By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—At its regular meeting on Monday evening, the Brandon Selectboard worked through its agenda, which included appointments to several town committees, the awarding of bids for paving of Arnold District Road, and the funding of the Union Street sidewalk project, among other topics.
At the beginning of the meeting, Town Manager Seth Hopkins welcomed Brandon Police Chief David Kachajian, who had been invited to introduce two new members of the Brandon Police Department to the Selectboard: Anna Burtch-MacLeod and Kevin Rimmer.
In Mr. Hopkin’s report to the Selectboard, the full text of which is available on the town’s website, he mentioned that the town’s used sewer jetter and fuel tank had been successfully sold on the municibid.com auction platform. The 1999 jetter was sold for $1,500 to a buyer in Michigan and the 2016 fuel tank was sold for $1,250 to a buyer in Maine. The buyers are responsible for the platform’s premiums and for shipping.
Mr. Hopkins also noted that he had met with representatives from the Baptist Church and the Brandon Museum about the creation of ADA parking spaces for the church. Since the spaces will potentially encroach on the museum’s property, the board of the museum will discuss the proposal at its meeting on July 11 and the town will proceed from there.
The Union Street sidewalk project is still in its initial phases and Mr. Hopkins is preparing the right-of-way paperwork with the affected property owners. The project will encompass not only new sidewalks on both sides of Union Street, but also new water and sewer pipes.
The project will require a $300,000 match from the town, which was anticipated to come from the 1% Local Option Tax (LOT) fund. Given the current rate of replenishment—roughly $60,000 per quarter—it would take 5 quarters or 15 months to accumulate enough such funds to satisfy the match. The project is slated to begin in 2025, providing almost 24 months in which to accumulate the match.
Board members Brian Coolidge and Tracy Wyman registered their disapproval.
“It’s wishful thinking,” said Mr. Coolidge, noting that there are no guarantees that the fund will be replenished at the same rate going forward.
It was also noted that road resurfacing and paving were removed from the budget in anticipation of such costs being covered by the LOT funds. If the sidewalk project will require the lion’s share of the LOT funds for the next two years, will there be any funds available for routine road maintenance? Historically, the town has budgeted $100,000 every year for such work, though recent estimates from the Highway Department suggest that $400,000 might be needed.
The Wastewater and Water Departments will contribute funds to the town’s match as well.
Town resident Brent Buehler asked whether Carver Street was on this year’s paving schedule. Mr. Hopkins responded that only Arnold District Road is scheduled for repaving in 2023. The town is responsible for 20% of the cost of the project; the rest is covered by a grant.
Former Town Manager David Atherton was present as a private Brandon citizen and pointed out to the Board that the LOT fund was down to $47,000 and that there will be no budgeted money for paving in the new fiscal year starting on July 1, since it was taken out of the budget for FY23-24.
The Board then moved on to appointments to several town committees. The following appointments were approved:
Development Review Board (3-year terms ending on June 30, 2026)
- Jim Desmarais
- Samantha Stone
Revolving Loan Fund Committee (3-year terms ending on June 30, 2026)
- Wendy Bizzarro
- Catherine Wall
Revolving Loan Committee Fund Alternate (1-year term ending June 30, 2024)
- Judy Bunde
Rutland Regional Transportation Council (1-year term ending June 30, 2024)
- Tracy Wyman
Rutland Regional Transportation Council Alternate (1-year term ending June 30, 2024)
- Dan Snow
Rutland Regional Planning Commission (1-year term ending June 30, 2024)
- Jack Schneider
There are still vacant seats for alternates on the Development Review Board (2 vacant seats) and the Rutland Regional Planning Commission (1 vacant seat). These vacant seats are for 1-year terms ending on June 30, 2024.
All appointments were approved unanimously.
The roof of the Town Hall has been an ongoing point of discussion at Selectboard meetings for several months and the Board took it up again on Monday at the urging of Board member Heather Nelson, who noted that the roof needed repair when Town Hall reopened after its renovation 12 years ago. Ms. Nelson suggested the use of ARPA funds to cover the cost of this major, “generational” project.
The Board did not feel comfortable moving forward with the discussion until an estimate for the work had been obtained. The last estimate for the project was received in 2015 for $168,000. Board member Cecil Reniche-Smith suggested that the Board investigate grants, particularly since the Town Hall is an historic building.
Board member Tim Guiles also suggested that the Board create a structure for the use of the town’s remaining ARPA funds. The Board was open to input from the community to determine the town’s priorities and needs. Such input would be solicited by the Board.
Mr. Atherton suggested that the Board be careful not to earmark all its available money in a year when a large project like the wastewater plant might experience cost overruns.
The Board then unanimously approved the bid for the Arnold District Road paving project that had been submitted by Pike Industries of Wallingford. Pike’s bid came in at $76.93 per ton of 15% recycled asphalt, for a total cost of $164,476.34. The competing bid from Wilk Paving of Rutland came in at $81.47 per ton of 15% recycled asphalt, for a total cost of $180,465.05. The full bid sheets for both companies are available in the Selectboard packet for June 26 on the town website.
The construction project at the town wastewater plant has been paused for the summer while General Contractor (GC) Naylor & Breen awaits delivery of materials. During this time, the GC will take on projects elsewhere. The project will resume in August.
Because of the shutdown and resulting delay, however, the town must extend the terms of the loans it took out from Bar Harbor Bank to pay for the work. The Board approved the extension of two loans:
- A loan in the amount of $1,000,000. The interest rate on this loan was increased from 3.15% to 5.80% to reflect current rates. The maturity date of the loan was extended from 6/20/23 to 10/30/23.
- A loan in the amount of $2,780,000. The interest rate on this loan was increased from 4.34% to 5.80%. The maturity date was extended from 6/30/23 to 10/30/23.
Both extensions were approved unanimously. The full terms of the loans and extensions are available in the Selectboard packet for June 26 on the town website.
The Board then approved a blanket authorization for payroll for the fiscal year ending in June 2024. This blanket authorization enables the town to pay its employees promptly without having to wait for approval at Board meetings. The list of salaries and hourly rates is available in the Selectboard packet for June 26 on the town website.
As its final bit of business for the evening, the Board approved a warrant in the amount of $139,589.92 to cover the town’s obligations and expenses since the previous warrant. The full list of expenditures is available on the town website.
