DRAFT
Charlotte Town Meeting
Minutes
Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 9:00 AM
Charlotte Central School
Gymnasium
Paul Arthaud
Eleanor Russell
OTHERS: various
townspeople (see clerk records)
The meeting was
called to order at 9:07am.
The items to be
discussed and voted on were as follows:
Allan Jordan wanted
to know if the town has a list of the fixed assets listed in the auditors
report. Ellie Russell said there is no
fixed list yet, but as the new accounting system comes on board, a list will be
created.
Carrie Spear said
last year $30,000 was spent in unanticipated expenses. What is that line item cost this year, and
what is it for? Charlie said the
year-to-date total is $12,262. Most of
that is going towards the expert witnesses hired for VELCO. As for last year, money was spent on
finishing the Senior Center, sprucing up the Fire Station, and a survey done
for Thornton’s Trace Road.
Dan Rosen asked about
the maintenance of the Senior Center in the 2002-2003 budget and how it
correlates with the unanticipated expense line item discussed above.
Walter Judge asked
how much was spent on the VELCO consultants for 2003-2004. Charlie said $10,032, with a total of around
$30,000. Walter wanted to know why the
town wasn’t consulted before spending significant money. Charlie said there was not time.
Martha Perkins
responded to Walter Judge; she said the select board has been elected by the
town. If you’re concerned about issues,
please go to meetings and support the town.
Sylvia Knight wanted
to support the select board position.
Dave Nichols asked
about the 2002-2003 line item of legal expense. It’s approaching $50,000.
Charlie said most of it was related to a telecommunications lawsuit that
was filed. That was $29,000 in legal
fees, $4,000 in Nextel’s challenge, $2,000 was a Tenney appeal, $3500 was an
attempt to get GMP to bury power lines on Ferry Road, etc. Dave wanted to know where we are this year
compared to our budgeted amount.
Charlie said $31,867. $12,000 is
VELCO, and probably another $10,000 will go to VELCO. Dave asked about Town Hall Maintenance – the difference between
the actual and budgeted amount – did that include painting. Charlie said no, that is in this year’s
budget. We’ve paid $4500 for painting
of the town hall already this year.
Marty Illick asked
about the “By-law review” line item.
She wanted to know if this was a grant, Charlie said no.
Richard Bernstein
wanted to know the role the town has played in the tower. Charlie said the town attorneys have had to
spend time figuring out what to do with the lawsuit action throughout the year.
Carrie Spear wanted
to know about the transfer of town funds into special funds. Eric Van Vlandren said a consultant came in
to do some work and they did not have access to the treasurer to pay the
consultant. They used this money and
paid it back from the Tower Fund after the books had closed for the year.
Dick Weed asked about
the Harriet Barrows bequest; is it supposed to go toward fire expenses. Eric Van Vlandren said the will has cleared
probate, but the fund has not paid out any money to Fire & Rescue yet. They are having difficulty dealing with the
trust officer, and have approached the judge to see if they can change the
trust officer.
Jim Donovan called
the question.
Request to cease debate on Article 1, Vote: Ayes have it.
Vote on Article 1: To hear the reports of the Town officers and to act upon the same.
Vote: Ayes have it.
Craig Reynolds moved Article 2, it was seconded.
Vote on Article 2: Will the Town vote to have property taxes payable on or before November 15, 2004 and to have payments made to the Town Treasurer 32 VSA § 4773?
Vote: Ayes have it.
Sylvia Knight moved Article 3, it was seconded.
Ellie said there were a few changes in the budget this year. The Conservation Fund has been listed as an expense in the budget. Also, there is a change that clearly reflects the expenses and income for the Senior Center and intramural sports. Given that, there is a 5.8% increase over last year.
Dave Nichols wanted to know if that is 2 cents on the tax rate for the Conservation Fund. Ellie said they have budgeted 2 cents on the tax rate to the Conservation Fund. The increase in the grand list reflects the increase in land prices.
Jim Donovan said the actual for 2002-2003 for town lands and recreation is larger than the estimate, and it has been budgeted the same way again. Charlie said the bid package wasn’t quite the way it should have been, and it led to some confusion. Over the course of the last 3 or 4 years, the amount of the land maintenance line item has shifted around a lot.
