Town of Panton Selectboard Meeting
Wednesday October 12, 2005
Panton Town Offices
Minutes
Selectboard
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Administration
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Guests/Visitors
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R. Atkins
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R. Cloutier
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L. Donnelly
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J. Moulton
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S. Torrey
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S. Hofmann
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| A. Sullivan
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Call to Order: Chair R. Atkins called the meeting to
order at 7:02 p.m.
Minutes: Motion by J. Moulton,
seconded by A. Sullivan, to approve the minutes of September 12, 2005 as written. So voted.
Public Communication: Lynn Donnelly advised the Selectboard that
the Shirley Desjadon property, across from the town hall, will be coming up for
sale and thinks this would be a good investment for the town to use for extra
parking. She added that Mrs. Desjadon is very anxious to sell and is willing to
consider a reasonable offer from the town. Chair Atkins stated that a special
meeting would be required to pursue this opportunity which requires a
thirty-day notice. It was discussed that the existing lot may not support a
septic system so the lot may only be valuable for an adjoining property owner
to add to their existing property. Various means of financing was discuss and
the Board agreed this would be a good move for the town. Motion by A.
Sullivan to have the property appraised. J. Moulton seconded the motion. So
voted. L. Donnelly will contact W. Benton to set up. She
added that she will not take a commission from the sale.
R. Thurber advised that where Allen
Road meets Jersey Street
was to be straightened out but that it has not happened. He added that
mailboxes need to be removed and it will make it easier to travel as well as
safer. Chair Atkins said that the Board was not aware of this. He added that
they were aware of Allen Road
needing work. Mr. Thurber also advised that the road across from his barn (on Jersey
Street) is quite rough from water leaks being
patched over time. It was discussed that this should be brought to the
attention of Vergennes-Panton Water. Mr. Thurber expressed concern regarding Allen
Road from the Lynk property down to Jersey
Street. He said the ditches are high and the road
needs a lot of work. He said that part of this is due to the amount of travel
he does with heavy equipment. He added that he doesn’t think much of anything
has been done to the road since his father graded it up approximately thirty
years ago. He advised the Selectboard that he is willing to put money into the
road and it was discussed that this project would be long term due to the road
condition and the priority now is grading, additional work will need to wait
until spring. Mr. Thurber said that he spoke to the Addison
road foreman about hiring him to do the work which would be about a $100.00 an
hour. Chair Atkins will contact him to discuss further. A. Sullivan asked Mr.
Thurber if he would be interested in attending a meeting between the town, the
State of Vermont and the farmers
to discuss road damage that was incurred by heavy farm equipment last spring. Various
means of hauling were discussed and Mr. Thurber said that there was no easy
answer to the situation.
S. Hofmann advised the Board that he spoke with Art Cohen
from the Maritime Museum
and the sign for the Panton School
is in process. He said the Board should decide where they want it. Mr. Hofmann
also advised that he will pay for supplies to have a third bulletin board made.
It was decided that the best location would be the park
across from the Panton store. Mr. Hofmann asked if the Board could do anything
about the property tax increase, that it’s affected many people. A. Sullivan
advised that the town does not have control over the education tax, which makes
up the majority of the tax. S. Hofmann advised that the Planning/Zoning Board
was looking at options for assistance with writing the new zoning regulations.
Using the town attorney, ACRPC and Darby, Stearns, Thorndike, Kolter &
Ware, LLP, who did the original, were considered. He added that he did not have
the expertise to handle a task such as this and would prefer legal
advice/review. S. Torrey mentioned that there isn’t any money in the budget to
hire outside counsel. She added that the ZBA/PC should submit a budget to the
Selectboard for the year 2006. This is a
task that was not done in the past and consequently an estimate was done by the
Treasurer at budget preparation time. Chair
Atkins advised S. Hofmann to work on the new zoning regulations with assistance
of the ACRPC until a new budget can be established. S. Hofmann asked for a
sketch for the new bulletin board and J. Moulton said to use the board on Hopkins
Road as a guide. She will provide the necessary
information for the board dimensions.
Restoration: The Board asked S. Torrey to contact
Climate Systems for the status of the air system.
New Business:
Road Foreman R. Cloutier advised that Trooper Pregent
stopped in the town garage to warn him that there are speed limits signs
missing on Adams Ferry Road.
Advised that he can obtain salt from Barrett’s for $44.06/ton versus $45.56/ton
we paid last year from a different company. Brakes are hanging up on the little
truck and he called J&B and Clark’s who charge
$75.00/hour but P. Crowley (who works for the City of Vergennes)
will come to the town garage and repair the brakes for $45.00/hour. The
Selectboard agreed this was a good deal and advised R. Cloutier to go ahead.
Ray Stearns will be coming in to assist with grading roads and give pointers to
R. Cloutier. Snow fencing was discussed and R. Cloutier advised that he can
repair any bad sections of the wooden fences versus buying new. A. Sullivan
mentioned that she hoped R. Cloutier could attend the monthly road foreman
meetings as she feels that it helpful to share information. R. Cloutier advised
that the boiler specialist from the State of Vermont
inspected the garage and found everything to be satisfactory. Mentioned that he
found two round pointed shovels but both handles were broken and couldn’t find
a square shovel so he used his own. Chair Atkins advised him to purchase
shovels and that he is authorized to spend up to $250.00 for purchases. S.
Torrey explained that the town has an account at Aubuchon Hardware as well as
Vergennes Building Supply. R. Cloutier also mentioned that the answering
machine at the town garage does not work. S. Torrey will advise Kinney Drug to
allow R. Cloutier to charge on the account for office purchases. Chair Atkins
mentioned that the cell phone account should be reinstated for R. Cloutier as
well as purchasing a new cell phone. A. Sullivan mentioned that perhaps there
should be a “dangerous intersection” sign at the top of Pease
Road and the bottom of Jersey
Street where the roads intersect as there isn’t
any indication of the corner. Further investigation will be done and a decision
made at a later date. R. Cloutier mentioned that there was an agreement between
Paul Bodington and Andy Megroz, owner of the Panton store, whereby Paul would
get free coffee and watch the weather station if Paul plowed out the store. The
Selectboard declared that they were not aware of any agreement and that this practice
should not continue.
Old Business: Motion
by A. Sullivan, seconded by J. Moulton to establish a DRB (Development Review
Board) to perform all development review functions for the Town of Panton.
So voted.
Motion by A. Sullivan, seconded by J. Moulton to
appoint the following members to the DRB:
Member
Term
K. Bingham
2/07
L.
Giovanella
2/06
M.
Hermann
2/08
S.
Hofmann
2/08
R.
Klein
2/07
D.
Marshall
2/08
R.
Moulton
2/06
A.
Tisbert
2/06
So voted.
Action Items:
Correspondence and the budget were reviewed and bills signed.
Meeting adjourned by Chair Atkins
at 10:15 p.m.