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Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes |
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| Any and all corrections to the following minutes will be made at the 08/02/01 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 19th, 2001 NEWFANE TOWN OFFICE PRESENT: Selectmen: Mike Rohan, Jesse Anderson, Fred Bacon, Lynn Bedell and Richard Marek. Also Present: Deputy Henry Farnum and Deputy Mark Murano of Windham County Sheriff's Department, Laura Bacon of Conservation Commission, Gunther Garbe of Planning Commission, and Doris A. Knechtel, Administrative Assistant. 1. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting was called to order by Chairman Michael Rohan at 7:06 p.m. 2. SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC A. WINDHAM COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT (2) SPEED ENFORCEMENT & SIGNING - TRAFFIC CALMING The Board asked that a representative from the Sheriff's Department attend this meeting to discuss an ongoing plan and program for consistent speed enforcement by the WCSD within Newfane. The Sheriff's did do a report on speed monitoring in the Williamsville/South Newfane area over a period of days with unmarked vehicles. Of the 781 monitored, 175 were going 11 mph over the 25 mph limit, of which 171 were from Vermont. Most of the speeding appears to occur during the evening hours. The town is going to use traffic counters from WRC to collect statistics for speed, time and type of vehicle. There will be a counter in the Williamsville area on Dover Road (TH#2) and one on West Street/South Wardsboro Road (TH#1). After the speed enforcement plan has been in effect for a few months, the counters will be used again to determine if the speed enforcement program has made any impact on the speeders. The Board wants to see consistent speed enforcement for a period of 6 hours per week, 3 hours in the Williamsville/South Newfane area and 3 hours on South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) with one of the hours being during rush hour. The Board would like the WCSD to report back on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. The program is to be long term and not just for a few months. The cost for the 6 hours per week would be $6,864 per year at the current $22.00 rate. The total budget for FY 2002 is $16,000. Speed enforcement is the item that the citizens complain about the most. Deputy Farnum indicated that the Sheriff's Department can work with the town to accomplish this program. He spoke of the recent speed enforcement program in Dummerston was for a 6-month period. When the program was reduced, they found that the problem of speeding creeps back in. Deputy Farnum also spoke to questions about reduction in speeding tickets in Newfane over the past few months. The department realized that the towns budgeted amount was being depleted so they had to cut back. Much of their time is being spent on citizen issues and is driven by emergencies taken up with property-based crimes/vandalism. There are other citizen services that are reported but not billed to the town, such as finger printing and VIN# verifications. WCSD also receives the E-911 calls for Newfane. The roll of the State Police was discussed. They are responsible for Route 30 traffic violations. If they write a traffic violation on Newfane roads, the ticket is not written on the town Traffic Ordinance. Any fines collected go to the state coffers. The State Police should be contacted about writing the traffic violation on Newfane roads on the town ordinance. Board members would like to see better reporting of the WCSD activities for what the town is spending for law enforcement. Deputy Farnum indicated that when the department switched to the state system, the reporting information changed. WCSD is going back to another method of reporting, which will give the town more information. The Board discussed adding the details of the long term speed enforcement program to the contract language, but decided to have a written letter of understanding instead. Deputy Farnum will relay the desires of the town to Sheriff Graham. Deputy Farnum also mentioned that the town may want to change the language in the traffic ordinance to reflect fines as relating to the number of miles per hour over the speed limit. He will drop a copy off at the office. Deputy Farnum reported that the department now has 5 "smart carts" without video capabilities as video is not permissible in Vermont. He also commended the Board for passing the Litter Ordinance. Deputy Farnum and Deputy Murano were thanked for their time and attendance. The town will be doing other traffic calming measures to also help to slow traffic down, especially through the village areas. 