Arlington Town Pics
10.3.11 Selectboard Minutes
Members Present: Keith Squires, Daniel Harvey, Cynthia Browning, Reggie Jennings Jr., Norman Mattison
Also Present: Mike Ferone-GNAT-TV, Gary Weller-Highway Dept., Keith Whitcomb-Bennington Banner
The meeting was called to order at 7:02pm by Chairman Keith Squires.
Minutes Meeting September 19, 2011: Mr. Harvey made a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of September 19, 2011 as presented. Seconded by Mr. Mattison. Motion carried.
Highway Report: Gary Weller reported that the road crew is starting to do grading – they have the FEMA (repairs/debris removal, etc) stuff pretty well set up for winter. He noted that they are trying to get some of the snow removal equipment ready. They have seeded and mulched the Black Hole Hollow area. Sand is scheduled to come in next week. They have been drawing gravel – to replace some of what was used for repair after the flood.
Flood Update: Board members were all given copies of figures up to 9/23/2011 as far as repair and debris removal etc. Figures include materials, employee time (labor), and equipment time. Mr. Squires noted that the grand total to date is $27,209.20. He stated that the largest projects were Black Hole Hollow, the Hawley Bridge, and the West Mt. Bridge/River Road area. There is still information to go into this report. There is no overtime recorded yet – nor any information on the Benedict Hollow Bridge or the Covered Bridge. Mr. Squires reported that the Old Mill Road and the East Arlington Road actually qualify as Federal roads and work there will be covered. He reported that the debris that was removed in the Park will be covered. The majority of our work will fall under “permanent work”. FEMA will be back in about a week and a half to finalize figures. We are still waiting for information back on insurance on the bridges. .
Covered Bridge: We are waiting for a second proposal on the Covered Bridge. Mr. Squires reported that Gary and the road crew had ‘secured’ the Covered Bridge floor and in doing this – they noted that it did not look like it would be a big project to raise the floor back up to where it should be. Mr. Squires spoke to Bret Wright about this – it might be possible for our road crew to do some of this work so that Bret Wright would not have to bring down such a large crew to do ‘all’ of this work. Bret Wright suggested this work be done before winter as the sooner it is done the better. The Board was in agreement that this was a good idea.
BenedictCrossingBridge: Mr. Squires noted that materials have been ordered and work should start on this Bridge in the next couple of weeks.
Mr. Squires reported that the paperwork keeps piling up and forms keep changing.
Hazard Mitigation Workshop: Mr. Squires reported that there will be a Hazard Mitigation Workshop this Wednesday (October 5th) in Rutland at the BCRC Office. This will be our source of funds to replace the wall (Old Mill Road).
Old Business: Finances: Board members reviewed the Treasurer’s figures: After repaying borrowed money to the Loader Fund ($50,000.00) and the Grader Fund ($55,000.00) and after deducting tonight’s orders the cash on hand is approximately $415,000.00. Delinquent Taxes are $7981.37. Late File Homestead Declaration Penalties: Treasurer Linda Crosby left paperwork for Board members to review – and she will be present for discussion on this issue at the next meeting. Mr. Squires explained that the State had been handling this issue and now wanted individual towns to determine whether to charge or not charge the penalty fees. The Board needs to set a policy as to how this is handled. Linda has notified that she will be available for any questions that the board might have.
Church Street Sidewalk: Ms. Browning reported that we have received our ‘Right of Way’ permit. We have sent in the ‘certification’ that all our easements, etc had been received and are on file. Mr. Squires noted that (last year) we budgeted $35,000.00 for work to be done – it was put into the ‘Rebuilding’ line – but then moved to ‘Special Highway’ – he stated that we should do this same thing before the end of this year so there will be enough to cover the project.
Yellow Barn Farm: Ms. Browning reported that the deadline for the grant application for foundation work has been extended. She noted that there is also timber work that will need to be done. Ms. Browning reported that Chris Cole is going to recommend a contractor for an estimate on the foundation work. She also reported that she spoke to the State Historical grant person about the strategy of going for funding the timber work this time and this person thought that this made sense. Ms. Browning noted that if we get Federal funding that will cover the foundation work, State monies would cover the timber work. This would leave “smaller” projects like windows, roof, carpentry, grading, etc. still to be done. She asked for some drainage ‘gravel’ that would be used in front of the doors to prevent mud splash-up on the doorways. Ms. Browning reported that the barn had been in use for an event this past weekend and she apologized for not informing the Board ahead of time that this was going to take place.
Computer-Update: Mr. Harvey reported that he spoke with E-Enable’s Ron Hausthor and informed Ron to go ahead with ‘resetting’ the default and opening up space on the hard drives to free up more room on the computers in Town Hall. Mr. Squires noted that if/when Ron Hausthor was going to move the NEMRC files – he should be in contact with a NEMRC representative to be sure this move was accomplished correctly and safely. Mr. Harvey will express this to Mr. Hausthor.