Nancy Wood was confused about the capital funds. The budget has a fixed amount in it, yet you are voting on “2 cents” on the tax rate. And since the grand list is not finalized, you don’t know what the final amount will be. Charlie said with the CVFRS Capital Fund Transfer, what got transferred in is the 3 cents. It is confusing, and the select board will look to the town attorney for direction on this. It will be inconsistent if the grand list goes up.
Ruah Swennerfelt said this is an estimate based on two cents; it may be higher or lower.
Lee Wanston said there are 3 ball fields in East Charlotte. Why does it take 2 to 3 times more money for maintenance of the Berry Farm fields? Charlie said the Berry Farm fields are actually 2 fields.
Spin Richardson wanted to use the budgeted figure for the Conservation Fund and the Fire and Rescue Fund. He feels when there is a clearly anticipated amount - you need to do it this way.
Marty Illick feels the Conservation Fund correlates directly with the kind of things you need to do with land purchases. She wants to encourage the town to link that fund to the grand list.
Mike Yantachka wanted to know where the Fire and Rescue Fund and the Conservation Fund are shown in the budget. Charlie said the revenue page shows revenue not coming from tax dollars; the funds do come from tax dollars. On the page titled “Computation for Determination of Tax Rate” (Page 28), you’ll see the funds.
AMENDMENT: Bob Chutter wanted to know why we support the Chittenden Food Shelf, yet within the town we do not support 12-15 families in need. He would like to propose the following amendment: “Will the town add $300 to the budget to support the Charlotte Food Shelf”. It has been seconded.
Mary Mead said the Charlotte Food Shelf stated they do not need the money.
Martha Perkins asked why Bob Chutter wants to add $300 to the budget?
Bob Chutter said perhaps the food shelf advisers are bashful? His prices go up when he goes to the supermarket.
Shirley Bean said the Grange donated $50 to the food shelf. The food shelf said $50 donated purchased $500 of food from the food shelf in Barre.
Richard Bernstein said they need to hear from the food shelf. If they asked the town directly, he would be for it. But he would need to hear from the Charlotte Food Shelf directly. No one from the food shelf was at the town meeting.
Ted Jones feels it is a good idea, but duplication. The Chittenden Food Shelf donation dropped from $300 to $200. Isn’t Charlotte part of Chittenden County? Charlie said they deal with whatever requests are given to the select board. Charlotte Food Shelf has not asked for any money in the past.
Debbie Ramsdell said “If it ain’t broke, don’t break it”.
Colby Gatos requested to cease debate on the amendment, Vote: Ayes have it.
Vote on amendment: “Will the town add $300 to the budget to support the Charlotte Food Shelf”.
Vote: No’s have it. The amendment fails.
Dick Weed wanted to know about the Thompson Point numbers. How realistic are we at valuing Thompson’s Point? Charlie said the numbers are based on present leases. The appraiser has reappraised the Thompson’s Point Land this year, and it will be reflected in next year’s leases.
Ruah Swennerfelt asked about benefits. Given that health insurance costs are rising, are we consistent with other municipalities in Vermont? Is the staff paying their share of the cost of health insurance? Ellie said the staff in the town is not highly paid, and paying a significant share of health insurance is one way to reward them. She feels it is fairly consistent with other towns.
Dan Rosen asked about the Fire and Rescue Fund and the Conservation Fund. He feels its common sense that, since the budget is based on the grand list, this issue about a fixed number in the budget should have come up earlier. Charlie said part of the answer is we’ve been doing it this way for years. We were trying to solve a few different issues: consistency, as well as giving the town opportunity to approve the decision on how much to put in the funds. After discussing it with the lawyer, this seemed to be easier – just put it in the budget. Ellie said in the past, they have used the two or three cents as the actual budget.
AMENDMENT: Nancy Wood proposed the following
amendment: “To reduce the budget from $1,970,634 to $1,720,634 plus an amount
equal to 2 cents on the tax rate for the Conservation Fund and 3 cents on the
tax rate for the Fire and Rescue Fund”. It has been seconded.
Allan Jordan said they spent hours years ago voting on the 2 cents for the Conservation Fund. Conceivably, you could take the $100,000 in the budget AND the 2 cents. You might as well strike it.
Tina Flood asked if the line items were added for more accountability to the town. Charlie said the town is voting the 2 cents and 3 cents by this amendment. The motivation was to be consistent within the budget. Tina likes the idea of having the line item in there, she would like to consult with the town attorney to make sure the 2 cents and 3 cents are included in the budget.
