TOWN OF CLARENDON BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING REGULAR
October 24, 2022
Minutes
Attendees:
Select Board
Mike Klopchin, Chair
Bob Bixby, Clerk
Robert Congdon
Cash Ruane
Art Menard
Heidi Congdon, Treasurer
Katie Nop, Secretary
Gloria Menard, Clerk
Kelly Jakubowski, Delinquent Tax Collector
William Chmielewski, PEG-TV
Kevin Peck
Joel Baker
Call to Order
Chairman Klopchin called the meeting to order at 6PM.
Agenda additions/deletions
Selectman Congdon motioned to put Kingsley Covered Bridge Christmas wreaths under Highway and Selectman Ruane seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Approval of Meeting Minutes
Selectman Congdon motioned to approve the Regular Meeting minutes from October 10, 2022, Selectman Bixby seconded and the motion passed unopposed.
Highway
Road Commissioner Report–
There are a few residents in town that request their property that is within the ROW, not be roadside mowed. They prefer to do it themselves. Road Commissioner Ruane doesn’t mind this approach but would like to set a deadline in the Spring for these residents; a date that their mowing has to be completed by. Cash would like a Select Board member to go with him in the Spring to talk with these residents.
The Transfer Station has a line of dead trees that the road crew would like to clear out to allow for more storage of their equipment. Selectman Bixby cautioned about possible wetlands in that area. Cash said he would check in on that. Selectman Congdon reminded the Board that there should be a wetland map for that area because of the ball fields. Chairman Klopchin and Selectman Bixby thought that the wetland map only went to the southern border. The Board told Cash they had no problem with the road crew taking the trees down as long as they were in the clear with the wetlands.
Road Commissioner Ruane wanted to clarify from last meeting that the shoulder machine is not owned by Rutland town, they only modified to enhance it. Clarendon does own it entirely.
Alfrecha bridge guardrails were repaired on south side from the car accident that occurred in the Spring.
Cash has a CAT salesman coming down on Thursday to talk about graders. Selectman Congdon asked if our grader was back on the road. Cash confirmed that it was. He said he does have a dealer that would be interested in buying the grader. Selectman Congdon questioned how much life was left in it, if a dealer is interested in buying it. Cash thought he would part it out.
Salt Contract–
There were 2 salt quotes provided to the Board- Cargill and Apalachee. American Rock Salt was not able to provide a quote this year. Apalachee was 94.40/ton and Cargill was $85.50/ton. The Board discussed the gap between those prices. There is talk of possible railroad strikes which would impact salt delivery. Treasurer, Heidi, said to correct her if she was wrong, but thought that Cargill came by rail, and Apalachee was out of the port of Albany. Road Commissioner Ruane said Apalachee has been amazing to work with; they have great customer service. The town used Cargill last year and delivery was iffy. Loads would be ordered and come in sporadically and the quality of the salt was not as good as Apalachee. Cash thought it would be about $10,000 extra to go with Apalachee. The Board discussed the benefit of having a reliable product (Apalachee), in the case that there was a railroad strike. Selectman Congdon made the motion to go with Apalachee this winter and Selectman Bixby seconded for discussion. Selectman Congdon thought it was the more reliable product. It was noted that Cargill also had chunky salt. The motion passed 4-0.
Kingsley Bridge Christmas Wreaths–
Katie explained that she received a phone call from Beth Brown-Limmer. She is the chair of the Vermont Covered Bridge Society, Rutland County chapter. This year the Rutland County chapter is providing Christmas wreaths for all Rutland County covered bridges, with Select Board permission. Selectman Congdon motioned to approve allowing the covered bridge folks to put Christmas wreaths on the bridge. Selectman Bixby seconded the motion but wanted to confirm the wreaths didn’t have lights. Selectman Menard did not think there would be lights since there was no electricity available. Katie said dates for putting up the wreaths were on or around December 3 and take down would be on or around January 14. The motion passed unopposed.
Approval of Select Board Warrants
Guests
N/A
Public Comments
N/A
Old Business
Cemetery Tree Removal bids- Katie explained that Jeff Lear emailed and reported that he would be unable to remove the trees in the Spafford Cemetery due to an equipment failure. The bids were back on the table for the Board to discuss. Selectman Congdon motioned to authorize GM Tree Tech to take care of the trees and Selectman Menard seconded. All Board members approved of the motion.
Kevin also wanted to mention that the cemetery rules were approved by the Board last meeting. He would like to post a notice about the deadline for the mementos that have to be removed from the cemeteries (based on the new policy). Selectman Congdon asked if there were any way families could be reached out to about those items. Kevin said he did try and hadn’t heard back. Selectman Congdon asked if there were quite a few plots with items that needed to be removed. Kevin responded that he believes only 2 plots had an excess of said items.
Selectman Congdon asked if there was any movement on getting the rules printed up on signs. Kevin provided the Board with an example of what the Town of Barnard had. It was about an 18×18 inch sign. Treasurer, Heidi, clarified with the Board what type of sign they would like. Selectman Congdon recommended a metal sign. Heidi asked if the deadline dates for the removed items should be posted under the sign. Selectman Congdon said to have a laminated sign underneath.
