PRESENT:
Selectmen: Piet van Loon, Gorty Baldwin, Priscilla Cotton, Gary Katz and Chris Williams.
Also Present: David Berrie, Scott Heller, Dave King, John Long, James O. Gray as Road Foreman and Doris Knechtel as Administrative Assistant.

1. CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting was called to order by Chairman Piet van Loon at 6:57 p.m.

2. SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
No one scheduled.

3. UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
A. David Berrie was present to discuss a problem that he has with water running down Spring Hill Trail, his camp road, that needs repairs every year. He asked if there is some way to divert some of the water to Upper Pound Road or into a field where it used to go. Scott Heller and David King, who own property on Upper Spring Hill Road, would also like to see the town divert the water so that it does not run straight down the hill, picking up speed, and causing more damage.
G. Katz indicated that temporary repairs have been made as a result of the flooding damage which occurred on August 17th on Newfane Hill Road (TH#20) and Upper Spring Hill Road (TH#23). Paul Gould, District 2 Acting Technician, has reported the damage to FEMA. A FEMA meeting will be held in the near future for all area towns with road damage for the flooding caused by various storms over the past few weeks.
The town will explore possible new ideas to improve the drainage in the area in question. It was reported that at one time there had been a restriction about diverting the water into a field. The town may need to employ an engineer to assess the drainage situation.
B. John Long was present to ask about being notified when his adjacent property owner, Robert Wood, replaces his septic system with an approved septic design. The Board is not involved with the installation of septic systems. The matter comes under the jurisdiction of the Sewage Control Officer, John Feifel. A representative from the State may also be in attendance at the time of the replacement system, as the system is in the vicinity of a wetlands.

4. ROAD BUSINESS
4. A. ROAD COMMISSIONER’S REPORT - (See attached report)
(1) Item #2 - The roadside mowing has been completed. It was felt that a good overall job was done, cutting back to improve sight distances. It was reported that one mail box was damaged. Hopefully it will take less time, reducing the overall cost.
(2) Item #1 - The town has received the revised Petition and Order for Pole and Wire Locations from Verizon for Stratton Hill Road (TH#35). There is still one property owner that Verizon needs to be granted permission for the change in location of a pole. The Board will wait until the property owner grants approval before the revised petition. The town does agree with the petition as proposed.
4. D. ACCESS/RIGHT OF WAY PERMITS
(1) Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by C. Williams to approve Access/Right of Way Permit #A03-09 submitted by Ward Aragi to install a new residential access on White Birch Trail on property 00A01.7. B71 standard to apply. An 18" culvert, one and one-half times the width of the access, is required. Unanimous.
4. F. OTHER ROAD BUSINESS
(1) P. van Loon has spoken with various people about the storm drain located on the South Newfane General Store property owned by Stephan and Diane Brown. He does not believe that the storm drain is the town’s responsibility. It was reported that former owners used to have the South Newfane/Williamsville Fire Department clean out the drain.
(2) E. Druke had asked C. Williams to speak to his concerns regarding the way in which the run outs on Timson Hill Road (TH#41) were pushed back leaving a pile of gravel.
(3) The Board members again mentioned the proliferation of the “Children at Play” sign. These are not regulation signs, and in many cases there are not children at the property where the sign is located.

