Brandon Select Board Meeting

May 12, 2008

NOTE:  These are unapproved minutes, subject to amendment and/or approval at the subsequent board meeting.

In Attendance: Richard Baker, Kellie Patten, Mitch Pearl, Bruce Brown

Also in Attendance:  Keith Arlund, Anna Scheck, Chris Brickell, Tom Schmelzenbach, Phyllis Reed,  Raymond Reed, Robert Kilpeck

1.  Call to order

The meeting was called to order at 7:00PM by Vice-Chair  Richard Baker.      

a) Agenda Adoption - Motion by Bruce Brown/Kellie Patten to adopt the agenda as written. The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero. 

2.  Consent Agenda

a) Approval of Minutes - April 28, 2008 - Select Board

                                      May 1, 2008 - Goal Setting Meeting

Motion by Mitch Pearl/Kellie Patten to approve the Select Board minutes of April 28, 2008 and the Goal Setting minutes of May 1, 2008.  The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.

b) Approve VT Rapid Response Plan

Motion by Bruce Brown/Kellie Patten to approve the VT Rapid Response Plan. The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.

Keith Arlund noted this is an update that is done annually.

3.  Fiscal

a)  Warrant - May 12, 2008 - $101,188.75

Motion by Bruce Brown/Mitch Pearl to approve the warrants of May 12, 2008 in the amount of $101,188.75.  The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.

Mitch Pearl questioned the John Deere credit and Keith Arlund advised this is the lease purchase for the backhoe. 

4.  Town Manager's Report

Keith Arlund stated Mr. Baker and he attended the Route 7 Necessity Hearing.  He stated it was an interesting day and he noted the Town of Brandon will have to conduct a similar type hearing for Segment 6.  Mr. Arlund stated there were four property owners present at the hearing with minor concerns that will be worked out before the June 20^th deadline.

Mr. Arlund reported there were 250 people in attendance for the Historic Preservation conference.  He stated it was an excellent showcase for Brandon and everyone enjoyed the meetings.

Mr. Arlund stated the Act 250 hearing for Segment 6 of the Route 7 project will begin on June 24^th and possibly continue on June 25^th. It will begin with a site visit in Central Park and will then move to the Brandon Fire District building.  There will be a working meeting for the presentation team, with a dress rehearsal on June 18^th that will also be held at the Fire District building.   

Richard Baker stated he has attend several Historic Preservation conferences. He noted this was the 14^th conference and he felt it was a phenomenal conference, with David McCauley as the keynote speaker. What was meaningful to him was that of the four Select Board members in attendance, three were guiding cars and Chef Mitch Pearl was helping assemble the lunches. He stated relative to our Select Board, we don't have to be dignitaries, because we are doers.  

5.  Education Update

Kellie Patten stated school is winding down and there is a lot going on at this time of the year.  The Everybody Wins Program finished with an end of year party at Briggs Carriage Bookstore and was well attended by students and mentors. The event was a lot of fun, along with a visit to the book store for 20 students. Neshobe School would like to thank Matthew and Barbara for hosting this event.

Ms. Patten reported the 6^th grade students will be attending OV day on May 16^th, which is the transition of the district’s 6^th graders. They will find out which team they are on and the day’s events will be followed-up with a fun night that includes a dance. The 6^th Grade Challenge program will start in June and is an annual event at Neshobe School to help keep the 6^th graders interested in being at school. She noted the group will be doing another project similar to the group that had visited the Select Board one year to present their information about hydro electric power in Brandon. The Kids of Strength program has been taking place a couple mornings each week and a couple of Fridays after school.  This Thursday will be the annual track meet for grades 3 through 6 that is organized by Nick Montello. Ms. Patten stated it is a great time and the children have a lot of fun. She stated if parents have not volunteered for this event, they should consider it. Wednesday will be the first bike-to-school day for students in grades 3 though 6. Students should have turned in a permission slip and will meet at the golf course parking lot and ride to school from there. The Naturalization Ceremony will be held on May 21^st beginning at 1PM and the SOAR final event will also be held in Sudbury on the same day.  The 3^rd and 4^th grade Portfolio Night will be held on June 2^nd and this will also be their end of the year celebration. The rest of the school has portfolio conferences on May 29th. The 5^th grade will be going to Boston, and the 6^th grade will be visiting Montreal.  The next PTO meeting is scheduled for June 6^th. Gary Salmon was at the school today and did a presentation on Arbor Day for the 1^st and 2^nd graders. This week is yet more testing at Neshobe School with students in the 3^rd through 6^th grade taking the Terra Nova tests and the 2nd grade will be taking the Developmental Reading Assessments.

