Town of Pittsford, Vermont

Town of Pittsford
Select Board Minutes
February 2, 2005

Thomas “Hank” Pelkey opened the meeting at 6:30 PM.  Select Board members present were: Thomas “Hank” Pelkey, Larry Pomainville, Joe Gagnon, Allen Hitchcock and David Markowski.  Also present were:  Mike Balch, Helen McKinlay, Roy Newton, Mike Warfle, and Dorothy Terwilliger.

MINUTES

The corrected minutes of the Select Board Special meeting of January 12, 2005 were reviewed, discussed and approved. The Select Board minutes of January 19, 2005 were reviewed and discussed.  The following corrections and changes will be made to the minutes: page one in the Town Manager’s report regarding Wetlands of America “former Pomainville property” will be inserted, page 3 first paragraph regarding culverts and catch basins will be reworded, page 3 regarding Regional Ambulance the word “letter” will be inserted, under old business the 4^th line will be corrected, on the last page the 5^th line will be corrected.  The Liquor Board minutes of January 19, 2005 were reviewed, discussed and approved. The minutes of the Special Select Board meeting of January 26, 2005 were reviewed, discussed and approved. 

ORDERS

The orders of February 2, 2005 were reviewed; discussed and approved    The Highway Department is on target for salt usage for the current year to date.  28% of the salt budget has been used so far.  Payroll will be verified to check Bruce Babcock’s hours are correct. 

TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT

• Quarterly reports for the Highway, Recreation, and Sewer Department work plans are on target.  Overall, with this being the first year using work plans the departments have been very focused on the work plans and the procedure is working well. 
• Budget status reports were distributed to show the status through the end of January.  The Fire Dept. appears over budget due to grant purchases and reimbursement.  Actually the Fire Department is under budget.  The compactor at the Transfer Station had not been budgeted.  The Sewer Department is not looking too bad with the engineering research and legal fees as had been anticipated.  Sludge removal will be a high expense in the spring time.  The Utility bills for Water and Sewer will be mailed out this Friday. 
• February16^th is the VLCT Legislative Day.
• M. Balch attended a very productive 2 hour meeting with Dave Cleary and Gary Fern earlier this week.  Their work is just about finished and they would like to report their findings to the Board at the next meeting. 
• Bill Crenshaw would like to attend the next meeting to discuss purchasing additional land in Town and chat with Board to get a sense if the Board is okay with this plan.
• A letter has been drafted to Simons Operations regarding problems with the computer.  The letter is anticipated to be sent out later this week.
• The Pittsford Historical Society listed property value is $153,500 and the Pittsford First Response listed property value is $105,300.  The Ice Caves property of 54.6 acres belonging to the Pittsford Historical Society was not included on the warning and will need to on next years warning.   
• The Transfer Station has an old propane tank formerly owned by Weldon Coal. Weldon Coal has since been taken over by Proctor Coal.  We have continued to use Proctor Coal rather than change tanks.  We will address this situation in warmer weather. 
• We should be checking catch basins with a history of plugging during rainy events.  We should be doing this and I have reminded everyone to keep an eye on the catch basins.
• Jim Carroll has stated there is no problem adopting a budget while in Union negotiations, except the Town cannot indicate that we can or will not continue to negotiate because we have adopted a budget.
• An article has been added to the ATM Warning to take the budget to Australian ballot but keep the appropriations (petitions) at Town Meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENT

 No public comments

The Select Board recessed as the Select Board and convened as the Sewer Board at            6:50 P.M.  The Select Board reconvened at 6:54 P.M.

OLD BUSINESS

Dorothy Terwilliger re: Rutland Regional Recreation District

D. Terwilliger updated the Select Board regarding the Rutland Regional Recreation District meetings she’s attended.  D. Terwilliger asked the Board to formally appoint three representatives from the Town of Pittsford.  M. Balch stated the Board had appointed D. Markowski and a letter had been sent to EJ Bishop with this information.  The Board discussed responsibilities and financial obligation concerns of this project.  M. Balch will research the Rutland Regional Recreation Charter to find out what the financial obligations of the Town are and at what point the Town can still pull out of the district without being obligated financially.  M. Balch will research statute information pertaining to districts and report back to the Board.  The Board will appoint D. Terwilliger and Mike Solari will be appointed by the next meeting provided there are no legal ramifications.  D. Terwilliger departed at 7:26 P.M.

NEW BUSINESS

Rutland County Sheriff’s Department Letter

A letter from the Rutland County Sheriff’s Department to continue their Town patrols until such time as the Town is able to hire another officer was discussed. M. Balch will follow up on the proposed contract and discuss the costs and options at next meeting.

M. Warfle commented on the new road sign on Oxbow Road.  The sign is excellent because it is very visible and indicates there is a sharp bend.  M. Warfle departed at 7:05.

M. Balch informed the Board that Lothrop School would like to apply for a tree grant.  The Board suggested checking with B. Babcock to be sure the area intended for the trees does not have water or sewer lines.    

With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:36 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

Thomas “Hank” Pelkey, Chair

Larry Pomainville, Vice-Chair  

Dave Markowski, Selectman 

 W. Joseph Gagnon, Selectman 

  Allen Hitchcock, Selectman

Helen McKinlay, Recording Secretary          

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