MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING - BOARD OF SELECTMEN
SEPTEMBER 19th, 2002
NEWFANE TOWN OFFICE

PRESENT:
Selectmen: Richard Marek (9:00), Jesse Anderson, Lynn Bedell, Gary Katz and Piet van Loon.
Also Present: John Feifel and Gunther Garbe of the Planning Commission, David Clarkson of Conservation Commission, Glenn Bowman of Eagle River Mining, Roger Sparks, Sr., Roger Sparks, Jr., Ed Druke, James Gray as Road Foreman and Doris Knechtel as Administrative Assistant.

1. CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting was called to order by Vice-Chairman Piet van Loon at 7:00 p.m.

2. SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
A. OPENING OF BIDS
(1) WINTER SAND
The following bids were received for the purchase of 2,500 cubic yards of winter sand.
Bazin Brothers Trucking & Paving $ 7.15 per CY delivered to Town Garage
Cersosimo Industries, Inc. $ 7.25 per CY delivered to Town Garage
Zaluzny Excavating Corporation $ 6.98 per CY delivered to Town Garage
Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by L. Bedell to have the Road Foreman inspect the quality of the sand and to have him make a recommendation to the Board at the meeting of October 3rd. Unanimous.
(2) BRIDGE #42 ON STRATTON HILL ROAD (TH#35)
The following bid was received for the repair of the downstream rail system on the bridge.
Daniels Construction $ 6,120 Completion date - 11/01/02
Motion was made by J. Anderson and seconded by L. Bedell to award the bid to Daniels Construction for the repair of the downstream rail system of Bridge #42 for the amount of $ 6,120 with a completion date of 11/01/02. Unanimous.
(3) BRIDGE #41 ON PARISH HILL ROAD (TH#26)
The following bid was received for the repair of Bridge #41 on Parish Hill Road (TH#26).
Daniels Construction Project #1 $ 8,993 Completion date - 11/01/02
Project #2 $13,194 Completion date - 11/01/02
Project #1 involves the center beam work and new approach rail. Project #2 involves the removal of ten substandard rail posts and attachment devices to be replaced with fourteen VAOT VAOT components and posts. The Board questions whether both projects need to be done at this time and there needs to be a review of the budget to see where the town stands. Motion was made by J. Anderson and seconded by G. Katz to table further discussion and any decision until the Road Foreman is present later in the meeting. Unanimous.

2. B. EAGLE RIVER MINING - REOPEN TALC MINE
Glenn Bowmen from Perkinsville has been operating a talc mine in Chester, VT that has been is operation since the Civil War. Currently much of the soapstone is coming in from South America. The best prospect for soapstone in Vermont is the quarry off of the Silver Mine Trail. The quarry
has an Act 250 permit which has been in effect since 1983 and will expire in 2008. Not much activity has occurred at the site. The potential is still there. Mr. Bowmen intends to take the soapstone out in blocks to be used for sinks, fireplace linings, counter tops and the like.
P. van Loon indicated that the purpose for having Mr. Bowmen attend this evening's meeting is to get a general idea of what the project will be. The town and/or the Planning Commission may respond within 30 days to a letter (08/28/02) from Linda Mattison of Act 250 to request an appeal of the validity and full effect of the current permit (2W0567). The town will be to treating it as a new project. There will be an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions. The Planning Commission will require site plan approval.
Mr. Bowmen indicated that the current permit calls for the construction phase to be completed by June 15, 2003. He will be asking for an extension. He intends to remove less than has been permitted in the current permit. The block will be removed by drilling and the use of wire saws, not blasting as originally permitted. There will be one or two 10-wheelers (55-60 M# loaded) used once a week to remove the blocks not 12 trucks a day as per the current permit. Other support vehicles will be used. The current permit allows the operation from May to December.
D. Clarkson brought up some concerns to be considered regarding the project. There are now some year round residents on White Birch Lane with children. He also expressed concern about the area of extraction filling with water and becoming a safety issue. The area is also a bear habitat area during the summer months. All of these concerns can be expressed at a future meeting, either through the Act 250 process and/or the Planning Commission site plan process.
Glenn Bowmen as thanked for his attendance at the meeting.

3. UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
A. ROGER SPARKS - Junk Ordinance Violation
Roger Sparks was present to ask about the status of the fine that the town may impose upon him for the junk vehicles and debris that he has not yet removed from his property. He did get rid of some of the vehicles and some of the trash. He does not feel that he is doing anything wrong. He also indicated by a threat that he did not want anyone to trespass onto his property or there would be consequences.
P. van Loon indicated that the Board appreciated that R. Sparks came to the meeting. The Board wants to know what progress is being made and what the plans are for further remediation of the removal of the vehicles and debris so that the items cannot be seen from the road or from the neighbors property either by screening or removal from the property.
Roger indicated that he cannot store items in his barn as it if falling in. He is not interested in having a junk yard. R. Sparks was repeatedly asked what progress that he thought he could make by the end of October. The Board would like to work with him to resolve the matter.
Several motions were suggested before a motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by J. Anderson to give Roger Sparks until October 31st to remove at least four motor vehicles and a trailer in order for the Board to consider that significant progress has been made to remove debris and junk vehicles from his property. Unanimous. A letter is to be sent to R. Sparks to indicate what the Board will consider as significant progress . In the absence of any progress on the matter a second violation notice will be sent. Suggestion was made about the possibility of bring vehicles to Alpine Meadows, but G. Garbe indicated that Alpine Meadows does not want any more vehicles.

B. EDWARD DRUKE
(1) Planning Commission Appointment - E. Druke questioned the legality of the recent appointment to the Planning Commission member by the Selectboard. He felt that the appointment should have been a recommendation from the PC and that it should have been advertized. The candidate appointed had come forward before there had been an actual opening. P. van Loon will research the issue and get back to E. Druke.
(2) Cutting of Trees - E. Druke also questioned the policy of who may or may not cut trees within the town highway right of way; the landowner, utility companies, shade tree, etcetera.
P. van Loon will also look into this matter and get back to E. Druke.

4. ROAD BUSINESS
4. D. ACCESS/RIGHT OF WAY PERMITS
(1) Access Permit #A02-13 - Motion was made by J. Anderson and seconded by G. Katz to sign the Approval to Proceed for Access Permit #A02-13 submitted by Joseph & Donna Peters for an access onto their property (PID# - 00F068.2) on Mayer Road (TH#40). The access is to be built to B71 Standards. The culvert required to be 15" smooth bore plastic or an 18" corrugated metal. Owner or contractor to consult with the Road Foreman on advice of depth of culvert before installation. Unanimous.

2. A. OPENING OF BIDS - (3) BRIDGE #41 ON PARISH HILL ROAD (TH#35) J. Gray was informed of the results of the sand bids and the awarding of the bid for Bridge #42 on Stratton Hill Road (TH#35). The bids for projects one and two on Bridge #41 were discussed with J. Gray also. There was discussion about whether both projects need to be done at this time, and if so, where would the funds be coming from in the new budget? It was decided that this is an immediate problem and needs to be dealt with. Other anticipated projects in the budget will have to be cut back. Motion was made by J. Anderson and seconded by L. Bedell to award the bid to Daniels Construction Project #1 - $8,993 and Project #2 - $13,194 on Bridge #41, for a total of $22,187. Unanimous.

4 A. ROAD COMMISSIONER'S REPORT - (See attached report)
(1) Item #5 - In order for overweight vehicle enforcement to take place, the town should file an annual report with the state by February 10th the includes the regulations and restrictions within the community. A newspaper article of 05/28/02 regarding another violation by one of the alleged violators of overweight vehicles in Newfane, supplied by J. Gray, was read by G. Katz. Concern was expressed about some overweight vehicles not being properly insured for any damage that they may do to the town roads and/or bridges.
(2) Item # 2 - Follow up on the flood audit progress will be done. Hopefully, this matter can be resolved soon.
(3) Item #3 & RF Item #6 - An estimate has been received from F.R. Lafayette regarding a number of locations for the possible installation of guard rail in Newfane. The estimate is over the amount budgeted for FY 2003. The list will be reviewed and prioritized with consideration being given to other necessary expenses.

4. B. ROAD FOREMAN'S REPORT - (See attached report)
(1) Item #7 - J. Gray has spoken to Daniels about an estimate to drill and screw the deck down for the covered bridge (CB#17) for about $850 per day for up to four days.($3,400). No decision was made at this time. Again, the financial situation has to be reviewed.

