BENNINGTON SELECT BOARD MEETING BENNINGTON FREE LIBRARY 101 SILVER STREET BENNINGTON, VERMONT 05201 MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2007 MINUTES BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Lodie Colvin-Chair; John Zink-Vice-Chair; Sharyn Brush; James Gulley; Chris Oldham and Jason Morrissey. ALSO PRESENT: Stuart Hurd-Town Manager; Scott Murphy-Director of Economic and Community Development; Jerry Keneally; Bart VanderEls; Anita Gauthier; Dave Newell; John Goodrich and several other Library Board members; Jodie French; Larry McLeod and Nancy Lively-Recording Secretary. At 7:00 P.M., Lodie Colvin called the meeting to order. 1. MINUTES - NOVEMBER 26, 2007 James Gulley moved and John Zink seconded to approve the Minutes of November 26, 2007 as submitted. The motion carried with Sharyn Brush abstaining. 2. WARRANTS The warrants were circulated for signatures after Mr. Hurd answered Board questions on window replacement, check #52667 prepaid expense and Wells Communication. 3. CITIZENS None. 4. BENNINGTON FREE LIBRARY BOARD'S PRESENTATION Mr. VanderEls shared various dissertations on the literary importance of libraries. Mr. Keneally explained that the Town represents 73% of the Library's budget and that they are seeking a $25,000 budget increase from the Town for the following reasons: * The Library building, itself, belongs to The Library Trustees and not the Town. Many libraries in other towns are owned by the towns. * Fuel costs are up more than twice over the last two years and the technology budget has tripled. * To serve the public in "the electronic age", the Library has become completely computerized with 65,000 volumes of books. * Insulation and updating of the ventilation system will cost $41,000 and is to be paid for from fundraising. Mr. Newell added that this improvement would save 60,000 gallons of fuel. * Fundraising will be broadened to the business population and the capital campaign. Grants are also pursued whenever available but they are few and far between. * Ms. Gauthier listed the many diversified groups of people that utilize the Library - 84,000 just last year. * Mr. Goodrich noted that, financially, it would be much more expensive for the Town to own the Library. Last year the Town contributed $319,000 to the Library when other towns that own their libraries were spending between $600,000 to $800,000. The Board will consider the Library's request during the Town's budget discussions. 5. BENNINGTON RURAL FIRE DISTRICT - AMENDMENT TO ESTABLISHMENT CERTIFICATE Ms. French, attorney for the Fire Department, explained that the existing District's Certificate of Establishment from February 1956 only authorizes the volunteer firemen to assess, levy and collect taxes for the protection of property in the district from damage by fire with no mention to saving lives. The proposed petition is to change the limits of the fire district to include the authority to assess, levy, and collect taxes as necessary for other lawful purposes (such as ambulance services, extrication services, and hazardous material response, and such other emergency services as the department personnel may be trained to provide). The intent is to amend the certificate to state what the firemen have already been doing for quite some time. Ms. Colvin noted that Mr. Woolmington, the Town's attorney, feels that "other lawful purposes" is too broad a phrase and that better language would be to be more specific while still accomplishing the fire departments goal. Mr. McLeod feels that the two fire departments should merge, and modifying the certificate, would drive them apart. Ms. French and Mr. Woolmington will draft new language for the petition for presentation to the Board at the December 17, 2007 meeting. 6. TAX STABILIZATION AGREEMENT - F.W. WEBB Mr. Murphy explained that F.W. Webb presently has eight employees and will add another five employees over the next five years in their new facility on East Road. The Tax Stabilization Agreement states the listed value in 2008 as the value of the land only with graduated increases each year until 2012 when the listed value is the land plus 80% of the improvements. James Gulley moved and Chris Oldham seconded to approve the Tax Stabilization Agreement between F.W. Webb Company and the Town of Bennington as presented. The motion carried unanimously. 7. SELECT BOARD'S ACTION ON STATE OFFICE TASK FORCE REPORT Ms. Colvin stated that she has been participating as Chair of the State Office Location Task Force whose charge was to evaluate the best alternatives for a possible permanent relocation of the State Offices within the designated downtown district of Bennington. Ms. Colvin is of the opinion that "the economic impact on downtown Bennington would be significant should the State take advantage of the Tuttle's site as an alternative", and hoped that the Board would endorse her opinion as being representative of the Board as a whole. However, since the Board has not been privy to the discussions that have led to the final draft of the Task Force Report, it was the consensus of the Board to wait until they have seen the report before issuing an official opinion. The final report will be available by the end of the year. 8. SIGNAL WARRANT ANALYSIS A. SILVER & GRANDVIEW STREETS B. BENMONT & COUNTY STREETS Mr. Hurd noted that there had been a petition for a four way stop at Silver and Grandview Streets and a three way stop at Benmont Avenue and County Street. The Bennington County Regional Commission Transportation Planner performed a stop sign warrant analysis at Silver and Grandview in November 2007. Since a stop sign should not be used to slow traffic, a stop sign is not warranted at that intersection. In addition, based on data gathered in a signal light warrant analysis previously completed, a three way stop that would stop all traffic at Benmont and County is also not warranted. James Gulley moved and Sharyn Brush seconded to accept the Traffic Study Report dated November 13, 2007 on Silver and Grandview Streets and Benmont Avenue and County Street as presented. The motion carried unanimously. 9. MANAGER'S REPORT No report. 10. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Oldham extended kudos to the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce for their work with the Capitol Tree. Mr. Morrissey asked about the status of the firehouse repair and Mr. Hurd answered that the last estimate for the repairs was $317,000 with an additional $70,000 - $100,000 for the initial cleanup. Our insurance company should be contacting us within a week with the amount of our increased premium. McDonald/Secor have been selected to do the work because they do large, industrial institution construction and were available. The job did not go out to bid but McDonald/Secor will hire all local help when possible. Normally, either formal or informal bids are obtained for anything over $1,000.00. Mr. Morrissey stressed the impact that this incident will have on the taxpayers for some time to come with "no restitution, no criminal charges and probably 99% of the people in the Town don't even know who did it. It's a hot button that bears a lot of scrutiny." Mr. Gulley concurred. Mr. Zink reiterated Mr. Morrissey's thoughts and advised the public that the Board is as concerned as everyone else. Ms. Brush noted that the speed cart appeared to be broken but Mr. Hurd wasn't aware that it was. Mr. Gulley requested that the traffic light at Park Street and Kocher Drive have an advanced green for the northbound traffic. Mr. Hurd will look into it. Mr. Gulley would like to know the average per employee cost for each department prior to the upcoming budget discussions. Mr. Hurd will get that information. Ms. Colvin noted that the next Board Meeting will be December 17, 2007 at the Town Office at 5:45 P.M.. At 8:36 P.M., James Gulley moved and John Zink seconded to go into Executive Session to discuss Contracts, Legal Issues and Personnel. The motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Nancy H. Lively Secretary