Town of Charlotte
Board of Selectmen
Minutes
Monday, November 24,
2003
7:00 PM, Charlotte Town
Hall
Jennifer Steele Cole
Eleanor Russell
Francis Thornton
OTHERS: Dean
Bloch (Select board Assistant)
Chris
Boffa
Nancy
Calcagni
Joe
Fallon
Kay Gault
Wally Gates
John
Hammer
Mac
Keyser
Virginia
Keyser
Alice
Lawrence
Junior
Lewis
Nan
Mason
Beth
Merritt
Pete
Rosenfeld
John
Rosenthal
Deb
Sachs
Jocelyn
Bolick (clerk)
The meeting was called to order at
7:07 pm.
The items on the agenda were as
follows:
Adjustment
to Agenda / Approve Minutes for November 10, 2003 / Public Discussion / Carl
Moulton: Discussion of fine related to Notice of Violation / Christopher Boffa:
Highway Access Permit – Mount Philo Road / 10% Challenge request for
contribution towards ad campaign / FY05 Budget Review: Senior Center, Library,
Charlotte Land Trust, Road Commission, Listers / Interview applicants for Recreation
Commission; appoint Commissioner / Status Report on Recent Meetings with
Charlotte Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Inc. / Discussion of Town’s Requests for
Design Changes in VELCO’s Transmissions Line Project / Bills and Warrants / Adjournment
Adjustment to Agenda
·
Curbs at Brick Store.
Charlie said someone named Alexander who works on the flower bed next to
the Brick Store asked about doing something about the rounded corners of the
curbs at the Brick Store. Tractor
trailers going around the corner are breaking up the curbs. Junior will look at them.
·
Thorpe Barn. Discussion postponed.
·
Christmas Party.
Ellie Russell said they were thinking of having a town Christmas party
to recognize all the people who have volunteered their time. John Hammer said it was done in the
past. It was not the town that ran it,
but it was in town space. CVFRS is
using the Senior Center on December 14th for a party. The select board would need to identify a
list of people, people who serve on committees or commissions, town officers,
tree wardens, etc. The attempt will be
made for a party on December 21st.
It can be at the Senior Center, according to Wally Gates. Somehow a certificate of insurance will have
to be provided.
·
Town Report.
Ellie volunteered to write the select board report for the select board
for the next town meeting.
·
Affordable Housing Committee. Jennie asked about the septic regulations. There needs to be a discussion on when they
should be adopted. This will be put on
the agenda in January or February.
Approve Minutes for November 10, 2003
Motion made
by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennifer Cole:
“To approve the select board
meeting minutes with corrections for November 10th”.
Vote: 3 in favor, Francis Thornton abstained (had not been able to
obtain a copy of the minutes).
On page 3, under Public Discussion,
change “… apologize about the hedge” to “…apologize about questioning the
location of the hedge”.
On page 3, under Recreation
Committee, change “… now they need one in Charlotte” to “…now they could fund
the construction of one in Charlotte”.
On page 5, at end of discussion of
$60K Expenditure from Conservation Fund, change “… if something happens, it’s
less completed …” to “…if something happens, it’s less complicated …”.
On page 6, under Carl Moulton
discussion, change “… topal activity …” to “…total activity …”.
On page 11, under Fire & Rescue
discussion, change “Kyr Walker” to “Ker Walker”.
On page 12, under Fire & Rescue
discussion, change “… the status if the Barrows Will …” to “…the status of the
Barrows Will …”.
·
None.
Carl Moulton: Discussion of fine
related to Notice of Violation
Joe Fallon,
an attorney from Hinesburg, came for Carl Moulton. Carl is based in New Hampshire; Joe feels that this distance was
a large part of the problem. Carl’s
real estate person received a letter from Tom Mansfield stating that there were
no restrictions on the parcel, so he proceeded to cut trees, improve drainage,
improve the roadway, and close a pit.
