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Any and all corrections to the following minutes will be made at the 05/18/00
Board of Selectmen's Meeting and are considered unapproved until then.
Corrections will be noted in the minutes of that meeting.
MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MAY 18th, 2000 NEWFANE TOWN OFFICE
PRESENT:
Selectmen: Michael Rohan, Jesse Anderson, Lynn Bedell, and Carter Van
Iderstine. Absent: Richard Dowley
Also Present: Bea MacFarland, Earle Stebbins and Robert Litchfield,
Newfane Village Trustees; Nancy Riege, Williamsville Hall Committee;
Hendrik W. van Loon, Zoning Administrator; James O. Gray, Road Foreman,
and Doris Knechtel, Administrative Assistant.
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chairman M. Rohan called the Regular Meeting of the Board to order at
6:35 p.m.
2. SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
A. NEWFANE VILLAGE DRAINAGE - PLANS REVIEW
Comments have been received, verbally, from Stevens & Associates regarding
questions asked by the Board regarding the drainage plans for the Village
of Newfane. The cost for Alternate 1 as shown on the plans is estimated
to be $5,900. This is the Four columns Inn and church drainage section.
The costs for the rest of the project is estimated to be $10,000 to
$12,000 which includes catch basin #3, street work, upgrading of the
existing catch basin and the sidewalk. The cost of the whole project
would be an estimated $15,000 to $17,000. The state standards for sidewalks
has been sent to Stevens & Associates to review and add as an addendum
to the plans. The plans call for concrete curbing. The Village Trustees
indicated that the village would pay the extra for the granite curbing,
which costs about $16/foot. For an estimated 54 feet, the cost of granite
curbing would be $854. The other sidewalks planned for the village include
granite curbing. The purpose of the project is to get rid of the ice
in the winter that drains across the street. The question was raised
as to how the project got from the $7,500 budgeted for the town to $12,000?
J. Anderson felt that if the true cost had been known at the time, the
Board may not have budgeted for it. L. Bedell expressed her desire to
fix the problem.
The plans show a 12" pipe on the Alternate 1 portion and the town standard
calls for a 15" pipe. The 12" was used, according to Steven's & Associates
because of the amount of fill required over the top to protect the pipe.
J. Gray spoke with Wm. Noyes, District #2 Technician, and he suggested
using a 15" squashed pipe. During the discussion regarding the costs,
J. Gray indicated that the cost of the sidewalk should not be the responsibility
of the town, but the village. The village has applied for a grant for
a portion of the sidewalk to be replaced, but they will not know the
results of the grant application until later during the year.
A draft bid to include the granite curbing, the C-2A standards, the
15" squashed pipe for Alternate 1 will be ready for the next meeting
on 06/01. The bid will ask the contractor to break down the costs for
Alternate 1, Alternate 2 -Town costs, and Alternate 3 - sidewalk costs
with the project completion date to be before 10/01. If the principal
contractor does all three of the alternative of the project without
subbing out the work, then it is anticipated that the cost will be reduced.
B. OPENING OF CALCIUM CHLORIDE BIDS
No bids were received for the purchase of calcium chloride. J. Gray
will call the purveyor that the town purchased the chloride from last
year to ask why they did not submit a bid.
C. WILLIAMSVILLE HALL UPDATE with WHC
Nancy Riege, Chairman of the Williamsville Hall Committee, was present
to find out what has transpired with the installation of a three-bay
sink at the Williamsville Hall and improved electrical fixtures. Board
members met at the hall with J. Jeffers and A. Campbell on May 11th.
A copy of the minutes of that meeting were given to N. Riege. Mention
was made of the replacement of the front steps and the walkway at the
hall, which was also discussed at that 05/11 meeting. M. Rohan will
be in contact with a concrete contractor for an estimate. The heating
system problems have been worked on and hopefully have been corrected.
The committee would like to have the kitchen and dining area in shape
to be used for congregate meals. The patrons would access the building
by the ramp and lift. Existing tables could be used. N. Riege asked
about obtaining a key for the hall so that if the committee is to meet
there, they do not have to come to the Town Office. W. Phelps, a member
of the committee, has a key which she can obtain from him. When the
hall is to be used, they still need to notify the Administrative Assistant.
