Town of Charlotte
Board of Selectmen
Minutes
Monday, May 10, 2004
6:30 PM, Charlotte Town
Hall
Jennifer Steele Cole
Eleanor Russell
Ed Stone
Francis Thornton
OTHERS: Dean Bloch (Selectboard
Assistant)
Mischel
Brownstone
Robert
Chutter
J.
Clemmons
Peter
Coleman
Annemie
Curlin
Jeff
Finkelstein
Lisa
Gabriel
Larry
Hamilton
Linda
Hamilton
John
Hammer
Jeffrey
Horbar
Catherine
Hughes
Cathy
Hunter
Walter
Judge
Mac
Keyser
Virginia
Keyser
Sylvia
Knight
Phyllis
Lary
Cowboy
Lewis
Matt
Maynard
Mary
Lee McIsaac
Didier
Murat
Ann
Owen
John
Owen
Martha
Perkins
Dan
Rosen
Lorraine
Russell
Nancy
Sabin
Carrie
Spear
Linda
Stowe
Richard
Stowe
Jennifer
Towne
Alice
Trageser
Gordon
Troy
Tim
Volk
Robert
Wright
Jocelyn Bolick (clerk)
The meeting was called to order at
6:35 pm.
The items on the agenda were as
follows:
Personnel
Policies—discussion / VELCO – discussion / Adjustment to Agenda / Approve
Minutes for April 26th / Public Discussion / Organized Sports –
discussion / Burns Committee appointment (Conservation Commission
representative) / Burns Property and Village Planning—hiring of consultants for
site evaluation (Otter Creek Engineering) and process facilitation (Vermont
Design Institute) / Affordable Housing Committee appointment / Sign documents
for Fire Truck Bond (Resolution, Loan Agreement, Bond, Arbitrage and Use of
Proceeds Certificate) / Trafton and Laura Crandall – Access Permit review,
Orchard Road / Vermont Housing and Conservation Board grant / Tax mapping
contract / Bills and Warrants / Adjournment
Personnel Policies—discussion
Last meeting
we ended at 2.2.6, page 6. A suggestion
was made to put phone numbers in the appendix, rather than throughout the
document – less upkeep when changes occur.
Phyllis Lary suggested adding HIV status and Veteran status to the list
of items that can’t be used to discriminate against someone. Discussion ensued on advertising a position
for 3 days in a newspaper – this would infer that the position would need to be
advertised in more than just the Charlotte News, since it only comes out once
every 2 weeks. Dean asked how long
applications will be on file – Phyllis suggested 6 years. Wording will be rewritten on the segment
that speaks about providing adequate facilities for anyone handicapped who is
applying for a position. Frank
commented that the section on harassment is really a state law and doesn’t need
to be covered in the personnel policy.
Additional comments were made on the personnel policy, including
discussion on whether someone can carry a weapon.
VELCO – discussion
Charlie said
this agenda item is due to concern by Walter Judge on what’s been going on over
the past year, the money that was spent, etc.
So this is an opportunity for people to speak out on the issue.
Walter Judge
said his issue is the cost and who is going to pay for it. Since Vermont uses a small percentage of the
power in New England, it pays for a small percentage of upgrades. Either VELCO will not order them buried, or
they will allow them to be buried with the cost paid for by the citizens of the
state. The point is that $50,000 has
been spent by the town of Charlotte.
Testimony must be filed by May 20th by all the towns, another
round of hearings by mid-June, additional testimony starting July 2nd,
more discovery after July 2nd, additional hearings from late July to
mid-August, lawyers will file briefs by late August, and the board is shooting
for October for making a decision.
Walter feels that it’s another $50,000 on top of the money already
spent. What are our lawyers asking for
at the Public Service Board? How much
are we going to pay for that representation at the Public Service Board, and
how much is it worth to us? Walter
feels that it’s a no-brainer that the upgrade will be approved.
Jennie said
it has been difficult getting information out to the town, since some of it is
discussions and negotiations that cannot be open to the public. Since last April, the VELCO committee,
select board and legal counsel have been involved with a lot of VELCO
issues. This is a financial burden on
Charlotte and other towns. But the goal
is to act in the best interest of the town.
Nancy Sabin
said she’s disappointed in the small turnout.
She’s worried about the effect on people’s health. She feels, for the good of this area, we do
not need this upgrade. It’s on par with
a power plant. Charlie said about
$50,000 has been spent so far, and the estimate is another $25,000.
