Chelsea Selectboard Meeting
Tuesday, April 11, 2023, 6:30pm
Chelsea Town Hall
Board Attendance: Leyna Hoyt, Jesse Kay, Kelly Lyford – Vice Chair, William (Billy) Lyon, Kevin Marshia – Chair
Community Attendance: Greg Herrin; Kasey Peterson – Grants; Ginny Campbell; Brian Farnham; Tim Carter; Bob Brannan – Planning Commission; Ed Kuban – Planning Commission; Neil Kennedy – Planning Commission
Meeting:
The meeting was called to order at 6:31 pm.
Conflict of Interest:
There are no conflicts of interest.
Additions to the agenda:
Roberts Gould Athletic Field
Transfer Station
Use of the Village Greens
Public Comments:
Ginny Campbell – April 19th – Neighbor appreciation Day. Ms. Campbell came in an relayed a
story from a few years ago regarding how a neighbor had come and checked on her husband
after hearing him outside working with a chain saw, but noticed the chainsaw was not running
any more. He had suffered an injury and thankfully this neighbor came to check on him. He
took him to the hospital and helped him significantly as Ms. Campbell was out of Town. A story
of how neighbors helping neighbors can really help and, in some cases, save lives. Prior to
COVID, Ms. Campbell had reached out to the Governor’s Office and local legislators with a
suggestion of making April 19th Neighbor Appreciation Day. The board really appreciated
hearing this positive story and agreed to support this initiative. For this year, the board at least
wants to acknowledge this request and would be interested in hearing from others in terms of
how we may do more in the future. Lenya moved to support April 19th, as Neighbor
Appreciation Day. Jesse seconded. All approved.
Marianne McCann – Kevin read a handwritten letter submitted by Ms. McCann reminding the
selectboard of its legal obligation to post agendas and minutes. This included citing state
statute. Kevin acknowledged that the board recognized that the board had missed several
dates. The Board thanked Ms. McCann for reminding them of their obligation. The Board is
committed to doing better moving forward.
Approve Minutes:
March 25, 2023 – Leyna moved to accept minutes with punctuation edits made. Billy seconded.
All approved.
April 4, 2023 – Jesse moved to accept minutes with punctuation edits and identified corrections
for clarity. Leyna seconded. All approved.
Roberts Gould Athletic Field:
Brian Farnham has been contracted for the last several years to mow the Roberts Gould
Athletic Field and this year he has requested that we enter into a two-year agreement, for
efficiency. The cost of this mowing is paid for by reimbursement from the Roberts Gould
Athletic Fund and does not come from taxpayers. Mr. Farnham has provided a copy of his
current insurance and submitted this with a letter of support from the Roberts Gould Athletic
Field Fund board members, to move to a two-year contract. Kevin read a letter from the Roberts
Gould Fund Board recommending to the board to move forward with a two-year contract. Billy
moved to approve a two-year contract for Brian Farnham to mow the Roberts Gould Athletic
Field. Leyna seconded. All approved.
Planning Commission: The Planning Commission does not currently have a chair and has
one open seat vacancy as well. The group has been inactive for several months. The Board
agreed to ask Patty to post an announcement looking for new members and people interested
in participating on the Planning Commission, on the Chelsea Community Page on Facebook,
and on Front Porch Forum. Bob Brannon reported that the last town plan was completed in
2018 and that he believes we need to seek public input from a cross section of members of the
community to identify issues and topics to be addressed through the new town plan due in
November 2023.
Kevin explained that Peter Gregory, Executive Director of Two Rivers Ottaquechee Planning
Commission will help us address what the public engagement should look like. Neil Kennedy
spoke of the invaluable help that Two Rivers has given in the past in developing the town plan
as the plan identifies areas of interest and need for the community and supports the requests for
grant funding.
Planning Commission meetings are typically held once a month on Thursday’s and it’s
recognized that the group will likely need to meet more than once a month during the
completion of the new plan. Kevin will coordinate a meeting with Peter Gregory for April 27th or
May 4th at 7:00 pm at the town hall.
