Any and all correction to the following minutes will be made at the 06/19/03 Newfane Selectboard’s meeting and are considered unapproved until then. Corrections will be noted in the minutes of that meeting.

MINUTES - TOWN PLAN HEARING
MINUTES - ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENT HEARING
MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING - BOARD OF SELECTMEN
JUNE 5th, 2003
NEWFANE TOWN OFFICE

PRESENT:
Selectmen: Piet van Loon, Gorty Baldwin, Priscilla Cotton, Gary Katz and Chris Williams.
Also Present: John J. Feifel, Gunther Garbe and James Borto of the Planning Commission, Edward Druke, Sr. of Emergency Management, David Clarkson, Thomas and Joan Dunham, Clay Coyle, Marki Webber, Sarah Taylor of ZBA, Peter and Tana Lilienthal, Todd Ambroz of Vermont State Police, James O. Gray as Road Foreman and Doris Knechtel as Administrative Assistant.

MINUTES - TOWN PLAN HEARING
The Town Plan Hearing was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chairman H.W. “Piet” van Loon.
The Legal Notice of the Hearing was reviewed. The Planning Commission held their hearing on April 29th and agreed at that time to pass it on to the Selectboard. The Board may hold one or more hearings and adopt the plan which will be become effective immediately. A Town Plan is to be reviewed and updated every five years. The current plan was adopted on June 4th, 1998. P. van Loon recommended that the Board readopt the current Town Plan. A Town Plan is useful when going before an Act 250 Hearing. There are two Act 250 project in the works, the Bergmann subdivision and Eagle River Mining, Inc. The Planning Commission will be working on a revision to the current plan in the very near future. They would like to work with a consultant on the revisions for a professionally developed plan. At the next meeting of the PC they will be meeting with someone from Windham Regional Commission to discuss the matter. Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by G. Baldwin to have the Newfane Selectboard readopt the current Newfane Town Plan. Unanimous.
The town has the option to have WRC review and consider approval the town plan. It helps if the town does apply for some grants to have WRC approval. Motion was made by P. Cotton and seconded by G. Katz to request the review of the Newfane Town Plan by Windham Regional Commission for approval. Unanimous. P. van Loon will contact WRC about the matter.
The Town Plan hearing was closed at 6:44 p.m.

MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING - BOARD OF SELECTMEN
1. CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting was called to order by Chairman at 6:45 p.m.
2. SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
C. OPENING OF BIDS
(1) ROADSIDE MOWING
No bids were received for the mowing of the roadsides. The former person who mowed, has sold his equipment. J. Gray will get a name from other towns who are having roadside mowing done.
(2) CALCIUM CHLORIDE
The following bids were received for the purchase by the town of calcium chloride.
Schoenberg Salt & Chemical $7.83/bag $313.20/ton
Road Solutions $325.00/ton

The Board will consult with the Road Foreman before making a decision.

3. UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
A. D. Clarkson asked about the status of the “junk” trailer on South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) on the LaFlamme property. The Board will follow up with the Sheriff’s Department as they were to be issuing a ticket.
B. D. Clarkson submitted a petition from property owners on the unpaved portion of South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) asking the Selectboard to consider: 1. Conducting a traffic survey; 2. To consider posting the entire stretch from the Wardsboro Town line to the pavement (3.8 miles) at 30 mph for cars and light trucks and at 25 mph for overweight trucks; and 3. To arrange with the WCSD to set up patrols for a appropriate time for enforcement of (assumed) changes made in the speed limits. A map was also provided showing the comparison of year round, seasonal and school children living along TH#1 in 1983 and in 2003. There is increased traffic on the road, some commuting from Wardsboro. There are two fairly straight sections along the road where vehicles speed. A traffic study, done through WRC, in these areas can measure the numbers, times, speeds, direction and types of traffic.
C. Williams asked why there was a request for a different speed for trucks? He also mentioned that while traveling on South Wardsboro Road recently in a truck, the truck was passed by more than one local resident.
Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by P. Cotton to have the town contact Windham Regional Commission to do a traffic count on South Wardsboro Road (TH#1). Unanimous.
Motion was made by G. Baldwin and seconded by C. Williams to recess the Regular Meeting of the Board of Selectmen and convene the Zoning Bylaw Amendment Hearing at 7:10 p.m. Unanimous.