Mitch Pearl stated OV Community Connections will be meeting on May 14^th and the high school music concert will be held on May 19^th at 7PM.  He noted this is a great event as OV has a great music program and Mr. Pearl encouraged the public to attend. 

6.  Citizen's Public Forum

Raymond Reed, who lives on the corner of High Street and Park Street, stated last summer his yard was dug up during the road construction.  He stated he is very unhappy with the repair to his lawn and noted he has talked to Tom Schmelzenbach regarding this issue. He has ruined a couple of lawnmower blades in this area and there is no topsoil and part has not been reseeded.  Mr. Reed stated he has spent a lot of hard work and money on his lawn and he feels the repair is horrible and he is getting jerked around. He felt that he should mention this to somebody and hopefully something will get done about this. Tom Schmelzenbach stated he has been to the site two or three times and there were two projects going on at the same time that included the water service and the roadway. There has been an effort to reseed and he will review the area again. Mr. Schmelzenbach stated he did not see any obstructions that would have affected the lawnmower blades, but he will make another visit and will work on it until it is acceptable. Richard Baker stated the board will follow up on this situation. Tom Schmelzenbach stated he never wanted to give the impression that he is jerking anyone around.  Richard Baker stated he would like Mr. Schmelzenbach to review the other properties to make sure that all other property owners are being treated fairly. 

7.  Public Works Report

a)  Consider Pearl Street Reconstruction Project

Richard Baker stated the Chair would entertain a motion to award the purchase order to Markowski for this project.

Motion by Mitch Pearl/Kellie Patten to award a purchase order in the amount of $79,123.00 to Markowski for the Pearl Street project.     

Tom Schmelzenbach stated he has provided the board information in the packet, which is an amendment to a contract for previous work that had been done on roads in Brandon.  He has prepared the unit cost, noted the similar work done and given the reasons identified in the memo as to why he felt this was advantageous to the town. He noted he has brought this document before the Town Manager and the Board for consideration. Richard Baker stated he would like to thank the neighbors who raised the interest in having the crest of the hill lowered to make it safer and hopefully when the project is completed, their lawns will be in good shape. 

The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.  

Tom Schmelzenbach stated routine maintenance continues in preparing dirt roads for chloride and line striping will be done in the near future.  Mr. Schmelzenbach stated with regard to culverts, he provided the information on this subject to the board, as arrangements have to be made for repairs and he wanted to bring this to the board's attention.

8.  Committee Reports/Announcements                     

Mitch Pearl reported the Friends of the Town Hall were pleased with the outcome of the Historic Preservation conference.  He also noted the fire suppression system has gone out to bid and it is hoped to have information on this item soon.

Richard Baker stated nothing had been mentioned earlier about the many unsung heroes who came out for Green Up Day on May 3rd. He noted it was a nasty day, but there were many people helping with Green Up Day, under the direction of Jim Leary.  He stated on behalf of the town, we would like to thank Jim Leary and all of the people who had assisted with this effort.

Bruce Brown stated the understanding is that bids have been received on the sprinkler system. Keith Arlund stated the architect is reviewing the bids and there is an apparent low bidder. A review is being done to be sure the one low bid is not miss anything. 

Richard Baker stated Phase I has been completed for the hydro-geological mapping. Keith Arlund stated he has received an excellent report from the geologist that is being evaluated and further discussions will take place with the property owners prior to taking it to Phase II. He noted this was accomplished prior to the May 8^th grant deadline.

