Vernon Selectboard Mtg.                                                                 10/19/09          

Approved

  Accepted as Printed 11/2/09

                                                   

 

 

VERNON SELECTBOARD

 MEETING

 

October 19, 2009                                                       6:30 PM

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:                                 OTHERS PRESENT:

Mike Ball                                                        Chief Turnley                         

Mike Courtemanche                                       Cindy Turnley                                                

Robert Miller, Jr.                                             Sheriff Keith Clark                            

Lynda Starorypinski                                       Officer Bruce Gauld

Len Howard Jr.                                               Chris Garofolo                                                                                                                        Paul Cornell   

                                               

                                                                       

WELCOME AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

At 6:31 pm Chair Mike Ball called the meeting to order, welcomed those present and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT-

 No comments at this time.

 

MINUTE APPROVAL-

October 5, 2009

LYNDA STARORYPINSKI MADE THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE OCTOBER 5TH MINUTES AS WRITTEN. LEN HOWARD SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED.

 

BILLS AND WARRANTS-

LYNDA STARORYPINSKI MADE THE MOTION TO APPROVED WARRANTS 7SG, 41S, AND 42S. LEN HOWARD SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED.

 

MIKE COURTEMANCHE MADE THE MOTION TO GO OUT OF ORDER ON THE AGENDA TO POLICE DEPARTMENT UPDATES. LYNDA STARORYPINSKI SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED.

           

POLICE DEPARTMENT UPDATES-

Update from WCSD Sheriff Clark

Windham County Sheriff’s Departments Keith Clark was checking on any concerns or feedback from the Board. In the short time that the Windham County Sheriff’s Department has been patrolling the Vernon area, they have compiled an incident report of all violations.  Sheriff Clark stated that there have been a total of 31 calls totaling in fines amounting to $4518.00.  The Town of Vernon would receive roughly $2500.00 back in local revenue. They would provide documentation on all calls received.   The Board conveyed that they have received positive feedback on a job well done.

The Board thanked Sheriff Clark for his update.

 

Bid Quotes for Cruiser- Bruce Gauld

Bruce Gauld updated the Board on the purchase of the Chevy Tahoe. One quote was from Liberty Chevrolet with emergency equipment installed by Adamson Industries in the amount of $34,430.00. Bruce requested quotes from Auto Mall and Dillon Chevrolet. Dillon Chevrolet stated that they could not match the price of Liberty Chevrolet. The Board requested that Bruce get statements in writing from both Dillon and AutoMall. Bruce is requesting that they go with a sole provider. Len Howard stated that he wanted to be sure the bid policy is being followed. The Board requested the warranty information with Adamson Industries as far as the labor on the emergency equipment. The Board would also like a breakdown of the actual purchase price of the vehicle and the purchase price of the emergency equipment.  Bruce would get the information that the Board requested and leave it at the Town Office for the Board to review. The motion made will be pending the receipt of these items.

The Board thanked Officer Gauld.

 

LYNDA STARORYPINSKI MADE THE MOTION TO AUTHORIZE THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO PURCHASE THE CHEVY TAHOE PENDING ADAMSON’S WARRANTY INFORMATION.  ROBERT MILLER SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH 3 AYES, 2 NAYS.

 

            Chief Turnley –Updates

Mike Ball stated that this is the second Selectboard meeting of the month and the Board expected to receive an update on the goals set by the Police Department as well as the items that were identified in the Cronan report.

Chief Turnley stated that the policies and procedures are continuing to be read and rewritten, and the job evaluations are done except for the clerk’s. Chief Turnley stated that he signed off on the job descriptions and is still working on the matrix. Mike Ball affirmed that the Policies and Procedures along with the Officer Expectations are all due on December 31st.

Mike Ball stated that interim policies should be presented when completed.  The Board is also looking for procedures concerning the development of current qualifications defining which items are dealt with in-house and which items are sent to the Vt. State Police when the on duty officer is not fully qualified in performing and documenting an investigation.  In that instance the case should be immediately turned over to the State Police. Another item that would be added to the interim policies should also include notifications from the Vt. Sex Offender Registry and how those are going to be handled depending upon the level of the offender.

