Holly Jarvis

Selectboard Minutes – December 4, 2018

 Selectboard Minutes
Dec 072018
 

Unapproved Minutes

Braintree Selectboard Meeting

December 4, 2018

Present:

Megan O’Toole, Selectboard Chair Holly Jarvis, Admin. Assistant

Richard Bowen, Selectboard Member Jeff Masterson, Road Commissioner

Keegan Haupt, Selectboard Member

Daniel Burson, Selectboard Member

Loren Bent, Selectboard Member

 

Ms. O’Toole called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.

 

The Board reviewed the agenda. They added a discussion about Town Meeting planning.

 

On motion of Mr. Bowen, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved the November 20, 2018 minutes.

 

Citizen’s comments: none.

 

Reports

  • The Board discussed the Highway Report. Mr. Bent will get information about a hydro-seeder. Mr. Masterson will get information about a straw thrower.

 

Old business

  • Phone system update: Mr. Caulfield is working on tracking down the problems with the new phone system.  
  • There was no new information about the Town Office projects.
  • The Board discussed the budget planning.
    • The Board discussed the gravel budget.

 

New business

  • Ms. O’Toole updated the Board on the status of Town Meeting planning, and the Town Report planning.

 

On motion of Mr. Burson, seconded by Mr. Haupt, the Board unanimously approved the payment orders.

 

On motion of Mr. Bowen, seconded by Mr. Bent, the Board unanimously adjourned the meeting at 7:00pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Holly Jarvis

Limited Town Clerk Hours – December

 News
Nov 302018
 

The Braintree Town Clerk’s office will be open limited hours for the month of December.  They should be open December 3-5 from 9-4, December 11th and 18th from 8-12 and closed the week of Christmas, reopening January 2nd.

If you have something of a time sensitive nature, please call 802-728-9787 x6 and speak with Holly.  We will try to accommodate you.

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Jessie

Selectboard Minutes – November 20, 2018

 Selectboard Minutes
Nov 302018
 

Approved Minutes

Braintree Selectboard Meeting

Nov. 20, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.

 

Present:

Megan O’Toole, Selectboard Chair                          Tom Cooch, Conservation Commission Chair

Richard Bowen, Selectboard Member                                                        Bob Moyer, DRB Chair

Daniel Burson, Selectboard Member                                                        Jessie Brassard, Treasurer

Loren Bent, Selectboard Member                                           Jeff Masterson, Road Commissioner

Kegan Haupt, Selectboard Member                                                 Holly Jarvis, Admin. Assistant

 

Ms. O’Toole called the meeting to order at 5:58 pm.

 

The Board reviewed the agenda, adding a discussion about the payment for the new truck under the Highway Report, and an inquiry from ORCA media service under new business.

 

On motion of Mr. Haupt, seconded by Mr. Bowen, the Board unanimously approved the minutes from November 7, 2018.

 

Citizen’s comments – none.

 

Reports

  • Moyer provided the semi-annual report for the Development Review Board.
  • Cooch reported on the Conservation Commission’s finding regarding the Emerald Ash Borer. They have surveyed a portion of Braintree’s roads and estimated that there are between 2,500 and 3,000 ash trees in the right of way of the Town roads. They estimate that if 40% of those trees are cut down it would cost around $485,000. If 10% of them are cut down it would cost $120,000. They anticipate ash tree will start dying in Braintree around five years from now, with 90% of the ash trees dying within five years of that. They also indicated that they are not aware of any “heritage” ash trees within the right of way of Braintree’s roads. The Commission did provide some insight into options, but did not make a recommendation.
  • Masterson provided the Highway Report.
    • Brassard talked with the Board about the status of the new truck loan.

Old business

  • We are continuing to try and find a solution to the problems with the phone system.
  • Town Office projects update:
    • Brassard talked about the status of the heat pumps.
  • Budget planning: wage adjustments will be discussed in executive session. The other lines are in progress.
    • The Board agreed to keep the health insurance the same as last year.

