Stamford Select Board — 2024-04-04 (Regular)

97 min · YouTube (@jgramlin78) · audio · minutes (town PDF) · markdown

Nancy L. BushikaMichael G. DenaultKurt GamariDouglas WrightJohn Dunn

Session: Regular · **Duration:** 97 min · Audio · Minutes

Regular meeting of the Stamford Select Board (2024-04-04, 97 min). Present: Nancy L. Bushika, Michael G. Denault, Kurt Gamari, Douglas Wright, John Dunn. The minutes record 10 motions (10 approved, 0 with another outcome). Items on the agenda: Hearing Of Visitors; Selectboard Orders; Financials; Road Conditions; Recycling; Emergency Management; Dvfiber; Stamford Sign; Fema Buyout Program; Mowing Bids; Joint Meeting With School Directors; School Inspection; Board Of Civil Authority Training; Building Permit Applications/Fees.

On the agenda

Hearing Of Visitors
Selectboard Orders
Financials
Road Conditions
Recycling
Emergency Management
Dvfiber
Stamford Sign
Fema Buyout Program
Mowing Bids
Joint Meeting With School Directors
School Inspection
Board Of Civil Authority Training
Building Permit Applications/Fees
Uniform Municipal Excess Weight Permits
Assignment Of Town’S Interest
Selectboard Webinar
Dogs
Bennington County Sheriff’S Department
Reminders

Motions (10, 10 passed)

accept the resignation of Carolyn Brooks from the Planning Commission Doug Wrightseconded: Mike Denaultpassed

“MOTION by Doug Wright to accept the resignation of Carolyn Brooks from the Planning Commission.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. MOTION by John Dunn to appoint Alden Finney to the seat vacated by Carolyn Brooks whose term ends in 2027. SECONDED by Mike Denault. All in favor. Motion APPROVED. 3. T

Vote: unanimous voice vote

where it was said out loud ¶29

appoint Alden Finney to the seat vacated by Carolyn Brooks whose term ends in 2027 John Dunnseconded: Mike Denaultpassed

“MOTION by John Dunn to appoint Alden Finney to the seat vacated by Carolyn Brooks whose term ends in 2027.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. 3. The Selectboard recognized the email from Maura Hawkins requesting reappointment as Septic Officer. MOTION by Kurt Gamari to reappoint Maura Hawkins as Septic Office

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

reappoint Maura Hawkins as Septic Officer Kurt Gamariseconded: Mike Denaultpassed

“MOTION by Kurt Gamari to reappoint Maura Hawkins as Septic Officer.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. MINUTES MOTION by Mike Denault to accept the regular meeting minutes of March 21, 2024 as written. SECONDED by Doug Wright. All in favor. Motion APPROVED. SELECTBOARD O

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

accept the regular meeting minutes of March 21, 2024 as written Mike Denaultseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to accept the regular meeting minutes of March 21, 2024 as written.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. SELECTBOARD ORDERS The Selectboard reviewed and approved the following orders: WARRANT #13 $10,351.16 payroll WARRANT #14 $68,072.80 accounts payable 2 FINANCIALS The S

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

retract 100% from the FEMA program Mike Denaultseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to retract 100% from the FEMA program.”

3 in favor, 1 opposed (Kurt Gamari), 1 abstain (Nancy Bushika). Motion APPROVED. MOWING BIDS Nancy Bushika will work with the town clerk to finalize the mowing bids. 4 JOINT MEETING WITH SCHOOL DIREC

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

approve the Uniform Municipal Excess Weight Permit application from CAMP Precast Concrete Products, Inc Nancy Bushikaseconded: Mike Denaultpassed

“MOTION by Nancy Bushika to approve the Uniform Municipal Excess Weight Permit application from CAMP Precast Concrete Products, Inc.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The appropriate fee and insurance information was received from the applicant. ASSIGNMENT OF TOWN’S INTEREST The Selectboard approved the transfer of its interest in th

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

find that premature public discussion of personnel matters would place the town at a substantial disadvantage Nancy Bushikaseconded: Mike Denaultpassed

“MOTION by Nancy Bushika to find that premature public discussion of personnel matters would place the town at a substantial disadvantage.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. MOTION by Nancy Bushika to enter executive session for a personnel matter pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313(5) and 1 V.S.A. § 313(a)(3). SECONDED by Mike Denault. All in favor

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

enter executive session for a personnel matter pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313(5) and 1 V.S.A. § 313(a)(3) Nancy Bushikaseconded: Mike Denaultpassed

