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Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes

Any and all corrections to the following minutes will be made at the 04/15/04 Board of Selectmen's meeting and are considered unapproved until then. Corrections will be noted in the minutes of that meeting.

MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING - BOARD OF SELECTMEN
APRIL 1st, 2004
NEWFANE TOWN OFFICE

PRESENT:
Selectmen: Piet van Loon, Carleton Chaffee, Priscilla Cotton, Gary Katz, and Chris Williams.
Also Present: Bruce Garrow, Lyssa Singleton, Sheriff Sheila Prue, and Doris Knechtel as Administrative Assistant.

1. CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting was called to order by Chairman van Loon at 6:34 p.m.

2. ROAD BUSINESS
A. ROAD COMMISSIONER'S REPORT - (See attached report)
(1) Item #1 - K. Bostrom is preparing highway grant applications for paving of South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) and for gravel work on another section of TH#1 for culvert, gravel and geo-textile work. Applications are due on April 15th at District #2.
(2) Item #3 - Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by P. Cotton to approve of the purchase of a front-end York Rake for approximately $2,500 from the Capital Fund. Unanimous.
(3) Item #2 - Paul Jones has expressed his willingness to work on the highway inventory for the town after his retirement. Once the town highway infrastructure inventory has been completed, the town will be eligible for additional funding through highway grants.
(4) Item #5 - An application will be submitted for the replacement of the Stone Arch culvert on Dover Road (TH#2) through the town highways structures grant program.
(5) P. van Loon and G. Katz met with the property owners affected by the reconstruction and slight change in alignment of the South Newfane Bridge #14; Fred Lawrence, Peter and Tana Lilienthal, and Steve & Diane Brown. A smaller version of the schematic of the bridge location information will be forthcoming from the state to give to the involved property owners. Construction will not begin until 2007. A copy of the notes prepared by P. Lilienthal and F. Lawrence was received by G. Katz via John Spicer. It was noted by the Selectboard members present at the meeting that not all of the items included in the notes were discussed at the meeting.
(6) Item # 6 - K. Bostrom is preparing an inventory of the road signs that the town now has and a list of the missing signs that need to be ordered.
2. B. ROAD FOREMAN'S REPORT
The Road Foreman was not present due to the heavy rains and flooding which has caused some damage to the roads. (No report was submitted).
2. OTHER ROAD BUSINESS
A. Motion was made by C. Chaffee and seconded by P. Cotton to approve the Petition and Order for Pole and Wire Locations submitted by Central Vermont Public Service for the installation of poles and associated wires and anchor guys within the right of way of Wiswall Hill Road (TH#11). Unanimous.
2. C. EXCESS WEIGHT PERMITS
Motion was made by C. Chaffee and seconded by C. Williams to approve the following Excess Weight Limit permits as amended:

Harvey M. Excavating 3 axle @ 60,000# Okay  
  4 axle @ 69,000# Reduced to 60M#  
David N. Smith 2 axle @ 33,400# Okay  
  3 axle @ 55,000# Okay Unanimous


2. D. ACCESS/RIGHT OF WAY PERMITS
No Access/Right of Way permits were presented to the Board for action.
2. E. SOUTH WARDSBORO ROAD (TH#1) PROJECT
K. Bostrom spoke with A.S. Clark about assistance on the South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) project. The cost for the equipment use is estimated to be between $1,500 and $2,000. Motion was made by P. Cotton and seconded by G. Katz to leave the scheduling of the South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) Project up to K. Bostrom and to allow the assistance from A.S. Clark for the projected cost of $2,000. In favor: P. van Loon, C. Chaffee, P. Cotton and G. Katz. Abstaining: C. Williams. Motion passes.
2. G. CULHANE CORNER
Floyd Roberts, VAOT District #2 Administrator, prepared a draft amendment grant application to include engineering work for the Culhane Corner project on Dover Road (TH#2). The town has a grant for $50,000 for the project. He suggested that the town amend the grant request for an additional $25,000 to cover the cost of engineering for the project. Motion was made by P. Cotton and seconded by G. Katz to amend grant #THS20004 306 to request an additional $25,000 for engineering for the Culhane Corner retaining wall project on Dover Road (TH#2) for a total grant of $75,000. Unanimous. Chairman van Loon will speak to Stevens and Associates about their engineering submission.

3. SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
A. LYSSA SINGLETON - SCHOOL GRANT
Lyssa Singleton, Chairman of the PTO, presented the preliminary Land & Water Conservation Fund Grant Application that she has prepared for the Newfane Elementary School Playground Project. The PTO has raised about $10,000 and would like to raise another $5,000. The grant is asking for about $30,582 for a project that is expected to cost in the range of $54,000. The proposed project consists of the removal and replacement of the current structures that are about 15 years old and that have arsenic application. The new structures and equipment will meet the current safety standards. There will be the installation of a new 2 size basketball court with two height-adjustable basketball hoops. There will be a meeting on Tuesday morning with a representative from Land & Water Conservation Fund. She is coming to the Board as the town owns the land and will need to be the sponsors. A Sponsor Resolution to apply for the L & WCFunds was presented to the Board members which they reviewed. Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by C. Williams to have Chairman Hendrik W. van Loon sign the completed Sponsor Resolution, not to exceed $30,582, on behalf of the town of Newfane. Unanimous. The town may have to front some of the funds before the grant monies are received. P. van Loon will attend the site visit on Tuesday morning on behalf of the town.

3. B. SHERIFF SHEILA PRUE - WINDHAM COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.
Sheriff Prue was present at the invitation of the Board to discuss the various aspects of law enforcement and how it is working for Newfane. It was reported to the Sheriff that at this recent Town Meeting, some of the citizens expressed their displeasure at the lack of enforcement for those speeding through South Newfane and Williamsville. The WCSD has been in that area at various times for speed enforcement. It was noted from the WCSD report in the town report that only 28 speeding tickets were issued. That could have been a mistake. Board members asked if there could be a section on the report from the WCSD that shows the location of the deputy so that when citizens say that they have not been in an area, the Board can look at the report and know the times and location of speed enforcement. Sheriff Prue that it may be difficult to determine as the officers move around from place to place. It was also suggested that the ASmart Cart@ be used as soon as it is back in circulation and that it be moved around from place to place before people get used to the location. For law-abiding citizens the best traffic calming device is enforcement according to Internet searches. Signs and speed bumps are not that effective in the long term.
Board members discussed the recent dog incident on Browns Road (TH#45) and the dog ordinance in general. Sheriff Prue will communicate with the Constable, Kevin Behan, about dog complaints and how they will work together to handle dog situations between the WCSD and the Constable. Any criminal action should be covered by the WCSD. The Board is in the process of revising the Newfane Dog Ordinance due to recent animal control activities. A copy of the revised ordinance will be given to the WCSD and the Constable before it is passed.
Sheriff Prue indicated that she is sending some of the deputies to Atruck@ school to be able to be able to assess fines on excess weight vehicles that do not have the proper excess weight limit permits. The deputies will have scales to be able to weight the vehicles. This will be useful for Newfane, in particular for logging operations.
The Selectboard thanked Sheriff Prue for her attendance and input at the meeting.

4. UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
No members of the public were present that wished to bring any matters to the Board.

5. OLD BUSINESS
A. DOG ORDINANCE
P. van Loon has obtained copies of Dog/Animal Control Ordinances from four area towns. P van Loon and P. Cotton will review the documents and come back to the Board with a draft for an amended Newfane Dog Ordinance.
B. PERSONNEL POLICY
The Personnel Policy will be reviewed and updated for additional discussion at the next Board meeting on April 15th.
C. OTHER OLD BUSINESS
(1) The Newfane/Dummerston Housing Review Committee scheduled for Tuesday, 03/30/04 has been postponed until some time next week. The current Newfane project is close to having spent the amount of the original loan and the project is not completed.
(2) Board members have been given copies of letters recently sent to residents involved in a recent dog incident on Browns Road (TH#45) as well as memos sent to the Town Constable and the WCSD.
(3) The bids for the purchase of a new Loader for the town are due on April 15th. They will be opened and reviewed before a decision is made on the purchase.