(2) Item #2 - Motion was made by P. van Loon and seconded by R. Marek to write a letter to remind Rev. Powers that the stumps have not yet been cut on Baker Brook Road (TH#19) and the brush has not been removed from on the Silver Mine Trail from the utility line clearing project. Unanimous.

4. C. EXCESS WEIGHT PERMITS
No Excess Weight Permits were received that required the approval of the Board.

5. B. OTHER OLD BUSINESS
(1) Correspondence has been received from William Guenther regarding his property tax bill and his concerns for the large increase. R. Marek will contact W. Guenther to explain the mechanics of the town's tax rate. The school issue of the funding for special education with only 10% coming from the Federal Government instead of 40%. This extra cost trickles down to the state and the towns.
(2) Gary Katz will be attending the Vermont Coalition of Municipalities in Rutland on October 3rd from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The coalition meets to discuss the belief that Vermont's education finance law, Act 60, is not a viable solution to the problem of providing equal education opportunities for all students.
(3) The demolition of the Williams property has been completed with the exception of the mulching ans seeding of the property. The Conservation Commission has inquired about a possible use of the property. P. van Loon has contacted Fred Nicholson about the possible need to rip-rap the gullies from the flood next year.

6. NEW BUSINESS
A. APPOINTMENTS
(1) AUDITORS - 2
R. Marek indicated that Neil Pelsue is interested in serving as an auditor for the town now that there has been another auditor appointed. Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by R. Marek to appoint Neil Pelsue to serve as an Auditor for Newfane until March 4th, 2003. Unanimous.

6. B. WINDHAM COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY CONTRACT
R. Marek indicated that he is working on amendments to the Animal Control Ordinance (Dog Ordinance) before the signing of the contract with the Humane Society. J. Anderson questioned the reasoning for waiting to sign the contract before the ordinance is amended. The two documents do not mesh. It was suggested that the contract be negotiated. R. Marek will be ready with an amended draft Dog Ordinance for the next meeting.

6. C. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
(1) R. Marek requested that the NewBrook Fire Department be able to use the Town Office for securing the funds collected from their coin drop on Route 30 during the Heritage Festival. The traffic does get backed up during the festival partly because of the festival and partly because of the traffic along Route 30 who are viewing the foliage. They do need to try to move the traffic along. Emergency vehicles are situated at each end of the village in case of an emergency.
(2) There has been a request to do an aerial photograph over Newfane Common for a Walgreen promotion. It is scheduled to be done on October 10th. Refueling may take place at the Onyon field. The Village Trustees have been notified. The Sheriff's Department and the Reformer should be notified of the event in case someone thinks that a low flying plane may be suspicious.

7. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT'S REPORT - (See attached report)
A. Item #1 - Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by R. Marek to grant permission for the closure of West Street (TH#1) and Church Street (TH#55) during the time of the Heritage Festival on October 12th and 13th from 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Unanimous.
B. Item #5 - Depending on the amount of funds coming in and the delivery date of the truck, the town may have to consider borrowing the funds for the truck for a period of one month.
C. Item #6 - The Board has agreed to meet with Roger Whitcomb of VTrans and N. Mercede on October 3rd to discuss the Brookline/Newfane Bridge #19 temporary bridge easement and the intersection of Radway Hill Road (TH#4) and River Road (TH#15).

8. MINUTES
The minutes of 05/02/02, 05/16/02, and 06/20/02 have not been completed for this meeting. Motion was made by R. Marek and seconded by P. van Loon to approve the minutes of 09/05/02, as written with one minor spelling correction, "puple" to pupil. Unanimous.

9. PAY ORDERS
Motion was made by G. Katz and seconded by J. Anderson to approve the Newfane Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrants for the following amounts with the understanding that the check for Twin State Excavating will be held a Certificate of Insurance has been received to prove Worker's Compensation Insurance :
09/07/02 Payroll $ 2,981.79
09/14/02 Payroll $ 2,963.54
09/15/02 Payroll $ 784.00
09/20/02 Acct's Payable #5 $ 19,276.17 Unanimous.
IRS Electronic Federal Payroll Tax Payments
09/11/02 $ 1,658.45
09/18/02 $ 946.09

10. CORRESPONDENCE
A. A Thank You note has been received from M. Rohan for the tickets that he received from the Board for a Red Sox's game.
B. Monthly reports have been received from the Sheriff's Department.