 

New business

  • ORCA asked if the Selectboard would be interested in having them record and air Braintree’s Selectboard meeting. The Board agreed to decline the offer.

 

On motion of Mr. Haupt, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved the payment orders.

 

On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved going into executive session to discuss employee matters in accordance with 1VSA section 313(a)(3).

 

On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. Haupt, the Board unanimously adjourned the meeting at 7:35 pm.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Holly Jarvis

Selectboard minutes – November 7, 2018

 Selectboard Minutes
Nov 092018
 

Approved Minutes

Braintree Selectboard Meeting

Nov. 7, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.

 

Present:

Megan O’Toole, Chair of the Selectboard          Kris Haupt, Chair of the Cemetery Commission

Richard Bowen, Selectboard Member                                                           Jen Phipps, Resident

Keegan Haupt, Selectboard Member                                                 Linda Lubold, WRVA Rep.

Daniel Burson, Selectboard Member                                                      Jessie Brassard, Treasurer

Loren Bent, Selectboard Member                                       Holly Jarvis, Administrative Assistant

Chris Blanchard, Cemetery Commissioner

Ed Smith, Cemetery Commissioner

Jeff Masterson, Road Commissioner

Ms. O’Toole called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.

 

The Board reviewed the agenda: adding a letter from Vtrans under the highway report, removed the phone system from the agenda, and added a conversation with Ms. Phipps regarding the Town’s energy use, along with appointing a signer for the System for Award Management (SAM) letter designating the authorized Entity Administrator.

 

On motion of Mr. Haupt, seconded by Mr. Bowen, the Board approved the minutes of Oct. 16, 2018. Mr. Bowen, Mr. Haupt, and Mr. Bent voted to approve the minutes. Ms. O’Toole abstained because she was not in attendance of that meeting, and Mr. Burson had not yet arrived.

 

Citizen’s comments:

  • Kris Haupt asked about the number of part-time highway department members helping with the sand pile. Mr. Masterson advised that there had been three part-time people working on the sand pile. He indicated that this is normal.

 

Guests

  • Phipps advised that the Energy Dashboard wants to use information from Town’s energy bills. They also want information about improvements over the last 2 years. The Board agreed that they are welcome to that information. Ms. Phipps and Ms. Jarvis will work to get that information together.
  • Brassard advised that the audit when well.

 

Reports

  • Lubold advised that Randolph’s Town Manager, Mr. Adolfo Bailon, has contacted WRVA indicating that Randolph would like to see a major cut in costs to Randolph. He would like to see $115,000 cut from Randolph’s bill, which would mean that Randolph would be paying $40 per capita (down from the $63 per capita the member towns are currently paying). He estimated that if those cost were shifted to the remaining Towns they would be pay $77 per capita. He also estimated that if Randolph was to leave WRVA the remaining towns would end up paying $101 per capital.  He is going to be at the next WRVA meeting. He and the WRVA Board will discuss options.
  • Masterson provided the Highway Report.
  • The Board reviewed the letter from VTrans regarding the width of Farnsworth Brook Road, in preparation for the bridge replacement on Route 12. On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved replying to VTans by select the option that indicates that the ROW is 3 rods wide.
  • O’Toole reported on the meeting she went to regarding a joint recreational plan with Randolph, Brookfield, and Braintree. It seemed the idea was to pool money to expand the recreational opportunity for adults and teens in the area. Brookfield’s representative didn’t attend the meeting. Ms. O’Toole is waiting to see future correspondences but suspects that a venture with Randolph will not be beneficial to Braintree at this time.
  • Haupt provide a Cemetery Commission report: indicating that the budget for next year can be the same as last year. The Commission has appointed Mike Gaidys, and Kris Blanchard to fill the two open positions until Town Meeting. Mr. Haupt is the chair of the Commission again. The Commission has been talking with Mike Ferris about fencing in the undeveloped south end of Mountain Cemetery so he can let his cows graze there. This would let the land be used, and mean that the Town would not have to have it brush hogged annually. The Board agreed to support the Commission in their decision regarding fencing that unused portion of the Cemetery.

