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Wallingford Fire District No. 1 MINUTES OF THE The official copy of these minutes can be obtained at Wallingford Fire District #1 Office. The moderator Kurt Brown
called the meting to order at 7:05 p.m. Those
present were the Prudential Committee members:
Christopher Rabtoy, Christopher McPhee, John Shaw and Stephanie Biagini.
There were twenty-nine (29) Fire District Residents, along with ten (10)
visitors in attendance. The warning was read by
Moderator Kurt Brown. The legal voters of Fire
District No. 1, Wallingford, Vermont are hereby warned to meet at the
Wallingford Elementary School on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 7:00 pm. for the
Annual Fire District No. 1 meeting to act upon the following articles.
The polls will be open on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. to
7:00 p.m. at the WALLINGFORD TOWN HALL for
the purpose of voting. (Australian Ballot) Article
01. Will the District vote to
approve and authorize the Prudential Committee to expend the specific amounts of
monies to be appropriated for all necessary Water Fund expenses and apportioned
by the Prudential Committee for the several purposes provided as per the
proposed 2007 Budget contained in the Annual Fire District No. 1 Report.
(Australian Ballot) Chris Rabtoy made the
motion to open discussion on Article #1. Charlie
Baker seconded the motion. Kurt opened the floor for discussion.
Chris Rabtoy explained the
Annual Reports new format. The
format was recommended by the Certified Public Accountant.
The District needed to satisfy the USDA Loan for the water system.
Motion for adoption was accepted unanimously by show of hands. Article
02. Will the District vote to
approve and authorize the Prudential Committee to expend the specific amounts of
monies to be appropriated for all necessary Sewer Fund expenses and apportioned
by the Prudential Committee for the several purposes provided as per the
proposed 2007 Budget contained in the Annual Fire District No. 1 Report.
(Australian Ballot) Charlie Baker made the motion to open discussion on Article #2. Dennis Stocker seconded the motion. Kurt opened the floor for discussion. No discussion was made regarding article; Motion for adoption accepted unanimously by show of hands. Article
03. Will the District vote to
approve and authorize the Prudential Committee to expend the specific amounts of
monies to be appropriated for all necessary General Fund expenses and
apportioned by the Prudential Committee for the several purposes provided as per
the proposed 2007 Budget contained in the Annual Fire District No. 1 Report.
(Australian Ballot) Charlie Baker made the
motion to open discussion on Article #3. Dennis
Stocker seconded the motion. Kurt opened the floor for discussion.
Motion for adoption accepted unanimously by show of hands. Article
04. Will the District vote to
approve and authorize the Prudential Committee to expend the specific amounts of
monies to be appropriated for all necessary Fire Protection Fund expenses and
apportioned by the Prudential Committee for the several purposes provided as per
the proposed 2007 Budget contained in the Annual Fire District No. 1 Report.
(Australian Ballot) Charlie Baker made the
motion to open discussion on Article #1. Dennis
Stocker seconded the motion. Kurt opened the floor for discussion. Chris Rabtoy explained that
currently the Town collects the Districts Fire Protection Tax.
There had been a contract that had been signed by previous members in
2002. He said that he would like to
see the District take back the collections.
Currently the District is paid ˝ of the amount in the Districts current
budget year and the 2nd half next fiscal year.
This causes the Fire Protection Fund to run behind in budget. Rose Regula interjected and
asked how the District could collect when merging two fire districts? Chris Rabtoy said that he
has been in contact with the Vermont League of Cities and went before the Select
Board to discuss the possibilities of the District to collect their on their own
taxes. The process will not be easy,
since banks are involved with residents rolling their taxes into their mortgage
payments and placing them in escrow. Rose Regula asked what
about the Sidewalks? Mike Bird said
that easements, right-away had several requests to do the eastside.
Chris Rabtoy said that he
had attended all the meetings and didn’t see Rose Regula present at any of
them. He didn’t understand how
Rose could say that nothing was discussed regarding the sidewalks on the
eastside. If the budget allowed some
work would be done to the eastside of the street.
He said that currently we are under budget on the sidewalk project. Rose Regula asked if the
current bill represented the proposed budget.
Chris Rabtoy said yes. She
said that it was not legal to bill on a proposed budget.
Chris Rabtoy said that the District could bill up to 60 % of the budget.
