Wallingford Fire District No. 1

 MINUTES OF THE PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE MEETING
 May 23, 2007

The official copy of these minutes can be obtained at Wallingford Fire District #1 Office.

Chris Rabtoy called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm .  Also present were Rose Regula and Stephanie Biagini - Clerk/Treasurer.  Chris McPhee was absent.  

VISITORS:    Tim Biagini, John Haley and Ann Miller                       

Fallen Tree:  Mr. Haley came before the board to discuss a tree that had fallen on his property and if the Fire District would have it removed.  After a brief discussion, C. Rabtoy made the motion to have the Fire District remove the tree from Mr. Haley’s property.  R. Regula seconded the motion.  No further discussion. Motion carried (2-0)  

Ms. Miller left the meeting shortly after arriving.  No discussion took place.  

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  

The minutes for May 9, 2007 were tabled until next meeting.  Chris Rabtoy made the motion to table the minutes until the next scheduled meeting.  Rose Regula seconded the motion.  Motion carried. (YES 2, NO 0)  

FIRE DISTRICT PAY ORDERS APPROVAL:  

Chris Rabtoy made the motion to accept the bills for payment as presented.  Rose Regula seconded the motion.  No further discussion.  Motion carried (2-0)  

OLD BUSINESS:  

Lodge Repairs:  C. Rabtoy said that in order to submit a bill for reimbursement, he had requested an itemized bill from Mr. Ingalls to reflect the work done at the caretaker’s cabin.  On that subject J. Bowen had been requested on numerous occasions to notify the office of any work that would cost over $50.00 and to get a purchase order.  C. Rabtoy will make a point to speak with Mr. Bowen again regarding the proper protocols.  

Caretaker Contract:  C. Rabtoy updated R. Regula about the contract being revised for the caretaker’s position.  She said that she was happy to see that being done.  A copy will be provided to R. Regula for her review.  

J. Bowen will be asked to attend the next Prudential Committee meeting.  

NEW BUSINESS:  

Pay Orders:  R. Regula said that she really didn’t like the set up of pay orders, because they are all combined and alphabetized.  A lengthy discussion ensued without any action taken.

Water Readings :  R. Regula had questions about some of the readings and asked if anyone had done anything about them.   C. Rabtoy along with clerk answered R. Regula’s questions.  No action taken.

5% Fee:  R. Regula questioned the 5% charge on the water/sewer bills.  She wanted to know where it had been approved to do so and it wasn’t fair.  C. Rabtoy said that it was the recommendation of the Delinquent Tax collector.  The clerk asked R. Regula what the incentive was to have people pay their bills on time; you won’t be able to run a business and the pay the bills if you don’t have monies coming in (that was the purpose of quarterly billing).  R. Regula did not agree.  No action taken.

Bill Correction:  R. Regula brought up that a few people had received a different due date on their bills.  The clerk explained that the dates were manually entered for each bill and that she had apologized for the error.  The Clerk requested R. to please provide the name(s) and revised bill(s) would be sent out.  Only one name was provided.

Office Closed: R. Regula asked why there wasn’t a message on the machine saying that the office was closed.  R. Rabtoy replied that a notice was place at the office and up at the post office and it was also printed in the minutes over a month ago. 

Proposed Fire Truck:  R. Regula wanted clarification on the Fire Truck meeting.  An informational meeting will take place the night before the ballot process takes place.  The board has already made a resolution of necessity for the truck.  The board will decide on what goes on the ballot.  Financing options are still being reviewed along with additional truck quotes from the fire department are being obtained.  R. Regula said that she agrees that we need a new fire truck, but she feels we are being pushed into it.  Further discussion ensued with no action taken. Addendum:  R. Regula said she misspoke and does not favor the purchase of a new truck; her quote was “I know we need a truck.”

R. Regula as doing some research and she says that the fire department claims they have no money to put down on a truck.  R. Rabtoy replied, now you are getting into an issue that he couldn’t explain you need to take that question to a fire department meeting and ask them.  C. Rabtoy on his own accord as a citizen suggested to the fire department that in good faith, if they had money to put towards a new fire truck, that it would be good idea if they did.  R. Regula went on to claim that the fire departments financial statements (form 990) were public records and she was told to get a vote from the committee to pursue a request to obtain them.  R. Rabtoy said if she wanted them, then she should ask for them, the board was not going to make that decision.  Just recently there was a case where a fire department produced their financial records to their town then it became public information.  They were giving them as a gesture of good will.  More discussion ensued without any action taken.

OTHER BUSINESS/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Bill Cobleigh Water Line:  Mr. Cobleigh submitted a letter along with pictures regarding digging up the water line and putting insulation around it to eliminate the need of a blow off.  Bids were obtained for the job and C. Rabtoy believes it was accepted from Phil Baker the year before last.  C. Rabtoy will check into it to see if he has some information about it.  A bid may have to be put out due to increased costs.  No further discussion. 

Donation of Dock from Town:  C. Rabtoy read a Release of Liability from the Town for their old floating dock they would like to donate to the Fire District.   C. Rabtoy said that he hadn’t heard anything about it.  He said it was nice that the town wants to give it to us, but without seeing it, signing of the form has been put on hold. 

Treasurer’s Report:

Water/Sewer Part-time Employee:  M. Breznick mentioned that that R. Squier’s would be out of work for a while and hopefully in two months would be back to work.  Nothing has been put in writing.  C. Rabtoy said that he would notify J. West to get in-put from him. 

Lodge Inquiry on Overnight: Someone renting the lodge wanted to know if tents could be put up the night of the event. Neither board member had a problem with it.  R. Regula said that she’s done it numerous times.

Another question was for an additional fee for next day rental.  Some research will be done on what had been charged in the past.

R. Regula asked when she was in the office and someone had come in questioning about a rental.  The clerk responded that another organization had booked already.  The other person was requesting the lodge 3 days prior to their event and there wasn’t a contract it must have been verbal with the caretaker.  R. Regula said that a lot of that was going on.  The clerk said not anymore, that’s one reason why the clerk has taken over booking the lodge. 

Water Meter Pads:  There was feedback on 2 residents that do not have touch pads installed on their homes.  One resident is waiting for their plumber to install it and the other as well.

Water Leak: M. Breznick is checking on leaks that are happening at 225 N. Main Street .

Water/Sewer Bill:  The office was requested to provide outstanding bills for 27 N. Main and had noticed that there had not been any water readings documented.  The property is restaurant with an apartment.  C. Rabtoy made the motion to send 27 N. Main Street revised bills with their water readings on them.  R. Regula seconded the motion.  A letter will accompany the bills and they will have 30 days from May 24th for due date.  No further discussion.  Motion carried (2-0).

Proposed Fire Truck Financing: The clerk received updated financial information for the truck from Desorcie Emergency Products.  R. Regula provided financial information from the USDA and provided copies.

Please note that C. McPhee is returning for the June 27th meeting. 

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

None taken

NEXT MEETING:

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Prudential Committee will be held on

June 13, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. – Town Hall. 

ADJOURNMENT:

Chris Rabtoy made the motion that the meeting be adjourned.  R. Regula seconded the motion.  Motion carried. (YES 2, NO 0).  Meeting adjourned 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted:

Stephanie P. Biagini - Clerk/Treasurer                          

APPROVED: July 11, 2007

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