Patricia O’Donnell said we are talking about the way we put it on paper, not the intent. The desire is to see the 2 cents and 3 cents put aside. This needs to be shown that it is a floating number.
Richard Bernstein asked to leave it the way the auditors have recommended. The state has been playing fast and loose with the tax rates over the past few years. He would rather see it as a line item. It is much cleaner.
Spin Richardson feels we should have a set figure.
Tina Flood asked what happens if the 2 cents on the grand list does not reach $100,000 – what happens. Ultimately, the lawyers need to make that distinction.
Jessie Bradley requested to cease debate on the amendment, Vote: Ayes have it.
Vote on amendment: “To reduce the budget from $1,970,634 to $1,720,634 plus an amount equal to 2 cents on the tax rate for the Conservation Fund and 3 cents on the tax rate for the Fire and Rescue Fund”.
Vote: Ayes have it. The amendment passes.
Walter Judge asked if the 2004-2005 budget includes additional amounts spent on the Public Service Board. Charlie said he is hoping the hearings will be all over by July 1st. If there are any more, it will be included in the unanticipated expense line item.
Tom Pell said there is a 12% increase in legal expenses. What do you expect for actual legal expenses for 2003-2004, and have you considered going out to bid for legal services? Charlie said they have not talked about going out to bid; there has been a brief discussion in the past on whether or not this law firm is representing us well.
AMENDMENT: Stephen Brooks wanted to amend the article
“To add $110,000 for gravel road
maintenance”. It has been seconded.
Dave Nichols wanted to know why the gravel on the roads is not rounded, but spread flat so bad drainage creates potholes. He wishes Junior Lewis would speak to this.
Junior Lewis agrees with Dave – the dirt roads are badly in need of gravel. He wanted to hear what the voters felt about the gravel roads. He feels it will be money well spent.
Michael Krasnow asked if that amount of money will make a dent in the roads. Junior said it won’t be a big dent, but we need a start. The roads are not built for the loads that exist today.
Marty Illick doesn’t feel comfortable with that amendment, but she likes the intent. She feels a more organized approach through the select board developing a capital budget is the better way of doing it.
Bob Mesaros feels that the issue of whether or not the roads were properly constructed was never addressed.
Alice Lawrence said we already have a mechanism in place for handling this – the road commissioner goes to the select board and asks for money for what is appropriate for his roads. Town meeting is not the mechanism for doing this.
Hazel Prindle asked how many miles of dirt and paved roads do we have in town? Junior said 80 miles of road, probably half of it is gravel.
Patricia O’Donnell said that town meeting is a good place to bring up the town road issue, but maybe not a place to solve the financial issue. If we have 40 miles of roads and roads last around 10 years, perhaps we should be upgrading 4 miles of roads every year. Perhaps more would be needed to “catch-up”.
Ruah Swennerfelt says that Junior Lewis wants the money, he just wanted to make sure that we have the discussion at Town Meeting. But what is the amount he really wants for the coming year? Charlie said it will be around 14,000 cubic yards for 45 miles. Junior said his intention was to get some input from the town before he goes to the select board and requests money to lay gravel. We need to do about 4 miles per year; last year we did 2 miles. He is not trying to increase the budget.
Request to call the question.
Request to cease debate on the secondary amendment, Vote: Ayes have it.
Vote on amendment: to amend the article “To add $110,000 for gravel road maintenance”.
Vote: Ayes have it. Amendment passes.
Dick St. George requested to call the question.
Request to cease debate on Article 3, Vote: Ayes have it.
Vote on Article 3: Will the town adopt the select boards budget of $1,830,634 for the fiscal year July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005 less anticipated revenues which includes $110,000 for gravel road maintenance plus an amount equal to 2 cents on the tax rate for the Conservation Fund and 3 cents on the tax rate for the Fire and Rescue Fund?
Vote: Ayes have it.
Craig Reynolds moved Article 4, it was seconded.
Vote: Ayes have it.
Marty Illick moved Article 5, it was seconded.
Ellie said the intent of this article is to set aside money for unanticipated expenses in terms or repairs or improvements in town property. By putting money in a fund, it spreads the cost of expenses over the years. This article does not put any money into this year. The expenditures from the fund would be approved by the select board at a warned select board meeting.
Ruah Swennerfelt asked if the idea is to have $25,000 come down to zero, or will it be added to each year. It might take several years to get up to $25,000 but it would not be more than $25,000 at any one time.
