BENNINGTON SELECT BOARD MEETING BENNINGTON FIRE FACILITY 130 RIVER STREET BENNINGTON, VERMONT 05201 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2009 MINUTES BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Lodie Colvin-Chair; John Zink-Vice Chair; Jason Morrissey; Matt Maroney; Sharyn Brush; Joseph Krawczyk and Chris Oldham. ALSO PRESENT: Stuart Hurd-Town Manager; Jim Carroll; Senator Dick Sears; David Peebles-Department of Justice; David Miner-District Manager of Corrections; Andy Polito-Commissioner of Corrections; Elizabeth Eddy-BROC and Nancy Lively-Recording Secretary. At 7:00 P.M., Lodie Colvin called the meeting to order. 1.MINUTES - FEBRUARY 9, 2009 John Zink moved and Jason Morrissey seconded to approve the Minutes of February 9, 2009 as submitted. The motion carried with Sharyn Brush and Joseph Krawczyk abstaining. 2. WARRANTS The warrants were circulated for signatures after Mr. Hurd answered Board questions on the copying of the Town Reports, NEMRC and hydrant shoveling. 3. CITIZENS Mr. Jim Carroll invited the Board to visit his vending location to see for themselves if they feel there are any safety issues affiliated with it. He also extended kudos to Mr. Hurd and the Board for the jobs that they do. Ms. Colvin noted the Board's appreciation for what his presence in the Downtown means and that he "has brought vending to another level". Any amendments to the vending ordnance would be to adapt the ordnance to cover all of the vending operation activities that are occurring Downtown and not to demean Mr. Carroll's vending accomplishments. "We will get through this." 4. VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS - OFFENDER HOUSING DISCUSSION The following are the comments by each of the respective presenters: SENATOR DICK SEARS: * Has served on the Senate Appropriations Committee with the charge of the Corrections Budget and served as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee with the charge of writing policy. * The present Corrections Budget is $120M and the cost of in-state incarceration is $45,000/year; out-of-state incarceration is $25,000/year; and transitional housing within the communities is $6,000/year. * H859 Justice Reinvestment is designed to save the prison beds for violent offenders and to provide services within the community for the non-violent prisoners as they are released back into the communities. * There are 500 individuals released that have been incarcerated for substance abuse problems - non-violent - with a 50% success rate. H859 is targeting this group to improve their success rate. * These people have completed their sentences and are coming back to the communities anyway. * 6,000 people are released each year - this number may include the same person multiple times. * The opening of the Windsor House and the movement of others to St. Albans has opened up 138 beds in the prisons. * The State "is mindful of the communities concerns". * Bennington "will be receiving many more than 10 individuals" but only 10 that will be involved in the Justice Reinvestment program. * S13 creates specialized probation and supervision for sex offenders only. * There will be a level of supervision, a case manager and counseling provided as part of the grant. * The program should decrease the amount of police work that would be affiliated with these individuals upon release if there were no program. * The Select Board may add some parameters to the grant application, if they so wish. * BROC was asked to partner with Corrections because Corrections is institution oriented and out of their realm when it comes to community supports. DAVID PEEBLES-DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: * The grant proposal is for $100,000 for 10 individuals at an average cost for "depth of services" of $10,000/each. This is a one-year grant with a one-year renewal. * Bennington is one of the most expensive towns in the State for housing which makes it extremely difficult for someone being released from prison to do this on their own. * Most of those released to survive on their own were back in prison within a year, whereas, those released to their families or transitional housing have a 30% return rate. * There are many different factors that contribute to the successful return of prisoners back into society. * RFP's went out throughout the State and require the support of the community. There was no intent to "blindside" the Board. ELIZABETH EDDY-BROC: * Since similar programs are already present in Bennington, BROC didn't expect this degree of dissention from the Board when the program was first brought before them. * BROC and Corrections both want the Select Board support even though it may not be officially needed to go forward with the grant application. * The grant application is a work in process and is open to any suggestions for change. * BROC will not assume the role of probation officers - they are only supplying support services. * The grant will pay for housing, a half-time case manager, mentors and counseling through United Counseling Service. * The proposal will be updated with more