BENNINGTON SELECT BOARD MEETING BENNINGTON FIRE FACILITY 130 RIVER STREET BENNINGTON, VERMONT 05201 MONDAY, JUNE 14, 2010 MINUTES BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Lodie Colvin-Chair; Jason Morrissey-Vice-Chair; John Zink; Chris Oldham; Sharyn Brush; Joseph Krawczyk and Matt Maroney. ALSO PRESENT: Stuart Hurd-Town Manager; Joan Pinsonneault-Treasurer; Scott Murphy-Community and Economic Development Director; Tim Corcoran-Town Clerk; Jean McKenna; Patrick McCardle; Neal Goswami-Bennington Banner and Nancy Lively-Recording Secretary. At 7:00 P.M., Lodie Colvin called the meeting to order. 1.MINUTES - MAY 24, 2010 MINUTES - JUNE 9, 2010 Sharyn Brush moved and John Zink seconded to approve the Minutes of May 24, 2010 as submitted. The motion carried unanimously. Sharyn Brush moved and John Zink seconded to approve the Minutes of June 9, 2010 as submitted. The motion carried with Joseph Krawczyk abstaining. 3. CITIZENS Mr. Murphy spoke on behalf of Matt Hathaway who had requested that the Select Board waive the $50 usage fee for the Jim Ross Pavilion that will be used by Boy Scouts of America Troop #353 for an awards ceremony on Father's Day. Joseph Krawczyk moved and Jason Morrissey seconded to waive the $50.00 Jim Ross Pavilion usage fee for the Boy Scouts of America Troop #353 on June 20, 2010. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Corcoran stated that there are hundreds of magazine like books written for the 250th anniversary on the history of Bennington at the Town Office for the taking. 2. WARRANTS The warrants were circulated for signatures after Mr. Hurd answered Board questions on a dishwasher, MSK Engineering, Town of Bennington, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Lake George Steamboat cruise, and Jurek Brothers. 5.F.Y. 2011 BORROWING Jason Morrissey moved and Joseph Krawczyk seconded to accept the Town of Bennington Tax Anticipation Note Line of Credit with Chittenden Bank in the amount of $1,500,000.00 at 1.75% per annum interest, and to waive the reading of the Town of Bennington Resolution Tax Anticipation Borrowing (Line of Credit). Ms. Brush commented that she works at Chittenden Bank but has no conflict of interest with this loan. The motion carried unanimously. 4. PARKING BAN - PARK STREET (WEST SIDE AT BENNINGTON ELEMENTARY) Ms. Colvin stated that the Town ordnance already bans parking on the westerly side of Park Street as designated by signs. However, there are no signs there now. Mr. Hurd explained that the Bennington School District was requesting that parking be banned on Monday through Friday from 7:00am - 4:00pm while school was in session. There has been discussion at the BSD meeting concerning the inconvenience this may bring to property owners, as well as, whether or not the teachers are parking in the designated parking areas provided for them. Mr. Hurd added that Ms. McKenna maintains that, if the teachers were not parking on the street, then the only time there would be congestion was when parents were picking up and dropping off their children. The new bus slip lane may redirect this to a different area which would make this a moot point. Mr. Maroney noted that the ordnance doesn't designate what part of Park Street it is referring to, and banning parking on the street will be detrimental to the businesses in the area. It would appear that, if the teachers parked in their designated area, there wouldn't be an issue. Ms. McKenna reiterated what she had requested of the BSD Board which was to have the teachers park in their designated area at Catamount School, and to research why so many parents are transporting their children to and from school when there is bussing available. Mr. Maroney stated that the Select Board had questions of the School Board the last time this was on the agenda that are still unanswered and there is no one present to answer them at this meeting. Also, he felt that the Board should wait before making a decision because school is almost out anyway. It was the consensus of the Board to wait and see if the bus lane project at Bennington Elementary plus directing the teachers to park in their designated area solves the problem before they act on no parking signage on the westerly side of Park Street. 6. BENNINGTON RESCUE SQUAD - EVIDENCE OF SUPPORT Mr. Oldham is a member of the Bennington Rescue Squad Board and recused himself from this agenda item. The Bennington Rescue Squad has requested Evidence of Community support for their USDA application. Mr. Hurd clarified that this is a requirement of USDA and in no way shows a preference for one rescue squad over another. Sharyn Brush moved and Jason Morrissey seconded to authorize the Chair to sign the Evidence of Community Support letter to the Bennington Rescue Squad for their USDA Application as presented. The motion carried with Chris Oldham abstaining. 