July 28, 2016
Vermont

Board talks money, trash, wind, and hayrides

By Rolf Parker | The Deerfield Valley News | Jul 27, 2016 | dvalnews.com

READSBORO- At Wednesday’s meeting, the selectboard heard from local assessor clerk Larry Hopkins about his concerns about the way in which his pay raise was determined; considered responses to deal with a truck parked in a town right of way; heard about an upcoming meeting with Deerfield Wind Project developer Iberdrola; and learned about potential liabilities associated with hayrides.

Hopkins said that the board was unaware what his work entailed and therefore did not have the information needed to perform his evaluation. “Last week when we talked about personnel evaluations, you said the range was 2% to 5%,” he said. “I know you don’t know what I do. I want to know why I didn’t get the 5%. What was I deficient in? That’s what I want to know, so that I can do better next year. I want to see my file. Do you have my file? I bet you don’t even have a file on me.”

Teddy Hopkins, selectboard member and Larry Hopkins’ brother, said that he recused himself from the decision on the raise, but that he would not recuse himself from commenting on the board’s need to not make a public response. “We don’t discuss evaluations in public. It doesn’t matter if you are willing to.”

“Do you want an evaluation review?”selectboard chair Helyn Strom-Henriksen asked. “We could go into executive session to do that.”

“I want the history of the one that got me where we are tonight,” said Larry Hopkins.

Resident Al Scaia said that the board might want to consider following the business world’s approach to job evaluations. “It’s a lot of work, when you do evaluations. But I worked at IBM, and from a business point of view, the key point that he is making is that people are given an opportunity to improve. You have to have job definitions and objectives. Without that as a backdrop, you leave yourself open to comments like that.”

In other business, the board considered what actions to take in response to a truck that had trash in it, which remained in the town’s right of way on Railroad Alley despite the board’s contacting the owner and previous calls to the state police by the town’s administrative assistant Rebecca Stone. They decided to contact the owner’s landlord, and then to call the police again if they did not receive an “acceptable response.”

In other business, Stone informed the board that Iberdrola would meet with the selectboard on August 3, and would provide an update on the construction of the Deerfield Wind Project at that time.

She also told the board that a proposed hayride to raise funds for Fourth of July costs was considered ill advised by the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. “They say costs are astronomical if a claim is made,” Stone said. When board members suggested routes that only traveled level sections of road, she replied,“It doesn’t matter what the route is. It’s the size of a single claim.” For similar reasons, bonfires were likewise deemed untenable, Stone said.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/07/28/board-talks-money-trash-wind-and-hayrides/