Stamford Select Board — 2026-04-16 (Regular)
- Welcome / roll call; meeting recorded (Jed recording for YouTube)
- Agenda changes / visitors (Bradney Howland absent; asked to speak at May meeting after consulting school board and superintendent)
- Acceptance of minutes: special meeting of March 30, 2026 (met with library trustees) and regular meeting of April 2
- Highway update: FY2027 grant and aid letter of intent; FEMA mitigation grant (Sportsman Road culvert); compactor equipment grant
- Recycling information (Household Hazardous Waste facility in Bennington)
- Mowing and spring cleanup quote (total $800; $250 per cut)
- Lister position (one applicant; possible pairing with NMRT)
- Endless Mountain adventure race (June 2026)
- Correspondence: resignation of Dr. Stephanie Shelburne (Planning Commission chair/member; Emergency Management Coordinator); Planning Commission vacancy (Aaron and Sheila); library board of trustees vacancy (Victoria Jeffrey)
- Old business: 9-1-1 address numbering; flower planters/hanging baskets; school–library meeting coordination
- New business: VCA hearing training webinar (June 17); Casella uniform municipal access weight permits; Act 181 discussion; 1% consumer tax discussion
- Executive session (personnel)
Motions (8, 6 passed)
Accept the minutes of the special meeting of March 30, 2026 (meeting with library trustees) as written Speaker 1passed
Accept the regular minutes of April 2 as written Speaker 1passed
Sign the letter of intent for the fiscal year 2027 grant and aid program Speaker 1passed
Accept the mowing and spring cleanup quote (total $800; $250 per cut, per cut determined by lawn) Speaker 1seconded: Speaker 12passed
Table the Planning Commission appointment decision (Aaron and Sheila) until the next meeting / full board Speaker 4tabled
Table the appointment of Victoria Jeffrey to the library board of trustees vacancy (until next election) mover not statedtabled
Sign the uniform municipal access weight permit (Casella) Speaker 1passed
Go into executive session for personnel Speaker 1passed
Other decisions
| Anonymous complaint about the restructuring of Planning Commission membership | Staff reported receiving an anonymous (unsigned) complaint about how the Planning Commission was restructured. |
| FEMA mitigation grant for the Sportsman Road culvert | Dara Zink (BC) asked about a FEMA mitigation grant (75-25 town match). Board agreed to proceed with a letter of intent now and an application at the end of May (award later in summer); the town can still decline the award. The competing Better Back Roads program (80-20 split) has its funding tied up; the town may only take one of the two, so FEMA would be dropped if Better Back Roads comes through. |
| Lister position / NMRT pairing | Only one lister has applied (name garbled in transcript; discussion references 'Deb'/'Beth Miller' from State of Vermont Property Evaluation and Review). Board explored the option of the town lister working under/with NMRT (in use for five or six years) to reduce cost and gain training, including possibly having NMRT come down or confer by phone. |
| Endless Mountain adventure race (June 2026) | Organizers emailed requesting permission to have participants use town roads: a 350-mile course over five days (a 50-mile course also mentioned), about 35 teams of two to four, dispersed up to 24–36 hours; route via Sucker Pond Road, a bit of Klondike/county road, then into Massachusetts; mostly on public land/National Forest. |
| Resignation of Dr. Stephanie Shelburne | Letter received: resigning as chairman and member of the Planning Commission and as Emergency Management Coordinator for the Town of Stamford, effective April 9, 2026, due to personal circumstances. |
| Planning Commission vacancy and appointment process | Two people expressed interest: Aaron (surname garbled; read as 'Meltz') — the Planning Commission 'highly recommend[s]' him as long-time chair who saw the town plan and bylaws through — and Sheila (a past chair). Board discussed adopting a consistent process: advertising openings, two-week notice before appointments, and interviewing candidates; commission is meeting twice a month and will restructure only once the full board is in place. |
| Library board of trustees vacancy | Cindy did not resign but did not run, leaving a vacancy; Victoria Jeffrey sent a letter of interest to be appointed until the next election (her term would run to March of next year). The library had supported her at a recent meeting. |
