Stamford Select Board — 2026-03-05 (Regular)
- Opening (pledge), roll call, agenda changes (none; correspondence noted; meeting recorded by Jed Gramlin for YouTube)
- Reorganization of board and appointments (officers, liaisons, Solid Waste Alliance, ZBA, emergency management, planning commission 9-to-7, conservation, county regional, RTAC, Green Up Day, community projects committee)
- BCRC town plan update contract and municipal planning grant (presented by BCRC staff)
- Reading and approval of records and orders (Feb 5 minutes); hearing the visitors (budget questions)
- Review and sign town road and bridge standards
- Road conditions / mud season; highway update (new truck, salt/sand, paving bids, logging traffic on Mill Road)
- School building: water problem, snow removal and custodian hours, alarm system
- Recycling (staffing change at the recycling center)
- Discussion: review results of town meeting
- Auditor's recommendation (Lori's report)
- Correspondence: certificate of no suit pending 2025 grand list; Hunter Excavation plowing; Belco excess weight permit; NIMRC assessing services contract
- New business: letter alleging an open meeting law violation
- Executive session and report (personnel, legal, lister salary, AO matter)
Motions (20, 15 passed)
Reorganize the board: elect Nancy L. Bushika as select board chair Speaker 2no-formal-vote
Judicial Bureau (likely 'Judicial Committee') membership: add Jeb (Jed) Gramlin, remove Doug; Casey and Gene as custodial members Nancy L. Bushika (Chair)passed
Designation of meeting dates: keep first and third Nancy L. Bushika (Chair)passed
Designation of select board member to review bills mover not statedpassed
Designation of highway liaison (Mike Denault) mover not statedpassed
Designation of school liaison (Kurt Gamari) mover not statedpassed
Bennington County Solid Waste Alliance voting representative mover not statedpassed
Appoint Teddy Dover and Angela Trudeau to the Board of Adjustment (ZBA) and send the letters mover not statedpassed
Appoint Bob Riggs as emergency management director mover not statedpassed
Planning commission: go from a nine-member to a seven-member board mover not statedpassed
Planning commission: appoint Jim Stimson to Peter Greenbush's (2028) position Speaker 2no-formal-vote
Planning commission: not reappoint Sheila's position; send a letter thanking her for her years of dedication Speaker 2no-formal-vote
Approve the appointments discussed and send letters to the appointees Nancy L. Bushika (Chair)passed
Recommend Luke McKay as health officer (term ends March 31) Speaker 2passed
Review and sign the town road and bridge standards mover not statedpassed
Sign the certificate of no suit pending for the 2025 grand list mover not statedpassed
Sign the excess weight permit from Belco mover not statedpassed
Sign the NIMRC (Nimerick) assessing services contract mover not statedno-formal-vote
Go into executive session (personnel and legal matters, lister salary, AO matter) Nancy L. Bushika (Chair)passed
Phase out the Community Projects Committee (three vacancies; no money left in it) Nancy L. Bushika (Chair)no-formal-vote
Other decisions
| Board reorganization (officers) | Nancy Bushika continues as chair; vice chair and clerk carried over from last year without change or formal vote. |
| Liaison/representative designations (remaining) | Ethics liaison: Speaker 8 (unidentified) volunteered to take it from Doug (the state apparently still lists the role). DB/DV fiber representative: discussed (Bill and Bob had held it; comment that everyone is switching away from it to video); the board said 'let's do it again' but no clear designation was recorded. |
| Zoning Administrator (Deb) | Position's term is up; the chair asked to wait and talk to Deb first (willing to go into executive session) before appointing; not appointed at this meeting. |
| Regional Transportation Advisory Committee (BCRC) | BCRC asked the town to appoint a third representative to the RTAC, a role Stamford has never filled (meets 6-12 times a year, weekday afternoons; town's line of communication to the AOT and peer municipalities). Dave was floated but is no longer the planning alternate. Decision: advertise for it. |
| Green Up Day coordinator (Martin Miller) | Martin Miller said she cannot do it this spring; position vacant; board will advertise and hopes someone steps forward. |
| Conservation commission | Only Sheila's term is up; she will receive a letter (combined with the planning commission letter to save money). |
| David Tetreault and county regional committee | David Tetreault: appoint for one year (which committee is unclear in the transcript). County regional committee: Deb and Lisa accept. |
| Planning commission: accept Peter Greenbush's resignation | Letter received (family commitments); resignation accepted 'with regret.' His 2028 position is filled by the Jim Stimson appointment; two openings expected in 2027. |
