OFFICE OF THE SELECTBOARD

Town of Halifax, Vermont

SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES

January 4, 2014

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 8:32 am at the town office.  Board members in attendance were Lewis Sumner, Earl Holtz and Edee Edwards.  Others present were Jessica Bruno.

Selectboard Budget

The Selectboard updated the FY15 Selectboard budget.

It was noted that the town has not received a revised estimate for Old County North bridge so they used a current estimate less the estimated amount for the removal of the stream crossing and parking area.

There was a discussion about two guardrail projects and a brief discussion about Branch Rd bridge.

There was a discussion about leasing versus purchasing equipment.

The Selectboard discussed ways to potentially decrease the budget:

-Defer paving

-Hold on prefunding equipment

-Reduce budget for highway overtime cushion

-Reduce highway benefits

-Bonding for future budget years and for capital items

Follow up items:

-Contact Bill Moore regarding Eames Fund estimated income and Fees & Interest income.

-How much does the cemetery commission need for projects and how much is in the reserve fund?

-Possibly contact AOT regarding the life of the temporary guardrail fixes.

-Gravel needs to go out to bid.

The FY15 budget is 27.5% over the FY14 budget. The Selectboard will encourage citizens to attend the next meeting (1/18/14 at 8:30am) to help come up with ideas to reduce the budget.

SeVeds

SeVeds is requesting support from the town. There was no action to put the request on the warning today.

Selectboard Size and Administrative Support

The Selectboard discussed putting up a warning for a five person Selectboard at the next town meeting. They also discussed putting Administrative help on the warning as well. The Selectboard will discuss the administrative job description at a future meeting.

Other Business

Edwards informed the others that Dow asked that Christina Moore be present at the town audit. As they budgeted for three days, Edwards told Dow it was ok.

Holtz inquired whether the fire department got the necessary paperwork in before the end of the year. Sumner believes that they did.

The group looked briefly at Holden Engineering bridge timeline. They e-mailed Holden to change the bid opening date to January 31, 2014. They will hold a special meeting to open the bids and finalize the budget.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 11:57 am.

Respectfully submitted,

Jessica Bruno

Selectboard Secretary