| 9-1-1 address numbering | A board member matched names to addresses from a list Bob Briggs sent and forwarded it with a copy of the letter sent two years ago, asking for revisions; still awaiting his reply, so the effort is on hold. Signs must be four-inch contrasting letters on a reflective surface visible from the road. The town's own 9-1-1 signage is in violation and is being fixed. Stamford VFD offers pre-drilled reflective 9-1-1 signs for $16. |
| Act 181 (Vermont housing/development law) | Informational discussion: additional permitting layer after town permit and Act 250; reported cost up to about $30,000 on one machine; tiered zones (1A/1B); 800-foot private-road limit seen as the most contentious part; floodplains set by FEMA but river corridors lack fixed buffers; official maps not yet drawn; 60% of the town is already National Forest. |
Who owes what (8)
| Action | Owner | By when | Note | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talk with Deb about the lister training — how complicated the schooling is — and put feelers out for another lister | Speaker 9 | — | Lister position discussion. | open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶84 |
| Send out an email (that evening) to coordinate a three-way meeting of the select board, school board, and library board (local boards only, no supervisory) | Speaker 4 | tonight (evening of April 16, 2026) | Earlier joint school/library meeting produced no conclusion; Cindy was to go back to the school board. | open no date in the minutes |
| Review the equipment (plate compactor) grant list and determine what to file for under the FY2027 grant and aid program | Dave (public works, name not confirmed) | — | A similar grant previously paid a good portion of the cost of the compactor. | open no date in the minutes |
| Drive around with Dave to decide the next road project on the FY2027 grant and aid list | Jim Henderson (with Dave) | — | Jim Henderson will come out after the letter of intent is signed. | open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶27 |
| Prepare the FEMA mitigation grant letter of intent and application for the Sportsman Road culvert | Lori (staff; likely Speaker 2) | application at the end of May 2026 | Letter of intent now; application end of May; award later in summer. | open no date in the minutes |
| Send the 9-1-1 list to the fire department (for the reflective address signs) | Speaker 1 | — | 'I'll send you the list of guys and if you need anybody.' | open no date in the minutes |
| Find out whether PBR charges for the VCA hearing-training webinar (June 17, 6:00–7:30 p.m., online) and, if so, arrange for the board to attend together | Speaker 1 | before June 17, 2026 | Board considered it a good refresher; cost not yet known. | open no date in the minutes |
| Research the 1% consumer tax option (statute is 'pretty fairly written') and get information before town meeting to decide whether to put it into effect | — | before town meeting | Would require warrant(s)/vote(s) at town meeting, separately for general sales, meals-and-alcohol, and room taxes. | open no date in the minutes |
scripts/action_status.py --done "a phrase".Money (7)
| Mowing and spring cleanup quote (sign area, old flower bed, ditch, fence line to playground, debris removal, mowing and trim per cut) | Accepted by motion (mover stated an abstention; result not explicitly recorded). | $800 total; $250 per cut |
| FEMA mitigation grant for the Sportsman Road culvert | 75-25 state/town cost share; no project amount stated. | — |
| Better Back Roads program for the Sportsman Road culvert | 80-20 cost share; funding currently tied up; unknown when grants would be issued; only one of FEMA or Better Back Roads can be taken. | — |
| Plate compactor equipment grant¶ ¶36 | A prior similar grant paid a good portion of the compactor's cost; Dave to review the current list of available equipment. | — |
| 9-1-1 reflective address signs (Stamford VFD) | Pre-drilled, one or two sides, vertical or horizontal; transcript garbled between 'fifteen dollars' and '16 dollars'. | $16 |
| Act 181 permitting cost (informational, not a town expense) | Cited by a board member while reading about Act 181. | up to about $30,000 (as read, on one machine) |
| NMRT lister fees (discussed, not decided) | Garbled figures: '$47 or $45' (travel?) and 'like $95' up and down — referent unclear; noted as possibly saving the town money. | — |
Follow-ups named in the minutes
- Bradney Howland (invited to speak on a well leak / water testing) asked to wait until the May meeting, after talking with the school board and the superintendent.
