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NEWFANE SELECTBOARD MINUTES APRIL 2, 2008 NEWFANE TOWN OFFICE PRESENT: Selectboard: Jeff Gouger, Todd Lawley, Christopher Williams, Dennis Wiswall Also Present: Virginia Grabowski, Bea MacFarland, Ed Druke, Mike Fitzpatrick, Dick Hickey, Gloria Cristelli 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6:31 p.m. by Jeff Gouger, Vice-Chair. 2. MINUTES The minutes of March 19, 2009 were reviewed. A motion was made by Todd Lawley and seconded by Dennis Wiswall to approve the minutes as written. The motion carried unanimously. 3. ROAD BUSINESS Road Foreman/Road Commissioner’s Report: See attached report. Williamsville Covered Bridge: Jeff Gouger shared some new information from VTrans regarding the Covered Bridge replacement and the timeline. A short discussion was held. There was no action to be taken. Excess Weight Permits: Anderson Excavating: application received requesting 46,000 pounds and 60,000 pounds. A motion was made by Christopher Williams and seconded by Todd Lawley to approve the application at the requested weight limits. The motion carried unanimously. Radway Road/River Road: Mike Fitzpatrick was present and reported that he’s waiting for the roads to thaw out before beginning construction. He thought that it would be at least a few weeks. Mike Fitzpatrick estimated that the project would be complete within approximately three weeks from the beginning of construction. Gravel: Mike Fitzpatrick was present to discuss the gravel he is offering to the town at a substantial discount. He also noted that the sand mixture could be purchased as well, for the same price as the gravel. The storage of the gravel was discussed, as stockpiling would be a good idea at the price per yard. The Highway Crew will look for a storage solution and get back to the board. Ancient Roads: Discussion was tabled until the next meeting, when Gary would be back. 4. SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC Bea MacFarland was present to give a petition to the board regarding drainage in the village, asking the board to respond by April 24, 2009 to allow time for the Village to hold their annual meeting. Bea also presented a letter to the board from the village trustees in support of the petition. The annual meeting of the Village is to be held Wednesday, May 6, 2009. Bea MacFarland proposed that if the town gave permission and agreed to the work’ that the Village Trustees would ask for proceeds from other involved parties. Bea noted that the Village also has funds they could contribute too. Todd noted that it should have been brought up during budget time, because there is no money in the budget right now. And, the budget has already been approved for the next year. Christopher noted that there are bridges that are in very poor shape, and those need to be priority. Bea noted that she needs the board’s approval for her to research funding for the project, so that it wouldn’t cost the town money. She needed the authority from the town. The board tabled the discussion until the next meeting to be held on April 16 when Gary is back. Shannon will put it on the agenda for the next meeting and the board will make a decision and get back to the board by their requested deadline. Todd and Christopher will take a look at the area in question before the next meeting. 5. UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. Ed Druke was present to discuss the Newfane Hill Common Committee regarding the stumps that were left by the power company.. Ed and Terry Redfield will go up and look at it and get back to the board. 6. NEW BUSINESS Dennis Wiswall noted that he spoke with Peter McCoy regarding putting future procedures in place’ to keep a paper trail for any incoming or outgoing transactions. He noted that the board will have the opportunity to sit down and listen to Peter McCoy once he’s done with his work. Gloria noted that there is a program in the NEMRC system that can track all incoming transactions. This would match all the other programs that are used in the office. The cost of the program is approximately $1,700.00. She was not yet requesting the funds for this program. Todd opened discussion regarding the Town Clerk’s job description and the Administrative Assistant’s job description, noting that it is important to keep clarity between the two. Discussion ensued regarding meeting with the board to clear up any confusion. Gloria noted that Shannon had shared her job description with her earlier in the week, which should be very helpful. Discussion ensued regarding the Town Inventory of Assets List as to furniture being moved out of the office, and Gloria’s personal belongings that are in the town clerk’s office. Gloria noted that she’ll make a list of her belongings, so that if something unfortunate happens, we’ll be aware of what was affected. Storage of town office inventory was discussed as well. 7. OLD BUSINESS Appointments to Planning Commission: There were no recommendations for Planning Commission, therefore no appointments were made. South Wardsboro Road Junk Ordinance Violation: Shannon reported that she’d sent a letter regarding the removal of the trailer to the homeowner and has not received a response. The mud is still too deep to remove the trailer. Williamsville Hall Repairs: There were no updates. 8. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT See attached report. The consensus of the board was that it was okay for Shannon to be on vacation the week of April 20. 9. CORRESPONDENCE A letter was received from Gloria Cristelli, Town Clerk, requesting the approval to spend $200.00 for upgrading the donated computer and networking it. A motion was made by Christpher Williams and seconded by Dennis Wiswall to allow Gloria to spend up to $200.00 for installing the NEMRC system on the donated computer and for the purchase of a router and Ethernet cable. The motion carried unanimously. A letter was received from Gloria Cristelli, Town Clerk, requesting permission to dedicate $1.00 per page of the recording fees to be saved toward the eventual computerization of the land records and $1.00 per page of the recording fees to be saved toward restoration efforts of town documents. The board tabled the discussion pending further information. Jeff’s question was if it’s saved separately, does the board need to authorize spending these designated funds or does the town clerk have that authority? Gloria will get more information for the board. A letter was received from Piet van Loon regarding participation in the V.I.T. workshop on available stimulus money. No action was taken. 10. PAY ORDERS Todd Lawley made a motion to approve the pay orders as follows. Christopher Williams seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Pay Orders: 04/03/09 - $39,048.05 Payroll: 03/23/09 - $3,501.75 03/31/09 - $3716.78 04/03/09 - $2,874.67 IRS Electronic Payment: 04/01/09 - $1,013.19 04/08/09 - $986.53 04/08/09 - $604.76 11. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Todd Lawley and seconded by Dennis Wiswall to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 p.m. The motion carried unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Shannon Meckle
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