Any meeting of the committee are to be properly warned and the minutes
posted. There have been instances when lights have been and the door
has been ajar. (See AA Report Item #6). The chairman must take full
responsibility for use of the key. For the next selectmen's meeting
a list of monies used and anticipated for expenses to the Williamsville
Hall will be compiled to determine what may be available for other infrastructure
projects, such as sanding the floors and accomplishing some painting,
inside and out. N. Riege mentioned a proposed expense of $1,800 to do
the paper work to be submitted for getting the hall on the National
Historic Register in order to apply for some grants.
Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by M. Rohan to appoint Jonathan
Julian to serve as a member of the Williamsville Hall Committee. Unanimous.
D. LARGE WHITE PINES - CORNER OF WEST ST & CROSS ST
June Williams was not contacted about attending this meeting. She will
be invited to the next meeting to discuss the details about the tree
removal. The bid for the cutting of the large pines was discussed. The
expense for the cutting will be determined from the bids received. Motion
was made by C. Van Iderstine and seconded by L. Bedell to put the cutting
of the large pines out to bid with two options; (1) to cut the trees
down and (2) to cut the trees and remove from the site with clean-up
to be included on both. Unanimous.
3. UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
No members of the public were present
4. ROAD BUSINESS -
A. ROAD COMMISSIONER'S REPORT - (See
attached report)
Within the Road Commissioner's report is a list of roads to be considered
for discontinuance. The AA prepared background information on the roads
listed for the Board to review for discussion when the RC is present.
B. ROAD FOREMAN'S REPORT - (See attached
report)
(1) Item #2 - M. Rohan has spoken with Linda Matteson of District #2
Environmental Commission about the River Road (TH#15) project. She will
review the matter with April Hensel, Act 250 Coordinator. Wm. Noyes
will also be speaking with L. Matteson on Monday, 05/22 to discuss the
matter with her. A message has been left with Fred Nicholson of ANR.
He will not be back until May 30th. He reviewed the project earlier
and indicated to the town that if there is no work in the river, a stream
alteration permit will not be required. A. Hensel and L. Matteson will
be contacted on 05/19 about whether the ledge may be taken from the
River Road (TH#15)/Radway Hill (TH#4) site to be used on the town project.
J. Gray indicated that there are materials that can be used for the
project at the Jenness/Berrie pit if necessary. Depending on the response
from Act 250, notification will be sent to the newspaper and to the
radio as to when the section of River Road (TH#15) will be closed from
Radway Hill Road (TH#4) to Sawmill Road (TH#77) before or after Memorial
Day. Kenolie Village will put up signs off of Route 30 to direct vehicles
to the camping area.
(2) Item #4 - Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by M. Rohan
to write a letter to the owner of the excess weight vehicles using Bridge
#49 (Green Iron Bridge) along with a permit to be completed. Unanimous.
There was discussion of also calling the WC Sheriff's D and the state
vehicle overweight enforcement official regarding the excess weight
vehicles using the bridges.
(3) Item #3 - Some vehicle hit the covered bridge (CB#17) today. J.
Gray will try to find out who is responsible. He also indicated that
the Board should consider installing lights inside the covered bridge.
(4) Item #7 - Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by J. Anderson
to send a letter to the property owner who has items within the town
right of way requesting him to remove the items or the town will remove
the items at their expense. Unanimous.
C. EXCESS WEIGHT PERMITS
Motion was made by M. Rohan and seconded by L. Bedell to approve the
Fleet Excess weight Permits for Gurney Brothers Construction and Frank
W. Whitcomb Construction as presented with maximum weight limits allowed
of 60,000#. Requests for over 60,000# were be denied. Unanimous.
D. ACCESS/RIGHT OF WAY PERMITS
No Access/Right of Way permits were presented that required any action
by the Board.
G. OTHER ROAD BUSINESS
(1) The paving bids for FY 2001 will be ready for the next meeting.
5. OLD BUSINESS
A. APPOINTMENT - CONSERVATION COMMISSION - (2003) - No action taken.
B. APPOINTMENT - PLANNING COMMISSION
(1) - Term until 2003 - No action
was taken. PC Chairman Joan Weir will be given the name of a possible
candidate to contact who may be interested in serving on the commission.
