Any and all corrections to the following minutes will be made at the next regular 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
JULY 5th, 2007
NEWFANE TOWN OFFICE

PRESENT:
Selectmen: Ellen Darrow, Daniel DeWalt, Joseph Mandell, Peter Rysz and Guy Wachtel.
Also Present: Herbert Edgerly, Gary Katz, Gunther Garbe, Edward Druke, Judy Egan, Fred Lawrence, Piet van Loon, Christopher Williams as Road Commissioner, Todd Lawley as Road Foreman and Doris Knechtel as Administrative Assistant.

1. CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting was called to order by Chairman J. Mandell at 6:30 p.m.
2. MINUTES
Motion was made by E. Darrow and seconded by D. DeWalt to approve the minutes of the June 28th, 2007 special meeting as written. Unanimous.
Motion was made by D. DeWalt and seconded by G. Wachtel to approve the minutes of the June 12th, 2007 special meeting as written. Unanimous.
3. ROAD BUSINESS
E. BRIDGE #14 - SOUTH NEWFANE
There were some questions and discussion of the special meeting of July 2nd regarding the decisions made regarding Bridge #14. Some expressed their opposition to having the lighter rail on the upstream side of the bridge. The minutes from that meeting have not yet been completed.
3. A. ROAD COMMISSIONER’S REPORT
• The covered bridge has a large volume of traffic which causes a lot of stress on the wooden deck. It was felt by some that the Board needs to revisit the idea of a concrete deck again. E. Druke spoke of the vote that was taken by the town in 2001 for either a new 2-lane bridge or a new covered bridge, which was favored. Historic preservation wants to rehabilitate the existing covered bridge.
• C. Williams spoke with the state inspectors regarding the Arch Bridge (BR#12). Core samples need to be done. It appears that the abutments a crumbling, but the arch is okay.
• C. Williams spoke of a property on Auger Hole Road that has two accesses, one of which does not have a permit for a change of use. That access used to be a bar-way for haying. The current policy states that “the Selectboard will normally allow only one access point for a single property.”
3. B. ROAD FOREMAN’S REPORT - (See attached report)
• Item #3 - T. Lawley will be meeting with Larry Underwood from Lane to review the proposed paving projects in Newfane: Bruce Brook Road (TH#21), a short section of South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) and a portion of Depot Road (TH#2). The paving of TH#2 should be coordinated with Dummerston for their portion from VT Route 30 to the town line with Newfane so there isn’t a seam.
• Item #4 - Bid specifications need to be put together for Beetlestone bridge (BR#50) to put in new railing and side curbs as well as repaving the deck. Motion was made by P. Rysz and seconded by G. Wachtel to have T. Lawley prepare specifications for the required work to be done on Bridge #50 and to put it out for bid. Unanimous.