MINUTES - ZONING BYLAW AMENDMENT HEARING
The reconvened Zoning Bylaw Amendment Hearing from May 1st was called to order at 7:10 p.m. A Legal Notice was advertised and posted. The various changes were reviewed and explained by P. van Loon. The Planning Commission members present did not have any further comments or questions on the changes. Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by C. Williams to approve the amendments to the Newfane Zoning Bylaw as presented. In favor: G. Baldwin, P. Cotton, G. Katz and C. Williams. Abstaining: P van Loon. Motion passes. The amendments become effective upon passage.
Motion was made by P. Cotton and seconded by G. Baldwin to adjourn the Zoning Bylaw Amendment Hearing at 7:21 p.m. Unanimous.

The Regular Meeting of the Newfane Board of Selectmen was reconvened at 7:21 p.m.

2. A. SARAH TAYLOR - ZBA SECRETARY
Sarah Taylor, Chairman of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, expressed the need to hire a secretary for the ZBA at a rate above $6.50. A ZBA Board member may serve as the clerk/secretary but it makes it difficult for that person to participate in the ZBA hearing procedures. There may be six to eight hearings per year, of which each hearing would take about six to seven hours of work from beginning to end. Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by P. Cotton to pay the rate of up to $8.00 per hour for a ZBA secretary. In favor: G. Baldwin, P. Cotton, G. Katz and C. Williams. Abstaining: P van Loon. Motion passes.

2. B. PETER LILIENTHAL - BERGMANN ACCESS
Peter Lilienthal was present to discuss with the Board the proposed Bergmann development off of Dover Road (TH#2) opposite his Village House. The current Act 250 application is for a one lot sub-division. A previous lot is in the process of being sold to an abutting property owner on Jones Road (TH#52). Plans and advertising of “lots for sale” have shown a potential for a total of four lots. Mr. Lilienthal concerns include the drainage from the old logging road which is to be used to access the one lot subdivision which is to be improved by the potential buyer. Water and dirt currently come into the town road. It may be difficult for emergency vehicles to service the potential dwelling(s) on the road. P. Lilienthal also expressed his concern about the potential increased use of the utility pole on his property. The utilities for the development are proposed to be underground. The Act 250 application indicates that there will be 2 - 4 trips per day for the one house, while P. Lilienthal believes that there will be more like 8 - 12. Vehicles entering onto Dover Road (TH#2) from the “driveway” will flash lights into the Village House. Mr. Lilienthal suggested brining the drive in back of the schoolhouse and entering onto Auger Hole Road (TH#3). He also suggested a berm be installed on the Bergmann property to collect the water run-off from the hill to avoid the water coming onto Dover Road (TH#2). He also brought up the concern of excess salt being used for winter maintenance which he believes is causing corrosion on his outside light fixtures. P. Lilienthal read a letter that he has sent to the District #2 Act 250 board requesting party status at the Act 250 hearing for this project. The hearing will be held on June 12th at 9:0 a.m. at the Town Office.

2. D. VERMONT STATE POLICE - TODD AMBROZ
Trooper Todd Ambroz provided the Board with a spread sheet showing the activity of the VSP Law Enforcement within Newfane for the past year. The amount of the tickets written to date on VT Route 30 has been $4,600. The town does not realize all of that income. The VSP has been short of troopers and has not been able to patrol more than 43 hours. The major times of patrol are during the early morning and early evenings with commuter traffic on Route 30. When asked about the VSP being restricted to VT Route 30, the Board responded that it would be beneficial to use the VSP on any town roads as well. Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by P. Cotton to continue the Law Enforcement Program with the Vermont State Police to include any part of the community. Unanimous. Trooper Ambroz was thanked for his attendance at the meeting.

3. UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
A. Ed Druke spoke of the 100% grant from Federal Funds to be used for Emergency Management Projects. He has spoken with the area Fire Chiefs about potential projects that would meet the qualifications for applying for the funds.

B. Representative R. Marek was present to inform the Board of the passage of H480 dealing with Act 60. For 2004 there will be a split Grand List with a tax rate of $1.10 for owners of a primary residence and $1.59 for owners of a secondary residence. There will be a surcharge for excess spending over the block grant of $5,810. The “sharing pool” has been eliminated. Other details of the passed legislation will be forthcoming.

2. C. (2) CALCIUM CHLORIDE - (cont.)
J. Gray as informed of the results of the Calcium Chloride bids received. Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by P. Cotton to award the bid for the purchase of Calcium Chloride as specified to Schoenberg Salt and Chemical for the amount of $313.20 per ton. Unanimous.

4. ROAD BUSINESS
4. B. ROAD FOREMAN’S REPORT - (See attached)
(1) Item #5 - Loggers have been using Hunter Brook Road without having the proper excess weight permits. Enforcement is the only remedy.

