BENNINGTON SELECT BOARD MEETING BENNINGTON FIRE FACILITY 130 RIVER STREET BENNINGTON, VERMONT 05201 MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2008 MINUTES BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Lodie Colvin-Chair; John Zink-Vice-Chair; Sharyn Brush; Matt Maroney; Chris Oldham and Jason Morrissey. ALSO PRESENT: Stuart Hurd-Town Manager; Dan Monks-Planning Director; Reverend of The First Baptist Church; Director of St. Peters Church; Paul Sausville; Daniel May; Anita Bellin; Neal Goswami-Bennington Banner and Nancy Lively-Recording Secretary. At 7:00 P.M., Lodie Colvin called the meeting to order. 1. MINUTES - JANUARY 14, 2008 MINUTES - JANUARY 19, 2008 Sharyn Brush moved and Chris Oldham seconded to approve the Minutes of January 14, 2008 as submitted. The motion carried unanimously. Sharyn Brush moved and John Zink seconded to approve the Minutes of January 19, 2008 amended as follows: Page 3, Paragraph 3, Line 2, Change "Board." to "Board with comments made that the ongoing costs were not shown. Also noted was that the non-profit organizations that were part of the budget had submitted detailed financials, whereas, those that were a flat 5% had given no financial information." The motion carried unanimously. 2. WARRANTS The warrants were circulated for signatures after Mr. Hurd answered the Board questions on wastebaskets, Navistar, truck payment and lease funding. 3. CITIZENS The Reverend of The First Baptist Church and Director of St. Peters thanked the Board for restoring the funding to BROC and PAVE. Mr. Sausville shared photos of several unsightly structures that are on the school property adjacent to his. Mr. Hurd noted that the structures are below value for zoning issues, some of the junk is in the process of being removed and the Zoning Administrator will not pursue any complaints unless the school asks him to. The school is supposedly working with the neighbor to resolve the situation, as this has been an ongoing problem for two or three years. It is the responsibility of the middle school to remove the structures. Ms. Colvin stated that she would "make a few phone calls" and Mr. May advised Mr. Sausville that the school board meeting was also taking place at this time if he wished to address them. 4. STATE OFFICES TASK FORCE REPORT Ms. Colvin stated that the State Offices Task Force had been charged through a legislative act with having a plan for a downtown location should the State decide that they would not reuse the present "State Building". Mr. Hurd described the process that the Task Force used to create the report. It is not the Board's decision to make but it is Ms. Colvin's hope that the report will be endorsed by the Select Board for the State to "consider (the report) fairly". Mr. Morrissey acknowledged the work and effort that the Task Force had put into the report but questions if a State Office building at Depot Street or the old Catamount School is the best long term use of downtown property. Ms. Bellin had worked for several years in the old State Office building, feels that it was a contributing factor to her asthma, and spoke adamantly against moving back into it. Ms. Brush would endorse the Depot Street property over the Catamount School if the State decides to build downtown. Mr. Zink noted that the downtown decision must fit into the Town Plan and that the activity associated with a State Office building would "change the color" of a neighborhood. However, since there are no big business conglomerates lined up to go into the Depot Street location, this would be "better than the nothing" which is what is there now. Mr. Zink also reminded everyone that this is a privately owned piece of property. Mr. Maroney agrees that downtown needs to be revitalized but is not convinced that the State Office building is a good use of a vacant lot and questions why the Board needs to support the report. Mr. Oldham feels that a downtown location would be very beneficial to the clients that need to frequent the State Offices and don't have transportation. Jason Morrissey moved and Chris Oldham seconded that the Bennington Select Board recognizes the work done by the State Offices Task Force for the State Offices Task Force Report, that it has been done completely and that we send it to the people that it was requested by without endorsing or not endorsing the Report's conclusion. The motion carried unanimously. 5. FINALIZE F.Y. '09 BUDGET John Zink moved and Sharyn Brush seconded to approve the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Revision E as presented. Mr. Morrissey noted that the Board worked hard to get the budget down as low as it could go even though there was some disagreement as to allocations. Ms. Colvin added that, because of all of the dialogue in the budget meetings, the budget as a whole is a good budget and she is "very proud to present it to the public". Mr. Hurd stated that the budget increased by 1.4%. If tax bills increase it will be by .7% and will depend upon the Grand List as of December 31, 2007. The motion carried with Matt Maroney opposed. 6. SIGN 2008 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING WARNING John Zink moved and Sharyn Brush seconded to approve the 2008 Annual Town Meeting Warning as presented. The motion carried unanimously. 7. 2008 LIQUOR LICENSES The following 2008 Liquor License Renewal Applications were circulated for signatures: 1. Charlie's Mobile & More 2. Eagles, Fraternal Order of, Aerie #1861 3. Martin's Mini Mart & Beverage Discount 4. North Bennington Variety 5. Price Chopper #171 6. Rite Aid Store #10314 7. River Street Variety 8. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #1332 8. MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Hurd circulated the State Mileage Certificate for signatures. Bennington has 121.29 miles of road that earn us $209,000.00 from the State. Mr. Hurd reported that the flashing yellow light at North and River Streets has been out of service for some time. It was set up so that a remote sensor from the fire trucks turning east would activate the red light. However, the red light was activated from trucks turning in either direction so the light was turned off because it wasn't working as planned. John Zink moved and Matt Maroney seconded to authorize the Town Manager to pursue removal of the flashing yellow light at North and River Streets. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Hurd reported that we have received the signed release from Applejack Real Estate for Lower Willow. The Town will once again begin reclamation and filling to attempt to place this area back in service. 9. OTHER BUSINESS None. 10. EXECUTIVE SESSION A. LEGAL/CONTRACT At 7:55 P.M., Chris Oldham moved and John Zink seconded to go into Executive Session to discuss Legal/Contract. The motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Nancy H. Lively Secretary