Stamford Select Board — 2025-08-21 (Regular)
- Opening, roll call, attendance (Kurt Gamari called in unable to attend; no word from John Dunn)
- Agenda changes (none; Jeff recording for YouTube)
- Public comment - planning commission municipal grant application (BCRC as agent)
- Old business - town sign (quote, funding, size, location, installation)
- Public comment - 'high line'/county roads area: parties, fires, sign damage, stolen pallets
- Reading and approval of references and orders (deferred to next meeting)
- Highway update (East Row, Sportsman, Klondike, Risky Ranch Road, garage doors)
- Recycling update (new schedule, e-waste not accepted, pricing)
- Correspondence - unregistered dog letters ($50 fine)
- School flags / school yard update
- New business - school grounds walk invitation; assistant treasurer appointment; employee policy handbook
- Executive session (personnel; litigation) - file ends here
Motions (4, 3 passed)
Planning commission municipal grant application (town plan or bylaws) naming BCRC as agent mover not statedpassed
Sign funding: clean out the Community Project Funds account and close it, use all its money for the sign, the rest from Selectmen's expenses, and pay any overage as-is Nancy L. Bushika (Chair)seconded: Speaker 14passed
Proceed with the new town sign (accept ~$3,500 quote and move forward with installation) mover not statedseconded: Speaker 2passed
Go into executive session (personnel first, then a litigation matter) Nancy L. Bushika (Chair)continued
Other decisions
| Reading and approval of references and orders | Deferred to the next meeting because two selectboard members were absent. |
| Unregistered dogs - correspondence | Letters went to Bob Riggs, Jamie Cusa, and Anthony Waters; $50 fine if the dogs are not registered; next step is Luke sending tickets. Board concurred to proceed ('Motion to proceed ... Go ahead and proceed'). |
| Electronic waste at the transfer station | E-waste is not accepted; note to go in the minutes telling people to bring electronics to Reedboro, Searsburg, or Bennington (free). The town recently paid about $800 to haul unaccepted e-waste (computers, TVs, monitor, printer, keyboard). |
| Assistant treasurer appointment | Dean Kerfield has been appointed assistant treasurer; salary to be firmed up in executive session. |
| Employee policy handbook | Two work sessions held (two hours each); agreed plan: prepare a clean final draft with proposed changes highlighted, email all selectmen, and vote at the next meeting. Edits agreed: remove the duplicate selectboard-secretary overtime paragraph; remove the road commissioner on-call/stipend terms from the handbook (to be handled in the supervisor's contract separately); add a per diem definition to the terms section; replace 'select board assistant' with 'secretary'. Overtime definition (after 8 vs after 40 hours; holidays/weekends vs Sundays) still to be decided. |
| All-boards work session | September 11 at 6:00 p.m. at the school - discussion only, no motions (includes new recycling schedule; all boards). |
| Sign specifics and conditions | Size settled at 4 by 6 feet, double-sided. No permit needed: the town owns the land in front of the school (state holds only an easement; no state land transfer found in records). Contractor's insurance must go to Lori before work starts; confirm size and design before CNC cutting; town involved in design. Board to view the stone-wall/shrub alternative before finalizing location. School-building sign to be installed before school starts (staging constraint). |
Who owes what (13)
| Action | Owner | By when | Note | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Call the state and confirm the sign is being put in the right spot | Dave (road commissioner, Speaker 28) | — | open no date in the minutes | |
| Provide insurance to Lori before starting the sign | — | — | Contractor's insurance requirement set by the chair before work begins. | open no date in the minutes |
| Get material and design details from the sign contractor and confirm the 4x6 size | Lori (Speaker 3) | — | open no date in the minutes | |
| Coordinate with Pam before disturbing the flower bed; dig up and replant the existing plants | Pam (Speaker 10) | — | Pam committed to moving and replanting existing plants (not buying new ones); drought is a concern - she suggested waiting about two weeks if possible. | open no date in the minutes |
| Consider applying for a better back roads grant for the large problem culvert | Dave (Speaker 28) | — | open no date in the minutes | |
