Select Board Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm
Roll Call – Andrew Pinard (Chair), Marlene Freyler, Mel Pfeifle and Karen Hambleton, Town Administrator, were in attendance.
Andrew wished Police Chief Valiquet well in his next endeavors.
The Board reviewed the minutes of the December 27 meeting. Andrew noted that the full Select Board had participated in joint meetings with the Budget Committee on December 16, 2021 and January 6, 2022.
Motion: Marlene Freyler motioned to accept the minutes.
Second: Mel Pfeifle
Decision: 3-0
Appearances:
Steve Hall – Highway Department – Steve said he has worked with the insurance company and the Town will receive $23,978 for the truck that was totaled. He advised the Board that the truck he has been looking at in Vermont will cost $60,000 if we pay for it upfront. It will include the truck, a sander, wing, fixing the windshield and the required inspection. Thus, the balance needing to be funded will be $36,022. Karen said that she spoke with the auditor and there are two options to do this. It can be purchased using Steve’s 2022 operating budget, or it can be funded through a warrant article at Town Meeting. Andrew thinks they include it in the operating budget. Going this route will save $8,750. (Previously we were quoted a total of $68,750 paying $20,000 now and $48,750 by November 1, 2022.)
There was a discussion about writing a warrant article to change the purpose of the 2015 Town Equipment Repair Expendable Trust Fund to read “for purchase or major repair of new or used equipment”. A separate warrant article will ask for $32,000 for a new dump body.
Motion: Marlene Freyler motioned to approve the purchase of a 10-wheel dump truck from ATG Of Westminster in Westminster VT in the amount of $60,000.
Second: Mel Pfeifle
Decision: 3-0
By consensus, the Select Board asked Steve to start to keep track of the hours his department spends on repairs. Steve will put something together.
Public Input:
None
Regular and Old Business
- The Accounts Payable and Payroll Manifest were reviewed and signed.
- Covid Protocol Update – The numbers and hospitalizations are very high. Karen asked about the congregate meals for the Senior Center. Marlene and Mel both think everything is fine to keep the way it is. By consensus, the Board decided to not make any changes at this time.
- Vehicle Maintenance – Discussed with Steve Hall during Appearances. Andrew said it would be great if the departments could unite and keep track of all maintenance across the Town departments. Karen will reach out to other towns to see if there is any maintenance software that others use for this purpose.
- Funding of Fire Department Gear – Karen spoke to the auditor and adjustments can be made so it will come out of fiscal year 2021. Andrew reported that there were about 40 questions for the upcoming Fire Chief interviews.
New Business:
- Budget Expenses – Andrew reported the amount remaining to date for each category.
- Warrant Articles – $1,566,203 is the bottom-line number given by CIP but gets adjusted by $740,000 for some of the items that get funded by the trust funds. Andrew went over the CIP numbers for each department. By consensus, the Board suggests the following:
- reducing the amount to be put into the 2003 Fire Department Repair fund from $5000 to $2000 contingent upon the painting article passing;
- repurposing the 2015 Town Equipment Repair Expendable Trust Fund to include purchase of new or used equipment (as discussed in Appearances), and to increase the funding from $10,000 to $45,000 contingent upon the passage of the dump body article;
- removing the $1000 for the 2009 Salt and Fuel Expendable Trust;
- Additionally, the Board would like more information from Steve regarding the purchase of the chipper.
- New Fire Chief Expectations – The members of the fire department will come up with a list and it will be mentioned at the fire chief interviews.
- Sign Personnel Action Form – Signed.
- Masonic Hall – There was discussion about what should be done with the Masonic Building. Marlene does not want to put money into this building and would like to find out how much it would cost to bring the building up to code. Mel wants to ask the townspeople what they would like to do. Andrew suggested getting some accurate numbers to see what would need to bring the building up to code.
Upcoming Meetings:
- January 13, 2022 – Fire Chief Interviews
- January 13, 2022 – with Budget Committee
- January 24, 2022
Motion: Marlene Freyler motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:02 p.m.
Second: Mel Pfeifle
Vote: 3-0 in favor
Minutes submitted by Donna Long, Recording Secretary.