5. OLD BUSINESS
A. PERSONNEL POLICY
The changes will be made to the proposed Personnel Policy and then the Board will meet with the employees affected by the policy. The suggestion for paying two hours minimum if called out for an emergency and paying time and one-half for Christmas plus the hours worked will be looked into through VLCT.
B. TRAFFIC ORDINANCE REVIEW
The Board will review the Traffic Ordinance to ensure that the language is correct that will allow for a portion of the fines from speeding violations on Route 30 to come back to the town. Information regarding the setting of speed limits and a model traffic ordinance have been received from Vermont Local Roads. Trooper Sorensen of the VT State Police was in to obtain an copy of the ordinance to review for his purposes.
E. OTHER OLD BUSINESS
A written report has been received from the Traffic Calming Committee with recommendations for the Selectboard to consider. The Committee focused their efforts on the Depot/Dover Road corridor on the issue of speeding. The specific recommendations include: (1) The posting of a 35 mph speed sign on the South Newfane side of the Williamsville Covered Bridge. (2) Develop a no passing zone on the straight away section of Dover Road between the Green Iron Bridge at Parish Hill Road and the Williamsville Covered Bridge and erect a “No Passing” sign where appropriate. and (3) Develop a specific contract with the Windham County Sheriff’s Department and the Vermont State Police for increased hours of patrol car enforcement. The committee will plan to work with residents on other roads to develop similar recommendations for traffic calming in other areas of Newfane.
The 35 mph speed limit sign has been put up. There will need to be some study done about having a No Passing Zone in that particular area and possibly other areas of the community. Vermont Local Roads will be a good source for information. The increased enforcement is part of the budget process. The amount of revenues from the speeding fines is not necessarily in direct relationship to the enforcement hours spent. The does not recommend zero tolerance on the speed limit because of technical limitations of the equipment.
4. B. ROAD FOREMAN’S REPORT - (See attached report)
(1) Item #2 - The heavy rains on 08/17 that washed Newfane Hill Road (TH#20) and Upper Spring Hill Road (TH#23) caused damage that may be recovered through FEMA. It was suggested that there may need to be an engineering study done of the drainage for that area. Some of the drainage used to go down Upper Pound Road, a legal trail. Motion was made by G. Baldwin and seconded P. Cotton to have the Board meet at the intersection of Newfane Hill Road (TH#20) and Upper Spring Hill Road (TH#23) at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 28th to review the existing drainage. Unanimous. These recent flash storms are unusual events and have caused damage throughout Windham and Windsor Counties.
4. F. OTHER ROAD BUSINESS
(1) The turn around on Spring Hill Road (TH#51) has been improved by the town.
(2) The run offs from Timson Hill Road (TH#41) onto the Fassett’s property are depositing a substantial amount of gravel.
(3) Bridge #49, the Green Iron Bridge on Parish Hill Road (TH#26) is going to have the membrane surface stripped by the state this next week.

5. E. OTHER OLD BUSINESS
(1) P. Cotton asked what is happening in the matter of the “junk” at the Roger Sparks property on Auger Hole Road (TH#3). P. van Loon will visit the sight to speak with the owner. The Board members also spoke of taking another look at the Newfane Junk and Junk Vehicle Ordinance.
(2) P. van Loon will review the recent traffic study done on South Wardsboro Road (TH#1) by Windham Regional Commission and prepare a summary of that data for the Board.

6. NEW BUSINESS
A. APPOINTMENTS
(1) REPRESENTATIVE TO RESCUE, INC.
A letter has been sent to Merle Tessier to ask if he is interested in serving as the Newfane Rescue, Inc. representative. A phone number was found for Mr. Tessier.
B. SCHEDULE MEETINGS WITH BOARDS, TOWNS AND AGENCIES
It was noted that after meeting with the Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Adjustment to discuss the possibility of forming a Development Review Board, the Planning Commission is not in favor of DRB at this time. The Board would like to set up a meeting with representatives of the Leland & Gray Board and the Elementary School Board to discuss unfunded mandates and other concerns of the school and town for Thursday, October 16th.
C. BID - HEATING FUEL
Board members reviewed the draft bid for the purchase of heating fuel for the town buildings and for the two volunteer fire departments. Some changes were made. The bid will be sent out with submissions to be back for the meeting of September 4th.
D. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
(1) The advertisement to hire a new Highway Crew member was reviewed. Some changes were made. There was discussion about the class of CDL license required. Class A CDL is listed as preferred on the advertisement.
(2) G. Katz spoke briefly on a matter which may be of concern to the Board of Civil Authority. He will bring the matter up at the next BCA meeting.

7. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT
No report was submitted. All matters were discussed during the meeting.

8. MINUTES
The Board reviewed the minutes of the Regular Meeting of 08/07/03. CORRECTIONS - Page #2, Item #2.B. Change the last word in the motion from offenses to complaints. Motion was made by P. Cotton and seconded by G. Baldwin to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of 08/07/03, as corrected. Unanimous. Minutes of 07/01/03 and 07/17/03 are incomplete at this time.