2. A. (1) WCSD - CONTRACT The Board has received the contract from the Windham County Sheriff's Department for services from July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002. The hourly rate has increased from $20.00 to $22.00 and the mileage has increased from $0.43 to $0.45 per mile. Motion was made by J. Anderson and seconded by R. Marek to have Chairman Michael Rohan sign the contract between the Town of Newfane and the Windham County Sheriff's Office for Fiscal Year 2002, beginning on July 1, 2001 and ending on June 30, 2002. Unanimous. 3. UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC A. Conservation Commission - Laura Bacon presented a memo from the Conservation Commission recommending that the Board of Selectmen amend the application before the Zoning Board of Adjustment (variance) and the Planning Commission for the recreational parking for the Town Forest Trails from permanent status to a request for a temporary two-year variance. The renewal for a temporary variance will allow time to determine the feasibility to look into alternative parking areas. It is believed that under the five criteria that the ZBA considers, a permanent variance for the parking would not be granted. There was discussion about legitimizing the expense to the taxpayers for a new access compared to the limited use that the parking area gets. With a new access there are wetlands matters to be considered. Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by R. Marek to amend the application for the Town Forest trail parking to be for a temporary two-year variance for the current parking situation. In favor: M. Rohan, F. Bacon, L. Bedell and R. Marek. Abstaining: J. Anderson. Motion passes. The ZBA has scheduled a recessed hearing for Thursday, August 2nd at 7:30 p.m. B. South Newfane/Williamsville Post Office Parking - Richard Thibodeau, USPS, prepared and sent four preliminary parking proposals for the South Newfane/Williamsville Post Office. Mr. Thibodeau would like some feedback from the Board and from the Planning Commission. The first phase of the project is to deal with the parking directly in front of the PO. Scheme 1 & 2 show vehicles having to back out into traffic, which is against the law and not a safe practice. Scheme #4 has the handicap parking in the side parking area with three parallel parking spaces in the front. Scheme #3 is the most acceptable to the Board with one handicap and two parallel parking spaces in the front with four spaces in the side area. There was concern expressed about postal patrons making a U-turn if parked in the front. M. Rohan went to the PC meeting to review the proposals with them. The Planning Commission submitted an additional proposal with no parking in the front. Nine spaces are proposed by the PC for the side area, with one being handicap. According to G. Garbe, the PC would want the side parking area to remain gravel. Accommodations will need to be made for the loading dock and employee parking for the PO and the insurance business. The PC proposal has grass and trees planted in the front area where there is currently parking. Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by R. Marek to have Chairman M. Rohan contact Richard Thibodeau to indicate that of the four schemes proposed by the USPS, that Scheme #3 is the most acceptable, although there are concerns about patrons making a U-turn. He will also present the Planning Commission proposal as an additional alternative to be considered. Unanimous. 4. ROAD BUSINESS - A. ROAD COMMISSIONER'S REPORT (See attached report) (1) Bill Noyes, District #2 Technician is putting together proposals for contractor flood work that needs to be completed. Some of the smaller projects will be completed by the Road Crew. Most of the work on South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) has been completed. 4. B. ROAD FOREMAN'S REPORT - (See attached report) No action was required by members of the Board on items listed in J. Gray's report. 