Town of New Haven                                                                                    Back to Home

Town of New Haven Selectmen’s Meeting

7:00 pm Town Offices

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Present: Paul Audy, Burt Allen, Keith Hall, Pam Kingman

Others: Barb Torian, Claire Van Buren,  Wayne Marcelle, Roger Boise, Suzy Roorda, Al Karnatz, John Evers, Earl Bessette, Jeff Everest, Lanny Smith, Fred Napoleon, Tim Bouton

AGENDA RESULTS:

Read and approve minutes, make corrections if needed.

NEW BUSINESS:

Visitors Business

·        Barb Torian – Submitted a letter to the Selectboard in regards to her compensation package, she would like to discuss this with them. Paul Audy made a motion to table this until later in the evening when it can be discussed in executive session, seconded by Keith Hall. All agreed.

Barb Torian – Needs clarification on how many hours to pay Pam Kingman for vacation and holiday. Pam Kingman works an average of 35 hours a week this includes meetings and typing minutes. Paul Audy made a motion to pay Pam Kingman for 7 hours a day for vacation and holiday’s.

Barb Torian – Clarification on what to pay part time help for the Road Crew. Recently we had to have some extra help plowing because the last employee quit. Barb Torian said she just paid Jerry Currier $12.50 per hour. Paul Audy made a motion to pay Road Crew part time help $15.00 per hour, seconded by Burt Allen. All agreed.

·        Julie Olson Beeman Elementary – Written request for funds for Basketball Tournament Fees. The three New Haven basketball teams would like to participate in tournaments in Vergennes and Bristol. Total amount needed to participate is $40.00. Paul Audy made a motion to approve of the request, seconded by Burt Allen. All agree.

·        Town Wide Reappraisal – Request for Proposals: Draft Letter & Approved Appraisal Firms. The Lister’s would like to mail the Request for Proposal to every Firm on the list. The Lister’s would like the due date for the Proposal to be April 15, 2008. Keith Hall made a motion to accept the date and to go ahead and mail the Request for Proposal; seconded by Burt Allen. All agreed.

·        Road Crew Update – Price quote from Paul Choiniere for a body for the 1998 Plow Truck $12,030. No action taken.

Price quote from Arrowhead – for Tailgate Spreader: For Mild Steel $3,989.30 / For Stainless Steel $ 5,564.30. No action taken.

Salt Delivery – coming on Thursday February 21, 2008.

Nash Farm Bridge – Chris Brunelle, Stream Alteration Engineer from Vt. River Management Program, coming to inspect the Nash Bridge on Monday, February 25, 2008, will meet at the Town Shed @ 9:00 am.

• Lanny Smith – Wanted to go over the Warning with the Selectboard. He has been in contact with the Secretary of States office and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. Lanny Smith has received a few phone calls in regards to some of the Articles on the Warning, Article # 3 in particular which is about the Sidewalk Petition.  Mr. Smith said he was advised by VLCT to, “Move to postpone action to a date certain.” As Moderator, he must follow Rogers Rules and do what the voters tell him to do. Mr. Smith said he will try to explain everything the best he can so everyone understands, if the voters will allow it.

Articles # 9 & #10 also appear on the Beeman School Warning, these will need to be tabled indefinitely. They were inadvertently put on the ballot. He would like to postpone action on these two Articles immediately.

Article # 5 – Mt. Abraham School Director, reads 2 year term instead of 3 year term; this is just a typo but it will need to be stated publicly.

Lanny Smith said he has also been asked if the King House Vote can be postponed to later in the evening when there are more people present.