6. NEW BUSINESS
A. APPOINTMENTS
(1) LELAND & GRAY SCHOOL BOARD (1) - No candidate was suggested.
(2) CONSERVATION COMMISSION
A letter has been received from William Guenther that he is resigning as a member of the Conservation Commission. A new member will need to be appointed to serve until March of 2007.
6. B. GOALS & OBJECTIVES - 2004 - 2005
Board members spoke of the Goals & Objectives list that was prepared last year by the Selectboard. G. Katz expressed his concerns about Athings@ not getting done. P. van Loon indicated that the list serves as a reminder and a management tool. The list is divided into Higher Priorities, Lower Priorities and Items to Monitor. Many of the items listed have been completed or are in the works. P. Van Loon asked if there are new items that need to be added. The roof repair at the old town garage, additional accounting and financial information, suggestions from the Auditor's yearly report, and the idea of a duly adopted Capital Plan rather than a Working Capital Plan were ideas that were mentioned. An updated list will be provided for the next meeting.
6. C. SCHEDULE MEETINGS WITH BOARDS, TOWNS AND AGENCIES
The Selectboard will invite the Vermont State Police to attend the Selectboard meeting of May 6th. The Board also spoke of meeting with the Dover Selectboard in the future to discuss among other town government related issues, a sign in Dover to indicate the restrictions for the covered bridge in Williamsville. Heavy trucks get into the area and then have to try to seek an alternate route.

9. CORRESPONDENCE
A. A letter has been received from the Marlboro Morris Ale Association requesting that they be allowed to close a portion of West Street (TH#1) and Church Street (TH#55) on Sunday, May 29th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. for the annual Marlboro Morris dancers. Motion was made by C. Chaffee and seconded by C. Williams to grant permission to close West Street and Church Street on Sunday, May 29th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Unanimous. C. Chaffee brought to the attention of the Board other events within the village area, in particular, where parking is a problem. The Flea Market parking was also noted as a problem parking spot.
B. Notification has been received from the Department of Forest, Parks and Recreation that Todd Lawley with the recommendation that Todd Lawley be reappointed for a period of five years to serve as the Town Forest Fire Warden for Newfane. Motion was made by C. Williams and seconded by C. Chaffee to reappoint Todd Lawley to serve as the Town Forest Fire Warden for Newfane until June 30, 2009. Unanimous.
C. The Board received a letter and request that the Board pass a resolution in agreement with the VT State Senate resolution, which was attached. Basically the resolution requests that VT Yankee Nuclear Power Plant have an independent engineering assessment performed on the plant before they uprate their power production. Only seven residents signed the petition requesting the Board of this action. The Board will check to find out who was the author of the letter as it was unclear who actually sent the letter. Newfane is outside of the 10-mile radius of the nuclear plant.
D. Correspondence has been received from Windham Regional Commission regarding the appointments of the two voting representatives from Newfane. P. van Loon noted that George Weir, who has served for several years and was appointed by the Board in March, may not be interested in continuing to serve the town in that capacity.

6. D. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
(1) Questions were raised about the status of the new Post Office building in Newfane. Applications were to be submitted by Friday, March 26th according to P. van Loon.

7. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT'S REPORT
A. D. Knechtel attended a seminar in Rutland sponsored by NEMRC relating to Act 68 and the changes to be made in the Listers NEMRC program. Very informative seminar but a lot of extra work for the Listers to make the Act 68 requirements work correctly. For tax purposes, parcels within the same ownership will be combined. On the Assess.Pro program, each parcel will remain separate. Patriot Properties is writing a program to transfer the separate parcel information from Assess.Pro to combined common ownership in the NEMRC program.

