MINUTES - ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING - BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MARCH 7th, 2002 - NEWFANE TOWN OFFICE

PRESENT:

Selectmen: Jesse Anderson, Lynn Bedell, Gary Katz, Richard Marek, and Hendrik W. Piet van Loon.

Also Present: Greg Record, James Gray, Road Foreman, and Doris A. Knechtel, Administrative Assistant.

1. CALL TO ORDER

The organizational meeting was called to order by Lynn Bedell at 7:01 p.m. The newly elected members of the Board were welcomed, Gary Katz, Richard Marek, and Piet van Loon.

2. ELECT: CHAIRMAN, VICE-CHAIRMAN AND CLERK

CHAIRMAN - L. Bedell nominated R. Marek as the Chairman of the Newfane Board of Selectmen. Nominations were closed. In favor of Richard J. Marek as Chairman of the Newfane Board of Selectmen: J. Anderson, L. Bedell, G. Katz and P. van Loon.

VICE-CHAIRMAN - J. Anderson nominated Piet van Loon as Vice-Chairman of the Newfane Board of Selectmen. Nominations were closed. In favor of Piet van Loon as Vice-Chairman of the Newfane Board of Selectmen: J. Anderson, L. Bedell, G. Katz and R. Marek.

CLERK - L. Bedell nominated Administrative Assistant Doris A. Knechtel, as Clerk of the Newfane Board of Selectmen. Nominations were closed. In favor of Doris A. Knechtel to serve as Clerk of the Newfane Board of Selectmen. Unanimous.

Richard J. Marek elected as Chairman of the Newfane Board of Selectmen.

Hendrik W. Piet van Loon elected Vice-Chairman of the Newfane Board of Selectmen.

Doris A. Knechtel elected as the Clerk of the Newfane Board of Selectmen.

3. MEETING SCHEDULE

Motion was made by P. van Loon and seconded by J. Anderson to have the regular meetings of the Newfane Board of Selectmen on the first and third Thursday of each month beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Newfane Town Office and to meet as the Board of Health and Local Board of Liquor Control Commissioners, as needed on the first and third Thursday. Unanimous.

4. LOCATION FOR POSTING OF NOTICES & MINUTES

Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by J. Anderson that the notices and minutes be posted at the following locations: Town Clerk’s Office, Newfane Store, Williamsville General Store, The South Newfane General Store & Deli and on the www.newfanevt.com website. Unanimous.

5. OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER FOR POSTING OF NOTICES & ADVERTISEMENTS

Motion was made by P. van Loon and seconded by G. Katz to have the Brattleboro Reformer be the official newspaper for the posting of regular and special notices, legal notices and advertisements. Unanimous.

6. APPOINTMENTS

A. ROAD COMMISSIONER - Motion was made by J. Anderson and seconded by P. van Loon to appoint Jesse W. Anderson as the Road Commissioner for the Town of Newfane. In favor: L. Bedell, G. Katz, R. Marek and P. van Loon. Abstaining: J. Anderson. Motion passes.

Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by P. van Loon to appoint the following people to the positions as stated:

B. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE - to appoint Edward J. Druke, Sr., Todd Lawley, Steve D. Jones, Jay Wilson and Greg Record to serve as members of the Emergency Management Committee.

C. DELEGATES TO WINDHAM REGIONAL COMMISSION - to appoint Hendrik W. van Loon and George B. Weir to serve as the Delegates to Windham Regional Commission from Newfane.

D. ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER(S) -to appoint the Windham County Sheriff’s Department to serve as the Animal Control Officer(s) for the Town of Newfane.

E. POUNDKEEPER - to appoint the Windham County Humane Society to serve as the Poundkeeper for Newfane.

F. FENCE VIEWERS - to appoint Larry C. Robinson, Gregory L. Record and Theodor E. Schreyer to serve as the Fence Viewers for the Town of Newfane.

G. INSPECTOR OF LUMBER, SHINGLES, & WOOD - to appoint Carleton Chaffee to serve as the Inspector of Lumber, Shingles & Wood for the Town of Newfane.

