Colchester, VT Governance Committee News: June 2015

LCATV was present. An audio recording was also made of the meeting. The first hour was used to go over the use of Google Drive and was not part of the regular meeting.

1. Call to Order: Chair David Usher called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.

2. Agenda Changes

No Changes

3. No public input

None

4. Approval of minutes from Nov 17^th2014

MOTION by Bud Meyers

SECONDED by Mickey Palmer

APPROVED by unanimous vote.

David Usher mentioned that making the Governance Committee permanent was in the minutes and might be considered again.

5. Approval of minutes from June 10^th 2015

MOTION by Mickey Palmer

SECONDED by Curt Taylor

APPROVED by unanimous vote.

6. Snow Plowing of Public Roads

While waiting for Bryan Osborne to attend the issue of the plowing private roads by the town was briefly discussed. A misunderstanding about the map of which roads are being plowed was resolved.

7. Bryan Osborne – Director of Public Works

Osborne first reviewed a little history of the Storm Water Utility issue. The Integrated Water Resources Management Plan (IWRMP) recommended that the Town move forward to develop a storm water utility. The Selectboard agreed and a Storm Water Advisory Committee (SWAC - which meets every first Thursday of the month, 6:00 PM at the Town Offices) has been established. The Utility can be created by ordinance or by a Town-wide vote.

The basic question of most concern to the Governance Committee is whether or not regionalization of a Storm Water Utility might be appropriate.

Osborne responded that the Regional Planning Commission (RPC) as well as the Regional Storm Water Education Program (RSEP), both with Colchester representation, have considered the issue of a regionalized Storm Water Utility. The consensus is that though there are opportunities for cooperation, there is no need to create a regional storm water utility.

The storm water needs of the different municipalities vary greatly due to population density and the number of impaired streams within that municipality. Colchester’s Sunderland Brook and Morehouse Brook are impaired. Colchester is currently in full conformance with all requirements of the MS4 permit and is in very good condition. South Burlington on the other hands may need more than $25 million to fix Potash Creek. The concern is that Colchester tax payers should not have to pay for the fixing of significant problems in other communities. Osborne does not think Colchester to contribute to the addressing the needs of more urbanized communities with far greater problems that Colchester.

Osborne explained several examples of the current regionalized approach to the requirements for MS4 compliance: outreach education, flow monitoring of impaired streams and sharing of equipment.

The State is generally supportive of regionalization because of the complexity of managing regulations. H.35 proposes the creation of statewide utility to collect fees.

Bud Meyers asked if there has been discussion of climate change. Osborne’s response was that we need to re-evaluate our design standard due to climate change. What has traditionally been considered appropriate is now continually being demonstrated to be inadequate.

David Usher asked about future plans for storm water management in Colchester. Osborne responded that although the Town is in full compliance, he believe the effort has been minimalistic. There are substantial storm water needs beyond water quality. The Town is currently spending about $460k a year on storm water. He estimates that we should be spending $2.5 million to do the job correctly. Because much of Colchester was built in the 60s, 70s and 80s there is a growing need for upgrading the Town infrastructure as well as providing storm water infrastructure where it is lacking.

Osborne feels strongly that the Town needs a storm water utility for the following three reasons:

1) Our current effort is fragmented throughout the department of public works and needs to be centralized under a Storm Water Coordinator position funded by fees to the utility.

2) The funds used to handle storm water issues currently come from the Town’s budget and are based on property taxes not the degree to which a person or business contributes to the storm water problem. A Utility’s user fee would be considerably more equitable.

3) There are significant amounts of impervious surface associated with properties that are exempt from property taxes. Storm water utility fees will be paid by those properties as well.

When asked by David Usher about the time line for all this Bryan Osborne responded that he does not think the utility will be part of the FY17 budget, however the Selectboard could move forward in FY16 with the development of the utility.

Regarding the impact on the Town’s budget Osborne stated that some activities now funded within the Town’s general fund will move to the Utilities budget. Funding would be more equitable.

Mickey Palmer asked about St. Michaels which may well already handle its storm water appropriately. Osborne responded that a Credit Manual would be developed to allow fees to be reduced for those that handle their storm water appropriately.

David Usher asked about what the governance structure of the utility might be. Osborne responded that it may well be similar to the way sewers are currently handled. The Selectboard currently acts as a Sewer Commission and may well act as a Strom Water Commission as well. The Utility would be a divisional operation within the department of public works. It would be funded as an enterprise fund financed by user fees. Rates would be set by the Selectboard acting as the Storm Water Commission after considering a budget submitted by the utility.

In further discussion about fees Osborne made it clear that fees would have to be collected from many entities that currently do not pay property taxes (i.e. the school district). In addition the Town itself would be subject to the fees and the Town budget would have to reflect that cost.

Bryan Osborne was warmly thanked for his time and input. The Governance Committee will have to consider what was said and determine if any further action is required.