4. C. EXCESS WEIGHT PERMITS Motion was made by M. Rohan and seconded by J. Anderson to approve the Single Vehicle Excess Weight Permit for Sam B. Garfield for tri-axle truck for maximum of 60,000 #. Unanimous 4. D. ACCESS/RIGHT OF WAY PERMITS (1) Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by J. Anderson to sign the final approval for Access Permit #A01-03 submitted by M. Rohan to widen and existing access on Wiswall Hill Road (TH#11) onto property lot # B-247. In favor: L. Bedell, J. Anderson, F. Bacon and R. Marek. Abstaining: M. Rohan. Motion passes. (2) Motion was made by M. Rohan and seconded by L. Bedell to sign for the final approval of Right of Way Permit #A01-05 to allow James and Barbara Brisson to place flower boxes within the town highway right of way along Dover Road (TH#2) on property lot #F082 from May 2 through November 14 three feet from the edge of the highway travel portion. Unanimous. 4. E. TEMPORARY EASEMENT - BRIDGE #51 The Temporary Easement onto private property for one way traffic on Vic Benjamin Road (TH#64) while Bridge #51 is being replaced, has been received from property owner, Barbara Kafka. Motion was made by M. Rohan and seconded by F. Bacon to have the Selectmen sign the Temporary Easement between the town and property owner, Barbara Kafka. Unanimous. A copy will be sent to the contractor, Robert Bazin of Bazin Brothers Trucking, Wm. Noyes of VTrans District #2, and of course, Barbara Kafka. 4. F. OTHER ROAD BUSINESS - (1) The Palmer Paving contract for the final application of blacktop on South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) flood work did not include the white edge lines, only the center lines. A change order has been received. Palmer paving has spoken with Wm. Noyes and J. Gray about this matter. Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by F. Bacon to have Chairman Michael Rohan sign the change order for 7,400 LF of 4" Thermoplastic Single White Edge Line Striping at $0.55 per LF for a total amount of $4,070. Unanimous. 6. B. CORRECTIONS TO THE GRAND LIST Three applications for corrections to the Grand List were received from the Listers. Motion was made by M. Rohan and seconded by F. Bacon to approve the corrections to the 2001 Grand List as follows: (1) John Jones from $40,000 corrected to $0.00 (inadvertent inclusion); (2) Central Vermont Public Service Corporation for $1,124,924 corrected to $935,515 (agreement prior to grievance); and (3) Vermont Electric Cooperative Inc. for $310,921 corrected to $254,300 (agreement prior to grievance). Unanimous. The corrections amount to a $286,030 reduction in the recently filed Grand List and would have increased the tax rate by $0.01 to $3.06. 5. OTHER OLD BUSINESS A. R. Marek remarked about the letter to the Board of Health as received from Dr. George & Carolyn Nye regarding the septic situation at the Liptak property on Railroad Lane. Assistant Health Officer, John Feifel, is aware of the situation and has contacted the property owner to correct the situation. J. Feifel will be asked for an update on th matter. B. M. Rohan reported to the Board about his meeting with the Planning Commission on July 17th, regarding the letter written by C. Bergmann to the USPS about Williamsville PO. The objection was that he first presented himself as a member of the PC and then proceeded as a private citizen. If any town commission or board member wishes to express an opinion of their own, then they should do so as a private citizen, and not reference their town affiliation. C. J. Anderson spoke of trying to stimulate more interaction between the Board and the Road Foreman at meetings. A discussion of an update of the flood projects and other town projects would be useful for J. Gray and the Board. J. Anderson is also trying to stimulate more interest within the road crew to participate in "Snow Plow Rally" and other such highway/road activities. The Board members indicated that they support their participation in such activities. D. J. Anderson has prepared an outline of the sign suggestions for South Newfane/Williamsville area as reviewed by he and L. Bedell. L. Bedell will review the materials before giving copies to the other Board members. R. Marek had copies of the Conceptual Site Design for Traffic Calming Elements for Village of Newfane. The design will be used to identify sign locations for the village area. It was also noted that the village has received funding from the 2001 Bicycle & Pedestrian Program for the second phase to reconstruct the historic sidewalk. The amount of the second grant is $286,713. 7. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT'S REPORT - (See attached report) A. Item #3 - The Road Commissioner will look into the project suggested by George Childs to cut down a knoll on Parish Hill Road (TH#26) and determine an estimated cost. The project may be a consideration for next years budget. B. Item #4 - The Board the Listers and Terry Knight will meet with Bill Krajeski of Patriot Properties to discuss the proposal submitted by his firm for a town wide reappraisal on Thursday, July 26th beginning at 1:30 p.m. at the town office. C. Item #6 - The meeting at the Williamsville Hall on August 30th is to discuss a proposal to consider an application to have Williamsville, South Newfane and Brookside on the National Register of Historic Places. If there is interest, an article will be placed on the town meeting warning for the funds to prepare and submit the necessary application. M. Rohan spoke with Bea MacFarland about how the Village of Newfane accomplished their putting the village on the register. D. There is a person who is able to do some community service work for the town. It has been suggested that he assist with cleaning up and organizing the upstairs "storage" area. Board approves of this suggestion. 8. MINUTES The minutes of Board meetings of 06/28/01, 07/09/01 and 07/10/01 were reviewed by the Board. Minutes of 07/09/01, Page #2, 2. C. P 3, 2nd sentence to read: "Three dates were decided upon to offer to T. Knight and patriot Properties for the week of (June) July 23rd." Page #3, 7. B. 5th sentence to read: "The Board felt that it was not good judgment on Mr. Bergmann's part to (preempt) prefaced the letter with the fact that he is a member of the Planning Commission." Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by R. Marek to approve the minutes of the 06/28/01 and 07/10/01, as written and 07/09/01, as corrected. Unanimous. 9. PAY ORDERS Motion was made by R. Marek and seconded by F. Bacon to approve the Newfane Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrants for the following amounts: 07/07/01 Payroll $ 2,787.23 07/14/01 Payroll $ 2,797.64 07/19/01 Payroll $ 1,633.12 07/20/01 Acct's Payable #2 $ 16,020.19 Unanimous. IRS Electronic Federal Payroll Tax Payments 07/11/01 $ 987.59 07/18/01 $ 1,469.95 10. CORRESPONDENCE (1) A copy of a letter from the Agency of Natural Resources, Wastewater Management Division to Roger Sparks indicating that with the addition of a second trailer, there may be a need to obtain a Water Supply & Wastewater Disposal Permit. (2) A letter has been received from Dr. George & Carolyn Nye regarding septic situation at the Liptak property on Railroad Lane. (See 5.a. page #3). (3) A copy of a letter written to Bea MacFarland, Trustee of the Village of Newfane, from the Agency of Transportation regarding the approval of the grant for the second phase of the sidewalk project in the amount of $286,713. The conditions of the grant were included within the correspondence. (4) Copy of July 17, 2001 minutes of the Planning Commission. 11. EXECUTIVE SESSION No matters came before the Board that required an Executive Session. 12. ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by R. Marek and seconded by J. Anderson to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board at 10:20 p.m. Unanimous. Doris A. Knechtel Administrative Assistant Newfane Board of Selectmen Posted: Town Clerk's Office, Newfane Store, Lessing's Family General Store and South Newfane General Store & Deli. www.newfanevt.com ROAD COMMISSIONER'S REPORT - 7/9/01 1. Accesses: * No access permits received/reviewed. * The temporary logging access on Lost Mile Road is no longer being used, however the stone wall has not been put back. It is our understanding that this is planned so the access will be reviewed again after the wall is restored in order to sign it off. It is fine in the mean time. 2. Calls: * Dick Flynn called about the roughness of Steep Way and wants to know when the job will be done and normal maintenance of the road restored. Minimal maintenance is being done until all of the contract work is completed in order not to disturb the stone lined ditches. The road was raked and chlorided and is improved. Part of the problem with these ditches are that they are not low enough to allow grading of the road without scraping and pushing back all of the new stone lining. 3. Project Status Non-Flood Work: * Band Rail bids to be prepared and ready to go out soon. Project areas are being looked at. Use of bandrail to address bridge approach rail deficiencies from the state bridge inspection report is being looked at, however, it probably won't e able to address the problems. Some of the approach rail that is being cited as substandard is bandrail that was put in before. * A signed agreement for a temporary road around the Vic Benjamin bridge project has bee received (thank-you Doris). This project can go forward whenever Bazin wants to start, however, I don't know when that might be. * We still have no firm date from Guerney on the warrantee repairs to the Wiswall Hill bridge wing wall that was undermined. * Parties are being contacted in order to set up a meeting to review Beck's plans for the Radway Hill, River Road intersection. 