Friday, October 9, 2009

Present:        Selectboard Members: Heidi Scheuermann, Richard Marron, Paco Aumand; Town Manager Charles Safford, PW Director Justin Rabidoux

Ms. Scheuermann called the meeting to order at 8 am.

Award Mountain Road Sidewalk Construction Project STP EH (06)8 – On October 7, 2009 bids were received:

Salvas Inc               $165,460

J. Hutchins             $174,800

Engineers Const.     $235,000

DuBois Const.         $242,845

The contract requires work on the Mountain Road portion of the project to be complete by November 27, 2009 with the remainder of the project (Weeks Hill Road) having a completion date of June 30, 2010.

On a motion by Mr. Marron, seconded by Mr. Aumand the Board awarded the construction contract for the Mountain Road Sidewalk project (STP EH(06)8) to Salvlas, Inc. in the amount of $165,460.

There being no further business to conduct, Ms. Scheuermann adjourned the meeting.

Minutes respectfully submitted by S. Moeck.

SITE WALK –          The Board met at the Sterling Gorge Parking lot and conducted a site visit of the portion of Sterling Valley Road and Maple Run Lane to be reclassified to town trails in accordance with 19 V.S.A. § 709. Present at the site walk were Selectboard Members Scheuermann, Marron, Lackey, Aumand and Williams; Town Manager Charles Safford; Planning Director Tom Jackman; Brian Adams and Susan Moeck.

Ms. Scheuermann called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm and Selectboard Orders were signed. 

Present: Selectboard Members Scheuermann, Marron, Lackey, Aumand and Williams; Town Manager Charles Safford; Planning Director Tom Jackman; ZA Rich Baker; Brian Adams; David Jaqua, Ken Biedermann, Reporter Lisa McCormack, GM Ellen Burt, Denise Gutstein, Ed French, Barbara Allaire, Michael Diender, Adam Davis, Paul Reed

On a motion by Mr. Aumand, seconded by Mr. Marron, the Board approved the Agenda as presented.

A.       Award Salt Contract – acknowledged purchase of 400 tons of winter salt from Cargill Deicing Technologies at $60.45 per ton and award Barrett Trucking at $65.65 per ton the salt contract from 11/15/09 through the remainder of the 2009-10 season.

C.       Errors & Omissions – Atkins; Halvorsen

On a motion by Mr. Aumand, seconded by Mr. Williams the Board approved the Consent Items as presented.

A.       PR Squad Corp – 1^st Class Restaurant License – 311 Mountain Road - On a motion by Mr. Aumand, seconded by Mr. Williams the Board approved the Liquor Consent item as presented.   Mr. Marron abstained.

Proposed Road Reclassification Portions of Maple Run Lane and Sterling Valley Road – At 5:35 pm Ms. Scheuermann opened the public hearing for comment. 

There being no comments from the public, Ms. Scheuermann closed the public hearing. 

Concerns from the Board included liability issues due to conditions on portions of the roads, required Class 4 road maintenance, penting vs. reclassifying and taking away an asset.

On a motion by Mr. Marron, seconded by Mr. Williams, the Board approved the reclassification of portions of Maple Run Lane (Town Highway #7) and Sterling Valley Road (Town Highway #6) from Class 4 town highways to town trails.   Mr. Marron, Mr. Williams and Mr. Lackey voted in favor. Mr. Aumand and Ms. Scheuermann opposed.

If the Board approved the reclassification of portions of TH 6 & 7 to trails, the Stowe Snowmobile Club requested that the Board consider the installation of two gates at those locations to help keep vehicle traffic off the trails. Adam Davis, representing the Club, stated that they were already maintaining the trails and bridges which they built and would purchase, install and maintain the gates if approved. 

On a motion by Mr. Marron, seconded by Mr. Lackey, the Board approved the installation of the gates at the locations requested with the Stowe Snowmobile Club/VAST paying for and installing the gates. Mr. Marron, Mr. Lackey, Ms. Scheuermann and Mr. Williams voted in favor. Mr. Aumand opposed. 

There was discussion between the Board, representatives of Stowe Electric, Mr. Biedermann and Mr. Jaqua regarding the 9/24/09 letter of concerns from Mr. Jaqua and Mr. Biedermann. Stowe Electric GM Ellen Burt said she and the Electric Commissioners share their concern as to the future of Stowe Electric and they continually pursue efforts at ascertaining the appropriate direction for the future. She said there were other areas of concerns expressed in the letter that may be due to misinterpretation of some of the utilities’ data.   Mr. Jaqua and Mr. Biedermann suggested that the Town hire a consultant to analyze possible scenarios for Stowe Electric such as remaining as a stand alone municipally owned utility; working jointly or combining with other municipals in the region or selling to a private utility. 

There was consensus from the group and the Selectboard encouraged that a rapport be established and open dialogue take place in the near future between representatives of Stowe Electric and Mr. Jaqua and Mr. Biedermann and the group they represent. 

Zoning Fee Policy & Fee Amendments

ZA Rich Baker presented a proposed policy to establish rules and procedures related to the adoption of zoning fees along with a revised fee schedule. He noted that zoning fees had not been adjusted since 2003. 

There was concensus of the Board to remove the policy to automatically adjust fees for inflation every two years. 

Mr. Williams seconded by Mr. Marron, the Board approved the fees and fee policy as revised. The new fee sc

Public Hearing – DraftTown Plan

Pursuant to 24 VSA Chapter 117 the          Selectboard will receive public comment on the

proposed draft 2009 Stowe Town Plan.

