December 5 Meeting Agenda

Colchester Governance Committee Meeting Agenda

Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 7 PM

Colchester Community Activities Center

36 Blakely Road

I. Call to Order

II. Agenda Review

III. Administrative Business/Updates

- Conference Calling Instructions

- Communication:  FPF, Spotlight, etc.

- Meeting Room on 12/19

IV. Approval of Minutes of November 21st, 2013

V. Public Input - Members of the public are welcome to attend and provide input.

VI. Business Items

A. Final Review of Selectboard Update for 12/10 Selectboard Meeting

B. Fire District Consolidation Recommendation

(Consider Proposed Language)

C. Charter Text Concerning the Snowplowing of Some Private Roads

(Consider Alternatives Proposed Last Meeting)

VII. Review Upcoming Meetings & Agenda Items

(Identify Major Issues for Consideration at Upcoming Meetings)

12/19 : Selectboard Update Follow-up, Form of Government

01/02 :

01/16 :

02/06 :

02/20 :

VIII. Adjourn

The Governance Committee’s Contacts, Charge, Agendas and Minutes are available online at http://colchestergovernance.blogspot.com/ and filed with the Town Clerk.  Video recordings of the meetings are available at www.lcatv.org.

COMMITTEE MEETING MATERIALS:

Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 7 PM

III.  ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATES:

-Telephone Instructions for Dialing Out

Instructions for local dialing from the Kirker Conference Room: 

1.) Leave receiver on the hook

2.) If your party is local punch in "9" to get an outside line and proceed as normal

3.) When they answer tell them to hold and hit Trans/Conf again

4.) You will get a "stutter" dial tone indicating you can make another call

5.) Repeat (2,) Again

6.) When they answer hit Trans/Conf again and the wall phone and your 2 calls will be patched together.

This can patch up to 5.

-Methods of Communicating Upcoming Agenda Items and Decisions

-Update on Meeting Room location for 12/19

IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

MINUTES OF COLCHESTER GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

COLCHESTER POLICE STATION CONFERENCE ROOM

835 BLAKELY ROAD
COLCHESTER, VT

November 21, 2013 @ 7:00 p.m.

Present:  Jacob Hemmerick, Pamela Laurence-Dimson,  Pam Loranger, Bud Meyers,  Mickey Palmer

Absent: David Usher

Note : for the purposes of clarity Pam Loranger will be identified as Pam and Pamela Laurence-Dimson will be identified as Pamela

Jacob Hemmerick called the meeting to order at 7PM

1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

The Agenda was approved without discussion

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Mickey Palmer  MOVED to approve  the minutes of  November 14, 2013.   

            Bud Meyers  SECONDED the MOTION.

            MOTION approved UNANIMOUSLY

     In accordance with new procedure the LCATV tapes will serve as record of the meeting unless a formal action is taken. 

3.  PUBLIC COMMENT

4.  OTHER BUSINESS

     a.  Meeting Schedule  The new schedule for January, February and March 2015 is as follows:

          January  2 and 16,  February 6 and 20,  March 6 and 20

     b.  The Committee reviewed the Selectboard Progress Report for presenation to the Selectboard December 10, 2013.  Approval tabled until December 5, 2013

5.  ACTION ITEM

     Recommendation by the Governance Committee to the Select Board to pursue consolidation of Fire Districts.  Action tabled until December 5, 2013

     Recommendation by the Governance Committee to the Select Board to address language in Charter regarding Snow Plowing.  Action tabled until December 5, 2013.

4.  ADJOURNMENT

Having no further business to conduct, Pam MOVED  to adjourn.  Pamela  SECONDED the MOTION  UNANIMOUS consent.  Meeting adjourned at 9:00PM.

Respectfully  submitted

Pam Loranger Secretary, December  5,  2013

VI. BUSINESS ITEMS

A. Final Review of Selectboard Update for 12/10 Selectboard Meeting

FULL TEXT WILL BE PUBLISHED AFTER MEETING OF 12/05

B. Fire/Water District Consolidation Recommendation

(Consider Language Proposed Below)

The Governance Committee recommends that the Town of Colchester support and pursue consolidation of the Fire Districts’ water provision functions under the auspices of the Town’s Department of Public Works.

We recommend this in order to address serious problems that are inherent in the current, fragmented governance structure, whereby five jurisdictions have authority over water-related infrastructure and provision within defined geographic areas in Colchester:  Fire District 1, Fire District 2, Fire District 3, the Champlain Water District, and the Town of Essex.

These structural defects have negative impacts on the current development of the town, and will continue to have long-term negative effects in the future, if structural reform is not undertaken. 

Such a consolidation would be a significant change in the current governance, and may pragmatically have to occur through incremental consolidations.  Although a consolidation of multiple fire districts into a single district may improve efficiency and administrative capacity, it would not fully address the misaligned roles and respective interests of the Town and the Districts. 

We trust in the Board, if they so choose, to enlist available resources to determine how this might best be accomplished.

Background & Findings:

Providing clean water is a legitimate and important municipal service that shapes our built and natural environments. 

Water infrastructure is closely linked with the protection of our natural resources and the development of our local economy and land.

The whole Town benefits from an efficient, well-maintained water system.  Water infrastructure helps protect ground and lake water quality and it guides economic opportunities: from housing to commerce to jobs.

With growing development pressures in Colchester, and a limited amount of developable land, water infrastructure allows the town to consider a broader variety of development possibilities than it could without such infrastructure.  The availability of diverse development choices today opens up more opportunity for positive social, cultural, and economic outcomes tomorrow.  This all takes coordination.

Citizens look to the Town -- as the body vested with authority over steering the natural, built and economic environment of our community – for leadership as it relates to land-use.

Planning and managing the Town’s growth is integrally accomplished through coordination of water infrastructure; however, because the Town does not have authority over water provision, veto power over development is essentially vested in the Fire Districts, as independent municipalities within the municipality of the Town of Colchester.  These districts do not share the same structural incentives for development.

Furthermore, the residents of Colchester largely misunderstand the Fire Districts, and two of the districts are notably inaccessible to their citizens, with no online presence. 

In closing, coordination for water provision is made difficult and sometimes impossible within the current structure, and the Town cannot effectively plan for future development without having a say over water infrastructure. 

The Governance Committee finds that land-use planning, economic development, and infrastructure, particularly water infrastructure, go hand-in-hand.  These functions should be vested in the governance structure of the Town for rationally coordinated outcomes and broader public involvement in such important and consequential decisions about our future.

C. Charter Text Concerning the Snowplowing of Some Private Roads

      (Consider Proposal Below From Last Meeting)

At our last meeting, we discussed the appropriateness of the plowing language in the Charter.

The current language basically states that the Board shall have the power “To establish a policy whereby the Board of Selectmen may determine it to be in the public interest to plow those private roads serving two (2) or more year-round residences, which had previous to January 1, 1997 have the town providing winter road maintenance.” 

We are not aware if a prior Board ever adopted a formal policy.

There was informal agreement by the Governance Committee that the language above should be removed from the Charter and a policy should be developed by the Board. 

PLD suggested three alternatives to address the equity issue presented by this language.  The Town could address the equity issue by either: 

1) Plowing all private roads;

2) Plowing only those roads meeting specifications; or

3) Plowing no private roads.