Motion for adoption accepted unanimously by show of hands. Article
05. Will the District vote to have
all Fire District Taxes, Water Usage Billings, Water Bond Payments and Sewer
Rents payable to the Fire District Officer when due?
Payments must be in the hands of the Treasurer before the close of the
Fire District office on the due date. “Postmarked” dates will not be
accepted. Charlie Baker made the
motion to open discussion on Article #5, seconded by Mike Bird. Kurt opened the
floor for discussion. Motion
accepted unanimously by show of hands. Article
06. Will the District authorize the
Prudential Committee to borrow such monies as may be necessary to meet the
operation expenses of the District? Charlie Baker made the
motion to open discussion on Article #6. Mike
Bird seconded the motion. Kurt opened the floor for discussion.
No discussion was made regarding article; Motion for adoption was
accepted unanimously by show of hands. Article
07. Will the District authorize the
elimination the office of Fire District Auditors?
The Prudential Committee shall contract with a Certified Public
Accountant licensed in the State of Vermont to perform an annual reviewed
financial audit of all funds for the Fire District.
Vermont Statue Title 17: Elections, Chapter 55:
Local Elections 17 V.S.A § 2651b. Elimination of office of auditor:
appointment of public accountant (Australian Ballot) Charlie Baker made the motion to open discussion on Article #5. Mike Bird seconded the motion. Kurt opened the floor for discussion. Chris Rabtoy explained the
article. The USDA Water Bond is to
be completed by an outside auditor yearly. We
are proposing that we eliminate the three (3) internal auditors and hire a
Certified Public Accountant to conduct the entire audit for all funds.
Carol Austin asked how much that would cost.
Chris said that the cost was more than anticipated due to the labor
intensive work that was done to reach the current years figures.
Charlie Baker made the motion to Motion for adoption accepted unanimously
by show of hands. Article
08. Will the District vote to
approve the reports as submitted. Charlie Baker made the
motion to open discussion on Article #8. Dennis
Stocker seconded the motion. Kurt opened the floor for discussion.
No discussion was made regarding article; Motion for adoption accepted
unanimously by show of hands. Article
09.
To elect all Fire District
Officers required by law. Charlie Baker made the
motion to open discussion on Article #9. Dennis
Stocker seconded the motion. Kurt opened the floor for discussion.
The following officers were
nominated and elected as follows: Prudential Committee Member
John Shaw
3 Year Term Clerk
Stephanie Biagini 1
Year Term Treasurer
Stephanie Biagini 1
Year Term Moderator
Kurt Brown
1 Year Term Auditors
Melissa Boyd
1 Year Term
Dana Jarman-Jones 1 Year Term
Dennis Stocker
1 Year Term Collector of Delinquent
Taxes
Richard Smith
1 Year Term Fire Chief
Warren Allen
1 Year Term First Assistant Chief
Charlie Gauthier
1 Year Term Second Assistant Chief
Jeffrey Allen
1 Year Term Note: Due to Article #7 the
status of elected auditors may change. Article
10. To act on any legal and
necessary business. Captain Stephan Goulet and
Fire Chief Warren Allen stood before the audience to offer information the need
for a new fire truck. The new fire
truck would replace a current apparatus that is a 1982 Ford Tanker; there are
numerous issues with the vehicle. The
new truck would have the following The meeting is for the purpose of voting on
the purchase of a New 2007 Fire Truck. This
truck will replace our current 1983 Tanker that was originally used as a mail
truck. The truck was purchased used
approx. 20 years ago with 100,000 miles. The
new truck has the following features: 4
wheel drive, slap chains, 1,000 gallon tank, 1250 GPM pump (gallons per minute),
built in scene lights, front end suction. The
purchase price is $251,611. This
truck will be a great asset to our community, since our other vehicles are not
able to go through a lot of mud, ice and snow. Chris McPhee displayed a
PowerPoint presentation providing the Certified Public Accountants report of his
audit that he conducted for 2004, 2005 and 2006. Motion to continue the
Annual Meeting was made by Dennis Stocker to reconvene on March 28, 2007 at Town
Hall to voice a vote for the purchase of a new fire truck, seconded by Chris
Rabtoy at 8:42 p.m. Motion carried
(3-0). On March 28, 2007, Annual
Continuation Meeting@ 7:00 p.m., motion to adjourn the meeting was made by
Richard Smith, seconded by Charlie Baker, motion accepted by show of hands. Respectfully Submitted: Stephanie P. Biagini |
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