Selectboard Meeting Minutes

TOWN of SHELBURNE SELECTBOARD
Minutes of Budget Meeting
January 4, 2005

MEMBERS PRESENT: Steve Dates, Chair; Jim Dudley, Lisa Levine, Chris Neme

ADMINISTRATION PRESENT: Paul Bohne, Peter Frankenburg, Colleen Haag, Paul Goodrich

OTHERS PRESENT: Chris Boyd, Dick Reid and Derrick Senior

1. CALL TO ORDER Mr. Dates, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M.,

2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Item 4a., Errors and Omissions, and item 4b., Minutes of December 21, 2004, were added.

3. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Mr. Reid addressed the Board regarding preparation for the eventual Public Service Board decision. Mr. Reid felt the Board should decide at its next meeting how Shelburne would respond to the decision in any permutation. Mr. Reid offered to brief the Board as to his findings of what will occur after the decision. Mr. Dates thanked Mr. Reid for his presentation but indicated that with the current work load, the Board will likely wait until after the decision and meet with the Town Attorney to help decide how the Town will be involved. Mr. Talley provided an aerial photo of the Bishop Road/Spear Street intersection and expressed concern about the location of a proposed stop sign on Spear Street. Mr. Talley felt that both he and the residents who live on Kelady Drive would have great difficulty accessing Spear Street if a stop sign was placed between Kelady Drive and Bishop Road. After some discussion, Mr. Dates thanked Mr. Talley for presenting his information. Mr. Bohne stated that staff will review this situation carefully prior to bringing the issue to the Board for a formal proposal.

4. REQUEST FOR RELIEF FROM PROPERTY TAX PENALTY The Board discussed the level of the circumstance that Mr. Tousignant stated had caused him to pay his taxes after the due date. MOTION by Mr. Dudley, seconded by Mr. Neme, to grant relief to Guy Tousignant and Christine Murray for penalty in the amount of $222.15 for delinquent taxes. Vote unanimous (4 in favor; 0 opposed). MOTION CARRIED.

4a. ERRORS AND OMISSIONS Mr. Bohne presented a request from Spencer Potter, Assessor, to approve an adjustment to the Grand List due to an error or omission. A property owned by Homer and Marie Dubois had been recorded as having 4.3 acres of land. The Dubois presented a survey which established that the land was 2.4 acres in size. The requested change is from a value of $164,300 to $150,000. MOTION by Ms. Levine, seconded by Mr. Neme, to approve an adjustment to the Grand List by reducing the value of a property owned by Homer and Marie Dubois from $164,300 to $150,000 due to an error. Vote unanimous (4 in favor; 0 opposed). MOTION CARRIED.

4b. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF DECEMBER 21, 2004 MOTION by Mr. Neme, seconded by Ms. Levine to approve the minutes of the meeting of December 21, 2004. Vote unanimous (4 in favor; 0 opposed). MOTION CARRIED.

5. BUDGET DISCUSSION Ms. Haag presented a proposal to automate the index cards for the land records and a project to digitize minutes of past Selectboard meetings and the minutes of other Boards and Commissions. Extensive discussion ensued in which Ms. Haag informed the Board of the involvement of the clerks in getting the Legislature to fund a pilot project involving six towns. A report is due in February from the committee overseeing the project. She also spoke of how most states and counties across the nation have digitized land records. The Board realized the value of digitizing the records, but realized that fees now being generated from those accessing the land records would be reduced. In addition to a considerable expense (up to $200,000), the revenue would not be sufficient to offset the expense. It was felt that attorneys and title companies make the most use of the records and should somehow help pay for the digitization. Ms. Haag hoped that the Legislature would deal with the issue this session or next. Mr. Goodrich then joined the Board to discuss retreatment of roads. He informed the Board that with 62 miles of road to maintain, the retreatment budget was not adequate and that the Town was losing ground. Mr. Bohne agreed with Mr. Goodrich that intuitively and experiencially he was right. However, the software package being developed by the CCRPC that contains a pavement management module had been delayed and would not be ready until February. Mr. Bohne would support a modest increase of $25,000 per year in conjunction with a $60,000 pavement grant. A discussion of the merits of adding to the budget ensued, with general agreement to consider adding $25,000 to the retreatment budget. The Board discussed whether or not the 4+ miles of new sidewalk being constructed along Route 7 would receive winter maintenance. If it was not maintained, the Board discussed the need to purchase a new sidewalk plow or add a new employee to the Highway Department. Mr. Goodrich stated that under those circumstances he could possibly put off buying the machine, but he needed the employee to be at full staff for safety reasons and to more efficiently carry out winter maintenance and summer work. Discussion then ensued as to the advisability of hiring a new employee without the oversight of a Public Works Director. Points were made about cross training and the flexibility of people and equipment not being optimized without a director. Mr. Boyd felt that manpower and equipment could be better utilized to do Town work now contracted and at a savings to the residents. Mr. Dates proposed a full time temporary (1 year) employee to give the Town the ability to downsize if necessary. Concern was expressed by Mr. Goodrich and Mr. Bohne on finding qualified candidates under these circumstances. Mr. Bohne then outlined the status of planning for a new sand/salt building. He stated that there will be a full presentation at a future budget meeting. Mr. Dates then gave an overview of next steps including a review of all line items at the Tuesday, January 11 meeting, and the major outstanding issues including merit pay, information technology, sand/salt shed, new employees, reappraisal, legal fees and antenna revenue.

6. ADJOURN MOTION by Mr. Dudley, seconded by Mr. Neme, to adjourn the meeting. Vote unanimous (4 in favor; 0 opposed). MOTION CARRIED. The Board adjourned at 10:45 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted, Paul W. Bohne III
Approved, Stephen B. Dates Chairman