Stamford Select Board — 2025-01-16 (Regular)

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

Nancy L. BushikaJohn DunnDouglas WrightMichael G. DenaultKurt Gamari

Session: Regular · **Duration:** 94 min · Audio · Minutes

Regular meeting of the Stamford Select Board (2025-01-16, 94 min). Present: Nancy L. Bushika, John Dunn, Douglas Wright, Michael G. Denault, Kurt Gamari. The minutes record 8 motions (8 approved, 0 with another outcome). Items on the agenda: Bennington County Regional Commission (Bcrc) Liasions; Postmark For Tax Payments; Select Board Orders; Road Conditions; Recycling; Appointment Of Ethics Liasion Officer; Assistant Assessor Clerk; Ethics Training; Road Erosion Inventory; Certificate Of Highway Mileage; Zoning Bylaws; Selectboard Report; Town Warrant; Reminders.

On the agenda

Bennington County Regional Commission (Bcrc) Liasions
Postmark For Tax Payments
Select Board Orders
Road Conditions
Recycling
Appointment Of Ethics Liasion Officer
Assistant Assessor Clerk
Ethics Training
Road Erosion Inventory
Certificate Of Highway Mileage
Zoning Bylaws
Selectboard Report
Town Warrant
Reminders

Motions (8, 8 passed)

accept the emergency meeting minutes of December 31, 2024 and the regular meeting minutes of January 2, 2025 a John Dunnseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by John Dunn to accept the emergency meeting minutes of December 31, 2024 and the regular meeting minutes of January 2, 2025 as written.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. SELECT BOARD ORDERS The Select Board reviewed and approved the following orders: WARRANT #1 $11,932.80 payroll WARRANT #2 $39,700.78 accounts payable ROAD CONDITIONS 1.

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

accept and sign the Grants in Aid Municipal Invoicing Spreadsheet Mike Denaultseconded: John Dunnpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to accept and sign the Grants in Aid Municipal Invoicing Spreadsheet.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. 4. Mike Denault talked to the board about creating incentives for town employees and would like to explore ways to show appreciation for all the work they do. RECYCLING

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

appoint Doug Wright as Ethics Liaison Officer Kurt Gamariseconded: Mike Denaultpassed

“MOTION by Kurt Gamari to appoint Doug Wright as Ethics Liaison Officer.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. Deb Burchard felt the Liaison Officer should not be a Select Board member but another employee of the town, such as someone from another board. The board discussed the

Vote: unanimous voice vote

where it was said out loud ¶179

accept and sign a Memorandum of Understanding to hire the BCRC to assist with the Road Erosion Inventory requi Mike Denaultseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to accept and sign a Memorandum of Understanding to hire the BCRC to assist with the Road Erosion Inventory required by the state.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. CERTIFICATE OF HIGHWAY MILEAGE The board reviewed and signed the Certificate of Highway Mileage. This past fall the board reclassified the 0.3 mile westerly portion of

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

find that premature public discussion of an attorney/client/civil action and a personnel matter would place th Kurt Gamariseconded: John Dunnpassed

“MOTION by Kurt Gamari to find that premature public discussion of an attorney/client/civil action and a personnel matter would place the town at a substantial disadvantage.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. MOTION by Kurt Gamari to enter executive session for an attorney/client/civil matter pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313(a)(1)(F) and a personnel matter pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 3

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

enter executive session for an attorney/client/civil matter pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313(a)(1)(F) and a personne Kurt Gamariseconded: John Dunnpassed

“MOTION by Kurt Gamari to enter executive session for an attorney/client/civil matter pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313(a)(1)(F) and a personnel matter pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313(a)(1)(B).”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The Selectboard entered executive session at 7:35 p.m. MOTION by John Dunn to exit executive session. SECONDED by Doug Wright. All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The board

Vote: unanimous voice vote

where it was said out loud ¶436

exit executive session John Dunnseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by John Dunn to exit executive session.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The board exited executive session at 7:57 p.m. No action was taken. SELECTBOARD MEETING The board scheduled a meeting for next Thursday, January 23, 2025 at 4:30 p.m.

Vote: unanimous voice vote

where it was said out loud ¶3

adjourn Doug Wrightseconded: John Dunnpassed

“MOTION by Doug Wright to adjourn.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The meeting ended at 7:58 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 (4)

Action	Owner	By when	Note	Where it stands
Doug Wright will keep track of everyone who needs to take the training and keep copies of all of the certificates for the town	Doug Wright	—		open no date in the minutes
The town clerk will consult with other towns to learn their procedures when accepting postmarks	The town clerk	—	assigned to a town office, not to a named person.	open no date in the minutes
the Select Board needs to correct the perception now that it has been brought to their attention or they could be in violation of the ethics law as well	the Select Board	—	assigned to a town office, not to a named person.	open no date in the minutes
The board will review the proposed warrant at their next meeting	The board	—	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)