Dan Rosen
said too much energy and money has been spent on working with VELCO instead of
working against VELCO. This is a
boondoggle. It’s not just about
physical health; it’s about political health – local control is yanked out of
our hands. It’s nonsense. The energy has gone into accommodating this,
not opposing this. We should be asking
why we are doing this, not how are we doing this.
Annemie
Curlin agrees with Dan. She feels we
ought to spend our money not making it happen.
Get an expert witness to help with demand side management. She has written a petition asking the same
thing, and she has put it in the Charlotte papers. She has copied some articles about technology options that are
available which we can look into. Money
ought to go towards finding alternatives that are smaller in scale and that
give us local control.
Sylvia
Knight has been working on this issue since last June. The Public Service Board has heard strong
testimony regarding VELCO’s lack of initiative at seeking alternatives. The towns in the corridor will be hiring a
new expert to provide an on-the-ground, nuts and bolts plan that could be an
alternative to the transmission line.
Charlotte needs to continue on its angle, but Charlotte could go into
court (when this expert is hired) to support this expert. She feels the town should set up an escrow
fund for the receipt of donations as an alternative to CLF. It could help to alleviate some of the big
impacts that this would have on the town.
Robert
Wright had heard that there was going to be some under-grounding in Connecticut
– if that’s the case then there should be some reciprocity here. Walter Judge said it is his understanding
that Vermont will pay for 5% of the under-grounding of that line. Charlie said his understanding is that land
costs in Connecticut are so high that it’s more cost-effective to under-ground
it there.
Carrie Spear
came to get knowledge from the people that have been passionately talking about
this for the last year. It is now about
to affect the entire town. She applauds
the effort, but she’s here about the money that is being spent. Where does the money come from? We allotted $30,000 at the town
meeting. Now it’s another $20,000
more. Let’s say we’ll need another
$50,000 to finish up – where does that come from? Charlie said it comes from the selectmen’s legal expenses and
from the selectmen’s unanticipated expenses.
This year, the money spent will be offset by increased revenue from
Thompson’s Point, and Planning and Zoning.
Carrie asked at what point you draw the line. Ellie said that’s one reason we’re meeting tonight – to get the
input from the community. Carrie said
this is a small turnout; there are a lot of people in town who do not know the
issues. People can’t be surprised about
how much this will cost – many people are on fixed incomes. Carrie wanted to know what advice that the
attorneys gave us in the beginning – Charlie said the town directs the attorneys,
not the other way around.
Dick Stowe
said he’s learning about this issue. He
would like to plead to the select board to think about the affordability of
where we are going. There is a need to
continue to keep this community affordable – taxes are driving us nuts. We chat a lot about $3,000 to put in a
skating rink. If we were to spend
$15,000 on an item, it gets a lot of conversation. Charlie said we are spending money from a budget that was set a
year ago March, so we are working off a budget that already exists. Jennie said having a town-wide meeting would
be difficult since there is a schedule in place, so time is an issue. We don’t have a lot of control over the schedule
and the process.
Martha
Perkins wanted to have a discussion with Walter Judge. Martha asked if he said that it’s going to
happen anyway. Walter said he’s
predicting the power line upgrade will probably be approved. He knows about litigation. There is always more money to be spent and
work to be done. Martha asked when we
get to October, because they have more money they will be able to last
longer. Walter said no, he wouldn’t say
that. The Public Service Board is lay
people who live in Vermont. But they
make a determination based on everything that is submitted to them, and they
decide whether it is in the public good.
Martha said maybe we’re at a time where we need to penalize people who
build huge houses.
Catherine
Hughes asked if a town representative has been going to the Public Service
Board meetings. Jennie said they have
tried to attend things that Charlotte is directly involved in. Charlie said the select board has decided
what stand it is taking on this issue.
Catherine said if you want to save money on your taxes, go to the school
board meetings. Close to 80% of our
taxes is because of the money we are spending on our schools. She wishes the town had taken a stronger
stand sooner. If representatives of the
town go to meetings and make an articulate stand, it would be more effective
than an attorney. Catherine said our
town has a diverse population and it should be easy to find someone who could
do just as good a job as a town attorney.
Also, why didn’t we have a referendum on this at the town meeting? Charlie said the board is asking itself the
same question.
Linda
Hamilton said she has been involved with town government through the
Conservation Commission for a few years now.
