Wallingford Selectboard Minutes

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The official copy of these minutes can be obtained at Wallingford Town Hall.

December 21, 2009

Present: Bill Brooks, Charlie Angel, Frank Bruce, Joshua Gilman, Joan Crowley, and Julie Sharon  

Visitors: Charlie Woods, Joyce Barbieri, Tom Phillips, and Sandi Switzer  

Chair B. Brooks called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.    

Minutes.  F. Bruce made a motion to approve the minutes dated December 7, 2009. The motion was seconded by C. Angel.  Motion carried (4-0).  J. Crowley abstained.  

Selectboard Orders.  Nelson Tift’s monthly stipend of $247.50 was added to the pay orders.  F. Bruce made a motion to approve the pay orders totaling $20,049.44.  J. Crowley seconded the motion.  Motion carried (5-0).     

Cancellation of Notice of Violation.  Julie reported that the Notice of Violation was not mailed to Mr. and Mrs. Generess after all.  She had the Sheriff double check one vehicle, and although the vehicle does not have a current inspection sticker, it has a valid registration.  The Town’s ordinance only requires proof of a valid registration.  

FY11 Proposed Highway Budget.  Road Commissioner Frank Bruce, Charlie Woods and John Squier met earlier today to discuss the proposed budget.   

All expenses should remain the same except for: 5303-Loader will decrease $500 to $500; 5308-Backhoe will decrease $500 to $500; 5318-Winter Sand reduced $2,000 to $28,000; 5319-Winter Salt increased $6,000 to $24,000; 5320-Chloride up $200 to $700; 5323-Gravel will increase $3,000 to $27,000; 5325-Paving will go from zero to $20,000 for paving at least Pembroke Lane to correct the deficiency cited by VLCT regarding the manhole covers; 5331-2006 Sterling Truck will increase $500 to $1,500; 5332B-Special Projects will increase $2,000 to $4,000; 5331A-2008 Ford Truck loan payment will drop $2,635 to   $17,200 and 5334B-2008 Ford Truck Maintenance will decrease $1,400 (which was to purchase the extended warranty) to $500.  

There was discussion about someday paving portions of Route 140W from Mooney Road easterly and the need to advocate to VTrans to pave portions of Route 140E.  VTrans declined the Town’s grant request to repave portions of Route 140W last year.   

Last February, VLCT cited several items that require attention at the Town Garage.  Those items noted for special attention were additional electrical work and an approved second exit on the west end.  Joyce recommended preparing a long range plan for the garage to identify the capital improvements needed, including insulation, new bathroom fixtures, and conducting an energy audit.  Minimal improvements have been made to the garage over the years.  She discussed options for financing the improvements in order to stabilize the debt.  Quotes will also be obtained for new garage doors (one with a pass-thru door), garage door openers, and lowering the ceiling for energy efficiency at the recommendation of Ken Welch.  Some of these improvements could be paid out of this year’s $2,000 budget.  The Selectboard tentatively budgeted $4,000 for these items for account #5332B – special projects.

C. Angel asked if the Town could help at all with the storm drain along Maple Street below Cumberland Farms that allegedly causes water to overflow onto the adjacent property.  This issue was discussed previously by the Selectboard in the spring and summer of 2008.  After more discussion, the Selectboard concurred that it did not pose any problems.  

FY11 Recreation Questions.  J. Gilman reviewed a letter he proposed sending to the Recreation Committee.  The letter outlines the partial recreation budget proposed by the Recreation Committee, future communication procedures, the creation of a document for the recreation program and Elfin Lake Beach operations, as well as a proposed mission statement for the Recreation Committee’s review and approval.  

The Selectboard discussed the partial budget that was worked on at the last meeting.  $500 was entered into travel cost for field trips since it presumably may be offset with partial donations.   

J. Gilman discussed the master plan for the “pit” and Elfin Lake that was recently prepared by the Recreation Development Committee and handed out a sketch of the proposed properties.  They would like to work on a number of these tasks and proposed a $10,000 budget.  This rough estimate would be used as follows until the money was gone: 1. Required match for trails grant (20% of maximum $20,000); 2. Construction of trails from park-to-bridge and bridge-to-beach; 3. Meadow and Wet area work; 4. Picnic Knoll; 5. Birding Area trail; and 6. Parking Lot.  J. Gilman made a motion to budget $10,000 for the above items; motion seconded by B. Brooks.  

Tom Phillips believes that the above plan will invite people into the “pit”, and there is still a safety issue that needs to be addressed on the north face of the Town’s property.  Opinions were voiced as to what actually needs to be done by the Town for reclamation, i.e. 2:1 slope.  J. Gilman envisions flattening the slope as much as possible once the whole “pit” is cleaned up, by vegetating the slope with very aggressive vegetation that would take to a root structure quickly.  He believes this would be sufficient to stabilize the slope safely and in addition, all the other materials would act as a buttress on the bottom.  J. Gilman agreed with Mr. Phillips’ that an engineer would need to provide a design utilizing all the material in the pit.  Mr. Phillips stated that he would like to take his property down more and give the material to the Town.  Mr. Phillips recommended getting his engineer, the Whitmores and someone from the Agency of Natural Resources together for a discussion. Mr. Phillips did not agree with J. Gilman’s suggested plan for the slope.  Following further discussion, B. Brooks volunteered to contact Mr. Phillips' engineer.  Joyce recommended that the $10,000 request be put as an article in the town warning.  J. Gilman made a motion to withdraw his earlier motion; B. Brooks seconded it.  Motion carried (5-0).  

The Selectboard made one change and approved the letter addressed to the Recreation Committee, on a motion made by J. Gilman and seconded by C. Angel.  Motion carried (5-0).   

VTrans Report On Elm Street Ext. Bridge.  The Selectboard reviewed a new federally mandated report prepared by VTrans called “Scour Plan of Action” (POAs) for the Elm Street Ext. Bridge dated 11/30/09.  The purpose of this report is to document responsibilities, recommended actions, countermeasures needed and, most importantly, a plan for bridge monitoring and closure during high water events.  

Rutland Co. Solid Waste District – Casella Contract.  The Selectboard reviewed a letter from Rutland County Solid Waste District Manager Jim O’Gorman regarding Casella’s contract for trash and recycling that will expire 12/31/10.  Based on other options available in the near future, RCSWD is only looking to renew the contract for two more years and asked for feedback.  Rutland Herald reporter S. Switzer mentioned that the Town of Clarendon was going to contact Earth Waste Systems for recycling costs, and the Selectboard asked Julie to do so as well.  

Other Business.   The Prudential Committee signed the Fire Protection Agreement at their 12/9 meeting.  The Selectboard discussed the legal opinion obtained on what the fire district’s charter and amendments specify regarding fire protection.  The Selectboard concurred that the Town and Fire District must come to an agreement with regard to the basic framework for how firefighting duties and the accompanying costs will be handled.  The Selectboard agreed to have this as an agenda item at their February 1^st meeting and invite the Prudential Committee, the public and both the Wallingford and East Wallingford Volunteer Fire Departments to seek input.  

Steven Pytlik, a soil conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, applied for the Tree Warden position.  A motion was made by B. Brooks, and seconded by F. Bruce to appoint Steve Pytlik as Tree Warden.  Motion carried (5-0).  

Correspondence.  12/10 Recreation Development Committee minutes; Christmas card from the Town of Wallingford, England; VT State Police YTD Activity Reports; and an update on Increasing Commercial Truck Weight Limits on Vermont’s Interstates.

The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

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