OFFICE OF THE SELECTBOARD
TOWN OF HALIFAX, VERMONT
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES- DRAFT
January 3rd, 2025
6:00 PM AT THE HALIFAX TOWN OFFICE
CALL TO ORDER
Edee Edwards called the meeting to order at 6:00pm. Other Selectboard members present are Karen, Rhonda and Randy. Members of the town and public are Stephen Chait, Emily Dow, Patty Dow, Nancy McCrea, Dennis Annear, Kyle Farnsworth, Kelcey
CHANGES AND ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA
There are no changes to be made to the agenda.
NEW BUSINESS
Kyle Farnsworth- ACO/Constable doing a lot of neglect cases. Sometimes from family members and delivery drivers. Too many animals over here not being fed enough. Kyle goes with the game warden to visit. He doesn’t have the outfit or uniform to be a bit more official that states hes the constable when he confronts a homeowner about their animals. This can be confrontational situations. Maybe protection or kevlar vest. If game warden is not available, kyle will go on his own. Its preferred to have the game warden with him. He has contacted the windham county sherrifs office- some complaints even some from them. If sherrifs dept needs to come for animal control kyle needs to be there as he is the ACO. the need to be official and safe should be priority.
Asking for pricing (line item 6268, row 44) constable expenses – spent 492 last year, didnt spend much this year, mileage expenses that should be submitted and wasnt. 2023 spent $400 but budgeted for $800, $430 for 2024 with no budget. Proposed budget for fy26 $500- t shirts, magnet and patches.
In recent previous years there wasn’t much activity maybe due to relaxed position or covid
Vest- $230-$250 kevlar vest that says contable with his name (patches)- this is happening this current fiscal year.
Use halifax t shirt company to get them to put a label on a jacket or shirt.
Magnetic sign to put on the side of his car- suggested by patty
4 neglect cases in the last 3 weeks. Cold started and people arent doing what they are supposed to do.
He is asking for it now rather than next july.
Edee would like to make a motion to authorize kyle to get a kevlar vest now for the amount that doesnt exceed 275$. Karen seconded. Motion carries 4-0.
Randy would like to make sure kyle is with someone as much as possible. Kyle expressed he doesn’t like to go alone but can happen.
Roy richardson is second constable- willing to be second constable but show up during celebrations and direct traffic. Hasnt submitted a bill for years but he’s there but not as active.
$2575 annually to get ACO contract in place- having the sherrifs office do it. We dont have ordinance for them to enforce. We talked about that first round of budget talks- this has been the bulk of what the position is doing. If theres a lot of neglect issues, maybe we should be more serious about taking care of the animals in our community. A lot of towns still use an ACO.
animal control was turned over to the game warden this year. Aco for sheriffs office wont go out without a partner such as game warden. Sherrifs office can’t be On-Call rather than kyle who is On-Call. As the sheriff is also a deputy so she can do transports and may not be available when needed and would call kyle for help.
Line 6165 constable/ACO- get back to windham county sheriff that has the contract- the more participants can help the cost. They were doing it 24 hours a week and could give good data about the kinds of calls they are getting from each town. For FY26- not going with the extra service with the county, going to stay with kyle for the year and see how well he does.
Reconsider Windham County ACO next year
Edee reached out to dennis for pacif to see if there’s anything missing from the list and it was the generator. There was a note from dennis that the evaluation for fire dept equipment would be a replacement value which isn’t set up like that. Pacif an do whats called agreed value. Dennis has to apply. We would have to contribute much of the cost.
Automotive property damage contribution- modified cash value would be $15,086.43. We want good insurance coverage and set a good basis for the budget. The base price in the last 3 years for a firetruck has doubled.
Out of pocket for a vehicle and paying out of pocket for insurance…
Come up with legitimate prices for used pieces. Back in 1998 the pumper truck was bought for roughly $60k to $65k and now it’s looking upwards to $80k plus.
Dennis- 911 is answered in vt and transeref to dispatch in keene, running antiquated radio systems that were installed in 2004. The covereage is lacking. Talking about an upgrade that wont happen for a while, they have a couple mil of funding in NH and trying to get some in VT VT is looing at commuications est total replacement cost $5.5. Dennis will ask for help legislativeley wise and this may cause some pushback. Most towns in southern vermont will be effected.