H. WEIGHER OF COAL - to appoint Carleton Chaffee to serve as the Weigher of Coal for the Town of Newfane.

I. REPRESENTATIVE TO RESCUE, INC. - to appoint Patrice E. Amirault to serve as the Representative of Rescue, Inc. from the Town of Newfane.

J. TOWN ENERGY COORDINATOR - to appoint Edward J. Druke, Sr. to serve as the Town Energy Coordinator for Newfane.

K. TOWN SERVICE OFFICER - to appoint Barbara Williams as the Town Service Officer for Newfane.

L. TREE WARDEN - to appoint William C. Guenther as the Tree Warden for Newfane.

M. SEWAGE CONTROL OFFICER - to appoint John J. Feifel, Sr. to serve as the Sewage Control Officer for the Town of Newfane.

N. COUNCIL ON AGING REPRESENTATIVE - to appoint Barbara Kinoy to serve as the representative from Newfane on the Council on Aging.

O. PLANNING COMMISSION - to appoint Charles A. Bergmann to serve as a member of the Newfane Planning commission for a term of four years to expire in March 2006.

P. ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT - No members were appointed. Three members are needed to serve; two for terms to expire in 2006 and one term to expire in 2005.

Q. WINDHAM SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DISTRICT - to appoint Doris Knechtel as the Supervisor and Paul Van Gelder as the Alternate Supervisor from Newfane on the WSWMD Board.

R. VERMONT GREEN-UP - to appoint Laura Bacon and Johanna Gardner to serve as the Co-Chairmen for Vermont Green-Up for Newfane.

S. CONSERVATION COMMISSION - to appoint Laura Bacon and David Clarkson to the Newfane Conservation Commission to each serve four year terms until the year 2006. Another person is needed to fill the term until 2004 that is vacant due to the resignation of Hollis Burbank-Hammerland.

T. WILLIAMSVILLE HALL COMMITTEE - to appoint Greg Andrews, Judith A. Egan, Myra P. Fassler, Jonathan Julian, Barbara Kinoy, Ernest Kinoy, Ann C, Landenberger, Lee Ann Nopper, Walter Phelps, Nancy S. Riege and Targ Spicer to serve as members of the Williamsville Hall Committee to serve until March 2003.

U. VILLAGE ENHANCEMENT COMMITTEE - Charles A. Bergmann, Edward J. Druke, Sr., Myra P. Fassler, Chris Petrak, John T. Spicer and Margaret Spicer to serve as members of the Village Enhancement Committee until March 2003. Unanimous.

Each of the people appointed to the above positions will be sent a letter asking if they accept their individual appointments.

V. ASSISTANT TOWN CLERK - Town Clerk, Janice Litchfield, will appoint her Assistant Town Clerk(s).

W. ASSISTANT TREASURER - Town Treasurer, Shelbajean Hescock, will appoint her Assistant Treasurer(s).

6. X. ELECTED OFFICIAL POSITIONS OPEN

(1) AUDITORS - No one was elected to fill the three vacant terms (2003, 2004 and 2005) of auditor at the recent election. Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by G. Katz to appoint Neil H. Pelsue and Fred Bacon to serve as auditors for the Town of Newfane until the next regular. Unanimous. It was suggested that at the next Town Meeting it be brought up again to consider eliminating the Auditors positions in Newfane. There is a yearly professional audit done by a Certified Public Accountant.

(2) LISTER - No one was elected to serve as a Lister for the Town of Newfane. G. Katz spoke of various townspeople he will contact to see if they are interested. P. van Loon indicated that “Red” Chaffee and David Berrie expressed interest in serving as Listers for the town. G. Katz indicated that he feels that T. Schreyer can take care of the regular day to day responsibilities, but there needs to be additional Listers for decision making. The new program is a straightforward system and may require less time for Lister’s time.

Motion was made by R. Marek and seconded by P. van Loon to rescind the appointments Neil Pelsue and Fred Bacon as Auditors and to advertise for all of the open elected positions, including all three Auditors positions, two Lister positions, Town Agent and Grand Juror asking that those interested appear before the Board or to write a letter of interest. In favor: J. Anderson, G. Katz, R. Marek and P. van Loon. Opposed: L. Bedell. Motion passes.