| Chip seal on Sportsman; continue ditch and mowing work on Klondike | Dave (Speaker 28) | — | Sportsman will have seven culverts installed when the 2025 grant-aid project is done; 2026 project adds three more culverts. | open no date in the minutes |
| Prepare the new recycling schedule starting November 1 | Lori (Speaker 3) | before November 1 | Current program information ends October 31; possible discussion at the next meeting. | open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶314 |
| Review recycling pricing (board 'homework'), including small yearly percentage increases | — | — | open no date in the minutes | |
| Send tickets for unregistered dogs | Luke | — | Follow-up to the $50-fine letters (Bob Riggs, Jamie Cusa, Anthony Waters). | open no date in the minutes |
| Prepare the final draft of the employee policy handbook with changes highlighted and email all selectmen | Lori (Speaker 3) | — | Vote scheduled for the next meeting. | open no date in the minutes |
| Go look at the stone wall, yew shrubs, and possible sign locations before final location decision | — | — | Meeting with the school board about the shrubs is planned for the following week. | open no date in the minutes |
| Walk the school grounds with the principal and superintendent (state police-identified areas of concern; last year's evacuations) | — | Tuesday the 26th at 4:30 | Selectboard invited; chair unsure whether she can attend. | open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶368 |
| Firm up assistant treasurer salary (Dean Kerfield) | — | — | In executive session. | open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶380 |
scripts/action_status.py --done "a phrase".Money (8)
| New town sign quote | All-in: digging, concrete foundation, installation, design (4x6 double-sided monument sign). $510 off if the town installs it itself; a separate $800 figure was quoted for mounting the existing sign on the building with a fabricated frame. | $3,500 |
| Sign donations / community funds | Garbled figures: $350 was donated by residents for a new sign; chair said the town report shows $741 in the related account and '341' was also mentioned; exact Community Project Funds balance is unclear. | — |
| Sign donation pledge | Speaker 2 pledged to donate $250 toward the sign on the spot ('before I leave'). | $250 |
| Community Project Funds account¶ ¶52 | To be cleaned out and closed; all its money applied to the sign, remainder from Selectmen's expenses, overage paid as-is (motion passed). | — |
| Recycling - e-waste disposal bill | Town paid to haul unaccepted electronics (computers, TVs, monitor, printer, keyboard) brought in by residents. | $800 |
| Recycling access card | Standard rate; $40 senior rate; 50 punches per card. | $95 |
| Planning grant (town plan or bylaws rewrite) | Commenter estimated ~$30,000 ('I think it's 30,000') - not confirmed by the board; five or six towns applying, three funded; no match information stated. | — |
| Unregistered dog fines | Per unregistered dog; letters to Bob Riggs, Jamie Cusa, Anthony Waters. | $50 |
Public comment (4)
| Lisa (Speaker 4) | Planning commission: apply for the municipal grant (roughly $30,000 per her estimate) to rewrite either the town plan or the bylaws, naming BCRC as the town's agent to recommend which needs the most work; asked the board for a verbal agreement to proceed (application ~22 pages, work can start Sept 1; five or six towns applying, only three funded). |
| Pam (Speaker 10; former board member, on record as a taxpayer) | Objected to taxpayers paying ~$3,500 for a new sign after the prior grant-funded sign was taken down; argued the town should refund the grant organizations and questioned the legal fees; later pointed out the stone wall hidden by the yew shrubs as a better sign location than mounting on the school building and urged removing the overgrown shrubs. |
| Speaker 28 (Dave, road commissioner; property owner in the area) | Reported parties, high-tension line issues, fires and stolen pallets in the 'high line'/county roads area; said he has talked to Fish & Game and the Forest Service and will install a camera; was advised to call state troopers or 911 rather than the sheriff (town would not pay for sheriff calls). |
| Speaker 31 | Same 'high line' area: saw a black truck loaded with pallets (posted the plate on a town social page), a fight, and trash/nails/glass; said he will touch base with state troopers. |
Follow-ups named in the minutes
- Part 2 of the same meeting follows (this file ends at the executive session motion); minutes approval and adjournment presumably in part 2.
- Next selectboard meeting: approval of references and orders (deferred) and employee handbook vote.
