DRAFT

 

 

VERNON SELECTBOARD

 MEETING

 

 

September 20, 2010                                                                             6:30 PM

 

 

MEMBERS PRESENT

 

 

ALSO PRESENT

Christiane Howe

 

 

Sally Brassor

Robert Miller

 

 

Mario Buisa

Len Howard

 

 

Seth Deyo

Michael Ball

 

 

Ian Deyo

MEMBERS ABSENT

 

 

Eric Potter

Michael Courtemanche

 

 

Martha Missale

 

 

 

Joan Kritsas

 

 

 

Mary Beth Hebert

 

 

 

David Andrews

 

 

 

 

 

WELCOME AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

At 6:30 pm Vice Chair Christiane Howe called the meeting to order, welcomed those present and led in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT

No Public comment at this time.

 

MINUTE APPROVAL

Chris noted that she had requested the following to be included in the minutes:  under job descriptions—“any and all correspondence, whether written or oral, was given to the Chairman.”

 

Len Howard made the motion to approve the minutes of August 30, 2010 with that notation. Robert Miller seconded the motion. The motion passed.

 

BILLS AND WARRANTS

 

Len Howard made the motion to approve warrants

6SG Accounts payable         $100,621.59

36S   Payroll                            $ 11,377.39

37S   Payroll                           $ 13,330.90

38S   Payroll                           $ 10,399.42        

Robert Miller seconded the motion. The motion carried.

A motion was made to go out of order for the following items.  The motion was seconded and passed.

There was discussion on the police pay and training issues—insurance, part time officer certification which carry restrictions, but Sally is not able to get those restrictions in writing. One restriction is that a part time officer may only work 32 hours per week. But there is a question as to what goes into the hours—patrol, detail, training, paperwork, etc.  Town policy is 30 hours for part time officers—this is the amount budgeted and was voted at town meeting.  Some officers have expressed desire to work more than 30 hours but that would raise a problem with the budget and benefits.  They would be willing to waive benefits, but that is not perceived to be a good idea. Dental insurance cannot be waived.  Also, Tanya Chambers at VLCT said it was absolutely not a good idea to waive benefits due to possible litigation, because if someone got hurt, they could still sue even if they had signed a waiver.   There was a question/concern that some training is 40 hours—would officers be paid for all 40 hours or only 30 hours.  It was stated that Vernon always pays for whatever hours are worked including training.  Detail work for Vermont Yankee is reimbursed by Vermont Yankee, but Sally doesn’t know if that work is counted toward the hours needed for certification.  Again, there is nothing in writing so Len will check into this to try to get some answers.

Doc Send—Sally can’t use Martha in the Treasurer’s office because she is an Auditor and that would be a conflict of interest. This issue will need to be addressed at a meeting of the full board before any decisions are made.  Will be on the agenda for the next meeting. 

Credit card policy—Sally and Mike Ball were going to decide the limit for each department head.  Sally knows what the limit would be but Mike hasn’t contacted her yet about it.  Chris will email Mike Ball to see when he is going to contact Sally to finish this—perhaps it could be done at the next meeting. 

There was some discussion about using a company rather than a person to work the Doc Send program.  WSESU could be contacted to see who they used.  Bob Miller will contact WSESU and others to check on this.

Sally handed out end of year reports, especially accounts for which the Selectboard is responsible and also a year to date report so the Board can see what has been spent. Chris asked Sally when they should start working on budgets, Sally recommended October.

Since the Recreation Board and Police Departments were not yet present, Bob Miller moved that they pass over to the IBPO contract.  Len seconded the motion and the motion passed.

IBPO—the concerns about training pay issues and starting pay.  Comments by Mike Ball:  Sally would collect dues; holiday pay—outside detail would be paid one and a half times the regular pay—outside detail rate is already high, Town’s policy should be used to deal with this.  Sally needs hourly rate and number of hours worked.  In order to deal with the IBPO contract, the Board will need to have a separate meeting.  . The meeting will be set for September 29, 2010

at 6:30 p.m.  Mike Ball will talk with Mike Courtemanche about the issues.

It was moved and seconded to go back into order with the Recreation Board.  Motion passed.

Seth presented a proposal on a piece of playground equipment that they hope to purchase to replace the existing wood structure.    It is built by Landscape Structures and would be purchased from O’Brien & Sons, the sole vendor for Landscape Structures in New England.  It will require minimum maintenance and is fully warranted.  The total cost is $10,500.00.  The original price was $11,746.00 but the Recreation Board was able to negotiate down to $10,500.00.  The board is comfortable with this figure and feels it is a reasonable price.  Also, the Board was able to secure $5,000.00 from the Brattleboro Rotary Club toward the project.  They are looking to utilize the balance of the cost from the Safety and Security Fund which has $5,134.90 in it.  The Recreation Board is looking to the Selectboard for approval to use the money from the Safety and Security Fund.  They are aware of the bid policy and have gotten bids on wood structures but they did not compare with the steel and plastic construction of the equipment.   

There was discussion as to whether the existing wooden equipment which is pressure treated and contains arsenic has been sealed every year.  They have been sealed but not annually.  This was brought up in 2003 to the Selectboard but not passed on to the Recreation Board.

Was the Safety and Security Fund to be used carte blanc for security issues—or was it for safety and security issues at that time.  Seth said that to the best of his knowledge it was not just for that time and he has used the fund for various safety and security related projects.  He has checked with the Auditors to make sure that it was appropriate to use the money from that account. 

