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Wallingford Fire District No. 1 MINUTES OF THE PRUDENTIAL
COMMITTEE MEETING Called to Order: Chris Rabtoy called the meeting to order at Visitors:
Warren Allen, Alan & Cynthia Lantz, Anne Gates Miller, Scott
Sendra and Barbara Taraska Fire Truck Ballot:
The clerk provided information from VLCT on the correct language that
should be provided in the ballot. C.
Rabtoy read the ballot that included interest 5.10% (With $14,000.00 down -
$229,841.00 Principal, $69,260.80 Interest = $299,101.80).
A previous ballot for a fire truck did not include the interest.
R. Regula checked with the Vermont State Infrastructure on their interest
rates and they came in at 2.5%. But,
their financing does not loan out for Fire Truck only for bridges and roads.
C. Rabtoy made the motion to use the ballot as presented along with
financing with E-One. There was
discussion about the interest rate from USDA.
C. Rabtoy said that USDA has not put anything in writing that they would
loan us money. E-One has sent a
commitment letter saying that they would finance the truck.
He said the longer we wait to go forward, the chances increase that the
interest rates could rise and the cost of truck could increase as well. R.
Regula seconded the motion. The
treasurer will contact E-One to obtain a current interest rate; if the rate had
changed that would be the only update to the proposed ballot.
No further discussion. Motion
carried (2/0). Warning of the ballot process was discussed.
The treasurer explained the warning procedures outlined by VLCT and the
VT Statutes were provided. In
addition to the 30 day warning, it read that a petition will need to be prepared
for obtaining at least 5% of legal voters that are in favor for the purchase of
a new fire truck. That with
563 registered voters within the Fire District it equates to 28.15 signatures.
(Registered Voters for WFD #1 as of Approval for
Minutes: C. Rabtoy made the
motion to approval the minutes for September 12, 2007 as presented with a couple
of corrections; Page 1- Fire Department Vehicle Maintenance:
The treasurer suggested to the
chief that it would be to the department’s best interest to not put off
purchases until the end of the fiscal year. Not advised.
Page 3 – Clarified how M. Breznick and Dale Whittemore would be paid
for their work. They will be paid out of the Water Fund under hired/labor and equipment.
R. Regula seconded the motion. No
further discussion Motion carried (2/0). C. Rabtoy made the motion to table the minutes from Prudential Committee
Pay Order: C. Rabtoy made the
motion to approve the pay orders as presented.
R. Regula had a question on a couple of the bills; Scwabb, Inc. the clerk
explained it was for a date stamp that would be expiring in 2008, Phone bill for
the lodge – the clerk explained that there 3rd number restrictions
for 900 blocking service, collect call and international block and there are
charges for that service. R. Regula
seconded the motion. No further
discussion. Motion carried (2/0). Old Business: School Street Fire
Hydrant: C. Rabtoy gave an
update on how the project was going. They
still have not paved the area and it’s been about 4 weeks.
C. Rabtoy has been in contact with J. Ingalls and has been assured by him
that it will be completed soon. Contractor/Snow
Plowing Contracts: The clerk had
located the contracts and the committee received copies at the meeting.
C. Rabtoy made the motion that no decision be made on either contract
until the next meeting. R. Regula
seconded the motion. No further
discussion. Motion carried (2/0). Bill Cobleigh
Project: R. Regula made contact
with P. Baker and he said that the rates for him will remain the same with an
exception that he only has one (1) dump truck which is a larger type and it will
cost $65/per hour. The materials would change as well and would be adjusted
according to the going price. C.
Rabtoy is requesting something in writing and forwards it to the office. Lodge Taxes:
R. Regula wanted to know the status for the lodge taxes, because she
hadn’t seen them on the agenda or the pay orders. The
treasurer said that there was discussion at a previous meeting regarding the
taxes and obtaining a legal opinion on the deed.
The treasurer said that the first half of the amount due would be placed
on the next meetings pay orders for approval, as they are due October 15th ($2,356.69).
R. Regula asked what the balance was in the lodge fund.
The treasure answered about $31,000.
She said that was a lot of money for the lodge fund.
The treasurer said that by requesting ½ of the deposit on rentals for
future events, that it has increased the money in the lodge account. Grand List:
The treasurer mentioned that in the near future that the fire district
tax rates would need to be set for the remainder of the year.
C. Rabtoy asked for this to be moved to the next meeting. Money Transfers:
Money will need to be transferred from the Water/Sewer Fund to the
General and Water Bond Funds from the collection of taxes for the 3rd
quarter billing time frame. The
treasurer will inform the committee on how much each fund respectfully was
transferred, because there was still one (1) day remaining on the due date for
the tax bills. Board of Abatement:
The clerk made a suggestion that in the future when there is a board of
abatement request, that the committee meet, gather the information to be better
prepared. C. Rabtoy said that he
would be happy if people showed up. Follow Up to Fire
District Sewer Permit: Update from the last meeting C. Rabtoy wrote a letter
to 3 constituents regarding permits that needed to be completed for the Fire
District when construction is taking place that pertains to water or sewer hook
ups. One of them was for C. Dunigan
who came into the Fire District office saying he was upset and wasn’t going to
complete the applications, re-write the letter and he would be handing it over
to his lawyer. He was only going to
have one (1) bedroom to his addition to replace the one over the Stone Shop.