Road Conditions¶ ¶89	SELECT BOARD ORDERS The Select Board reviewed and approved the following orders: WARRANT #1 $11,932.80 payroll WARRANT #2 $39,700.78 accounts payable ROAD CONDITIONS 1.	$11,932.80; $39,700.78
The town’s out-of-pocket expenses for material and contractors was less than the $10,000.0	The town’s out-of-pocket expenses for material and contractors was less than the $10,000.00 grant amount it will receive.	$10,000.00

Public comment (8)

Debra Burchard	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
Peter Greenbush	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
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
James Stimpson	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said

Follow-ups named in the minutes

Lisa Gramlin could either be appointed to his seat or Deb Burchard’s if she wishes to resign at the next meeting.
He invited the Select Board to attend their next meeting on January 20, 2025.
SELECTBOARD REPORT The Select Board was given the first draft of the Select Board report for the town report and will discuss it at the next meeting.
The board will review the proposed warrant at their next meeting.
The deadline for filing these petitions with the Town Clerk is Monday, January 27, 2025 by 5:00 p.m.

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

436 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, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Speaker 4: Well, it's a vacant position.

Speaker 6: If you want to give your time, you can appoint Lisa.

Speaker 7: Should we leave it vacant?

Speaker 8: Her whole regional plan and stuff right now, they're going through...

Speaker 9: She's going in anyways.

Speaker 11: Okay.

Speaker 4: I don't know.

Speaker 9: How do you still do that?

Speaker 11: You don't know.

Speaker 13: Emergency meeting.

Speaker 14: You weren't here. Okay.

Speaker 14: It was over.

Speaker 7: no kidding right in front of my house it was like just came off well the pin the pin that

Speaker 15: some holes break you know the vibration and bang and i had a uh like drag sound but i thought i

Speaker 16: around making sure no doubt that's i mean we do a lot of that to do it you know it's typical of the

Speaker 17: it safe for them

Speaker 18: the highway ordinance

Speaker 14: and lori does have a chapter for all these adoptions that she's got published by signed by keep all that

Speaker 19: were you allowed to use a match

Speaker 4: in that hiring

Speaker 20: and I think it's important

Speaker 19: and not go backwards

Speaker 19: it's not really appreciated

Speaker 22: they take their time for hunting

Speaker 19: you got more than 2 weeks at one time

Speaker 4: I'm in Clarksburg anything else under rotation

Speaker 23: he is in there a lot

Speaker 19: you come right out behind me

Speaker 11: Paul

Speaker 11: well i'm thinking too that all right run into that no matter even if it was an employee wouldn't we

Speaker 9: run into it no matter what if that employee was unethical i mean you know a lot of different

Speaker 25: do it both ways i think it goes first it goes to the ethics board okay you read a lot on this too

Speaker 20: Like a collection service?

Speaker 18: I'm sorry. You're out here for us, and you do a good job.

Speaker 26: And they're not going to come in here and say, I'm just not doing it.

Speaker 27: If it's a delinquent tax.

Speaker 28: Well, because it doesn't affect her.

Speaker 26: You guys all are the board.

Speaker 29: Are you considering having that as an appointed position?

Speaker 30: I think we'd have to find out how that works.

Speaker 31: But again, we have to look into this and how it's done.

Speaker 32: Oh, he was.

Speaker 20: like she's like collecting delinquent tax money then that's always going to be perfect yeah she

Speaker 33: that haven't paid i'm going to call them all yeah if you get and then if you get 90 percent

Speaker 34: or less complete then you can't do it you get i get probably 250 000 within three days of the

Speaker 7: the hourly rate is the simplest

Speaker 25: eliminate the need for the numerous something called no license we the assessor clerk

Speaker 11: That was kind of a brain area.

Speaker 4: So now we're paying $100 an hour, paying her $30 an hour.

Speaker 35: Can we move on to the next topic?

Speaker 11: I was going to say,

Speaker 36: do you have the answers to the test?

Speaker 31: Vermont Ethics Commission.

Speaker 32: If we get them, if we don't.

Speaker 37: you guys are going to end up with it here anyway so are you planning a public meeting planning commission public meeting yeah that's the idea we're going to we have to do a public

Speaker 38: because you guys are going to do a public meeting you do a public meeting we do a public meeting

Speaker 38: can get a petition signed right right go through that stuff i think what it is is the planning

Speaker 11: select board report either one so i just got it so i think wait can i wait the warrant

Speaker 17: clean water okay i'm going to meet you monday why for some reason here

Speaker 18: we were going to increase more than we increased the state increased by two and you guys had talked

Speaker 39: there or i don't know they do right well if you notice explain why we're creating a dog fund

Speaker 40: jim i promise i'll give you 20 bucks times four you're gonna pay for his babies i mean for you right

Speaker 6: So next, we're going to have to meet next week? Again?

Speaker 4: And then we should put something in the select board report about why.

Speaker 40: Into an elected position.

Speaker 4: Because that will be a warrant article.

Speaker 11: So do we want to meet next week at earlier than 6, 5?

Speaker 37: Who are you sure?

Speaker 4: 4.30? Fair. I will not.

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.