Stamford Select Board — 2026-08-20 (Regular)
Nancy L. BushikaMichael G. DenaultKurt GamariJedidiah Gramlinabsent: John Dunn
Regular selectboard meeting at which the board accepted the August 6 minutes, signed an errors-and-omissions form correcting a grant list from $588,000 to $58,800, accepted the calculated 2026 tax rate (homestead up about 8.5%, non-homestead 3.5%), and signed the warrant for the town clerk to send out tax bills. Public comment raised unpermitted shed/deck permit fees, a gravel bank's possible impact on the municipal water supply grant, Green Mountain Power line work, nuisance farm dogs, and dirt bikes on County Road. New business covered the state's tennis court inspection (marked obsolete), the 2030 reappraisal RFP (~$75,000, due Oct 1), delinquent dog licensing, and a $450,000 house for sale next to the town office that the town will not buy.
On the agenda
- Pledge of allegiance, roll call, agenda adjustments (errors-in-omissions form moved ahead of tax rate)
- Hearing the Visitors (public comment: zoning/shed fees, gravel bank and water grant, GMP power lines, farm dogs, dirt bikes, debris burial complaint)
- Reading and approval of records and orders of minutes of August 6
- Highway update (road sweeper, 2019 Freightliner and Ram repairs, East Road culvert timing, tennis court site)
- Recycling / transfer station charges and reporting frequency
- Discussion, review and sign errors in omission form (grant list correction)
- Setting the 2026 tax rate based on new grant list calculations
- November general election discussion (polling staff / sheriff for combined school building)
- Shrubs removal quote (Alpha Arbor, $600)
- Delinquent dog update
- New business: tennis court state inspection report; New England Power / GMP laydown yard and road permits; 2030 reappraisal RFP (NMRAC); new bills (health insurance); state water resource protection specialist presentation at planning board; house for sale next to school/town office; town plan and zoning district survey
Motions (4, 4 passed)
Accept the minutes of August 6, 2026 mover not statedpassed
Chair asked 'Can I have a motion to accept them?'; a 'Second' and 'All in favor? ... Aye' are recorded within the chair's turn (diarization artifact); mover and seconder not identifiable. No vote count stated.
Sign the errors in omission form correcting the grant list ($588,000 to $58,800) Speaker 20seconded: Speaker 9passed
“Motion to sign [the errors in omission form]”
Speaker 1 requested a motion; Speaker 20 moved ('Motion to sign.'); chair also called 'Second.' (diarization artifact) and Speaker 9 said 'Second.'; 'All in favor? Aye.' Passed with no stated count. Chair noted the error would have billed $588,000.
Accept the 2026 tax rate as calculated Speaker 5passed
Chair asked for a motion; Speaker 5 said 'Motion.'; no explicit second recorded; 'All in favor?' passed with no stated count. Rates discussed: town .6371 (2025: .5558), highway 0.4295, school .9915 (2025: .9666); homestead up 8.5%, non-homestead up 3.5%.
Sign the warrant for the town clerk to send out tax bills and collect taxes Speaker 21passed
“Sign the warrant for Lori to collect taxes. Motion.”
No explicit second recorded; 'All in favor? Aye.' No vote count stated. Board noted it had already set the rates.
