Stamford Select Board — 2025-06-05 (Regular)

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

Nancy L. BushikaMichael G. DenaultDouglas Wrightabsent: Kurt Gamariabsent: John Dunn

Session: Regular · **Duration:** 104 min · Audio · Minutes

Regular meeting of the Stamford Select Board (2025-06-05, 104 min). Present: Nancy L. Bushika, Michael G. Denault, Douglas Wright. Absent: Kurt Gamari, John Dunn. The minutes record 10 motions (10 approved, 0 with another outcome). Items on the agenda: Hearing Of Visitors; Financials; Select Board Orders; Road Conditions; Recycling; Tax Anticipation Note; Ethics Commission/Ethics Ordinance; Joint Meeting With School Directors; Employee Policy Handbook; Flag Ceremony; Delinquent Dogs; Road Commissioner Job Description; Bennington County Sheriff; Reminders.

On the agenda

Hearing Of Visitors
Financials
Select Board Orders
Road Conditions
Recycling
Tax Anticipation Note
Ethics Commission/Ethics Ordinance
Joint Meeting With School Directors
Employee Policy Handbook
Flag Ceremony
Delinquent Dogs
Road Commissioner Job Description
Bennington County Sheriff
Reminders

Motions (10, 10 passed)

approve the update to the plan Mike Denaultseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to approve the update to the plan.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. 2. CJ Vadnais thanked Dave Tatro for keeping our roads in such great shape. 3. CJ Vadnais questioned Doug Wright’s call to the Fire Marshall. Doug Wright responded that

Vote: unanimous voice vote

not matched to a paragraph in the transcript

accept the regular meeting minutes of May 15, 2025 as written Mike Denaultseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to accept the regular meeting minutes of May 15, 2025 as written.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. FINANCIALS The board reviewed and approved financials for the month of April. SELECT BOARD ORDERS The Select Board reviewed and approved the following orders: WARRANT #

Vote: unanimous voice vote

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borrow money in anticipation of taxes and approve the application for a loan of $300,000.00 at the rate of 4.2 Mike Denaultseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to borrow money in anticipation of taxes and approve the application for a loan of $300,000.00 at the rate of 4.25% per annum interest with Berkshire 3 Bank to be paid in full in November when taxes are due.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. MOTION by Mike Denault to authorize Nancy Bushika to sign the promissory note when ready to complete the loan process. SECONDED by Doug Wright. All in favor. Motion APP

Vote: unanimous voice vote

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authorize Nancy Bushika to sign the promissory note when ready to complete the loan process Mike Denaultseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to authorize Nancy Bushika to sign the promissory note when ready to complete the loan process.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. 911 HOUSE NUMBERS Nancy Bushika received a complaint about a house without its 911 number displayed. Bill Levine has sent out letters in the past. Bill Levine said it i

Vote: unanimous voice vote

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rescind the motion made on May 1, 2025 accepting the ordinance and to wait for further guidance from the state Nancy Bushikaseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Nancy Bushika to rescind the motion made on May 1, 2025 accepting the ordinance and to wait for further guidance from the state.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. Doug Wright suggested the board revise the ordinance so that it is pertinent to the town. 2. The Select Board received a letter of interest from Jean Kurpiel for appoin

Vote: unanimous voice vote

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accept and sign the corrected job description Mike Denaultseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to accept and sign the corrected job description.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. 4 BENNINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF Mike Denault stated that the sheriff contacted him to see if the Select Board had any interest in discussing a new contract. Mike Denault fe

Vote: unanimous voice vote

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find that premature general public knowledge of a personnel matter would place the town at a substantial disad Nancy Bushikaseconded: Mike Denaultpassed

“MOTION by Nancy Bushika to find that premature general public knowledge of a personnel matter 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(a)(1)(B). SECONDED by Mike Denault. All in favor. Motion APPROVED.

Vote: unanimous voice vote

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

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

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The Select Board entered executive session at 8:00 p.m. MOTION by Mike Denault to exit executive session. SECONDED by Doug Wright. All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The bo

Vote: unanimous voice vote

where it was said out loud ¶6

exit executive session Mike Denaultseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to exit executive session.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The board exited executive session at 8:42 p.m. Action: A Select Board member will contact a Planning Commission member to invite them to the next Select Board meeting.

Vote: unanimous voice vote

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adjourn Mike Denaultseconded: Doug Wrightpassed

“MOTION by Mike Denault to adjourn.”

All in favor. Motion APPROVED. The meeting ended at 8:45 p.m. Nancy L. Bushika Clerk pro tempore /las REMINDERS 1. Townspeople should sign up with the state’s free communications network, VT -Alert.