Keene fire mutual $16,485 what they contributed last year. Dennis will reach out to see what we will get this year. Last year it was level fund. $500 for fire house for ethanol free gas for chainsaws and firetruck, vlct union dues, main line item went from $10k to $15k based on comments asking to take $1000 from social services article plus another $4000. $4k increase to reduce liability for the town in terms of insurance. Osha will come within the next couple years. Fire company will be responsible to fix it if its not replaced. Other fire departments donated the fire hose. Couple grand to test the hose on all the trucks and 300 to 700 to test the pumps and ladders and thats the 3 main thing this has to be done annually. Especially being donated hoses.
Increase due to pre-osha testing- added to line Q74 6640 account number equipment and gear.
Dennis left the meeting at 6:20pm
Large Equipment placeholders or estimates- larger line item that is in process – agreed to purchase loader and excavator and need to put that into the budget spreadsheets. Havent gotten response from M&T bank yet about the loader. He was in last contact with company from john deere tractor. The bank didn’t accept the bid proposal and would like more and different info. Why is the bank wanting to talk to the loader dealer rather than the town?
Working estimate until we speak with bank and dealer- Beauregard case excavator- 7 year loan at 4.75% interest which is one of the quotes from m&t bank. Would like it to be more than 7 years. Based on loan calculator would be $37,878.84 $225,200 with no extended warranty info yet as we havent received it.
Working estimate until we speak with bank and dealer- Loader- John Deere- purchase amount $156,872 7 year loan at 4.75% annual payment $26,385.96.
New Hire- Getting peter handler in and drug company not open for a couple weeks. He is starting the following tuesday his offer letter is signed and will be here on 14th of january.
Highway salary based on actual offer amount he was given.
GMP has yet to pay the bill.
Highway Department
July 2025 performance reviews early that summer and give raises as early as they can. Once you throw out a %, that’s what they see. Inflation is coming down but should still have an increase.
The idea to have a Bonus Pool for a year- do something non-monetary like lunch at the readsboro store one day or grinders from jville or bringing a grill and cookout. Yes spending a couple hundred but to spend something nice to say thank you.
Stephanie said- what is the integrity of it? Maybe ask for donations. This is because it’s paid by the taxpayers.
Edee wants to – Supporting the employees from a wage, cost of living, and from a little bit of breathing room.
Karen- bonus pool is more of an appreciation day. Get the word out from patty and say we would like to do this. This doesn’t have to be a budget item. Added Appreciation pool for another time and to have at $0. 2.5% for Target COLA Change
Line 7220 health insurance- BCBS new hire
Health insurance increase from last year was 18% do we revisit the health insurance idea?
5% increase was $710
Income for FY26 and Grants
Highway cell Q83-
Looking at offsets because we wont get FEMA in FY26. What is our standard grant amount for state aid from the highways. Budgeted $150 but already received it. 7% average increase to the state aid back to the towns.
Road erosion for the town rocks and gravel and equipment-
Materials equipment and labor and people-
If theyve received other funding the place where this happens is in the surplus deficit.
$5000 trees $4000 for Mini Merp Grants in FY24
$20k for fowler road, $31k for clark and green river road, and $8k for grants and aid.
$296k from FEMA and other funding sources. Pike $179k and
Nancy McCrea and Stephanie Pike left the meeting at 8:03pm
Project july 2023 storm funding grants- vaughn $113, pike $179 pike emergency protective measures $4k
Class 2 and class 3 state highway
4 equal payments of $40,324.54 this year we received $161,298.16 in fiscal 24, received from the state of vermont.
Halifax needs major help with the roads and their conditions.
From VLCT, the structures and bridges is the most amount of where the funding will get distributed to. Q82 State Aid
For FY26 What expenses do we need to get on the budget and
Merp grants and better roads grant
As these projects span multiple fiscal years, we dont know the exact completion date.
The purpose is to oversee projects and try the best to budget for the next year. Based on grants we anticipate and projects to be anticipated.
Adjusting surplus and deficit
total budget deficit for last year included 180K we covered for utting it into the budget for FY25 in advance.
OTHER BUSINESS
HEARING OF VISITORS
No visitors wished to speak.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
No Executive Session was held.
CORRESPONDENCE
SELECTBOARD ORDER
ADJOURNMENT
Randy made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:08pm. Rhonda Ashcraft seconded. Passed 4-0
Respectfully submitted,
Emily Dow
Halifax Administrative Assistant
Recording Link:
https://youtu.be/7NFHNQY_cb0?si=esaBjpxqd2HPXoko