Other decisions
| 2030 reappraisal (NMRAC program) RFP | Board informally approved Lori's draft NMRAC reappraisal proposal with edits: remove the 2005 documentation and 2009 land schedule references (2024 reappraisal covered them) but keep the assessor/assessor-clerk language. Chair to confirm with Stacy whether utilities/power lines must be included. Budget expectation ~$75,000 (last final bill was $72,000); proposal due by the first October meeting (Oct 1). If a grievance goes to court, the town has paid its own lawyer before. |
| Tennis court (state grant ~1974) at the fairgrounds/ballfield site | State Parks & Recreation inspector marked the court obsolete; it is unused and converted partly to gardens (seed savers). Board will wait for the state's report/letter before deciding. Leaning toward removal (dumpsters, cover the concrete, take down the wrecked fence, 'make it invisible'), keep the blueberries, and let anyone claim the shed. Resurfacing as a court or a skate park would require a 50-50 grant match. |
| Alpha Arbor quote to take down overgrown shrubs/junipers ($600) | Quote came by unsolicited email; quote covers only one side. Board decided to put it on hold and keep it on file while the school works on removing the trees; an earlier $150 figure for the shrubs was also mentioned. |
| House for sale next to the school and town office | Listed at $450,000 (~2 of ~4.5 acres); same acreage as the church that was not bought. Discussion included moving the town garage there to consolidate, but well and septic would be needed and cost deemed unaffordable ('I don't see how we can afford a 50-year loan'). No action taken. |
| November general election staffing in the combined school/gym building | Election went well; counters process was confusing. The Manton (transcribed as Mannington) Sheriff's office could not commit to a sheriff for a non-presidential election and the town has no contract; Laurie left a message and is waiting for a callback. Board will follow up rather than decide. |
| Recycling / transfer station charges | A tire appeared at the transfer station overnight and the town was charged; if the transfer station is starting to charge for such items, the town may need to raise its fees. A follow-up call was requested. Trash reporting moved from quarterly to once a year (filed in January). |
| Delinquent dog licensing | Three dogs licensed that day; two more expected. List is down to 9 people and 16 dogs. Board directed to keep running the same process and to push for the list to be down by next week. |
| Town plan / zoning bylaws / districts | Survey returned ~58-60 of ~300 mailed responses; consensus leans toward keeping things as they are, with preserving town resources and character ranked first. Zoning bylaws and Town Plan work continue to run in parallel. |
Who owes what (7)
| Action | Owner | By when | Note | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email the board all shed/deck permit fee schedules, bylaws, and related numbers to prepare the revisit of small-structure permit fees | Speaker 5 | before next meeting | Volunteered during the zoning discussion; Speaker 2 confirmed the topic will be taken up at the next meeting. | open no date in the minutes |
| Follow up with the sheriff's office on providing a sheriff for the November general election in the combined school building | Laurie (town clerk) | — | Chair: 'we'll wait to see if Laurie hears something from the sheriff, follow up on it.' No contract in place; office not committing. | open no date in the minutes |
| Make a follow-up call to the transfer station to confirm new charges (overnight tire / shingles) and report back | — | — | 'Could you make another call and hopefully we can get back to you' — addressee not named in the transcript. | open no date in the minutes |
| Confirm with Stacy whether utilities/power lines must be included in the NMRAC reappraisal RFP, then finalize and send the proposal | Nancy L. Bushika (Chair) | by Oct 1 (first October meeting) | Board was 'good with this' on the draft with the noted edits. | open no date in the minutes |
| Follow up with Luke and get the delinquent dog list down by next week | — | next week | Asked by Speaker 8 and relayed by the chair; the addressee (likely the town clerk) is not named in the transcript. | open no date in the minutes ¶ ¶266 |
| Find the street name/address of the property where renovation debris was being buried and check with the property owners' association | Speaker 5 | — | Location unidentified by complainants; may be on the Reedboro side of the border. | open no date in the minutes |
| Provide the board a copy of the New England Power (GMP) permit requests / laydown yard documentation | — | — | 'I'll give you a copy' — speaker not identified; chair noted Lori had sent the requests to all board members. | 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 (7)