8. Adjournment

MOTION to adjourn by Curt Taylor

SECOND by Mickey Palmer

APPROVED unanimously at 11:00 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Curt Taylor, Secretary

June 18^th 2015 (Draft), June 25^th (Approved)

VLCT Selectboard Handbook - Link

This is a link to the Vermont League of Cities and Town's Selectboard Handbook. The handbook contains much valuable information regarding charters, ordinances and policies.

http://www.vlct.org/assets/Resource/Handbooks/VLCT_Selectboard_Handbook.pdf

Monday, June 22, 2015

2015-06-24 Agenda Governance Committee Meeting

Agenda - Colchester Governance Committee Meeting

Wednesday, June 24 9-11am

Kirker Community Room

835 Blakely Rd, Colchester, VT

I. Call to Order

II. Agenda Review

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

IV. Business

Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes
Charter Revisions Discussion

Continue Conflict of Interest Considerations
Discussion of Stormwater Utility
Appointed Clerk Strategy
Future committee work

V. Adjourn

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

June 10th 2015 Minutes - As Approved

MINUTES OF COLCHESTER GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

COLCHESTER TOWN OFFICES

“The Fish Bowl”
COLCHESTER, VT

June 10^th @ 9:00 a.m.

Present: Curt Taylor, Mickey Palmer, Bud Meyers and David Usher

LCATV was not present. An audio recording was made of the meeting.

1. Call to Order: Chair David Usher called the meeting to order at 9:03 a.m.

2. Agenda Changes

a. Mickey Palmer pointed out an inconsistency regarding fines in the Charter in that fines are said to be no greater than a specific amount and yet there are fines in the ordinances that are greater than that. The charter change to fix this was bundled with another during the November, 2014 Charger Change vote and voted down. Mickey asked that this become an agenda item at a later date. Chair agreed.

b. Curt asked that approval of previous minutes be on the agenda.

3. Approval of minutes from July 28^th2014

MOTION by Bud Meyers

SECONDED by Mickey Palmer

APPROVED by unanimous vote.

4. Approval of minutes from May 29^th 2015

Bud pointed out that the date is not in the header.

MOTION by Mickey Palmer

SECONDED by Bud Meyers

APPROVED by unanimous vote.

5. Meeting schedule and Locations

David Usher has scheduled the Kirker room for the next 6 weeks for the Governance Committee from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. Curt will contact LCATV.

After some discussion it was decided that we would continue to use the Governance Committee blog (ColchesterGovernance.blogspot.com) to post agendas and minutes and use the ColchesterCharter@gmail.com Google Drive for documents and supporting information. There has been come confusion as to how material is stored on Google Drive. At the next meeting we will take time to go over the organization of the Drive.

6. A final version of the changed charter

David Usher had received a final version of the Town Charter from the town manager but several changes had not been made. After reviewing those changes the committee decided to have the Town administration make the changes and return a more accurate version.

7. Conflict of Interest Policy

David Usher introduced the idea that the Charter should require the Selectboard to develop a Conflict of Interest (COI) Ordinance or Policy. He proposed Charter language to do so. The Town already has a comprehensive COI policy but such a policy or ordinance is not required by the Charter. Bud Meyers expressed an interest in having more citizen involvement in the development or approval of the policy. This might be done by requiring that this policy be an ordinance with associated public hearings. Questions arose as to the enforcement of ordinances vs. policies. There was some concern that the current policy says only that the Selectboard must hear the recommendation of the Ethics Committee. The Selectboard’s decision is final.

After considerable discussion regarding how policies or ordinances are changed the committee decided that the topic would be raised at the next meeting and that committee members should consider the language proposed by David Usher. Mickey Palmer suggested that the Charter might specify what the policy should cover and how it might be changed. The Committee agreed that Chapter 9 of the Charter regarding this issue needs consideration and possible modification.

8. Appointed Clerk Strategy

The Committee has already made a recommendation to the Selectboard that the Clerk/Treasurer position be appointed rather than elected. That charter change was rejected by a margin of 13 votes. Should the Committee suggest a strategy for resubmitting this issue to the voters? The decision was to leave the issue alone and let the Town administration and Selectboard decide how to handle it.

9. Storm Water Utility

The Town is considering creating a Storm Water Utility in order to collect fees and manage storm water runoff. State statute enables towns to create such utilities and Bryan Osborne (Colchester’s Director of Public Works) does not think a Charter change is necessary.

The question was then raised as to whether such a Storm Water Utility should be a regional entity. State statute enables Towns to create regional Utilities so this may not be a Charter issue. It is within the charge of the Governance Committee to make recommendations regarding regionalization. David Usher suggested that the first step is to hear from Bryan Osborne. The committee agreed and Bryan Osborne will be contacted. There is also already a Colchester Storm Water Advisory Committee that may be considering the issue.

10. Future Committee Work

a. Town Manager Report: The Committee agreed that it would be good to hear suggestions and thoughts from the Dawn Francis. David Usher will schedule her for a future meeting

b. Plowing of Private Roads: The Committee has recommended that’s the Charter paragraph be removed from the Charter but Mickey Palmer thinks this should be discussed in detail and a concrete recommendation made. David Usher asked Mickey Palmer to write up some of his thoughts on what such a recommendation might be.

c. Assessor quorum issue: This issue has yet to be addressed.

d. Board of Civil Authority (BCA): Bud Meyers, who originally raised this issue, felt that after further research it was not really necessary to change the Charter. The relevant information regarding the BCA is in the Vermont League of City and Town’s Selectboard Handbook. The information can also be obtained from the Town Clerk.

e. Charter Review: This can be done when we have a final version of the current Charter.