(3) TOWN AGENT - No Town Agent was elected to serve during the recent elections.

(4) GRAND JUROR - No Grand Juror was elected to serve during the recent elections.

7. SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

A. DISCUSSION OF DRAFT CELL TOWER ORDINANCE/BYLAW

Laura Bacon has provided the Board with a draft Cell Tower Bylaw incorporating comments from Jon Groveman, VLCT attorney who reviewed the document. Treating the document as an Interim Bylaw, the process will involve a hearing by the Board of Selectmen. P. van Loon indicated that according to Chapter 117, the Planning Commission shall draft bylaws. It is hoped that because of the process that has been followed so far, with having the Conservation Commission work on the ordinance/bylaw for the town, that the PC will recommend this document, with some changes, so that the Board can move forward with a hearing.

Board members discusses various changes and approaches to getting a Cell Tower Bylaw in effect before someone comes before the PC and Act 250 with an application. R. Marek and P. van Loon will review and work on the document to include the proposed changes that were discussed. The target date is to get a revised document to the Planning Commission by March 19th, and to have it returned with approval to the BOS by March 21st for a hearing on April 18th.

8. UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC - None of the members of the public present had any matters to bring before the Board.

9. ROAD BUSINESS

A. ROAD COMMISSIONER’S REPORT

There was some discussion about whether J. Gray will be in attendance at this meeting. It was suggested that the Road Business be scheduled at 8:00 p.m. each meeting and that J. Gray should be here at that time.

(1) Item #1 and (Item #2 RF) - South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) has been posted for mud season. Log trucks continue to use the road. Some of the loggers do obey the requests to stay off the road during the warmer temperatures. J. Anderson has contacted Sheriff Farnum about the situation. The WCSD should work with the DOT to enforce the weight limit on the overweight vehicles using the town roads. Many of the loggers do not have the excess weight permits from the town that are required on a yearly basis from April 1 through March 31. Loggers have also been using Parish Hill Road (TH#26), but it is not posted at this time for mud season.

B. ROAD FOREMAN’S REPORT - (See attached report)

(1) Item #4 - The final audit for the flood work will begin next Monday or Tuesday, March 11th or 12th.

E. OTHER ROAD BUSINESS

(1) Motion was made by P. van Loon and seconded by J. Anderson to send a letter to be signed by the Chairman R. Marek, to C. Chandler of Depot Road (TH#2) asking him to meet with the Road Commissioner and the Road Foreman to discuss the problem of runoff into the town highway and potential ways to correct the situation. Unanimous.

(2) The retaining wall within the town highway right of way at the Fritz property on Grimes Hill Road (TH#5) is deteriorating. a letter will be written to the Fritz’s asking that when the retaining wall is replaced, that it be moved further back toward the dwelling away from the road.

(3) J. Gray spoke of more than fifty trees that have been cut by the power company in the right of way off of South Wardsboro Road (TH#1). J. Gray thinks that the Tree Warden, Bill Guenther, should have been notified about the cutting of the trees. DAK had asked W. Guenther if he had been contacted by CVPS about the cutting of the trees, and he did not recall that he had been contacted, but he will look at the situation. W. Guenther has had a longstanding relationship with CVPS on the cutting of trees.

11. OTHER BUSINESS

A. At the Board meeting of March 21, the Board members were asked to put together some ideas for a draft list of Goals and Objectives to be accomplished during the next year.

B. J. Anderson will be away from April 10th until April 21st.

9. ROAD BUSINESS

C. Municipal Excess Weight Limit Permits - Motion was made by J. Anderson and seconded by R. Marek to approve the following Excess Weight Permits as proposed:

Contractor Vehicle Weights Certificate of Insurance

Bazin Bros. Trucking 3 axle @ 60,000# Okay Yes

4 axle @ 69,000# Reduced to 60M#

5 axle @ 80,000# Denied

6 axle @ 90,000# Denied

Carroll Concrete Co. 3 axle @ 60,000# Okay Yes

4 axle @ 69,000# Reduced to 60M#

Unanimous. The permit holders will be sent a copy of the Newfane Policy and Procedures for Excess Weight Permits and a Bridge Restriction List.