| Recycling center staffing | Buzz is having difficulty showing up; he asked to move to a fill-in position (Steve Senecal is the other fill-in, and Carol usually calls one when Joey is out) and to let Joey Ficini take the full-time role with Carol. Board asked if there was any problem; none. Buzz said he'd like to come visit because he misses the people. |
| Review of town meeting results | Good turnout, orderly, well run (JP did well running the show); questions about the roads (bids to come) and about the electrical work on Jepson (not going underground; work will be on the poles). |
| School building snow removal and custodian | Long discussion of liability and the town-owned school building: the custodian works 11-to-7 and does extra maintenance; the town's $1,500 'Stamford maintenance snow removal' line item was not spent in fiscal year 25; several board members argued the town should spend that $1,500 to hire someone for the walkways/parking lot or ask the school to do it. Chair decided to make a note for August to talk to the principal about snow removal. |
| Executive session outcomes (reported out) | Board appointed Deb Burchard as 'AO' for one year (role as transcribed; unresolved — see confidence notes) and set the salary for listers' training (they will be paid during training); Deb to report back on how many hours and is working closely with the district advisor (Beth Miller), who wants to meet with Nancy and the listers by next week. |
| Open meeting law letter | The select board received a letter saying the open meeting law was violated; the chair wanted to discuss it in executive session 'and see what the board wants to do about this.' Outcome not recorded (transcript ends before completion). |
| New highway truck | Dave is working with the dealer (transcribed as Chrysler / HP Fairfield, where the last one was bought) on a purchase-and-sale; the current truck's turbo repair has been pending over a month. With three employees, all could be on the road and service would be slower. |
Who owes what (10)
| Action | Owner | By when | Note | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talk to the principal about snow removal at the school/town building (and whether the custodian can come in earlier) | Nancy L. Bushika (Chair) | August (noted for the August meeting) | Chair: 'I will make a note for August. Talk to the principal.' | open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶406 |
| Contact Grinnell Power about the electrical work on Jepson (confirm nothing goes underground; keep the board informed) | Dave (highway) | — | A resident's concern was relayed to Dave; Mike Denault also said 'I will contact Grinnell Power.' | open no date in the minutes |
| Get the paving project bids out and set up financing (expected this summer; quotes are at the November index and fuel is up) | Dave (highway) with Lori (town clerk) | summer (as soon as practical) | Lori and Dave to set a date and send out the info; typically two bidders (Warner); consider asking Warner to honor its quote. | open no date in the minutes |
| Send letters to all appointees saying they have been appointed (and respond if they do not want the position); combined letter to Sheila covering planning and conservation | Lori (town clerk) (per 'be easier on Laurie'); mover of the motion was the chair | — | Letter approach chosen over executive-session reappointment to keep things clean; positions are advertised for a year, so non-response means acceptance. | open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶58 |
| Advertise the RTAC (regional transportation advisory committee) appointment and the Green Up Day coordinator position | — | — | RTAC: put in the minutes / advertise; Green Up Day: 'hopefully somebody will step forward.' | open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶183 |
| Make the grant requisition(s) for the town plan update (40% advance available now; then 30% and 30% reimbursement) through the state's online grants system, with Callie on the phone for help | Nancy L. Bushika (as municipal authorizing official; Kurt as backup) | — | Progress report due at the end of December; final payment when the plan is updated. Fully executed agreement goes to Laurie. | open no date in the minutes |
| Kick off the town plan update with the planning commission | Callie (BCRC) with the planning commission | Monday evening (the following week) | Includes public engagement, possibly area walks; scope of work pulled from the approved grant application. | open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶221 |
