Town Of Fairfax Selectboard Minutes
March 9, 2009

Selectboard Members present: Bill Ormerod, John Mitchell, Bob Horr, Charlie Swanson*, and Randy DeVine

Staff Members present: Suzanne Lavallee, Administrative Assistant to the Selectboard;

Public Present: Peter King, Melissa Beerworth

1. Call to Order

Bill Ormerod, Vice-Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 7:00PM.

2. Items on the Agenda

A. Elect Chairperson: Randy nominated Bob Horr, Bob accepted nomination. No other nominations made. Motion carried. Three votes in favor, none against, one abstained.

B. Elect Vice-Chair: Bob nominated Bill Ormerod, Bill accepted nomination. No other nominations made. Three votes in favor, none against, one abstained.

C. Don Pigeon: Don was absent from meeting. Bob gave his report. A load of salt was purchased, also purchased stone. Pot holes on Meade Road and Sam Webb Road were repaired. The Nortrax salesman contacted Don to say the wing and associated accessories for the grader were in and were going to be installed. He asked when and how we would take possession. We will need to apply for a two-year loan and will get Deb Woodward, Town Clerk, involved at this point. We need to ensure the first payment on the loan is due after November 15, 2009.

*Charlie arrived at 7:05 PM.

D. Randy DeVine: Randy distributed the monthly phosphorus monitoring, operations (lagoons), and sewer discharge reports for February for review and discussion.

Composite sample was done on Monday, water sample on Tuesday, chlorine delivery on Friday. Chlorine is now $1.89 per gallon.

3. Minutes

A. Bill motioned to accept the minutes from the meeting on March 2, 2009. Bill, Randy, and Charlie had minor revisions.

B. Bill motioned to accept the minutes as amended. Randy seconded. Four members voted in favor of the minutes as amended, one abstained.

4. General Business

A. There was a short discussion on past due taxes from BFA brought to the table by Charlie. Deb Woodward was brought in to explain that it was actually a check from the Town to the school, and is done every year after Town Meeting. This is money paid to the school which the Town has not yet received from the taxpayers.

B. A purchase order from the Listers to attend a seminar was reviewed and approved by consensus.

C. The letter regarding the Certification of Solid Waste Management Practices was read and approved with one edit.

D. Bill noted there is a VLCT Seminar in Montpelier for newly elected officials on April 4th. He suggested John and Suzanne attend if possible.

E. Bill received an email from Shaun Coleman, NWRPC, regarding adopting a National Incident Management System (NIMS) resolution so that we can qualify for emergency management grants and funding from FEMA. Bob requested a formal motion to adopt the NIMS resolution. John made the motion, Bill seconded the motion. Three voted in favor, one abstained. Motion passed.

F. Bill also received an email from Steve Stitzel regarding the acceptance process for easements and DRB, which he read to the board members. Some discussion followed. Randy will review with Skip.

G. Bill reported that Mr. Handy, through Attorney Franco, has declined the Town’s offer to settle all pending litigation.

H. March 13, 2009 is the deadline to submit an application get on the State’s priority list for wastewater treatment facility infrastructure money. The feasibility study was done in 2007 with Dubois & King. Discussion followed regarding the amounts and process. The application has been completed and Bill would like to move forward and submit to the State this week. John motioned to submit, Randy seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion passed.

I. There was discussion regarding submitting an application to the State for the water line repair on Buck Hollow Road as well. Charlie believes easements will be required from property owners and we will not make the March 13th deadline. John suggested we submit the application regardless and proceed from there. It was agreed we would proceed with the application; Bill, Randy and Charlie will complete it and submit this week. Bill motioned to submit, Charlie seconded. All voted in favor.

J. Randy raised the issue of the tax sale to be held on Friday, March 13, 2009 at 10:00AM. Johanna Blake stated that a member of the Selectboard needs to be present. Bill will attend. Discussion followed regarding the tax sale process and requirements.

5.Appointment of Officers

A. Review of the appointed officers.

- Peter King was present and would like to continue as Health Officer.

- Bob will contact Duane Leach to inquire as to whether he wishes to continue as Fire Warden. Discussion followed as to whether we should have an Assistant Fire Warden and perhaps should consider Paul Langelier. This will be decided at a later date.

-John Mitchell agreed to be the Library Trustee/SB Representative, replacing Judy Cleary.

-All other town officers will remain the same.

- Bill suggested we have a legal representative. Bill agreed to continue and Bob will assist Bill on these matters.

6. Other Business

A. Suzanne received an email from Mark Hunziker regarding Citizens for Fairfax Community. It was decided all correspondence will come through Suzanne to be distributed to board members.

B. The Town Service Officer form was completed by Charlie for submission to the State as required.

C. The latest revisions to the Employee Policy were discussed. One is the Fire Warden will be added to list of employees whose mileage is reimbursable. The second was regarding pro-rating vacation time. Deb will be re-writing that section.

D. Bill received two contacts this week. One was from Linda Corey thanking the board for the time regarding the petition to not pave Meade Road. The other was from David Shea regarding Sam Webb Road and Meade Road, and also questions about policy and procedure for posting properties for tax sale. He suggested we consider advertising tax sales so the information will reach individuals outside the Town.

E. VLCT CIO Workshop has been rescheduled to March 30, 2009, from 7:00 – 9:00 in the Library. This will cover developing a capital budget and will replace the normal Selectboard meeting.

F. There was some discussion regarding pavement of the “washboard” area of Same Webb Road, not necessarily the entire road.

G. Charlie would like Johanna Blake to attend next week’s meeting to explain the delinquent taxes. Suzanne will contact Johanna to confirm her attendance.

7. Executive Session

A. Bob motioned to enter Executive Session to discuss Ancient Roads legal matters at 8:40. Bill seconded. All board members voted in favor.

The board returned to public session at 8:45PM.

B. Charlie motioned to re-enter Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter at 8:50PM. John seconded.

The board returned to public session at 8:57PM.

C. Bill motioned for the board to again re-enter Executive Session to discuss legal matters. John seconded.

The board returned to public session at 9:15PM.

8.Adjournment

Bill motioned to adjourn at 9:19 PM. Bob seconded. All board members voted in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 9:19 PM.

Respectfully submitted by Suzanne Lavallee,

Selectboard Administrative Assistant

Robert Horr, Selectboard Chairperson