In July, he received a letter from the zoning administrator indicating
the zoning bylaws were potentially violated. Since Carl didn’t feel he violated
the bylaws, he didn’t realize he needed to respond and he was stuck with a
violation. They hope the fine would be
limited to whatever out-of-pocket expenses the town has incurred.
Ellie said
the fine, provided by the regulations, is $100/day – which would be $9600. Ellie doesn’t believe that fine would be
assessed.
Dean said
the violation went for about 3 months without being responded to. Development occurred in the form of
excavations; heavy equipment was onsite for extended periods of time.
Charlie
feels it is reasonable for the town to get back its expenses. Ellie asked if what he did initially was
illegal. Francis feels he should have
responded to the letter. He feels that
he should be fined at least one day.
John Hammer
asked what the intent was for developing the land – if the land is ultimately
for sale, sometimes developers spend less money by accepting a fine than it
would to get the permits, etc. John
feels the town needs to be careful – if you let people do this all the time,
then they start flaunting the regulations.
Joe Fallon
said the property is under contract now; the prospective buyer has applied to
the planning board for approval to construct a single family home.
John Hammer
feels if you have a law, then support it – else get it off the books.
This is the
clear cut up on Pease Mountain.
Motion made
by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennifer Cole:
“To fine Carl Moulton $1000 plus the costs
incurred to the town”.
Vote: all in favor.
Christopher Boffa: Highway Access
Permit – Mount Philo Road
Chris Boffa
had an approved subdivision from the town for 3 lots, including 2 lots out back
that included access off the Stearns Meadow Road. He has been forced to come back and do a shared driveway off of
Mount Philo Road because of Act 250 jurisdiction on the property. He was told he needed to get an access
permit in place before his meeting with the planning board on December 4th. Charlie thought the site distance with the
existing driveway was pretty bad. Chris
said Junior Lewis thought it was good sighting, you can see well up the road,
and there is a stop sign the other way.
Junior said he didn’t have a problem with it – from one way, there was
300 feet and the other had a stop sign.
Ellie said
they would prefer as few curb cuts as possible off the heavier traveled
road. The problem is that one curb cut
would cut the field on the property and make a portion of the land unusable for
animals. Ellie would like to make a
recommendation contingent upon approval by the planning board.
Motion made
by Francis Thornton, seconded by Eleanor Russell:
“To approve the highway
access permit based on the condition that the planning commission go along.”
Vote: all in favor.
10% Challenge request for
contribution towards ad campaign
Deb Sachs is
the director of Alliance for Client Action.
Back in March, Charlotte voted to participate in the 10% challenge. They are engaging in a 6 month ad
campaign. They are asking the town for
resources to help offset some of the costs associated with it. There are ways to get people to reduce waste
and explore transportation alternatives.
The Link is one example (offered by CCTA) that allows people to get from
Burlington to Montpelier.
Deb said the
other communities have committed about $300.
They are running the ads for 6 months – one ad per month. They want to keep the message in front of
the residents of Chittenden county. Deb
stated that any contribution would be appreciated. The total ad campaign is $7500.
They are not in the Burlington Free Press; it is all done in local
newspapers.
Motion made
by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennifer Cole:
“To support the cause with a contribution of
$300.”
10%
challenge is a voluntary program. They
would like to have households reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10%. It’s funded in part by the Regional Planning
Commission, the city of Burlington, and some foundation funding. A suggestion was made to have a table with
information at the Charlotte Town Party on July 10, 2004. 425-3138 would be the phone number to call
to reserve a table.
Deb said one
of the towns had seed money and retro-fitted every household in town with compact
fluorescent light bulbs. If there were
a small amount of money budgeted for next year, their staff could bring in some
value with opportunities for some sort of activity.
Charlie
didn’t feel it was in their budget this year to spend $300 at the time. Ellie amended the motion.
Motion made
by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennifer Cole:
“To support the cause with a contribution of
$100.”
Vote: 3 for, 1 opposed (Francis).