9. Update on Town Strategic planning Effort

Richard Baker reported the Select Board had a goal-setting session and among other things decided to have this item on the agenda at each successive meeting to keep the public involved at the maximum level.  He stated the board has had a philosophy that Select Boards function best when they are least seen and the drivers are the public entities, which is why we have such groups as the Planning Commission, Brandon Artist Guild, Chamber of Commerce and DRB. There are a lot of interconnections and many members are on more than one committee and the public is pretty well involved. He noted the Select Board is going to attempt to play a more active role in developing a top level strategic plan; however they do not want to usurp any of the other committees; such as the Planning Commission, who are in the process of laying out the Town Plan and all of the other organizations who have their distinct duties and responsibilities. The board does not intend to interfere.  He noted the Select Board does play a part, as they are the approving authority on the Town Plan and it is their responsibility to hold public hearings and adopt the Town Plan and the revisions to the Land Use Ordinance.  These are day to day activities to the Select Board, but the strategic plan will be to articulate the guidelines for us and all of the other players. Mr. Baker stated there are three areas that are the first tier goals and they relate to each other and will be the framework for the activities. We have had the goal to conduct our business with technology and we have not done much with it. The Board feels it is time to get serious in developing a more robust web site to allow people to conduct business and learn about the town. As this gets upgraded, it will be a conduit to feed us information on what the plan should look like. Related to this item is an ambitious goal, as it is time to make Brandon “eBrandon” and identify, implant and utilize emerging technology. There are a lot of communities that are doing this. The third area, which we took as an upper level goal, is to revisit, reformulate and promote economic development.  Over the last 2 to 3 years, we have not done much with this topic and what may have happened over the last 3 years is not because of the town's efforts. He stated that Visual Learning does an incredible volume of business over the Internet and provides business opportunities. Mr. Baker noted we are glad we have been able to help preserve 90 jobs for VT Tubbs, but we want to help grow the town as well. Mr. Baker stated as the meetings evolve over the next several months, there will be topics to discuss as a Board to further this effort. 

Tom Schmelzenbach stated we need to make sure our infrastructure can support this type of effort. Mitch Pearl stated part of the thinking is that we do not want to be reactive as a municipality, but rather proactive and try to look ahead. If we have a strategic plan, the Board could potentially answer questions that might come up concerning infrastructure changes. Kellie Patten stated they also talked about using this as a way to prioritize projects, especially in putting together the town's budget. All department heads will be key players and their information and input will be sought. This information is out there, but is usually in one person's head and the board is going to help everyone to put it together. There was discussion about being more proactive and less reactive, but making sure we were not doing something that someone else is doing. Richard Baker stated this was a good observation on Tom's part. Mr. Baker stated it is not all just about the web, but is also about infrastructure.  Mr. Baker noted Title 24 places a lot of responsibility on the Planning Commission and after years of encouraging new people to become involved in the DRB, we have given them very little guidance and we hope to bring people in to help them.  He noted the worst thing to do is give little guidance and they then do things that are not consistent or unpopular. He stated GADSBE 34 requires us to know what we have for capital investments and infrastructure and it is time to pull this all together. Phyllis Reed questioned why the permit application had been removed from the Town’s web site when there is talk of having a more robust web site. Richard Baker stated this is true and he stated a developer should be able to read this information on the web site and be able to pull the permits off the web for the town. He thinks it is a transitional state and when there is a permanent Zoning Administrator, he feels this will be changed.  Ms. Reed also noted she is all in favor of bringing in help for the DRB. It was noted people from VLCT have offered to come to Brandon to have a seminar.  Richard Baker stated he would like everyone in town to feel they are in on this process, as people have to make decisions on how to invest their resources, including their time.  This is viewed as a method of optimizing people’s time and energy in these activities so that people feel they are involved in a cohesive effort.  Richard Baker stated it should be an interesting year.

10.  Old/Other Business

 a. Consider Town Facility Use Policy and Rental Agreement

Richard Baker stated we have documents in our packet concerning this policy and he would like to reemphasize a comment he made before that this is better than what we have been dealing with in the past and is almost there.

Mitch Pearl stated there is a lot of legalese and he has not had a chance to read through it and would like to review it first.  Kellie Patten and Bruce Brown stated they would like to review it more closely as well.  Bruce Brown stated one of the concerns is the item about insurance.  If someone wishes to have a  family reunion at the town hall, the process has to be made simpler. Mr. Brown stated people are just not going to deal with this type of process. Richard Baker stated the document needs to cover everything, but in a simple way. Mitch Pearl would like to see a policy that has a welcoming aspect, as we want people to use the Town Hall and not scare people away. Richard Baker stated it is better to begin with something large, and then go from there. Mr. Baker wished to thank all of the people who provided input and he noted this is a big step in the right direction.  Mitch Pearl stated we should have a policy; however, it needs more thought put into it. He noted one item to consider is how it applies to the use of the Town Hall under the Memorandum of Agreement, as there has been a deferral of responsibility and there should be an acknowledgment of how they relate. Keith Arlund stated the Friends of the Town Hall do have a form and the town has had an ad hoc policy for the parks. The town does have a vendor application process and a process by which we have allocated requests for the various parks for such things as concerts. He stated we  need to reconcile the points. 

