OFFICE OF THE SELECTBOARD

TOWN OF HALIFAX, VERMONT

REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

MAY 16, 2023  

6:00 PM  AT THE HALIFAX TOWN OFFICE

CALL TO ORDER

Silverberg called the meeting to order at 6:01 PM on May 16th 2023. Selectboard Members present were Tristan Roberts, Edee Edwards, Patrick McAllister, Karen Christofferson and Peter Silverberg. Others present in person or remotely were Mary Brewster, Kasey Kathan, Janice Bliss, Chris Parkins, David Jones, Pegge Rafus, Brad Rafus, Gary Rand, Alison Crossley and Michael Fournier.

CHANGES AND ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA

APPROVAL PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES

• May 2nd, 2023
  • Motion by Edee, second by Patrick, 4-1 abstain.
• March 7th 2023
  • Strikethrough Patrick and Tristan, add Paul Blais
  • Will be left in draft
• February 28th 2023 Information Meeting Minutes for Town Meeting Day
  • Patrick motion, Pete second, 4-1.
• February 25th 2023
  • Under new business – correct Tristan spelling, strike the rest of the conversation after residents for cannibis paragraph. 
  • Motion to approve the amendments by Patrick, Pete seconds, 3-2 abstain.

OLD BUSINESS

• Kasey Kathan VT ANR to discuss PFOAs at the closed landfill
  • The State of Vermont will be in review once the Federal standard of PFOAs is adopted.
  • Well 3 is the worst case scenario.
  • Discussed  water table flow, why frequency of testing and how the state of Vermont is safely protecting the public.
  • Kasey to send all reports digitally for record keeping.
    • Email original report to Peggy Rafus
• Open Meeting Law–Collaborative Documents for editing Meeting Minutes (Pete)
  • VCLT confirmed that collaborative documents for meeting minutes is not allowed to comply with open meeting law 
• Selectboard members as liaisons discussion
  • Edee – School, Windham Regional
  • Patrick – Finance, Cemetery
  • Karen – EMD, Finance
  • Tristan – MERP grant 
  • Pete – Road crew
• Donald Cael Scholarship – Joint meeting date for Selectboard and School board (Pete)
  • Pete scheduled with the school board for June 6th, 2023 selectboard meeting
• Approval received for audit under Municipal Energy Resilience Program (Tristan)
  • Approved for MERP mini-grant($4000) study for town garage
• Road Commissioner Role Update (Edee & Karen)
  • Reviewed 2002 job descriptions to revamp responsibilities
  • Review job posting during annual performance review with Fournier on VCLT template job description for road supervisor

NEW BUSINESS

• Recycling bins (Pete)
  • Issue with trash being left at recycling bins at town garage
  • Pete to check is Halifax is mandated to have recycling services
  • Solution to use cameras until August 1st will check back in 
  • Check with conservation committee on best practices
• Exploration of ideas for a town park (Tristan)
  • Create RFP to see if town resident would donate land for park and pavilion
  • Edee suggest Land for Good Trust , tax exempt
  • Humane society has land that may be available
  • Town garage has 22 acres
• Tax Sale property
  • Wheeler Road house has to be sold June 23rd of 2023
  • Patrick to work with Fisher to set up sale, publicize three weeks in a row
  • Mary, patty and Fisher to send deed to the town of Halifax
• Windham County Regional: Rural Municipal Assistance
  • Halifax is pre-qualified for grants
  • Schedule meeting for June 3rd 2023
• COVID-19 statement on agendas
  • Confirmed to leave paragraph at top of agenda
  • Strike through strongly in sentence: Masks are strongly encouraged for everyone. 
• Schedule highway employee reviews
  • Schedule for Tuesday June 28th at 6:30am at Town Garage
  • Need to warn as a Selectboard special meeting
• Highway orders signature delegation of authority
  • Continue to delegate to Pete to ensure it is completed
  • The order is delivered to the town office at 8:30am
• Agenda & process for May 20 ARPA funding meeting
  • Finalize town priorities for ARPA funding
  • Receive input that has not been considered for projects
  • Decide on process for selection of funding

OTHER BUSINESS

HEARING OF VISITORS

• Gary reports on state of cemetery:
  • Mowing has begun, have surveyed all of active cemeteries, placing flags for Memorial Day
  • Clearing Niles cemetery and West Halifax cemetery will be surveyed this winter to create new plots
  • 25K – 40K to clear debris specifically Whitneyville cemetery
    • West halifax cemetery clean up party: June 3rd 9-1pm, rainy day June 4
    • September 8,9,10th Carol Otis will come to place hand carved stones for Lucy & Steven Otis

EXECUTIVE SESSION (if needed)

SELECTBOARD ORDER

CORRESPONDENCE

• VLCT 2023 Municipal Compensation and Benefits Survey
  • Who is supposed to do the survey? Do they need support?
  • Patrick to coordinate with Patty
• BDCC request for letter of support
  • Pete signed, alison to return

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 8:28 by Patrick. Seconded by Pete. Passed 5-0.

YOUTUBE LINK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj1Kt-UksSU