Len Howard made a motion to allow the Recreation Board to take $5,134.90 to pay for balance of the play structure.  The motion was seconded and discussion followed.  Robert Miller expressed concern regarding following the Town’s bid policy.  Mike Ball then said that if there is only a single source for a purchase, the bid policy may be waived.  For the good of the town, the Selectboard can opt to go by single source.  Prices for equipment can be obtained from the internet but only for residential quality, not commercial structures. The equipment comes highly recommended by Brattleboro Parks Department. They had gone through the bid process and were the most satisfied with O’Brien & Sons.

Bob Miller said he would like to see the bids.  Seth and the Board responded that it would be hard to get bids on the same exact product from three different companies as they all have different features.

Since the negotiated cost of the equipment is $10,500.00, that falls into the category requiring 3 bids.  Seth felt that they wouldn’t be saving the town any money by going to all of the time of finding three companies, providing specs, getting prices, etc.  The price is only good for 30 days so they would like to proceed with this purchase ASAP.

The motion passed with 3 ayes and 1 nay.

Credit card policy..Mike will work with Sally and give the Board recommendations.   

Len Howard moved to go on to old and new business.  The motion was seconded and passed.

Old and New Business--Bucket truck agreement has not been finalized and has been ongoing since May.  With all of the working in the background between the Board, VLCT and the Town Attorney, it is not surprising that it has taken so long but should be finalized soon.

Dave Walker asked for the Board’s opinion on the following:  He will be going to Worcester for a training meeting next Wednesday.  Since several towns have each contributed toward the rental of a van to make the trip, would it be okay for Dave to chip in as well.

It was moved by Mike Ball that David pay a fair share toward the rental of the van and expense it to the town of Vernon to help defray cost of rental of van.  The motion was seconded and passed.

 

Fire Department      

Dave Andrews gave a detailed report on work that has been done at the Fire Station:

  1. Pine trees cut—brush and stumps removed
  2. Back steps repaired
  3. Tower base is in and poured
  4. Generator pad scraped
  5. Hole in back for new underground propane tank
  6. Basement wall,  new closet wall done
  7. Radio narrow band project—in final stages 
  8. A/C is in and working
  9. Generator on the pad and installed; underground tank goes in 9/21/10
  10. Grant received for $35,000.00 for a “Breathing Air Compressor, Storage, and Refill Station”.

 

Dave gave each board member a copy of “An Invitation for Formal Bid” for a Breathing Air Compressor, Storage, and Refill Station which listed the specifics for each component of the station.  The bids will be received no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday, October 18, 2010 and opened at the regularly scheduled Selectboard meeting at 6:30 p.m. of the same day, but no decisions have to be made on that day.

The Fire Association met on September 10, 2010 and has made a motion to offer to the town at no cost to purchase and provide for the installation of a sign

in front of the fire station.  The sign will be double sided so that it may be seen from both directions.  If the Selectboard has no objections, the Association will proceed with purchase and installation of the sign.   It is hoped that the signs can be installed between November 1st and 4th, so that it can be unveiled at their regular meeting.

Len Howard made a motion to accept the gift of the sign from the Fire Department Association.  The motion was seconded and motion passed.

Len Howard made a motion to allow the Fire Association to put the Cascade System out to bid. The motion was seconded and motion passed.

Dave passed out a draft for the bathroom renovations.  The original idea was to have two bathrooms, both with a shower and ADA compliant, but due to space constraints, there will be a larger ADA approved bathroom and a smaller non ADA approved bathroom.    Electrical, Plumbing and Occupational Permits will have to be obtained.  One concern that Dave has is that the bid for the ADA compliant bathroom will be higher than the $7500 which was budgeted.

Hopefully, volunteer labor will be available to help keep cost down.

Main meeting room at Fire Station:  The Association has met to discuss renovations and has committed $12,000 to complete this project.

 

Police Department

Portable radios:

Len moved to accept quote from WPCS International for 6 portable radios.  The motion was seconded and passed.

Computers:

Len made motion to accept bid from Gov Connection for computers for $5,005.00.  Motion seconded and passed.

Discussion on part time employees----definition.  Can’t work more than 32 hours per week, for 25 weeks per year. 

Town budgeted for only 30 hours per week. Officers who want to work longer than 30 hours were willing to waive benefits.  But benefits can’t be waived.

If we adopt the state average, it would give part time officers 2 more hours a week .  Decision needs to be made by full board.

Probation period of Brian Daniels was up on August 24, 2010.  He is due a pay increase, but Mary Beth didn’t have the exact figure so it was decided that the Board should wait until they are ready to sign the IBPO contract before making the decision.  His pay will be retroactive to August 24, 2010.

Chief’s contract….has not been  finalized.  Mary Beth will finish this week.

 

Personnel policy:  hold until full board is present—schedule for the next meeting.

Hucklehill –Senior Housing:   Chris visited the facility and made a list of problems.  But there is nothing Selectboard can do—it is not under their jurisdiction.

Mike Ball will contact Stewart Management about the concerns.

 

Lock Box –what should be done with it? Has never been utilized.  Will be on the agenda for the next meeting

 

Mike Coughlin had asked for permission for the Elementary School to hang a diversity quilt in the windows of the foyer.  This was okayed by consensus via email and needs to ratified.

Len Howard made a motion to allow Vernon Elementary School to hang a diversity quilt in the Town Office lobby.  The motion was seconded and passed.

 

Downstairs Vault

Robert Miller did research but nothing has been done.  Chris expressed her thanks to Robert for his work.  This will be on the agenda for the next meeting.

 

Town Fair:   October 7, 2010. 

Robert Miller made a motion to appoint Sandra Harris as town representative to the Town Fair.  The motion was seconded and passed.

 

Len Howard made a motion to adjourn.  The motion was seconded and passed.

The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Carol Hammond

 

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