BLSG Insect Control Board Meeting Minutes
Serving the
member towns of Brandon, Leicester, Salisbury & Goshen
Tuesday, October 13,
2009 Stephen A. Douglas House, Brandon, VT
Present:
Ben Fuller, Ben Lawton, Gary Meffe, Linda Pitkin, Wayne Rausenberger, Jeff
Whiting
Also Attending:
Mort Pierpont
Not Attending:
Brad Ramsay
Guests:
Marion Bauer (LDFLA representative and Salisbury property owner)
Meeting called to order by
Ben Lawton at 7:35
Agenda
Minutes of
Last Meeting
Treasurer's
Report – Brad
Administrator's Report - Mort
Larvicide
Coordinator's Report - Paul Doty
Old Business
1.
Public Notice of Meeting Schedule
& Minutes
2.
Legislative Overview - Sue
Potter/Marion Bauer/Linda Pitkin
3.
Other
New Business
1.
Radio Talk Show
2.
Budget Preparation
3.
Equipment Replacement Needs
a.
Trucks
b.
Sprayers
c.
GPS System
Minutes
of Last Meeting
It was decided that the
minutes would be reviewed off-line as members of the board were not able to
review them prior to the meeting.
Treasurer's Report
Brad was unable to attend
the meeting and had not had an opportunity to complete the treasurer's report.
He will be emailing it to the Board shortly, and they will review the report
when it is available.
Administrator's Report
Bldg. & Materials
Maintenance:
Mort and Wayne did an
analysis of the drainage issues around the exterior walls. It is insufficient
and needs to be upgraded to prevent rot of the exterior walls. It was concluded
that drainage pipe, wrapped in cloth to prevent silting up, should be buried
under crushed stone on the sides of the barn. Estimated materials costs are
$1,385, and labor is anticipated to be in the same range. A motion was passed
unanimously to have Brad put together a proposal for this drainage project and
to put it out to bid.
The job that Paul Houle
did fixing the door to the shed is not really holding up. Wayne will replace
the whole door frame and possibly the door, and will replace the locks on the
door.
Paul Doty will report
chemical usage levels to the state, and we will take Brad Lawes up on his offer
to store a 55 gallon drum of Biomist at his place where it won't freeze. Our
other chemicals can stay in the shed through the winter season.
Mort suggested we
purchase an additional truck radio from CVC paging in Mendon to replace the one
that has become increasingly unreliable.
Mort indicated that we
have two sprayers that are only in partial working order. Both need to have
several components replaced. If we are not going to get them fixed up, Mort
recommends getting rid of them because they are large and in the way and not
being utilized.
Mort recommended switching
the trailer from the truck we are currently using to tow it to another truck.
It sounds as though the truck is in relatively good working order, but the added
strain of the trailer is taking a toll on the transmission. If we are going to
consider replaces any of the trucks, the only one Mort suggests is the old blue
one.
Mort will provide the
Board members with several spreadsheets that contain usage and mileage
information on each truck and sprayer, and will contain a maintenance column.
Linda will ask Sue Potter
to return the maps that Mort loaned to her.
Communications:
Mort presented the idea of
employing a call center next year to better, and more efficiently handle the
high volume of calls coming through on the information line. He recommended CVC
paging. This proposal was received fairly well, though it was suggested that
Mort look into several different options to find the most cost effective one.
This prompted a
significant discussion about the ultimate goal of the phone line as a
communications medium. There was a general consensus that we should stress its
utility as an information line, not a complaint line. We should keep an
updated message that includes recent and upcoming spraying routes.
Another communications
medium that we would like to better utilize is the website. Specifically, the
web-address needs to be something that is easier to remember or communicate to
someone, and we need to do a better job of keeping it updated with spraying
routes, etc. Linda volunteered to do some research into other options for our
website.
Additionally, because not
everyone has reliable internet access, we decided that next season we will try
using the local papers to communicate spraying routes. Despite the fact that
the information will necessarily be somewhat dated by the time it reaches the
public via this medium, it will provide information to some constituents who
might not be able to access it otherwise
Finally, Marion's husband
has a radio program on one of the local channels and she offered to help us get
some airtime with Ben Lawton when the season gets into high gear.
Data Management:
Mort presented some
information on a coordinating system from Adapco which, via GPS units and
mapping software, would help coordinate information we get from sampling
expeditions and the call center, with the truck sprayers and plane operator.
However, with costs estimated to run into the tens of thousands of dollars, the
general consensus was that, while it was impressive technology, it was probably
not worth the return on investment for us at this juncture.
There is a general
agreement that it would be useful to have GPS units in each of the trucks, but
they could probably just be the commercially available variety. Linda indicated
she would ask members of the lake association if they would be willing to donate
used systems if they are upgrading to newer ones. Otherwise, we will likely
consider purchasing some next season.
Larvicide Report:
Paul Doty was not at the
meeting and did not present any information on the larvicide program.
Old Business:
Public Notice of
Meeting Schedule & Minutes:
Ben Fuller, who agreed to
take over the role of Secretary in order to give Linda Pitkin a well-deserved
respite, will notify each of the town clerks of the official meeting schedule
for the group, which will be a standing meeting, the 2nd Tuesday of
each month (with the exception of December and January) at the Stephen A.
Douglas House in Brandon. Ben will also ensure that each of the town clerks
receives a copy of the meeting minutes within 5 business days of each
meeting.
Legislative Overview:
Sue Potter and her husband
had hosted a group of state legislators at their camp for an opportunity to
showcase this part of the state to those legislators who might not have much
opportunity to enjoy this region. Linda indicated that everyone seemed to have
a great time and enjoy themselves, and the topic of mosquito control did come up
(which is important for us given our reliance on the state appropriation) but no
concrete conversations took place.
New Business:
Radio Talk Show:
Addressed above in
communications.
Budget Preparation:
Because he was absent, Ben
will ask Brad to provide the financial report to the group. He will also ask
that Brad provide the Board members some information on what we are paying the
different people who work for us. Not just bottom lines, but pay rates and
hours worked, etc. Ben will also communicate the request that the board be
given this information well in advance of the next meeting so that we have time
to review it ahead of time.
Equipment Replacement
Needs:
Addressed above in the
administrators report.
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