Budget planning for highway department
PUTNEY — PUTNEY - At the suggestion of Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard and Highway Superintendent Brian Harlow, the Selectboard has been asked to consider getting out of the “borrowing cycle” to pay for the town's roads equipment.
Stoddard and Harlow suggest paying down the debt, and setting aside money each year, in preparation for purchasing and maintaining the highway vehicles.
Board members discussed that interest rates are low now, but that will not last forever. If they plan now, Stoddard said, they can change the capital plan to achieve this.
Currently, she noted, the town spends about $9,000 per year at 2 percent interest on highway line items.
“Do you want me...to work this with this philosophy of, we're trying to reduce our debt in preparation of maybe interest rates going up?” Stoddard asked, “or are we okay where it is now and let's continue” for another few years and then revisit?
The board's decision would affect tax rates and the capital reserve fund, she noted.
Stoddard told the board she is not looking for an immediate decision, but asked them to consider in which direction they would like to go.
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a … drone?
PUTNEY - Citing the possible violations of privacy, resident Robert Stromberg asked the Selectboard to consider legislation governing the use of drones within Putney's borders.
In “Rise of the Drones,” a document Stromberg distributed to the board, he described the problem as “Anyone using a device on or over your personal property (domain) without your consent, [p]eering into your personal activities from the air outside your window or the air above your property."
“Just as you own the mineral rights below your property so should the air above your property be yours to manage,” Stromberg wrote, adding, “150 ft. is not too much to ask.”
Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard said she would research the issue, and possibly add it to “new business” at a future selectboard meeting.
“If we can stop something before it gets out of hand, that would be wonderful,” Stromberg said at the meeting.
Gravel pit receives violation notice
PUTNEY - Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard told the board her office had received notice of a possible violation of the blasting permit issued to Renaud Brothers for its Hidden Acres gravel pit.
She said the violation had been reconsidered by the Natural Resources Board, and it found Renaud Brothers at fault. It issued a fine, the company paid, and the board issued a notice of discontinuation, in which Renaud Brothers agrees to not violate the terms of their permit.
Board approves computer contract
PUTNEY - The Selectboard voted to engage in a contract with Vermont Digital to replace the town offices' computers and server.
The total cost is $12,995, and will be funded through the capital expense line.