She feels the process has been pretty good for the town. Linda does not believe this is a done
deal. We should aggressively take
advantage of the opportunity to provide information about a non-transmission
line approach.
Gordon Troy
doesn’t share the view that this is a foregone conclusion. The reason for the process is to allow for
participation by the community. He
congratulated the board on the time invested in this project and figuring out
what position the town should take in this matter. The overwhelming response is that we need to do something about
this. We need to explore the
possibility of demand side management and that whole venue. The town plan, which the town voted on and
approved, clearly states in it that we do not want overhead power lines in this
town. The town voted on that, the town
has supported that.
Larry
Hamilton also applauds the work of the select board, but he is also grateful to
Walter Judge for raising this issue – it’s an important one for the town. He thinks the select board should take steps
to investigate demand side management.
Tim Volk was
inspired by Walter’s opinion piece in the Charlotte News and he shares his
point of view. He would encourage the
board to take the temperature of the voters.
His company represents Efficiency Vermont, and they are big advocates of
saving electricity. His business also
represents Green Mountain Power, and in the past they have represented
VELCO. There was a lot of money spent
on attorneys – did we spend enough energy talking to VELCO? He feels you would get a higher return on
your investment by appealing directly to them rather than working through your
attorneys. It’s going to cost $50-$100
per household in Charlotte to make this case.
Charlie said the board has spent time talking directly to VELCO. Tim suggested a survey via the web – that
would be the quickest, least expensive way to get an idea of what the town
wants.
Ann Owen
said if you start with the premise that this is going to happen anyway, it will
happen. If you believe there are
possible alternatives, investigate them!
You cannot go forward just politically – you need technical expertise
and legal assistance. She encourages
the select board to stay the course.
A suggestion
was made to do a phone survey for 100 to 300 houses – it would be a more
realistic view from the community.
Peter Coleman said a survey in the Charlotte News would be a far more
realistic sample than the internet. Tim
Volk would be happy to help as a volunteer to craft a survey. Martha Perkins volunteered to work with Tim
on it.
Adjustment to Agenda
·
None.
Approve Minutes for April 26th
Motion made
by Ed Stone, seconded by Francis Thornton:
“To approve the select board
meeting minutes with corrections for April 26th, 2004”.
Vote: 4 in
favor. (Charlie had left the meeting).
On page 5, under Personnel Policy –
discussion (2nd paragraph), change “health benefits for other
people” to “health benefits for elected officials”.
Public Discussion
·
A
question arose about the landfill.
Charlie said it will be taken care of.
He will talk to Junior Lewis this week.
·
Catherine
Hughes asked about the process for entertaining thoughts about hiring a new
town attorney. Charlie said they can
take input from people who can explain why they feel we have not been counseled
well. Ellie said it would be useful to
have specifics. Catherine said she
needs to do her homework and see if she can back up her gut feelings.
·
Nancy
Sabin said 2 issues ago in the Charlotte News, the article stated that the
board discussed the water for Tony Perry’s subdivision. Charlie said the board did approve of
putting in a common well and easement for that subdivision. Nancy said common sense would say that Mr.
Perry should have known how much water and sewer he needed for his building
lots. For the board to allow water, it
has broken the trust of the Vermont Land Trust. Charlie said they came to the board with the approval from the
Vermont Land Trust. Frank said they are
going to sink a well and run lines to the houses. It may affect the water in the nearby wells.
·
Peter
Coleman said the POW-WOW in July has permission from the board contingent on a
color map showing the various signage, which the board has. The other is the stipulation that they would
be engaging policemen. Peter said in
order to get a permit from the State Commission; he needs a letter from the
board saying that they have complied with the signage, etc. Charlie said he would need to get all the
information by the next meeting. Peter
said he needs to send in a letter from the board with the application stating
that the town has approved of it. Ellie
said they could write a letter to the state stating that it’s approved with
certain contingencies. Charlie said
they could put the POW-WOW on for the next meeting (the 24th).
·
Mac
Keyser asked about any upgrades about the rules and regulations for CVFRS. Jennie said they no longer have a
conditional license, they have a full license.
Eric has promised Ellie a draft of the by-laws shortly.
Organized Sports – discussion
Postponed.
Burns Committee appointment
(Conservation Commission representative)
Motion made
by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennie Cole:
“Move to appoint Ruah Swennerfelt to the
Burns Committee”.