4. A. ROAD COMMISSIONER’S REPORT - (See Attached)
(1) Item #2. A. - Culverts - The question was raised regarding the size of culverts to be used by the town. It was noted that with the town/state agreement, town use of culverts across a road is a minimum of 18". It was also noted that a 15" PVC culvert will take twice the amount of water as the inside is smooth and lets the water run through it as a corrugated metal culvert. The 18" culvert installed at the Van Iderstine access on South Wardsboro Road is too deep into the ground. It should have been a squashed culvert or a smaller diameter culvert, to drain better.

4. C. EXCESS WEIGHT LIMIT PERMITS
Three excess weight permits have been received for approval.

Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by G. Baldwin to approve the excess Weight Permits as listed above. Unanimous.

4. D. ACCESS/RIGHT OF WAY PERMITS
No permits were received that required any action by the Selectboard.

4. F. DISCUSSION OF HIGHWAY STRUCTURES & CLASS 2 ROADWAY GRANTS
For the retreatment, J. Gray indicated that he expects to do one mile of retreatment on a section of Depot Road (TH#2) and a section of Dover Road (TH#2) west of Monroe Bridge (BR#15). It was noted that the culvert that was redone on Depot Road (TH#2) appears to need to be replaced again and should be done before any paving is done. C. Williams suggested than an under drain be installed with the culvert.
The Culhane corner needs to be designed before requests for bids go out. It is hoped that the retaining wall can be concrete with a stone facade for aesthetic purposes.

Paul Gould, Acting District #2 AOT Technician, will be meeting with J. Gray, G. Katz and P van Loon to review the Monroe Bridge (BR#15) project as well as the Culhane Corner retaining wall project. The BR#15 project should tie in with the paving project as part of the plan is to resurface the bridge deck.

4. E. COMMENTS ON BRIDGE #19 PLANS
Roger R. Whitcomb, Project Manager for the Brookline/Newfane Bridge rehabilitation project, has asked that the town respond with any concerns and comments on the final plans of the bridge (BR#19) by June 11th. J. Gray will review the plans and list any comments that he may have.

4. G. OTHER ROAD BUSINESS
(1) Notification has been received from VLCT that the claim filed by Farber/Friedelson fence damage has been denied.
(2) Lori Greenberg has sent a letter to the Brookline Representative, Michael Obuchowski about the condition of the Brookline/Newfane Bridge (BR#19) and the need for repair. DAK contacted L. Greenberg to let her know the plans for the rehabilitation of the bridge.
(3) George White asked about drainage onto his property off of Hobby Hill Road (TH#19). J. Gray indicated that the current drainage onto the property in question has existed for many years. No changes have been made to the drainage.
(4) The culvert that is plugged needs to be replaced by the Sinon residence on Timson Hill Road (TH#41). It was suggested that the location be changed.

5. OLD BUSINESS
A. DRAFT PERSONNEL POLICY
P van Loon suggested that get all of the potential changes be dealt with to wrap up the policy, and share it with the office and highway crew. For the highway crew the schedule is suggested to be 40 hours per week except in for winter maintenance or an emergency. The one-half hour lunch will be mandatory for safety reasons. The question was raised about overtime after 8 hours or after 40 hours. Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by C. Williams to reaffirm that the current policy states that highway employees shall take an unpaid one-half hour lunch break. Unanimous. There have been occasions where some employees have worked through their lunch break and ended up being paid over time for one-half hour.

5. B. OTHER OLD BUSINESS
(1) The status of the Junk Vehicle Ordinance and the deadlines last issued to the current three offenders was discussed. The matter will be reviewed at a future meeting. Other offenders may also be notified in the near future.

6. NEW BUSINESS
A. APPOINTMENTS
(1) REPRESENTATIVE TO RESCUE, INC.
A possible candidate has been contacted, but no response has been received as yet.
(2) ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT - TERM - 2007
6. D. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
(1) The towns of Newfane and Dummerston received a grant for Housing Rehab as a revolving Loan Fund. There are new projects that residents of Newfane and Dummerston have inquired about. If the program is actively used for Housing Rehab, the Fund is not required to pay back any percentage of the Program income. The Board has received an Agreement between

