A meeting of the Hardwick Select Board was held on
Members Present Also Present
Richard Brochu Richard Bright Roger LeCours
Marcus Brown Derek Demers Town Manager Rob Lewis
M. Tod Delaricheliere Roger Demers Nancy Notterman
Kathleen
Hemmens Tom Gardener Steve Sampson
Robin Grant Judge Roy Vance
Debbie Howard Charles Volk
George Howard Sue Cross Chief Joe LaPorte
7:00 P.M. Meeting called to order by Marcus Brown
7:00 P.M. Approval of Public Hearing Minutes of
-Kathleen Hemmens made the motion to accept the Minutes, with amendments.
-Richard Brochu seconded the motion.
-Motion passed 4 yes, 1 abstention.
Approval
of Meeting Minutes of
-M. Todd Delaricheliere made the motion to accept the Minutes, with amendments.
-Richard Brochu seconded the motion.
-Motion passed unanimously.
-Town Manager Rob Lewis requested
that Items 3 and 4 on the agenda be reversed and that the decision on Petitions
for
-M. Todd Delaricheliere made the motion to accept the adjustments to the Agenda.
-Shari Cornish seconded the motion.
-Motion passed unanimously.
7:10 P.M. Communications from the Audience
-None
7:15 P.M. Town Energy Coordinator’s Report
-Nancy Notterman reported that:
-
-There are grant opportunities for the Town
-Clean energy grant from VPIRG
-Preliminary energy efficiency block grant
-Grant for energy audits for historical buildings in town
-Rob Lewis stated he has been in contact with an audit company to do an audit of town buildings.
-M. Todd Delaricheliere stated he wanted to wait for the results of the audit on the Library to see how good it was.
-Nancy Notterman stated:
-There may be a Technical
Assistance Grant available for the audit and the deadline was
-There was discussion about the
formation of a Clean Energy Assessment District. This would include the towns of Hardwick,
Craftsbury and
-Discussion ensued about the District. M. Tod Delaricheliere wanted to know if a town vote would be needed to form it. Nancy Notterman explained that at this point, a article would need to be put on the warning for the March 2010 Town Meeting to see if voters wanted the Select Board to pursue the matter. If the warning passed another article would have to be put on the March 2011 Town Meeting to see if voters would approve bonding for the cost of the District. She further stated that if the District was formed, loans would be available to home owners, in a manner similar to the current revolving loan fund for businesses, to perform energy efficient upgrades to homes. Rob Lewis stated that state rules and regulations would have to be followed.
7:38 P.M. Police Chief’s Department Report
-Chief Joe LaPorte reported that:
-Press Releases will continue to be sent to local newspapers. However, no sensitive information will be released that would adversely impact investigations.
-Interviews for police officer’s
positions have been completed. The top 3
candidates have been sent to take initials test in order to attend the
-The new officers will be signing a contract which states they must remain with the Hardwick Police Dept. for at least two years. If they leave prior to two years, they will have to pay back the money used for training and equipment.
-Then Explorer has been fitted with a cage so that it can be used by Atos on K-9 patrol. The Chief also expressed his thanks to the Road Crew for installing the unit, saving the town several hundreds of dollars on installation costs.
-He spoke with Lamoille Valley Ford about the new police vehicle. At this time they do not know when the vehicle will be available for delivery.
7:46 P.M. Town Public Works Foreman’s Report
-Town Manager Rob Lewis reported that:
-Upgrading on some roads has been completed.
-Upgrading has been stopped due to frozen roads.
-Pot holes have been filled on roads.
-The Road Crew has been working on:
-Maintenance on equipment.
-Shop cleaning.
-Library; removal of overgrown shrubs and kiosk.
-Town
House and
-Discussion ensued about the cost difference between using concrete instead of paving new side walks. It was determined there was not much difference and the concrete would last longer.
-Kathleen Hemmons asked why different railings were used on each side of the new bridge.
-Marcus Brown thanked Rob Lewis for all of his efforts and perseverance on the South End Water Project.
7:50 P.M. Town Manager’s Report
-Please see attached
-Judge Roy Vance was present to seek support of 17 towns for a resolution to keep the current courts the way they presently operate. He explained that the legislature want to eliminate 28 assistant judges and consolidate court houses due to declining judiciary revenue. Judge Vance stated that each county should have their own court house and the closure of these courts would seriously impact county government. He also felt that it would have an adverse impact on citizens, particularly in the Probate Court, when emergency decrees may be necessary. He also noted that all Court Houses are maintained by the county, with the exception of the one in St. Johnsbury, which is maintained by the State.
-After further discussion Marcus Brown said the Select Board would look at the issues and decide on the resolution at a later date.
8:17 P.M. Judge Roy Vance presents
-The Select Board and Judge Vance reviewed the budget. It was requested that a letter from the Judges and Sheriff be sent so it can be placed in the Town Report.
8:39 P.M. Approve revised Select Board Payment Policy
-Discussion ensued on the policy. The current policy is outdated due to the fact it was based solely on Thursday Select Board Meetings. It does not take into account the variety of other meetings the members of the Select Board have to attend. Also the new policy will include rules so the Board can penalize members who do not attend meetings. Marcus Brown requested that the word “committee” be changed to “committees / task forces”.
-M. Tod Delaricheliere made the motion to accept the Select Board Payment Policy.
-Shari Cornish seconded the motion.
-Motion passed unanimously.
***Tod Delaricheliere requesed himself from the deliberative session
and the vote on the Pent road, because he was not in attendance for
the hearing. ***
-Richard Brochu made the motion to go into Deliberative Session
-Shari Cornish seconded the motion.
-Motion passed unanimously.
-Howard Petition
-Shari Cornish made the motion to
deny the request to “throw up” the
-Richard Brochu seconded the motion.
-Motion passed unanimously.
-Demers Petition
-Kathleen Hemmens made the motion
to reclassify the
-Shari Cornish seconded the motion.
-Motion passed unanimously.
Pent Road – Reasons for Denial and Reclassification
Howards Petition
1.
Howard’s did not present sufficient reasons for
the Select Board to consider throwing up the
2.
The public good, necessity and convenience of
the inhabitants of the Town would not be well served by throwing up the
Demers Petition
1. The public good, necessity and convenience of the inhabitants of the Town was best served by this reclassification.
2. The road is an asset to the community that someday may be used more than it is today.
3. The road is the Towns only public access to lands owned by the Town.
4. The
safety of all users of the road was best served by re-classifying the
4 road.
9:45 P.M. Returned to regular session
-Results of Deliberative Session on
Petitions for the
A moment was taken to allow the
public to return to the Board Room.
Select Board Chair Marcus Brown called the meeting back to order for the
purpose of announcing the results of the Board’s deliberative session. Marcus announced that the board had voted
unanimously to deny the Howard’s petition to throw up the
Marcus also explained to those present that adequate time would be provided to the Howards in order for them to comply with the Select Board Order. Marcus used the example of maybe next spring.
9:50 P.M. Select Board Reports
-Shari Cornish reported that the Police Dept. is still looking for a place for a new facility.
-M. Tod Delaricheliere reported that the budget is pretty much hammered out. A meeting on the 3rd of December will review the Police, Road Crew and Administrative budgets and one on the 8th of De ember will review other items. He further stated the task force has streamlined the budge process, making it easier to handle at Select Board meetings.
-None
9:54 P.M. Old Business
-None
-Richard Brochu made the motion to adjourn.
-M. Tod Delaricheliere seconded the motion
-Motion passed unanimously.
Minutes approved by: Marcus Brown
Minutes taken by: Sue F. Cross