Ms. Scheuermann opened the public hearing at 6:36 pm for comments. There being no

public comment, she closed the hearing at 6:37.

The final public hearing will take place on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 6:30 pm at the Stowe

At 6:53 pm on a motion by Mr. Williams, seconded by Mr. Aumand, the Board went into executive session with the Town Manager in attendance.

The Board came out of executive session at 7 pm. No action was taken.

There being no further business to conduct, Ms. Scheuermann adjourned the meeting at 7 pm. 

Minutes respectfully submitted by S. Moeck.

Present:        Selectboard Members: Heidi Scheuermann, Larry Lackey, Norm Williams, Dick Marron, Paco Aumand; Town Mgr Charles Safford; Planning Dir. Tom Jackman; Zoning Administrator Rich Baker; ACO Elizabeth Rankin

Others Present:        Paul Reed, Andrea Hamor, Peg & Bob Wadds, Howard Levine, Katherine Sundstrom, Evelyn Frey, Reporter Lisa McCormack, Eric Annacone, Melissa Laporte, Abby Sherman, Kristin Morgan, Sydney Amzynkai, Jessica Cardar, Samantha Purnell, Charlotte Haab, Ian Anderson, Dan Bak, Kevin Kohlmorgen, Josh Merson, Abel German

Chair Scheuermann called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm and Selectboard Orders were signed.

Mr. Marron made a motion to approve the Agenda as presented, seconded by Mr. Williams. Motion carried.

Minutes - Mr. Marron made a motion to approve the Consent Items as presented, seconded by Mr. Williams. Motion carried.

Hamor’s Dog – Bailey – The Board reviewed information from the Stowe Animal Control Officer indicating that Brian and Andrea Hamor’s dog Bailey (license #09-524) has been caught twice and received two tickets for running at large since you ordered the dog to “be physically restrained when it is outside.” To the ACO’s knowledge, Bailey has not bitten another animal or person since the 2/9/09 Dog Hearing. The Hamor’s agreed to A “Last Chance Agreement” agreeing to voluntarily install an invisible electric fence within thirty (30) days to help ensure the dog is not running at large and also agreed that “at anytime the dog is running at large and issued a ticket for such an offence, they will voluntarily remove the dog from their home by giving it to another responsible party or having it humanely destroyed within ten (10) days of the date of issuance.”

Mr. Marron made a motion to approve the Last Chance Agreement and continue the Order to have Bailey physically restrained when outside, seconded by Mr. Williams. Motion carried.

On a motion by Mr. Williams, seconded by Mr. Marron, the Board went into executive session at 5:50 pm with ZA Rich Baker and TM Charles Safford in attendance. 

Mr. Baker left executive session at 6:05 pm.

The Board came out of executive session at 6:15 pm and the following motions were made:

Mr. Williams made a motion, seconded by Mr. Marron, to approve the proposed settlement for Project 4068 and to deposit the money into the Zoning Dept. miscellaneous revenue account. Scheuermann, Marron, Lackey and Williams voted in favor. Aumand opposed.

Mr. Marron made a motion seconded by Mr. Lackey to authorize the Town Manager to sign an employee separation agreement as discussed in executive session, subject to signature by the employee. Motion carried.

Proposed Regional Transportation Authority – Chris Cole, manager of GMTA/CCTA told the Board that the two organizations have been discussing ways to make the organizations work more efficiently and effectively for customers and taxpayers. He said a joint committee has been formed to proposed a reorganization of the two entities into a single entity called a Regional Transportation Authority.  The organizations have introduced H.457 which would enable the creation of regional public transportation authorities. Mr. Cole further explained that the RTA budget would be approved by the Commissioners and the assessment required for each community would then be placed in their municipal budgets. Under the bill the assessment formula is developed and approved by the Board.

The Selectboard indicated that they supported the concept of the reorganization however cautioned Mr. Cole regarding the assessment policy. Ms. Scheuermann stated that the Board would not be in favor and would not consider tying the fee assessment to the grand list to be incorporated in the town tax bill.

Mr. Cole said he would keep the Board informed of future developments.

Final Public Hearing – DraftTown Plan

Ms. Scheuermann opened the Public Hearing at 6:32 pm pursuant to 24 VSA Chapter 117 to receive public comment on the proposed draft 2009 Stowe Town Plan. 

Ms. Frey thanked the Planning Commission for their inclusion of the Stowe Theatre Guild in the Plan. She asked if reference of the the St. John’s Episcopal Church building could be changed to WestBranchSchool building (former St. John’sChurch). She also requested that mention of

the 1839 Congregational Church be included in the Plan.  

The Board noted that review of the building was to be included in the Master Plan for Memorial Park and therefore was not included the Plan.

Mr. Lackey thought there should be mention that a “decision” of what should be done with the building should be included in the Plan.   Board members agreed.

The Board was thanked for their references to energy conservation, transit support, extension of the rec path and developing recreational resources. 

Ms. Scheuermann passed those thanks onto the Planning Commission members.   Ms. Scheuermann closed the public hearing.

The Board thanked Mr. Jackman and the Planning Commission members for all their hard work and thorough review process. 

Mr. Aumand made a motion to adopt the Town Plan as amended. Mr. Marron seconded. Motion carried.

There being no further business to conduct, Ms. Scheuermann adjourned the meeting. 

The Board then attended the Special Town Meeting and Public Informational Meeting at 7 pm in the High School Auditorium. 

Minutes respectfully submitted by Susan Moeck.