6. D. OTHER NEW BUSINESS - (cont.)
Windham Regional Commission and the Towns of Newfane and Dummerston for the Management of the Home Improvement Revolving Loan Fund Projects. The Dummerston Selectboard has signed the agreement. WRC would take full responsibility for the delivery of the services and products. A committee of 6, three from Newfane and three from Dummerston meet to determine the amount of the loan or grant to be issued and the terms of payment for a loan. Motion was made by G. Baldwin and seconded by P. Cotton to approve of the agreement to have WRC manage the Home Improvement Revolving Loan Fund Projects and to have the Chairman sign the agreement on behalf of the Board. Unanimous. On June 30th, 2002, there was approximately $60,000 in the fund. Income is received on a monthly basis from previous loan recipients.
(2) Reminder of upcoming meetings
June 12th 9:00 a.m. Bud Bergmann Act 250 Hearing.
Sears Road site visit and hearing - June 12th at 6:30 p.m.
ZBA hearings - June 11th at 7:30 p.m. - Chandler and June 19th at 8:00 p.m. Eagle River Mining, Inc.
Regular meeting of the Board on Tuesday, July 1st at 6:30 p.m. instead of July 3rd.
(3) The Board has received a contract from the Windham County Humane Society for the Boarding and Care of Animals. Board members will review the document at the meeting of June 19th.

6. B. GOALS & OBJECTIVES LIST
Items for the Williamsville Hall - 1. Piet and Chris will look into the hot water situation. There doesn’t seem to be enough for washing of the dishes. 2. Doors are to be taken down and fixed. At that time, the lock will be changed and a push bar installed. 3. A question was raised regarding having a person come in to clean the kitchen. It was suggested that there be a “work bee” to clean the kitchen and maybe do some painting.
Town Garage - The broken thermopane window needs to be fixed.
Town Office - A shop vac needs to be brought in to clean the floor in the upstairs storage area before arranging the storage items.

6. C. SCHEDULE MEETINGS WITH BOARD, TOWNS AND AGENCIES
Piet van Loon has spoken with Kit Martin of Townshend about a meeting. K. Martin’s idea is to get a few representative’s together from the are Boards to meet to discuss common concerns.

7. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT - (See attached report)
A. Item #7 - The Board agreed that it would be better to only have to send one tax bill if possible. The Town meeting vote was for the first payment to be due on August 15th. Tax bill are supposed to be sent out 30 days before they are due. With the vote on the Leland and Gray meeting not until July 15th, the tax bills may have to be delayed until after July 15th. The Secretary of State’s Office will be contacted.
Other items in the report were informational or were discussed during other parts of the meeting.

8. MINUTES
The Board reviewed the minutes of the Regular Meeting of 0515. Motion was made by P. Cotton and seconded G. Baldwin to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of 05/15/03, as written. Unanimous.

9. PAY ORDERS
Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by G. Baldwin to approve the Newfane Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrants for the following amounts:
05/17/03 Payroll $ 2,522.79
05/24/03 Payroll $ 2,534.20
05/31/03 Payroll $ 2,813.95
06/01/03 Payroll $ 4,005.34
06/06/03 Acct.’s Payable #26 $ 18,433.37 Unanimous.
IRS Electronic Federal Payroll Tax Payments
05/21/03 $ 1,517.38
05/27/03 $ 796.88
06/04/03 $ 803.58

11. EXECUTIVE SESSION
No matters came before the Selectboard that required Executive Session.
12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by C. Williams and seconded by G. Katz to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board at 10:15 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

ROAD COMMISSIONER’S REPORT of 06/05/03

I will miss our June 5th meeting. Jim can answer any questions about any of this.

1. Road Dept. Mutual Aid Agreement
I discussed this proposal with Jim. We currently trade a little with Dummerston, helping each other out on different roads. This works well. Jim is concerned, however, about someone else using our equipment and would prefer to keep the current relationship with Dummerston and not join the mutual aid program. I recommend supporting Jim’s view.

2. Ditches and Culverts
A. As you’ll recall, we had considerable discussion at the last Board meeting about ditches and culverts. The Board asked what we do with ditch material we collect when cleaning the ditches. Occasionally the material goes to Fitzpatrick, whose prices for new materials tends to be lower than that of competitors. Usually the material is given to taxpayers. Hundreds of cubic years have been given to Ed Druke and others. The material is not suitable to use for stabilizing embankments because it slides down the embankments. The Board asked what we could to make the rocklined ditches better. Jim says they work best where there is a wide road and wider and deeper ditches, such as along S. Wardsboro Road (TH#1). In absence of these conditions, leaves and sticks collect in the ditches and need to be cleaned out by hand.