• Jeff Everest – Questioned the Road Crew using sand with rather large stones mixed in. Burt Allen explained that the Agency of Transportation suggested trying this method because of the lack of availability of road salt. Many motorists have complained they cannot get any traction, so this is what was suggested. Our road crew is doing it as a trial to see how it works.
• Suzy Roorda – Town Hall Applications: 1) Softball Pitching Clinic in the gym – For March 2008 Wednesdays & Fridays and every 2^nd & 4^th Saturday. Fee waived, contact is Lanny Smith. Paul Audy made a motion to extend the clinic dates, seconded by Keith Hall. All agreed. 2) Cub Scouts Pine Wood Derby to be held on Saturday, March 15, 2008 from 10 – 2 pm in the gym. Fee waived. Contact is James Bachand.  Burt Allen made a motion to approve the application, seconded by Paul Audy. All agreed.    3) Band Practice / Rehearsal – 2^nd & 4^th Sundays of each month from 11am -5 pm. Fee waived. Contact is Aaron Gingras. Paul Audy made a motion to approve the application, seconded by Burt Allen. All agreed.     4) Men’s Basketball – Every Saturday in March and April to be held in the gym from 4 – 6 pm. Fee waived. Contact is Glenn Lower. Paul Audy made a motion to approve the application, seconded by Keith Hall. All agreed.

5) Scapbooking – Meets on Mondays at 6:30 pm in the Cafeteria. Fee waived. Contact is Jodi Thompson. Keith Hall made a motion to approve the application, seconded by Paul Audy. All agreed.

• Suzy Roorda – Request for funds for Easter Candy for 2008 in the amount of $275.00. Easter Hunt will be held on Saturday, March 22, 2008 starting at 10 am. Receipts to be documented and given to the Town Treasurer.
• Wayne Marcelle – Received a call from the State Police roughly two weeks ago about an intoxicated female they had arrested on Route 7. The woman had to go to detox, she had a dog in her car that needed to be taken care of. Mr. Marcelle brought the dog to the Addison County Humane Society and left a note on the dogs kennel that he was the contact person. The following morning he received a phone call from a very irate person from the Humane Society telling him they don’t accept seized dogs, only strays. Mr. Marcelle is extremely frustrated with the Humane Society in Addison County. Each year we pay them $500 for a contract that he feels the Town is not getting the service we are paying for. The Humane Society repeatedly do not collect the fees and just release the dogs back to the owner.  Wayne Marcelle would like to consider looking into other holding facilities, like Chittenden County or the Town of Bristol. Mr. Marcelle has even considered adding an addition to his barn to hold dogs, but he is in the center of Town and barking dogs can be a nuisance. There was a discussion about hiring an assistant Dog Warden to help Wayne Marcelle when he is not available.  Mr. Marcelle agrees this would be a huge help to him if we could find someone. Keith Hall made a motion to have Wayne Marcelle look into other holding facilities, seconded by Burt Allen. All agreed.

Wayne Marcelle – Pam Kingman has written a letter to the Vermont State Police Release of Reports in Waterbury to request a report on the dog incident between Roger Sturtevant and Nick Liberio, it needs to be accompanied with a check for $20.

Wayne Marcelle – The Town needs to update the leash law to include all the Town’s property and Beeman Elementary School. No action taken.

Wayne Marcelle – Would like to have two members of the Selectboard come in early Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 8:00 am to meet with Charles Pelsue from Brownell’s in regards to replacement windows for the gym. Keith Hall and Burt Allen will both attend.

• Al Karnatz – Development Review Board - Two members of the Selectboard have already signed the Resolution, it is now legal document. Paul Audy agrees the original Resolution stands. To remove someone from the board you have to show just cause, the terms are fairly short so if someone is interested, they will get their turn. Paul Audy made a motion to sign the Resolution with the original names on it, seconded by Keith Hall. All agreed.

MISC. CORRESPONDENCE:

• Deppman & Foley – Modification of By-laws – Request of Stephen and Marcia Dupoise
• State of Vermont Dept. of Taxes  -  Final Reconciliation of April 1, 2007 Grand List

REGULAR BUSINESS:

• Overweight Permit

TREASURER’S REPORT:

• Sign pay orders
• Pay bills

OLD BUSINESS:

Paul Audy made a motion to move into Executive Session to discuss a Personnel matter at 8:50 pm, seconded by Keith Hall. All agreed. Burt Allen made a motion to come out of Executive Session at 9:20 pm, seconded by Paul Audy. All agreed.

Paul Audy made a motion to pay full benefits for the Town Treasurer for the remainder of her term, seconded by Burt Allen. The vote was two in favor and one against.

Adjourn: 8:45 pm

Respectfully Submitted

Pam Kingman