R. Regula said that there is only one room over the Stone Shop.
R. Regula also said that she had spoken to C. Dunigan and had gotten her
thing squared away and he only has one bedroom that is going into the new
addition and went on to say there was no bedroom in that other place.
C. Rabtoy clarified that there is a $600.00 permit fee for bedrooms.
R. Regula agreed. It had been
mentioned that there were in fact 4 bedrooms in the new addition.
C. Dunigan asked the clerk if she had gone across the hall to look at the
permit. As a matter a fact she did,
not across the hall in the clerk’s office, but to the zoning administrator’s
office and they said that there wasn’t anything on the permit other than an
addition to the existing structure. One
copy of a zoning permit application indicates to see the Fire District for
additional permits and it’s noted with asterisks.
The clerk sited the sections of the Sewer Ordinances that needed to be
addressed in a sample letter that was handed out for the committee’s review.
The clerk had spoken to the legal department at the Vermont League of
Cities and they offered the following advise; send an official letter and site
the articles on the ordinance that coincide with the building project and have
them be aware of their responsibilities, site the enforcement and how they will
need to comply. The clerk asked the
committee if VLCT is in deed the proper channel to obtain such information.
R. Regula did not feel that we needed to site any ordinance or statute in
the letter. C. Rabtoy made a motion
that we send C. Dunigan another letter addressing the sewer ordinance and
enclose once again the applications for the permit that needs to be complete. R.
Regula said that she wouldn’t like to receive all of the statutes or
ordinances and stuff it would make her feel ignorant.
The clerk handed over the file to C. Rabtoy with the work that that had
been completed and asked him if the committee could possibly come up with
another solution. C. Rabtoy said
that he would take of it. R. Regula
said do what you want. Outstanding Customer
Balances: The treasurer brought
to the committee an idea of possibly sending out statements to inform the
customers that they have balances due on their account, rather than waiting to
the end of the year and having their outstanding balance turned over to the
delinquent tax collector and their name printed in the annual report.
A letter would accompany the statement requesting them to review the
statement and pay any balances due. This
is just an idea of customer service, since there isn’t any penalty on late
payment at this time, this would be another way to receive funds due before they
incur penalties and interest from the delinquent tax collector.
C. Rabtoy asked R. Regula if that sounded like a good idea.
She responded that wasn’t up to here, it was up to the treasurer we
never did that before and to not go over in the supplies budget.
The clerk said that on the next bill there would be an area that states
if someone would like a copy of their paid bill (receipt) to please enclose a
self addressed stamped envelope, just like they’re printed on the real estate
tax bills from the town. Identifying
Water/Sewer Staff: It was
brought to the clerk attention that when staffs are out reading meters or
locating water lines that people don’t know who they are.
The clerk made a suggestion that they wear a name badge, tee shirt or
baseball cap. That would possibly
help identify staff members for the Fire District.
R. Regula said that we never have had to have it before.
C. Rabtoy made a motion to supply the employees that work in water and
sewer ID cards, so that they are identifiable.
R. Regula seconded the motion. No
further discussion. Motion carried
(2/0). Water/Sewer Only
Residents: At the next meeting
the list will be reviewed for residents that are charged for water/sewer only.
There may be a possibility that the households have decreased since the
list was made with the estimated amount of usage. VLCT 2008 Application Renewal: The application was briefly reviewed and will be put on the next meetings agenda for discussion. Department of Transportation: C. Rabtoy is going to contact them to ask them to possibly assist the district with snow build up on the sidewalks this coming season. Office Keys: The clerk had checked to see if there were keys for the cabinets in the office and noticed that the safe had been locked, which had never been locked before. There are documents in the office that do need to be locked up, including checks, personal information such as social security numbers. She said that she does not want to be responsible for any that may go missing. C. Rabtoy replied that nobody should be allowed in the office including the land lord; they need to give 48 hours notice to enter the premises. C. Rabtoy mentioned that the accountant made the recommendation a couple of years ago to have a locked cabinet. Information about a fire retardant filing cabinet was discussed. Monies will need to be found in order to purchase one. The cost ranges from $1200-$2200, depending on the hours of fire time that they can withstand. Water/Sewer/Fire
Protection Office Equipment Expenses: R.
Regula said it was originally set up for leases and the funds share the cost and
the funds were set up that way to pay back the General Fund for equipment
leases. These line items will be reviewed during budget time. Public Comments: No comments. Other Business/Announcements: Executive Session:
None. Next Meeting:
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Prudential Committee will
be held on Adjournment:
C. Rabtoy made the motion that the meeting be adjourned.
R. Regula seconded the motion. No
further discussion. Motion carried
(2/0). Meeting was adjourned at Respectfully Submitted: Stephanie P. Biagini - Clerk/Treasurer Date Approved: 10/10/07 |
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