With three meetings in eight days, the Selectboard is just about on track for time spent getting the budget and ballot items ready for Charlotters. With Land Use Regulation amendments on track to make it to a vote this spring, and around $70,00 that needs to be shaved off the budget, there’s a lot to talk about.
This year, if you would like to run for office, you do not need to submit a petition. All that is required is to fill out a “Consent of Candidate” for the office you would like to run for and submit it to the Town Clerk’s Office by Monday, January 25th at 5 p.m.
Since September of this year, town boards and committees have met and discussed personnel issues relating to Zoning Administrator Daniel Morgan and his position 13 times.
Selectboad and all other town board and committee meetings will be held on Zoom indefinitely due to the Vermont state directive that persons from different households not gather together in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Per Road Commissioner Jr Lewis’s request, Selectboard Chair Matt Krasnow is working up a draft to put an item on the town meeting Australian ballot to make an advisory motion that Lewis is allowed to use straight salt on the roads during the winter. At the moment, that decision is up to Lewis’ discretion, but he wants to make sure he has a mandate from Charlotters to do so.
Over 1,000 pages of emails from the Charlotte Zoning Board of Adjustment included a building permit from 1976, a zoning fee schedule from 1989, and several emails in which a zoning board member referred to his colleagues on the board as the “Z Boys.” What those emails and documents didn’t contain was a discussion among ZBA members outlining a change in policy and procedure for future applicants.
The Charlotte Planning Commission met on Nov. 6; one topic on the agenda was a response letter that will go out to DG Vermont Solar about its application for a 23-acre solar array project. Michael and Margaret Russell own the property at 2257 Lake Road where the solar array will be constructed; because the project is so large, it falls under the state’s Public Utilities Commission’s purview and does not need municipal approval to proceed.
Here’s the quick takeaway from Monday night’s Selectboard meeting: there’s a problem with the relationship between the Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Zoning Administrator (see article page 1), Land Use Regulation amendments are still up for discussion, there are a couple new people on the Planning Commission, and Charlotte town leaders are perking up their ears regarding planning for a town recreation center.
It was all about the budgets at Monday’s Selectboard meeting, as the first five town departments to present their FY2021-22 financial hopes and dreams shared spreadsheets in the first round of the yearly budget process.
This week’s Selectboard meeting included updates from the Vermont State Police, the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, and Gallagher Flynn consulting. And though it was discussed again, there was still no resolution to the ongoing debate and discussion of what exactly dogs should be allowed to do on Thompson’s Point and Whiskey Beach.
Heightened tensions over a proposed leash law amendment by the Thompson’s Point Leaseholders Association have not yet abated and no decision has been reached, though community input is being considered.
Progression of the Morningside Drive and Morningside Cemetery saga was postponed for the Morningside Cemetery Association and property owners Megan Browning and Will Bown when Selectboard members decided that the town’s general counsel needs to consult on the matter before any further decisions are made.
A highway access permit application is a routine step for property owners who want to build a driveway. In the case of one such permit application this summer, filed by Megan Browning and Will Bown, there have been more than your usual number of snafus, lawyers attending Selectboard meetings, a Vermont Supreme Court decision is in the mix, and the Selectboard has dedicated hours to the matter. And it’s not over yet.
The beach, a budget, and payroll: with the exception of the ever-changing Morningside Drive driveway dispute (see front page), the Aug. 10 Selectboard meeting moved things forward on issues big and small.
Not for the first time, the majority of a Selectboard meeting was spent discussing pay for a position in the town clerk’s office. After an at-times contentious discussion, on July 30 the board approved a pay rate for the new assistant town clerk/treasurer and raised the pay rate for the current assistant town clerk/treasurer Christina Booher, who will stay on to train the new employee.
The bulk of the July 13 Selectboard meeting was taken up with two issues: one a highway access permit request dispute that just won’t die and the other that has residents of Thompson’s Point chasing their tails.
The Selectboard meeting on June 29 confronted decisions addressing changes in hours and pay rates for town employees for fiscal year 2021, reopening the Town Offices, requesting bids for the Town Link Trail, and an update on safe recreation in the heart of a pandemic.
Monday’s Selectboard meeting addressed multiple recent issues around town, including a residential application for a Highway Access Permit on Morningstar Drive, a recreation COVID-19 update, and discussion of an updated Animal Control Ordinance at Thompson’s Point.
The Selectboard tackled topics from picnic tables to open-space tax refunds and everything in between on Monday night.
There were some money worries and library celebrations, among other business, at the May 18 and May 26 Selectboard meetings.