Town of Charlotte
Board of Selectmen
Minutes
Monday, May 12, 2003
7:00 PM, Charlotte Town Hall
Eleanor Russell
OTHERS: Dan
Senecal-Albrecht (selectboard assistant)
Woody Anderson
Joan
Braun
Stephen C. Brooks
Dale Knowles
Ed Krasnow
Cowboy Lewis
Hugh Lewis, Jr.
Robert Mack
Tom Moreau
Martha Perkins
Ken Spencer
Sylvia Sprigg
Dotty Waller
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 April 28th / Public Discussion / CVU Bond vote
- Dottie Waller / CC Solid Waste - Tom Moreau / Selectboard Workplan &
Priorities / Update from Road Commissioner – Hugh Lewis, Jr. / Speeding on
Dorset Street – public safety concern / Plouffe Farm Road and Town’s 80 Acre
Landfill Parcel – Stephen C. Brooks / Thompson’s Point Ag. Lease – Woody
Anderson / Selectboard Updates / Sign Bills and Warrants / Adjournment
Adjustments to Agenda
None.
Motion made by Eleanor
Russell, seconded by Debbie Ramsdell:
“To approve
the selectboard meeting minutes with corrections for April 28th .”
Vote: all in favor.
Correct name on page
1 from “David Machamie” to “David Machanic”.
Correct reference on
page 5 from “McKay Brook” to “McCabe Brook”.
Correct reference on
page 7 from “approve the town meeting minutes” to “approve the selectboard
meeting minutes”.
Correct reference on
page 7 from “MPO tack alternate” to “MPO-TAC alternate”.
Correct reference on
page 8 from “The Conservation Commission is looking for language” to “The
Charlotte Land Trust is looking for language”.
Correct reference on
page 12 from “Deaf Bodens???” to “Bodens’ ”.
Correct reference on
page 12 from “cows in that culvert” to “cows near that culvert”.
Correct vote on page
17 for appointments to the Conservation Commission from “Vote: all in favor.” to “Vote: 4 in favor, 1 against (Eleanor Russell)”.
Correct reference on
page 17 from “Doug Farm” to “Doug Horne”.
Correct reference on
page 17 from “Meader Park” to “Demeter Park”.
Correct reference on
page 17 from “Barney Farm” to “Varney Farm”.
Joan
has had prior correspondence with Dave Wolfson, the president of the railroad,
which stated that a spur has been there since 1963, but that’s not true. It was put in approximately 2 years ago,
when they upgraded the tracks. Joan
said Shelburne is having the same problem, perhaps the two towns can present a united
front; there needs to be a place to store the cars other than scenic land.
Debbie
Ramsdell asked if it would help to have them moved during the day instead.
Joan
asked about the power line upgrade that was reported in the Charlotte
News. Charles Russell gave her a brief
update on the VELCO informational session that occurred at a selectboard
meeting in early April. Jennifer Steele
Cole said VELCO will go to the planning commission meeting in early June.
Martha
Perkins said there’s a group of people getting together June 2nd to
talk about ways to talk to VELCO about different ways of transporting power.
Does
the selectboard know about the accounting of the Barrows estate yet? No.
But Stephen has a copy – he will give a copy of it to the selectboard. But, Stephen says there’s plenty of cash in
the estate.
Stephen
asked about Paul Arthaud – Charles said he had a last minute personal issue and
couldn’t make the meeting.
Stephen
also asked about the protocol of folks signing in at the meetings. Charles Russell said there’s a sign asking
people to sign in, but they don’t get chased down if they don’t.
On May 27th there is a bond vote for CVU. After the first bond vote was defeated, CVU asked the voters what they wanted to do. There was a 3 million dollar bond – they did several small repair projects, such as putting in double paned windows, etc.
The original bond had a library, auditorium, and a full gym. The new bond has taken out the auditorium, put the cafeteria looking north, and added a wing for classrooms.
The school is divided into 4 houses – Chittenden, Franklin, and 2 others.
The new bond has a half gym, adjacent to the existing gym. When they want a full assembly, they can open the doors and fit all 1400 kids in there. A media center will be in the center of the building. Currently only 75 kids can go into the library at a time. They close it around 8:30 AM because the library is full by then.