| Errors in omission form — grant list correction¶ ¶181 | Value was entered as $588,000 but should have been $58,800; corrected and signed. Chair noted it would have billed $588,000 if not caught. | — |
| 2026 tax rate (as calculated)¶ ¶199 | Town rate .6371 (2025: .5558); highway rate 0.4295; school rate .9915 (2025: .9666). Homestead up 8.5%, non-homestead up 3.5%. Town article needed $1,988.25 (as transcribed) after subtracting anticipated funds and 25% of fund balance; highway amount $744,772.36. Four payments on the highway paving loan anticipated to begin around September. | — |
| Alpha Arbor quote — removal of overgrown shrubs/junipers (one side only) | On hold pending the school's work; a separate $150 figure for the shrubs was also mentioned. | $600 |
| 2030 reappraisal (NMRAC) | Last year's final bill was $72,000 (assessor, not assessor clerk). Town has paid its own lawyer in past grievance court cases; contractor responsible for defense under page 5 of the RFP. | $75,000 (estimate) |
| Health insurance (new bills)¶ ¶323 | Up only 8% this year. | — |
| House for sale next to the school/town office¶ ¶334 | Not a town purchase; discussed as unaffordable. Well and septic would be needed to develop further. | $450,000 |
| Deferred / unbudgeted obligations | $131,000 from a land sale not in next year's budget; fire truck payment also not budgeted (not for next year); one paving loan repayment is for next year. | $131,000 |
Public comment (7)
| Speaker 2 | Zoning: proposes a $15 fee/fine for unpermitted small structures (sheds, decks); cites enforcement workload and asks the board to revisit at the next meeting |
| Speaker 2 | Gravel bank: concern raised at the ZBA that it could jeopardize the municipal water supply grant; Conservation Commission has been researching water sources |
| Speaker 2 | Green Mountain Power line project: laydown yard at Potlin (Potlatch) Lumber, state permits for road crossings; wants a discussion with GMP about roads and reclamation of damage; temporary commercial permit, porta-potty and shed on site |
| Speaker 2 | Nuisance: incessantly barking farm dogs (registered farm dogs; 40 or so Aussies) on a farm property; wants the select board to handle the complaint since the code officer is a relative |
| Speaker 2 | ATV and dirt bikes (including teens) riding wheelies up County Road and through the center of town; warden and sheriff enforcement discussed |
| Speaker 5 | Two complaints about a person building/renovating a house on an unidentified road (possibly Reedboro side) burying demolition debris (shingle/wrap material) on the property; wants the address tracked down and the property owners' association contacted |
| Speaker 5 | Consistency of applying the $15 recording fee to sheds: small structures (chicken coops, dog coops, play structures) are often not reported; asks the board to review the fees and bylaws and clean them up |
Follow-ups named in the minutes
- Wait for the state's report/letter on the tennis court inspection before deciding on removal vs. resurfacing (50-50 grant match options mentioned).
- Await the Manton/Mannington sheriff's office response on November election staffing (message left; callback promised within a couple of weeks).
- Follow-up call to the transfer station on new charges for items like the overnight tire.
- Revisit zoning shed/deck permit fees and bylaws at the next meeting (fee schedules and bylaws to be emailed in advance).
- NMRAC reappraisal RFP proposal due at the first October meeting (Oct 1); 2030 reappraisal with possible 2036 state takeover / reappraisal districts.
- State water resource protection specialist (Laura Ranker) presents at the planning board meeting Monday at 6:00 on potential water resources; board invited to attend.
- Delinquent dogs: get the unlicensed list (9 people, 16 dogs) down by next week.
- Jim Henderson to do grant aid and the inventory/inspection of hydraulically connected roads; East Road culvert likely pushed to next summer.
What the extraction was unsure about
- The transcript ends mid-sentence in garbled text (lines ~912-918); there is a reference to a motion that apparently failed to get a second ('i can't get second') with no discernible topic — not captured as a formal motion.
- Speaker diarization is automated and over-splits: 20+ structural 'Speaker N' labels whose identities are unknown. For example, Speaker 5 (a public commentator in the visitor hearing) also says 'I'm the sheriff up here' in the dirt-bike exchange, and Speaker 1/Lori/Laurie/Laura appear to be the town clerk/assessor, but the transcript never explicitly ties a Speaker N label to a name.
- 'Second' calls at two motions (August 6 minutes; errors in omission form) are captured inside the chair's own turns — likely diarization artifacts; actual seconders unknown (Speaker 9's explicit 'Second' is attributed for the errors in omission form).
