Brandon Select Board Meeting

December 28, 2009

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

In Attendance: Richard Baker, Kellie Martin, Mitch Pearl, Bill Hatch, Devon Fuller

Also in Attendance: Keith Arlund, Tom Schmelzenbach, Wayne Rausenberger, Jim Leary, Maurice Racine

1.  Call to order  

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

a) Agenda Adoption

Motion by Mitch Pearl/Richard Baker to adopt the agenda with the following changes.

Mitch Pearl noted there is a difference in the amount of the second warrant to $25,488.80. Richard Baker suggested deferring the approval of the December 14^th minutes to the next meeting.  

The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero. 

2.  Consent Agenda (Deferred to next meeting)

a) Minutes - Select Board and Board of Liquor Commissioners Minutes of December 14, 2009

3.  Fiscal

a) Warrant - December 18, 2009 - $921.37

b)  Warrant - December 28, 2009 - $25,488.80

Motion by Richard Baker/Mitch Pearl to approve the December 18^th  warrant in the amount of $921.37. The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.  

Motion by Mitch Pearl/Richard Baker to approve the December 28^th  warrant in the amount of $25,488.80. The motion passed unanimously - 3 to zero.

4.  Education Update

Jim Leary stated at the first meeting of the Neshobe School Board in January, the Board will be going over the budget figures and adopt the final budget.

5. Town Manager-s Report

Keith Arlund stated the Public Service Board held a site visit on December 17^th concerning the Emerson application. Interested parties expressed their concerns and were asked to submit their information to the Public Service Board.

Keith Arlund provided the Board with an updated draft of the FY2011 general fund budget.  He noted an error on Page 10 of the former draft indicating there had been a transposition of a number in the Solid Waste section. Mr. Arlund stated he also provided some optional items to consider under the Department of Public Works. Mr. Arlund recommended scheduling another budget workshop next week.  

Mr. Arlund advised the Board he will be on vacation from January 15^th through the 22^nd and would like to have the budget completed prior to this time.

Mitch Pearl questioned if there are differences between the December 24^th draft and the current draft. Mr. Arlund noted there are some minor adjustments that had been made, along with the correction to the Solid Waste section.  

6.  Public Works

Tom Schmelzenbach stated he does not have specific items to discuss, however, Keith Arlund and he are working on a number of items. He noted he is available for any questions the board members may have. Keith Arlund noted Mr. Schmelzenbach will attend the next budget workshop. Richard Baker stated there has been some discussion with Senator Sanders staff regarding the cost of reconstructing Bridge 114 in town and it is hoped this can be an allocation in the Transportation Allocation bill. Tom Schmelzenbach reported he has spent time preparing information for the Estabrook trail, which is complete for the purpose of the grant application.

7.  Committee Reports/Announcements

Richard Baker stated the Rutland Regional Transportation Council will be holding its next meeting on January 28^th at 7:00PM at the Rutland Regional Medical Center. He noted they have tried to use the Regional Planning Commission's conference room, however, that has not worked well and they have moved the meetings back to the Leahy Conference Center.

Richard Baker noted Hawk Hill Management is becoming reinvigorated and more information will be forthcoming on this subject.

Devon Fuller stated the adhoc economic development meeting will be held next week. He advised all of the people have been contacted who had expressed interest in participating. Mr. Fuller stated they are giving people until the first of the year to express interest in attending the meeting. Bill Hatch stated he hoped that there would be elections of officers at the first meeting and he suggested one of the first things to tackle would be a mission statement to be sure that everyone is on the same page. The work plan or business plan would likely take some time to develop. Devon Fuller stated the first thing will be to elect officers and catalog all information that we have. His understanding was the Select Board would step away from this effort, therefore, if the elected body wants to move on something else first, he did not feel it appropriate to dictate what the committee will be doing. Bill Hatch stated he would hope the officers would set an agenda. Devon Fuller reiterated he did not want to dictate what the committee will be doing, but he is willing to be the Select Board's liaison with the committee and will be glad to serve as an officer if asked.  

8.  Old/Other Business

Kellie Martin questioned if the budget is being discussed this evening. Bill Hatch stated it was suggested to have another budget workshop next week where a lot of the items can be clarified.  A decision was made to schedule the budget workshop for Monday, January 4^th at 7PM at the town office. 

Richard Baker stated at the last meeting there was a discussion regarding the contract with Rutland County Waste District and Mr. Baker questioned if there was additional information on this subject. Keith Arlund stated he has spoken with Jim O'Gorman, but he is not sure if they will be putting this item out to bid, as he had suggested.  He feels they will likely extend the Casella contract. 

Keith Arlund stated the Select Board's first meeting in January would normally be the 11^th, but this is the Fire District's annual meeting and it is held at the fire station.  It was the consensus of the board to hold its first meeting on Wednesday, January 13^th at the fire station.

Keith Arlund recently spoke with Tina Wiles and June Kelly concerning the estimate they received from the corrections work crew to redo the roof on the pavilion at Estabrook Park. Mr. Arlund stated the labor cost is $3,800.00 with the town supplying the materials, however, he has not completed the estimate for materials. Mr. Arlund assumes there will be some decking repair required.  He will be bringing the total estimate for this item to the budget workshop. Mr. Arlund reported Tom Schmelzenbach completed the plans for the trail project at Estabrook Park and provided them to the Recreation Advisory Committee for submission with the grant application.

Richard Baker stated though the budget is not going to be discussed until the workshop, he noted it is a bare bones budget and there are few items that can be changed. 

9.  Citizen's Public Forum

Wayne Rausenberger would like clarification from either Keith Arlund or Tom Schmelzenbach on the tree issue he spoke to them about. He stated there is a tree that the top part has blown down and there is a 15-foot section that is pointing downward like a spear. He thinks it is in the town's right of way and he would like to see it removed. Keith Arlund asked Tom Schmelzenbach to confirm that it was in the town's right of way and whether it interfered with electrical wires. Mr. Arlund stated it is in the town's right of way and steps will be taken to have it removed. 

10.  Possible Executive Session

There was no executive session required.

11. Adjournment

Motion by Kellie Martin/Mitch Pearl to adjourn the Select Board meeting at 7:27PM. The motion passed unanimously - 4 to zero. 

Respectfully submitted,

Charlene Bryant

Recording Secretary