Town of Chelsea Selectboard Meeting
January 7, 2023 – Chelsea Town Hall
Selectboard members present: Geoff Clayton, Kevin Marshia, Kelly Lyford, William Lyon and
Leyna Hoyt.
Other Town Employees present: Gayle Durkee, Treasurer, Karen Lathrop, Town Clerk,
Marianne McCann, Town Report
Others present: Chris Belcher- videographer

  1. Meeting called to order by Geoff Clayton at 7:05 AM.\
  2. No conflicts of interest
  3. No changes to agenda
  4. Leyna H. nominated Geoff Clayton for Chair with William L. seconding the nominations
    Vote was unanimous. William L. nominated Kevin Marshia, Vice Chair with Kelly L. seconding
    the nominations. Vote was unanimous
  5. Kevin moved to adopt Roberts Rules of Order for meetings with William L. seconding the
    motion. Vote was unanimous.
  6. William L moved to hold meetings at 6:30 on the first, third and possibly fifth Wednesday of
    the month with Kelly L seconding the motion. Vote was unanimous.
  7. Board discussion on process for calling Special Meetings. Board noted they would follow the
    process set out in Vermont Statutes for calling Special & Emergency meetings
  8. Board requested information on how to treat emails sent to them for public comment. Clerk
    stated historically, emails were read off to the Board and added most public comment comes
    from the floor from people attending. Town Clerk asked if there would be time limits and how
    many times a person may speak. Board discussion on length of public comments noting they
    wanted transparency, but general parameters should be set. Geoff to place on next agenda. No
    action taken.
  9. William L. moved to continue using the White River Valley Herald as the Newspaper of
    choice with Leyna seconding the motion. Vote was unanimous.
  10. Geoff started off with:
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    (F) designation of Selectboard to be liasons and it was determined that liasons should wait until
    another meetings so the Board knows where their expertise lies. Geoff then jumped back to the
    top of the agenda listing.
    A. Appoint AA or Selectboard Clerk. Town Clerk was asked if she would continue to take
    meeting notes until the AA position was filled. The Clerk responded yes.
    B. Designation of members to sign the orders/warrants on the off week. Kevin M. moved Kelly
    Lyford and Geoff Clayton be designees to sign warrants/orders on the off week. Vote was
    unanimous.
    C. Determining Agenda content and coordination. Geoff stated Chair of the Board created it and
    disseminated it to Board Members via email and they email back any items they would like
    added to it. Board decided to continue with the ongoing process.
    D. Approval of Village Greens Requests. Geoff explained most of the requests are done through
    the AA office. Marianne McCann stated she has given verbal permission in the past but the
    Board usually signed off on the requests.
    E. Approval of Roberts Gould Field Requests. Geoff explained again that most requests were
    done through Lou Maraget and the AA office and the Board signed them at meetings. They
    usually provide insurance coverage to use the fields.
    F. Board discussion on liaison positions but No action taken. To be taken up at another meeting.
    Discussion about next meeting time. It was decided that the Board would have a Special Meeting
    on January 12, 2023, Geoff to draft the agenda.
  11. Town Clerk- Karen reported there are two contracts already signed off by the prior Board,
    the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and First Branch Ambulance.
  12. Gayle stated she gave a printed budget to the new members. She said the Auditor has agreed
    to do the Audit but she had no paperwork for the Board to sign yet. Geoff said usually two
    people work on the budget, then presented it to others, otherwise Gayle would be continually
    explaining it to everyone. Kelly Lyford stated she wanted more transparency and felt everyone
    should understand the budget process before signing off. She wanted to know if the Board would
    do meetings for budget on the off weeks. No decision was made andGeoff stated they were
    running out of time. This was an unprecedented time. Gayle noted that there would have been
    meetings with Department Heads but no Board meant no meetings for the last month and a half.
  13. Water/Sewer System Update. Geoff relayed he thought Mike was being stretched thin and
    we would need to budget more for the positions. Kevin M. explained he wanted to have a walkthrough Mike Whipple at the Sewer Plant and would check on that with Mike about the 21st
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    on a morning and stressed everyone should do the walk-through. Gayle requested someone from
    the Board reach out to Nolan LaFrancis to see if he was coming back as we could only hire a part
    time person until we knew whether Nolan was coming back. Leyna asked about coverage at the
    sewer plant. Marianne McCann said there was a link on the website for hours. No action taken.
    Geoff to put on next meeting agenda.
  14. Marianne McCann gave a brief report on the Town Report and stated a timeline for it.
  15. AA. Update- Town Clerk just the contracts Gayle had nothing more.
  16. Executive Session for Human Resources. No executive session. Geoff felt that the Board
    should have interview times set up and Town Clerk to send additional information to the Board
    on who applied for AA and Sewer Plant. Kevin M. also noted that the Road Crew was still
    understaffed. Some discussion on the VLCT Municipal & Benefits Report. It was brought up the
    Town is underpaying employees by an average of $9.00/hour. Karen to send link to all Board
    Members. Geoff felt maybe it was time to go to salaried positions. Again, no action taken. To be
    on a future agenda for budget.
    Kevin M. thanked everyone n who kept the Town moving forward during this time.
  17. Leyna H. moved to adjourn with William L. seconding the motion. Vote was unanimous.
    Meeting adjourned at 8:24 AM.