Town Report-Update: Mr. Squires reported that Robin, Linda, Mary and Ms. Browning met with Auditors Pat Williams and Bill Budde last Friday to discuss the 2012 Town Report and how we could present a ‘better’ product – with fewer errors/omissions. Some decisions made include – starting work earlier on the Town Report, earlier deadlines for reports for all organizations, the running of some sample reports for review prior to printing the ‘complete report’, and finding a way to move the ‘accounting’ figures to the Auditors so that they would not have to ‘re-do’ figures – thus decreasing the possibility of error.
Water Company Study: Mr. Squires reported that the Town had received two (2) proposals to do the ‘Municipal Water System Valuation Study’ as follows: 1 = Aldrich & Elliott of Essex Junction Vermont for $7,000.00; and 2 = Dubois & King Inc. of Randolph Vermont for $6650.00. Mr. Squires proposed he get take the two proposals and get together with BCRC’s Rex Burke for review of the proposals. Mr. Harvey stated that he would like to be involved in these discussions. Mr. Harvey made a motion to table this issue until the next Board meeting. Seconded by Ms. Browning. Motion carried. The grant for this study was approximately $8,000.00. Some of this funding will go to BCRC for administration.
Sheriff – Tickets/Revenue Generated: Board members reviewed figures regarding the revenue generated by ticketing by the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department. Ms. Browning noted that Chad Schmidt was willing to come in for further discussion on this issue. Mr. Squires will contact Chad Schmidt on this issue.
Flood Plain Maps: Ms. Browning reported that the Planning Commission is currently working on revisions to the by-laws. She noted that the maps are all printed out and on view in Al Godreau’s office. She stated that some people cannot come in to review these maps during the hours they are ‘available’. Ms. Browning noted that the September Public hearing on these maps was recessed. The next meeting of the Planning Commission on October 27th will be a ‘working’ meeting and the Public Hearing will be continued at the Planning Commission’s November meeting. Ms. Browning encouraged Board members to view these maps and also to encourage any residents who might be impacted by these new maps to try to review them. Mr. Squires reported that Ned Swanberg is supposed to be getting us a list of the properties that will now be in the flood plains.
School Generator: Mr. Squires reported that the generator is installed but not connected. This had to be coordinated with CVPS and the school – when school was not in session. The date for connecting is Monday October 10, 2011. The Board was in favor of paying for the electrical work tonight – and holding the check until the work is complete on the connection. Mr. Squires will start to process the paperwork through Vermont Emergency Management
Town Truck (Old #1 Truck): Gary asked if he should get the old truck (old #1) ready for emergency winter work (put on the plow, sander, etc.). Board members were in favor of this in case it had to be used this winter. Mr. Squires noted that if anyone was interested in purchasing it – they would most likely want the winter gear on it at this point in time.
New Business: Library Representative: Mary reported that Librarian Phyllis Skidmore had notified her that Pat Williams – who had been the Town’s representative on the Library Board - had resigned and a new representative needed to be appointed or approved by the Selectboard. Board members reviewed a list of Library Trustees. The Library Board meets on Monday nights so it would conflict with any Selectboard members being representatives. There was discussion on this issue. Ms. Browning will talk to Joel Tibbetts regarding this issue. Board members will decide on a representative at the next Selectboard meeting.
Warrants & Orders: Mr. Harvey made a motion to authorize payment of $640.00 to Keith Squires for work done as Interim Supervisor for the period of September 4, 2011 through October 1, 2011 as noted on Payroll # 40 B dated October 3, 2011. Seconded by Ms. Browning. Motion carried with Mr. Harvey, Mr. Jennings, Mr. Mattison, and Ms. Browning voting in favor of the motion. Mr. Squires abstained from the vote. Mr. Squires noted that we will be submitting these hours for reimbursement (flood/FEMA work). Mr. Harvey made a motion to authorize payment of Warrant Order # 20 dated 10/04/11 for the amount of $36,762.90. Seconded by Mr. Jennings. Motion carried.
All Other Business: Animal Control: Mr. Harvey reported that someone had found a stray dog and not been able to contact Animal Control Officer Traci Mulligan as she was apparently out of Town – and had not left a message to this effect on her answering machine.
Newspaper Update: Ms. Browning stated that she thought it would be a good idea to put some information in the paper regarding the flood plain maps, updates on ‘Irene’/flooding, Tax Collector information, etc.
Mr. Mattison made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Browning. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary M. Henning, Recording Secretary
meeting video & audio taped
cc: files, T. Clerk
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