7. FIRE WARDEN APPOINTMENT John Zink moved and Sharyn Brush seconded the appointment of Adam Cross as Fire Warden and Matthew G. Hathaway as Deputy Fire Warden. The motion carried unanimously. 8. 2010 LIQUOR LICENSE APPLICATION The 2010 First Class Liquor License Application for Lil'Britain, LLC was circulated for signatures. 9. MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Hurd reported that there is a request from the Strohmaier family to complete the unused trail portion of Fuller Road - less than 1/4 of a mile - and reclassify it as a Class 3 Town highway. The Strohmaier's have offered to provide the gravel and log skidder for the job at no expense to the Town. This would also provide a much needed link from the Middle Pownal Road area to Route 7 south. Mr. Joly has estimated the cost to the Town at ~ $17,200. This takes into consideration the Strohmaier donation of ~$35,000 and does not consider any Town employee labor cost. Mr. Hurd's request is that this be put on a future agenda for a public hearing. Mr. Morrissey questioned if this would be the best use of our money given that there are other existing roads that need fixing and would serve more taxpayers than this would. Mr. Maroney and Mr. Oldham would be willing to hear public opinion on this, as well as, to know what the long-term maintenance costs would be. Mr. Zink added that this could be beneficial for emergency vehicles but is willing to hear all ramifications of the change. Joseph Krawczyk moved and Sharyn Brush seconded to place the Fuller Road Extension on a future agenda for a public hearing. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Hurd reported that a pit bull on Maple Street crashed through its door and attacked a dog that was being walked on a leash. It took several people to remove the pit bull from the dog who suffered serious injuries. A neighbor has filed a vicious dog complaint under the Leash Law Ordinance. When all of the evidence has been gathered, the Board must set a date and time to hear this complaint and make a nonappealable determination as provided by law. If the dog is deemed vicious, there are four options - absolute confinement, muzzling, euthanasia, or exile. Mr. Hurd will contact the owners of the pit bull to see how they plan on handling the situation before setting the hearing date. Mr. Hurd reported that we will have a fireworks funding shortfall of ~ $3,000. As of this writing, we have not heard from some of last year's sponsors but the hope is that the public will come forth to help fund this event. Mr. Hurd reported that Mr. Joly, Highway Superintendent, developed a more detailed paving specification because our road surfaces have not been holding up very well. We had received two bids - the low bid of $348,159 from Peckham/Dailey of Shaftsbury, and the other bid of $444,261.64 from Pike Industries of Wallingford. Unfortunately, the low bidder did not meet the bid specifications (three out of the six criteria) and has refused to do so. Bennington didn't receive any of the Class II paving funds from the State so Elm Street and Beech Street have been put on hold until next year. This has brought our expected paving cost to be $432,600, or $9,000 less than budgeted. We hope to use this $9,000 to do some smaller projects. 10. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Maroney and Mr. Morrissey thanked Neal Goswami for his future publication of the Town's fireworks shortfall. Mr. Morrissey noted that the net metering of electricity from Encore Redevelopment Company is not practical for the Town, however, there are other entities in Bennington that are larger users of electricity that this may be beneficial to. And, if so, the Town could receive rent for whatever location seemed to be viable. Mr. Hurd will pursue this concept with Encore. Mr. Krawczyk added that solar power is the most expensive to develop. Mr. Zink reminded everyone that today is Flag Day and what that means to everyone in our country. Mr. Krawczyk asked how successful Mayfest was this year, and Mr. Hurd answered that it was the most successful Mayfest that we've ever had with 15,000 people in attendance. Mr. Krawczyk requested that everyone thank the veterans that are returning home this week from Afghanistan for their efforts. 11. EXECUTIVE SESSION A.CONTRACTS At 8:00 P.M., John Zink moved and Sharyn Brush seconded to go into Executive Session to discuss Contracts. The motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Nancy H. Lively Secretary