10. CORRESPONDENCE
A. A letter has been written to Nicholas Mercede from the Board regarding his appeal of the Act 250 Land Use Permit for Winchester Stables. The Board approved of the letter to be signed by the Chairman Hendrik W. van Loon on behalf of the Board and sent to N. Mercede.
B. A letter has been received from VTrans regarding the reduction of the speed limit on VT Route 30 as requested by the town.
C. Notification has been received from the state regarding the Petroleum Cleanup Fund has fallen below $1 million dollars. The underground storage tank program will be curtailed until the fund is back to $1 million dollars.
D. The South Newfane Baptist Church has received Wastewater System and Potable Water Supply permit from the state.
E. The town has received notification of a ZBA hearing for Wednesday, September 3, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. for the construction of a storage shed on the property of the Williamsville General Store. The town is an abutting property owner.
F. Reports have been received from the Windham County Sheriff’s Department for 07/06/03 through 08/02/03.

9. 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:
08/09/03 Payroll $ 2,788.88
08/16/03 Payroll $ 2,821.05
08/20/03 Payroll $ 803.80
08/22/03 Acct.’s Payable #5 $ 305,956.24 Unanimous.
IRS Electronic Federal Payroll Tax Payments
08/13/03 $ 1,334.07
08/20/03 $ 864.89

11. EXECUTIVE SESSION
No matters came before the Selectboard that required Executive Session. Motion was made by P. Cotton and seconded by G. Katz to hire and attorney from the office of Fitts, Olson and Giddings to represent the town in a suit to be brought before the Environmental Court. Unanimous.

12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by P. Cotton to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board at 9:40 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 08/21/03

1. Stratton Hill Road Telephone Poles
The revised proposal has come in and looks fine. The remaining problem is that Verizon still needs permission from one of the property owners to move the location of a pole. Once permission is received, this will be an approvable permit application.

2. Roadside Mowing
Roadside mowing has been completed and took three days. Jim indicates that the contractor did a good job and, now that he knows the roads, could be expected to do a better job next year.

3. Bridge Work on Bruce Brook/Steepway
The footings are now being poured. Paul Gould from VTrans says he doesn’t think the skewed angle of the bridge would be a problem and that this frequently happens.

4. White Birch Lane Access Permit
Application A03-09 from Ward Araqi looks fine. The access should enter the road at a 90 degree angle and an 18 inch culvert, as proposed by the applicant, should be required. Site distances both ways are fine

5. Newfane Hill Road Flood Damage
Significant damage occurred on Newfane Hill Road Sunday evening due to flooding. Temporary fixes have been made. Paul Gould has put in a claim with the state for us. There will be a FEMA meeting on this at some point in the future.

6. Monroe Bridge Accident
Railings have been replaced following the Monroe Bridge accident. They are fragile, however, and are marked with warning cones.

7. Other Items
On the Spring Hill Road turn-around: If this is the lower Spring Hill Road turn-around, Jim agrees that it needs to be fixed and will follow-up. Is that the one?

Gary Katz, Road Commissioner

ROAD FOREMAN’S REPORT 08/21/03
TOWN OF NEWFANE HIGHWAY

1. The following roads were worked on since the last BOS meeting: Stratton Hill Road (TH#35), Steepway Road (TH#21), Jones Hill Road (TH#52), Backside of Newfane Hill Road (TH#20), New Road (TH#30), Chapin Road (TH#39), Browns Road (TH#45), Parish Hill Road (TH#26) by Deer Hill Road (TH#37), Wiswall Hill Road (TH#11), Newfane Hill Road (TH#20) from Grimes Hill Road (TH#5) to Joseph Lane (TH#78) and South Wardsboro Road (TH#1).

2. Heavy rains washed sections of Newfane Hill Road (TH#20) from Ed Druke, Jr.’s to top of Newfane Hill Road. Disaster aid may be forthcoming if declared a Federal disaster. Paul Gould, VT State Highway Technician inspected the site.

3. Bridges: A. Bridge #15 (Monroe Bridge) was damaged due to a car accident on August 16, 2003. B. Bridge #32 (Bruce Brook Road - TH#21) is being rebuilt. Heavy rains have not helped. C. The Green Iron Bridge #49 deck is to be stripped next week.

4. Equipment: A. The L-9000 is being repaired at D.J. in Guilford. Exhaust manifold studs are broken off. B. All other equipment is operational.

Respectfully submitted,
James O. Gray, Road Foreman

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