Grants
● Sidewalk Project – Pre-Bid meeting was held today and attended by Kasey Peterson
and one contractor. The bids are due May 2nd, 2023. The Board discussed the timing
and schedule and needs to decide if we want to move forward with the project as it was
identified in the grant request, or should we consult to see if we can have the grant
money reappropriated to an area of sidewalk that has a greater need. The area that was
identified by the Fire Station does not meet ADA standards and it has low spots which
cause the water to pool and individuals have reported to selectboard members and
others, that they are walking out into the street to get around the puddles in this area.
During the winter the low spots freeze and there is potential for slips and falls. The total
project cost is $58,000.00 and has a 50% match. Board members agreed to walk the
projected construction area prior to the next board meeting and come back with an
informed decision. Kevin will call Rita Seto and John Lemieux to inquire about
possibilities.
● Pump Station Grant – Kasey spoke with Mark Spinella at EPA, the next thing we need
to do is the Environmental Review Report, which is typically done by an engineering
company, and we have to put it out to bid. Kevin and Kasey will meet to review exactly
what is needed. In preparation, Kasey will send the documents she has to Kevin.
● VTrans Grants – There is a bridge grant application due, that the town would need to
submit by April 15th if interested in applying. The Maple Avenue Bridge will be needing
updates done to it in the future. The Board discussed submitting a grant application to
cover the cost of having the project engineered to meet all federal requirements, as
there are water lines etc., that run underneath. If we don’t request a grant for the
engineering of the bridge, and we are to receive a grant in the future for the repair of the
bridge, the town would then be responsible for the engineering at that time, which could
be $150,000.00. There’s not a significant risk to having the engineering done now as
the engineering wouldn’t change, although a few permits may need to be updated. If
something happens to the bridge, and we’re in an emergency, we would be forced to do
something. This is a proactive approach and demonstrates to the funders that we are
shovel ready.
Leyna moved to approve Kevin and Kasey moving forward with the bridge grant
application for Maple Avenue. Jesse seconded. All approved.
● Leyna will follow up with Rick on applying for a paving grant this year, for the Upper
Village Road.
Mowing – Contract discussion: With Gayle Durkee’s help the Pre-bid meeting announcement
went into the paper today for the mowing of all the town properties, except for the Roberts
Gould Athletic Field. The pre-bid meeting is on April 21st
, 2023, at 9:00 am at the Heath Field.
Leyna will be certain to include the location of the meeting on the website. Leyna and Rick plan
to attend.
Highway Department:
● General Updates: Spring cleanup and maintenance is happening on the roads, to
include grading.
● Rick is waiting to hear when the Loader will be evaluated in terms of maintenance
needs.
● We will be posting the highway maintenance position again. We’ve had one inquiry and
the individual is looking for more information about benefits. The ad has run for 6
weeks. We did not include a pay rate this week. Leyna will work with Patty to include
the salary range of $22 – $26 per hour for next week.
● Leyna will work with Rick on obtaining a list of equipment that the Highway Department
has. This asset list will be stored at the town offices and will include an electronic copy.
● Rick obtained a very generalized figure of $270,000.00 – $280,000.00, from International
to replace the Town’s 10 Wheel Truck to help with the Boards planning. Our existing
truck to be replaced may have a value of $60,000.00. The loader may be worth
$30,000.00.
● Rick has inquired about the board’s interest in purchasing an extended warranty for the
Town Pickup, which Leyna reports is a 2015 and has about 55, 000 miles on it. The
extended warranty would be for 2 years and cost $2, 835.00. Leyna did not have
information about who would be providing the warranty and what options were available.
Leyna and Kevin will gather additional information. The Board will make a decision next
week based on that information.
● Rick estimates that the grader needs extensive servicing. Jesse moved to approve the
servicing of the grader as requested by Rick. Billy seconded. All approved.
● We’ve received an access permit application from Richard Colby regarding Whitcomb
Place Road. Leyna will take the application to Rick for review.
