FINAL VERSION AS
AMENDED AND APPROVED ON ___________. Attest: _________
Town of Charlotte
Board of Selectmen
Minutes
Monday, January 13, 2003
7:00 PM, Charlotte Town Hall
Eleanor Russell
Debbie Ramsdell
OTHERS: Dan
Senecal-Albrecht (selectboard assistant)
Dale Knowles
Kurt Fischer
Robin Reid
Shirley Bean
Stephen C. Brooks
Clark Hinsdale, Jr.
John Hammer
Sylvia Sprigg
Tricia Coleman
John Hammer
Rick Tenney
Walter Gates
Peter Coleman
Dick St. George
Rick Pollack
Hugh Lewis, Jr.
Rose Ann Lombard
Carolyn Sennhenn
David Miskell
Tim Hawley
Jocelyn Bolick (clerk)
The meeting was
called to order at 7:00 pm.
The items on the
agenda were as follows;
Adjustments to agenda
/ Approve minutes of December 9th,
11th, and 30th / Public Discussion / Appoint committee
for rerouting of Higbee Road & Route 7 intersection / Budget Discussion /
Town Warning / Consider appeal of State’s Determination of Charlotte’s
Equalized Education Property Value / Path easement across Nordic Farms / Sign
liquor license for Tenney’s Deli / Renewal of fire station note / Selectboard
Updates / Sign Bills and Warrants
Need to approve
auditors report, and need a selectboard member to review the bank statements to
separate out the duties of the bookkeeping and the treasurer. Eleanor Russell has offered to look at the
bank statements.
Motion made by
Jennifer Cole, seconded by Debbie Ramsdell:
Vote: 3 in favor, 1 abstained (E.Russell). Eleanor Russell accepted.
Motion made by
Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennifer Cole:
Vote: all in favor.
Approve minutes of
December 9th, 11th, and 30th.
Motion made by
Charles Russell, seconded by Eleanor Russell:
“To approve the minutes of December 9th”
Correct references on
page 5, 3rd paragraph to read 10,000. Vote: all in favor.
Motion made by
Eleanor Russell seconded by Jennifer Cole.
“To approve the minutes of December 11th”
Vote: all in favor.
Motion made by Debbie
Ramsdell, seconded by Charles Russell.
“To approve the minutes of December 30th”
Correct references on
footer to show correct date. Correct
reference on page 2, 4th paragraph to correct spelling of
ordinance. Correct reference on page 3,
change “being worked on Chairman …” to “Being worked on by Chairman …”. Correct wording on page 3, 3rd
paragraph, change “issues you raised” to “issues they raised”, correct typing
in same paragraph “if and when the town ever decides to construct”, correct
wording on page 3, 2nd paragraph from bottom, change “We should all
be concerned about global warming” to “David Hill felt we should all be
concerned about global warming”. Vote:
all in favor.
Shirley Bean said
that the first Monday in February the Grange is having a potluck supper and
would like to invite all the people running for office (or would like to meet
the candidates) in March to attend, followed by candidates on why they should
be elected. The Grange can seat 50 to
60 people.
Debbie Ramsdell
wanted an update on Paul and his mother, wondered if the selectboard did
anything. She will follow up with
Katherine Arthaud.
Stephen Brooks stated
that the AOTMPO trail grant was awarded some time ago, does the selectboard
know the parameters for funding? Daniel
Senecal-Albrecht believes some work will be done in the spring, with most of
the work done in the following fiscal
year. Dan was at the MPO TAC meeting
last week and did not think losing the grant was a concern. Paul has been in contact with them and did
not feel concerned about this. Dan will
continue looking into this.
Stephen Brooks wanted
to know if there is a camp lease that is still expired at Thompsons Point. Charles Russell said no, there was one
signed without a public meeting. This
issue needs to be brought up at the next meeting and have the board review the
protocol for lease terms. This will be
on the agenda for the next meeting.
Dale Knowles (animal
control officer) said that in June, July, and August of 2002, there were 20
wasted trips looking for dogs that were not there. There were approximately fifteen trips looking for dogs that were
bothering people last year, and one dog was found out of those 15.
Appoint committee for rerouting of Higbee Road at
intersection with Rte 7
David Miskell came
representing Clark Hinsdale, III. Dave
had a list of volunteers interested in forming a committee to look at the road
cut: Michael Hinsdale, Christine
Souliere, Carolyn Sennhenn, David Hill, Barbara Amblo, Maurice Thorpe, David
Miskell, Junior Lewis. Clark is
interested on getting going ASAP and to get the state person at the site also. Mission of the committee would be to study
where it should come up to Higbee Road, where it should come up to Route 7,
safety issues, the curb cut, school bus use, input from nearby residents,
etc. Jennifer Cole volunteered to be
the selectboard representative.
Motion made by
Charles Russell, seconded by Eleanor Russell:
Vote: all in favor. Barbara Amblo will be the contact person on the committee.
Budget Discussion
Change donations to
level fund. Donations will be the same
level as Budget 2002-2003 year.
Rose
Ann Lombard presented a request by the Charlotte Sportsmans Alliance for $500
donation from the town budget. They
sponsor Guided Free Fishing Day, Archery Sports Introduction, hunter education
classes, etc. Funds would be utilized
to carry on these programs. Currently
raise money by membership dues and the game supper. Discussion ensued by the public concerning this donation. The selectboard chose to support this
donation.
Request by HomeShare Vermont
HomeShare
sent a letter asking for $500 – a new request.
They assist elders and people with disabilities to live in their own
homes with live-in assistance from others.
Discussion ensued concerning this donation. The board chose to NOT support this donation. The feeling was that people can support this
group individually.
Request by Women Helping Battered
Women
Level
funded this year.
