SelectBoard Minutes - May 13, 2008



Selectboard Meeting Minutes
May 13, 2008

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.
Present: Marc McKee, Sydney Veysey
Bob Hodge, Naomi LaBarr
Guests: Rita Seto (Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission), Bev Hill, Debra Kingsbury, Doug Shane, Deborah Delmore, Julie Furno, Mike Furno, Bill Baylis, Mary Martin, Neil Hochstedler, Markus Bradley

Rita Seto presented an excel spreadsheet developed by Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission to keep electronic timesheets to show accountability of what the highway department worked on. The capabilities of the spreadsheet, the disadvantages of the spreadsheet, time and personnel requirements, and the programming the town currently uses were discussed. Naomi will contact Rita for the program to give it a trial run.

Bev stated the new cost of renting the Town Center is too high and most people do not have a credit card to purchase the insurance. Marc explained the reasoning behind the cost increases. Credit cards and fees were discussed.

Bev asked for ideas for Vershire Day and reported that Nate Pero (American Legion) will be organizing the parade. The Selectboard approved the contract for the band to play in the parade plus a � hour after the parade. Auctions, events to draw people, and fundraising were discussed. Debra will check with Chuck Eaton about an auction on Vershire Day.

Markus reviewed the ancient roads timetable and submitted a DeBeers map copy overlaid with the town roads. Pros and cons of keeping and/or throwing up ancient roads were discussed. It was reported that Gary Goodrich was willing to do research needed for the ancient roads. The Conservation Commission and Selectboard will work to define the current uses of each right-of-way, review legitimate uses of the right-of-ways and then discuss which roads should be kept.

Cleaning and mowing at the Town Center were discussed. Julie does not want the cleaning job anymore but will help out until the Selectboard finds someone else to do it. Mike will continue with the mowing this year and maintain the town's riding mower. Mike will get a lock for the storage shed.

Doug reported on the following:
a.. The informal survey taken on the last recycling day was split: 20 in favor of keeping the recycling at the Town Center, 20 in favor of moving it to the fire station. The recycling will be kept at the Town Center for now. b.. The ramps that Michael Crowley volunteered to build are under construction. c.. Recycling will be held twice per month again beginning in June on the first and third Saturdays of the month. The recycling normally scheduled for Vershire Day will be postponed one week until the following Saturday. d.. NE Waste was contacted that the town has switched vendors for the recycling program.
Doug and Deborah reported that they are looking into starting a farmer's market in Vershire. They are meeting with VerShare about sponsoring the program, and asked the Selectboard if it was possible to use the green at the Town Center. Weather, use of the inside of the building, frequency of the farmer's market, vendors, products and insurance were discussed. Doug and Deb will report back to the Selectboard.

Reporting for the Town Center Committee, Neil reviewed the committee's progress. The committee is writing the specifications for various jobs. The committee will report back in the next few weeks.

Bob reported that the backhoe is in need of repair. The Selectboard approved the work.

Naomi reported that funds are very low and the town will need to borrow money in anticipation of tax receipts within the next few weeks if receipts do not come in. Collecting taxes twice per year and financing were discussed.

The Selectboard and Naomi will work on getting bids for the propane needed at the Town Center and Town Garage.

The Selectboard thanked Vershire Fire & Rescue for hosing the sand off the office parking lot.

Debra Kingsbury thanked Marc and Doug for keeping recycling in the town newsletter.

Naomi reported that the fees the town pays to the solid waste district per ton for household waste are going up, and that the Green Up Day collections totaled 1.35 tons of roadside trash. The Selectboard thanked all the Green Up volunteers and the road crew for assisting with Green Up and the special collections.

The permit application from WEC for work in the town right-of-way on Durgin Hill Road was approved.

Syd made a motion to sign the orders and approve the minutes from April 29th. Marc seconded the motion. All were in favor.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:17 p.m.