12. MINUTES

Minutes of 02/21/02 - CORRECTIONS - Page #2, a. Second ¶, second sentence: “Complaints would be received, possibly from neighbors, and would be investigated ...” Same ¶, third sentence: “The Selectboard would then send a letter to the owner of any junk or junk vehicles and request that the items be removed or screened from view of the traveled way of the highway or town road, or from view of land regularly used by an abutting landowner.” Motion was made by J. Anderson and seconded by R. Marek to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of 02/21/02, as corrected. In favor: R. Marek, J. Anderson L. Bedell, and G. Katz. Abstaining: P. van Loon. Motion passes.

10. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT - (See attached report)

A. Item #1 - With regards to the payment for the delinquent taxes on the P. Kauffeld property, when the closing on the property from Kauffeld to the Town through the Hazard Mitigation is finalized, the Board agreed that the monies for the taxes should come out of the Kauffeld portion and not the town’s portion.

14. CORRESPONDENCE

A. Board members were reminded to complete the form for attending the Municipal Officer Conference at Mount Snow on May 2nd. The form should be turned into the Treasurer by the April 4th meeting.

B. Correspondence has been received from Representative Dan Darrow urging the Board to make their views known to the Senate Reapportionment Committee. The House version passed for redistricting still has Newfane with Dover, Stratton and Wardsboro. Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by R. Marek to have a letter written to the Senate Reapportionment Committee to indicate that Newfane wishes to remain in the current district of Newfane, Brookline, Townshend and Marlboro. Unanimous. Chairman R. Marek will sign the letter. Copies will go to Senators Chard and Shumlin as well as the towns involved.

C. There will be a Legislative Redistricting Hearing through VIT on Friday, March 15, 2002, beginning at 3:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. The location in Brattleboro is at the Key Bank.

D. The Windham Region Population & Housing Profile for Newfane is now available. The information was compiled by Windham Regional Commission.

E. The West River Acres, Inc. Proposed Panel Decision of the Vermont Environmental Board (VEB) regarding the Declaratory Ruling Request #398 has been received.

F. a copy of notification to VEB has been received from Attorney T. O’Connor that West River Acres, Inc. Requests and opportunity for oral argument on Wednesday, March 20, 2002 at 2:00 p.m. before the Environmental Board.

G. a copy of the Town of Townshend’s request for a reconsideration by the District #2 Environmental Commission of the Jurisdictional Opinion #2-155 regarding the renovation of the Dutton Gym for a performing arts center has been received.

13. PAY ORDERS

Motion was made by R. Marek and seconded by J. Anderson to approve the Newfane Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrants for the following amounts:

02/23/02 Payroll $ 3,297.10

03/06/02 Payroll $ 2,761.93

03/06/02 Payroll $ 1,713.57

03/08/02 Acct’s Payable #21 $ 17,831.52 Unanimous.

IRS Electronic Federal Payroll Tax Payments

02/27/02 $ 1,323.95

03/06/02 $ 1,095.05

11. OTHER BUSINESS - (cont.)

C. P van Loon has indicated that intends to resign his position as Zoning Administrator as soon as a replacement can be found. He said that the job basically is 4 half days a week.

15. ADJOURNMENT

Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by J. Anderson to adjourn the Organizational Meeting of the Board at 10:02 p.m. Unanimous.

Doris A. Knechtel
Administrative Assistant
Newfane Board of Selectmen

Posted:
Newfane Town Office, Newfane Store, Lessing's Family General Store and South Newfane General Store & Deli. www.newfanevt.com

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ROAD COMMISSIONER’S REPORT

March 7th, 2002

1. CALLS

a call was received about moving a load of logs on Newfane Hill. The road was posted for mud season but he was confident of a hard freeze. Jim agreed to check the road first thing on the day agreed upon. Unfortunately, the weather cooperated (very hard freeze) but the truck driver could not make it. Fortunately the roads seem to be drying out quickly so an early and somewhat unexpected start to mud season will also mean an early end.

