FINAL VERSION AS AMENDED AND APPROVED ON ___________. Attest: _________

Board of Selectmen December 16, 2002

TOWN OF CHARLOTTE

BOARD OF SELECTMEN

MINUTES

DECEMBER 16, 2002

MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Charles Russell

Ellie Russell

Jennifer Steele Cole

OTHERS: Stephen C. Brooks

John Hammer

Peter Richardson

Nancy Sabin

Hazel Prindle

Clark W. Hinsdale, Jr.

Chris Souliere

David Miskell

Sylvia Sprigg

David Brown

Jim Wells

Steve Kantor

Bradley Carleton

Mike Hardie

Dick Greene

Roseann Lombard

William Yacavoni

Larry Hamilton

Dan Senecal-Albrecht

________________________________________________________________

Chairman Russell announced at 7:00 that the board had yet to

have a quorum, but Cole was expected to arrive late. In the

meantime, Chairman Russell and E. Russell had an informal

discussion in the Selectboard office with Clark Hinsdale, Jr.

and then Auditor, William Yacavoni reviewed his report.

Yacavoni stated he felt that the Town Clerk, Road Commissioner

and Delinquent Tax Collector had all done good jobs.

Yacavoni noted the Town Clerk signs checks and does the

bookkeeping for the town and recommended that another party

should review the books. Yacavoni questioned the binding for 10

years of 2 cents on the tax dollar for land conservation and

Chairman Russell said the town attorney advised it is a reserve

fund. Yacavoni suggested the town might vote on the issue

annually. Yacavoni gave board members copies of his letter

reviewing his audit for their review.

Chairman Russell called the meeting to order at 8:37 p.m. in the

Charlotte Town Offices upon the arrival of Cole.

ADJUSTMENTS TO AGENDA

Chairman Russell suggested that the review of meeting minutes be

postponed to the end of the meeting.

PUBLIC DISCUSSION

There was no public discussion.

RESURVEY OF THORNTON'S TRACE: AUTHORIZE MONUMENTING AND

AUTHORIZE FILING NOTICE TO HAVE SURVEY RESULTS ON RECORD

PURSUANT TO 19 VSA, SECTION 33

Selectboard Assistant, Dan Senecal-Albrecht reviewed 2 documents

for the board and attendees related to Thornton's Trace, noting

the issue at hand was whether to carry out the next 2 steps of

monumenting and sending a notice to abutting property members of

the town's intent to put the road in the town records.

Chairman Russell said he had talked with Clark Hinsdale, Jr. and

his contention is that no one knows where the road is and if

someone tried to use the road as it has been documented by Terry

Harris that they would encounter obstacles. Chairman Russell

said he would review the situation with the town attorney.

Steve Kantor said he agreed with Hinsdale's point that the road

as documented by Harris is in the hedgerow, which the town has

already stated must be protected and there also is a pond in the

road. Kantor said he wondered whether the town ever created a

road, as all there is in the town records from 1817 is the town

intended to create a road and no Certificate of Opening was ever

filed with the town. Kantor posed questions as to whether the

road was considered an asset to the town or had some

significance and since One Mile Road already exists, can

Thornton's Trace be relocated?

Chairman Russell said the board is waiting for another opinion

from the town attorney, who has yet to speak with Terry Harris,

who did the survey for the tow. Senecal-Albrecht noted the town

has never given up the right-of-way for Thornton's Trace.

PATH EASEMENT ACROSS NORDIC FARMS

Dan Senecal-Albrecht reviewed with the board that there is an

option held be the Vermont Housing Conservation Board for an

easement for a trail at the recently purchased Nordic Farms

which must be executed by the end of the month.

Senecal-Albrecht outline that the trail would mostly follow the

easterly portion of the property line by Mt. Philo Road and

another site walk of the proposed trail is pending for later in

the week. Chairman Russell discussed with board members when

they might do a site visit.

Senecal-Albrecht reviewed a letter from the Sportsmens Alliance

about an area where deer are bedding that is close to the

property boundary and Dave Brown reviewed a map of the area.

AWARD LAND MAINTENANCE CONTRACT(S)

Chairman Russell noted the town had gone out to bid on land

maintenance and Senecal-Albrecht passed out handouts to the

board reviewing the breakdown of the bids for comparison. The

town received bids from Justin King of King's Property

Maintenance and Jim Sestokas of Picture Perfect Landscaping.

Chairman Russell suggested just giving the Little League

$6,000.00 to maintain their fields and have that be all that was

provided from the town.

Senecal-Albrecht said he had called the references of the bidder

and all were good and noted the bid specifications for the

contract(s) allowed for the town to award a bid or bids for any

or all of the contracted work.

Chairman Russell suggested breaking out the bids separately and

going out to contract again on the brushogging, as he thought

there would be more bidders for that part of the contract and

wondered if what was involved in the job was clearly understood

by the 2 bidders.

