Selectboard Draft Minutes 02.09.26

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GUILFORD SELECTBOARD MEETING

Monday, February 09, 2026, 6:30 p.m., 236 School Road, Guilford, VT

SELECTBOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Verandah Porche, Sheila Morse, Mike Szostak, Chip Carter, Tara Cheney (Zoom)

STAFF PRESENT: Elly Majonen,  Jim Freeman, Erika Elder

PRESENT IN PERSON: Tammy Sargent, Kyle Parker, Kim Frost, Jeannette Tokarz, Rick Zamore, John Shaw (GFL Trustee), Steve Lembke, Dolores Clark

PRESENT VIA ZOOM: Cindy Clark, Laurie Carter, Don McLean, Roberta Bremmer, Sheila Adams, Elliot Diringer, Christina Belogour, Jason Herron, Anna Klein, Therese Marcy, Deborah McNeil, Amber Hunt, Cathi Wilken

 DRAFT Minutes

  1. Call to Order by Verandah at 6:30 p.m.
  1. Rules of Procedure read by Chip
  1. Changes to Agenda Order. None.
  1. Public Comment, Announcements
    Elly: SEVCA – meeting with individuals to help with taxes and homestead filing at BBCC on 02.13.26
  2. Approval of Minutes
    1. Minutes of the special meeting of 01.23.26
      Verandah acknowledges the SB members stayed after the meeting was adjourned for a discussion, which is against Open Meeting Law (OML). The chair apologizes for the lack of understanding on OML. Therefore, she reminds the SB and the public that once the meeting is adjourned, OML prevents the SB from continuing to discuss any business.
      MOTION: Verandah moved to approve the minutes and Mike seconded. The vote was by roll call. All were in favor, no objections, no abstentions. Motion passed.
    2. Minutes of the regular meeting of 01.28.26
      MOTION: Sheila moved to approve the minutes and Mike seconded.  The vote was by roll call. Four were in favor. Chip abstained. Motion passed. 
  1. Finance  
  2. Warrants    
Payroll – WE 02.08.26$8,250.63
Payroll – WE 02.01.26$8,270.09
Expense Warrant #2615$84,145.09
Expense Warrant #2615A$3,654.16
TOTAL$104,319.97

MOTION: Verandah moved and Mike seconded to pay the warrants. The vote was by roll call. All were in favor, no objections, no abstentions. Motion passed.
 

  1. Updates and Reports
    1. Highway Foreman
      Jim: Washed all the equipment. Big sand expense this month. Oil changes are coming due. Participated in meeting re: Slate Rock Culvert Project.
    2. Town Administrator

Erika: Posted: Town Meeting Warning,  Voter Checklist, how to register a sample ballot. Town Clerk is collecting absentee ballots. Editing a draft of Town Report, which is due to go to the printer’s in a couple of days. Provided information on the petition that the SB will discuss in this meeting. Along with Jim attended the Slate Rock Culvert Project. Dubois & King is the engineering firm. Accepted an invitation from Sheriff Mark Anderson to appear at a legislative hearing to provide a testimony from a town that does not have a contract with the sheriff’s office.

  1. New Business
    1. Creation of Library Fund
      MOTION: Sheila moved to create the GFL Fund to track the Library’s financial assets and Mike seconded. Elly:  We want to set up this fund to track grants, expenses that are outside the 003 budget. Separating the Friends of the GFL and the GFL Trustees will render clarity on how the town is supporting the library. As listed annually in the Town Report, the town has two line items “wages,” and  “books & services.”  The Trustees administer grants they receive, which go through the town in order to get to them. Discussion on the role of Friends of GFL, a private entity, that continues to fundraise with the collections going into their bank account.  The library director has been working to separate that shared bank account.   Sheila commended the Trustees’ work on the proposal and cautioned to add description of the fund, especially to mitigate confusion on the 003 budget. It was reiterated that money that goes into grants, donations, annual appeals, etc. will go into this new fund managed by the GFL Trustees with the accounting and tracking by the town. Further, Sheila clarified that this is only to show how the money is tracked. It is not a matter of raising taxes. This fund is regarding two budget lines that have been in existence for years, as well as other sources that come through, that the town already administers. The vote was by roll call. All were in favor, no objections, no abstentions. Motion passed.
  1. Green Mountain Power Undergrounding Project on Packer Corners and Jelly Mill Roads

Erika provided the updates given recommendations from SB and input from Jim. The attorney added details on culvert diameter, crushed gravel replaced where they work. Additionally, the attorney included that if there is an emergency, or need for a repair, GMP would have to perform the work within 7 days. Otherwise, the town can make the repair and bill GMP. Tim Jones, GMP, approved this new addition to the contract and signed it.
MOTION: Sheila moved to approve the contract with GMP for the undergrounding project on Packer Corners and Jelly Mill Roads. Mike seconded.  The vote was by roll call. All were in favor, no objections, no abstentions. Motion passed.

