OFFICE OF THE SELECTBOARD
TOWN OF HALIFAX, VERMONT
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
November 24, 2025
6:00 PM AT THE HALIFAX TOWN OFFICE
CALL TO ORDER
Edee Edwards called the meeting to order at 6:01 pm. Other Selectboard members present were Karen Christofferson, Rhonda Ashcraft, Randy Pike and Lori Marchegiani. Members of the public present were Nancy McCrea, Dennis Annear, Stephan Chait, Mike Fournier and Emily Dow.
CHANGES AND ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA
None.
OLD BUSINESS
The FY27 Budget discussion began with a discussion on the professional audits and the costs.
Edwards had checked with VLCT about the vote to use professional auditors every 3 years, in 2022, starting in FY2025. VLCT said that voters can only vote to require the audit and then it must be done annually. Christofferson spoke of the heavy burden and extra costs of the professional audit with this gap in time.
Two implications of this are that the board was (1) in general agreement to put an article on the warning to once again vote to remove the elected auditor position, and (2) might consider voting to remove the “reserve account” which was intended to pre-fund the every-three-year audit. While we appreciate the work of the auditors, it is hard to find people to serve and this would now be redundant and cost an additional $3000/year. For the reserve fund, Christofferson thought it might be best to hold off on removing the reserve fund. Edwards agreed that it is easy to put money into the reserve funds anyhow as we do that within the overall budget.
Next, we reviewed line items on the Selectboard budget associated with the Fire Company due to Dennis Annear’s presence.
Key points included:
- $10K jump (50%) requested by Deerfield Valley Rescue for Ambulance Services (6650). Annear noted that he very recently has been elected to their Board of Directors, and they have not requested an increase in 5 years. Their new budget request is $30,000. They are fundraising for an ambulance replacement. The Mtn Snow Clinic is not opening this year, and more paid staff may be needed. Rescue, Inc. covers the Thomas Hill area and that 3-year contract is going up 1% and accounts for about $1200. Account 6650 is up 47%, so the board should be prepared to explain this.
- Level funding requested for the $15K money towards “gear and equipment” for the Fire Company, except to note that this is akin to a general donation for services as it is for Deerfield Valley Rescue, not a contracted service. It also does not translate to explicit gear purchase for which they will produce an invoice. The account label should be updated to reflect Fire Company.
- Unleaded fuel for chainsaws or other small equipment is now being purchased by the Highway Department, no longer as a convenience at the Fire Company, which removed their fuel tank. The account will be zero’ed out in Selectboard budget and the level-funded $500 budget amount will be put in with Diesel Fuel on the Highway side.
- Diesel Fuel, Account 7685, was reviewed against the current year’s bid. Costs have gone down and a new vendor, Dead River, won the bid. The board settled on an overall budget of $60,000, which is down 20%.
A robust discussion of the Trucks equipment schedule was held. The outcomes of the discussion are that:
- Motion made by Christofferson to formally update the truck fleet equipment schedule to target a 7-year replacement time. Pike seconded. Discussion was that this will optimize trade-in value and ensure bumper-to-bumper warranty coverage to reduce maintenance cost. Motion carried 5-0.
- The board will budget to replace the 2016 Tandem truck #1 with a tandem and a 5-year loan and will not at this time recommend replacement of either the pickup truck or the spare truck #7. In 1-2 years, the board might consider a used pickup. At some point, body work will likely be needed on truck #7 to make it last until replacement truck #1 is able to be put into service. Right now, it will take about 2 years to order and put the equipment on a truck, due to industry backups.
- Christofferson will build in replacement of Truck #1 for principle and financing similar to the $60,000 in the most recent purchase.
- The board intends to write another separate article in the Town Warning to create an equipment reserve fund.
We put a $200K placeholder for refurbishment of the grader for Repairs & Maintenance, 7680. We might be able to get financing. Christofferson argued to push this amount instead into the separate article for an equipment reserve fund.
Fournier brought up that Fidium had been physically visiting residents and their pricing quote was lower than DVFiber and the speed was higher. The board needs to discuss this again with pricing and facts. The town clerk was supposed to schedule the DVFiber installation, and that has not happened to Edwards’ knowledge.
Electricity was also discussed; there has been a change in the initial solar credits and now we are getting two bills, one from GMP and Greenbacker. Fournier will follow up.
HEARING OF VISITORS
At the end of the meeting, one final discussion was held about site visit for the Branch Road Bridge at Rte. 112 that Christofferson and Edwards attended on November 21. In good news, the bridge specialists and other advisors stated that the repairs needed are not extensive, and that we might not even need any engineering for it. Ballpark estimate was around $100K, with both engineering and the fix. This information can inform the next budget session.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
November 14, 2025
Pike made a motion to accept the November 14, 2025 Selectboard Meeting Minutes as amended. Marchegiani seconded. Motion carried 5-0.
ADJOURNMENT
Ashcraft made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:48 pm. Marchegiani seconded. Motion carried 5-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Edee Edwards
Secretary Pro Tempore
Recording Link: https://youtu.be/TrKMwg_9QTk
