Brandon Select Board Meeting

April 27, 2009

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

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

Also in Attendance:   Keith Arlund, Anna Scheck, Tom Schmelzenbach, Steve Cijka, Tim Rice, Bob Kilpeck, Linda Stewart, Anne Bransfield, Terry Kline

1.  Call to order

The meeting was called to order at 7:00PM by Bill Hatch.      

a) Agenda Adoption - Motion by Mitch Pearl/Bruce Brown to adopt the agenda with the addition of an item to consider adopting the 2009 Brandon Town Plan after Item 3.  The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero. 

2.  Consent Agenda

a) Approval of Minutes - April 13, 2009 - Select Board

Motion by Mitch Pearl/Richard Baker to approve the Select Board minutes and Board of Liquor Commissioners minutes of April 13, 2009. The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.

b)  Road Closures - June 6, 2009 - Family Safety Day

Motion by Richard Baker/Mitch Pearl to accept the request to close the road in front of the Congregational Church from 8AM to 2PM on Saturday, June 6^th for the Family Safety Day. The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.

3.  Fiscal

a) Warrant - April 27, 2009 - $50,296.29

Motion by Bruce Brown/Mitch Pearl to approve the warrants of April 27, 2009 in the amount of $50,296.29.  The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.

4.  Consider Adopting 2009 Brandon Town Plan

Motion by Bruce Brown/Richard Baker to accept the April 10^th version of the 2009 Brandon Town Plan, with the corrections noted. 

Richard Baker stated there may be a more recent edition that Ethan Swift had produced and there is a draft with all changes noted.

Motion by Richard Baker/Mitch Pearl to table the above motion to the next Select Board meeting in order to obtain a clean final copy of the 2009 Brandon Town Plan. The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero. 

4. Town Manager Report

Keith Arlund reported he spoke with Martin Thompsen regarding the town hall sprinkler connection to the water line and a verbal agreement has been reached. Mr. Arlund will schedule a time to meet with Mr. Thompsen to execute the two easement documents. Mr. Arlund stated he has received updated pricing and Tom Schmelzenbach will be evaluating this information.  He has also received permission to allow the May 9^th fund raising event at the town hall. 

Mr. Arlund reported Chief Brickell was able to electronically submit for $11,060.00 of recovery funding for the purpose of assisting in combating crime and drugs in a rural area. He noted this grant is available through the Recovery Act.

Richard Baker questioned if Mr. Arlund submitted the COPS grant application and Mr. Arlund advised the application was submitted successfully, however, he has not received a response to the application. 

5.  Citizen's Public Forum

Terry Kline stated he has been before the Select Board three times regarding the Park Street sidewalks. He stated they are in deplorable condition and they are not safe.  He has been told they are on a project list, but he has not seen the list.  Keith Arlund stated there is a Condition list of all of the sidewalks and roads. Terry Kline stated he also understood there is a priority list of projects to be done and he would like to know where the sidewalks are on that priority list. Tom Schmelzenbach stated he has been pricing different options and has submitted some of the pricing to Mr. Arlund. They are discussing whether this is a type of project that can fit into the project budget, as it is a costly project. He will bring this before the Board to finalize the work projects for this coming season in the near future. He is aware the sidewalks have been mentioned a number of times in the past and as the town have the money, they will address it. Mitch Pearl stated he agrees with Mr. Kline that the sidewalks are in bad condition and Park Street is a premier street in Brandon and the sidewalks get a lot of use. He knows it is a major expense and Mr. Pearl asked if it would make sense to divide the project into sections, and perhaps do one end first and then do the remainder when the Route 7 project comes through. He stated that perhaps looking at a phased plan to present to the Board would be good. Tom Schmelzenbach stated he is looking into a length that could be done, possibly 100 foot increments; and he will provide this to the Board at a subsequent meeting. Linda Stewart stated she hopes that an asphalt sidewalk is not going to be considered for any of the streets.  Terry Kline stated there are at least three levels of blacktop in front of his house. 

Mr. Kline stated in talking about street lights, there needs to be one at the end of Walnut Street and at least one on Cedar Street going up the hill, as there are a lot of people that walk in that area and there was an attempted abduction about 10 years ago and the lighting needs to be improved.  Richard Baker stated the minute we want an extra streetlight, CVPS is going to want to renegotiate their contract. He noticed under the American Recovery Act there is money for energy efficiency. Mr. Baker stated he was going to ask Mr. Schmelzenbach to update the positioning of streetlights and what the feasibility of led street lighting might be. Mr. Baker was interested in knowing whether the town would be eligible for a led lighting system and would it make sense to buy the fixtures and pay CVPS for the power.  Tom Schmelzenbach advised he will review and report to the Board at the next meeting.

Keith Arlund stated we have a Condition inventory and the Board sets the priority of the streets and it is the Board that establishes which piece of road or sidewalk gets repaired in a given construction time. He stated the priority list for this year has not been presented to the Board for their decision. Terry Kline stated he would like a master list when the Board obtains their copy.   

