Co-Chair Doug Bailey was absent this week, Chair Cecil Reniche-Smith and Town Manager Seth Hopkins returned.
Waiving the homestead penalty
Town Clerk/Town Treasurer Sue Gage explained that every year the selectboard decides whether a penalty will be charged for late filers of the Vermont Homestead Declaration. The penalty varies based on tax rates and whether fraudulent intent is present. Gage advised the selectboard to waive the penalty, saying "it nickel-and-dimes our taxpayers." Reniche-Smith asked whether penalties could be retained only in cases involving fraud, and Gage explained that state law does not allow that distinction and added that she'd never seen any cases involving fraud. The selectboard agreed to waive the penalties again this year.
Committee members, zoning fees, and delinquent taxes
The approved July 1 committee reappointments are here. Some appointments end in 2027, others in 2029.
A long first draft of revisions to zoning fees was introduced in the previous meeting. This week, the selectboard considered a condensed version of the proposal, with fee schedules clearly outlined for residential, commercial, and land division applications. At the previous meeting, Bailey stated that he believed the revisions were sensible. This week Reniche-Smith said she agreed the zoning fees made sense and that she had no further comments about the proposed revisions.
In the Town Manager's report, Hopkins noted that Chief Kachajian is working with a candidate who is interested in a level two part-time police officer job. This is the only open position in the town right now.
Following up on the topic of delinquent taxes, Hopkins said that several tax-delinquent parcels have no identifiable owners or heirs. The worst case is a delinquency of about $10,000 over 23 years. Some parcels are currently in the process of being resolved, either through conservation, purchase, or further investigation.
Scoping study and bikes
Bill Moore told the selectboard that the Forest Dale scoping study has been finalized and submitted for review. He emphasized that the town is under no obligation to implement the shared use path, and that "neither the funding nor community imperative exists to warrant anything beyond retention of the report."
Moore also informed the selectboard that the court paving at Estabrook is complete and fencing work is underway. Once the court is open it will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. He also said that he'd met with ReBHS about plans to install a bike repair bench at Seminary Hill Park. Moore added that some members of the Brandon Energy Committee will work with the rec department to install more bike racks around town.
Seth gets cake
Reniche-Smith pointed out that Hopkins has completed the two-year Vermont Certified Public Manager Program, which included classwork and projects, and that he passed with "flying colors." She said, "This is a very big deal, and so we have cake in his honor."
Sewer is complex
The majority of the discussion at this meeting was about wastewater and the wastewater budget.
The wastewater system of Brandon, Hopkins said, sends about 134 million gallons through the treatment plant. However, at the moment, about 102 million gallons of that is swamp, river, or rainwater that gets into the wastewater collection system through "infiltration." While a small amount of infiltration is expected and desired because it flushes the system, Hopkins explained, "for every gallon of wastewater we're processing, we're processing another three gallons that are not actually wastewater." This puts unnecessary strain on the plant. Hopkins said, "It's a super expensive fix. We know where some of the main problem areas are and we're going to keep trying to find ways for some funding assistance."
The proposed 2027 wastewater operating budget reflects the reality of rising costs. Increased expenses for the transfer of sludge to Rutland, chemicals for the system, operating costs such as a required third operator, and payments on a voter-approved twenty-year bond for required plant upgrades will increase sewer rates. Hopkins said the average sewer bill would rise from $699 this year to $1,038 under the proposed budget. “It's a significant amount of money," he said.
Board members and residents discussed various approaches to measuring wastewater use and setting rates. Some favored recovering costs through usage-based rates, while others preferred relying more heavily on the base fee. The recommendations to the town, Hopkins said, have been to maintain a rate structure that keeps the system financially stable and consistent despite unexpected fluctuations in usage, such as those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several comments suggested that the proposed billing structure seemed inequitable because commercial properties can place greater demands on the wastewater system than residential properties while paying similar base charges. An analogy with town roads was made, as an example of similarly financially supported public infrastructure. Hopkins stated that before Elaine Smith retired she had completed a project that he believed established justifiable capacity allocations for each user in the system.
Part of the problem, as discussed, is the number of users in that system. There are 1,246 wastewater units, but 928 base accounts, which is a small tax base to support a complex system.
Jeff Haylon said he was uncomfortable with passing the proposed wastewater budget and wanted to explore other options for balancing the base fee and metered rates. However, both Reniche-Smith and Hopkins pointed out that there are no reasonable opportunities or resources to restructure the billing system or budget.
The selectboard voted to postpone the FY27 wastewater budget proposal to the next meeting, with a nay from Reniche-Smith.
Hopkins suggested that the selectboard could approve the FY27 wastewater expenditure budget while postponing action on the wastewater budget proposal. The board unanimously supported that recommendation.
