MINUTES OF THE DUXBURY SELECTBOARD November 12, 2007 Members Present: JoAnn Berno, Kym Andrews, Dick Charland, Todd Liberty Others Present: David Specht, Roger Cranse, Ralph Davis, Marsha Davis, Jim McCarthy, Katherine Gjessing, Jay Ziskrout, Alan Quackenbush The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Minutes and Bills: Kym Andrews made a motion to approve the minutes from October 8, 29, and 31, 2007. Todd Liberty seconded the motion, and all were in favor of it. Regarding the most recent copy of the budget to date, it was noticed that with Line Item #217, retirement fund, there was a substantial dollar amount in the October 31 budget, and it has disappeared from the November budget sheets. Kym Andrews will contact Ken about that. Also, Line Item #225, office equipment repair, has gone over budget. Kym will also ask about that. JoAnn Berno then explained to the new board members the procedure for preparing the new budget for town meeting. The board will hold a meeting on December 3, 2007, at 6 p.m. to begin discussing the new budget, and Kym will ask Ken to have his budget ready. Road Report: The Richardson Road project was started today. Guard rails on the River road are being straightened and extended. David is waiting for a quote from Caterpillar for a grader. The trucks are ready for winter. Townspeople to Address the Board: Marsha Davis presented the board with a petition that had been signed by townspeople asking for the Leaf Peepers Half Marathon to be held at a different location next year. Roger Cranse, race director, also attended the meeting and distributed a handout which listed all the facts regarding the race which began in 1983 and has developed into one of Vermont’s most popular races. It has grown from 100 participants the first year to 1200 this past year. The questions which have been raised about the race pertain to the safety of all, including those who live on the road; inconvenience to the residents on the route, and lack of courtesy by some of the race participants to the residents on the route. Roger Cranse apologized to the town for the discourtesy but pointed out that it is difficult for him to control all of the behaviors. He also reiterated that there are many community volunteers for the race including 80 from the Harwood athletic teams; in turn the race makes a contribution to the Harwood Boosters Club. Next they began discussing the possibility of changing the location of the race, perhaps staging it from Harwood, possibly up the Dowsville Road. After some discussion, Dick Charland asked Mr. Cranse to take Duxbury’s concerns to the next meeting of the race organizers and come to the January 14 selectboard meeting at 6:30 p.m. to further discuss this issue. Alan Quackenbush attended the meeting to discuss four issues pertaining to either the Duxbury Land Trust or the Cross Vermont Trail. 1. He was interested in blocking access to a Class 4 road that goes through the Duxbury Land Trust parcel. After some discussion and checking the regulations, Todd Liberty made a motion to allow the Duxbury Land Trust to limit motorized access to a town trail. Dick Charland seconded the motion, and all were in favor of it. 2. The Duxbury Land Trust owns five acres at the bottom of Scrabble Hill, and he requested permission to have someone, perhaps the Youth Conversation Corps, come in and build stairs there with a place for one car. The board did not make a decision on this because they want to talk to David Quenneville first. 3. There is some interest in having a member of the Duxbury Land Trust serve on the ancient roads committee. At this time Kym Andrews told him about her process of putting together the application for a grant of $5,000 to be used for the ancient roads project. She will know by the end of December if this grant, which would provide extensive help to the committee, has been approved. JoAnn Berno then asked Alan to let her know of anyone from his group who would be interested in serving on the ancient roads committee. 4. When Alan was on the planning commission, the selectboard at the time approved the Cross Vermont Trail, which is mainly a biking route, to use part of the River Road. The signs for that are now ready and the organizers would like to know how to proceed. JoAnn Berno asked that they send a letter to her and include in the letter the date that this was approved. Jay Ziskrout attended the meeting and spoke about his interest in working on an alternative energy committee that would have something to report to the town at town meeting. He feels the initial steps in this process would be to a) assess the needs~~what is the current energy consumption of the town’s buildings; b) do an energy audit; c) solicit vendor proposals or assessments, study them, and look into possible federal incentives; d) adopt a particular course of action. More people will be needed for this committee. Jim McCarthy who was attending the meeting expressed an interest in helping out with this committee as well as with the ancient roads committee. Jay and Jim will get together to further discuss the alternative energy ideas. Other Business: Dick Charland made a motion that the town send health officer David Specht to a seminar for health officers on December 6. Kym Andrews seconded the motion, and all were in favor. JoAnn updated the board on the State Farm issue. Robert Dostis is going to be talking with Jeff Lively, attorney for buildings and services for the state. There was a walk-through of the property on October 23. JoAnn Berno will call the zoning administrator asking him to come in and talk to the board about his requests to increase recording fees and other suggested changes. JoAnn reported on a letter she received from the school board regarding printing the school budget separate from the town report. After a short discussion, the board decided that their preference would be to continue keeping the school report with the town report. JoAnn will check with Ken Scott to make sure all is ready for the Town Meeting on December 10. Kym Andrews has done research on what other towns are doing regarding the application for a curb cut permit. She handed out a sample of a new form and will bring it back to the next meeting for David Quenneville to check it. The board went into executive session at 8:30 to talk about the position of delinquent tax collector. They came out of executive session at 8:40 p.m. JoAnn Berno made a motion that we accept Annette Griffith’s letter of interest for the position of delinquent tax collector effective immediately. Kym Andrews seconded the motion and all were in favor of it. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. The next meeting will be on Monday, December 10, 2007, at 6 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Pam Dever