- 9-1-1 address numbering remains on hold pending Bob Briggs's reply to the revised letter; town's own 9-1-1 signage is being corrected.
- Planning Commission appointment (Aaron and Sheila) revisited at the next meeting, preferably with the full board (Mike Denault may want to weigh in); consider adopting an interview/advertisement process.
- Library board of trustees vacancy (Victoria Jeffrey's letter of interest) revisited at the next meeting; invite letters of interest; note vacancy in the minutes.
- FEMA mitigation grant application due end of May; award later in summer; drop FEMA if Better Back Roads funding comes through for the Sportsman Road culvert.
- Dave to review the compactor/equipment grant list for the FY2027 grant and aid program; Jim Henderson to drive around with Dave to select the next project.
- Act 181 is on the Planning Commission's next meeting agenda.
- 1% consumer tax: gather information before town meeting to decide whether to pursue it.
- VCA hearing-training webinar June 17, 6:00–7:30 p.m. (online, via PBR) — confirm cost and possibly attend as a refresher.
- Coordinate the select board–school board–library board meeting (email to go out the evening of April 16).
- Household Hazardous Waste facility in Bennington expected to open toward the end of May (possibly May 18) — informational for residents.
What the extraction was unsure about
- Speaker labels are from automated diarization; per extraction rules, only 'Nancy L. Bushika (Chair)' is attributed by name. 'Speaker N' labels were not mapped to individuals. Named individuals mentioned in the text: Dave (public works), Lori/Laurie (staff), Jim Henderson, Bob Briggs, Dara Zink (BC), Dr. Stephanie Shelburne, Victoria Jeffrey, Bradney Howland, Cindy, Mary Lou Wright, Peter Greenberg.
- Only one 'All in favor?' appears between the March 30 and April 2 minutes motions (after a broken-microphone detour); it is unclear whether it covered both minute acceptances.
- For the mowing quote, no explicit vote result is recorded — the mover said 'I'm going to abstain from the vote' and the board moved on with no recorded objection; outcome recorded as passed (inferred).
- Stephanie Shelburne's effective date is garbled ('Effective immediate release April 9th') — read as effective April 9, 2026.
- Planning Commission applicants are 'Aaron' (surname garbled; read as 'Meltz') and 'Sheila' (a former chair, whose remarks about being sidelined are in the record).
- The single lister's identity is garbled (references to 'Deb' and 'Beth Miller' from State of Vermont Property Evaluation and Review).
- NMRT fee figures ('$47 or $45' and 'like $95') are garbled; referent unclear.
- 9-1-1 sign price garbled between 'fifteen dollars' and '16 dollars'; recorded as $16.
- The transcript ends immediately after the executive-session motion; no content of any executive session is recorded.
- No public comment was recorded: 'hearing of visitors' produced no named visitors; the anonymous planning-commission complaint is a staff report, not a public comment.
- source_file uses the actual transcript location (transcripts/2026/...) rather than the path shorthand in the task.
Transcript
Speaker 2 — the same voice as in 39 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 3 — the same voice as in 40 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 4 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 5 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 6 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 7 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 8 — the same voice as in 13 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 9 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 10 — the same voice as in 5 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 11 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 12 — the same voice as in 23 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 13 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 14 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 15 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 16 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 17 — no voiceprint match
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Speaker 25 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 26 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 27 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 28 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 29 — the same voice as in 8 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 30 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 31 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 32 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 33 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 34 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 35 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 36 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 37 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 38 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 4: They didn't want to put their name in it?
Speaker 5: They didn't want to put their name in it. I don't know, so.
Speaker 5: So, it won't hurt us to sign the paperwork for FEMA and start proceeding with that, right?
Speaker 5: They won't let us do both, I don't believe. Right, they won't. No.
Speaker 6: Plate compactor. Yeah.
Speaker 7: Oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6: That vibrates. Jack.
Speaker 6: Jumping Jack Howard.