 

Old business

  • On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved the winter maintenance policy.
  • Town Office projects were discussed. The person from GMP has marked where the heat pumps should be placed. The electrician will be coming on Friday to see what will need to be done to install the heat pumps. The concerns about getting an on demand water heater for the office were resolved. One will be installed.
    • The regulator for the furnace at the Town Hall needs replacing, currently the heat from the kitchen is heating the entire building. The regulator will be replaced soon.
  • The Hydroseeder was tabled until the next meeting.
  • The budget was briefly discussed.
    • Health insurance was discussed.

New business

  • The Board reviewed the request for assistance from Randolph Region Re-Energized request for assistance. Contact information will be provided.
  • On motion of Mr. Haupt, seconded by Ms. O’Toole, the Board unanimously appointed Ms. O’Toole as the signer for the System for Award Management (SAM) letter designating the authorized Entity Administrator.

 

On motion of Mr. Bowen, seconded by Ms. O’Toole, the Board unanimously approved the payment order.

 

On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved going into executive session to discuss a personnel matter in accordance with 1 VSA section 313(a)(3).

 

On coming out of the executive session, there were no decisions.

 

On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. Haupt, the Board unanimously adjourned the meeting at 7:23 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Holly Jarvis

Selectboard Minutes – October 16, 2018

 Selectboard Minutes
Oct 192018
 

Approved Minutes

Braintree Selectboard Meeting

October 16, 2018

 

Present:

Richard Bowen, Selectboard member

Loren Bent, Selectboard member

Keegan Haupt, Selectboard member

Daniel Burson, Vice Chair of the Selectboard

Holly Jarvis, Admin. Assistant

Mr. Burson called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.

On motion of Mr. Bowen, seconded by Mr. Haupt, the Board unanimously approved the minutes of October 2, 2018.

Citizen’s comments: none

Reports

  • The Board reviewed the highway report. A separate sand pile for residents to use will be setup soon. Signs will be posted directing residents to not take sand from the big pile. This is for safety reasons.
    • On motion of Mr. Haupt, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved cutting brush back.
  • The financial report was discussed.

Old business

  • The winter maintenance policy was tabled.
  • The Town Office projects were discussed.
  • The Hydroseeder was tabled.

New business

  • On motion of Mr. Haupt, seconded by Mr. Bowen, the Board unanimously approved moving the Selectboard meeting from Nov. 6th to Wednesday, Nov. 7th at 6:00 pm.
  • The budget was discussed.

On motion of Mr. Bowen, seconded by Mr. Haupt, the Board unanimously approved the payment orders.

On motion of Mr. Bowen, seconded by Mr. Haupt, the Board unanimously adjourned the meeting at 6:27pm.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Holly Jarvis

Auditor Minutes – October 8, 2018

 Auditor Minutes
Oct 112018
 

Town of Braintree

Draft Auditors Meeting Minutes

October 8, 2018

 

Attendees:  Tom Cooch, Stephanie Barrett, Lin Brown

 

  1. Mr. Cooch called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m.

 

  1. No changes were made to the agenda.

 

  1. The minutes of the June 4, 2018 meeting were approved.

 

  1. Review work completed for FY19.

– General and Reserve Funds: Complete through FY18-Q4. Mr. Cooch reported that an end of year reallocation of interest may be required prior to doing the FY19-Q1 audit. Mr Cooch will ask the Town Administrator for clarification on the extent to which these Funds are operating funds.

 

– Accounts Payable: Done through FY18-Q3. Ms. Barrett will complete the audit for FY18-Q4 and do FY19-Q1.

 

– Payroll: Complete through FY18-Q4. Mr. Brown has updated the Employee List for FY19 and will do the FY19-Q1 audit.

 

– Grand List: Done annually at the end of Q2. OK for now.

 

– General Journal: Complete through FY18-Q4. Mr. Cooch will do the FY19-Q1 audit.

 

– State Payments: Done semi-annually. Complete through FY18-Q4.  Mr Brown will do the next one for FY19-Q1&Q2.

