In the selectboard meeting this week, Brandon accepted a bid for paving, road closures were approved for the Independence Day celebration, illegal dumping was discussed, and Seth Hopkins' contract as Town Manager was renewed.
Selectboard Chair Cecil Reniche-Smith returned this week, and Deputy Town Manager Bill Moore was absent. After opening comments, the selectboard approved the minutes, the warrant for the month's bills, and a special liquor permit for an event at the Brandon Artists' Guild.
In the town manager's report, Hopkins thanked the community, especially the American Legion, for organizing the Memorial Day parade. Hopkins also reminded the selectboard of the next Vermont Council on Rural Development community visit on May 27.
He added that the solar panels donated by Nifty Thrifty for the police station had been received, an engineer has been given truss details to review, and the Conant Square project will be using solar panels from a FEMA buyout.
Hopkins explained that the budget now reflects two events: the purchase of the new highway tandem truck and a tax sale. The booked revenue, he said, is about $300,000 ahead of pace, in part because of income from the tax sale. Reniche-Smith asked Hopkins if there were many failed payment plans for the tax sale, and he replied that many of the approximately 75 properties that had entered into new payment plans had failed. Once they have failed, he said, the town is not required to extend another opportunity. Hopkins expects a surplus in the fund balance at the end of the year.
In comments, Brent Buehler asked about the reason for a noticeable change in the amount of the police department surplus. Hopkins responded that the selectboard decided to take the funds required to buy the new truck from that surplus instead of the local option tax or capital fund. Hopkins said that, because there is now almost a full police force, there should not be a surplus in the police budget next year. The new police cruiser, Hopkins pointed out, was purchased with the capital fund, which is outside the budget, and the 1% fund (the local option tax) is only used for roadwork. The sale of the older truck, he said, would go into the capital fund unless the selectboard directs it somewhere else.
Given Mr. Moore's absence, Hopkins read the community development report. The tennis court is being resurfaced into a multi-use court in June. The Neshobe PTO will have a "Kindness Day" on May 30. Ms. Michaela's dance program was successful, with 85 participants. The silent movie at the Town Hall on June 13 is Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid." Beginning on June 14, the upstairs of the Town Hall will become the Great Brandon Auction site, so other programming there is suspended for a month.
Regarding the FY27 road-paving bid, Hopkins said the town had originally believed paving roads would cost $100 a ton, but, in fact, two bids came in lower: Wilkes at $92 and Pike at $89 a ton. The total cost was originally forecast at $504,406, but with Pike's bid, the total is $459,437. The selectboard voted to accept Pike's bid.
A request was made by the Brandon Independence Day Celebration Committee (BIDCC) to have road closures of Park Street and Route 7 for the parade on July 3 starting at 10 a.m. This year, the parade is on a Friday rather than a Saturday. Jessie Mohan, chair of that committee, said they would have volunteers to hand out maps and help people find their way around. She said the Brandon Police Department (BPD) is committed to being at Route 7 and Lovers Lane, but as Hopkins pointed out, the town has never been able to do the parade with only the BPD, so sheriffs and others who are traffic-certified, like firefighters, will assist. The road closures were approved.
In public comments, Wayne Rausenberger, Brandon’s representative to the Otter Creek Watershed Insect Control District, explained how the district’s mosquito-spraying exclusion system works. Rausenberger brought a post to demonstrate the process: a red post indicates that spraying should stop, and a green post indicates that spraying should resume. He said the district isn’t allowed to spray over a bridge, so it is necessary to place posts on property in those cases. Rausenberger added that if anybody has questions, they can call the number listed on the posts or call him directly at 802-247-0279.
Jim Leary thanked everyone involved with Green Up Day, including the crew of volunteers and the transfer station. In all, 7,000 pounds of garbage and 52 tires were collected. Three-quarters of that, Leary said, came from Carver Street/Syndicate Road. He believes the area has potential as a nature recreation area, saying, "I think it could be a tremendous resource for the town rather than a dumping ground." Leary introduced Patrick Fitzsimmons, who led the Syndicate Road cleanup. This began a half-hour discussion about illegal dumping.
Reniche-Smith thanked Fitzsimmons and said, "This issue has been on our radar for a few years now." She said one of the problems has been that the road is shared with the town of Pittsford, and any action requires buy-in from them as well as from landowners, who may be reluctant to cooperate.
Fitzsimmons questioned the rationale of having to get cooperation from Pittsford, since the majority of dumping happens on the Brandon side. Hopkins responded that the road is treated as one unit, and since it goes through two towns, they have to be in agreement regarding changes, such as gating. Gating, Hopkins said, would require changing the classification of the road.
Reniche-Smith said that she and Hopkins had spoken to Pittsford Town Manager Ann Reed about the issue and that "she was very discouraging." Bailey added that he and Ralph Ethier went to a Pittsford selectboard meeting, and they weren't interested in the issue. He said the landowner who was at that meeting was concerned about access on a gated road. Bailey stressed the desire to make progress on this problem. Fitzsimmons said there was not only illegal dumping but also large burn piles at night, as well as gunshots. Fitzsimmons wondered why there weren't nighttime patrols, but Hopkins said that the majority of calls happen between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., so it was questionable to have officers on duty overnight.
Suggestions from Fitzsimmons and the selectboard included cameras, a neighborhood or volunteer watch, boulders or Jersey barriers preventing trucks from pulling off the road to dump, and clearing the sides of the road to make the road wider, or trying to get the State involved. All of these were deemed insufficient as solutions to the problem.
After the public exited the meeting, there was an executive session with a motion to renew the contract with Town Manager Seth Hopkins for three years, which was approved.
Video forthcoming.
