MINUTES
ARLINGTON SECECTBOARD
March 7, 2022
Members Present: Dan Harvey, Todd Wilkins, Cynthia Browning, Glenn Sherman, and Jamie Paustian
Members Absent: None
Also Present: (In person, or via Zoom) Town Administrator- Nick Zaiac, Highway Foreman -Mark Towslee, Steve McClafferty, and Janet Barry
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM, by Mr. Harvey, the first meeting of the new Board following elections.
Reconstitution of the Board: Ms. Browning made a motion to nominate Dan Harvey as Board Chair. Mr. Sherman seconded. Motion passed unanimously with Mr. Harvey abstaining. Ms. Browning made a motion to nominate Todd Wilkins as Board Vice Chair. Mr. Sherman seconded. Motion passed unanimously with Mr. Wilkins abstaining. Mr. Wilkins made a motion to nominate Ms. Browning as Clerk of the Board. Mr. Paustian seconded. Motion passed unanimously with Ms. Browning abstaining. Ms. Browning made a motion to authorize the Board to be able to sign payroll sheets at a meeting or online. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Liaisons: Ms. Browning made a motion to have Mr. Harvey and Mr. Wilkins continue to serve as Fire Department liaisons. Mr. Sherman seconded. Motion carried. Mr. Wilkins made a motion to appoint Ms. Browning as Highway liaison. Mr. Sherman seconded. Motion carried. Ms. Browning made a motion to have Mr. Sherman continue to serve as Water Department liaison. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion carried. Ms. Browning made a motion to appoint Jamie Paustian as Park liaison. Mr. Sherman seconded. Motion carried.
Ms. Browning made a motion to establish the Bennington Banner as newspaper of record for Town warnings and notices. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed. Ms. Browning made a motion to establish Town Hall, the Town’s social media page, the Town’s website, Herr Store and Wayside Country Store as posting locations for warnings. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed. Ms. Browning made a motion to reappoint Merrill Bent as Town Attorney of Record. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed.
Public Comments: None
Minutes of the Meeting of February 22, 2022 Mr. Wilkins made a motion to accept as presented, the minutes of the previous meeting of February 22, 2022. Ms. Browning seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
New Business: Appointments and Reappointments: Ms. Browning made a motion to reappoint Jessica Roberts as Land Use Administrator and Sign Administrator. Mr. Sherman seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Browning made a motion to appoint Town Administrator, Nick Zaiac, as Energy Coordinator. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Browning made a motion to appoint Sebastian Massey to serve on the Planning Commission, to fill the 4-year term that had been filled by Chris Heins. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Massey has currently been an alternate on the Planning Commission. Ms. Browning made a motion to appoint Jamie Paustian to the vacant Board seat on the Wastewater Sub Committee. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed with Mr. Paustian abstaining. Ms. Browning made a motion to nominate Mr. Wilkins as the 2nd, non-voting, seat on BCRC. Mr. Sherman seconded. Motion passed unanimously with Mr. Wilkins abstaining. Ms. Browning made a motion to nominate Mr. Zaiac to continue to serve as the voting member representing Arlington for BCRC. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Wilkins made a motion to reappoint Ms. Browning to the Communications Union District. Mr. Paustian seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Zaiac will advertise for someone to fill the Trustee of Public Funds seat. There may be someone interested in being the Tree Warden, and if not, Mr. Zaiac will advertise to fill this position as well.
Road Standards Approval Vote: Mr. Harvey read the Certification of Compliance for Town Road and Bridge Standards and Network Inventory into the record: We, the Legislative Body of the Municipality of Arlington VT, certify that we have reviewed, understand and comply with the Town Road and Bridge Standards/Public Work Specifications and Standards passed and adopted by the Select Board on March 7, 2022. We further certify that our adopted standards do meet or exceed the minimum requirements included on the June 5, 2019 Sate-approved template. We further certify that we do have an up-to-date highway network inventory which identifies location, size, deficiencies/condition of roads, bridges, causeways, culverts and highway-related retaining walls on class 1, 2 and 3 town highways, and estimated cost of repair. Ms. Browning made a motion to approve the Certification of Compliance for Town Road and Bridge Standards and Network Inventory. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Staff and Building Mask Policy: Mr. Harvey read the Staff and Building Mask Policy into the record: 1. This policy supersedes the mask policy approved by the Board dated 12/6/21. 2. Pursuant to the Arlington Select Board’s authority to supervise all public buildings and staff, the Arlington Select Board allows individual staff members to set rules on mask policy regarding the office in which they work. a. In the event a citizen cannot or will not comply with the rules of a particular office, they may make alternative arrangements to complete their municipal business by contacting the Town Clerk or Town Administrator by phone prior to visiting Town Hall.3. Unless such rules are implemented and appropriately signed by those using a particular office, the default assumption shall be that masks are not required. a. Masks shall not be required in public spaces or meeting rooms without an affirmative decision of the Select Board to implement such a requirement. 4. This policy shall not be interpreted as to prevent an individual from wearing a mask on town property. Town Staff shall not request removal of masks by individuals with whom they are meeting for any reason. 5. Notwithstanding any ordinance passed by the Arlington Select Board pursuant to SB1/Act 1, enacted into law by the State of Vermont on November 23, 2021, this policy does not apply to facilities not controlled by the Select Board other than when Town staff are acting in their official capacity while on said properties. Dated 3/7/22. Ms. Browning made a motion to approve the Staff and Building Mask Policy. Mr. Paustian seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Liquor License: Ms. Browning made a motion to approve the 2nd Class Liquor License Renewal for 2022, for Dollar General on RT 7A. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Town Administrator’s Report: The Board had been supplied with Mr. Zaiac’ s Town Administrator Report. There were no questions of the report.
Water Department Warrants and Orders: Ms. Browning made a motion to approve Warrant WD#5 dated 3/4/22, in the amount of $2,352.78, with the biggest component being insurance payments. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Warrants and Orders: Ms. Browning made a motion to approve Warrant #5, from the General Operating Account, dated 3/4/22, in the amount of $51,011.82, with the biggest components being salt, fire extinguisher maintenance, Town Report printing, and 2nd Quarter VLCT insurance payments. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Executive Session: Ms. Browning made a motion that premature discussion of a personnel issue would cause the municipality to suffer substantial disadvantage. Seconded by Mr. Wilkins. Ms. Browning made a motion to enter into Executive Session for discussion of a personnel issue and to allow Town Administrator, Nick Zaiac, and Highway Foreman, Mark Towslee, to remain in the room. Seconded by Mr. Wilkins. Motion carried. The Board entered into Executive Session at 7:35PM. The Board came out of Executive Session at 7:58PM. As a result of the Executive Session, Ms. Browning made a motion to increase the Highway crew hourly wage: Highway Foreman-$28.00 per hour, Crew member #1-$24.00 per hour, Crew member # 2-$23.00 per hour, to be effective the first full week of April. Mr. Wilkins seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Browning made an amendment to her motion, that the cost overspend will be taken from the Highway Overtime Payroll line. Mr. Wilkins seconded the amended motion. Motion passed unanimously.
All Other Business: None.
Mr. Wilkins made a motion to adjourn. Ms. Browning seconded. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 8:02 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Janet Barry, Recording Secretary
Cc: files, Town Clerk