Unapproved Minutes

Braintree Selectboard Meeting

May 7, 2013

Present:

David Atkinson, Selectboard Member                                                          Janice Thresher, Resident

Loren Bent, Selectboard Member                                                                      Brian Jones, Resident

Tim Caulfield, Selectboard Chair                                                                                   Nancy Davoll,

Linda Doane, Selectboard Member                                Chair of the Emergency Response Committee

Paul Kendall, Selectboard Member                                            Christine and Terry Damm, Residents

                                                                                                                     Walter Palmer, Resident              Holly Jarvis, Administrative Assistant

                                                                                                      Jeff Masterson, Highway Foreman

Mr. Caulfield called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm.

On motion of Mr. Kendall, seconded by Mr. Caulfield, the board unanimously approved the minutes of April 16, 2013.

On motion of Mr. Kendall, seconded by Mr. Atkinson, the board unanimously approved the minutes of April 30, 2013, as corrected.

Guests

·        Ms. Davoll talked to the board about the Pre-Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Emergency Response Committee has been working with Sam and Emma from Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission to update the plan. Ms. Davoll had provided the board with some of the paper work. The main item discussed was whether the town wants to get involved in bank stabilization to protect private property. It was agreed that private property should be the owners responsibility and the town should not get involved unless the bank stabilization is necessary to protect the roads. It was also noted that a guardrail along route 12A to protect the town’s diesel fuel tank was in the old plan, but one has not been installed. The board asked Mr. Masterson to consider the guardrail when determining what budgetary requests to ask for in the next fiscal budget (FY15).

Citizens’ Comments

·        Christine and Terry Damm of Bent Hill asked if the town could do something about their neighbors burning trash on Bent Hill Road. Mr. Bent will look into it as Assistant Fire Warden.

·        The Damm’s also asked if the town was aware of the condition of the bridge by their house on Bent Hill Road. The town is aware of it. A hydraulic study has been requested and the town is planning to request a state grant to fix it.

Reports

• Highway Report:
  • The board reviewed the information, provided by Mr. Masterson about the options with the purchase of a backhoe. The backhoe that Mr. Masterson recommended was the 420F IT Caterpillar. On motion of Mr. Kendall, seconded by Mr. Atkinson, the board unanimously approved the purchase of the 420F IT Caterpillar for $104,000 with an extended warranty of $6,000. Mr. Masterson advised that there was $115,000 budgeted for the purchase of the backhoe, and there wasn’t money budgeted for maintenance of the piece of equipment. He asked if the difference between the budget and the purchase price could be used for maintenance. On motion of Mr. Atkinson, seconded by Mr. Caulfield, the board unanimously approved moving the $5,000 to the maintenance line for the backhoe.
  • Green up day is done. The crew picked up about 30 green bags, and have about 100 tires, and the dumpster is just about full.
  • MSHA (Miner Safety Health Association) training and flagger training is done. One of the things we learned is that MSHA/OSHA can show up at anytime and if someone is in the pit who has not had proper training the town can be fined. Mr. Jones asked if that means he needs to stay out. It does.

Old Business

·        We have not heard about the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program – 2044 Thayer Brook Road Appeal.

·        No action needed for the Town Hall repairs.

·        Mr. Bent has called the town attorney about the deed modification for the Radio Repeater siting.

·        Mr. Caulfield talked to the property owners of the Deyette House. They are planning to tear down the house. It will take time because they are doing it themselves.

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  • On motion of Mr. Kendall, seconded by Mr. Atkinson, the board unanimously approved asking the Planning Commission to look at and make an assessment as to how many buildings might be affected by a derelict building ordinance, and the potential costs to the town.
• Mr. Kendall provided the board with an update about the Capital Budget Planning; he has met with a number of committees, and officials.

·        Mr. Masterson is not ready to provide suggested rates for the Rochester Hollow plowing yet. It was tabled.

·        Mr. Kendall has reviewed the rental policy and procedures for the rental of the Town Hall. He had a couple of editorial changes. This item is complete.

·        The board tabled the Conflict of Interest Statement for Trustee of Public Funds, the Financial Policy # 8 – Redux, and reporting of Public Funds.

·        The board approved and signed the Delegation of Authority for FY14.

New Business

·        The bids were opened and reviewed for engineering of the Upper Lemery Bridge.

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  • The bids were tabled as opened; there were two of them; one was from Lefavour P.C. for a maximum of $27,000 and the other one was Dubois & King for $49,000. They were both quite a lot higher than what FEMA had allowed for. We will check with Mary Andes, at the State, before accepting the lowest bid, or going out to bid again.

·        The board decided to divide the packets of payment orders so that every board member would review some but not all of the checks.

·        On motion of Mr. Caulfield, seconded by Mr. Atkinson, the board approved AoT’s Annual Financial Plan.  

Other Business

• Ms. Doane brought up a concern about the Fire Warden’s availability. He has had health issues for a number of years now. Mr. Bent will talk to Jay Lackey at the State.

The Executive session to discuss personnel reviews for Ms. Jarvis and Mr. Masterson was tabled.

On motion of Mr. Atkinson, seconded by Mr. Kendall, the board unanimously approved the payment orders.

On motion Ms. Doane, second Mr. Atkinson, the board unanimously adjourned the meeting. Adjournment was at 7:52pm

Respectfully submitted,

Holly Jarvis, Administrative Assistant

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