FY05 Budget Review
·
Senior Center. Wally Gates said they will meet the budget that was reduced
at town meeting 2003. With the
exception of activities director, they believe they can live with the same
dollar figure in 2004 as in 2003. The
director is currently budgeted for 20 hours per week; the 2004 budget shows 25
hours per week, plus 3%. They find it
difficult to run the place effectively with an activities director working 20
hours per week.
They would like to divide the maintenance budget – the
biggest amount is for cleaning, and that’s a predictable amount. However, the maintenance of the building
goes up and down.
They have increased some of the costs of programs, and found
other ways to reduce some of the costs of producing the programs. They are running the same number of regular
programs, but there are more occasional programs.
They are getting a quote for a separate zone for air
conditioning for the café and the rest of the building. The café gets the afternoon sun, and when
people are cooking it gets very hot.
The Friends of Charlotte Senior Center will cover that. Ellie said they need to do some sort of
capital planning.
Charlie asked about an addition to the north. Wally said they wouldn’t expect to come to
the town for those funds, it would be through fund-raising.
Ellie asked if they would be agreeable to joint contracts on
lawn-mowing, snow plowing, etc. Wally
said some of them make good sense. They
have contracts for furnace cleaning, air conditioning service, alarm system,
fire extinguisher maintenance, etc. At
some point, the septic pumping tank will need to be emptied.
·
Library. Jennie
Cole excused herself from this discussion.
Alice Lawrence, Nancy Calcagni, Nan Mason, and Beth Merritt came to
discuss the library budget. The
trustees of the library are very pleased with the current select board liaison,
Ellie Russell. They feel much more
connected to the select board and the process than in the past.
The largest increase is in personnel. The visits to the Charlotte Library continue
to increase every year, as well as the circulation. They have one non-hourly worker; she’s consistently working 5+
hours every week above her weekly limit.
They’re concerned about burn out, etc.
The person running the youth service area is working 10 hours per week;
she’s not available for more hours, so they needed to figure out a way to bring
in another person to work some hours.
The only other increase in the budget is for acquisitions;
there hasn’t been an increase in the acquisitions budget for at least 3
years. The cost of acquisitions has
increased. Books, CDs are constantly
borrowed – eventually they need to be replaced. People are using the library; they want it to continue to grow
and to serve the people.
The amount that they are requesting includes the increase in
the acquisitions budget, but does not include any increase appropriate for
staff raises.
Ellie asked about a grant – they had Freeman Money for the
previous 2 years. It was a program
given to the state to help libraries throughout the state. This past year they used the Freeman money
to upgrade all the library computers.
That was about $25,000. The year
before, they used the money for programs and to upgrade the non-fiction
collection for young adults. They added
research materials, classics, encyclopedias.
They also bought furniture. If
they get the grant for the upcoming year, it will be $8000. You cannot use the Freeman Money to replace
acquisitions or to pay personnel.
Charles asked about adding hours – extending hours on
Saturday and/or opening on Sunday.
There are no plans at this point to add hours. It would mean adding dollars for personnel.
There will be a focus group in the spring to get some ideas
from the townspeople about the library.
Ellie said they need to begin thinking about long range
capital planning. Alice said the
building has been open for almost 5 years.
They feel the library really needs to be repainted; also there are some
things they would like to do on the grounds.
They have solicited money from the Friends of Charlotte Library, but the
maintenance of the building really is the responsibility of the town.
Alice felt it would be great to have a part-time maintenance
person who can be called to deal with ice jams, issues with the heating system,
etc. Perhaps with the town hall, senior
center, fire department, and library can all get together and jointly get a
contract with a heating contractor, air conditioning, etc.
·
Charlotte Land Trust. They asked for $10,000 this year, just as they have done for
the last 4 or 5 years. They haven’t
used it all up the last few years.