| Report back on how many hours the listers' training will take and set up training (first training course on the 16th); coordinate with district advisor Beth Miller, who wants to meet with Nancy and the listers by next week | Deb Burchard (with the district advisor) | next week (meeting) | Listers to be paid during training (salary set in executive session); NIMRC contract runs to Dec 31 in the interim. | open no date in the minutes |
| Talk to Deb about the zoning administrator position before appointing (executive session if needed) | Nancy L. Bushika (Chair) / the board | — | Chair asked to wait; not decided this meeting. | open no date in the minutes |
| Have the school follow through on investigating the water problem in front of the school (was supposed to send someone the week before) | School (followed up by the board) | — | Water running at 10-below temperatures; possibly a line leak or surface water; watch for a sinkhole. Alarm system problem was fixed (15-minute glitch). | open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶334 |
scripts/action_status.py --done "a phrase".Money (6)
| Town plan update grant and BCRC contract | Municipal planning grant awarded to the town; BCRC is the consultant; requires a 10% local match; three requisitions (40% advance, 30% advance, 30% reimbursement); BCRC will not bill beyond the agreement amount. Nancy signed the agreement. | $28,000 (not-to-exceed) |
| East Road resurfacing¶ ¶286 | Paid out for East Road; to be reimbursed via a grant, partly from leftover arbor funds; the money had not come in yet as of this meeting. Visitor question; board confirmed. | $231,000 |
| School building snow removal line item¶ ¶377 | 'Stamford maintenance snow removal' budget line; nothing was spent on it in fiscal year 25. Board members suggested using it to hire someone for the town-owned building's walkways/parking lot; no decision. | $1,500 |
| NIMRC (Nimerick) assessing services contract | Hourly through Dec 31, no guaranteed hours: $95/hr, $47.50/hr for travel, $145/hr for work beyond the state boards / to superior court. NIMRC (Boston) currently staffed by Stacey Bradley; John (their contact) is retired. | — |
| Highway capital idea (discussed, not adopted) | Dave's suggestion via the auditor's recommendations: pre-fund paving (e.g., $200,000 by depositing $40,000 a year) and borrow for a new truck instead; board discussed the one-year budget spike it would cause; 'something to think about but not a requirement.' | $200,000 over 5 years ($40,000/yr) |
| Third highway employee and lister salary¶ ¶269 | A salary was set for the highway's third (full-time) employee — figures discussed in executive session and not stated in the transcript. Lister training salary also set in executive session; amount not stated. | — |
Public comment (2)
| Speaker 36 | Budget questions brought by arrangement with Mike Denault: the $231,000 East Road resurfacing (grant reimbursement status), the highway's third employee being full-time with a set salary, and the status of logging operations on Mill Road |
| Speaker 21 | Comment on the third highway employee: hours-of-work / safety standards for truck drivers working overnight ('wouldn't want to see a truck in a river'), noting municipalities are exempt from the fines |
Follow-ups named in the minutes
- School to send someone to investigate the water problem in front of the school (promised the week before; watch for a sinkhole).
- Paving project: get bids out (Warner and one other) and arrange financing; work expected this summer.
- Grant management: 40% advance requisition can be submitted now; progress report due end of December; final 30% when the town plan is updated.
- BCRC town plan update kicks off at the planning commission meeting Monday evening; public engagement campaign to follow.
- Listers: first training course on the 16th; meet district advisor Beth Miller by next week; NIMRC hourly contract runs through Dec 31 as the listers come up to speed.
- Zoning administrator: board to talk with Deb before appointing.
- Open meeting law letter: discussed in executive session; outcome not captured (transcript ends mid-sentence).
- Recycling: Buzz moves to fill-in; Joey Ficini full-time with Carol; Buzz wants to visit the center sometime.
- Salt/sand: supplier has not been able to deliver salt for two months (NYC contract); stockpiled salt is being used sparingly.
- Road plowing above Wally Dolly's: hit-or-miss; board felt it was unfair to the insured plowing companies if it is not done properly (no assigned task).
What the extraction was unsure about
- The transcript is ASR-generated with heavy garbling, and the file ends mid-sentence inside the executive-session report; there is no recorded adjournment and no explicit recorded vote on accepting the February 5 minutes (the visitor hearing took place during that item).
- No vote counts were ever stated by the chair; all vote fields are null and outcomes rest on 'Aye'/'all in favor' language.
