MINUTES OF THE DUXBURY SELECTBOARD July 13, 2009 Members present: JoAnn Berno, Kym Andrews, Richard Charland, Craig Isvak, Todd Liberty Others present: Ken Scott, David Quenneville, David Specht, Al Quesnel, Dot Willis, Ken Griffith, Randy Berno, Catherine Gjessing, Brian Fitzgerald, Sherry Larrow The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. Bills were passed around for signing. JoAnn Berno made a motion to accept the minutes of three June meetings: June 1, June 8, and June 30, 2009. Craig Isvak seconded the motion and all were in favor of it. Tax Rate: Ken Scott passed out information sheets explaining the new tax rate. After discussion, JoAnn Berno made a motion to set the residential tax rate at 1.5089 and the non-residential tax rate at 1.6585 for the year 2009. Kym Andrews seconded the motion and all were in favor of it. Zoning fees: Ken Scott explained that the state legislature raised the per page recording fee from $8 to $10. Now the zoning fee needs to go up $2. JoAnn Berno made the motion that we increase recording fees; all zoning permit fees except compliance letter will be increased by $2 to correspond with the state’s increase. Kym Andrews seconded the motion and all were in favor of it. Habitat for Humanity: Dot Willis, representing the Camel’s Hump Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, which began in 1999, appeared before the board and reported the progress on their fifth house which is being built on Morse Road. Ground breaking will be on July 18, 2009 with occupancy planned for the fall of 2010. She asked the board to consider waiving the $150 permit fee. After some discussion, Richard Charland made the motion that the board write them a letter stating that it is not the board’s policy to waive fees, and the board does not want to set a precedent. JoAnn Berno seconded the motion and all were in favor of it. Permit Fees: Al Quesnel, Catherine Gjessing, and Randy Berno, representing Zoning, the Planning Commission, and the Development Review Board led the board in a discussion about current permit fees. Issues that were discussed included the fees required for each step a citizen has to go through to obtain permission to build and the order in which citizens are required to go through this process. The biggest issue seems to be subdivisions. It is within the discretion of the town to decide how to handle these processes so the Planning Commission and the Development Review Board will be meeting to come up with a recommendation on what to do, if anything, to change the current process. Planning Commission: Catherine Gjessing, representing the Planning Commission, said that Jay Zisgrout will not be accepting another term on the commission. They advertised the opening, got two applicants, and selected Brian Fitzgerald to fill the vacancy. Brian was at the meeting and introduced himself to the board. Following this Richard Charland made the motion to accept Brian Fitzgerald as the new member of the Planning Commission; Todd Liberty seconded the motion, and all were in favor of it. Road Report: One of the trucks is back up at Clark’s for its skipping problem which at this point needs to be fixed at their expense. Also, something has to be done about the dump body and the board is going to think about a plan for that. David has been working on road grading, weather permitting Winter sand is $8,400 below budget. There is still an issue with the S.D. Ireland billing. The board discussed the adjusted bill they will receive for new road signs which has to be paid before they are reimbursed for this. The board signed the permit which Washington Electric Co-op requested for power on Richardson Road. David is confident that we will get the $170,000 grant for the re-paving of Main Street and some down on the backside of the river. The town would be responsible for 20% of this cost, and we would have two years to use the money. After some discussion of this, JoAnn Berno made the motion that there be a special town meeting on August 17, 2009, at 7 p.m. in the town’s meeting room to ask the town to approve two items. 1. Will the town approve up to $170,000 for a paving grant of which 80% will be reimbursed from the State of Vermont; 2. Will the town approve an amount not to exceed $10,000 for the interior and exterior painting of the town office building with additional interior work. Kym Andrews seconded the motion and all were in favor of it. New Business: Ken Scott reported that the town received a refund from the state because we overpaid our education tax last year. This money has been put into the miscellaneous account for the time being. Since 2009 is an odd numbered year, Ken said that the town has to challenge voters who haven’t voted in 8 years. Ken will need to send them a letter. After some discussion, JoAnn Berno made the motion that we instruct the town clerk to begin the process for challenging these voters. Richard Charland seconded the motion, and all were in favor of it. David Specht told the board that the State has reduced support to the town health officer. The town can adopt the state health regulations which can give the health officer the power to write a ticket. It was suggested that the town adopt municipal ordinances so that the town health officer has the authority to issue summons for violations of health codes. At 9:15 Richard Charland made a motion to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing a personnel issue. JoAnn Berno seconded the motion, and all were in favor of it. The board came out of executive session at 9:22. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30. Respectfully submitted, Pam Dever