Vote: unanimous voice vote

where it was said out loud ¶5

Who owes what (7)

Action	Owner	By when	Note	Where it stands
Lisa Gramlin will send out letters to Alpenwald homeowners through the Alpenwald board	Lisa Gramlin	—		open no date in the minutes
Nancy Bushika will work on it	Nancy Bushika	—		open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶6
Mike Denault will get back to the sheriff	Mike Denault	—		open no date in the minutes
the Select Board needs to file an S	the Select Board	—	assigned to a town office, not to a named person. the town's minutes text is truncated or garbled at the end of this line	open no date in the minutes
The board will discuss the matter further in executive session	The board	—	assigned to a town office, not to a named person.	open no date in the minutes
The Select Board will meet with the School Directors on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 at 6:30 p	The Select Board	—	assigned to a town office, not to a named person.	open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶427
The Select Board will turn the list over to the Dog Officer for action	The Select 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 (5)

Road Conditions¶ ¶247	SELECT BOARD ORDERS The Select Board reviewed and approved the following orders: WARRANT #21 $ 8,958.51 payroll WARRANT #22 $46,033.17 accounts payable ROAD CONDITIONS 1.	$ 8,958.51; $46,033.17
The town received a $200,000.00 grant to replace the East Road culvert, but the quote to d¶ ¶280	The town received a $200,000.00 grant to replace the East Road culvert, but the quote to do the work was almost $600,000.00.	$200,000.00; $600,000.00
Last year’s loan rate was 4.60% for a $300,000.00 loan with Berkshire Bank	Last year’s loan rate was 4.60% for a $300,000.00 loan with Berkshire Bank.	$300,000.00
MOTION by Mike Denault to borrow money in anticipation of taxes and approve the applicatio	MOTION by Mike Denault to borrow money in anticipation of taxes and approve the application for a loan of $300,000.00 at the rate of 4.25% per annum interest with Berkshire 3 Bank to be paid in full in November when taxes are due.	$300,000.00
The new dog license fees for 2025 are $18.00 for spayed/neutered dogs and $24.00 for real/	The new dog license fees for 2025 are $18.00 for spayed/neutered dogs and $24.00 for real/intact dogs.	$18.00; $24.00

Public comment (15)

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
Lisa Gramlin	Lisa Gramlin will send out letters to Alpenwald homeowners through the Alpenwald board.
Gerald Guerena	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
William Levine	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
Thomas Nazzewski	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
Stephanie Shelburne	Stephanie Shelburne stated that the complaint is full inaccurate information and was concerned that abutters who do not know her received a copy of these allegations.
James Stimpson	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
Beth Thomas	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
Pamela Tworig	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said
Christopher Vadnais	listed as a visitor; the minutes do not record what they said

Follow-ups named in the minutes

The street sweeper is scheduled for next week and the shimming is scheduled for the week of July 16, 2025.
EMPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK Discussion was tabled until the next meeting with a full board.

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

475 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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Speaker 1: and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Speaker 3: Okay.

Speaker 4: How are you?

Speaker 4: go to our website yeah that's what I'm just going to say go on their website

Speaker 7: BC our website or and any other questions you have about trash disposal

Speaker 7: the plan with you tonight or does Laurie have the plan is right here basically I

Speaker 4: shared earlier yeah what is my they have a motion to motion say okay all in favor

Speaker 10: so let me point this out everything i got was from you at the selection that's the only information i had i did

Speaker 11: and people can conclude what they want but it goes back to it goes back to

Speaker 11: and represent themselves as a select board member i don't believe that was the intent can i respond

Speaker 12: i didn't have to say anything i could have sat here so i owned it okay let's finish that uh

Speaker 14: this at the lowest level is there a permit or is there that I think we need

Speaker 14: lowest well I do it a different I could be this way here it would have just

Speaker 15: ahead does this mean that I can't ask Deb if somebody needs a permit which I

Speaker 10: okay I think you know something you don't even I would tell her I regret that

Speaker 17: And we start talking to say, who's in charge of this town? We need to start bucking around. Okay. Sorry. About the same subject or I'll let Chris go on. No, I'm going to change the subject. Okay. Well, CJ has one more. That's okay. Just in light of how we're digging back in the history about permits and things like that, we have on our books in the state of Vermont, any car that's in some of the yard needs to be registered. We have

Speaker 18: the state law because the state trumps the bylaw always it does so why do we why do we have

Speaker 19: anything bylaws should only be stronger it's more stringent not less they're not so

Speaker 20: anything in our bylaws that's stronger than the state so do we call the state for all these junk

Speaker 21: have to look at everything that's happening and they're not going to just be saying that

Speaker 23: I didn't see until the end of last week.

Speaker 23: Got me on camera. I told them what we wanted to do.