C. APPOINTMENT - LELAND & GRAY SCHOOL DIRECTOR
The Newfane School Board has recommended Robert Lyons be appointed to
serve as a director to the Leland & Gray School Board. Motion was made
by J. Anderson and seconded by L. Bedell to appoint Robert Lyons to
serve as a representative from Newfane on the Leland & Gray Board of
Directors. Unanimous.
D. MILLERS V. TOWN OF NEWFANE UPDATE
EXECUTIVE SESSION - Motion was made by M. Rohan and seconded by J. Anderson
to enter into Executive Session at 9:00 p.m. to discuss a pending legal
matter. Unanimous.
Motion was made by J. Anderson and seconded by C. Van Iderstine to come
out of Executive Session at 9:15 p.m. Unanimous.
Motion was made be M. Rohan and seconded by J. Anderson to inform Attorney
Jane Krochmalny to send the letter as drafted to Attorney Timothy J.
O'Connor, which includes a counter settlement offer from the town. Unanimous.
OTHER OLD BUSINESS
A. L. Bedell provided some additional information regarding the purchase
of a copier. DAK will ask further questions about the original quotations
received and present that information at the meeting of 06/01/00.
B. There was some discussion about changing the Bid Policy procedure
and increasing the amount minimum amount to be considered when putting
projects and items out for bid. Motion was made by C. Van Iderstine
to increase the amount in the Bid Policy from $2,000 to $5,000. L. Bedell
expressed that the policy should be reviewed before making this proposed
change. Motion died for lack of a second.
7. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT'S REPORT -
A. Item #1 - Piet van Loon, Zoning Administrator, indicated that someone
had called him regarding zoning aspects and flood plain issues about
the possibility of locating the new Newfane Post Office on the Town
Office property.
B. Item #8 - The conceptual plans for the Brookline/Newfane Bridge #19
project need to be reviewed with a response ready for the state at the
June 1 meeting.
C. Not included in the report - C. Chandler called to respond to the
questions regarding the transformers on his property. He is a master
electrician and the transformers are for a job that he has been contracted
to do. The transformers do not contain any PCB's.
8. MINUTES
The minutes of the Regular Meeting of 05/04/00 and the Special Meetings
of 05/09/00 and 05/11/00 were reviewed by the Board.
CORRECTION: Minutes
of 05/04/00. Page #4, Item #11. Change latter part of motion to read
..." to date, contingent upon informing a majority of the Listers."
DELETE (the agreement of the) Motion was made by M. Rohan and seconded
by J. Anderson to approve the minutes of the Regular meeting of 05/04/00,
as corrected and the minutes of the Special Meetings of 05/09/00 and
05/11/00, as written. Unanimous.
9. PAY ORDERS
A. Motion was made by M. Rohan and seconded by J. Anderson to approve
the Newfane Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrants, as signed, for the
following amounts:
05/06/00 Payroll $ 2,630.09
05/17/00 Payroll $ 2,569.16
05/15/00 Payroll $ 1,477.24
05/19/00 Acct's Payable #24 $ 24,126.74
Unanimous
B. IRS Electronic Federal Payroll Tax Payments
05/09/00 $ 1,540.99
05/16/00 $ 900.50
10. CORRESPONDENCE
A. A thank you note to the Selectmen and the Road Crew has been received
from Bea MacFarland on behalf of the Congregational Church for filling
in the pavement in front of the new sidewalk curbing.
B. An invitation has been received from the Visiting Nurse Alliance
to attend their Ninth Annual Meeting on June 7 at the Ascutney Mountain
Resort beginning at 4:00 p.m.
C. The Agency of Natural Resources has agreed to extend the TLC Planting
Grant (TLC #99-PL8) until May 30, 2001. This grant is for the planting
of trees in the South Newfane Village area. Motion was made by M. Rohan
and seconded by L. Bedell to have Chairman Michael Rohan sign the State
of Vermont Amendment to Grand Agreement (Grant #99-TLC-PL8) on behalf
of the Town of Newfane. Unanimous.
D. Copy of a letter to April Hensel, District II Coordinator, from Jeremy
Coleman regarding the proposed conditions for the amended Act 250 Permit
#2W0588-4 for the Williamsville Inn (Robert and Rosalind Fritz) proposal.