The main entrance to the school will be around the back, where the administrative offices are located. CVU tried to consolidate everything so it’s a more compact unit. There are an additional 18 classrooms, plus the gym.
The media center will be on two levels, with glass on the top for lighting (since it’s in the center of the building, there are no windows). It will be air-conditioned since there is no ventilation. They are putting in a wood burning plant, the state is helping with that. It’s a much smaller, more efficient plant than the one in Burlington. There will be a little plume of steam, but that will be it.
The entrance to the parking lot will be moved east. There will be more parking, but not a large increase. There will be some new ball fields, and they’re rebuilding the track.
The bond has gone from 28 million (back in September 2001) to 18.4 million. There was a 3 million dollar bond to make some necessary repairs, but that’s still a major reduction (28 million to 21.4 million total).
There are two articles on the ballot. The first article is for the school bond – a “yes” vote means they will get that money. Article 2 asks the voters to reduce the bond by $450,000 – a “yes” vote means that the surplus funds will be used to reduce the 18.4 million bond to 17.95 million.
Construction would be during the summers of 2004 and 2005, as well as in that school year. CVU wants to build the classroom space first since it’s desperately needed. Things will open up in the school as soon as they get done. It will be ready in the fall of 2005.
Charlotte will need to come up with $2,062,000. The figure is based on the number of students from the town enrolled at CVU.
Eleanor Russell asked if we’re bonding for $18,000,000 and the actual cost is $12,000,000 because money is coming from the state, then what do you do when the money actually comes in from the state? Dotty said you pay down the bond. The highest cost is in the second year – the first year is just interest, the second year you start paying down the principal too.
Dan Senecal-Albrecht asked why the cafeteria is open all day. Dottie said they won’t be open for food, but they will have snack machines. The students do not have study halls, but they need a place to go and can’t hang out in the halls.
Charles Russell asked how the bond changed by taking out the auditorium. Dottie said she really couldn’t answer that – there’s no one fixed figure associated with the auditorium. They are widening “4 corners” for easier throughput. Ed Krasnow said two elements have brought the cost down – ???? and reducing spaces.
Pizzagalli has been doing some consulting for free. Architects have given their time. CVU has saved more than $50,000 since Christmas with gratis help.
Sylvia Sprigg said when CVU opened, there was no gym, no cafeteria, but there were workers working that whole year on the construction.
They are trying to make CVU a school where everyone is known. For a 20 or 30 minute period in the morning, teachers will meet with a core group of kids – and the child will keep the same core teacher for all 4 years. This way the teacher gets to know the child very well over the years.
Martha Perkins asked if there’s an adult education program – yes, there is. The school is well used all the time.
Robert Mack asked about the heating system – the wood chip system is going to be the only source of heat there. Dottie said it’s in use at several schools. Robert asked if it was high maintenance – Dottie said they used to be, but they’re much better now. Chips will come early in the morning. When it’s really cold, they’ll probably 3 loads per week, before the buses get there. The chips are in an enclosed building. They come dry and they’ll be covered. Robert is concerned that, if this is the sole heating source, there may be no heat in a few years! Dottie said everyone you speak to feels it’s the best way to go.
CC Solid Waste - Tom Moreau
Tom
Moreau, solid waste general manager, is here to seek approval for the budget. Their operating budget went up 7.x%, but so
did the revenues. They are in
litigation to get a landfill site, but an attorney got sick and it got
postponed into the next fiscal year.
They expect an increase in the amount of recycling. That will raise the revenues also. They will see more sludge this year – Milton
is building a treatment plant. Instead
of seeing Milton’s sludge every 3 or 4 years, they will see it every few weeks
or so. This will mean an increase in
expenses as well as revenue.
They
have allowed Bolton and Underhill into the district, they did not have to pay
any initiation fees. If the revenues
hold up and the board votes for it, the towns will get back their original
assessment. For Charlotte, that’s
$4,000, assuming the voters agree to it.
For
the capital budget, they will need a new truck soon. They need to put a new baler in their recycling facility. That’s a $400,000 item that needs to be
replaced – the first one since they opened in 1993.
Debbie
Ramsdell asked about Milton’s sludge.