“MOTION by Nancy Bushika to enter executive session for a personnel matter pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313(5) and 1 V.S.A. § 313(a)(3).”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The Selectboard entered executive session at 7:35 p.m. Deb Burchard was invited to participate during the initial permit fee and salary discussion. After Deb Burchard l

Vote: unanimous voice vote

where it was said out loud ¶413

exit executive session Mike Denaultseconded: Kurt Gamaripassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to exit executive session.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The board exited executive session at 8:53 p.m. Action: the Selectboard changed the permit fees, effective tonight and restructured the Zoning Administrator’s salary. M

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

adjourn Mike Denaultseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to adjourn.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The meeting ended at 8:55 p.m. Kurt Gamari Clerk /las REMINDERS 1. Townspeople should sign up with the state’s free communications network, VT-Alert. You can sign up at

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

Who owes what (5)

Action	Owner	By when	Note	Where it stands
Nancy Bushika will work with the town clerk to finalize the mowing bids	Nancy Bushika	—		open no date in the minutes
the board needs to recognize that	the board	—	assigned to a town office, not to a named person.	open no date in the minutes
The board will propose April 25, 2024 or May 9, 2024 at 6:30 p	The board	—	assigned to a town office, not to a named person.	open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶237
The town clerk will be sending out reminders to those who have not licensed their dogs	The town clerk	—	assigned to a town office, not to a named person.	open no date in the minutes
The auditors will be at the town office on April 29, 2024 and April 30, 2024 to work on the audit	The auditors	—	assigned to a town office, not to a named person.	open no date in the minutes

Statuses come from data/action_status.json, which only a person changes; "overdue" means the minutes gave a date and that date has passed. Mark one done with scripts/action_status.py --done "a phrase".

Money (2)

Financials	SELECTBOARD ORDERS The Selectboard reviewed and approved the following orders: WARRANT #13 $10,351.16 payroll WARRANT #14 $68,072.80 accounts payable 2 FINANCIALS The Selectboard reviewed and confirmed financial statements for the month of February.	$10,351.16; $68,072.80
The town paid $7,500.00 last year to assist people with limited means	The town paid $7,500.00 last year to assist people with limited means.	$7,500.00

Public comment (9)

Sally Bohl	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
Debra Burchard	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
Alden Finney	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
Jedidiah Gramlin	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
Lisa Gramlin	Lisa Gramlin was the second motion made and was given the next available seat created by the resignation of Deb Burchard.
Marta Miller	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
Sheila Pecor	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
Debra Righi	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
James Righi	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said

What the extraction was unsure about

Extracted mechanically from the town's own minutes text (data/minutes/<meeting_id>.txt), which names the mover and seconder of every motion; the audio transcript was not consulted for attribution.
Town minutes are the (UNAPPROVED) draft as published by the town.
Agenda items are the ALL-CAPS section headings in the minutes, so their wording is the town's own and their order is the order in the document.
Public comment lists only what the minutes record; visitors are listed when the minutes name them without recording a statement.
Vote field is 'unanimous voice vote' when the minutes say 'All in favor', a numeric count when one appears, otherwise null.

Transcript

413 paragraphs · 2 of the diarized voices in this recording carry a name; the rest stay "Speaker N" because the archive cannot match them to the minutes without guessing.

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I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God's justice for all.

Speaker 1: I just have a quick question. With all due respect, I was just wondering how the Planning Commission, the assignment seats were given out, because it wasn't really discussed last select board meeting, so I was wondering how it was decided. I'm not trying to change anything or anything like that, I'm just curious.

Speaker 3: It wasn't discussed.

Speaker 1: I put my letter in first. Yeah, her letter was first.

Speaker 1: No, the motion was first for Peter from John.

Speaker 1: It doesn't matter to me, I was just curious, because, you know. We like rules in this town, for some reason.

Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I was just interested. That's fine. That's fine with me.

Speaker 1: Sorry, I didn't mean to. Was I out of order?

Speaker 1: I don't know. Is Jen now staying on the board?

Speaker 7: Erin, dad right now, Carolyn.

Speaker 8: Why didn't she respond when it got sent?

Speaker 9: Also, I'm saying if you're saying that you like

Speaker 9: I think there's a body of law He's supposed to let everybody know he's recording, right?