3. B. ROAD FOREMAN’S REPORT - (cont.)
• Item #5 - The roof repair at the Town Garage will be done by Mike Cutts for between $700 to $800 dollars.
3. C. EXCESS WEIGHT PERMITS - No Action
3. D. ACCESS/RIGHT OF WAY PERMITS - No action
3. H. OTHER ROAD BUSINESS
• The Sterling Truck need to be repainted.
• The purchase of a chloride truck is to be put on hold for now.
• FEMA - There was a meeting this morning with Bob Lynn as a FEMA representative, J. Mandell, T. Lawley and D. Knechtel to review the costs of the various projects, both complete and estimated. A breakdown sheet was prepared by DAK for those present to review. Of the total cost of $684,994, about $130,240 has been denied. When the town receives the information from the state, the town will appeal the amounts that have been underfunded or denied.
3. F. UPDATE OF RADWAY HILL/RIVER ROAD
There was some discussion about concerns expressed by Neighbors and Brookline residents about the proposed change to the Radway Hill (TH#4)/River Road (TH#15). The current intersection is unsafe now and needs to be improved.
3. G. UPDATE ON CULHANE CORNER
There was discussion about the extra cost for the installation of a new culvert and the paving of a northern portion of the road. The southern portion of the roadway paving is included in the original project costs. The Selectboard will be meeting on July 16th with Steve Zaluzny, contractor for the Culhane Corner project, and the engineer, Brud Sanderson of Stevens & Associates.
4. SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
A. OPENING OF FISCAL YEAR 2007 AUDIT BIDS
The only bid received for the Audit was from Mudgett, Jennett & Krough-Wisner, P.C. The proposed fee limit for a single audit for the 2007 financial statements is $8,800. If engaged for three years (2007, 2008 and 2009) the proposed fee limits are $8,500, $9,000 and $9,500 for the three years. Motion was made by P. Rysz and seconded by G. Wachtel to accept the Audit Bid from Mudgett, Jennett & Krough-Wisner, P.C. for three years for the amounts stated above. Unanimous.
4. B. MEMORIAL GARDEN - P. VAN LOON
Piet van Loon presented a layout drawing for ideas for the Janice Litchfield Memorial Garden. The first stage as he sees it is to put up some sections of fencing ($120) for screening and get a white cedar picnic table at the cost of between $150 to $200. The proposal is to put the picnic table onto a natural mulch bed. Future ideas presented include a plaque, an additional bench seat and a perennial garden. P. van Loon has also spoken with Carolyn Katz of the Garden Club. Board members thanked Piet and had a positive reaction to the proposal.
5. UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
A. Gunther Garbe informed the Board that the Planning Commission will be having a hearing on the proposed Sub-Division regulations on Tuesday, July 24th beginning at 7:00 p.m. After the PC meeting it will be turned over to the Selectboard for them to schedule a hearing.
B. Judy Egan was present to review with the Board varies issues. She provided information regarding the requirements for the open meeting law. It seems that a notice had been posted for the Williamsville Hall Committee for July 3rd but the meeting did not take place. Evidently the meeting had been changed to the 10th of July, but not everyone on the committee was notified. The Selectboard did accept Judy Egan’s resignation from the Williamsville Hall Committee. They thanked Judy for all of the work that she has done for the Hall and the Committee. She also expressed her concern about excluding the public from the interview process for the Administrative Assistant. She cited the open interview process held in May of 2005 for a vacant Lister position.
C. Williamsville Hall Lift - The lift has been registered with the state. The process now will be to have the lift serviced and inspected. One of the continuing problems with the lift is that the contact is not constant and the outside door needs to have pressure put on it to make the connection. F. Lawrence and G. Andrews seem to know how to make it work for the Senior Meals. There has been talk in the past of putting an overhang over the outside lift door to help keep the moisture out. For the repair/service of the lift, motion was made by P. Rysz and seconded by G. Wachtel to allocate up to $1,000 to repair and inspect the lift. Unanimous.
D. Old Newfane Common - E. Druke reported that some members of the Newfane Common Committee met and took out the invasive plants that had been identified by the Tree Warden, Bill Guenther.
6. OLD BUSINESS
A. DISCUSSION OF ADDITIONAL LINE OF CREDIT - FEMA
Now that the town has some more solid figures from FEMA, the Town Treasurer will be able to work with Chittenden Bank to obtain and additional line of credit for the flood work.
B. FOLLOW-UP ON JUNK ORDINANCE
Letters are to be sent to R. Sorrell on Newfane Hill Road and to R. Valerie on Vic Benjamin Road regarding each of their violations of the Junk and Junk Vehicle Ordinance for “junk” that can be seen from a public highway. Previous offenders on South Wardsboro Road will be issued two additional tickets at $500.00 each. Motion made by G. Wachtel and seconded by P. Rysz as stated above. Unanimous.
7. NEW BUSINESS
A. APPOINTMENTS
(1) ANCIENT ROADS COMMITTEE
(2) NEWFANE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LAND
Items #1 & 2 have been added. The Conservation Commission will be looking for possible interested candidates.
(3) DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD - 4 Alternate positions. No action.
(4) REP. TO CONNECTICUT RIVER TRANSIT - No action.
(5) TOWN AGENT - No action.
7. B. WINDHAM COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT - CONTRACT
Board members review the contract received from the WCSD. Motion was made by P. Rysz and seconded by G. Wachtel to have Chairman Mandell sign the contract between the Windham County Sheriff’s department and the Town of Newfane for July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008 as presented. Unanimous.
C. WILLIAMSVILLE HALL LIFT - (See 4. C. above)
D. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT SEARCH
The search committee for the Administrative Assistant position, will be interviewing 8 candidates this next week. They then anticipate coming back to the full Board with a “short list” recommendation for hiring. DAK has agreed to stay until August 10th to at least give the new AA a week of training.
7. E. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
• Concern expressed for the diminished height of the band rail on Adams Hill Road (TH#27) now that the level of the road has been raised.
• Concern expressed for the condition of the bandrail and old wooden post on Grimes Hill Road (TH#5). Is there anything that can be done before the bank stabilization project is done?
• Notify T. Lawley, C. Williams, and Culhane’s of the Special Meeting of the Selectboard on Monday, July 16th at 4:30 p.m. to meet with contractor Steve Zaluzny about Culhane Corner.
8. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT
• Left message with Bob Harrington, Engineer, asking about the status of the Radway Hill/River Road access design.
• The new computers for the Treasurer and the Administrative Assistant are up and running. Now there will be a new learning curve for a while.
• The Listers will have completed with their decisions on the people who came in for grievance by Tuesday, 07/10. The municipal tax rate will need to be set once the new Grand List is established. Motion was made by P. Rysz and seconded by G. Wachtel to warn a Special Meeting on Wednesday, July 11th beginning at 9:00 a.m. to set the municipal tax rate for the FY 2008 tax year. Unanimous.
9. CORRESPONDENCE
• Letter from Georgie Raymo on Timson Hill Road (TH#41) granting permission for the town Road Crew to enter her property for the purpose of removing a log and replacing it with hay bales for drainage purposes.
• Letter from Windham Regional Commission asking for towns to contribute $650 toward the maintenance of the dynamic striping.
• Letter of resignation from the Williamsville Hall Committee received from Natalie Donavan. A letter of thanks will be written to her.
• Copy of the VT Muncipal Planning Grant Program for FY 2008. A copy has been given to Laura Bacon to apply for completing the Williamsville/South Newfane Historic Village designations.
• Letter from Bea MacFarland asking to remove a portion of the sidewalk which crosses Jail Street on the north end. Also asking that the town repair a sidewalk curb section that was damaged with winter plowing. The sidewalk section to be removed may actually be in the state highway right of way.
10. PAY ORDERS
Motion was made by G. Wachtel and seconded by Peter Rysz to approve the Newfane Payroll Warrants and the Accounts Payable Warrant for the following amounts:
06/27/07 Payroll $ 3,114.38
07/03/07 Payroll $ 3,037.25
06/29/07 Payroll $ 4,611.27
06/30/07 AP Warrant #25 $ 13,262.28 Unanimous.