 

– Cash Receipts: In progress.  See discussion in section 5.a below.

  1. Audit Procedure Manuals.
  2. Cash

Mr. Cooch reported that attempting to match all the cash receipts with Town Clerk logs and bank deposits has been extremely tedious. Ms. Barrett suggested that because most of the transactions are small (about 50% are $10 or under) and it may be more effective to focus our audit attention on only the large transactions.  The data for FY18-Q3 & Q4 show that the largest 20% of the transactions (those of about $100 or more), comprise over 90% of the total cash receipts.  Further work on this procedure was tabled until our next meeting.

  1. State Payments

Mr. Cooch reported using the draft procedure for reconciling payments from the State of Vermont to the Town to do the FY18-Q3&Q4 audit. It worked well and he recommended that it be approved. It was unanimously voted to approve the procedure for future use.

 

  1. Taxes

Mr. Brown reported on progress for a two part procedure for auditing income from taxes. The part for verifying the process by which the tax rate is set is nearly complete. The part for checking that tax bills are generated correctly and that tax receipts are properly recorded and deposited are yet to be done.

 

  1. Other business

The audit responsibilities assigned to each individual auditor were reviewed.  No changes were made.

 

  1. Our next meeting will be scheduled at a convenient time in January 2019.

 

  1. The meeting was adjourned at 10:26 a.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Linfield C. Brown

Selectboard Minutes – October 2, 2018

 Selectboard Minutes
Oct 072018
 

Approved Minutes

Braintree Selectboard Meeting

Oct. 2, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.

 

Present:

Richard Bowen, Selectboard Member                                                  Linda Lubold, WRVA Rep

Megan O’Toole, Selectboard Chair                                                            Stuart Kinney, Resident

Keegan Haupt, Selectboard Member                      Matt Murawski, Re: Running race in Braintree

Daniel Burson, Selectboard Member            Zac Freeman, Re: B357- Braintree Bluegrass Brunch

Holly Jarvis, Admin. Assistance

Jeff Masterson, Road Commissioner

Jessie Brassard, Town Clerk

 

Ms. O’Toole called the meeting to order at 5:56 pm.

 

The Board reviewed the agenda adding lease land to the agenda under new business.

 

On motion of Mr. Haupt, seconded by Mr. Bowen, the Board unanimously approved the minutes from September 18, 2018.

 

Citizen’s comments

  • Kinney asked why J.L. Smith is doing the work at the old Dustin pit. Mr. Masterson explained that he had his excavator extracting the big trees. The Highway Department will be doing the rest of the work. Mr. Kinney also asked if the sand pile was going to be ready for winter. Mr. Masterson assured everyone that it will be.
  • Freeman and Mr. Murawski talked to the Board about combining a local running race with the Braintree 357. Some details were discussed. The Board agreed to the plan.
  • The winter parking lot for the RASTA trails was briefly talked about.
  • Brassard passed a few citizens comments along that she had heard from resident when they stopped in the office:
  • A person who works for VTrans mentioned the recent work along Braintree Hill Road by Sevigny’s looks really good.
  • Another resident mentioned a few things she would like to see on the website. She agreed to take a closer look at it and jot down her suggestions. Ms. Brassard will pass it along when she gets it.
  • Brassard suggested putting together a pages of positive citizens comments in the Town Report this year and Ms. O’Toole mentioned a training she when to which suggested ways to make a Town Report more interesting to residents. Town Meeting was briefly discussed. A group will be formed of those who are interested in planning both.

 

Reports

  • Lubold provide the semi-annual report for WRVA. Their Director was called up on active military duty, the Interim Director has been with the organization for quite some time, and working well. He is making some positive changes. They are running another EMT class, which is free for anyone is the service area.
  • Masterson provided the Highway Report.