8. MINUTES
(1) Minutes of 02/19/04 - Motion was made by P. Cotton and seconded by G. Katz to approve the minutes of the 02/19/04 meeting, as written. In favor: P. van Loon, P Cotton, G. Katz and C. Williams. Abstaining: C. Chaffee. Motion passes.
(2) Minutes of 03/24/04 - Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by P. Cotton to approve the minutes of 03/24/04, as written. Unanimous.

10. PAY ORDERS
Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by P. Cotton to approve the Newfane Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrants for the following amounts:
03/20/04 Payroll $ 4,111.75
03/27/04 Payroll $ 3,665.38
04/01/04 Payroll $ 2,760.93
04/02/04 Acct.'s Payable #21 $ 23,369.84 Unanimous.
IRS Electronic Federal Payroll Tax Payments
03/24/04 $ 1,331.30
03/31/04 $ 1,299.25

11. EXECUTIVE SESSION
No matters came before the Selectboard that required the need of an Executive Session.

12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by P. Cotton to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board at 9:22 p.m. and convene the meeting of the Local Board of Liquor Control Commissioners. Unanimous.

13. LOCAL BOARD OF LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSIONERS
The Local Board of Liquor Control Commissioners received renewal forms for two First Class Liquor Licenses and one Second Class Liquor Licenses.
Motion was made by C. Chaffee and seconded by P. Cotton to approve the two First Class Liquor License applications for Newfane Inn, Inc. d.b.a. the Old Newfane Inn and Joed, Incorporated, d.b.a. Rick's Tavern, and the Second Class Liquor License application for James R. Borta, d.b.a. Newfane Market. Unanimous.
Motion was made by P. Cotton and seconded by C. Williams to adjourn the meeting of the Local Board of Liquor Control Commissioner at 9:29 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.
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ROAD COMMISSIONER'S REPORT - 04/01/04

1. Grants
A. Kurt is drafting application for the Class 2 Roadway Grants. We will submit an application for re-paving the South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) from the washout up to the end. The next paving priority is Radway Hill Road (TH#4). Grimes Hill Road (TH#5) needs considerable preparatory work before it would make sense to invest in repaving. Concerning Depot Road (TH#2) deterioration, Kurt is meeting with Paul Gould to look at it. As an interim measure a flexible seal where the road surface joint is separating would help. The complete job of fixing Depot Road could be a big project.
B. Since gravel roads are also now eligible under these grants, Kurt is also preparing an application for culvert improvements and gravel and geo-textile work along the South Wardsboro Road (TH#1). (This can be a good demonstration project for us to see if geo-textile underlayment might be helpful on other Town roads.)
C. The grant applications are due April 15.
2. Bridges/Culverts/Structures Inventory
Paul Jones is interested in doing some of the inventory work for the Town as a consultant following his retirement this June. In addition, Kurt is getting an estimate for contract computer help on the project.
3. Front-end York Rake
Kurt has requested Board approval to purchase the rake and mount. Cost would be about $2,500 total. If we have sufficient funds in the current budget, I recommend approval.
4. Repainting Road Lines
Kurt will check costs for repainting the white side lines on the roads and will put in a request to the State to repaint the yellow center lines.
5. Bridges
A. Kurt has discussed the Adams Hill Road Bridge (TH#37) with Paul Gould. It would be a big project and Paul noted that we would not be likely to get funding for it in the near future. We can check again next year.
B. Kurt has met with the State about the Stone Arch culvert on Dover Road (TH#2), and while he will submit an application, this is another project that most likely won't happen this year.
6. Signs
We checked the Williamsville Hall basement and Kurt will clear out the signs stored there. He is also completing the inventory of signs and missing signs and will begin replacing missing signs as they become available.

Gary Katz, Road Commissioner

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