OFFICE OF THE SELECTBOARD
TOWN OF HALIFAX, VERMONT
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES- DRAFT
January 21, 2025
6:00 PM AT THE HALIFAX TOWN OFFICE
CALL TO ORDER
Edee Edwards called the meeting to order at 6:00pm. This meeting is remote-hybrid. Other Selectboard members present were Karen Christofferson, Rhonda Ashcraft, Randy Pike and Tristan Roberts with Secretary Assistant Emily Dow. Highway Supervisor Mike Fournier was present. Town Clerk/Treasurer Patty Dow was present. Members of the town and public present were Bob Teree, Ed and Mariah Forlie, Keith Stone, Kaitlin Stone and Cara Cheyette.
CHANGES AND ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA
Obtain a new business request to the Trustees of Public Funds for disbursement of the Cael Fund and Scott Fund.
This meeting we approved meeting minutes from December 3rd and December 17th.
NEW BUSINESS
Town Right of Way Matters
Permit Application– Concerning the fence on Sprague Road that was newly constructed; it is in the Town’s Right of Way and was damaged from town plowing during the last snowstorm. The property owners submitted a permit for the town Right of Way. They forfeited 8 feet of property along one side and 5 feet on another side of their yard after it has being compromised due to attritional plowing over the years. It was mentioned to the Road Commissioner during that time. As a note: their house is 25 feet from the road.
Upon measuring the road, Mike Fournier concluded from the center of the road to the fence is roughly 12 feet. The standard road width is 49.6 feet edge to edge. Legal ordinance states per the Right Of Way order, it must be cleared of rocks, fences, debris and more. Terms of the ordinance also states that the town is not responsible for damages.
Edwards let us know that upon learning what another town’s instance is; they allowed conditional use of the fence for their town’s homeowner matter, with the contingency that it be dismantled and taken down during Winter months.
Plowing is difficult and the Road Crew tries to get as close to the edges as possible to maintain safe traveling roads. Please be minded that oftentimes, the Road Crew has to plow multiple times during a single storm depending on the weather conditions. We want to ensure safety and use of the property but at the same time adhering to the town’s needs stated in the Right Of Way.
A future Special Meeting will be set to speak about this permit matter further.
Winter Maintenance – Clark Road Turnaround
Under violation and penalty within a Town Ordinance of which there are more vehicles on the property and in Town Right Of Way than acceptable. This may also be accepted as a Nuisance Order in which you can view it from the road or traveling in the roadway.
Town Constable Kyle Farnsworth visited the property twice and gave verbal warnings as there is more difficulty in the Winter due to a passageway shortened from plowing.
Conflict of Interest – Ethics. H875 new requirements for SB & Others
Designated ethics liaison for the town who would be the point person the ethics concerns comes to. Recommendation would be an employee but can also be a selectboard member. Tristan offered to take this on and attend one of the required meetings.
Christofferson moved to appoint Tristan Roberts as the Town of Halifax Ethics Liaison.
Pike seconded the motion
Motion carries, Tristan understands 4-0-1 Abstention
Gravel and Budget Analysis
Bob Teree attended the meeting virtually for an informational discussion on an analysis that was conducted.
Resident citizens who want to offer assistance on our budgets for the town are encouraged.
Edwards addressed that it is not necessarily what’s in the report rather than the understanding of the main point for the report which is the topic of why is there spending increased on various items. The Selectboard did send an updated report to all upon obtaining it.
History of Gravel and the Town of Halifax: Gravel is a natural resource and limited in quantity. Halifax does not have ample gravel in town at this point. As there is a lot that goes into the cost of gravel that may very in the towns. Things to think about are; How far is the town from the pit? What is ownership of pit and does it matter? The last is if someone is concerned about quality of material. There used to have gravel banks in Halifax then, during Hurricane Irene, some were leveraged and needed to be used quickly. The town has gotten their own gravel in years past and the road crew gets their gravel and makes the trips to do so.
Should a new gravel source be researched in terms of better purchasing policy? The need to keep up with supply and demand is important in helping to keep costs low but with sustaining good quality.
- In the year prior, the town needed more gravel than they originally budgeted for.
- Also in recent times and working with GMP: Working toward connecting the town to more resilient internet and electricity to our citizens who experience many outages.
- GMP conducted some underground work as well.
- GMP paid a balance in full with a check for $81,086.50.
- The town uses 4550 yards of gravel annually as the roads lose on average an inch of gravel annually.
- As a note: Edwards discovered a formula correction and gave a credit of roughly $13,400
OLD BUSINESS
Loader and Excavator Financing
The Selectboard looked over financing options for the John Deere Loader
Professional auditor update and NEMRC software
In process of acquiring systems we need to move fully to NEMRC. Need to close out certain things for fiscal 23 and fiscal 24 and several sets of financials and municipal finance. Many components that build up to it. Batchelder will get Christofferson a proposal and then can
Budget Finalization and New Information received for Truck 6 repairs
Drafted meeting warning
Approval of previous Meeting Minutes
Edee made a motion to accept December 3, 2025 Minutes with changes.
Rhonda Seconded
Motion Carries 5-0
Edee made a motion to accept December 7, 2025 Minutes with minor changes.
Rhonda seconded
Motion carries 5-0
SELECTBOARD ORDER
The Selectboard orders were signed and Edwards read the aggregate amount for orders on January 21, 2025 for an order total $28,812.36.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
No Executive Session was held.
ADJOURNMENT
Pike made a motion to adjourn at 8:51pm
Christofferson seconded the motion
Motion passed 4-0
Respectfully submitted,
Emily Dow
Halifax Administrative Assistant
Recording Link: https://youtu.be/JYmzqBnIGWk