Paving Project Bid Update: The Town received two bids for the paving project on the East
Randolph Road. Pike bid $451,357.50 Blak Top bid $488,748.00. Bill moved to accept the
Bid from Pike Industries. Leyna seconded. All approved.
Position Description: We reviewed the updated Highway Maintenance Worker job description
that the Board reworked in February and didn’t formally adopt. Rick has reviewed and is happy
with the updates to the job description. Leyna moved to adopt the highway maintenance worker
job description. Bill seconded. All approved.
Permit Process Discussion: Kevin and Leyna drafted a permit process. The Board reviewed
and agreed on some edits. Kevin will work with Karen to have her review the process to make
certain that this covers all aspects. Jesse moved to adopt the Town of Chelsea Access Permit
and Work Within the Town Highway Process. Leyna seconded. All approved.
Website Update/Discussion: Jesse, Kasey and Karen are continuing to work on the website.
All documents are from the website have been uploaded into the google drive that we all have
access to. Greg Herrin suggested using reports received from the existing website to support
understanding what people are currently using and searching the website for. We’d like it to be
intuitive. Our current Website host has agreed to keep our current website up until our new one
is ready. The goal is that there will be a preview of the website for next Tuesday’s Board
Meeting. Kasey will set up the projector and screen before that meeting. The Board is asking
that anyone that may have input on the website please email the administrative assistant. This
will help those that are building our website to understand community priorities when accessing
the site.
Use of the village green: Received a request from the library for a plant swap starting on May
28 – June 19th. The library held this last year with great success. The library will ensure that
everything stays watered and neat. Leyna moved to allow the library to use the side lawn by the
library and North common. Jesse seconded. All approved.
Virtual Meeting Discussion: Jesse will be testing the Owls this week. Google Meets allows
for live and interactive YouTube. For 10 dollars a month we can record our meetings and post
them on YouTube. There will be savings from our new website to offset this in the budget. The
goal is to be recorded and virtual but will need to work through the quirks of the sound and
lighting. The google links will be on the town website. Leyna moved to have Jesse move
forward on obtaining Google Meets, working with Patty and Gayle. Billy seconded. All
approved.
The Board thanked Chris Belcher for his continued work and support on getting the meetings
streamed.
Purchasing Policy: Leyna moved to adopt the purchasing policy with all edits identified,
effective April 11, 2023. Jesse seconded. All approved.
The Liaisons will meet with employees to review the updated purchasing policy and answer any
questions that they may have about this policy moving forward.
Transfer Station: Billy met with Snook and Kristianne and they suggested an increase of 2 – 3
dollars in the cost of per item pieces for the construction dumpster. We pay by the ton and the
large items such as mattress’ couches and chairs, especially when wet, take up a lot of space
and become heavy, costing more to dispose of. If increasing prices, we would want to do this
prior to the new construction dumpster coming this year. Leyna moved to increase fees by 2.00
for each item. Jesse seconded. All Approved.
Future Agendas – Board discussed the desire to get our agendas pulled together and finalized
earlier. The Board agreed to send all agenda items to Patty by Thursday morning so that it can
be finalized and posted.
● April 18th: Sidewalk Grant; Pump Station Grant; Future Paving Grant; Website review;
Phil Mulligan – Energy Committee; Arpa funding (Board Members will read grant criteria
through VLCT; Tracy Simon – add to the top of the agenda; List Serve; Highway
May 2nd: Sealed bids for the mowing contracts; Sidewalk Grant; Transfer Station (Invite
Kristianne and Snook to the meeting) The Board has rescinded their previous intention to meet
at Thorne Road for the May 2nd meeting. Leyna will contact Mr. and Mrs. Rice to let them know
the change of plans.
Approve Orders: Jesse moved to accept all orders as written. Leyna seconded. All approved.
Executive Session Personnel: No executive session needed. Leyna moved to approve the
salary increases as discussed at previous meeting, to be effective April 16th, 2023. Bill
seconded. All approved.
Adjourn: Jesse moved to adjourn. Leyna seconded. Meeting adorned at 9:31 PM.