Kevin also wanted to mention that he had a discussion with Heidi about the damaged stone from Marsh and how it will be billed. He did get a quote from Bowker to replace the stone that Intrinsic had damaged while they were mowing. He had Katie email Intrinsic to keep them in the loop. Kevin’s original thought was, simply, deduct the stone amount from Intrinsic’s mowing bill. However, Heidi, would prefer a paper trail, so she asked Kevin to have Bowker bill Intrinsic directly. Bowker would prefer to work directly with the town to ensure payment – they have been burnt in other situations like this. It was settled that Bowker will bill the town directly and the town will have Intrinsic reimburse them.
Finance & Maintenance Agreement Amendment #1- Kingsley Covered Bridge–
The town received an amendment to the Finance and Maintenance agreement on the Kingsley Bridge because the State received a federal grant that will reduce the costs. Selectman Congdon motioned that the Select Board Chair sign the Finance and Maintenance Agreement Amendment #1 and Selectman Ruane seconded. The motion passed unopposed.
Transfer Station: hazardous waste items update–
Katie explained to the Board that they received a bill from Rutland County Solid Waste for two AC units that were brought to the Transfer Station. The Clarendon Transfer Station cannot accept AC units, even if the freon is drained. Katie spoke with the transfer station attendants and they did not realize that even if freon is drained, the Transfer Station can still not accept these types of items. This issue came up in June as well. The lead Transfer Station attendant understood the issue and would try to avoid it going forward. The Board decided to take no further action.
New Business
Lister Resignation–
The Board received a letter of resignation from Skyler Ambrose, Clarendon Lister. Selectman Congdon motioned to accept Skyler’s letter of resignation, write a letter of thanks to her, and post the Lister position for 14 days. Selectman Menard seconded and all approved. Kevin Peck reminded the Board of his letter of interest from a few weeks ago. The Board will take this up at their next meeting.
Road Commissioner Ruane said he had forgotten to mention something in his Highway report. He received a quote from Fullers to do the shoulder work for Creek Road and Pimple Hill. It would be $8100 and it would take Fullers 3-4 hours to complete. Cash approximated that it would take the road crew about a week to do the work. He asked the Board if they would approve the quote. The funds would come out of the road resurfacing and reconstruction budget. There’s $175,000 in the budget, but Heidi hasn’t received any invoices for the recent paving, so she could not provide an updated balance for that budget line item. Selectman Congdon asked if the road crew has time to work this project in their schedule. Selectman Bixby thought it was getting late in the season and it’s possible it could snow soon; he thought the road crew should focus on preparing the equipment for winter and have Fuller’s do the shoulder project. It was clarified that material was included in the quote so total project costs were $8100. Selectman Menard state that he doesn’t want to pay $8,000 and have the road crew sit around. Selectman Bixby motioned to have Fullers do the shoulders on Creek Road and Pimple Hill for the $8100. Selectman Congdon seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Town Officer’s Report
Treasurer, Heidi, reported that property taxes were due October 15. The total amount that went delinquent was $158,769.86. Last year delinquent was about $255,000. Delinquent taxes have now been turned over to the Delinquent Tax Collector.
Secretary, Katie, said she followed up with Shannon Pytlik from Friends of MRU Football and they decided to have their coin drop in the high school parking lot, not on Middle Road.
Town Clerk, Gloria, announced the upcoming election which is on November 8. The Town Hall will be open 10am-7pm for voting. She has received about 350 absentee ballots so far.
Select Board Member Concerns
N/A
Executive Session- Personnel
Selectman Ruane motioned to move into executive session at 6:53PM, Selectman Bixby seconded, and all approved.
Selectman Bixby motioned to come out of executive session at 7:15PM, and Selectman Congdon seconded. The motion passed unopposed.
Selectman Congdon reported that there was a discussion with the delinquent tax collector. Robert read a letter of resignation aloud from the delinquent tax collector. Kelly Jakubowski decided to resign and gave her 3-week notice. She is willing to train her replacement.
Selectman Congdon wanted to thank Kelly for her service to the town and wish her the absolute best in her main profession. Selectman Congdon motioned to approve the verbal contract that was negotiated with Kelly, and approve up to 15 hours for training with the new person (when the new person starts), and post the Delinquent Tax Collector position for 2 weeks. Selectman Menard seconded, and all approved.
Adjournment
Selectman Menard motioned to adjourn at 7:18PM and Selectman Congdon seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
TOWN OF CLARENDON BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING REGULAR
Monday, October 24, 2022
Clarendon Town Hall @ 6:00PM
AGENDA
Call to Order
Agenda additions/deletions
Approval of Meeting Minutes
Regular Meeting: October 10, 2022
Highway
Road Commissioner Report
Salt Contract
Approval of Select Board Warrants
Guests
Public Comments
Old Business
Cemetery Tree Removal bids
Finance & Maintenance Agreement Amendment #1- Kingsley Covered Bridge
Transfer Station: hazardous waste items update
New Business
Lister Resignation
Town Officer’s Report
Select Board Member Concerns
Executive Session- Personnel
Adjournment