- Automated diarization over-splits: ~50 'Speaker N' labels. Nancy L. Bushika is the only reliably identified speaker. Speaker 27 is addressed as 'Callie' by the board (BCRC, Callie Fishburne per her own introduction); no other Speaker N is tied to a name in the text.
- 'Judicial Bureau' is transcribed as such; almost certainly the Vermont 'judicial committee' (one voting + custodial members).
- 'ao' in the executive-session report ('appointing deb burchard as ao for one year') is unresolvable as transcribed — possibly a garble of 'zoning administrator' (Deb's term was up earlier in the meeting) or another title; recorded as 'AO'.
- Names as transcribed and possibly mis-recognized: Peter Greenbush, Jim Stimson, Teddy Dover (earlier 'Doberts'), Angela Trudeau, Bob Riggs, Sheila (surname not given in the planning commission context; a Sheila Stewart Johnson is listed as emergency management coordinator), David Tetreault, Maura Hawkins (septic officer), Luke McKay (health officer; also garbled as 'energy coordinator'), Martin Miller, Buzz, Joey Ficini, Carol, Steve Senecal, Deb Burchard, Stacey Bradley, Beth Miller, Callie Fishburne, Nick Dias.
- The NIMRC contract motion (item: sign the assessing services contract) and the community-projects-committee phase-out motion have no recorded vote in the transcript; outcomes marked no-formal-vote rather than guessed.
- 'DB fiber'/'DV fiber' (a fiber-optics co-op role) is garbled; the board's decision on who, if anyone, takes that role is not clearly recorded.
- Which committee David Tetreault's one-year appointment is for is ambiguous in the garbled sequence (conservation vs. county regional).
- The $231,000 East Road figure was relayed by a visitor and confirmed by the board as a grant reimbursement partly from leftover arbor funds; no document was presented.
Transcript
Speaker 2 — the same voice as in 40 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 3 — the same voice as in 58 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 4 — no voiceprint match
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Speaker 8 — the same voice as in 23 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
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Speaker 16 — the same voice as in 12 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
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Speaker 26 — the same voice as in 2 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 27 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 28 — the same voice as in 38 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
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Speaker 35 — the same voice as in 25 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
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Speaker 4: Aye.
Speaker 5: Aye.
Speaker 6: Aye.
Speaker 6: Aye.
Speaker 7: Aye.
Speaker 5: again we put it in there yeah yeah I think it could be said it could be sent
Speaker 9: soccer throws down there anyway yeah minister on the bill right yeah read
Speaker 4: that's easy it's like all in favor designation of school liaison Kurt you
Speaker 7: ethics liaison that was Doug I'll take that I thought that that we I'm not
Speaker 5: about right right but first things would come to Jeff and then he bring it
Speaker 10: think I'd like to do the same too yeah I was gonna say everybody is leaving TV
Speaker 7: yeah well I think it's a done deal member of the DV fiber group though
Speaker 5: letter and say they're appointed and if they don't don't want if they don't
Speaker 11: said if you're not happy so you told everybody this last year that they had
Speaker 10: to send a letter if not then so we sent them a letter say if you want to be
Speaker 12: reappointed get in touch with us you did that last year you've done it other
Speaker 6: i mean the thing is it just prolongs things and uh unless we hear otherwise you're selected for a
Speaker 13: they can let us know i've been thinking about this we should probably make it so like i mean
Speaker 14: so teddy and angie yeah so so as we go down the list are we going to disappoint everybody like that
Speaker 4: management director send the yes appoint him yeah we need motion for all these seconds can we do one
Speaker 15: it's still on the books i mean but it's okay uh septic officer maura hawkins
Speaker 6: believe that's what he said resigning on the loss who's it and he do you guys have a co-chair and he
Speaker 17: is considerable okay it's the most manageable number okay all right have you guys had problems
Speaker 18: in late and made it i think you have to be calling people all right so yeah the last time we we wrote
Speaker 14: yep dave is an offense and he's off and then kurt you're still excellent so we yeah here's the
Speaker 6: And that's typically the way it's done.
Speaker 19: Those are two more.
Speaker 20: Zion. So we're going to have to go to a seven person board.
Speaker 21: So we just took it right off the list.
Speaker 5: So they'll have to appoint a chair.
