|
|
Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes |
|
Any and all corrections to the following minutes will be made at the 02/17/00 Board of Selectmen's Meeting and are considered unapproved until then. Corrections will be noted in the minutes of that meeting.
BOARD OF SELECTMEN FEBRUARY 17th, 2000 WILLIAMSVILLE HALL
PRESENT: 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman M. Rohan began the meeting to discuss the rehabilitation/replacement of the Williamsville-covered bridge by indicating that there are three alternatives to be considered of this community resource and the Board is looking for input from the public. At town meeting there are two articles on the warning for two of the options to be considered. If both options are voted down, the option to leave the existing structure as is will be the alternative. Technically the Board of Selectmen decide on the final option of choice. The information meeting was turned over to the VAOT representatives. Informational handouts were provided by VAOT. Mark Bannon, P.E., Regional Coordinator, briefly discussed the three Alternatives: #1 - Leave the existing structure "as is"; #2 - New one-lane-covered bridge on existing alignment and relocate the existing wooden structure to serve recreational use; and #3 - New two-lane, "modern" concrete bridge on existing alignment with new abutments and relocate the existing wooden structure to serve recreational use. Construction for alternatives #2 or #3 would start in 2005. Todd Sumner, Project Engineer, explained that recently the current bridge had fallen into disrepair and needed improvements to allow use by school busses, emergency vehicles and highway maintenance vehicles. The total cost of that project was $238,169 with the town's share being $3,343. The weight limit had been reduced to 8000# until the repair was completed. The glulam beams are to be returned to the state when they are no longer needed. The current repair could serve the town for another 20 years with proper maintenance and deck repair. Alternative #2 is a new one-lane covered bridge for an estimated cost of $968,000, with a local share cost of $ 48,400 or 5% includes $50,000 to relocate the existing bridge for non vehicular use. There would be other expenses to consider to adapt the use of the current structure, which could be as much as $150,000. There are programs available to pay 80% of those costs. A new one-lane covered bridge would allow for a H20 live load (40,000#), two-axle vehicles, including fire trucks, school busses, town maintenance vehicles. The projected life span of a new-covered bridge would be 40 - 50 years, with regular maintenance and repairs. The alignment would be the same using the same abutments. The proposed design shows the travel portion of the bridge would be 12'. Site distance would not be improve with a new covered-bridge. With a new-covered bridge there may not need to be a temporary bridge installed on the upstream side of the bridge, as a portion of the bridge may be assembled off site, leaving only two months of closure during which time the detour on Baker Brook Road, Wheeler Hill Road and Parish Hill Road could be used. The cost could be reduced by $100,000 by not needing a temporary bridge. Alternative #3 is for a new two-lane, "modern" concrete bridge on existing alignment with new abutments at an estimated cost of $1,003,000 for a local share cost of $100,300. This option also includes the relocation of the existing wooden structure. This option would necessitate the need to close the bridge for at least 6 months. There would be more impacts on wetlands and archeological areas with this option. The site distance would be much improved with this option with better accommodations for pedestrian/bicycle traffic. Photos of various guardrail designs were provided for the Board's review. The life span for Option #3 is estimated to be 75 years with regular maintenance and necessary repairs as required. The live load rating would be HS25 which would accommodate three-axle vehicles of 90,000# or more. Newfane restricts overweight vehicles to 60,000# unless permission is granted for a special one-time occurrence. The current average daily traffic is 1,700 vehicles per day. The design considerations are for 2,300 vehicles per day. Most of the questions raised by those present related to concerns about an increase traffic and use of heavier vehicles with Option #3. Some of those present expressed the feeling that the current covered-bridge is a traffic and speed deterrent through the villages of South Newfane and Williamsville. Other questions raised included lighting inside of the covered-bridge option and the inclusion of a walkway attached to the outside of the covered-bridge. Lighting could be a design consideration. A "cat walk" attached design would change the historic look and add additional costs for engineering design. If a temporary bridge is not needed, those funds may possibly be used for improvements to the detour route which is narrow in some areas. Those present were reminded that there are two non-binding articles on the warning for the March 7th Town meeting to be voted on; Alternative #2 - a new one-lane covered bridge on the existing alignment and Alternative #3 - a new two-lane "modern" concrete bridge on existing alignment. Chairman M. Rohan had to leave the meeting at 7:30 p.m. and Vice-Chairman L. Bedell conducted the rest of the meeting. The Board reviewed the report. No action was required on any of the items listed. J. Gray has reviewed the letter and recommendations received from Brooks Mitchell regarding the operation of the heating system at the Williamsville Hall. Some of the items and suggestions are not correct, for instance, the system is not connected to the domestic water system. J. Gray has discussed some of the information with Tim Jeffers. J. Gray feels that the town should get a second opinion of the repairs needed. Motion was made by R. Dowley and seconded by C. Van Iderstine to obtain a second opinion on the needs for the Williamsville Hall heating system improvements. Unanimous. J. Gray also indicated that Jeffers takes care of the plumbing needs at the Town Office, the Town Garage and the Williamsville Hall when needed and responds in a timely manner. He will contact Jeffers for the "second opinion" information. J. Anderson suggested that the hot water pipes be insulated. The heat has been on for several hours for this meeting and the temperature is barely up to 60%. The temperature outside is only 10 degrees. Heat is lost from doors being left open and from the poor condition of the windows. There is no insulation in the walls of the building. The doors and the furnace have been advertised "for sale" with bids to be returned by March 2nd at 7:00 p.m. Notices have also been posted at the five places throughout the community. C. EXCESS WEIGHT PERMITS No Excess Weight Permits were presented that required action by the Board.