Milton had a lagoon system, but they’re upgrading to a different
system. The years that Milton cleaned
out their lagoons, the expenses and the revenues increased for the waste
district. Instead of Milton cleaning
out the sludge once every 4 years, they will be doing it every week. The sludge is currently brought to Canada
where it is composted, and then sold all over the Northeast.
Their
policy is to follow the highest standard – since Canada follows stricter
standards than Vermont, CC Solid Waste follows the Canada standards. Companies don’t like to locate here because
of the permit hassles.
Stephen
C. Brooks said this company is the model of integrity, etc., and he encourages
the selectboard to pass their budget at this time.
Tom
said all cardboard and paper goes to mills in Canada. Currently they’re getting $60/ton for newspaper. They handle about 8000 tons of cardboard and
newspaper per year. They handle 5
tractor trailer loads per day. They get
“Buffalo High” - whatever the high price in Buffalo, NY, is. When SARS broke out, they lost $5 to $10 per
ton because China is the worlds’ consumer of used cardboard and plastic.
Robert
Mack asked if an individual can buy a truckload of paper. Sure. Tom said it takes about 2 weeks to recycle a newspaper and make it
ready to be a newspaper again.
Eleanor
Russell asked about paper that has been incorrectly sorted into a different
bin. Tom said they hand pick stuff out
of the containers. In a few weeks, they
will announce that people won’t have to sort their papers anymore. Refrigerator or freezer packages are coated
with chemicals and don’t degrade. They
will be hand picked off of the conveyor belts.
Sylvia
Sprigg asked about recycling disposable diapers. Tom said that became a royal failure. With a diaper, you have to pull one layer off another – American
labor costs are just too expensive to do that.
When
Tom first came to the district, they were selling newspaper for $200 per
ton. Six months later, they were paying
someone $15 per ton to take it away.
Now, it is very steady.
Newspaper fluctuates between $55 and $70 per ton.
The
biggest paper mill in the country just takes recycled paper from New York and
New Jersey. They’re now named “urban
forests”. Robert Mack asked how much
cash is in the bank. Tom said around 4.1
million, but a lot of it is dedicated to the bond payment. All but $67,000 is earmarked for a certain
project or truck, etc. Typically
municipalities like to keep the unearmarked figure at 5% of the budget. For Charlotte, that would be around
$300,000. But the district plays it a
little closer to the chest.
Motion
made by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Debbie Ramsdell:
“To approve the Chittenden Solid Waste District FY04 operating and capital budget.”
Vote: all in favor.
Selectboard Workplan & Priorities
Eleanor
Russell changed the format slightly in that the categories now identify high
priority tasks, etc. Items that are
being actively addressed are high priority, medium priority are issues that are
being worked on. The other category is
“other issues” which the selectboard needs to address but has not assigned a
priority level to.
Charles
would like to take the Tenney appeal and the Holcomb house off the list. The Tenney appeal is waiting for Tom
(according to Charles).
Charles
would like to reword the relationship between fire/rescue and the town. He would like to reword it so that they
“want to evaluate the relationship”.
Varney
Farm is going to be discussed with Davis Charrington.
With
Aube-Hinsdale, town won the case (not settled the case – change the wording). It has not been settled yet. Clark Hinsdale, III, still needs to
determine how he plans on solving the density problem.
New
state septic regulations – should the town adopt the new rules? If so, when?
The
Curtis litigation can come off the list – he sold his property.
First
constable appointment can come off the list, we did it already.
3.4
Trail system needs to add Dan Senecal-Albrecht name.
Nordic
Farm (bottom of page 2 in Eleanor’s handout) needs to add Dan’s name.
5.3
Add Dan’s name to salt shed.
Page
6 - Thorpe Barn restoration. Correct the
language to say the grants are in limbo pending legislative action. Take out the language that says no grants
will be applied.
Page
7 – Dry hydrants. Take out the language
about the fire department and say Dan has written a letter to most of the
responsible homeowner association parties – he needs to contact one more
person.
Page
6 – Voting machines, let’s take it off the list.