a resident of South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) called with a concern. The large log trucks on South Wardsboro Road are always a concern, however, mud season makes it worse. The trucks do not have overweight permits, they are in violation of the road posting for mud season even if they did have overweight permits. I spoke with Sheriff Farnum about it and he is planning to put an officer on South Wardsboro Road. He was not totally clear about Newfane’s access permit process and overweight permit process. The Sheriff has to deal with several towns, each with its own set of ordinances. I asked him to let me know the company names of any trucks that are in violation. He thought that one of them might be the same company whose truck was involved in a sideswipe last year. The Board should give serious consideration to restricting oversize vehicles on South Wardsboro Road. The reason would be that South Wardsboro Road has not been widened and paved but it is handling greatly increased traffic. Much more than our other dirt roads if I am recalling the statistics from WRC correctly. Trucks from Wardsboro also have another route via Rt. 30.

2. SIDEWALK PROJECT

The Newfane sidewalk project has selected an Engineer for the design and permitting phase of the project. The interviews with the Engineers were a very enlightening (and lengthy) experience. I would like to keep the rest of the Board up to date and involved because the right of way permit for this project will not be a normal permit to process. It will involve most of West (TH#1), Church (TH#55) and Cross (TH#14) Street and parking patterns, drainage, etc., may be changed. This project will be a huge improvement over the existing sidewalks.

3. ITEMS TO BE DONE

Flood work audit paperwork.

Prepare specifications for a new truck to be delivered in FY 2003 and before the snow flies (10 month lead time not unusual).

Guardrails under contract but not installed last year.

Alternative project (replacement) for Bruce Brook Road (TH#21) bridge (BR#32) (in lieu of flood repair).

Infrastructure inventory (to be eligible for full Federal and State assistance).

Covered bridge roof beam damage repair. (Bill Noyes has not returned my calls).

Assess scope of repairs that are essential and/or desirable for the grader. These need to be scheduled for a time that the grader can be trailered to Caterpillar and repaired. Mud season is not a good time. No time is a good time.

ROAD FOREMAN’S REPORT 3/07/02

TOWN OF NEWFANE HIGHWAY

1. Town highways are being shaped up with the 140G Grader where ruts and potholes exist. If the current weather continues with the freeze thaw cycle, mud season should not be very serious.

2. South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) has been posted for mud season. Log trucks from Canada are seen trucking most days. Damage has been minimal to the highway.

3. Equipment: a. The steering cylinder for the 140G has been repaired by Dunklees. The Grader was down for two days. B. All other equipment is operational.

4. Flood work paper work to be gone over with Doris for final audit.

5. The Williamsville Hall hot water heater was installed by Jeffers. The wiring end of it was not done. Gene Garbe was hired to hook up the heater before the last senior meal at the last moment. Thanks to Gene hot water was available. The basement outside door was found unlocked after the last event at the hall.

Road Foreman

Jim Gray

To: Newfane Board of Selectmen MEMORANDUM
From: Doris A. Knechtel
Subject: Administrative Assistant's Report
Date: March 7, 2002

1. Jane Krochmalny called regarding the Patricia Kauffeld Williams matter. It appears that the transfer of the property to the town is moving forward. She asked if the town wants the delinquent taxes paid out of the amount of funds that P. Williams receives and not out of the town portion. The amount due as of 12/31/01 is $903.87.

2. The town's E-mail address is tnewfane@sover.net after some confusion over the username. Wayne Wells came in an took care of the transfer of information from my "old" computer to the new system and prepared all of the connections for the E-mail, the web and the scanner on Monday. Southern Vermont Tel. Inc came this morning to install a new jack for the internet connection. Then the monitor on the new computer snapped a few times and went blank. Janice just had her monitor replaced for a similar problem. I will be calling Gateway for a replacement. The system is still under warranty.

3. The updated information for the Municipal Planning Grant budget adjustment has been received from Joan Weir. The information has been sent to Gregory Brown so that the town received the grant agreement to be signed by the town and the process can move forward.

4. Laura Bacon has submitted the draft Cell Tower Bylaw for the Board's consideration as an interim bylaw. I did try scanning the document and was somewhat successful, but need to get it in the area that I want it to be so that I can make any revisions that may be necessary. Eventually.

Please send all comments, suggestions and questions to info@newfanevt.com