6. Education Report

There was no report provided. 

7.  Public Works

a. Consider Approval of PO #50904 for Paving - $75,687.50

Motion by Mitch Pearl/Richard Baker to approve PO #50904 for Wilk Paving to provide equipment, labor and materials with regard to paving, not to exceed 1250 tons. 

Richard Baker questioned who will do the finished grading. Tom Schmelzenbach stated the town has just purchased equipment for the grading and it will depend on the current work load and which roads are paved. A decision needs to be made on who will do the reseeding and topsoil, as Mr. Schmelzenbach stated he is looking for ways for the pros to do the core project and the remainder of the project being completed by his staff. Richard Baker noticed that Wilk Paving will only hold the price for 90 days and Tom Schmelzenbach noted this has been the past practice while the town is making the decision on whom to award the work to.  He stated there is a VTrans specification and formula for calculating price increases based on rack prices for liquid asphalt, which he provided to Mr. Arlund. He does not anticipate an increase, but there is a methodology produced by VTrans to determine this. Tim Rice noted the state has implemented this for several years, which allows the contractors to provide their best price at the time and it is the fairest way for both parties. Rice stated he spoke with an asphalt supplier today and they are predicting fairly stable prices for the summer. Bill Hatch stated he spoke to a large supplier of petroleum products yesterday and he suggests there will be very little movement through the summer and the next heating system. 

Richard Baker stated last year the price of petroleum was driven by economic conditions and he is concerned there will be costs driven up due to the economic recovery project, both in price and availability. Paving companies are going to be pushed to the limit to place down a lot of asphalt. Tim Rice stated a lot of projects will not be going to bid until after July 1^st and he feels that a lot of the stimulus money will be falling into 2010 projects. Richard Baker is concerned there will be a price spiking in paving in order to get the work done this summer, as there are some constraints on when the money has to be obligated. Mr. Baker stated last year Wilk was unable to perform for Rutland town and he questioned if they were coming back to them. Mr. Rice stated they were available to perform, but the asphalt prices hit $800 and their bid price was $500. They asked the Board to extend the completion date of their project while staying within their fiscal year and they were agreeable to do that. Mr. Rice stated based on the information now, there does not seem to be a possibility for the asphalt to spike. Tom Schmelzenbach stated he has submitted a list of projects and he will fine tune this list and bring it before the Board. Mr. Schmelzenbach stated he has some options for some of the roads, which include shimming and overlaying that would prolong the life of the roads.  Given overall costs and the level of service required on some roads, it might be a good decision to go this route for roads such as McConnell Road north of Smalley road, as there is considerable wheel rutting and he has had a number of vendors review this road.  Richard Baker stated this type of work might also be available for the Supplemental Class II paving grant. Tom Schmelzenbach noted he will take advantage of any funding available; however, there is a minimum figure of $300,000.00 with a match. Mr. Schmelzenbach noted there is also a portion of North Street that may be a candidate for this type of work. He would like to discuss the specifics of these projects with Keith Arlund prior to bringing before the Board.  He also has costs for reclaiming as well, but he would like to get the paving vendors lined up so that he can start to plan the work. 

Richard Baker stated there are other elements that could influence the price of paving depending on whether the vendor is supplying just the paving or if there are other parts of the project they could do, there may be an alternate price given. Tom Schmelzenbach stated he was pursing that type of pricing on Union Street, however, the likelihood of obtaining that grant is not high. He stated that North Street does not require aggressive contractor work and he does not believe a paving vendor would be required.  It is possible to hire a general contractor, who would have hired the paving vendors and for a town without a public works director that would be the way to go, but he is able to bid the items separately. He stated the range of the amounts in the RFQ would have made a cost difference and the projects that he is presenting do not include any grant monies. Mr. Schmelzenbach stated the cost to do a road is about 40% paving and he started with what he thought he has available for funds and took 40% of that amount. Richard Baker questioned if the town gets some stimulus money, would Wilk be able to guarantee this price for additional paving?  Tim Rice stated he could guarantee it.

The motion passed unanimously - 4 to zero.

Mitch Pearl asked when the full proposal would be obtained and Tom Schmelzenbach stated it would be provided at the next meeting.

8.  Committee Reports/Announcements

Mitch Pearl reported the Friends of the Town Hall fund raiser will be held on Saturday, May 9th, and will feature the Middlebury Chorus. Admission is free to this event and free-will donations will be accepted.  He wished to thank Keith Arlund and the state for allowing them to host the fund raiser without completing the sprinkler system.  He also advised the Friends of the Town Hall meeting will take place this Thursday, April 30^th at 7:30PM in the town hall.  Anyone interested in working on town hall restoration is encouraged to attend.

