Select Board Meeting 10/13/15

Select board (SB) meetings are recorded by LPC-TV and are available at their website and on Comcast Television.  Written minutes are available at the town’s website.  Monday night’s meeting included:

• Telecommunications Committee Report: In September, the Committee met with Comcast and the state’s Division of Telecommunications and Connectivity. The state now recognizes that there are underserved areas in Cavendish, that aren’t having their needs met by VTel. In order for the town to eventually meet the state’s current and projected broadband speeds, Comcast is probably the best option. As part of documenting the situation in Cavendish, so that the town qualifies for state connectivity funding, a survey is currently underway. It ends on Monday, Oct. 19.  The handout given to the SB regarding these meetings is available in PDF format.

• Cavendish Flood Hazard Regulations (FHR): Etienne Ting, chair of the Cavendish Planning Commission, presented the SB with the Commission’s adopted changes to the current FHR. Board members received copies of the document and it was agreed this would need to be carefully read and discussed at subsequent meetings before there would be a public hearing and final adoption of the plan.

• Connecting 57 Depot Street to Municipal Waste Water System: The SB voted to have the Planning commission review this request and advise accordingly.

• Final Disbursement of Cavendish Flood Relief Fund: In order to close out the account, the SB approved that the remaining funds, $500, be put in the Cavendish Family Fund account.

• E-Waste: Vermont's e-waste law, passed in 2011, made it illegal to dispose of electronics in the landfill, and established a system where the state bills manufacturers for collection and recycling of their products. To that end the Cavendish Transfer station uses the old recycling building for E-waste. Still up for discussion, but basically on-hold until spring, is the replacement of the building with a pre fab structure.  

The town has recently learned that NCER (National Center for Electronics Recycling),  the contractor who handles Vermont’s E-Cycles program wants to amend their contract by no longer reimbursing 5¢ per pound for e-waste This change is a direct result of a significant drop in the commodity price of glass, plastic, metals and circuit boards. Each of these commodities are about ½ of what they were 12 months ago. It remains to be seen how the town will deal with this change.