Robert
Mack asked about budgets – projected through June 30th based on
expenses as of April 30th to be over budget in revenue by roughly $113,000
and over budget in expenses by roughly $98,000. Robert wanted to know in what meeting the selectboard will vote
to spend the extra revenues. Charles
said he would look in the records and see how it was done before. Robert said the motion was “Shall the voters
vote to spend $xx,xxx that wasn’t appropriated …”.
Robert
asked about the status of the rec path from Mt. Philo to the Berry Farm. The legal document should be done tomorrow,
the state is notified, the books are ready, then the ad goes out.
Update from Road Commissioner – Hugh Lewis, Jr.
They
will be upgrading Dorset Street – total cost will be around $75,000. It’s from Hinesburg Road to Carpenter Road –
it’s not currently paved, they will be adding gravel to it. Some people don’t want it paved, but it’s a
lot cheaper to maintain once it is paved.
They don’t do anything to paved roads – some are in 7 year cycles, some
last up to 12 years. Right now on
gravel roads, they grade it, put gravel on it, and chloride it once per
year. Charles Russell asked to see a
per mile cost of maintaining a dirt road versus a paved road over the course of
10 years.
They
will be spending the money in their budget for gravel. The gravel roads need it. On Dorset Street, they will strip the top
gravel, set the gravel aside, lay down some shale, then strip the next section
of road and put it back on the shale they had laid down earlier. That way they don’t have to send the trucks
to Hinesburg to get gravel. Later they
will give it another layer of gravel.
Right
now, they’re not paving anything.
They’re grading Dorset Street two or three times per month. It’s heavily traveled and by far the worst
unpaved road. Thompson’s Point Road was
built up last year, and the snow just blew across. It didn’t heave. They put
gravel on Lime Kiln, Lake Road, Carpenter Road, Bean Road, Prindle Road, Guineau
Road, and One Mile Road. They’re
putting some top on, but not as much as they need.
Stephen
Brooks asked if anyone on the selectboard is an advocate for paving Charlotte
dirt roads. The answer is no. Junior Lewis feels there are a lot of people
on One Mile Road who would like to have it paved.
Robert
Mack feels that some of the dirt roads are getting narrower and narrower,
especially Lime Kiln Road. Robert said
his tractor can barely make it up through anymore. Junior felt they were getting wider. He said what they just graveled is narrower since he told the
drivers to keep the gravel down the center.
Debbie
Ramsdell asked about speed bumps.
Debbie said it’s important to paint the speed bumps right away. Junior said he got a letter from someone
asking if they can shorten the speed bumps by 3 feet at each end for
bicyclists. Stephen Brooks felt that
any change to the speed bumps opens up the liability issue – it was different
so it caused a problem. Speed bumps
will go down on Memorial Day Weekend.
Charles
Russell said he and Dick LaBoeuf walked around the Brick Store area earlier in
the day. There’s water coming out onto
the road. Junior said that area was
paved around 1998. Charles said it’s
much flatter – it kicks the water into the road instead of running off to the
side. The water comes down around the
corner and if it doesn’t get into the drain at the top of the hill, some of it
dumps off onto peoples’ property. Also,
people are parking all the way down the road to go to the Brick Store. They would like to have a site visit.
Robert
Mack said the clogged drain should never have been installed – it is a
maintenance nightmare.
Dottie
Waller talked about a road cut off of Ferry Road for the Health Center. There are two options - widening the road cut
or moving the entrance to the east. Can
they have a choice of one or the other – Charles said yes, as long as there is
one entrance. They need to be 50 feet
from the wetlands (to the east). No
matter what, they need a wetland permit.
They should go straight for 30 feet with no more than a 3% grade for
fire truck purposes. The selectboard
feels that the 2nd option is best, but cost is a concern also.
Stephen
Brooks asked if it would be fair to say the selectboard would like to be
presented at subsequent planning commission meetings to have that piece of road
serve both parcels of land. Dottie
Waller said that’s where we’re heading, but going back to the planning
commission – there are new regulations, etc.
At some point there has to be a little bit of control. The selectboard said as long as there was
only one road cut, there should be no problem.
The
selectboard would need an application – filling out the form, a sketch, and a
written description of the road cut.
Once the selectboard deemed it’s complete, they have 10 days to hold a
meeting. There will be a site visit –
meet at Charlotte Town Hall at 6:15 on May 20th.
