1730’ of Pirie Road. (from Graniteville Road to their access point) R. Graham stated that it’s a public highway and wasn’t sure if we had the authority to stop them from using it. Only authority is the over weight permit. He finds their offer offensive, akin to a bribe. F. Covey didn’t see the offer as a bribe but as a good faith effort. Pirie road will be much safer than using Cogswell St. D. Cooper who represents N. E. Materials, just wants clarification on the letter from the town manager that they presented to ACT 250. The letter stated they could open Pirie Road access for aggregate use during mud season. It stated nothing about future use for the asphalt plant. There was much discussion from Graniteville residents opposed to the asphalt plant. Also comments from Williamstown residents opposed due to the increased truck traffic and wear & tear on the roads. OLD BUSINESS: #1 – PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING COMMITTEE - R. Graham gave an update on the building. The drawings have been completed. There is 5 bays, male & female locker rooms, meeting room, kitchen, storage, mechanical room, office for fire chief, office for ambulance director, dispatch room, processing room for the sheriff dept. Upstairs will be a modest bunk room & rec room. The building is designed for use now and into the future 25-50 years. It will be energy efficient, using wood pellet boiler for heat, and solar panels for hot water. It will cost more to install these (energy efficient options) but will pay for itself in the first 5 years. The estimate to build the building is $2.5 - $3 million. There were grants available, but there aren’t any at this time. It is expensive, but will have cost savings – heating 1 building instead of 2, plus repairs on the other buildings. The current ambulance bay would be torn down, and the fire department building would probably be sold. #2 – SOLID WASTE ORDINANCE UPDATE – Still working on. #3 – TREASURER COMMITTEE – A decision will be made soon to appoint the 3 residents to the committee. 5 people have applied. #4 – OLD TOWN WATER TANK UPDATE – Information has been given to Shirley Luther, a local realtor, to arrive at a fair market value. She is away on vacation right now, but will get us the information as soon as she returns. J. Higgins is still researching right of way issues. #5 – HIGHWAY POLICY – The new amendment was read by J. Higgins, culverts on driveways will be a minimum of 15” in diameter and 30’ long, with a header on the inlet. R. Graham made the motion to approve the policy amendment as presented, seconded by F. Covey, and so voted. #6 – GARDEN STREET – R. Hepburn drew a sketch of what he would like done. Using his sketch it would cost $12,500 just for the blocks. Redi-Rock came and looked that project. They recommend using 41” blocks on the bottom instead of the 28”, and to only go 3 blocks high. The Town is still only paying $10,000 for the materials. Any more will come from R. Hepburn. AROUND THE TABLE: R. GRAHAM – None B. ASHE – None F. COVEY – None L. HEBERT - None EXECUTIVE SESSION – R. Graham made the motion at 9: 38 pm to have a brief recess and then to enter into executive session in accordance with 1 VSA § 313 (1) (2) and (3) – contract, labor relations agreements, negotiating/securing of real estate purchase options, and appointment of a public officer, seconded by F. Covey, and so voted. Motion was made my R. Graham and seconded by F. Covey to exit executive session at 10:22 p.m. R. Graham made the motion to appoint Scott Valliancourt to the Selectboard vacancy until March 2013, Town Meeting Election, seconded by B. Ashe, and so voted. R. Graham made the motion to enter into a 1 year contract with Jacqueline Higgins as Town Manager, seconded by F. Covey, and so voted. ADJOURN - R. Graham made motion to adjourn at 10:26 p.m., seconded by F. Covey and so voted. Respectfully submitted, Cora Grandfield |