Select Board
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Meeting Minutes
Select Board: Kathy Scott, Andrea Hodson, Pegg Monahan
Attendees: Wes Tarr, Jeff Cady, Andrew Maneval, Don Scott, Joe Shawver, Cathy Lovas
Agenda, minutes – The board approved the agenda and deferred review and approval of the February 9 minutes.
Pay warrant – The board signed the pay warrant in the amount of $11,126.93.
Personnel policies manual – Considering applicability of the personnel policies to non-employees, the board agreed contractors would be added to the manual language where vendors are referenced as the same policies apply to both.
Mobile Covid vaccination/booster van – The Health Officer notified the board of the opportunity to have a mobile vaccination and booster clinic in town. The board will discuss at its meeting on Friday, February 24.
Tax Collector – The board signed abatement request for the amount of $18.90 due to the timing of the town’s receipt of the property deed and issuance of the second half tax bills.
Land use fees – Andrew Maneval shared input on RSAs for assessment of fees compared to penalties for land use applications and building permit violations respectively. The board confirmed that the town already has in its posted building regulations that a penalty up to $100 per day may be assessed for non-compliance with code requirements, including not obtaining a building permit for work already begun that requires a building permit or for work that has not been approved by the building inspector. Also allowable by statute, and as requested by the Code Enforcement Officer, is assessment of a $100 penalty for property owners and/or their contractors’ not seeking the required inspections by the Officer during project work, a requirement under state building codes. The board agreed to call additional attention to this on the building permit application form.
2nd Budget Hearing – At 7:30 pm, the board opened the second public hearing on the proposed 2023 Budget. The board aimed to finalize the budget at this hearing, and to post to DRA by Friday, February 24, ahead of the official February 27 deadline.
The board confirmed that, at this time, the bottom line of the proposed operating budget is $1,588,233, adjusted slightly from the first budget hearing on February 9 due to a change in Capital Reserve allocations.
Additional proposed modifications – Kathy Scott added that additional budget may be needed for a boundary survey to define easements for the Church and School Street road project; should the board also decide to obtain similar easement definitions for the Skatutakee Lake boat ramp on Hancock Road, and for the highway vehicle turnaround at the end of Skatutakee Road, money should be added for these as well.
The board noted the forecasted increase of roughly 30% in town wide property values from the 2023 property revaluation, which will affect future tax revenues that will help offset the tax impact from the budget.
At the recommendation of Pegg Monahan and the Police Chief and Safety Committee, pending input and decision of Fire and Rescue officers, the board approved $5,000 in added budget ($2,500 under the police budget and $2,500 under general government) for two new defibrillators, one for the new police cruiser and one for the library. The board will discuss with the Fire Chief. This brings the proposed PD budget to $157,008 and proposed General Government budget line to $86,595.
Cathy Lovas reiterated a previous request for hard copies of the current RSAs. The board agreed to add $2145 under professional publications in the Financial Administration budget, raising that budget line to $128,265.
With the modifications, the SB moved and voted unanimously in favor to approve the total proposed 2023 Operating Budget in the amount of $1,595,378.
At 8:28 pm, the board closed the hearing on the budget.
The agenda for Friday, February 24, will include: Citizen of the Year nominations, mobile Covid vaccination site, posting of the budget and warrant and pay and payroll warrants.
The meeting adjourned at 8:35 pm.