SELECT BOARD
                            MINUTES
                        January 24, 2008
Present:  Sharyn Brush, Jason Morrissey, Chris Oldham, Matt Maroney, John Zink, and Lodie Colvin. Jim Gulley was excused.
Also present: Stuart Hurd, Town Manager, Neal Goswami and Peter Crabtree, Bennington Banner, Patrick McCardle, Rutland Herald, and two residents, Jeff Bombard and Rick Dzaidul.
The meeting was called to order at 4:03 pm.
L. Colvin reviewed the reason for the meeting. The reconsideration motion and second rule were incorrectly used at the meeting on January 19th. The second could have come from any Board member, not just the prevailing side. Although the Board is not officially governed by Robert's Rules, it is used as a guide. As Chair, she felt that it would be fair to reconsider the questions once more.
J. Bombard, resident, is a retired senior citizen living on a fixed income. He felt that the monies for Battle Day parade ($15,000) and the agencies should have been reduced further. These are difficult times.
J. Morrissey noted that the reconsideration issue should have been dealt with at the meeting on January 14th to be most correct. He also wanted to insure that the Board would only be dealing with the four agencies that were reduced at the meeting in question. He was assured that only those agencies would be considered.
J. Zink made a motion to reconsider the funding for Center for Restorative Justice. It was seconded by C. Oldham. J. Morrissey noted that the Center had shown an increase in assets of $50,000 and cash on hand at year end of $80,000 according to its audit. All agencies have merit. Although, in these cases, we reduced funding, we continue to show support by granting most of their requests. L. Colvin felt that "tweaking" the agencies without warning was unfair. J. Zink noted that reducing these agencies' funding without giving them time to come up with alternate funding sources was unfair. He hoped to review the way we fund agencies for next year. C. Oldham expressed concern that certain agencies were singled out without a clear reason. A great deal of discussion ensued raising questions of duplication of effort, use of discretionary funds, people served and eligibility. The Chair called for the vote; it passed 4-2 (J. Morrissey, M Maroney). A motion by J. Zink, seconded by C. Oldam to restore the Center's funding to level at $3,000 passed 4-2 (J. Morrissey, M. Maroney).
A motion by J. Zink, seconded by C. Oldham to reconsider funding for PAVE passed 4-2( J. Morrissey, M. Maroney). A motion by J. Zink, seconded by S. Brush to restore funding for PAVE to $3,500 passed 4-2. J. Morrissey noted in discussion of the motion that PAVE has excess revenues of $86,000 last year and that grant revenues have grown every year since 2002. J. Morrissey and M. Maroney were opposed to the motion.
A motion by J. Zink, seconded by S. Brush to reconsider funding for BROC passed 4-2 (J. Morrissey, Maroney). J. Zink made a motion to restore funding for BROC to $7,800. It was seconded by S. Brush. J. Morrissey noted that BROC has abudget of $4.1 million; cash on hand at year end of $500,000 according to its audit. J. Zink noted that the Town's funds are used as discretionary funds in emergencies. J. Bombard interjected that he is concerned that he will not be able to pay his taxes if they continue to rise. The motion carried 4-2 (J. Morrissey, M Maroney).
A motion to reconsider funding for RSVP by J. Zink, seconded by S. Brush passed 4-2. J Morrissey and M. Maroney were opposed. A motion by J. Zink, seconded by C. Oldham to restore funding for RSVP to $8,000 passed 4-2 ( J. Morrissey, M. Maroney).
L. Colvin suggested that the agencies be placed on the ballot next year. She felt it might be time for the voters to give direction to the Board in these requests once again. The meeting adjourned at 4:33 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Stuart A. Hurd