  1. Special Meeting Petition: Elected Planning Commission and Approval Process for Zoning Bylaws
    Erika: Tara has put forward a petition to gather signatures for two questions. The town clerk received the signed petition this afternoon and still has to verify the Guilford voter signatures. Therefore, SB is not in receipt of this petition at this moment. Research has gone into how it should have been worded to allow the SB to act on it. The town attorney informs that the requested special meeting cannot be warned until the petition is delivered to the SB by the town clerk. The clock for the 60 day warning period starts today given that it is the date it was received by the town clerk. It would be permissible to address it at the next SB meeting. RE: Question #2- The attorney states it’s to be rejected because it is for an unlawful purpose. The question wants the town to be able to vote to approve a zoning bylaw, which is against statute. The SB does that. Voters do not have authority to do that or to request that permission. Although the SB can give the town that permission once the SB has bylaws to address. RE: Question #1- the attorney offered a revision to include the length of service terms. The SB discussed the legality if the wording is changed or whether it would have to go back for signatures. Second, the SB discussed timeframe and sense of “urgency” (given that Guilford has no zoning and there is no longer a grant) with the interest in getting the correct verbiage, and having a constructive town discussion. Third, Verandah offered a reminder about the existence of the Town Plan. Reading the Town Plan will help ground conversations, foster learning, trust, and humility, so as to mitigate community divisiveness and panic about what the state (and forces even outside the state) may have in store for the town. Tara: I want Article #1 on the agenda for the next SB meeting to vote or to warrant. This was a discussion with no motion.
  2. 003 and 009 Budget
    Verandah: a voter inquired why the budget went up in the last 5 years. Elly and Chip reviewed that the formula was wrong when calculating an article. The Town Report will show the total expenses and what part of that total expenses is going to be raised by taxes. This was a discussion requiring no motion.
  3. Pre-Town & Town Meeting Planning
    Erika: Pre-town meeting – each SB takes an article and talks about it.  GVFD has been combined into one article per their request. Verandah informed that childcare has been arranged for the Town Meeting. Erika confirmed that the SB wants chairs borrowed from BBCC.  This was a discussion requiring no motion.
  4. Agenda Setting

Verandah: We had a comment from a resident requesting moving ‘high-interest’ items to the earlier part in the meeting.  Discussion on order, openness to try different orders, descriptives on agenda items. An idea was offered to list warrants as “consent agenda” modeled after the Town of Brattleboro. The expenses are listed with their respective costs. If an item needs further discussion, it can be discussed later in the meeting.  A request was made for SB packets to be shared with the general public. 

  1. Other Business. None.
  2. Correspondence
    Athena Advocacy re: Evans properties. The letter speaks about the probate process with the family wanting the sale of the land and property to benefit the town and honoring the Evans’role in the community.  
  1. Actions from 01.26.26 Meeting
    1. Approved the Minutes of the regular meeting of 1.12.26
    2. Approved Warrants
    3. Approved the naming of private drive “Gravity Drive”
    4. Discussed GMP project and took no motion
    5. Approved the Asset Management Report
    6. Adopted FY27 003 & 009 budgets
    7. Adopted Town Meeting Articles and Warning
    8. Established Emergency Management Fuel Fund (EMFF)
    9. Approved Liquor Licenses for Guilford Country Store
  1. Action Taken
  1. Approved the minutes of the special meeting of 01.23.26
  2. Approved the minutes of the regular meeting of 01.28.26
  3. Approved the Warrants
  4. Approved the creation of the Library Fund
  5. Approved the GMP Undergrounding Project on Packer Corners and Jelly Mill Roads
  6. Discussed Special Meeting Petition
  7. Discussed the 003 and 009 Budgets
  8. Discussed the planning of Pre-Town Meeting and Town Meeting 
  9. Discussed the setting of SB meeting Agendas
  1. Actions to be Taken
  1. Adjournment
    MOTION: Chip moved to adjourn and Mike seconded. The vote was by roll call. All were in favor, no objections, no abstentions. Motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 8:26 p.m.

Meeting Recording: https://www.brattleborotv.org/guilford-selectboard/guilford-selectboard-mtg-2-9-26/

Next Meeting: 02.23.26