 

Old business

  • Update on Health Order: Mr. Simpson signed for the Health Order on Sept. 24. It is likely he received the same notice by regular mail on Sept. 20th. The inspection of the other apartments is scheduled for Oct. 17th. It was discussed. The Board decided to talk more about it in executive session at the end of the meeting.
  • Winter maintenance policy was reviewed. The Board will review it again at the next meeting.
  • Phone system- Ms. O’Toole was able to talk with Mr. Knapp. The idea of changing the system so that the analog lines are the ones used first, instead of the voice over internet lines, was talked about. The caller ID will show the phone number called out on, not the main number to call, so that could cause confusion. It would cost about $100.00 for the switch over. A few more concerns were discussed. Ms. O’Toole will talk with Mr. Knapp again.
  • Town Office projects:
    • The trim is just about done.
    • Brassard talked with the Board about the piping which needs to be reorganized in the old furnace room and the possibility of changing out the hot water heater.
    • Brassard reported on the status of the paperwork for the heat pumps. On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board approved signing the Corporate Resolution.
    • Haupt recommended sealing the chimney. He noticed that it is growing moss.
  • Hydroseeder – tabled, waiting for information from Mr. Bent.

 

New business

  • O’Toole has reached out to the other Town Officials to start the budget process. She need to hear back from the conservation commission, cemetery commission and highway department.
  • Burson advised that the law recently changed regarding old Town Lease Land. The Town can release all of the lease land in town. The lease land will automatically be released in 2020. Mr. Burson will provide more information to the Board, at the next meeting.
  • On motion of Mr. Bowen, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved the payment orders.

 

On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved going into executive session under 1 VSA 313 1e.

On motion of Ms. O’Toole, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved coming out of executive session. No action taken.

 

On motion of Mr. Bowen, seconded by Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved adjourning the meeting at 7:45 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Holly Jarvis

Selectboard Meeting – Sept. 18, 2018

 Selectboard Minutes
Sep 212018
 

Approved Minutes

Braintree Selectboard Meeting

September 18, 2018

 

Present:

Megan O’Toole, Selectboard Chair                          Tom Cooch, Conservation Commission Chair

Richard Bowen, Selectboard Member                                    Jeff Masterson, Road Commissioner

Keegan Haupt, Selectboard Member                                               Holly Jarvis, Admin. Assistant

Daniel Burson, Selectboard Member

Loren Bent, Selectboard Member

 

Ms. O’Toole called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.

 

The Board reviewed the agenda: removing lease land and the phone system from the agenda, because there was nothing new regarding either subject.

 

On motion of Mr. Haupt, seconded by Mr. Bowen, the Board unanimously approved the minutes from September 4, 2018.

 

Citizen’s comments- none

 

Reports

  • Tom Cooch’s report of the Conservation Commission was about invasive species, vernal pools, and the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). The Conservation Commission will provide the Selectboard with an estimate of how much it will cost to take care of the ash trees in the right of way of the road as they die from the EAB. They may suggest setting up a reserve fund to cover the cost of cutting those trees. Ms. O’Toole suggested that the tree cutting policy should be reconsidered, to determine if, in light of the likelihood that a mass die off of ash trees will occur, any modifications should be made. She also indicated that perhaps the legislature will be reviewing the antiquated “public tree” laws, and making changes. Those changes will need to be taken into consideration.
  • Masterson provided the Highway Report: a few of the ongoing projects were discussed.

 

Old business

  • A letter was reviewed and will be sent regarding the cars parked in the road on West Street.
  • The winter maintenance policy was tabled until the next meeting.
  • Town Office projects
    • The status of the heat pumps was discussed. We are the first municipality going through Green Mountain Power’s program, and are running into some problems. It is unclear at this point if they will be resolved, or if a different funding mechanism will need to be selected.
  • O’Toole will be meeting with the Randolph Town Manager, a Selectboard Member from Brookfield, and the Recreational Manager, next week regarding joint recreational planning. She will be able to report on it at the next meeting.

 

  • New business
    • The hydroseeder was tabled.

 

  • On motion of Mr. Bowen, seconded Mr. Burson, the Board unanimously approved the payment orders.

 

  • On motion of Mr. Bowen, seconded by Mr. Bent, the Board unanimously adjourned the meeting.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Holly Jarvis

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