Chairman Russell suggested awarding part of the bid to Picture

Perfect Landscaping. Tree Warden, Larry Hamilton asked if the

contract included trees on the town green and Chairman Russell

answered yes. Hamilton asked if the contractor could check with

him before working on the trees and Chairman Russell said yes.

E. Russell moved and the motion was seconded by

Cole:

* "TO AWARD PICTURE PERFECT LANDSCAPING THE CONTRACT

FOR LAND MAINTENANCE FOR THE CEMETERY, PARK &

WILDLIFE REFUGE, TOWN-WIDE MOWING AND THE BEACH FOR

JULY 1, 2003 TO DECEMBER 31, 2003 AT A COST OF

$6,685.00."

Vote: All in favor.

E. Russell moved and the motion was seconded by

Cole:

* "WE REJECT THE BIDS FOR THE BRUSHHOGGING."

Vote: All in favor.

E. Russell moved and the motion was seconded by

Cole:

* "WE DO NOT ACCEPT THE BALL FIELD BIDS."

Vote: All in favor.

CHARLOTTE SPORTSMANS ALLIANCE PROPOSAL REGARDING THOMPSON'S POINT LEASED

LAND

Dick Greene and Rose Ann Lombard of the Charlotte Sportsmans Alliance

reviewed with the Selectboard a map and 2 handouts regarding

their proposal to lease and manage lands at Thompson's Point

that will be up for lease this spring. Greene outlined that

they were interested in Parcels 2 and 3, they were interested in

using the land for educational purposes and they were attending

the meeting to ask the board to consider their proposal.

Cole suggested setting up meetings in January to discuss these

issues with all interested parties.

Tim Hawley discussed the historical value of the land to be

leased. Larry Hamilton said he was in support of this proposal

and the Alliance's objectives and said he thought the project

would make his job as Tree Warden easier. The board thanked the

Sportsmens Alliance for attending and Cole and E. Russell said

they would work on forming a committee to review the proposal.

MINUTES CORRECTION

Clark Hinsdale, Jr. requested clarification in his interview

with the Selectboard for a position on the Planning Commission

that he discussed the goal of trying to keep at least 10,000

acres in farming of which 5,000 were tillable. Hinsdale added

that a smaller community allows for town volunteers to serve on

boards rather than paid positions in towns with larger

populations, such as Shelburne.

The remaining portion of these minutes were prepared by Dan Senecal-Albrecht.

THANKING MS. FLYNN

At 10:00 p.m., Ms. Flynn had to depart the meeting. This was also her last day of service as the contract minute taker for the Selectboard.

E. Russell moved and the motion was seconded by

Cole:

· "TO THANK MS. FLYNN FOR HER SEVERAL YEARS OF DEDICATED SERVICE AS

MINUTE TAKER FOR THE CHARLOTTE SELECTBOARD.

Vote: All in favor.

PLANNING COMMISSION INTERVIEW-SYLVIA SPRIGG

Sylvia Sprigg was interviewed by the Board for this position. She felt that her concern would be how to keep the land visually open with controlled, healthy growth. The Board thanked her for her time and informed her that the Board would make a decision on this vacancy fairly soon.

BUDGET DISCUSSION

The Board reviewed some of the items still at play. It was decided to keep the budget for the tax collector at $4,500. There was extensive discussion over the budget for Fire and Rescue Services. Jenny was tasked to collect more details on the elements and items involved in the proposed increase for Fire and Rescue. In terms of the Recreation Commission it was discovered that only $5,000 (not $24K or $15.7K) is what is being spent by the School in terms of the Intermural Sports.

Dan was tasked to gather more detail on the amounts spent for Selectboard miscellaneous and for Legal Expenses for the last 16 months.

COMPUTER MAINTENANCE CONTRACT

E. Russell moved and the motion was seconded by

Cole:

"TO ENTER INTO A 3-YEAR “NETSUPPORT” CONTRACT WITH PANURGY FOR COMPUTER MAINTENANCE WITH TWO EQUAL PAYMENTS OF $2,698.50, ONE ON JANUARY 1^ST, 2002 AND ONE ON JULY 31^ST, 2002.

The Board felt that Panurgy was most familiar with the town’s system and had generally done a good job. The three year contract is the same price as the previous 3 year contract ($5,997) less a 10 percent discount.

Vote: All in favor.

SELECTBOARD UPDATES

Dan was tasked to get ads placed in the Charlotte News and the Shelburne News for a Selectboard minute taker.

Jenny informed the Board that they needed to make a formal appointment of a Board member to the Thompson’s Point Wastewater Committee.

E. Russell moved and the motion was seconded by

Cole:

"TO APPOINT JENNY COLE AS THE SELECTBOARD’S REPRESENTATIVE TO THE THOMPSON’S POINT WASTEWATER COMMITTEE.”

Vote: All in favor.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m.

Minutes submitted by:

Debby Flynn and Dan Senecal-Albrecht