B. On culverts: Plugged culverts are treated as a priority by the Road Crew. As of today, almost all the culverts in Town are unplugged - but keeping them clear is an ongoing battle. The issue of the Van Iderstine culvert on S. Wardsboro Road s that the culvert put in for the property owner is too big an consequently sits too low in the ground at the uphill end and needs considerable ditching at the other end. A smaller diameter culvert would seem to be indicated.

C. On May 16, I rode around with Red Chaffee looking at ditch, culvert, berm, and other concerns along Grout and Hobby Hill Roads. I discussed each of these with Jim and he will follow up as appropriate. I reported back to Red on this and he seems okay with it.

D. Today Jim and I looked at the culvert situation about which Don Miller expressed concern. The culvert near the Timson Hill School does need some cleaning and Jim will take care of it.

3. Speed Limit Signs
Jim has the new speed limit signs for Baker Brook Road and will install them shortly.

4. Other Points
A. Jim has asked for a copy of the statute or regulation prohibiting working through lunch to use in his discussions with the crew.

B. The retirement planning session has been scheduled - at least one retirement from the crew within the year seems pretty definite.

C. On the Bridges and Culverts Inventory, Piet has given ne the name of the contact for help at Windham Regional Commission. I’ll follow up on it.

Gary Katz, Road Commissioner

ROAD FOREMAN’S REPORT 06/05/03
TOWN OF NEWFANE HIGHWAY

1. The following roads were graded and raked since the last BOS meeting: Jenness Drive (TH#80), Mayer Road (TH#40), Spring Hill Road (TH#24), Old Stage Road (TH#9), Eddy Road (TH#71), Upper Eager Road (TH#13), Eager Road (TH#13), Clark Farm Road (TH#12), Bensch Road (TH#13), Stratton Hill Road (TH#35), Baker Brook Road (TH#19), from Dover Road (TH#2) to Camp Oregon, River Road (TH#15), South Wardsboro Road (TH#1), Porter Thayer Road (TH#51), Beetlestone Hill Road (TH#47), Sawmill Road (TH#77), Duke Clark Road (TH#66), Howe Road (TH#65), Williams Mundell Road (TH#53), Merrill Mundell Road (TH#61), Joseph Lane (TH#78), Jail Road (TH#56) and Newfane Hill Road (TH#20). Town Office parking lot graded and raked.
2. Signs: A. Missing signs ordered. B. 30 mph signs were put up on Baker Brook Road (TH#19).
3. The fuel tanks were cathodic tested at the Town Garage by MacIntyre.
4. Equipment: A. All equipment is operational. B. All sanders have been taken off and washed, oiled, and covered with tarps.
5. Overweight trucks are using our highways regularly with no overweight permits. Enforcement is the only answer. Posted bridges mean nothing.

Respectfully submitted,
James O. Gray, Road Foreman

To: Newfane Selectboard MEMORANDUM
From: Doris A. Knechtel
Subject: Administrative Assistant’s Report
Date: June 5, 2003

1. From the Lister’s department, the Abstract of the 2003 Grand List has been lodged and the change in appraisal notices have been sent. Grievance days have been set for June 19th and 20th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. by appointment. I have been taking calls the last few days with questions about the changes and for people to set up appointments.

2. No response has been received from the letter which was sent to Mark Powling and Ray Fletcher regarding the temporary logging on Depot Road (TH#2) and the suggestion of sharing the access with the abutting property owners.

3. I have left messages and written a letter to Peter Welch regarding the replacement of the steps and walkway at the Williamsville Hall and have not heard any response. His accepted bid submission indicates that he expects to be completed by June 15th.

4. Nissa Petrak called about the possibility of hiring or having volunteers cleans the kitchen at the Williamsville Hall.

5. George White called about what he feels is a change in drainage onto his property off of Hobby Hill Road (TH#19). The property is quite wet and unable to be perked, causing him to lose a sale.

6. The Board may want to reschedule the first regular meeting in July as it falls on the eve of the Fourth of July. Tuesday, July 1st or Wednesday, July 2nd ???

7. I understand that there will be another vote on the Leland & Gray budget on July 15th. For Newfane, the tax bills are usually sent before that date for the first payment due on August 15th. The town may have to send out two tax bills, one for the town and the elementary school, and one for Leland & Gray or delay the sending of the bills until after the July 15th meeting. I will check with the Secretary of State about the aspects of this dilemma.

8. I do not have the minutes of May 22nd and June 3rd completed as yet.

9. With the Board’s permission, I would like to get some prices for the washing of the windows at the Town Office.

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