Duxbury Selectboard Minutes August 8, 2005 The August 8 meeting of the Duxbury Selectboard was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Members present were Paul Brusa, Joanne Berno, Fred Collins, Todd Liberty, and Jill Smith. Others present were George Woodard, Gerianne Smart, Harry Rook, Jeff Isham, David Quenneville, Tom Vickery, Ruth Haskins, and Betty Ryan. Paul asked for a representative to go to the September 14, 2 p.m., meeting of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. Fred said he may go but not definitely. Jill made a motion that whoever goes to the meeting will have voting authority. Joanne seconded the motion which passed by a vote of 5-0. Ken Scott presented the board with calculations for the new tax rate. Jill made a motion to accept the town tax rate as follows: residential--$2.3212 and non-residential--$2.4233. Todd seconded the motion. Discussion centered around whether or not we wanted to send out a reminder to vote on the recision of the Thatcher Brook renovation. All voted in favor of the new tax rates. Jill made a motion to attach information to the tax bill stating the date and locations of the bond vote, deadline for registration, and information regarding absentee ballots. Joanne seconded the motion and the vote passed by a vote of 5-0. George Woodard and Gerianne Smart are working on a film and requested premission to use the North Duxbury Road from 11-4 on August 15 and 16 for filming. The crew of five will have flags and vests to work with traffic control. They will be shooting a scene with a truck and will sometimes have to stop traffic. They gave the board proof of liability insurance. Jill made the motion to approve shooting on the Duxbury Road. Joanne seconded the motion. There was no discussion and all were in favor of the motion. Next Tom Vickery and Jeff Isham presented their plan for reappraisal of town property. The town has the funds and should end up with money left over. The town will have to buy a computer and a laptop is recommended. He will try to have diagrams in the computer; it's not necessary and they can be on cards. They will have pictures as hard copies. The last reappraisal was 5 years ago. Tom also requested that for the 2 or 3 roads that are difficult to get to that a town employee drive him to those spots. Town listers will review everything that Tom does. Cost of reappraisal is about $35,000. The amount currently available is $33,925. $2500 will come from the state so the cost will be covered. Paul Brusa made the motion that we enter into an agreement with the Vermont Appraisal Company to begin this work. Fred seconded the motion. There was no discussion and all were in favor of the motion. The board also gave Jeff Isham permission to purchase the computer for this task. Ruth Haskins gave the board a report on the food shelf. She requested a little more space in an apparently unused corner of the downstairs of the town clerk's office. Paul mentioned that the electricity bill is going up. It was decided that as of August the town would bill the food shelf $35 per month for electricity. We need to let Ken know so he can bill them. Harry Rook reported that he has observed that there is double taxation to the town for its 7th and 8th grade students. The superintendent of schools told him that it wasn't much money, but the taxpayers would like it straightened out. Duxbury and Waterbury are paying twice on their per pupil cost. In the past there was an initiative mounted by Waterbury and Duxbury where they wouldn't pay for middle school students in the Harwood Union budget. Everyone approved it but Moretown turned it down. Harry feels that Moretown might consider it now. Evidently the state says that next year all towns will have to go back and reapprove their union school charters. Harry suggested that we have the Harwood Union board member bring this up at the next Harwood board meeting asking for a charter change. Our representative should go to the Moretown representative and talk to him about it. Joanne made a motion that we take Harry's request to call Dave Rappaport, the Harwood Union School Board representative and request a vote on a charter change. We should have Dave call Harry for the information. Jill seconded the motion and all were in favor of it. Harry Rook also raised the issue of the Meaker Road problem. Todd mentioned that Jason Dalley was supposed to be at this meeting for a report. Harry would like the town to put a stop work order on it. Selectboard members told Harry that a plan had been drawn up for the completion of the project. Jill called Jason Dalley to remind him that he was supposed to be at the meeting. She had to leave him a phone message to that effect. The next item was the road report by David Quenneville. Todd suggested that we really should have a 5-year road plan with a schedule. It was mentioned that the town could get 90% of the money if we have the paperwork in to the state agreeing to go by the Town Road and Bridge Standards. Is that worth it; are we prepared to make that jump? No action was taken on this matter. The Camel's Hump Road was the main project this year. We are over budget by $2200 for maintenance, but we still have $2300 in tools. We could get some of that moved over. We need the close-out costs on the capital reserve fund for the town garage. We didn't get them so we need it for the next meeting. Todd reported that Mr. Hanley has a right-of-way for the dry hydrant. He sent Mr. Hanley a generic right-of-way agreement. Mr Hanley is concerned about liability for use of that hydrant and wants the agreement to be more specific. Todd moved that the town accept James Hanley's request with Todd signing it. Jill seconded the motion and all were in favor. The minutes were approved and accepted of the last meeting, July 11. Pam was told of "the book" where all minutes and notes need to be filed. The policy and procedures from the Duxbury Cemetery Commission needed to be approved. This will be addressed at the next meeting. Jill reported on the current state of the bids for fuel and diesel. As of September 1 the bid with Irving Oil is 20 cents over cost. As of September 1 the LP Gas bid for the state of Vermont with Amerigas is 40 cents over cost. We will see at the end of August where those bids are and double check the first of September. Jill recommended all employees use time cards. They need the hourly rate, number of hours worked, and the gross pay. It is a Labor and Industry standard that time cards must be kept for two years. Jill asked that the treasurer comply with these Labor and Industry guidelines, and the assistant town clerk also needs to have a time card. Fred moved that the town treasurer comply with Labor and Industry standards. Paul seconded the motion and all were in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45. Respectfully submitted, Pam Dever