BENNINGTON SELECT BOARD MEETING BENNINGTON FIRE FACILITY 130 RIVER STREET BENNINGTON, VERMONT 05201 MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2011 MINUTES BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Joseph Krawczyk-Chair; Matt Maroney-Vice-Chair; Jason Morrissey; Justin Corcoran; Chris Oldham; Sharyn Brush and John Zink. ALSO PRESENT: Stuart Hurd-Town Manager; R.J. Joly-Highway Superintendent; Dan Monks-Planning Director; John Shanahan; Patrick McCardle; Barry Horst; Jim Horst; Leon Jacobs; Steve McClure; and Nancy Lively-Recording Secretary. At 7:00 P.M., Joseph Krawczyk called the meeting to order. 1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all. 2.MINUTES - JUNE 13, 2011 John Zink moved and Chris Oldham seconded to approve the Minutes of June 13, 2011 amended as follows: Change "Erinhouse" to "Erenhouse" on Lines 16, 39, and 114. The motion carried with Sharyn Brush abstaining. 3. WARRANTS The warrants were circulated for signatures after Mr. Hurd answered the Board questions on postage, recycling, Police Department grants, levee certification, mowing, and our end of year financial position. 4. CITIZENS None. 5.BETTER BENNINGTON CORPORATION'S BUDGET AND WORK PLAN Mr. Shanahan explained that the Better Bennington Corporation (BBC) Annual Budget for FY12 is a bit down overall from last year with the DIC District tax amount remaining the same at $69,948. Most of the remaining balance of the $126,110 level funded budget will be generated from membership dues, sponsorships, and Mayfest. The existing bypass hasn't eliminated the truck traffic from the downtown, and although there may be a dip in the overall traffic after the eastern bypass leg has opened, ultimately the atmosphere will be improved which will help the downtown to be a tourist destination point. The BBC has 230 members, 70 volunteers, and 6 focus committees. Sharyn Brush moved and Chris Oldham seconded to accept the Better Bennington Corporation Annual FY12 Budget as presented. The motion carried unanimously. 6. RECLAIMING ROADS DISCUSSION On June 16, 2011, a letter went out to the residents that would be affected by the Town's consideration of the option to "Reclaim" the following roads: Niles Road, Middle Pownal Road (South of Fuller Road to the Pownal line), and Pleasant Valley Road. Mr. Hurd explained that reclaiming is a less expensive way to improve the road condition of a little traveled paved road that needs to be brought back to the proper profile and smooth condition. The process, itself, is a giant rotor tiller that grinds up the existing blacktop and some gravel, is then graded, rolled and spread with liquid calcium chloride to lock together the top road surface and to keep dust to a minimum. This treatment would also need to be done if, and when, they were to be repaved at a later date. Board questions to Mr. Joly were as follows: * Can anything be done to the potholes short of bringing the grader out to the site? There is a patching process that can be done in the interim. * If you have both dirt and pavement on the same road, does it require two different winter maintenance processes? Yes, we need sand for the dirt road and salt for the paved road. * How much of Pleasant Valley Road would be reclaimed? All of it. * What is the annual maintenance cost of a reclaimed road? We haven't seen a reclaimed road through a whole year. The roads that have been reclaimed were done in preparation for paving. We grade our gravel roads twice a year but may be able to get by with once a year on a reclaimed surface. * How long would it take to grade Pleasant Valley Road if it was reclaimed? One person about four hours. * How much money do we receive from the State? Mr. Hurd answered $52,000/quarter. * Do we meet the State requirements of 15" of gravel on the road? No, these requirements are for major reconstruction and/or new road construction. We are just resurfacing an existing road. * The reclaiming that was done on Murphy Road is a substantial improvement over what was there before. * Is there a weight limit on agricultural trucks? No. Comments from Mr. Barry Horst - Pleasant Valley Road: * Murphy Road was reclaimed in early spring, was graded then, and was graded again in June. Photos show that there are already potholes on it as of last Sunday. * Dust is "unmerciful" on a dirt road. * Washboards, potholes, stones through car windows, stones on lawns, and snowplow damage in the winter are all issues with dirt roads. * The environmental friendliness of calcium chloride is a subject of debate. * Even though the original cost of reclaiming is less, the hidden maintenance costs need to be considered, as well. * When it was a dirt road in past years, winter navigation of the hill was a serious issue. * All of the Pleasant Valley Road residents would rather see it remain as is than to have it reclaimed. * There is only a half a mile of Pleasant Valley Road that is in bad shape. * The State counts on Pleasant Valley Road just before Christmas showed 260 average daily trips. A road isn't considered busy until there are at least 400 average daily trips. Christmas tree customers would add around 3,000 to that count for about a three-week period. The agricultural truck traffic is not taken into consideration either, and the rule of thumb is one truck = 500 cars. Comments from Mr. Jim Horst - Pleasant Valley Road: * He is maintaining an open mind and, as a taxpayer, is appreciative of the Board considering less expensive alternatives, however, is not yet convinced that reclaiming is the solution. Comments from Mr. Leon Jacobs - Pleasant Valley Road: * He doesn't see the sense in ripping up the whole road when only 20% needs work. Comments from Mr. Steve McClure - Pleasant Valley Road: * It would seem that other towns have already tried this and perhaps we could learn from their experiences. * He believes that most of the residents of Pleasant Valley Road would rather see nothing done than have it reclaimed. Additional Board questions/comments: * The Board is voting on the reclaiming process as a program and not just for these three roads, correct? Mr. Hurd: Yes. * If it doesn't work, can we guarantee to the residents that it will be "put back"? Mr. Hurd: That is a budgetary decision that only the Board can make. Staff is offering another option that will improve the surface that presently exists on certain roads. It may work on some and not on others, and if it