Marty Illick wanted to know if this was maintenance or capital expense. Ellie said this was for repairs and maintenance, not improvements.
Dan Rosen felt that the Fire and Rescue Fund and Conservation Fund are listed to clarify those for the voters, yet this sets up a separate fund that is less visible to the voters. He feels that the place to have it is in the budget.
Beth Merritt said the budgeting process makes it difficult to perform maintenance when something happens that you don’t expect. This would be a backup for all the property that the town needs to maintain.
Allan Jordan said the town doesn’t have a list of fixed assets, so it seems silly to ask for money to maintain property the town doesn’t know that it has.
AMENDMENT: “To have the Select board list the town assets”. It has been seconded.
Vote on amendment “To have the Select board list the town assets”.
Vote: Ayes have it. Amendment passes.
Patricia O’Donnell said it is traditional to put aside money for maintenance; she feels it is a good plan to establish the reserve fund.
Joan Jameson is looking for clarification on the reserve fund on the paper ballot. Charlie said there was nothing related to the town reserve fund voted on in paper ballot.
Spin Richardson said the idea of a reserve fund is fine. His concern is how the money is getting put in there. If it’s a quarter-cent on the tax rate, he doesn’t want to see it – he wants a fixed number.
Mike Yantachka thought the idea of a capital reserve fund is to build up money that carries over year-to-year.
Request to call the question.
Request to cease debate on article 5, Vote: Ayes have it,
Vote: Ayes have it.
Greg Cluff moved Article 6, it was seconded.
AMENDMENT: Mike Yantachka would like to make an amendment to make the 2-year terms staggered. It has been seconded.
Greg Cluff suggested staggering them by having the second constable for 1 year the first time, then 2 years after that.
A question arose concerning the first constable and the second constable. Charlie said the difference between the duties is not clear. The point is to get help for Cowboy Lewis when there is some sort of event going on. That way you would have somebody available to help out the first constable.
Vote on amendment “staggered two-year terms”.
Vote: No’s have it. Amendment fails.
Request to call the question.
Request to cease debate on Article 6, Vote: Ayes have it.
Vote: Ayes have it.
John Rosenthal requested a recess (11:50 AM). It was not seconded.
Craig Reynolds moved Article 7, it was seconded.
Ellie said this is a required vote if we are going to take advantage of a free optical scanner to read the check boxes of the ballots. Mary Mead said this is a tabulator; this is a window of time where the state will buy it. They will pay for the machine and for training.
Stephen Brooks said this is erosion of rural life. Vote no.
Ruah Swennerfelt said it sounded like there would be costs involved every time we have an election.
Mike Yantachka said for local elections there isn’t much of a problem, but with state-wide elections this can become a difficult counting problem. There were times when they have been in there past midnight. He would be in favor of a tabulating machine.
Debbie Ramsdell asked if this is going to be required at some point. Charlie said by some date, you need to have a machine to have visually impaired people vote, but this machine does not do that.
Request to call the question.
Request to cease debate on Article 7, Vote: No’s have it.
AMENDMENT: Phyllis Lary wants to amend the article to say “optical scanning machines” instead of “voting machines”. It has been seconded.
Alice Lawrence said we have eyes, don’t need an optical scanning machine. It’s part of enjoyment of a small town. We’re not Florida!
Ed Krasnow asked if it is one or the other. Mary Mead said it is a counter. It is one machine.
There will be costs involved in maintaining it and programming it for different ballots, even though the machine is free.
Bob Aldrich asked if it requires a change to the way the ballot looks. Mary Mead said the machine is a counter. “Registering” means taking the ballot and putting it in the counting machine. “Counting” just means adding that ballot to the total. The ballots may look different than today because they need to fit into the machine. Charlie said it won’t eliminate the CVU ballot because it needs to co-mingle with all the other schools.
Dave Perron said he and Hazel Prindle took the ballots over to CVU last year to count them. They used the machines – they were very useful and saved a lot of time. He strongly recommends approving this amendment.
Mike Krasnow said there will be costs associated with reprogramming the machine for different ballots. Can we push this amendment to another time until we get more information on the machine?
Ruah Swennerfelt said we should be talking about the amendment, not the machine.
Request to cease debate on amendment, Vote: Ayes have it.
Vote on amendment: change “voting machines” to “optical scanning machines”.
Vote: Ayes have it. Amendment passes.
Request to call the question.
Request to cease debate on Article 7, Vote: Ayes have it.