D. ACCESS/RIGHT OF WAY PERMITS E. OTHER ROAD BUSINESS (2) C. Van Iderstine asked why the blacktop roads are salted before a storm causing the road surface to be "greasy". J. Gray indicated that the salt helps to clear the road by preventing the snow from adhering to the blacktop surface. (1) ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT - (2002) - No action taken. B. OTHER OLD BUSINESS - The December 1999 and January 2000 financial information for the revenues, expenditures. Capital and reappraisal fund were reviewed by the Board. The December information, six months, give a fairly good idea of how some expenditures are going. The Town and Highway overall expenditures are at 52.47% for the six-month period with the revenues at 57.50% for the same period. Some items that are way over the 50% will be looked into for an explanation. For January 2000, the revenues received are at 75.67% of anticipated budget with the Town and Highway expenditures are at 59.06% of budget. B. A representative from the USPO, Chris Madden, will be attending the Board meeting of March 2nd to begin the preliminary process for the finding of a site for a new 3,100 square foot post office space for Newfane. The current space is only 936 square feet. C. A copy of the materials from the guardrail presentation by VAOT on February 7, 2000 has been received from John Spicer, who attended the meeting. 02/12/00 Payroll $ 2,805.75 02/18/00 Payroll $ 448.96 02/18/00 Acct's Payable #17 $ 9,509.18 Unanimous B. IRS Electronic Federal Payroll Tax Payments 02/15/00 $ 1,067.46 B. A copy of the Historic Bridge Preservation Easement Agreement between the State of Vermont Agency of Transportation (VAOT) and Town of Newfane had been received for Bridge #49 (Green Iron Bridge) on town highway #26. The original copy for signature was not available at this time. The matter will be discussed at the March 2nd meeting. C. A letter has been received from seven property owners or residents of Jail Street (TH#56) to request that the name be changed to Village Green. If the Board is to consider this change, there would have to be a hearing. No action was taken. D. A letter has been received from JoEllen Tarallo-Falk and Jay Falk to request that Beetlestone Hill Road (TH#47) be shortened to Stone Hill Road. As with item 10. C., if the Board is to consider this change, a hearing would need to be held. No action was taken. E. A copy of a letter has been received that was written to Jonathan Julian from Brooks Mitchell regarding the heating system at the Williamsville Hall. This matter was discussed under 5.B. (1) earlier during the meeting. F. A Public Notice has been received to indicate that the Zoning Board of Adjustment will be having a hearing on March 8th beginning at 8:00 p.m. to consider a conditional use permit for WW Building Supply. The town office property abuts the property, owned by Phyllis Kent, to be used for the storage of lumber. Administrative Assistant Newfane Board of Selectmen Posted: Town Clerk's Office, Newfane Store, Patsy's County Seat Market, Lessing's Family General Store and South Newfane General Store & Deli and www.webwerk.com/newfane
ROAD COMMISSIONER'S REPORT 02/17/00 2. John Spicer called and said they had plowed snow up by the Williamsville Post office which blocked the view of cars coming from South Newfane. He thought if the pile was lowered a couple feet it would be all right. 3. Bruce Garrow called and wanted to know if the town crew could bring their large equipment to dig out the truck with the bottles and cans in the back as they tried with a small truck and could not do it. They also wanted a place plowed out in back for a full truck to get to their fuel tanks. Dick Dowley ROAD FOREMAN'S REPORT 2/17/00 TOWN OF NEWFANE HIGHWAY 2. Frozen culverts are now being thawed when conditions allow. 3. Vehicles have been parked at the Union Hall during storms. The Windham County Sheriff's Department has been notified of this problem. 4. Mud season will be coming shortly, and various roads will have to be posted to prevent serious damage to town roads. 5. All equipment is operational at this time.
Respectfully submitted,
Route 30, P.O. Box 36, Newfane VT 05345, Tel. (802) 365-7772 Please send all comments, suggestions and questions to info@newfanevt.com |
|