Speaker 25: i didn't agree but we didn't argue but that was quick i'm sorry deb i gotta jump in here too

Speaker 26: the zoning administrator she did not deny anything i denied nothing i was requested nothing

Speaker 27: You can't go back.

Speaker 20: Right.

Speaker 20: Somebody just can't come to the window and say, I want to have a meeting with the ZBA.

Speaker 28: You can't.

Speaker 18: It says date.

Speaker 29: I don't know.

Speaker 30: actually impact water rights that come from her land right so those two pieces those two buildings

Speaker 31: are not hooked up to water no there's no there's nothing there that's a that's not the building

Speaker 32: cause i want a meeting so i'm going to make something up that's a complaint to come in and

Speaker 33: court but don't drag the town through mud and all this BS yes I'm 100% in

Speaker 1: yeah it's utilization of these of going around offer procedure and also just a code of conduct amongst ourselves to harass someone

Speaker 34: when is this meeting? June 18th

Speaker 21: ok

Speaker 19: Which is not any other property.

Speaker 30: Thank you.

Speaker 35: That's my opinion.

Speaker 18: Yeah.

Speaker 26: Do whatever you want.

Speaker 37: Now you have someone saying, well, there's another thing going on.

Speaker 38: Oh, yeah.

Speaker 19: I can't go to some sort of gathering of people.

Speaker 37: I'm going to dig into that more, too.

Speaker 39: Something easy. Rainbows.

Speaker 23: Cardinals, birds, white peaches, trout fishing.

Speaker 40: Rhodes, you look like you want a regular first reading

Speaker 39: All in favor? Aye.

Speaker 42: Unfortunately, the standard says, well, we'll look into the bylaws

Speaker 40: Well, he's already got the insurance.

Speaker 43: Or are you going to bring up this?

Speaker 44: It's OK.

Speaker 44: The doors probably saw they come gray and white . . .

Speaker 45: . . .

Speaker 1: Take advantage of the batteries.

Speaker 40: Different?

Speaker 44: I don't know.

Speaker 46: don't believe it outside the

Speaker 12: Will should have given Nancy the authority to sign that.

Speaker 1: Is that okay?

Speaker 40: A couple culverts add up to a million dollars nowadays.

Speaker 47: Okay.

Speaker 40: We explained to them.

Speaker 1: And it's in Alpenwald.

Speaker 34: I mean, if you know that it's two people and it's your neighbor, just call them up.

Speaker 48: Well, why are they saying that your numbers are wrong?

Speaker 49: They measured years ago.

Speaker 48: the guy and said use your number so is there something uh bob briggs could do

Speaker 50: yes you want to take a recess

Speaker 39: i make a motion pam goes down and gets all of us ice cream okay um next ethics commission

Speaker 40: ethics ordinance are we ever gonna have a full board when we do this well

Speaker 12: okay second all in favor good all right okay i'm sorry i'm just going to make a suggestion we

Speaker 39: okay it's not added to the pool oh jim's already on it has now um yeah so if we can get together

Speaker 51: it have a big change no yeah and maybe the state will come up with some more money oh yeah right

Speaker 39: i got 25th for the school yeah sorry june 12th is uh yeah

Speaker 40: bylaws oh okay different different one yeah so that's june 12th yeah sorry about that okay so

Speaker 39: with that sorry june 24th sure um and we have to warn this what day is that tuesday tuesday

Speaker 40: i think we're we better we better

Speaker 52: it's our regular meeting june 24th is our right how can you have a joint meeting on your regular meeting oh oh you've never been to one of these have you i talk a lot and i do i talk a lot

Speaker 39: you do it if it's a work session we don't have to warn it can we do it first

Speaker 39: you're not gonna miss anything or be on camera tuesday the 24th beth you'll let

Speaker 23: i've been invited every year through the club life member

Speaker 20: i'll let lori know yeah i will okay um

Speaker 39: dave you will be working every saturday and sunday i like this part about bringing a third

Speaker 40: mike do you want to sign i won't sign with red i know you don't like that no that's why i have

Speaker 39: quarter financials lori will put them in our box what about old business you skipped right over old

Speaker 40: business what else old business well i have something that could be old business okay go for

Speaker 54: with him just wanted to get something new it's always worth listening yeah i can i can ask him

Speaker 55: if he wants to come down and just if he has anything if he doesn't want to come down just

Speaker 54: ask him if there's anything new that you can add to that okay what can you do sure okay sure

Speaker 40: i think they're just good with the school board right principal to be there right place and yeah principal grows all your meetings right um so what else

Speaker 39: and we're doing pending or probable civil litigation nothing just a personal person okay

Speaker 40: second all in favor all right okay thank you all get out go have some ice cream

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.