Vote: all in
favor.
Burns Property and Village
Planning—hiring of consultants for site evaluation (Otter Creek Engineering)
and process facilitation (Vermont Design Institute)
Motion made
by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennie Cole:
“To approve the
contract with the Vermont Design Institute for the Burns Parcel Master Plan and
Neighborhood Design not to exceed $11,800”.
Vote: 4 in
favor, 1 abstain (Frank).
Carrie asked
where that money is coming from.
Charlie said it was budgeted - $5500 from the Vermont Land Trust and the
rest from the budget.
Motion made
by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennie Cole:
“To approve the
contract with Otter Creek Engineering for the water engineering and waste water
disposal for the Burns Parcel Master Plan and Neighborhood Design for an amount
not to exceed $7,500”.
Vote: all in
favor.
Affordable
Housing Committee appointment
Motion made
by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennie Cole:
“Move to appoint Sheila
Braun to the Affordable Housing Committee”.
Vote: 3 in
favor, 2 abstentions (Frank and Ed).
Carrie Spear
said she would be interested in the committee.
Ellie suggested she call John Owen – she thinks they are looking for several
more people.
Frank said
this is a town of 3500 people, and look at the number of committees!
Sign documents for Fire Truck Bond
(Resolution, Loan Agreement, Bond, Arbitrage and Use of Proceeds Certificate)
Mary Mead
wants 3 signatures on these papers for the fire truck bond. The truck is being built; the guys went out
to Wisconsin last week. It is
progressing nicely.
Trafton and Laura Crandall – Access
Permit review, Orchard Road
The
Crandalls have submitted another plan for their driveway access.
Motion made
by Jennie Cole, seconded by Frank Thornton:
“To approve the highway
access permit for the two properties owned on Orchard Road, lots 1 and 2, owned
by the Trafton and Laura Crandall”.
Dean said
they are applying to the Planning Commission for an adjustment to put the house
and the barn on the same lot, but not the same lot that the barn is currently
on. Ed said this is not the deal we
signed with Shelburne. Ellie said it
would all be on the same lot now. Ed
said he’s being tricky. Frank said he
wants to put 2 houses on one piece of property. Ellie said he’s just changing the boundary. Dean said he is reconfiguring the lot – he
doesn’t know if that is in conformance with the easement or not.
Ellie said
Mary Mead suggested contacting the town of Shelburne and their water expert –
see how they interpret it. Ellie asked
if the driveway access that we’re to vote on today – is that germane to the
water issue. Ed feels the water issue
needs to be resolved before we do anything.
If the town of Shelburne okay’s it, then we okay it. But if we keep adding on, then the next door
neighbor wants the same deal.
Motion was
withdrawn. Shelburne will be consulted
and the records will be checked for the agreement.
Vermont Housing and Conservation
Board grant
Dean said
awhile ago, the Housing and Conservation Board said the town won’t get money
for conservation unless the town starts doing affordable housing. They encouraged the town to apply for a
project related capacity grant.
Charlotte applied, they got it, and this is it. It needs to be accepted by the select
board. It provides money – most of
which will be contracted with Burlington Community land trust for the
following: An education campaign that
would be related to affordable housing in general and specifically related to
the zoning by-laws that include affordable housing provisions; secondly, it
would involve an inventory of potential sites that would be developed
together. It would be a list of sites
that would seem to have the ability to have affordable housing. The select board would pick one or 2 sites.
Frank asked
about the strings – Dean said there are some strings. VHCB staff would need to be updated at least every 3 months.
Motion made
by Ed Stone, seconded by Jennie Cole:
“To authorize Charles
to sign the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board grant regarding Affordable
Housing”.
Vote, 3 in
favor, 1 abstain (Frank), Charlie left the meeting.
Tax mapping contract
Under
Article 5, there is an added component of a $25 penalty per day if the product
is not delivered when it is due. Last
year, he was late by a couple of months.
The contract is for $2,000.
Three signatures are needed to sign the contract.
Bills and Warrants
Signed as
appropriate.
Adjournment
Next selectboard meeting: Monday,
May 24th at 7 PM.
Motion made by Ed Stone, seconded by Jennie Cole:
“To adjourn the selectboard meeting”.
Vote: all in
favor. Meeting adjourned at 9:20 PM.
Minutes respectfully submitted by
Jocelyn Bolick.