Selectboard Minutes - December 9, 2008



SELECTBOARD MEETING
DECEMBER 9, 2008

Present: Vern Stone, Marc McKee, John LaPierre, Dana Baltz
Guests: Bob Hodge, Naomi LaBarr, Randall Northrop (auditor), Nicole Bartlett (auditor),
Bob Eastman, Gary Thrasher, Steve Ward, Debra Kingsbury, Bill Baylis, Neil
Hochstedler.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.
Randall Northrop, the auditor (with Nicole Bartlett), gave his report on the 2nd annual audit of Vershire's books. He made the following points:

- Vershire is not following government standards in its bookkeeping.
- Each fund needs to be a separate account with individual trial balances
- documents are needed when borrowing from one account and giving to
another
- revenues-levy taxes - recognize immediately
- GASB - out in 1999 - Entails a lot of work. Some towns choose not to use
this. The auditor can help Vershire with the conversion.
- The new software would cost:
general ledger $1800
accounts payable $1800
accounts receivable $1800
payroll $1800
- need more oversight
- the town report is not transparent
- Vershire needs to upgrade its system.
- Must authorize transfers between funds on a warrant

Vern asked what it will take to upgrade the system. Randall responded Naomi should be able to do it and it will take 2-3 yrs because there are quite a few things which need to be figured out e.g. how many miles of road the town has, the cost of the town buildings, how many cemeteries and monuments are in town. Randall said it can be done with Quick Books by making a separate company for each fund. Vern asked why the auditor didn't tell the town this last year and Randall responded that he had. Naomi felt that the important thing was how much money the town has and is it being spent correctly.

Randall said that if we kept things the same, that he wouldn't do an audit for us next year. He also said that the town could expect to pay between $8,000 - $13,000 to hire another auditor if we don't make the necessary changes. The auditor said the town could produce its own auditor(s). Vern asked if anyone could help Naomi and Randall said he has helped Town Treasurers before. She feels the town won't understand the report if it's done differently, pointing out that Rivendell's annual report is hard to understand. Marc asked Naomi if she was comfortable with the changes. Naomi said she didn't want to spend the money on new software, but knew the changes needed to be made. Marc said the auditor would be the best person to oversee the upgrading of the system and the auditor said he is available to answer questions and maybe make some visits. He charges $120/hr and his time starts when he leaves his home in St. Johnsbury. He said it would take 2-3 days to get Quick Books set up for fund accounting. Vern asked if this was the least expensive way to go and Randall said he thought so.

Randall said he needed to charge an additional $3,000 above the $4,700 quote that he gave the town. Randall said that the total of $7,700 was considerably below his time expenditure. Marc asked what needed to be done at this point. The auditor said he needs the approval sheets signed. Naomi asked if she could wait to sign so she could read it more closely. Randall said all the paperwork needs to be signed at once by the Selectboard and the Clerk. Naomi will call Randall when she is ready to sign. The Selectboard will meet before the next scheduled meeting in 2 weeks to sign the papers.

The next topic was policies for renting out the Town Center. Naomi said people call her about the things they need and she doesn't know what to do. E.g. who will hand out the key, who inspects the building before and after it's used. Marc said he would call Julie Furno. No policies were made at the meeting as there were too many people present with other requests/reports to make.

Gary Thrasher, of Thrasher Construction, was present to get his Municipal Impact Questionnaire signed. Vern signed it.

Neil Hochstedler reported on progress at the Town Center:
- the cellulose insulation has been done and was done well
- the window sills will be foamed Thur 12/10 or the Mon 12/15/08
- a deposit has been made for the new door on the parking lot side of the building.
- The storm windows should be shipped Wed 12/9 or Thur 12/10. Dave Muscavita can install them when they arrive.

Marc stated that the Town Center Committee was very organized and much appreciated and he thanked the committee for all of their hard work.

Bob Hodge said the taping had been done in the boiler room of the Town Center.

Marc reported that recycling revenues have dropped significantly.

Bob Hodge reported that the packer truck is not crisscrossing Rt 113 anymore, but this makes it very dangerous for the people picking up the garbage as they have to cross the street. Syd Veysey sent the Selectboard a proposal for trash pick up which Marc read:
- Have trash pick up on Sat at the Town Center
o this would be safer for everyone
o this would decrease mileage on the packer truck
o this would decrease fuel costs of the packer truck

An article could be voted on at the Town Meeting, but Vern pointed out something needs to be done now due to safety concerns. It was decided all garbage bags need to be put on the right side of the road and a written notice of this needs to be sent out next week. Since Syd had written the proposal and picked up the garbage, it was decided he should write up the notice. Bob Hodge will speak to Syd about this. Some people in town have to drive quite a distance to drop their garbage off at designated points: Bill Baylis drives 6 miles round trip. It was pointed out that people get paid in Chelsea for picking up trash and recycling and bringing it to the garbage truck in town.

Bob Hodge reported that the pagers were supposed to have arrived today, but hadn't.

Vern asked Bob Hodge how the sand situation was and Bob said it was OK. Vern noted that the cost of salt is very high. The town is going to have to cut back. Marc said to use salt sparsely on straight-a-ways. Bob said he salts the bus route well, but will cut back where he can. He said the town is not going to plow and sand Barstow Rd and Moody Hill Rd as no one lives there in the winter. The landowners need to be notified. Marc will call the town lawyer and find out what is the proper approach to not plowing a Class 3 road where no one is living.

Vern brought up the increase in his health insurance through work with Cigna and asked Naomi if the town's premium had increased as it is also with Cigna. There was a discussion about the Vermont League of Cities and Towns' (VLCT) notification of new rates which had been sent out to all member towns. This information wasn't available at the meeting, but the Selectboard will get a copy of it so it can make a decision about which plan to offer to the Vershire employees. Marc will call the contact person at VLCT to get the information.

Marc wondered if the townspeople would support an increase of $.25/bag to raise funds for a new town vehicle facility.

The Zeilinger property was brought up because of the animals there. Vern said the animals appear to be gone. He said he would ask Karen Strassburger what action she is taking or has taken.

Marc moved to approve the 11/25/08 minutes as amended. Vern seconded. All were in favor.

Marc moved to sign the orders and Vern seconded. All were in favor.

Vern moved to adjourn at 9:20 p.m. and Marc seconded. All were in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 9:20p.m.