Speaker 12: It's It's It's It's It's It's It's It's It's It's It's It's It's

Speaker 13: It's

Speaker 1: It's

Speaker 14: and we'll watch the weather too is that something you want to attend

Speaker 15: i'm in charge of much of anything wayne hasn't been down there in years

Speaker 17: they were able to get it out it was a huge problem

Speaker 8: Oh, John.

Speaker 18: But everything else from this life run is now similar.

Speaker 19: And we,

Speaker 15: Yeah.

Speaker 20: Do we have to store them in a waterproof container and keep them dry?

Speaker 17: Nope.

Speaker 21: No.

Speaker 17: Okay.

Speaker 15: bylaws are we going to ask them to we just voted whether we're going to leave it up or not we didn't

Speaker 22: The last one here is April 29th.

Speaker 20: Well, that's the problem with all laws.

Speaker 8: That's why the board has made so much money.

Speaker 23: He's looked at it.

Speaker 24: Yeah.

Speaker 25: Yeah.

Speaker 26: Is that something you want to share with us or? Absolutely.

Speaker 24: Yeah.

Speaker 24: how would you prefer okay i think i mean it seems to me you have to rip that back so much

Speaker 27: to the south it's a very narrow stream channel that's something the engineer you know those are all questions you gotta ask him and you know so however it came out it was just kind of wasted

Speaker 7: Not everyone's going to be able to afford it.

Speaker 7: I did.

Speaker 7: and they put you up to another person.

Speaker 7: There's different scenarios for every.

Speaker 8: Yeah, we'll see it going in the river.

Speaker 8: Will the state come in?

Speaker 24: It's for sale.

Speaker 28: I agree with Jed.

Speaker 29: So we made a vote last time.

Speaker 9: It was advisory only. How could the town as a whole possibly have an educated stance? Didn't I?

Speaker 14: what were we drawing what drawing yes

Speaker 30: control project 1952. yeah that's that's the difference that's the only difference

Speaker 18: an off meeting a separate meeting yes so april 25th is a thursday um may 9th is an off thursday

Speaker 31: tonight

Speaker 8: april 25th it's okay

Speaker 32: to a furnace that's totally so isn't it for mike's idea about us picking up some of the debt well it

Speaker 8: anything really yeah i mean pinch points another thing to think about if we take over

Speaker 33: this guy is checking out our town barn and he might once work if this is our building he might

Speaker 34: i don't collect the fees so that's up to you guys that's the recording that's the recording

Speaker 8: but what if deb doesn't write it down like we just had it's not written down because no work no work should take place whatsoever until

Speaker 8: going to be recorded is if you pay the 15 and put it in so that shouldn't be just like hey do i need

Speaker 35: you say no it has to be enough so here's a hypothetical you can say yes or no but you can't

Speaker 34: pool because you do in certain instances i can't remember what okay yeah whatever it was yeah and

Speaker 29: so never ever ever going to answer that question right so my question would be is what's the fine

Speaker 7: i'm new to town i don't know what your bylaws are i don't know i don't understand why that just can't

Speaker 36: but i also think on the um permit itself there should be a box that says does it need a permit or yes or no and you just click off yes or no and then that piece of paper gets filed so and then

Speaker 1: in the file for one but then no one's going to want to ask questions i wouldn't ask for the 15

Speaker 37: but you may want to know how many of these things are you feel to ask without getting charged yeah

Speaker 38: sign was brought up he didn't work for us but how did you know he said no obviously he could have

Speaker 38: this can happen

Speaker 28: It's good.

Speaker 39: Right, Lori?

Speaker 28: We don't charge for that.

Speaker 40: right it's just the ZBA fee I think the ZBA is different because the way it's

Speaker 33: Commission there's no advertising there's no no we shouldn't so somebody

Speaker 41: that are out of our control very few of your permits get denied for ZBA I have

Speaker 34: never had any I would deny it alright I I refer it I mean it's not necessarily a

Speaker 23: it that would be my opinion oh that's right you did you yours went through

Speaker 35: that was the simplification that we always talk about right I mean it's not that the CBA

Speaker 42: a b and c

Speaker 43: he's always had one

Speaker 31: yeah select board eight by four basic

Speaker 42: I can't remember.

Speaker 44: Oh, wow.

Speaker 45: no no no i thought i'm just the next meeting anything else motion to go into that motion

Transcribed 2026-10-12 (faster-whisper large-v3, CUDA; names corrected per data/name_fixes.json). Names corrected against the minutes. Diarization is automated and over-splits one person into several labels. Raw model output with timestamps: SRT.