isn't working, then we will come back to the Board with other options. * Would like to see Niles Road - the worst road out of the three - used as a test road to see how it works before doing other roads. * If the residents are happy with nothing being done, then let's not do anything. * We are only deciding on the three roads that the procedure has been proposed for, and not necessarily setting a program for the future everywhere it may be applicable. * We have substantially more miles of road that are in need of repair than we have dollars for. * Is patching a happy medium of repair between reclaiming and paving? Mr. Joly: Patching breaks apart and doesn't hold up well enough. Mr. Joly would like to reclaim the portion of Pleasant Valley Road from the last house to the existing dirt road to see how a reclaimed road would hold up with that type of soil. There wouldn't be much car traffic but the agricultural vehicles do travel that section of road. * Were any of these roads scheduled to be blacktopped and then removed from the schedule to try reclaiming? Mr. Joly: Possibly Pleasant Valley Road but not the other two. * Are you aware of calcium chloride as a pollutant? Mr. Joly: We use sand and salt for winter maintenance and very little calcium chloride for the control of dust on dirt roads. It has been recognized as an environmental pollutant. It was the consensus of the Board to reclaim the following roads: Niles Road Middle Pownal Road (South of Fuller Road to the Pownal line) Pleasant Valley Road from the last house to the existing dirt road (about .4 miles) 7. LEVEE CERTIFICATION PROPOSAL Mr. Monks explained that, in December 2010, the Town signed a Provisionally Accredited Levee Agreement (PAL) with FEMA regarding the Corps of Engineers levee in the vicinity of the High School. Under the PAL Agreement, the Town agreed to attempt to certify that the levee meets or exceeds federal design and construction standards - provided the Town has sufficient funds - to do so, by December 2012. If the levee is not certified by then, a large number of properties in Bennington not currently within the floodplain will be included in the updated 100-year floodplain. Milone & MacBroom (M&M), an engineering firm from Shelburne, VT, has already determined that the levee has adequate freeboard (height above the 100-year flood elevation), which is the first step in the levee certification process. The net cost for this to the Town was $1,600 with the State paying the additional $8,800. The total cost for M&M to complete the certification process is $69,100 - significantly lower than the $170,000 estimate from another proposal. The Select Board has budgeted $35,000 in FY12 to begin the project with the additional $35,000 to be budgeted in FY13. By phasing the project in this manner the levee certification can be completed by the December 2012 deadline and the impact on the tax rate can be minimized. If a "fatal flaw" in the levee is discovered, we are under no obligation to complete the certification process, and therefore, would not be spending the entire budgeted amount. There are no guarantees that, several years down the road, FEMA will not require levee certification again. Matt Maroney moved and Sharyn Brush seconded to have M&M Engineering proceed with the Levee Certification work as presented for $69,100.00 as budgeted in FY12, and potentially, FY13. The motion carried unanimously. 8. MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Hurd circulated the Fairpoint pole permit to replace a pole on School Street for signatures. Mr. Hurd reported that the Town will receive more than $230,000 in Class II funding for work on Beech Street, as well as, Bridge and Culvert funding for work on the Coleville Bridge. To remain eligible for this funding, we must adopt the amended VTRANS New Town Road and Bridge Standards to include latest best practices for water quality management. Sharyn Brush moved and Chris Oldham seconded to adopt the VTRANS New Town Road and Bridge Standards as amended. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Hurd reported that the "value added" from the Town's 2-acre capped landfill parcel to the .5 acre Gabrus Houghton Lane parcel has been estimated by the Chief Assessor at $9,500.00. John Zink moved and Sharyn Brush seconded to offer to sell the Town's 2.0 acre capped landfill parcel on Houghton Lane to the abutting landowner for $9,500.00. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Hurd reported that we have raised or have pledges of $11,600 to add to the $3,000 the Town budgeted for the 4th of July fireworks. The sponsors are: Major Sponsors: Price Chopper, Casella Waste Management, Plasan North America, Walmart, Bennington Housing Authority, and the Town of Bennington. Additional Support From: Energizer, the Town of Woodford, Bank of Bennington, BCIC, Kelly Fuels/Quality Plumbing, Peckham Industries, TPW Management, Tyco Electronics, Prue Electric, and Robert Plunkett. Mr. Hurd reported that the Hunt Street Bridge project is moving forward with a slight increase in cost, which will have little affect on our 5% share. 9. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Zink reminded everyone that school is out and to be more mindful of the children on the street, as well as, to be safety conscious with the summertime camp fires. Mr. Krawczyk concurred. Mr. Oldham extended his sincerest condolences to the Sprague and Erickson families for their losses, and noted that there are several community events taking place on their behalf. Contact Mr. Oldham if you would like to attend or participate in any of these. Ms. Brush noted that People's Bank has a piece of steel from the Twin Towers that will be on display at the park during the month of July. Mr. Corcoran moved and Mr. Zink seconded to direct the Planning Commission to re-evaluate the zoning on the Johnson Control property and report back to the Select Board with their findings. The motion carried with Jason Morrissey, Matt Maroney and Sharyn Brush against. Mr. Krawczyk thanked everyone that worked on the Patriot Flag that will be displayed at Ground Zero on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy. 10. EXECUTIVE SESSION A.Real Estate B.Contract At 8:54 P.M., John Zink moved and Sharyn Brush seconded to go into Executive Session to discuss Real Estate and a Contract. The motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Nancy H. Lively, Secretary