10.18.2022 Chelsea Selectboard Meeting Minutes (draft)
Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 7: 34 pm at Chelsea Town Hall
Selectboard Members present: Levar Cole, Bruce Hook, Mark Whitney, Geoff Clayton
Other Town Employees Present: Karen Lathrop (Town Clerk), Gayle Durkee (Town Treasurer), Kasey
Peterson ( Grants Administrator & Administration)
Members of the public present: Robert Aicher, Andrea Zoe Aicher, David Bradshaw, Frank Keene, Mike
McCullough, Morton Bailey, Chase Ackerman and Marty Gratz.
- Call Meeting to Order
Meeting called to order by L. Cole at 7:34 pm. - Conflict of Interest Disclosure
None - Changes to Agenda
Emergent Roberts Poor Fund Request, Fema Letter, Mike McCullough water request extension- Board
note prior approval of request and approves extension until November 1,2022. - Town Clerk – None
- Town Treasurer – a. Sent report to Board, nothing significant in change
b. Presented orders to Board – made misc’l expense line item for erosion
control at Wastewater Plant and Beaver Dam. Levar signed contract for
Brookfield Generator Maintenance Plan.
Action item: Mark Whitney approved the orders as presented. Geoff seconded
the motion. Board approved.
Orders totaling:
General $75,944.57
Garage $10,515.85
Water/Sewer $1,596.90 - Department /Liaison Updates
a. Highway: Bruce spoke with Rick Ackerman about guardrails for Hook Road
and Transfer Station. Will save money by doing it in-house. Beaver dam has
been taken care of, trappers were in on Friday, and tree being chewed will be
down on Wednesday. Road Plan work is still being worked on to figure out what
roads are the challenges and long-term goals. MRGP- Kasey Peterson read
through it. Basically the Town will need to be on board with it for any grant aid
and the Board agreed. Bruce to take lead on comments by October 24, 2022.
Bruce spoke to the Town Garage having a structural issue as the corners are
dropping and the Board will tour. Geoff stated the statute of limitations clock
starts running. Bruce will take lead with Geoff supporting. Levar noted the Town
will need to retain a Town Attorney. Kasey noted maybe a call to VLCT first to
send them in the right direction.
b. Transfer Station: Geoff read the letter for illegal trash dumping to Board
which they accepted and Geoff will send the letter out. Geoff stated no time to
put shed up. Geoff said made of metal, won’t keep a bear out. He will purchase
from Town at cost. Board discussed electric fence.
d. Town Hall – Kasey introduced Morton Bailey to answer Board questions
about pellet boiler. Mr. Bailey spoke with the Fire Marshall and the Town will
need to wall off the boiler with a 60-90 minute fire door. He assured the Board
that the BTU’s were ample to ensure heating by zones. There might be a need
for oil supplement to wood pellet on an extremely cold night but that would be
minimal. Two of the furnaces downstairs will be blowers for the pellet stove and
the main chimney will be us Kasey gave the Board the new quote (#161) of
$45,700.00 which is actually less when the Efficiency Vermont incentives is less
than the last quote. The Arts Council grant for this is $21,000.00 which leaves
the Town Portion at $23,600.00. Levar noted the Board had approved this prior
and the Board accepts the new quote and has no objection for them to start.
e. Other: Beavers/damaged trees -Noted in Bruce’s earlier report
f. Administrative Assistant: staffing/town report: Board discussed Marianne
McCann organizing the Town Report remotely. Leva recommends this.
Action item:Levar moved to offer Marianne McCann the job of putting the
Town Report and its commensurate items that go in it remotely. Bruce
seconded the motion. Board approved. - Public Comments: Marty Gratz said she would like to light the basketball court again this year with
light as she had the year before if the Board had not objections. Boar had no objections. She also
mentioned the sumac was growing back and she would like to take it out and replace it with ground
cover. The Board’s concern was whether it would inhibit mowing. She would also like to plant perennials
come spring. She noted that Susan Elder had spoken about grants earlier in the year for beautification of
the commons. Would the Board consider memorial trees. Mark Whitney is putting a plan together on
the trees, and it might be done in November Marty wanted to know what duties Fence Viewers have.