detail and redistributed to the Board. ANDY POLITO-COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTIONS: * Reiterated the objectives of the program and desire for the support of the Select Board. * Participants in the program will be seen by a probation officer as needed. * Housing considerations are a part of the normal release process. * Prisoners will be released back into Bennington County to the town where they were arrested and have the best chance of success, if possible. For example, if Sunderland doesn't have adequate housing for a Sunderland resident, that person may be released to Manchester. * Barre speaks highly of the program. * Bennington can try the program for one year as a "test" year to see if it is successful in the community. * A document of the program details will be sent to the Select Board. SELECT BOARD COMMENTS AND CONCERNS: * The individuals released would not be adequately supervised, and that that responsibility would then fall upon our local police department without compensation. * Prisoners will be released into Bennington only because they committed a crime here and are not necessarily residents of Bennington. * Bennington presently has over 400 people that are under the Department of Corrections, and given our proximity to Massachusetts and New York, we could easily have people released in Bennington that, are not only from other towns, but from other states. * This group of individuals presently has a 50% rate, so how are they going to be mentored to improve that? * The supervision, and general approach to these individuals, is too "loosey-goosey". * The Board was asked to support the Justice Reinvestment Grant a week before the RFP was due without any of the dialogue that is taking place tonight. * A similar type of program has already been successfully done in Bennington. * Department of Corrections and BROC make a great partnership. * The local Corrections personnel have their hand on "the pulse of the community", however, Corrections at the State level is too eager to release prisoners to open up a bed. * Bennington needs the assurance at the State Prison level that they are doing their due diligence to ensure that prisoners are being released to the appropriate people and not to people that contributed to their incarceration in the first place. * The State needs to rethink their "zero tolerance" policies because many people sent to prison come out worse than when they went in. * There should be consideration for other community support services besides mental health, housing, etc. - such as law enforcement - when these programs are developed. * "Community support" means support from other community agencies and does not necessarily mean municipality support. * These people are going to be released into the community whether the Select Board endorses this program or not, and it makes sense to add one more level of supervision when they arrive to enable their success. * Why doesn't Corrections apply for this grant on their own without partnering with BROC? * This program will get prisoners released into Bennington earlier. * The day-to-day process of how the program will work needs to be detailed with who bears what responsibility. The Board will see what public feedback is generated from this discussion and then decide to stand by, or alter, their original decision not to support the Justice Reinvestment Grant Application. 5. 2009 LIQUOR AND TOBACCO LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATIONS The following 2009 Liquor License Renewal Applications were circulated for signatures: 1. Bennington College Restaurant & Caterers, Ltd. 2. Bennington College Restaurant & Caterers, Ltd. 3. Charlie's Mobil & More 4. Chili's Grill & Bar at Bennington, VT 5. Short Stop #117 6. Short Stop #145 7. Sodexho, Vermont, Inc. The following 2009 Tobacco License Renewal Applications were circulated for signatures: 1. Charlie's Mobil & More 2. Short Stop #117 3. Short Stop #145 6. MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Hurd reported that, as of January 21, 2009, Bennington was the second town in the State to receive its' Growth Center Designation. The designated area is Northside Drive north to where the former Haynes and Kanes used to be. 7.OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Maroney and Mr. Zink asked if the icing issues on the sidewalk by Domino's could be addressed and Mr. Hurd answered that that is being done more aggressively now. Mr. Maroney asked if we were set up to do electronic billing and accept electronic payments for taxes and water and sewer, and Mr. Hurd stated that we're not presently set up to do that but he will look into if setting that up would be of any savings to us. Ms. Brush noted the Board can still RSVP to the invitation for the Meals on Wheels New Kitchen Dedication and the Governor will be there. 8.EXECUTIVE SESSION A.CONTRACT B.LEGAL ISSUE At 8:37 P.M., Joseph Krawczyk moved and Chris Oldham seconded to go into Executive Session to discuss a Contract and Legal Issue. The motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Nancy H. Lively Secretary