Town of Halifax, Vermont
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
March 26, 2014
The meeting was convened at 9:04 am at the Town Office. Board members in attendance were Earl Holtz, Lewis Sumner and Edee Edwards. Also in attendance was Robbin Gabriel.
Edwards made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss a personnel issue (interview for Selectboard Secretary). Holtz seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0. Robbin Gabriel was invited into the executive session with the 3 Selectboard members.
The group returned from executive session at 9:54 a.m. No decisions were made.
Gabriel left the meeting.
Sumner made a motion to appoint Robbin Gabriel as the new Selectboard Secretary for the coming year. Holtz seconded the motion. After discussion, the motion passed 3-0.
Sumner will follow up with Gabriel and also with Bruno in preparation for the next Selectboard regular meeting.
Hearing of Visitors
None.
Correspondence
Several pieces of mail were reviewed.
- John Alexander, District 2 Agency of Transportation had emailed Edwards with an update to the Annual Financial Plan for Town Highways. There was an error in the one signed on Monday. The Selectboard signed the updated plan. Edwards will scan it and email it back to Alexander.
- Edwards noted that just now in the hunt for the AOT paperwork from Monday, she’d found a 2007 letter and maps in the files about Town Trails from the State Mapping folks. That one had Town Highway 52 noted as being LT-10 (Legal Trail). Although no response to that letter from Halifax was found, Edwards and Sumner could not recall any actual effort to reclassify that to a trail, so it remains our understanding that indeed it is a Class 4 road, as on the present Highway map. Edwards noted that she had had a brief conversation with LaFlamme about the 2012 mileage paperwork on Monday at the DLAN training, but neither of them has done further research at this point.
- Holden Engineering had sent a blank contract. It was stamped as received March 20th, but today is the first we saw it. It appears to not have our requested payment term changes, and seems to be what was already signed and sent back otherwise. Edwards will follow up with Holden.
- Edwards walked through the minor modifications she’d made to the letter to Attorney Elizabeth Cook from Darby Thorndike Kolter & Nordle LLP regarding the Denison/Ashfield Stone Quarry.
Holtz said he’d read the letter 3 times and that it was both thorough and neutral. He noted that he’d had an opportunity at the Selectboard Institute in Montpelier to ask some questions of VLCT about Act 250, and recommended that Edwards and Sumner try to further clarify the role of the Selectboard and Planning Commissions in that process at the upcoming Rutland Selectboard Institute, which both plan to attend.
Holtz made a motion to sign and send the letter to Cook. Edwards seconded it. The motion passed 3-0.
Other Business
Holtz gave a few other brief notes about what he’d learned at the Selectboard Institute in Montpelier, including that it is possible to have one Selectboard member delegated to sign for bills. He also noted that he always learns something new about open meeting law, this year that there can be a $500 fine per occurrence of improper meetings. With further discussion, the present board believes we have no deficiencies, but some changes to the law are presently being proposed at the State level, so we should remain aware of that legislation. Holtz noted that one of our last meetings maybe some people weren’t as respectful in their disagreements as they might be, which can be a challenge to manage on the fly.
Adjournment
Meeting was closed at 10:57 am.
Respectfully submitted,
Edee Edwards, Selectboard Member