12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by P van Loon and seconded by R. Marek to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Board at 10:25 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 09/19/02

1. PERMITS
Reviewed Peter's access permit for Mayer Road. This is the steep dead end road at the end of the Covered Bridge. Sight distances are no problem. There will need to be a culvert - 15" smooth bore plastic or 18" corrugated metal. Neither configuration should require burial to an excessive depth.

2. FLOOD AUDIT
Calls to Floyd Roberts (District), Rich Tetreault (VTAOT) and Peter Boemig (SVE) went unanswered. Floyd was up north on business, Peter was on vacation. Rich finally did leave a message indicating that he was following up on the audit. I think the phone calls from Jim, myself and Doris are spurring some action. Jim clarified that the responses from SVE were the only holdups (based on his earlier calls to Floyd). Because of this clarification and because I could not discuss it with Floyd myself, I held off writing a letter about the list of contractors that were contacted for phase II.

3. GUARDRAIL BIDS
Ready to go out soon. This is probably the only discretionary spending that we have left to balance out any overages in bridge repairs or other items.

4. YELLOW LINE PAINTING
Jim reported that yellow lines were being painted in Dummerston earlier this week. The letter requesting the painting went out on Wednesday. Hopefully we won't get missed on this pass through the area.

5. OVERWEIGHT ENFORCEMENT
We have not filed our overweight information with the State (annually by February 10). We cannot receive assistance from the State for overweight enforcement because of this. I recommend that we file the required information next year, before February 10, and get Newfane included in the State publication of overweight regulations and restriction by town. Then we can begin a serious overweight campaign. That leaves the remainder of this year. The Sheriff's department might be able to act on their own, however, we would need to explore this with them. The last time we met with them they talked about a joint effort with the State that they did in Vernon.

Jesse Anderson, Road Commissioner

ROAD FOREMAN'S REPORT 09/19/02
TOWN OF NEWFANE HIGHWAY

1. Adams Hill Road (TH#27) and Newfane Hill Road (TH#20) were graded, raked and chlorided. Parish Hill Road (TH#26), Grout Road (TH#19), Sunset Lake Road (TH#42) and Steepway Road (TH#21) were graveled where needed.

2. The stumps on Baker Brook Road (TH#19) and brush on Silver Mine Trail have not been removed after the utility line clearing project.

3. Chloride was delivered to the old town garage.

4. Stakes have been put in on Stratton Hill Road (TH#35) denoting future utility lines. Bill Guenther was notified.

5. Equipment: A. The dump body on the F-550 truck is being sanded down and painted. B. The new International truck is in the shop being outfitted at Vermont Municipal this week. C. All other equipment is operational.

6. Band rail locations were gone over with Brent Tewksbury from F.R. Lafayette, Inc.

7. The Covered Bridge CB#17 deck is loose and needs screwing down again.

Respectfully submitted,
James O. Gray, Road Foreman

To: Newfane Board of Selectmen MEMORANDUM
From: Doris A. Knechtel
Subject: Administrative Assistant's Report
Date: September 19, 2002

1. Larry Robinson, Windham County Superior Court Clerk, called regarding information on the recent Town Auditor appointment.

2. Richard Marek spoke with Neil Pelsue, and he will be willing to serve as a Town Auditor now that another person has come forward to serve.

3. Floyd Robert called to indicate that the information from Southern Vermont Engineering regarding the Flood Audit will not be available until next week when Peter Boemig returns from vacation.

4. Carline Pelsue would like permission to close West Street and Church Street during the time of the Heritage Festival on October 12th and 13th. (9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.)

5. The application has been sent ito VAOT for a loan for the new truck. The request is for $56,006, 75% of the purchase price. They meet in mid-October and will inform the town of their decision. J. Gray thinks that the truck may be ready before we know the status of the loan request.

6. Roger Whitcomb, Project Manager from VTrans, called about the possible hold up of the Brookline/Newfane Bridge #19 project due to some issues raised by N. Mercede. Roger Whitcomb and N. Mercede are scheduled to attend the Selectboard meeting of October 3rd to discuss and help resolve the issues. If a settlement is not reached, the town may have to implement condemnation proceedings.

7. If Board members are planning to attend the 25th annual Municipal Officers' Seminar at Mount Snow on Tuesday, October 29th, registration forms must be submitted to Shelba by the October 3rd meeting.

8. I will be attending the VLCT Town Fair on Thursday, September 26th and I will be taking September 27th as a Vacation Day.

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