Richard Baker stated he would like to thank Anna Scheck for providing the information on the potentially delinquent taxes and sewer fees. He noted taxes are due this Thursday and as of 12:01AM Friday, they will be delinquent. He noted there has not been a tax sale in a couple of years and the Select Board would prefer not to have one, as it is embarrassing to all parties and is also expensive.  There are some people who have gone delinquent and have been making an effort to pay their taxes.  We also have some people who do not take this seriously and need to be taken to tax sale. Mr. Baker urged those who are delinquent to negotiate with Mr. Arlund, who is the local delinquent tax collector or Anna Scheck, who is the person who does the administration of the tax plan, as both are very compassionate and agreeable people to work with. Mr. Baker stated after the close of the due date on taxes this Thursday, it would probably be the first meeting in June that the Select Board would authorize the Town Manager to proceed with a tax sale of people who have not made an effort to pay or who are in arrears for a couple of years. This is not fair to the taxpayers who have paid their taxes. Hopefully the next time the Board sees the list it will be smaller, but for those who are delinquent from 2002 or 2003, it is time to pay the taxes.  

Kellie Patten questioned when the next meeting will be held.  Mr. Baker stated there is a proposal to have a brief meeting on either May 28^th or 29^th to primarily sign the bills and discuss anything of immediate interest, as May 26^th is Memorial Day and is the next regularly scheduled meeting. The board made the decision to hold the meeting on May 29^th at 7:30AM in the Town Office, in lieu of the May 26^th regular meeting.   

Keith Arlund stated there is no further information about the dispatching effort. Richard Baker wished to reaffirm the contention of the Select Board that we feel we have been treated differently long enough and as long as there are other communities who are not being charged, we are not going to pay any further. It was noted they are dispatching to the Police, Fire and Rescue and the question was raised what other police, fire and rescue departments are getting this service for no charge.  It was also noted the Select Board does not have the authority to select this business for the Fire Department and the Rescue Squad. Richard Baker stated Police Chief Brickell is responsible for the safety of his officers and the public and the Board wished to assure him that they are not going to be put anyone in danger.

Bruce Brown stated it would be nice to know what, if anything, is going to be done on the Backyard Project this summer, i.e. the ramp or whatever we can do. Mr. Brown does not know the status of the permitting, but it is long overdue to do something with this project. 

Keith Arlund stated he provided the board with a summary sheet of revenue and expenditures and he noted we are well on target. He will keep the board attuned, however, it appears we are in good shape for the fiscal year about to end.  He is hopeful to have last year's audit report before we start this year's audit. Mr. Arlund also noted the Town Managers Association is meeting in Burlington on Thursday and Friday and he will be attending those meetings. 

Richard Baker stated he would like to mention the topic of flood maps, as this has been discussed and is a statewide topic. There are new flood maps and for those of the public who have been anticipating a public hearing to review flood hazard bylaws, we are convinced that because Brandon has a comprehensive set of bylaws, including flood management, that have been reviewed by the appropriate people in Montpelier, our Land Use Ordinance covers the topic and have met the letter of the law. The last piece is to assess and make available to the public the maps, which are produced by others and are in the public domain. If there are property owners who are affected, they deserve an opportunity to be heard, as it may affect the marketability of their property. Mr. Baker wanted to make sure that the Board has not left anyone ill-informed. There will be a report on this item during the first meeting in June.

Motion by Kellie Patten/Bruce Brown to enter into executive session at 8:02PM for the purpose of discussing a contract.  The session is to include the Town Manager and Brandon Police Chief.  The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.

11.  Executive Session

The Board came out of executive session at 8:43PM.

Motion by Kellie Patten/Mitch Pearl to authorize the Town Manager to accept the Department of Public Safety Grant for four Mobile Data Terminal Sets. The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.

Motion by Bruce Brown/Mitch Pearl to authorize the Town Manager to accept the State of Vermont offer in the amount of $1,500.00 for the additional property interests required for the Segment 5 of the Route 7 project. The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.

12. Adjournment

Motion by Bruce Brown/Kellie Patten to adjourn the Select Board meeting at 8:47PM. The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero. 

Respectfully submitted,

Charlene Bryant

Recording Secretary