Speaker 22: And.
Speaker 5: Three positions to that?
Speaker 5: From a nine member.
Speaker 5: I agree with that.
Speaker 7: I would like to accept.
Speaker 5: Well wait a minute.
Speaker 7: So that way.
Speaker 23: A pointer.
Speaker 24: Congratulations.
Speaker 25: Do you know what it's about, Callie?
Speaker 27: Oh, I didn't see that.
Speaker 6: We've never heard of it.
Speaker 7: On an afternoon, on a Wednesday?
Speaker 7: Alright, we'll advertise for it.
Speaker 12: We'll advertise for that.
Speaker 4: Is that a thing?
Speaker 10: Yeah.
Speaker 29: This is for the plan.
Speaker 27: You don't have to show up.
Speaker 27: Which would be a reimbursement.
Speaker 30: Right from the. Board looks at it.
Speaker 31: Oh really.
Speaker 32: Or just projected for hours.
Speaker 33: And that's the not to exceed cost.
Speaker 34: So the planning commission.
Speaker 29: And I think a little bit.
Speaker 33: Until you have.
Speaker 34: With the grant application system.
Speaker 36: Yes.
Speaker 37: Well I thought certain funds.
Speaker 38: For an hour?
Speaker 38: I thought I looked.
Speaker 38: Or Kansan job of the state.
Speaker 38: Well.
Speaker 39: Not against having three.
Speaker 40: We had a third employee.
Speaker 20: Yes. The bus business. And the log standards. And for the fun of it. Those are safety standards. The municipalities are exempt. From the safety standards. But when you've got men. Driving trucks in the middle of the night. They're going to get tired. And fortunately. We're exempt from having to pay the fines. If you know. If there is a problem. But I really wouldn't want to see a truck in a river. With somebody asleep in it. So. That's the third person I was questioning. I can understand that. I don't unfortunately know. I think it's. Also. Looks like you had a whole page.
Speaker 38: Because I noticed in the morning.
Speaker 41: And who's the other one.
Speaker 42: 264.
Speaker 43: So I was just up there.
Speaker 44: Oh that's right. Oh yeah.
Speaker 41: So if you post the roads, that's it for the...
Speaker 41: They know.
Speaker 45: Especially nowadays. There's no wreckers around here anymore.
Speaker 42: I have.
Speaker 41: It is far, but if they have the experience and can work you in and . . .
Speaker 40: We use it this time of year.
Speaker 39: Tell them and we can always say no.
Speaker 41: Well, the water wouldn't be coming.
Speaker 20: You have water inside?
Speaker 4: Under the plastic. A little bit of milk.
Speaker 5: The sinkhole, yeah.
Speaker 46: He's really making an effort to... He's doing really good.
Speaker 6: put schools in session all day, right?
Speaker 47: Let's ask this question.
Speaker 41: Well, that goes back to what Burt used to say about the town.
Speaker 48: We live in the northeast, you think it would be automatic that you need someone to remove the snow.
Speaker 7: Right now.
Speaker 39: To information given to the people or you?
Speaker 49: If this, I don't think it's going to get any lower.
Speaker 22: They said nine cents.
Speaker 22: Yeah.
Speaker 12: Only budget the difference as income.
Speaker 44: With it.
Speaker 20: Yeah.
Speaker 12: So you'd like to sign on the right hand side there.
Speaker 20: Motion agreed. And so Hunter Excavation wanted to have permission and it's kind of a moot point now but we should still sign it to be able to plow the roads like in the winter where he was doing his logging.
Speaker 14: Have you noticed?
Speaker 42: She may not know.
Speaker 49: Maybe.
Speaker 36: No.
Speaker 50: The first course is the first training is the 16th.
Speaker 15: done yet so they'll put it on the list to go back next year ceos are for more like health and safety
Speaker 7: get paid for four hours he's been employed for how long one year one year till december 31st so
Speaker 37: we don't have to give them the work we can say right but you're securing them right right right
Speaker 51: is part of the state part of our list of positions right important position you have two and we're
Speaker 52: looking dead well if kristen takes it if she doesn't then you'll be on discussion with who's that
Speaker 53: job if it ain't going to be worth doing that so um we have to talk about what
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.