- Tax-rate arithmetic in the discussion is inconsistent as transcribed (e.g., .6371 + .9915 vs. a 'total homestead rate' of 1.6518 vs. 0.6603; the chair first says the town rate is 'combined all the articles, everything, and the highway' but the highway rate is later added separately). Numbers recorded as stated.
- 'the town needs $1,988.25' is likely a transcription error (probably $1,988,250); recorded as stated.
- Speaker 5's debris-burial complaint was delivered after the chair had moved past 'Hearing the Visitors' into the minutes; captured as public comment but the timing/attribution is uncertain.
- 'Laura Ranker' (state water resource protection specialist) is a different person from the town clerk Laurie/Lori.
- Place names are likely mis-transcribed: 'Mannington' (sheriff's office), 'Potlin Lumber', 'Muntin Bridge', 'Rees Grove School', 'Harriman Station in Reedsboro'.
Transcript
358 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.
358 paragraphs
Speaker 1 — the same voice as in 58 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 2 — the same voice as in 25 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 3 — no voiceprint match
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 40 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 9 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 10 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 11 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 12 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 13 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 14 — the same voice as in 38 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 15 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 16 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 17 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 18 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 19 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 20 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 21 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 22 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 23 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 2 — the same voice as in 25 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 3 — no voiceprint match
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 40 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 9 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 10 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 11 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 12 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 13 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 14 — the same voice as in 38 recordings (the archive does not name this person)
Speaker 15 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 16 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 17 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 18 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 19 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 20 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 21 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 22 — no voiceprint match
Speaker 23 — no voiceprint match
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. Welcome to a meeting of the Stamford Select Board.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, go through them all.
Speaker 4: For farms.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but not for like a chicken coop or a dog coop, you probably don't.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 5: It's just a file.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 7: Right.
Speaker 9: Right.
Speaker 9: Not that they have the power to do it.
Speaker 6: Huge.
Speaker 10: How long has that been alive?
Speaker 11: if we could maybe have that they're gonna be doing they're gonna have a lay
Speaker 9: They don't want to be kennels.
Speaker 12: The other night, what night was it?
Speaker 7: the center of town? Talk to the wardens. They said they have a no change policy. They have a no change policy? If it's a kid, he takes off. It's not easy. There was three dirt bikes at Billmont's
Speaker 5: If the interior, no.
Speaker 13: Yeah.
Speaker 13: Freightliner?
Speaker 13: The Ram's
Speaker 13: We had a visitor this week.
Speaker 15: because it seems like they just don't clean up.
Speaker 15: I mean tennis went away
Speaker 13: Get rid of it.
Speaker 16: get a dumpster.
Speaker 13: just covering over it.
Speaker 13: because it's wrecked in several spots.
Speaker 17: and they'll pay it down.
Speaker 16: do everything responsibly.
Speaker 18: we're going to have to go up on a fee.
Speaker 19: They added in this value.
Speaker 19: Motion to sign.
Speaker 20: This is a little higher,
Speaker 20: on everything. Right? Buy and go to the next store. Put your select or town meeting next door. It's $400,000, $450,000.
Speaker 21: We did set the rates.
Speaker 20: Sign the warrant for Lori to collect taxes. Motion.
Speaker 6: what is it, 14 bucks?
Speaker 7: 14 bucks.
Speaker 7: Can you follow up with Luke
Speaker 7: We should get
Speaker 7: 100 grand.
Speaker 6: Never get your money back.
Speaker 19: because the 2024
Speaker 6: also?
Speaker 22: So then it just
Speaker 20: happens? On the taxes, we do homesteads. Why do we have to
Speaker 4: So do I need to add
Speaker 12: Just to mention that
Speaker 23: That is my understanding too.
Speaker 4: part i think we're speaking so um how did the survey come out what was the consensus of the
Speaker 23: resources character of the time character of the town yeah yeah no municipal waters the same way
Speaker 20: that's just a way no that's just put it on your property down there no that's a school
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.