Vote on Article 7: Will the Town vote to allow the use of optical scanning machines for the registering and counting of votes?
Vote: No’s have it. Article 7 fails.
Tina Flood moved Article 8, it was seconded.
Charlie said the purpose of this article is that the town has had a recreation fee fund which came out of the impact fee; there is still a balance in that fund. We have been passing motions at town meeting trying to spend that money and drain the fund for a number of years now. One of the purposes of this article is to put that money in a different fund so that it doesn’t need to be voted on at town meeting every year. It’s also a vehicle to carry money over from one year to the next. There is approximately $8,300 in that fund right now.
Richard Bernstein asked if it is possible to put some sort of cap on that fund. Charlie said you can cap it, and have it similar to Fire & Rescue Reserve Fund so that any expenditure over $50,000 needs to be approved by the town.
AMENDMENT: Add “any sum expended over $50,000 in a fiscal year has to be approved by the voters”. It has been seconded.
Robin Reid said, as a member of the Rec Commission, she would have liked to be able to have made comments on this article.
Spin Richardson asked if we are putting money into this fund, or are we anticipating it. Ellie said we are putting money in from the fees that are left over from the sports programs. Charlie said this article restricts the money so it can’t be used for maintenance, it must be used for capital improvements or construction.
Request to cease debate on the amendment, Vote: Ayes have it.
Vote on amendment to add “any sum expended over $50,000 in a fiscal year has to be approved by the voters”.
Vote: Ayes have it. Amendment passes.
Robin Reid said the Rec Commission discussed different capital improvements that they can use this money for. There is a lot of interest in fixing up the pre-school play area at the beach. It has a fence that is falling down and old equipment which does not appear to be very safe. They would like to spend the money for better quality play school equipment and to fix the fence at the beach.
AMENDMENT: add
“that the town spend a sum not to exceed $6500 of the Recreation Fee Fund for
the purpose of upgrading the fenced in play area at the town beach including
the purchase of appropriate play equipment for pre-school age children and
deposit the remainder of the sum to establish the Recreation Reserve Fund”. It has been seconded.
Ellie asked if they still want to buy a skating rink liner. Jessie Bradley said as a committee they decided not to make that purchase.
Tina Flood said the intent of the article is to rename the money, taking it from a fund that they cannot spend and putting it into a fund that they can spend. Jessie Bradley said what they are asking is that the select board is the body of people that decides how that money is spent.
Ellie said they have committed in writing that the select board does intend to spend it for the new playground equipment. Charlie said by doing this vote, they are nullifying the vote of last year to spend the money on upgrading the skating rink.
Bill Person asked if there is more use of the money for preschoolers than there is for the skating rink. Robin Reid said they are working on a solution at the skating rink. They are hoping that the clay that is there will serve as a liner. The equipment that is down at the beach right now is inadequate and unsafe.
Vote on amendment to add “that the town spend a sum not to exceed $6500 of the Recreation Fee Fund for the purpose of upgrading the fenced in play area at the town beach including the purchase of appropriate play equipment for pre-school age children and deposit the remainder of the sum to establish the Recreation Reserve Fund”..
Vote: Ayes have it. Amendment passes.
Charlie said two years ago, there was a vote to pay $3000 to get a liner for the skating rink. Last year, the language was $4500 for capital improvements of town recreation facilities. Charlie feels it is important to pass Article 8 so this money is put into a category where we’re not skirting the law and we can spend it legally.
Request to call the question.
Vote: Ayes have it.
Tina Flood moved Article 9, it was seconded.
Lynn Rothwell supports this article. This is a just and morale policy for Vermont. Rising costs are another reason to vote yes. 70% of the dollar goes into the infrastructure in Vermont. 80% of the infrastructure expenses are fixed. If we want to keep costs down and preserve quality, we need a universal health insurance system that controls cost.
Vote on Article 9: Shall the voters
of the Town of Charlotte advise the Select board, the Governor and our State
Legislators of the following: “Whereas the rising cost of health insurance is
placing increasingly unsupportable burden on town and school budgets, the
voters of the Town of Charlotte call upon the Select board, the Governor and
our State Legislators to support and actively work for the creation of a
Universal and Comprehensive Health Insurance System which is publicly financed
and accountable to the citizens of Vermont and which will reduce costs by
eliminating most current administrative expenses?” Note: This article is advisory only.
Vote: Ayes have it.
No other business came forward.
Motion to adjourn. Ayes have it.