The
Plouffe Farm Landfill has been used – Junior said he takes tree stumps there,
etc. He hasn’t been harassed by anyone.
Bruce
Cunningham wants to grade the roads instead of Junior. But the feeling is he doesn’t have the right
equipment. Bruce told Debbie Ramsdell
that Charlotte is doing it illegally – he felt it should be put out to bid. He would like the opportunity to grade a
road in Charlotte to demonstrate the quality.
Debbie Ramsdell would like to put in a good word for Junior Lewis.
Stephen
Brooks said Mr. Cunningham does not own a grader, does not have the equipment
to grade roads. The townspeople have
elected a road commissioner. Anyone who
wants to work on the roads has to work under the auspices of the road
commissioner, and he should have been given the letter.
Dan
Senecal-Albrecht feels that Mr. Cunningham is a businessman who wanted to have
his letter discussed. He feels it’s
disrespectful to discuss his equipment, etc., when all we needed to say is
we’re not interested.
Charles
Russell will send him a letter stating that we talked about it again and the
selectboard is happy with Junior’s work.
Robert
Mack asked what roads are going to be repaved.
And - why are we waiting so long before locking in on a paving price? Junior said he won’t start paving until July
1, and you can’t lock in on a price before then.
Last
year there were 3 bids for paving.
Junior likes the cold paving method, but it’s not as smooth. It bothers rollerbladers. The selectboard was going to see how well
cold paving held up, and not enough time has gone by yet. So, let’s bring in the cold pavers and hot
pavers in to bid.
Speeding on Dorset Street – public safety concern
Jennifer
Steele Cole wondered if we should do a town-wide traffic study on all road and
intersections that people feel are a problem.
Dan Senecal-Albrecht suggested asking the FDO about it, that’s the type
of standard requests that they do. Eleanor
Russell thought that people are speeding on Dorset Street – don’t need a study
to prove that. Charles Russell said
that you can’t set a speed limit without a traffic study. Jennifer said there are several areas – stop
signs at Mt. Philo Road, etc. – that could benefit from a traffic study.
Robert
Mack said people are never happy with a traffic study. Debbie Ramsdell suggested that the person
concerned with this issue get on the trail committee and look into putting
trails on this road. Jennifer thought
there was a walking trail on Dorset Street – does that qualify for lowering the
speed limit? At least we can put up
signs recognizing the walking trail. Stephen
Brooks suggested a “Children at Play” sign.
Debbie Ramsdell likes the idea of lines. She will research what can be done. Jennifer wondered – if the state police are covering this road
already, what can the selectboard do?
Plouffe Farm Road and Town’s 80 Acre Landfill Parcel – Stephen C. Brooks
Charles
Russell wanted to find out the publics’ rights on the 80 acre parcel on Plouffe
Farm Road. The selectboard will have
Gregg Beldock in here at a future meeting to discuss it. A letter from the attorney states that Mr.
Beldock can’t put gates across the road and there aren’t any limitations on the
towns’ use of the property. There are
signs privately installed along the road that are illegal (posting signs, speed
limit signs, etc.). Mr. Beldock wants
to buy the town land; we should talk
about that at some point. However, in
fairness to Mr. Beldock, we won’t discuss it now but we will discuss it at a
future meeting soon.
Thompson’s Point Ag. Lease – Woody Anderson
There was a site visit last Monday by the selectboard. They would like to get the clearing cleaned
up of all the debris, smooth out and seeded to keep it from getting eroded,
keep animals out of the area and keep sediment from going out into Whiskey Bay. There’s a whole area that drains into
Whiskey Bay. The selectboard would like
to have the fence moved to keep the animals out of the woods there.
The selectboard would like to keep animals away from the
wells. To spray chemicals, you need to
be at least 100 feet uphill from a well or 50 feet downhill. The selectboard would like 2 sets of fences
so that the open area would be a path near the powerline so the public could
walk from the north shore to the south. They would also like to have the debris cleaned up. They also talked about the best place to
winter the cattle, and where to store equipment. Woody felt that anywhere he wintered the cattle, the refuse would
enter the lake. Jennifer suggested
putting together a list for Woody concerning what the town thinks needs to be
done in order to lease the land.