Cemetery Spending – Hazel Prindle
Dick
Jacobson from South Burlington representing the Vermont Cemetery
Association. They are trying to
increase the amount of spending in cemeteries in towns adjacent to
Burlington. They would like to hire a
crew from Vermont Youth Conservation Corps at $3000 for the summer. They would like $1000 from towns, and they
will match with $2000. There are 9
cemeteries in Charlotte and 4 are abandoned.
Some have stones in need of repair, brush needs to be cut, etc. They suggest 4 conservation youth corps workers
with a supervisor in cemeteries designated by the selectboard to work in the
spring and/or summer. The selectboard
added $1000 to the cemetery maintenance line item for Vermont Cemetery
Association – line item increases to $2560.
Highway Maintenance. Junior Lewis agreed with budget of $90,000
for materials in highway expenses.
Discussion ensued concerning the dip in the road right outside of town
hall.
Senior Center funding. The selectboard feels it’s reasonable to
partially fund a director and program expenses, but perhaps it is best to not
expand at this time and bring it up at town meeting. Shirley Bean stated that the building is occupied from 9:30 AM on
… for classes, socializing, etc. The
building is put to good use. Ann is
doing a great job, and the seniors don’t want to lose her. But they probably will if her hours are not
increased. Seniors will have
fundraisers this year to help with expenses, but it will not be going towards
Ann’s salary. If she has 20 hours, she
can get benefits, and this is important.
If she worked 20 hours, it would be $20,439 with benefits. Consider dropping the program expenses from
the Senior Center, this would save $2,000.
The selectboard agreed to 20 hours for Ann, and the removal of $2,000
for program expenses at the Senior Center.
Fire and Rescue.
Motion
made by Charles Russell, seconded by Eleanor Russell:
Vote: all in favor.
A
revised spreadsheet was received from Chris Davis for fiscal year 2003-2004
Fire and Rescue budget. BankNorth would
like to meet with Eleanor Russell, Charles Russell and members of the fire
department to go over the capital fund since the initial projections for the
ambulance, fire trucks, etc., are not generating enough income and needs to be
adjusted. The meeting is set for
January 22nd at 9:30. The
budget for 2002-2003 F&R total shows $127,070 for operations expense, off
by $500, but you can’t change last years budget. Proposed 2003-2004 F&R is $281,650 for total corporate
expenses, and with capital fund transfer it is $396,150. Per cent change is increase of 17.88%. A discussion ensued of line items within
corporate expenses group on worksheet: office supplies, professional services,
dry hydrants, medical supplies and protective clothing.
Fire and Rescue is looking to replace a 1980 pumper and the town needs to start budgeting for this (approximately $450,000). This needs to be discussed at the meeting on January 27th. A discussion ensued on adding line items to income (other revenue sources) on F&R worksheet (i.e., donations, raffles, patient billing, etc.).
A point was made that the money spent by the town on expenses for the communication towers should be shown as an item in the town budget somehow.
Budget expenses
Discussion of various line items. A new trash hauler will be contacted to see if fees can be reduced for hauling trash.
The
increase in budget is 3.27% over last year, give or take (a few changes were
made this evening).
There
are a few more numbers to solidify, and the budget should be ready on the 27th.
Review
potential articles. There is an article
from the town clerk to approve deletions to the voter checklist.
Review
request by Charlotte Children’s Center for tax exemption. The selectboard would like to talk to them
about this exemption. Currently it is
only done for the Grange and the Moose Lodge.
The selectboard decided to make them get the signatures via petition and
have them argue it at town meeting.
Jennifer
Cole stated that the Affordable Housing Committee is putting together a
statement that will give townspeople the opportunity to make a commitment to
measures that support affordable housing.
A meeting is set for next Monday, January 20th.
Consider appeal of State’s Determination of Charlotte’s Equalized Education Property Value
There
are four separate categories designated for properties. There seems to be a reasonable argument to
change a half-dozen or so properties in town.
So, an appeal to the state might change the taxes paid by the
townspeople to the towns’ advantage.
Motion
made by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Debbie Ramsdell:
Vote: all in favor.
On
Friday, January 17, Charles Russell will meet with Kay and Eleanor Russell to
talk about accelerating the rate of appraising properties in town. Currently, the properties in town are
re-evaluated every 5 years, with one of 5 quadrants re-evaluated every year. Right now, the common level of appraisal is
79.43%. Discussion centered on
doubling the number of listers and doing half the town in one year.
Path easement across Nordic Farms (Brief Update)
When
can a meeting be set up with the engineer?
An attempt is being made to set up a meeting on Friday, January 17th
at 1:30 PM, with Charles Russell, Daniel Senecal-Albrecht, and Clark Hinsdale,
Jr.
Motion
made by Debbie Ramsdell, seconded by Eleanor Russell:
Vote: all in favor.
Sign liquor license for Tenney’s Deli
Motion
made by Debbie Ramsdell, seconded by Eleanor Russell.
“To approve the Tenney’s Deli for
a liquor license”
Vote:
all in favor.
Motion
made by Debbie Ramsdell, seconded by Eleanor Russell:
Vote: all in favor.
Renewal of fire station note
Note
for $60,000 for the construction of the fire station. Approved by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennifer Cole. Vote: all in favor.
Selectboard updates
Postponed
until next meeting.
Sign Bills and Warrants
Motion
made by Jennifer Cole, seconded by Eleanor Russell:
“To approve certificate of highway mileage, dated for the year ending February 10, 2003”
Vote:
all in favor.
Motion
made by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennifer Cole.
Vote:
all in favor.
Meeting
next Monday, January 20th, at 7 PM.
Meeting
adjourned at 10:50 PM.