Dave Bradshaw spoke up and said, they were to settle disputes between owners who have property
sharing fences. She also mentioned she would like to help with repairs to broken windows in the Old
Town Garage. Bruce will touch base with her on it. Levar thanked her for coming to the meeting and for
her continued support. - Budget Discussions: Levar started the discussion with noting that the Town wanted to find out what
they as a Board can do to support the entities and have open discussions about budget needs.
Chase Ackerman gave a report in which he noted call volume increases, the need to find new
dispatching co, as state police would not longer be dispatching for free. Also lack of personnel due to
the low wages they are paying ( $13.25/hr) vs other services. He noted the 3 year contract with the
Town ends in December and presented the Board with a new contract to look over. It is increasing by
$9.00 per capita, up $10,000.00. The Board expressed concern at how low the wages were. They noted
the everyone was having retention issues, even Town. The Board thanked him for coming to speak with
them.
Frank Keene gave a report on Highland Cemetery and the three smaller cemeteries. They will keep the
same persons mowing, were able to paint the arch and roof in Highland and repair some stones. They
will be level funding their budget request at $2,500.00.
No TRORC representative
Under Petition Requests, Bob Aicher reported for the Senior Center. He noted they saw a large increase
in the costs to their 3 meals program, Meals on Wheels, Dine in, and Take out. Inflation is raising the
cost of meals. Many volunteers but they have some paid staff. They would be looking to increase their
petitioned amount to $3,000.00, which is a $500.00 increase. Levar noted the Board was thankful for
their service.
Dave Bradshaw represented the West Hill Cemetery. He too said costs are going up and they would be
asking for $1600.00 to be budgeted for them this year.
Fire Warden – none - Approve minutes:
Action item: Levar moved to approve 10.04.2022 Meeting minutes with revisions. Geoff seconded the
motion. Board approved.
Action item: Levar moved to approve 9.20.2022 Special Meeting minutes with revisions. Bruce seconded
the motion. Board approved.
Levar will check on revisions to September 6 and September 20 were finished. - Administrative Assistant Report/Grants Administration :
a. Karen reported two Village Greens requests. One for Chelsea Grange to do
Trunk or Treat & one from First Branch Unified District to decorate the common.
Both were approved and signed by Levar Cole.
b. Hiring for Water/Wastewater -none
c. Hiring for Administrative Asst – none
d. Arts grant/Pellet Furnace- Kasey asked what kind of sound system the Board
wanted. Board asked her to explore the options but something that was
compatible with hearing aids. She also spoke to a Public Safety Sub Grant for
the generator. Due by November 15, 2022 but most of the work was already
completed for an earlier grant. Can be utilized for this one. Would not need a
permit to bury the propane tank-she checked. Need an electrician to sign off on
a report stating the building can accept the electrical load. Karen suggested Rick
Allen.
Creamery Project waiting on TRORC. No problem with Town Right of way. Geoff
said Lou Maraget does not see any problem doing what needs to be done on
school property. Kasey said culverts could be bought from Bob Button. Levar not
the Board would need to be cognizant and do its due diligence so no conflict of
interest was breached.
It was also noted that grants for lighting need to be looked into. Also the
handicap ramp. Kasey reported the clearance for the bathroom would need to
be 60 inches which is a worry.
Levar gave synopsis of the letter from FEMA. He would contact persons who
contributed to the LHMP. The period to comment was 30 days, but federal
rules say more time. - Employee Vacancies- Still have vacancies-no applications. Gayle noted the debit card came in and
she can put the advertisement on Indeed.
12 Elected and Appointed Vacancies – All vacancies still open - Executive Session -Not needed
- Added Emergent Roberts Poor Fund Request- Levar Cole brought an emergent request before the
Board for an $500.00 disbursement for a resident in need. Board approved.
Mark Whitney approved the orders as presented. Geoff seconded the motion. Board approved. - Meeting Adjourned at 9:44 PM