- All-boards work session September 11, 6:00 p.m. at the school (discussion only; new recycling schedule).
- East Row road project rescheduled to September 4 (was August 19).
- Meeting with the school board the following week (shrubs / possible sign location).
- School grounds walk with principal and superintendent Tuesday the 26th at 4:30.
- Sign installation to start this week; school-building sign before school starts.
- 2026 highway project: three more culverts on Sportsman.
What the extraction was unsure about
- Heavy ASR garbling throughout, especially in the sign discussion and vote segments; 'aye' votes are audible but no count was ever stated, so vote is null for all motions.
- Roll call suggests Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 are Mike Denault and Doug Wright (each states his own name); per extraction rules, only the structural labels are used in fields, not the inferred identities.
- Donation/fund figures garbled: chair said the town report shows $741; '341' and '$350 donated' also appear; exact Community Project Funds balance is unclear.
- The ~$30,000 planning grant figure is the commenter's own estimate ('I think it's 30,000'), not confirmed by the board.
- Sign contractor name rendered as 'whitco' in the transcript - possibly a mis-transcription (Whitco?).
- Visitor's reference to 'Thomas Mazzuzzi' and the spelled letters 'N-A-V-Z-O-V-F-K-I' (line ~539) is garbled and unclear.
- Executive session outcome is not recorded in this part (file ends at the motion); presumably covered in part 2.
- The chair thanks 'Jim and Pam' after the sign discussion; Pam is strongly suggested to be Speaker 10 (chair directly addresses her), but which label is 'Jim' is not explicit. 'Bill' (thanked and departing, line ~1015) is unresolvable.
- The actual transcript lives at transcripts/2025/2025-08-21_selectboard_part1.md (the 2025/... path given in the task did not exist); source_file reflects the real location.
Transcript
Speaker 2 — the same voice as in 58 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 3 — the same voice as in 12 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 4 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 5 — the same voice as in 23 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 6 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 7 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 8 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 9 — the same voice as in 9 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 10 — no voiceprint match
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Speaker 23 — heard only in this meeting
Speaker 24 — no voiceprint match
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Speaker 26 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 27 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 28 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 29 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 30 — the same voice as in 17 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 31 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 32 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 33 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 34 — no voiceprint match
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Speaker 39 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 1: Michael G. Denault.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 6: when they were here and i don't remember if it wasn't if you would let us know for sure because
Speaker 7: they have to go in your budget what do we have to do then so i just need a verbal okay to go
Speaker 8: you're going to be a sign person yeah whatever you want go ahead all right whatever you want
Speaker 1: town office library right double-sided uh actually laurie laurie yes and you he knows
Speaker 10: It is 4 by 6. Yeah.
Speaker 11: Okay.
Speaker 12: Okay.
Speaker 13: Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
Speaker 13: That was left in the community?
Speaker 14: No.
Speaker 15: But we just know that it's wrong.
Speaker 16: Sure.
Speaker 17: Because of this.
Speaker 18: His because of his because of his...
Speaker 13: He's a historical survivor. He's a historical survivor. This has gone...
Speaker 16: mad at you i feel for i feel bad about the stupidity of this entire thing i agree but maybe
Speaker 16: although the board was totally involved including myself i guess the board should have said we
Speaker 14: you know it's just the way it is so if we accept this quote he's willing to start this week
Speaker 11: w-h-i you have a copy of this quote it's not on here no it's not on here it's not on here it's not
Speaker 10: right in in here because i knew lori was inside and we talked yeah i mean personally i don't want
Speaker 19: to have to paint it every year or so no well we wanted you know we were in kind of an agreement
Speaker 20: that that plastic peels laminate stuff we didn't like but i think i've heard of this
Speaker 10: just make sure you guys are aware of it my i don't mind doing it i want it done right and i want to
Speaker 21: trouble right so we've got to make sure we have some money so 500 off of this if we install it
Speaker 22: We can put it in front of us.
Speaker 6: The 1111 permit, yeah.
Speaker 1: No, we're talking about, so there was something brought up that there was-
Speaker 13: Okay. Second. Somebody.
Speaker 24: Well, I just.