Richard Baker stated the Transportation Advisory Council met last Thursday and the attendees were provided a copy of a document they received from the Secretary of Transportation. He noted they are requiring a tight turnaround time, which is over and above the regular Class II grant programs and 80/20 is the minimum match. Mr. Baker stated in the event Mr. Schmelzenbach thinks there is a project appropriate for this program, it should be considered. 

Bruce Brown reported the Feral Cat Committee is lining up trapping sites and food deliveries.

Keith Arlund reported the Brandon Revolving Loan Fund Committee met with Arthur Mitchell and they have asked for additional information. He noted it was a good meeting.  

9. Consider Identity Theft Policy

Bill Hatch noted this item was discussed at the last meeting.

Motion by Richard Baker/Mitch Pearl to request the Town Manager to do an assessment as to the extent this requirement applies to the town, based on the letter from the staff attorney, and to provide information on this subject to the Board at the next meeting. The motion passed unanimously - 4 to zero.

Mitch Pearl stated he has started to review this policy and it says that it applies any town that charges for utilities, however, this is not a traditional creditor relationship. Mr. Pearl does support the Town Manager assessing this item and providing the Board with a recommendation. There are no real penalties for not doing this, so it may be the option to do nothing on this item. Mitch Pearl stated it took the Agency a while to go through the rules and after they did that, the FTC found that most entities that were supposed to comply did not know that they were supposed to, such as towns and non-profits that do not follow the FTC website, so they provided an additional six months to come into compliance.  It was the general consensus of the Board to research this item further. Keith Arlund stated there needs to be an affirmative decision and he will provide a report at the next meeting.

10.  Old/Other Business

Richard Baker stated the regular scheduled meetings for May would put one on Memorial Day and one option would be to have a single meeting on May 18^th, which would take the place of the two regular meetings; recognizing there may have to be a short special meeting, depending on warrants that may have accumulated.  It was the consensus of the Board to hold one meeting on May 18^th.

Bruce Brown stated the Board was supposed to hear more about the Backyard Project and he would like to see something happen there this summer. Tom Schmelzenbach stated he will provide a report to the Select Board on this item.

Richard Baker asked if there was a change in status of the bridge on Town Highway 22.  Tom Schmelzenbach stated he is working on the stream alteration permit and an alternate approach that would be appropriate, as the standard approach would not work in that area. He noted they are at the right of way phase of the project, with the design phase and construction specification complete. He also noted he will need to have more money. Mr. Schmelzenbach stated this is a good candidate, based on its progress, for some of this funding that is being considered.  Richard Baker thought there was $452,000.00 earmarked for this project and Tom Schmelzenbach noted he will have to verify the funding for this project. 

Keith Arlund advised he included a letter from the Watershed Tavern for the Board's information, as they are formulating a plan to have a second story residence. In a brief review of the code requirements, there would need to be a lot of work done before that could happen. They would like to know if the town would consider something similar to what the Brown's have, however, Mr. Arlund noted he does not need a decision, as he feels this may be premature. Mr. Arlund will mention to the applicant that he should be discussing the project with the Zoning Board. 

Bill Hatch stated he has been asked by a couple of people to bring up the subject of a burning ordinance. Richard Baker stated there is a state law that covers this. Bob Kilpeck stated municipalities that have created an ordinance have caused much turmoil for their staff and calls would be coming to the Select Board. It was noted that Mr. Kilpeck is the Fire Marshall and he does work in this area, however, he noted he does not get into the middle of disputes. Bill Hatch questioned whether there is a permitting process and Mr. Kilpeck noted permits are required to kindle an outdoor fire, however, people can have a campfire and this does not require a permit. Bill Hatch questioned if there are consequences for having a fire without a permit and Mr. Kilpeck stated there are citations that could be issued. Bill Hatch stated there was a weekend event where there was a bale of hay burning in a meadow and he did research the situation. Mr. Kilpeck noted in the event he is not available, the Fire Chief or Captain of the Fire Department will take care of issues that arise.

Bruce Brown stated he received an e-mail from Ethan Swift inviting the Select Board to meet with them next Monday night to discuss economic development. Mitch Pearl questioned if there had been any applications received for the economic development position and Keith Arlund stated there has been one formal response received since the ad and one that was unsolicited. Richard Baker stated since the Select Board is the one who asked to fill this requirement; they should come to the Select Board meeting, rather than the Board going to the Planning Commission. Kelly Patten thought the meeting was more to discuss economic development, the Downtown Development Corporation and what the Planning Commission can do to help maintain the downtown designation status. Ms. Patten stated if they want to do something to help the Downtown Development Corporation, they could meet with them to talk about it. Mitch Pearl felt it may be premature to attend the meeting prior to hiring a person for the economic development position.  Bruce Brown stated that someone should respond to Mr. Swift concerning this item.  

11. Possible Executive Session - Real Estate

There was no executive session held.

12 Adjournment

Motion by Bruce Brown/Kellie Patten to adjourn as the Select Board meeting at 7:55PM. The motion passed unanimously - 4 to zero. 

Respectfully submitted,

Charlene Bryant

Recording Secretary