Brookfield Selectboard Meeting of January 12, 2015
Town Clerk’s Office on Ralph Road
Selectboard: John Benson (Chair), Cory Haggett, Jeff Kimmel
Public Attendees: Teresa Godfrey (Recorder), Ray Peck (Highway Foreman), Marya Merriam, Brenda Flint (Auditor), Ginny Brees (Auditor), Mary Waldo, Jennifer Severidt, Jon Binhammer
1. Call to Order:
Mr. Benson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p. m.
2. Public Presentation:
Ms. Merriam, Town Energy Committee, updated the Board concerning Green Mountain Power (GMP) switching the street lights over to LED as a follow-up from the December 22, 2014 Selectboard meeting. She spoke to Carol Burke from GMP and Ms. Burke said to let her know what the decision is for shutting down any lights temporarily to see how it affects the Town.
Mr. Benson said we need to watch the time frame so we don’t get bumped from the list for the upgrade. Ms. Merriam said the light at the intersection of Rte. 65 and Ridge Road faces the Church parking lot and not the intersection and it might need to be turned when the new light is installed. LED lights are brighter but cover the same surface area.
Ms. Severidt suggested having 1 light in the Village by the Ridge Road and Sunset Lane and the first light at the north end of Sunset Lake turned off for a month to see if they are necessary. Ms. Merriam said the spacing on Rte. 14 seems strange however; there are 2 lights in need of new bulbs. One is at East Hill & Rte. 14 and the other is across from the Church.
The Board will drive around to see if they are in agreement with the recommendations. Ms. Merriam said Linda Kelly will be speaking to the citizens in the Village to see what the consensus is on having 2 lights removed.
The only cost would be if we wanted to remove any lights that have been recently changed. There are a total of 23 street lights and the average cost per month is $16.50 per street light.
Ms. Severidt spoke to the PACE representative and was told they do not have the most current application signed by the Selectboard. Ms. Severidt said she will have them send an updated form to be signed.
Ms. Waldo told the Board that she would like to be the third auditor and plans on running to fill the 1 year position.
On motion by Mr. Kimmel, seconded by Mr. Haggett, the Board voted to appoint Mary Waldo as the third town auditor with her term ending March 3, 2015. Vote 3-0-0
Ms. Flint and Ms. Brees presented a possible plan for how to show the budget in the Town Report. They will be writing a report to be included in the Town Report. They discussed with the Board about having outside audits and if there are different levels of audits that the Town can have done at a lower rate.
Mr. Binhammer reported to the Board that the Annual Brookfield Ice Harvest & Winter Carnival will be held January 31, 2015. The parking will be the same as prior years with the exception of the Floating Bridge area due to the rebuilding supplies being stored there. Mr. Binhammer will submit an assemblage permit at the next Selectboard meeting.
3. Highway Report:
Mr. Peck reported that Wayne Bushey is an authorized dealer for generators and has a business size generator, with a 3 year warranty, that is 6500-7000 watts, for roughly $1,275.00. The Board approved purchasing the generator so if the garage loses power it will be able to run the fuel pumps among other items.
The blue International is down again. The EGR cooler is out they believe but haven’t had a chance to look at it yet.
Mr. Peck presented the Board with estimates for purchasing a new truck to continue with the 3 year truck replacement plan. The average cost will be about $192,000.00 without including a trade-in value which will be taken into consideration. Mr. Peck also presented the Board with his budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
4. Other Business:
On motion by Mr. Haggett, seconded by Mr. Benson, the Board voted to approve the minutes of December 22, 2014 as amended. Vote 2-0-1 Mr. Kimmel was not able to attend the December 22nd meeting.
Mr. Kimmel will speak to Kasey Peterson, Administrative Assistant, concerning payroll procedure updates.
Mr. Kimmel will speak to Cindy Spaulding about some changes to the Inter-Municipal Agreement with Randolph.
The Board received the new Common Level of Appraisal (CLA) and Coefficient of Dispersion (COD) from the State. The new CLA is 111.59% which is down 11.16% from last year and the COD is 16.14% which is up .16% from last year.
The Board worked on finalizing a 2015-2016 fiscal year budget to be presented to the Town in the Town Report.
5. Accounts Payable:
On motion by Mr. Kimmel, seconded by Mr. Haggett, the Board voted to pay the warrants in the amount of $40,730.53, an adjustment from the $42,480.69 which is explained on the invoice for Rouse Tire Sales. This included a payment to VLCT of $30,840.00 for insurance, a deposit to the cemetery checking for $2,150.00 that had been deposited in the general fund in error and $1776.41 to Rouse Tire Sales. Vote 3-0-0
6. New Business:
On motion by Mr. Kimmel, seconded by Mr. Benson, the Board voted to approve the warning for Town Meeting pending any 3rd party petitions that fulfill the statuary requirements. Vote 3-0-0
7. Adjournment:
On motion by Mr. Kimmel, seconded by Mr. Haggett, the Board voted to adjourn at 10:00 p. m. until the next meeting on January 26, 2015 at 7:00 p. m. Vote 3-0-0
Respectfully submitted,
Teresa Godfrey, Recorder