11. Adjournment

MOTION to adjourn by Curt Taylor

SECOND by Mickey Palmer

APPROVED unanimously at 11:00 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Curt Taylor, Secretary

June 12^th 2015

Monday, June 15, 2015

2015-06-17 Governance Committee Agenda

Agenda - Colchester Governance Committee Meeting

Wednesday, June 17 at 10am

Kirker Community Room

835 Blakely Rd, Colchester, VT

I. Call to Order

II. Agenda Review

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

IV. Business

Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes
Hands-on Review of Google ColchesterCharter Account
Charter Revisions Discussion

Stormwater- Bryan Osborne
Appointed Clerk Strategy
Public Roads Approach
Future committee work

V. Adjourn

This link provides access to a document prepared by Curt Taylor, Secretary, summarizing the work of the Governance Committee and the various Town votes and Legislative actions approving Colchester's charter changes since 2013.

Friday, June 12, 2015

May 29th 2015 Minutes - As Approved

MINUTES OF COLCHESTER GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

COLCHESTER POLICE STATION

KIRKER ROOM
COLCHESTER, VT

May 29^th 2015 @ 10:00 a.m.

Present: Curt Taylor, Mickey Palmer, Bud Meyers and David Usher

LCATV was not present. An audio recording was made of the meeting.

1. Vice-Chair David Usher called the meeting to order at 10:03 a.m.

2. There was some discussion about finding the most recent version of the charter and collecting important information as to where we were when last we worked on the Charter. David Usher said he would contact Jacob Hemmerick to locate the copy of the Charter that shows changes we had suggested.

3. Dawn Francis (Colchester Town Manager) joined the meeting at 10:06 and left at 10:30.

4. Future Meetings: All members voiced a readiness to begin work immediately and regularly. Members decided to meet weekly at 9:00 am on Wednesdays. Curt Taylor said he could not make Wednesday, June 3^rd so the next meeting will be June 10^th.

5. New Chair: Because Jacob Hemmerick has resigned from the committee the committee needs a new chair.

MOTION by Bud Meyers for David Usher to be the committee’s chair

SECONDED by Mickey Palmer

APPROVED by unanimous vote.

6. Potential Issues: David Usher asked what issues we have left to take up. Dawn pointed out that there were issues mentioned by department heads early on that might need revisiting. That information will be located.

a. Town Clerk: There was interest in trying again to get the Town Clerk/Treasurer as an appointed rather than elected positon. Dawn Francis confirmed that the Selectboard is also interested in the issue being brought up after a couple years.

b. Community Engagement Process: This includes the use of Front Porch Forum to announce committee agendas and solicit input from the community.

c. Storm Water Utility: The Town has expressed an interest in creating a Storm Water Utility. Regionalizing such a utility should also be investigated. There are other regionalization initiatives that need attention.

d. Conflict of Interest: David Usher suggested that the Charter should contain a requirement that the Town have a written conflict of interest policy. This was added as an item to be discussed at future meetings.

e. Town Manager and the Charter: David Usher suggested we hear from Dawn Francis regarding the Town Manager’s position; what might be changed or not. The Committee agreed.

f. Snow Plowing of Private Roads: This issue may well be revisited.

g. Assessor: David Usher raised the issue of the whether or not the assessor can be called upon to fill the quorum of the Lister’s meetings.

h. Board of Civil Authority: Bud Meyers presented the idea that the Charter should have a clear description of how Property Taxes are appealed. The Charter contains no reference to Board of Civil Authority.

7. Next Meeting’s Agenda: The Committee decided to deal with the following during the next meeting:

a. Town Manager’s Roles and Responsibilities

b. Conflict of Interest in the Charter

8. MOTION to adjourn by Curt Taylor

SECOND by Mickey Palmer

APPROVED unanimously at 11:15 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Curt Taylor Secretary,

May 29^th 2015 (Draft), June 12^th (Final)

Monday, June 8, 2015

Spring 2015 - Colchester Governance Committee Resumes Meetings

In the recently adjourned session, the Legislature enacted the various charter changes that were approved by Colchester voters in March, specifically implementation of a local option sales tax.

The Governance Committee has resumed its review of those portions of the charter that we had not addressed. We met on May 29, and will meet again on June 10 at 10:00 am in the Champlain Room at the Town Offices.

The agenda for that meeting is here. The public is welcome to attend.

Agenda - Colchester Governance Committee Meeting

Wednesday, June 10 at 10am

Colchester Town Offices, Champlain Room

781 Blakely Rd, Colchester, VT

I. Call to Order

II. Agenda Review

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

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Monday, June 22, 2015

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Monday, June 15, 2015

Friday, June 12, 2015

Monday, June 8, 2015

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