Speaker 13: There'll be a lot bigger problem if the school isn't here than what the sign says.
Speaker 25: I mean, do you think that that's, I don't think we'd ever have add-ons.
Speaker 1: You're slipping down.
Speaker 16: So you're bitter.
Speaker 17: I could donate some, some topsoil.
Speaker 17: Like I don't, I, so no, seriously, seriously, listen, seriously, thank you.
Speaker 26: Well, that's because we have a lack of community that we need to, we need to address.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 1: Did you second it before?
Speaker 27: Not for the sign. How do you want Thomas Mazzuzzi among county roads? Can you spell that? N-A-V-Z-O-V-F-K-I. What's going on up on the high tension boards with all the pirating and all that? Oh, she's back.
Speaker 21: So.
Speaker 15: Oh, next week.
Speaker 27: No, we already talked to the school about it.
Speaker 16: Right.
Speaker 13: No, we'll put it there. How far can you see it from?
Speaker 11: The, the trees are on the way.
Speaker 28: We're going to go look at it anyway. Right. Yeah. Right. Exactly. Let's move on. Okay. What do you want again? Well, well, how many road is it with a bit of partying going on up there? And now they're starting to burn the signs up there. They're stealing my pallets in my parking lot.
Speaker 27: I tell you that camera. Yeah. No, I don't think I'll stay there. And I don't guarantee you'll never see him again if I catch him. Well, don't say that. Do you know? But anyway, I'll turn it on. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway. I'm going to get law enforcement.
Speaker 27: I know like the law enforcement comes here. They're going to charge a ton. No, no, they won't. Well, I thought whatever you call it. No, it's the sheriff's department.
Speaker 29: So they're not the state.
Speaker 27: I've already talked to. Don't call the sheriff. I've talked to Fish and Game. And I've talked to the Forest Service. Because it's going to destroy. They're destroying things up there. All right. That must have been brand new, right? Yeah.
Speaker 27: No, I'm going to start fooling around a little more and find out if they can find out who it is.
Speaker 31: It was funny.
Speaker 32: So after I posted it, like I said.
Speaker 27: Everybody's gone in the backwoods and had a couple beers and stuff.
Speaker 27: I'm out there a couple of days a week.
Speaker 27: You need to stay. We're by it once a week. You get the wrong people coming along.
Speaker 33: You can't have the harvest.
Speaker 27: So we're opening up. What are we updating? East row. East row. Okay. East row is now scheduled for September 4th. Okay. It was originally August 19th and that day. Okay. We've been working on the 2025 grant aid project on sports with Rowe. I just got a stone line that digits and regrade. And then call Jim Hunterson from the VCR. So he wasn't all that dumb. So he can do his part. And then I'm going to start on the 2026.
Speaker 13: So, how did we get them?
Speaker 1: Like a laptop or something like that.
Speaker 1: Recycling is trash.
Speaker 21: It's a lot cheaper to go somewhere else.
Speaker 11: That's for a year?
Speaker 27: Jeff. I was just wondering. Just the recycling part. Of things. And never use the trash cart. Do we have any funding for that?
Speaker 34: Or is it just.
Speaker 21: Can I throw it in there?
Speaker 10: I had a couch.
Speaker 1: We went almost double than them.
Speaker 21: Well that's the thing.
Speaker 13: Put them in the minutes.
Speaker 8: Go ahead.
Speaker 13: Somebody probably ought to tell Bob Briggs about that.
Speaker 21: Can you send it to him?
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 22: Or do we leave it in?
Speaker 35: We talked about it.
Speaker 35: So I missed bits and pieces.
Speaker 21: I mean that's a lot of work for a secretary.
Speaker 35: So that's already in there.
Speaker 36: Are we just going to take this whole thing out?
Speaker 13: It's been fun, guys. But I'm going to pass on the editing. Have a good day. Take care, Bill.
Speaker 21: Okay.
Speaker 37: Take out assistant.
Speaker 38: Just here?
Speaker 39: So if you give us a clean draft and have the...
Speaker 1: They have time to look at it.
Speaker 21: Correct?
Speaker 1: We passed it.
Transcribed 2026-09-04 (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.