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Any and all corrections to the following minutes will be made at the
03/06/03 Board of Selectmen's meeting and are considered unapproved until
then. Corrections will be noted in the minutes of that meeting.
MINUTES
- SPECIAL MEETING - BOARD OF SELECTMEN
FEBRUARY 13th, 2003
NEWFANE TOWN OFFICE
PRESENT:
Selectmen: Piet van Loon, Jesse Anderson, Lynn Bedell, and Gary Katz.
Absent: Gorty Baldwin
Also Present: Bea MacFarland and Doris Knechtel as Administrative Assistant.
1.
CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting was called to order by Chairman Piet van Loon at 7:04
p.m.
3. TO TRANSACT ANY OTHER BUSINESS THAT MAY COME BEFORE THE NEWFANE
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
A. P. van Loon had been approached by Dan Guadalupe about using the “Brown”
church in Williamsville for a Food Bank. According to D. Guadalupe the
church has been abandon by the Troy Conference and is to revert to the
town. Further research will have to be obtained. It was thought that only
the land may revert to the town. Mr. Guadalupe did not attend the meeting
as anticipated.
B. Bea MacFarland came to discuss with the Board the final plans for the
Village Sidewalks which shows Church Street (TH#55) as a one-way street,
as suggested by the engineer. The direction of the one-way is proposed
to be from the Four Columns to Union Hall. There has also been a section
for the parking of a bus near the Union Hall. The Board will look into
the process for changing a highway to one-way designation. It was mentioned
that it may be an idea to have a condition of the project that Church
Street by one-way for the public good and safety of pedestrians. P. van
Loon brought up the issue of aesthetics by having an additional four signs
for the one-way. Most vehicles seem to be using the street as a one-way
currently.
Motion was made by J. Anderson and seconded by L. Bedell to indicate that
the Newfane Selectboard would like to go on record stating that the Board
is agreeable to the revised village sidewalk plan to make Church Street
(TH#55) one-way from the Four Columns Inn to the Union Hall and will proceed
to make the change when the sidewalk project is done. Unanimous.
2. DRAFT PERSONNEL POLICY
Items discussed regarding the proposed Personnel Policy revisions:
A. Change from Personnel Policy to Personnel Handbook
B. Include a statement to indicate that the new handbook supersedes the
policy adopted in June of 1992.
C. Smoking policy - current policy allows smoking in the vehicles only
if the employee is alone or with another smoker. Board members feel that
there should not be any smoking in the vehicles. There may be a designated
smoking area outside of the garage building. What do other towns do? Whatever
is included in the handbook needs to be consistent with the labor laws.
D. Another area of discussion included hours worked, overtime pay after
40 hours and shift times when highway employees have to deal with winter
maintenance. This area will need to be checked into to be consistent with
the labor laws.
E. There was a question raised about adding the current Sexual Harassment
policy to the handbook or to reference the State and/or Federal requirements.
F. It was discussed that the section on Disciplinary Action should be
a somewhat less rigid process to follow.
G. The schedule for vacation leave for the length of service is revised
from the current policy.
H. In the proposed handbook it will be proposed to have five (5) sick
days per year which may be accrued from one year to the next, not to exceed
twenty (20) days. It is also proposed to add three (3) personal days per
year which may not be accrued from one year to the next. Currently there
are five personal/sick days per year that may be accrued up to 60 days.
L. Bedell will make the necessary changes to the proposed Personnel Handbook
and will E-mail it to Selectboard members when it has been completed.
3. TO TRANSACT ANY OTHER BUSINESS THAT MAY COME BEFORE THE NEWFANE
BOARD OF SELECTMEN - (cont.)
C. VTrans have acknowledged the receipt of a letter from the Newfane Selectboard
requesting that the speed limit be reduced to 30 mph through the Newfane
Village, down from 35 mph. The town will be notified 2-3 weeks prior to
the state Traffic Committee’s meeting.
D. An invoice has been received from the Department of Public Safety for
the VT State Police law enforcement services performed in Newfane.
E. The Planning Commission has met for the site plan review for Charles
“Bud” Bergmann. The results will be forthcoming. The Selectboard
may act on the access permit submission to the town at the meeting of
February 20th. Peter Lilienthal is interested, as an abutting property
owner, as to the PC and Selectboard decisions on the Bergmann applications.
F. Board members discussed the VLCT Resolution pertaining to Act 60. Some
of the Vermont Towns have agreed with the resolution. The Newfane Board
is split on the matter. Some of the comments were that: the resolution
did not say enough; the amount of the block grant should be changed to
be more realistic; the federal government is not funding special education
as they are supposed to (another unfunded mandate); some of the residents
are feeling the pinch, taxes are too high; smaller schools have a higher
per pupil cost and end up sending more money to help other communities.
The Newfane Board will not be making taking a stand on this matter at
this time, nor will they be signing the ACT 60 Resolution as proposed
by VLCT.
G. P. van Loon indicated that he will be working on a Request for Proposal
for the painting of the outside of the Williamsville Hall.
H. There will be “Incident Command Training” at Grace Cottage
on Wednesday, February 19th from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Ed Druke, as Chairman
of Emergency Management Committee, will be contacted to see if he may
be interested in attending.
I. The Candidates Forum will be held at the Newfane Elementary School
on Wednesday, February 19th at 7:00 p.m.
4. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by P. van Loon and seconded by G. Katz to adjourn the
Special Meeting of the Board at 10:38 p.m. Unanimous.
Doris A.
Knechtel
Administrative Assistant
Newfane Board of Selectmen
Posted: Town
Clerk's Office, Newfane Store, Williamsville General Store, and South
Newfane General Store & Deli. www.newfanevt.com
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