4. Project Status Flood Work: * Bazin Brothers have prepared an estimate for the repairs to the bridge at the bottom of Steep Way. We are waiting for a written proposal with firm prices. I recommend that any reasonable price e accepted ASAP. Bill Noyes has been very good at ensuring that reasonable costs are covered and overall the work has been close to the original estimates. * Jim thinks that a few of the smallest flood jobs are too small for a contractor to mobilize for and are low risk in terms of unanticipated time or money to complete them. He expects that the road crew will complete these smallest projects. * The remaining, larger scope projects that are not already under contract are being looked at by Bill Noyes. He is preparing the paperwork so that these projects can go out to bid soon. * Fitzpatrick's remaining work is all on Steep Way. He has extended the culvert at the top y 20' with another 10' extension to follow. He is pre-casting his own culvert headers. The technique is to cast a short section of culvert into the header. To install the header/culvert assembly the culvert end is dug up and cut shorter. The header is then put into place and the two culvert sections are joined with a and designed for this purpose. The excavator has been moved off the hill. Fitzpatrick has been in frequent communication with Bill Noyes and apparently work is progressing. Road Commissioner Jesse Anderson ROAD FOREMAN'S REPORT 7/19/01 TOWN OF NEWFANE HIGHWAY 1. The following roads have been worked on since the last regular B.O.S. meeting on 07/09/01: Wheeler Hill Road (TH#26), Beetlestone Hill Road (TH#47), Beetlestone Drive (TH#25), Porter Thayer Road (TH#51), Grout Road (TH#19), Hobby Hill Road (TH#19), Baker Brook Road (TH#19) from Hobby Hill Road (TH#19) to just below crooked bridge, Baker Brook Road (TH#19) from Dover Road (TH#2) to Porter Thayer Road (TH#51), Otis Lanae (TH#22), Newfane Hill (TH#20) Steep Way (TH#21), Upper River Road (TH#15), Sawmill Road (TH#77), and backside of Newfane Hill Road (TH#20). 2. Flood work to resume shortly on all projects. Bill Noyes compiling list to be let out for bid. Bob Bazin gave price for repairs to Bridge #32 on Bruce Brook Road (TH#21). 3. Equipment: A. The batteries were replaced in the '90 Mack Truck due to failure. B. All other equipment operational. 4. Brush and grass are being cut on Dover Road (TH#2) back of guardposts and bandrail. 5. Vacation time continues to be taken. 6. Culverts to be put in where needed. Some have been damaged by grader. To: Newfane Board of Selectmen Memorandum From: Doris A. Knechtel Subject: Administrative Assistant's Report Date: July 19, 2001 1. The temporary easement for Bridge #43 on Vic Benjamin Road (TH#64) has been signed by the property owner and is awaiting the signature of the Board members. 2. Laura Bacon will be in this evening (7:30 p.m.) to discuss with the Board the recommended change in the application for the Town Forest Trail parking from permanent to temporary status for another two years. 3. Resident George Childs was in on two matters; (1) the tree on the westerly side of the South Newfane/Williamsville Post Office that blocks the sight distance to the west and (2) he wants to know if the town can cut down a knoll on Parish Hill Road (TH#26) just south of the intersection with Wheeler Hill Road and Beetlestone Hill Road (TH#27). I believe that the blasting of ledge would be involved. 4. The meeting with Patriot Properties, Terry Knight of PV&R, Board members and the Listers is scheduled for Thursday, July 26th beginning at 1:30 p.m. 5. David Coburn from the state has called regarding the status of the large FEMA projects, (South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) and Steep Way (TH#21). When the projects have been completed, there will be an inspection and cost analysis done before additional monies can be forwarded to the town. 6. There will be a meeting on August 30th at the Williamsville Hall regarding a proposal to have Williamsville, South Newfane and Brookside be considered for being placed on the National Register of Historic Places. More information will be forthcoming. |
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  Town Offices: Route 30, P.O. Box 36, Newfane VT 05345, Tel. (802) 365-7772 Please send all comments, suggestions and questions to info@newfanevt.com |