Charles asked Woody if it would be fair to say that any new
wire would be electric and not barbed wire.
Robert Mack said that any fence through the woods couldn’t be electric
because brush grows up against it.
Charles felt that the land was mowable, Woody did not – he
felt there are swamps in the middle of it and can’t be mowed.
Robert Mack feels the selectboard is lucky to have someone
interested in putting cattle there. He
feels if you want a 4 strand fence moved for a one year lease - that’s a lot of
work. Jennifer wondered if the town
wants a fence moved somewhere else, maybe the town needs to assume some of the
cost.
Charles asked the board if they were interested in either
paying for the fence to be moved or to leave it where it is. They were interested in keeping the fence
where it is for one more year. Robert
Mack asked if any of the current fence is within 100 feet of a well. No one is sure, but Jennifer feels now would
be a good time to relocate the fence away from the wells.
Stephen Brooks thought that Robert Mack should assist Woody in
preparing a proposal. Robert wondered
why he needed to be involved.
Charles said that getting the equipment (tractor, brush hog,
mower, rototiller, wood splitter, etc.) out of there would be a big improvement. Debbie Ramsdell was most bothered by the
parking area. Woody said to pray for
dry weather.
Jennifer, Charles and Dan will put together a proposal.
· Debbie Ramsdell went to a library board meeting. They had asked about a change in budget for next year, but that hasn’t been decided yet. They asked about personnel policies, and Eleanor Russell said that is being worked on now.
· Debbie got an Emergency Management ordinance; Tim Eustace will be reviewing it shortly. There will be a meeting on the 22nd of May.
· Eleanor Russell wanted to know if the L.Johnson property was finished yet. Charles said no, the Land Trust was still working on it.
· Charles and Eleanor met with Joe McLean and Tim Eustace to talk about their performance. They offered to come the day after a selectboard meeting free of charge to find out what is going on, on an on-going basis. The idea was to come at 10 AM Tuesday morning.
They also offered to come down once a month and hold office hours at town hall, but that would not be free of charge. The intent is to make sure that they are aware of all the things that are going on in the town. Robert Mack said it sounded expensive for a little chit chat. Debbie Ramsdell asked if they do this in other towns? No one knows, but they are doing it for Charlotte because they made some errors. Tim Eustace is coming tomorrow.
· Eleanor Russell wanted to know if there is any official word from PVR on the common level of appraisal. When we get that, we need to make an effort to communicate to the town what kind of impact they might anticipate. All the contiguous land is figured into income sensitivity, it’s not just a homestead and 2 acres anymore. But this still has to pass in the legislature.
· Jennifer asked if we were all set on the Demiter Trails. Charles said they are going to have some work done to fix the trails.
· Charles had email about the shooting going on at Larry LaBarges shooting range. Beldock was concerned that you can get turned around down there pretty easily, and people won’t realize what way they’re shooting. He felt there should be better directions down there. Robert Mack said the targets were one way and benches another, it should be pretty simple. Sylvia Sprigg said you can’t go down there without permission anyway. However, this is permitted (grandfathered) use of this property.
· The selectboard received a letter from Daniel and Victoria Rosen concerning the brush hogging of the Greenbush Road former landfill site. There are birdocks and two willows growing on the property. Junior did a good job clearing it out a few years ago. Greg Pindle, a consultant with Landfill Reclamation, suggests cutting back the willows to 10 inches below the ground to help prevent erosion. Charles and Dan will go and make a site visit.
· Dan asked about dog licensing. Charles asked Dan to write a manual that someone can easily read. The suggestion was to go look at traffic tickets and follow that format.
Sign Bills and Warrants
· There are 2 right of way agreements on telephone lines from the Brick Store down Ferry Road all the way down to Converse Bay Road. One is a buried line; the other is on telephone poles.
Eleanor Russell made a motion, Debbie Ramsdell seconded:
“To approve work order 03-105 with Waitsfield Champlain Valley Telcom
to do improvement work on town roads of Ferry Road, Lake Road, and Converse Bay
Road.”
Vote: all in favor.
Adjournment
Next
meeting on Tuesday, May 20th, at 7 PM.
Meeting adjourned at 10:35 PM.