Unapproved Minutes
Braintree Selectboard Meeting
September 7, 2021 at 6:00 pm
“In accordance with the cancellation of the State of Emergency Order by Governor Scott the meeting will be held both in-person and via conference call to follow Vermont’s Open Meeting Law. The meeting can be accessed at the scheduled time by calling 802-210-4472.”
Present at the Town Office:
Megan O’Toole, Selectboard Chairperson Daniel Burson, Selectboard Vice Chairperson
Charles McMeekin, Selectboard Member Loren Bent, Selectboard Member Keegan Haupt, Selectboard Member Janice Russell, Administrative Assistant Dylan Pratt, Road Foreman
Guest: John Smith from J.L. Smith Excavating
Present via Teleconference Call:
Nancy Burchfield, Braintree Citizen
Ms. O’Toole called the meeting to order at 6:01pm. A roll call was done to confirm what members and citizens were in attendance via teleconferencing.
The Board reviewed the agenda with Ms. O’Toole and Dylan Pratt adding Peth Road Culvert Project under the Highway Report.
On motion of Mr. McMeekin, seconded by Mr. Haupt, the Board unanimously approved the minutes from the Regular Selectboard Meeting on August 17, 2021.
Citizens comments are limited to 3 minutes per person with a 15-minute maximum –
- Discussion on ARPA Funding – There were no citizens in attendance to discuss the ARPA Funding Allocation and spending. Nancy Burchfield called in to listen to the discussion but had no input for the conversation. A Braintree Citizen, Sharon Liebert, sent an e-mail to Ms. O’Toole led off the discussion by reading an e-mail from a Braintree citizen with suggestions to use the funding to:
1) Upgrade/improve the ventilation system in the school. Or, as an alternative, install high quality air cleaners in all classrooms and other student & staff-used spaces.
2) Assure that all sections of Braintree have EC Fiber cable installed and ready/available” at the road/street” for immediate hook-up to any homes that might need it in the future.
These suggestions, along with the ideas to use some of the funding to digitize the Town Records and to install stronger Cyber Security Protection on the Town Computers and Server were discussed. This topic will continue to be discussed at upcoming Selectboard Meetings until a decision has been made on how to spend the funds.
Reports
- Highway Report – Mr. Pratt reported that there was a significant amount of money left from the two Peth Road Culvert project grants that he plans to use to place a larger culvert at another Peth Road location. The Grantors have already approved the use of the funds for this project. Mr. Pratt received a bid from E.E. Packard Enterprises, Inc. for $20,380.00 and J.L. Smith Excavating for $3,225.00 to complete the project.
On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. McMeekin, the Board unanimously accepted the J.L. Smith Excavating bid of $3,225.00 to complete the Peth Road Culvert Project.
Mr. Pratt stated that all dealers contacted priced the new hydro seeder around $4,000 but none of the dealers were interested in taking the TurfMaker Tailgate Mulcher in trade. Mr. Pratt will proceed with the purchase of the hydro seeder as approved at the last Selectboard meeting and The Town will place the mulcher for sale on Front Porch Forum, Craigslist, FB page etc.
The Highway Crew continue to do the ditch, drainage, and culvert work on Hockman Hill Road.
- ECFiber Representative Report – There has been movement at ECFiber in the creation of a side branch that will aid potential customers in locating funding assistance to help allay the cost of the drop/hook up to the system and to pay for monthly service.
Old business
- COVID 19 Update – The State reported that the infection rate was lower than the previous week.
- Changing Locks to Keypads/Number Pads Entry – After a brief discussion on the possible cost of changing to keypads it was decided that there is no real need at this time to change the locks.
- New Website Update – Mses. Brassard, O’Toole and Russell will be attending another tutoring session on Thursday. The plan is for the new website to go live during the week of September 13th – 17th.
- Agenda Posting Sites – This topic was tabled until the next meeting so possible locations can be located.
New business
- Hiring a Town Hall Cleaner – Ms. Russell will continue the process of hiring a Town Hall Cleaner.
Executive Session to discuss personnel matters pursuant to 1 V.S.A. Section 313 (a)(3).
On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. Bent, the Board unanimously voted to enter an Executive Session at 7:13 P.M. for a discussion of personnel matters pursuant to 1 V.S.A. Section 313 (a)(3).
At 7:32 p.m. the board came out of the Executive Session with no action taken at this time that required a vote.
Payment orders – The Selectboard reviewed the Payment Orders.
On motion of Mr. Bent, seconded by Mr. McMeekin, the Board unanimously approved the payment orders.
Adjournment
On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. Haupt, the Board unanimously adjourned the meeting at 7:32 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice R. Russell
Administrative Assistant