·
Road Commissioner. Junior Lewis presented a budget with less than 2%
increase. There were added funds for a
second mowing – people call in because of poor visibility. They usually try to get the first mowing
done by the 1st of July, so the grass can get pretty tall after
that. They have changed some line items
around. Grants would be added on top of
this – they would just do more work if they get grants. They have been getting grant money just
about every year, but they haven’t received the grant applications yet.
Charlie asked if the town could buy the fuel and not pay the
tax. Junior said it gets tricky because
he does private work too; it’s just not worth it. Charlie asked if Junior used those trucks in the winter for
private business; Junior said not usually, but you would need to get a separate
tank, etc. He would rather not mix the
two. There would have to be a very
clean way to do it. Junior feels once
you start, you might just open up a can of worms.
Jennie asked if, after roads get paved, the shoulders get
filled in. Junior said he has never
filled in the shoulders – in the winter, the sand put on the roads fill in the
shoulders.
John Hammer said the Chittenden Sold Waste District
allocates $1000 every year to pick up waste (like refrigerators, couches,
tires, gas grills, etc.) from land that is not covered by normal costs. Most years the money goes untouched.
Charlie said there’s a pile of rubble at the west side of
the foundation at Thorpe Barn. He’d
like to bury it (if Davis Cherington says it’s okay), and would like to put it
on Junior’s list.
Junior said on Root Road, near Andy’s Car Sales, there is a
catch basin there that Andy would like replaced. Francis said it’s the town’s responsibility to take care of it.
·
Listers. Kay
Gault said that due to reappraisals, there will be increased costs. How do we want to handle that? She’s not sure what is in the reappraisal
fund at this time. She bumped the rate
up to $10/hour and increased the hours from 750 to 772 for the year. She’s anticipating there will be a lot of
VCA meetings, which take time to prepare for.
They are working more hours this year. So, they’ve asked for an
increase in wage and in time, and added another $100 for supplies. It’s a 6% increase overall.
Charlie asked about the reappraisal of Thompson’s
Point. It has been started.
Interview applicants for Recreation
Commission; select Commissioner
The latest
applicant removed his/her name.
Motion made
by Eleanor Russell, seconded by Jennifer Cole:
“To appoint Gregg
Beldock to the Recreation Commission for a 4 year term ending in 2007”.
Vote: all in
favor.
Status Report on Recent Meetings with
Charlotte Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Inc.
Charles and
Ellie passed out a report titled “Status Report on Fire/Rescue Issues”. Francis feels it is appropriate, desirable
and possible for the town to have a majority representation on their
board. Most corporations have independent
directors; their structure is really un-business-like. Jennie feels that the town should have
representation, but too many people managing the organization is not good. Francis said when the organization started
50 or so years ago, they did not come to the town for money. They were independent for 10 or 12 years,
obtaining all their money through fundraising, etc. Now they get almost all their money from the town.
Last year,
they requested $410,000. Jennie asked
about ambulance service – that brings around $27,000 to the town. Francis said if they’re having problems where
they can’t keep personnel, then it is incumbent upon the select board to make
sure it runs smoothly. Ellie said they
are addressing it – they would like a select board representative on their
executive committee to help with the decision making and to keep the select
board informed. Right now, it’s a
clumsy structure – every single member is allowed to vote on every
decision. That is not how it actually
runs. One of the things they’re
thinking about is hiring a permanent part-time staff person to provide
continuity and to handle matters relating to billing, insurance, personnel
records, etc. Right now their solution
is a 10 member board, with 1 select board representative and 2 members from the
public to serve on that board.
Charlie
feels they are addressing the problems they have had over there. Francis feels there needs to be closer
control by people outside the organization.
Ellie is willing to give them a chance to do what they say they can
do. Charlie feels their fiscal
management is fine; they’ve failed in personnel management and
communications. Jennie said closer
control would not have prevented some of the problems they have now. The efforts are underway to resolve the
staffing issues; it takes time.
