Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Greater Barre Services Study Committee
Date: March 14, 2002; 6:35 p.m.
Place: Aldrich Library Community Meeting Room
Present: Barry Driscoll, Dawna Attig, Alex McHenry, Gordon Booth, Charles Fantoni, Joan Carrigan, Deb Martin, Dan Bellavance, Carl Rogers, Larry Johnson, Glenda Nye, Mary Welch, Wayne Pelkey, Doug Farnham, Mark Reaves, Debra Sartelle, Chip Castle, Paul Simonetta, Bill Chase, Richard Fitzgerald
There was already a discussion open regarding an article in the 2/15/02 Times-Argus. The discussion was tabled briefly in order to call the meeting to order.
The meeting was formally called to order at 6:45pm by Barry Driscoll, Chairman. Barry opened the meeting with the agenda:
1. Acceptance of Minutes
Move to accept the Minutes. Have a motion and a second with no discussion. There was approval with all ayes.
4 The minutes of 02/14/02 were accepted.
The tabled discussion was continued regarding an article in the 2/15/02 Times Argus that led the public to believe that the Joint Services Committee had already decided against a merger. As a result of the discussion, Barry Driscoll, the Chairman will write a letter to address where the committee is now. The letter will attempt to explain two things: one, we are still in a fact finding mode and two, our objective is not to decide anything.
The Administrative committee began by explaining their handout. The handout for the most part contains only the highpoints of the interviews put side by side. There were two additional inserts: one was written up by Glenda and went over the Tax Assessors positions and the second was VSA Title 17 §2647 - §2664, which governs the elected offices. And, in Barre City and Barre Town only one office is elected, Clerk/Treasurer.
Clerk/Treasurer. There have been efforts by Donna Kelty to try to include Barre City in on ordering supplies in bulk. However, because of limitations of space, indexing, etc. it has not been possible. There was a brief discussion about Barre City and Town ordering under the State contract. It couldn’t do any harm in looking into what the state contract covers.
Manager. There was discussion on shared Information Services. The suggestion was made to talk with Tommy Walz at Supervisory Union, who has successfully combined Information Services, find out some of the strategies he has used. The items listed are just services to look at and clarify. For example, the Assessors office for both the Town and City could come under a joint contract. They are on the same software. There was a concern that there could be trouble getting the grand list out, but Glenda, who is a Tax Assessor for the State, disagreed and indicated that an assessor with one or two really good admin assistants would have no problems getting the Grand List out. Another example, was Plumbing and Electrical code enforcement. Barre City has this but Barre Town does not. Charles Fantoni seemed to think that Barre City does not need it. Although Richard Fitzgerald disagreed.
What about a Grant Officer? What kinds of Grants? Grants for ADA or even the Public Safety Building. The City and Town could reach out to get a person who works with other towns. It is important to know that Grants go beyond just one community. Each community does not have enough to keep one Grant Writer and Administrator busy, but the two communities together would. What about looking at other organizations that already have a grant writer on staff, i.e. Vermont League of Cities and Towns or the Regional Planning
Administrative Services Discussion (Dawna Attig, Glenda Nye, Bill Chase)(cont.)
Commission? The Vermont League has one to contract with but not one on staff. Could hire an intern to do it. Barre Towns intern wrote one. Are there grants that both City and Town are looking at? The Community Center or a Fire Department Training Building?
What about GIS? Barre City is doing a needs assessment and Barre Town is implementing. Both put out for a bid independently. Long Term Planning? What is the time frame for the two municipalities to redo plans? It is every 5 years. That is something that the two communities could align on.
Going around the table is terms of the various sub-committees and what progress they have made.
Police. ( Alex McHenry, Larry Johnson, Mark Reeves)
There was a brief discussion on the approval of the money for the Barre City Public Safety Building. Richard Fitzgerald likened the vote to getting pre-Approval for a loan. They came up with a representative building that includes a list of needs and was used to come up with the 3.9 mil number with which they can go to voters.Now, an RFP can be written. They already have a donated site. There is a possibility that it could be a sub-Station for Barre Town. There has been a lot of talk why the plan was not in front of this committee. But there;was not enough time to come up with a joint package and get it on the ballot in time for the election. Currently,there is no opportunity for the town to take part because it is only city funds; however, down the line there might be a shared need.
Alex concluded by indicating that they are hoping to get Trevor Whipple in to the committee. He is the guy that said departments should merge. He will make sure that David Delcore is here.
Fire/Rescue/Ambulance. (Mark Bernier, Dan Bellavance, Deb Sartelle)
Reported that they are ready for April.
Water/Sewer. (Charles Fantoni, Guy Isabelle, Mary Welch)
Ready to write everything up and will be ready for May.
Highway. (Paul Simonetta, Wayne Pelkey, Barry Driscoll)
Reported that they had a good meeting with Steve Blondin. There is much more cooperation going on than People realize. One thing is that they are having a serious problem with getting a response from Dorothy Anderson. However, still online for June.
Recreation/Special Services. (Joan Corrigan, Deb Martin, Gordon Booth)
They shared the results of the survey and a brief discussion followed. A couple of high points were that an Indoor swimming pool and senior activities appeared to have the most votes.
5. Other Business
No other business
6. Round the Table
Dawna asked if the whole committee would like any of the other department heads to come. The consensus was that there would be a decision on that for the next meeting. General comments around the table.
Next meeting is April 11, 2002 in the Barre Town Select Board Meeting Room.