SelectBoard Minutes - August 5, 2008



SELECTBOARD MINUTES
AUGUST 5, 2008

Present: Vern Stone, Syd Veysey, Marc McKee, Dana Baltz
Guests: Rob Benson, Bob Hodge, Rita French, Sebastian Lousada, John Zimmer, Neil
Neil Hochstetdler, Debra Kingsbury

The meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m.
Debra Kingsbury reported that she has spoken with several people who verified that a model for a bridge across the brook at the Town Office did exist along with a plan. She feels she�s getting somewhere in learning more about this former project. She also read a letter Bill Baylis sent to the Selectboard dated 8/5/08 asking that:
1. A copy of the letter the Army Corps of Engineers sent to the town of Vershire
their concerns about work on the river bank be sent to Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC).
2. This issue (work on the river bank) is out of TRORC�s jurisdiction because a
wetland is not being disturbed.
3. Bob spoke with Peter Gregory at TRORC and Mr. Gregory will get back in
Contact with Bill to advise about how to proceed.
Bill�s letter is on file in the secretary�s office.

Rob Benson gave a financial report on the new Vershire Fire and Rescue (VF&R) building.
1. The original loan was for $240,000.
2. The old fire station was sold, allowing the fire dept to:
a. pay down the original loan to $200,000.
b. pay off a short term loan for $9,000 to renovate the apartment over the fire
station.
c. pay off what was owed on a fire truck.
3. The original loan has been reamortized now and is a commercial loan. The
4. new interest rate is 3.57%, will cost $1,089.57/mo, is a 22 yr. mortgage and has a 3 yr. adjustable rate.
Rob needed Vern to sign the Change in Terms Agreement which will also be signed by the fire dept. Debra Kingsbury said the apt area of the fire station qualified to be taxed.
Copies of the signed agreement were made for the Selectboard and Town Clerk.

When asked, Bob Hodge reported that the town was paying $4.17/gal for diesel the last he knew.

The letter to be sent to Trevor Starr of District 4, Agency of Transportation, was reviewed by the Selectboard, signed by Vern Stone and mailed.

The bids for hauling sand were reviewed. J. L. Smith won the bid, but Vern asked Bob to contact him to make sure the stone was no more than ��.

The bids for paving s. Vershire Rd. were reviewed and Blak Top won the bid. Marc brought up the general benefits of paving vs. not paving the town roads. He wondered if this issue should be brought before the town for discussion/vote. No decision was made about this.

The Selectboard reviewed the propane and oil pre buy bids from Perry�s and K. S. G. Mechanical LLC. One bidder offered a 3 yr. contract and Vern said the town wasn�t allowed to sign multi-year contracts.

The Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) is seeking to establish purchasing agreements with one or more companies that can provide salt for winter road maintenance. Vershire would be able to purchase its road salt through this agreement. Bob will contact the VLCT about their price and to see if Vershire can still take advantage of this opportunity as the deadline to let them know was 7/25/08.

The State of VT Dept of Public Safety VT Emergency Management sent a request for information about any damage caused to public or private infrastructure during the storms between 7/18 � 7/25/08. If enough damage occurred, the state could qualify for FEMA assistance. Vershire didn�t have any major damage, so won�t respond to the request.

Bob said he needed to talk with the Selectboard about money to accomplish work that needs to be done.

Marc will put an article in the newsletter about building a shed onto the town garage to house road equipment. He wondered if doing this work on the garage is something the town should decide. Vern asked how much money it would cost. It was decided to put the plan in the newsletter and see how the town responded to it.

Marc reported that we paid less for recycling last time, but we still paid. It was hoped the town could make money by recycling. Marc will call to have the recycling dumpsters picked up.

John Zimmer suggested having 2 � 3 people share the recycling coordinator job so it wasn�t such a big time commitment. One ramp has wheels, the other doesn�t. Syd suggested the recycling coordinator assist recyclers with their recycling as necessary for safety.

Sebastian asked when the class 4 roads are going to be graded.

John reported on work at the Town Center. 2 bids have been received for the work on the windows. Only 1 bid has been received for the carpentry work so far. Marc asked how much money is budgeted for the window work � John said $10,000. This originally included the sash work, but the project has grown as more investigation is done. The original plan didn�t include the window weights and pulleys in the windows, but this work is needed. This and weather-stripping has increased the cost by $2500. Vern said a cavity that holds the weights had been opened and it was clean and empty. John thinks a weight and insulation would fit in the cavity. But removing the interior and exterior casing will be prohibitive financially. Sebastian said the insulation could be done at a later date. John said the storm windows will be done later. He said the committee has realized they could do some of the work themselves to save money. Marc asked again why the town was doing all this work if future grant money wasn�t a sure thing. Rita responded that grant money is available and John said an elevator needs to be in the historical building and a grant will be needed to install it. He also pointed out that eventually the Town Center will need siding and cupola work, which will need grant money. Marc reiterated that we are assuming we will actually get grant money to do these things. John said the windows are too heavy to operate without weights and the windows will have to be operable to put in the storm windows. Rita said the town wants the old windows. It doesn�t want the building changed too much. Sebastian added that we don�t want the building to be perfect or it would lose its character. John pointed out that Marvin commercial windows would cost $3 � 5,000/window. The committee is interested in energy savings and he feels we are compromising very little by doing the repairs to the old windows instead of buying new ones. He said the committee members can remove some insulation themselves. Rita suggested a �Buy a Window� campaign to raise money for the repairs. Marc noted that it is going to cost money to keep the building open. Vern moved to accept Dave Richard�s bid to do the window work. Marc and Syd seconded it. It was decided to have the work done on one window and see how much it costs and how well it goes and then decide on further work. John said the committee is committed to stick with the project until it�s finished.

Marc noted that the Town Center had been cleaned up very well after the summer camp.

Neil reported that the current boiler in the Town Center can�t use an outdoor temperature sensor and that it would take a lot of work to retrofit it. The boiler company would want Vershire to send the boiler to them to do the work, the company couldn�t do the work until Oct �08 and it would cost as much to do all this as it would to buy a new boiler. The heat in the historical society area can�t go up and down, but the heat in the main hall can.

Vern moved to accept the minutes of the last 2 Selectboard meetings. Syd and Marc seconded.

Syd moved to sign the orders. Marc seconded.

Vern moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 p.m. Syd seconded.