Speaker 6: You don't have to write it.
Speaker 9: To the $800.
Speaker 11: I have a second.
Speaker 6: Probably get a lot more out of the NMRT guy with her backing up.
Speaker 13: Well, not right today. Right, no, I'm just saying we had two experienced listers.
Speaker 14: up and down?
Speaker 15: I'd like to know, but it might save some money for the town.
Speaker 16: Yeah, so if anyone is being a lister.
Speaker 4: And you get to know the town intimately.
Speaker 17: Yeah.
Speaker 18: Put your feelers out there.
Speaker 18: I know.
Speaker 19: We've been advertising and nobody's been interested.
Speaker 15: Yeah.
Speaker 16: that type of outdoor recreation to town. Should we put some kind of signage out so people
Speaker 20: department. It's a quick job. Yeah, and the ambulance service. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they
Speaker 6: might want to move the ice cream.
Speaker 21: Right at the intersection. Have it end right there. You know, instead of grabbing a bottle
Speaker 7: of water, you grab an ice cream cone as you go. That's my kind of marathon. No problem
Speaker 22: Resignation from Planning Commission. Yeah. I should have also said from Emergency Management
Speaker 5: Coordinator. Okay. Received a letter from Dr. Stephanie Shelburne that she is resigning
Speaker 23: said that he sent a letter to the planner to the we have uh errands and we have one from sheila
Speaker 24: board before we restructure right we we are then you're waiting for us to appoint somebody
Speaker 25: that i did do some a lot more respect in the world and i and i respect what you've done for this time
Speaker 26: want to step up into the planning commission we got to get a set pattern on what we're doing i
Speaker 6: you know sometimes well you know we got this resignation stephanie's resignation will be in the
Speaker 7: minutes and make some people aware that there's we need if there's an opening if anyone else wants to
Speaker 6: those people to be here a half an hour before your next select board meeting and then you can
Speaker 27: put it on the agenda if you want it on the agenda for the next meeting this board that the wars when
Speaker 13: to the board and everybody agreed on that i think you guys did that the planning commission right
Speaker 23: you've got a lot on your plate and we got a lot on a plate and we need
Speaker 9: hear what Mike may or may not have to say on the matter and we'll see if we can find a letter from
Speaker 28: they kind of respect their policy is that they send the letter in but we we eliminated the
Speaker 30: wants to be oh that's coming okay i didn't know if we uh okay now planning commission now we'll
Speaker 11: election any problems with that make a motion to i mean i haven't been doing that i think we
Speaker 31: still need to do the same thing we just did i think we need to just ask that is this person what
Speaker 32: they think of it of it before we just started is it is it an elected position this was elected that's not what's the procedure on hand
Speaker 9: that needs to wait to an election no we can appoint
Speaker 21: of involved in whatever projects she was involved is she wasn't there at the library that day and
Speaker 5: put it out there say we yeah game because they've been without one thing yeah put this in the minutes
Speaker 26: wait so we have a motion to table it all in favor yes anything else under
Speaker 4: Collen says if we can't see the number, it's because the number needs to be seen from
Speaker 33: reflective sign that fits the description. Fits the regulations one or
Speaker 13: Who wants to do them take care of them. I'm not taking care of them. Yeah that's the thing. I'm down here every day. Is there an outdoor faucet here? This is too much. Cactus.
Speaker 34: Years go by and the people that knew and worked with Leo are gone.
Speaker 26: Yes.
Speaker 4: I'm dumb. What's VCA?
Speaker 17: VCA.
Speaker 35: Is this the same one that we did before when we all came in here?
Speaker 36: We had five.
Speaker 23: We don't want it.
Speaker 28: They see this thing, and this doesn't work in rural settings.
Speaker 37: Not well.
Speaker 26: Is it worth it?
Speaker 11: How do they...
Speaker 26: I mean, you know, we're all right.
Speaker 38: We've got to work on the
Speaker 11: Well, that would be a good idea.
Speaker 26: before town meeting and see if it's worth putting this into effect.
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.