John Hammer
said all the people working to solve the issues are part of the problem. The only way to solve the problem is to
bring in good people who are not part of the problem and can look at it
objectively – and that moves towards external outside leadership. Charlie said he and Ellie are providing that
– they have been going to their meetings and getting involved. John said there is an awful lot of money
going over there and we’re not getting the service one would expect. The new building was built to allow people
to stay there so there wouldn’t be staffing problems, but we’re still faced
with a staffing problem.
Virginia
Keyser said the first thing to do is to provide the service and coverage
necessary for the town. Francis said if
he were invested in a company that was having problems like this - he would get
new management immediately. Virginia
said that the select board’s relationship with CVFRS should be similar to a
grant making authority, and the board could have any requirements – you could
have monthly report requirements, in-service reports, etc. If you give anybody money, they should all
be subject to the open meeting law.
Pete
Rosenfeld said the impression he gets is that these people are good at putting
out fires and helping injured people.
But they are terrible at running a business. There has been a tendency to buy the best equipment
possible. Has anyone ever done a cost
analysis to see whether or not the equipment is really justified? We need some people that are not involved
with the Fire Department to draw the line on equipment purchases. Charlie said the bond vote for the truck
passed 2-to-1, with a lot of debate about the truck.
Ellie said
there needs to be town involvement, a clearer description in their by-laws of
their decision making process, and a business person there in an on-going basis
to manage the operations.
Virginia
asked if the select board would be reviewing the by-laws again. Charlie said they will be voting on them in
January. CVFRS will have them ready in
final form to present to the membership in December.
Discussion of Town’s Requests for
Design Changes in VELCO’s Transmissions Line Project
Pete
Rosenfeld said the way to handle underground transmission lines is to go to the
equipment maker who makes the under ground cable. It’s in their best interest to give you the lowest price, whereas
VELCO will give you the highest price.
Jennie said
the committee has come up with a draft of a letter to VELCO outlining
stipulations if the project receives approval.
The town is preparing for the possibility of providing testimony on
December 17th. The town is
looking for people who can provide information - one person who can provide
information on the aesthetic impact and another on design issues and costs of
undergrounding the line. They have
received some names from Richard Sagano and others. Jim Donovan (with Wilbur Smith Associates) is interested in doing
a visual assessment. He has had
experience with working with Quechee Lakes Criteria that are used in this
process, and also providing testimony.
He would start with photos of 4 different core locations along the
route, at a cost of $750. We need to
start talking about funds necessary for these issues, and what specific things
we would like these people to do.
Pete asked
if the committee asked for the “H” frames for transmission poles. Jennie said they have not taken that
position. Pete said the “H” frames have
a lower profile (about 15 feet lower).
Also, if they put the single pole in, they can be configured with 6
wires instead of 3, as they are configured near Burlington. Jennie said that VELCO has offered to do
shorter single poles. Charlie said the
“H” frames are a lot uglier when you look at them straight on.
Jennie
presented the draft letter to VELCO; it was discussed in detail by the
board. She has not yet heard back from
Joe McLean concerning the legalities of the draft letter.
Pete
questioned whether the project itself has been questioned. If the lights go out for 30 seconds every 25
years without the project, you would learn to deal with it. What if the town took up the position that
we don’t need this project? Ellie said
that there are more learned authorities that are taking that position. Jennie said the town is taking a position
that leaves that door open. Pete said
the town could take the stance that we don’t see the need for it. Learn to live with a certain level or
unreliability and this project really isn’t necessary.
Jennie said
the consolidation of towns has been put on hold. Also, some towns have been re-submitting their questions to VELCO
since they didn’t feel they were answered adequately. Charlotte might want to consider doing that also.
Bills and Warrants
Signed as
appropriate.
Adjournment
Next meeting: Monday,
December 8th at 7 PM.
Motion made by Francis Thornton, seconded by Ellie Russell:
“To adjourn the select
board meeting”.
Vote: all in
favor. Meeting adjourned at 10:45 PM.
Minutes respectfully submitted by
Jocelyn Bolick.