E. Letter from the Vermont Department of Health to indicate that John
Feifel Sr. has been reappointed as the Deputy Health Officer for Newfane
for a three-year term commencing May 1, 2000.
F. Memorandum for Carl Bohlen regarding Vermont Community Development
program grants that are available. Application deadline is August 22,
2000.
G. The Post-Closure Certification for the Newfane Landfill has been
received from the Agency of Natural Resources with terms and conditions.
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION - See 5.D.
12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by M. Rohan and seconded by J. Anderson to adjourn the
Regular Meeting of the Newfane Board of Selectmen at 10:00 p.m. Unanimous.
Doris A. Knechtel
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.
www.newfanevt.com
ROAD COMMISSIONER'S REPORT 05/18/00
1. Mark Larson off Wiswall Hill Road (TH#11) called about the town part
of his road is very rough. He wanted to know if he could put a dead
end sign up.
2. David King called about the Upper Spring Hill Road (TH#23). He felt
it needed a little work done on it. He felt the road was getting narrower
and the ditches were getting deeper.
3. Jim felt Nina Lynn Meyerhoff needed to get a letter to remove rocks
that are in the town right of way.
ROADS TO BE GIVEN UP
1. Penner Road (TH#31)
2. New Road (TH#30) one-half mile
3. Williams Mundell Road (TH#53)
4. Merrill Mundell Road (TH#61)
5. Holcomb Road (TH#50)
6. Lynch Bridge Road (TH#34)
7. Jenness Drive (TH#80)
8. Pikes Road (TH#60)
9. Beetlestone Drive (TH#25) goes to house
10. Porter Thayer Road (TH#51)
11. Mayer Road (TH#40)
12. Eager Road (TH#13) Ostrow's former home
13. Purinton Road (TH#10) to first driveway
14. Nichols Road (TH#8)
15. French Cabin Road (TH#36)
16. Upper Cushing Flats Road (TH#6) one camp
These are the road that Jim and I thought should be given up. Some of
these became town roads many years ago because they were relatives of
the road crew and asked them to plow their driveway. There are others
that gave the road crew as the plowed or fixed their driveway many years
ago a couple of beers or hard cider that they had in their cellar. It
seems wrong to me to have all the other taxpayers paying the town to
have these driveways taken care of. I really think that the board at
the next meet should go out early together and look at these driveways.
We all have to shovel or pay to have our driveways plowed and taken
care of and so should they.
Dick Dowley
ROAD FOREMAN'S REPORT 05/18/00
TOWN OF NEWFANE HIGHWAY
1. The following roads were worked on since the last regular Board of
Selectmen's meeting: South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) from the blacktop to
Pete Severance's, Eddy Road (TH#71), Wiswall Hill Road (TH#11), Bensch
Road (TH#13), Clark Farm Road (TH#12), Old Stage Road (TH#9), Upper
Eager Road (TH#33), New Road (TH#30), Toby Hill Road (TH#29), Steep
Way (TH#21), Williams Mundell Road (TH#53), Merrill Mundell Road (TH#61),
Adams Hill Road (TH#27) and Stratton Hill Road (TH#35).
2. River Road (TH#15) project: a. All necessary permits should be obtained
before proceeding including material source. b. The section of road
from Sawmill Road (TH#77) to Radway Hill Road (TH#4) to be closed. Notification
should be given in the paper and on the radio.
3. All bridges have been swept except the covered bridge (CB#17). The
covered bridge should have lights installed to protect pedestrians and
to help prevent vandalism. Visibility in bridge is poor.
4. Bridge #49 (Green Iron Bridge - South Newfane) is being abused with
excessive weight due to tri-axle truck plus tag along trailer loaded
with logs. The owner of said truck should be warned in writing and made
to fill out overweight permit. According to bill Noyes the deck of said
bridge may be damaged due to excessive loading.
5. The Jersey barriers have been put up on Depot Road (TH#2).
6. Green Up day was a success. 80 bags were picked up along with iron
sinks, refrigerators, and tires.
7. A complaint was received as to the accumulation of wood, trees, and
other items on Stratton Hill Road (TH#35)/Bridge #42. Action should
be taken to clear these items up.
8. Equipment:
a. All equipment is operational at this time except for the SnowKing
snow plow.
b. 2 sanders to be sandblasted and painted.
Respectfully submitted,
James O. Gray
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