IRS Electronic Federal Payroll Tax Payments
06/21/07 - 06/27/07 $ 1,014.49
06/26/07 - 07/03/07 $ 1,129.30

11. EXECUTIVE SESSION - IF NEEDED
12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by P. Rysz and seconded by G. Wachtel to adjourn the Regular meeting at 9:50 p.m. Unanimous.

Respectfully submitted,

Doris A. Knechtel, Administrative Assistant

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

ROAD FOREMAN’S REPORT
July 5th, 2007

1. Roads: Flood work has been put on hold until we get a clear sign of what we are going to bet from FEMA. We have been out with the grader and backhoe. The crew has been trimming around the intersections and signs. We had a problem when cleaning off the Green Iron Bridge (BR#49) on Parish Hill Road (TH#26). Some of the dirt from the bridge was put on the Spicer’s property by accident. They called and asked if it could be removed. We went up with the backhoe and cleaned it up. All the dirt was still in the right-of-way, but we removed it anyway.
2. Equipment: All of the equipment is running okay at this time. The Mack is still at Tenco having the body put on and should be done soon. Dick and I have been around looking at used trucks for the chloride spreader.
3. Paving: I have a call into Larry Underwood from Lane Construction to go and look at the paving project. There are three areas that I hope to pave. 1. Bruce Brook Road (TH#21), 2. A short section on South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) from West Street to just beyond the bridge by Luke Crispe’s, and 3. Pave as far as we can on Depot Road (TH#2).
4. Bridges: The planking on the covered bridge is starting to come up in a lot of spots and the metal plate on the South Newfane end is loose as well. I think that Beetlestone Bridge (BR#50) should be put out to bid for new railings and side curbs and to have the deck repaved as well. I believe that there is money in the capital budget for that bridge this year. The state inspectors were down last week and looked at the Arch Bridge (BR#12) and the Covered Bridge (CB#17). I did not talk to them by Christopher did. I think that he will report on both bridges.
5. Mike Cutts came and looked at the roof on the town garage and said that the area around the chimney needed to be fixed as well as the bathroom vent. He also said that a lot of the screws were coming loose and needed to be tightened up. He said the work would be around $700.00 to $800.00. I told him to plan on it so we can get it done as soon as possible.
6. I will be on vacation from July 26th to August 5th. I will not be here tomorrow either.

Thank You,
Todd Lawley, Road Foreman