Mike Ball stated that the following statement should be added to the bottom of the 2009 Police Department Expectations.

It would be immediate notification to the Select and School boards on notification of any issues that impact general safety of the citizenry, an example of this is notification of law enforcement that a sex offender has been released and/or is living within the community.

It was the consensus of the Board to include this statement.

 Mike Ball stated that a town policy would also need to be developed.

Mike Courtemanche indicated the Board also expected crime statistics from the Chief at this time.  Chief Turnley indicated he had statistics produced for the paper but did not bring them to the meeting.  He will distribute them to the Board.  Mike Courtemanche also asked for an officer schedule so the Board would know who was on duty at any given time.  Chief Turnley said he would be able to produce that as well.

The Board thanked Chief Turnley.

 

GRID UPDATE

 

MIKE COURTEMANCHE MADE THE MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION ON A PERSONNEL MATTER, WHICH THE DISCLOSURE OF AT THIS TIME MAY BE DETRIMENTAL TO THE TOWN AND/OR THE INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED. ROBERT MILLER SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED.

 

Mike Ball stated that the Board went into executive session @ 7:22 and came out @ 7:53 and no action was taken.

 

Mike Ball stated that a H1N1 meeting will be held at the Newbrook Fire Station on 10/20/09 and he would be attending.

 

The Board discussed the recommendations to award the COLA increase.

 

MIKE COURTEMANCHE MADE THE MOTION TO AUTHORIZE the Town TreasureR to AWARD THE 3% COLA TO BE IMPLEMENTED IMMEDIATELY, EFFECTIVE FROM JULY 1ST 2008. ROBERT MILLER SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED.

 

The Board stated that this money had been already budgeted for.

 

TOWN PLAN RE-ADOPTION RECOMMENDATION-

The Planning Commission had a re-adopting meeting for the Town Plan. The plan was reviewed in depth with some minor corrections made. The Board would check to see if The Planning Commission could hold a meeting on November 18th to review/approve the Flood Plan By-Laws.

 

PARADE ORDINANCE-

            The Board tabled this for the next meeting on November 2nd.

 

On November 16th the Board will have representatives from Comcast available to discuss any problems of service in the Vernon area. The Newspaper will also have information pertaining to this. The Selectboard meetings are always open to the public to discuss such items as Comcast.   

 

NEW/OLD UNFINISHED BUSINESS-

            Survey Update

Mike Courtemanche stated that he has received 39 surveys back so far. Some of the recommendations would be to have in the Town Newspaper the approved minutes. The Board will keep the survey active for another two weeks due to the positive results.

 

Mike Ball was called out of the meeting and Mike Courtemanche continued the meeting as acting chair.

 

LCD Projector-

The Board agreed that this would definitely be a good investment for all committees to use as well as the Selectboard. 

This would be tabled to a later meeting.

 

Compost Project Update-

Mike Courtemanche stated that the composting project, even with the lack of advertising, had been doing quite well.  Each week it’s catching on with people, and more and more are participating.  The recycling committee is exploring more ways of promoting the program.

 

 NOTICE: The recycling bins will be removed during the Halloween weekend due to vandalism that has occurred in previous years.

 

Lobbyist- 

 Mike Courtemanche stated that with the questions the Board has around the contract it would need to be reviewed. 

The Board tabled this to the next Selectboard meeting.

 

Len Howard stated that some residents had some concerns about several items, one being the sewer line pump station in Vernon. Robert Miller stated the project was not approved after the initial funds were spent.  The project has not moved forward since then. Another concern is the Town Forest gate, and when that would be closed. The Board would talk to Seth Deyo about when that would happen.  Len Howard stated that the Farmland Protection Committee is in desperate need of members. The Town Newspaper will advertise the vacancies.

 

MEDIA

Chris Garofolo from the Brattleboro Reformer was present and asked questions. The Board asked Chris to include in his article the vacancies of the Farmland Protection Committee.

 

Len Howard made the motion to adjourn. LYNDa STARORYPINSKI seconded the motion. THE motion carried.

 

 Adjourned @8:35 PM.

NEXT MEETING WILL BE, nOVEMBER 2, 2009 @ 6:30 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted by ________________

Elaine Howard

 

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