Wallingford Selectboard Minutes

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February 16, 2009

Present:  Bill Lohsen, Bill Brooks, Joan Crowley, and Julie  Sharon  

Visitors:  Joyce Barbieri, Charlie Gauthier, Dave Ballou, Tom Phillips, Dennis Smith, and Don Green  

The meeting was called to order by Chair B. Lohsen at 7:00 p.m.  

Minutes.  B. Brooks moved to approve meeting minutes for January 19, 2009; J. Crowley seconded. Motion carried (3-0).  The minutes dated January 26^th were approved with one correction in the second to last paragraph “taxes raised shall not exceed $522,225.63”, instead of $528,825.63.  Motion made by B. Brooks and seconded by J. Crowley.  Motion carried (3-0).  

Selectboard Orders.  Pay orders were approved totaling $23,479.37, on a motion made by B. Brooks, and seconded by J. Crowley.  Motion carried (3-0).   

Rapid Response Plan & Dry Hydrants.  Emergency Management Coordinator Charlie Gauthier presented an updated Vermont Rapid Response Plan for Wallingford.  The only changes made were to the contact names and telephone numbers.  B. Lohsen moved to adopt the Vermont Rapid Response Plan, which was seconded by J. Crowley.  Motion carried (3-0).    

C. Gauthier asked for the road crews’ assistance in the spring as the Wallingford Fire Department needs to make repairs to the dry hydrant at the Weeks’ pond on Heritage Hill.  In addition, the Department was awarded a grant for a new hydrant to be installed on Hartsboro Road near the Sease/Tiplady property.  Following discussion, B. Lohsen made a motion to allow the road crew to help with the dry hydrants at no charge; motion seconded by J. Crowley.  Motion carried (3-0).   

C. Gauthier announced that Wallingford Fun Day will be held over two days now, starting Friday, 7/17 at 5 p.m. with games, etc. and then all day Saturday, 7/18 ending with fireworks.  B. Brooks moved to approve Wallingford Fire Department’s fireworks permit for 7/18/09, which was seconded by J. Crowley.  Motion carried (3-0).     

Route 7 Parking.  Dave Ballou reported that during a snowstorm last month, VTrans had a vehicle towed that was parked on School Street in front of the Wallingford House.  His vehicle, as well as others parked in front of the Rotary building before 7 a.m., was nearly towed away.  The Selectboard adopted an ordinance in 2001 that prohibits all night parking between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. from 11/15 through 3/31.  Mr. Ballou requested that the ordinance be changed to 6 a.m. to accommodate the patrons Mom's Restaurant as well as the Rotary members who attend their Monday morning meetings.  

During the discussion, it was pointed out that changing the hours would require that the ordinance be published in the Rutland Herald, and we would have to purchase new signs for Route 7.  B. Brooks pointed out that the signs read 11/15 through 4/1, instead of 3/31.  Apparently, parking on Route 7 was never a problem with the previous VTrans supervisor.  The Selectboard asked Julie to contact the new supervisor to discuss the issue.   

Reclamation Plan.  Tom Phillips offered to either donate or charge a small fee, for the overburden on his Waldo Lane property, to be used towards the reclamation of the Town’s “pit”.  Mr. Phillips obtained a draft site plan from Infrastructure Engineering that shows utilizing a 1:2 final slope and a 1:3 final slope.  Following further discussion, B. Lohsen made a motion to send this plan to Bill Burke at the District Environmental Commission asking whether or not this meets the criteria needed to finalize the reclamation plan.  The plan would be to start the reclamation with approximately 5,000-10,000 yards from the Phillips property.  Motion seconded by B. Brooks.  Motion carried (3-0).  

Security Policy Annual Review.  Pursuant to the Security Policy adopted in February 2004, the Selectboard reviewed and approved the list of all persons who have keys to Town Hall, on a motion made by B. Lohsen, and seconded by J. Crowley.  Motion carried (3-0). 

Town Hall Electrical Work.   Julie solicited two quotes, but only received one from Slate Valley Electrical, Inc., to add various electrical outlets at Town Hall in order to clean up the many electrical cords plugged into extension cords and laying on the floor. Slate Valley performed the electrical work during the elevator installation and the new lighting on the second floor.  This expense will be offset by the cell tower income.   B. Lohsen made a motion to approve hiring Slate Valley Electrical at a cost of $1,090; motion seconded by B. Brooks.  Motion carried (3-0).  

VTrans Town Highway Grant Programs.   The Town Highway Class 2 Roadway program provides grants for resurfacing or reconstruction of Class 2 highways. The grant amount is limited to $175,000 for any one project. Wallingford has two Class 2 highways – Creek Road and Route 140W.  Since there were no funds allocated for paving next year, B. Lohsen made a motion to apply for a grant to pave Route 140W from approximately Roaring Brook on Depot Street westerly to Mooney Road; motion seconded by J. Crowley.  Motion carried (3-0).  

Stimulus Funding.  Julie has been communicating with Joel Perrigo at VTrans to find out if the Route 140W bridge project can qualify for stimulus funding.  He reports that the Town is not in a position to be considered because the project must be within 120 days of bid advertising.  Wallingford is in a catch-22 because the engineering costs are budgeted next year, but we want to sign a contract ASAP to get the project started.  Julie has not received a response from DuBois & King yet on whether they could accelerate their designs but defer expenses until 7/01.  The Selectboard agreed that she should urge our Governor, Senators, State Rep, and VTrans to include this project in the stimulus funding program.  

Julie reported that the pedestrian bridge was advertised on the state’s website on 2/4.  Bids are due 2/27 and the project must be completed by 11/27.  The estimated cost is $1.2 million+ and our local share has been capped at $28,000.  Sue Scribner from VTrans reports that the use of stimulus funds is a possibility; the Agency is weighing its options and what gets designated as stimulus funds.  She’s been pushing it under the program, however.

YTD financial statements were distributed to the Selectboard with significant budget variances highlighted.  Year-to-date winter salt expenses exceed budget by nearly $5,000.  Only 400 tons of the 500 ton normal usage has been expensed; therefore, it’s apparent the expense was under-budgeted in 2009 and 2010. The road commissioner will be made aware of the situation.   

Correspondence.  A letter and invitation from Robin Milner; January 13^th Recreation Committee minutes; Western Corridor Management Study; Assignment of the cell tower lease; Sheriff reports for January; Vermont State Police Advisory Citizen’s Advisory Committee Quarterly Report; Weekly Legislative Report; and an email from Stephanie Biagini regarding the $2,000 sidewalk contribution.  

The meeting adjourned at 8:13 p.m.

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