| Any and all corrections to the following minutes
will be made at the 12/20/01 Board of Selectmen's Meeting and are considered
unapproved until then. Corrections will be noted in the minutes of that
meeting.
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN
DECEMBER 16th, 2001
PRESENT:
Selectmen: Mike Rohan, Jesse Anderson, Fred Bacon, and Richard Marek.
Absent: Lynn Bedell
Also Present: William J. Krajeski, Vice President of Customer Relations for Patriot Properties, Ted Schreyer and Gary Katz as Listers, Frank Suponski, Mike Granger, Carleton "Red" Chaffee, Dan Darrow, Fred Jenness, Edward Druke, Sr., and Doris Knechtel, Administrative Assistant.
1. CALL TO ORDER
The Special Meeting was called to order at 1:08 p.m. by Chairman Mike Rohan.
2. STATUS REPORT OF REAPPRAISAL - PATRIOT PROPERTIES
William A. Krajeski of Patriot Properties, Inc., reviewed with those present the progress to date on the reappraisal.
Mr. Krajeski also prepared a list of items to be discussed. It was decided to have the general day-to-day contact with Patriot be Doris Knechtel and the main Lister contact to be Ted Schreyer. T. Schreyer provided a copy of the Grand List on a disc. A copy of the file layout will need to be obtained from NEMRC. Copies of the current assessment cards will be provided for Patriot in order for them to create an account for everyone. Much of that work will be done off site. Once a copy of the assessment cards are supplied to Patriot, the town Listers assessment work will cease for the time being. A method for keeping Patriot apprised of the property transfers, address changes, and lot changes will need to be decided upon. Patriot will also need to know about final zoning permits and septic permits to keep that information up to date. Assessments will be as of April 1, 2002
There will be two additional personnel from Patriot Properties who will be working with Mr. Krajeski to do the field work. It is anticipated that they will begin on October 22 and work through November 21 for the initial. They will have photo identification as well as an introduction letter. The Windham County Sheriff's Department will also be provided with information about the assessors working with Patriot. A mailing is to be sent to all property owners, Bulk Rate postage, to inform them of the reappraisal schedule. There will also be a Press Release prepared to be put in the Brattleboro Reformer for now and later on during the process to give property owners information about the reappraisal process.
Questions were raised from those in attendance regarding how the situation will be handled if no one is at home when an appraiser first goes to the dwelling. Patriot will first leave a notice, try again at a different time and then make an appointment. Land values and sales analysis will be done by comparing the sales for 1999, 2000, and 2001 from Newfane and possibly neighboring communities. They will also look at neighborhood characteristics. Mr. Krajeski has been in contact with Terry Knight from Property Valuation & Review and will abide by VT State statutes. The contract includes their assistance through the Board of Civil Authority grievance process.
L. Bedell questioned the 2.2.2 section regarding the penalty of $25 per day for each day of delay beyond the April 11, 2002 date to present the values to the Selectmen and the Listers. She feels that the amount should be higher. The matter will be discussed closer to the April 11th date.
The support agreement will not need to be decided upon until closer to the July 1 st, 2002 date, on whether to have a full service agreement for $3,500 per year or a partial service agreement for $2,000 per year. It will depend on if the Lister will need one-site service for hardware and software issues. The decision needs to be made on the hardware configuration of a powerful single user work station or a small network server. The price of the new computer is included in the contract price. The computer hardware will be purchased soon so that the Listers can test the database system and received training for the Assess.Pro program.
Motion was made by R. Marek and seconded by L. Bedell to enter into a contract with Patriot Properties, Inc. of Lynn, MA for the amount of $68,000 for town-wide reappraisal to be completed by June 15, 2002. Unanimous.
3. OTHER BUSINESS
A. M. Rohan prepared a draft letter to be sent to Richard Thibodeau of the USPS regarding the South Newfane/Williamsville Post Office. The Board reviewed the letter and made a few changes. Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by F. Bacon to approve the letter as revised to be sent to Richard Thibodeau regarding the South Newfane/Williamsville Post Office to be signed by the Chairman, Michael N. Rohan. Unanimous. Board members also reviewed points made at the meeting of 09/20 in reference to the SN/W Post Office. It appeared that some in attendance at that meeting wanted to "go to war" with the Post Office. Many of the issues discussed are not something that the town can control as the USPS is not required to obtain a local zoning permit. A copy of Section 106, which was mentioned at that meeting as being a "law" that the USPS is in violation of, is being sent. A quick overview of Section 106 (Federal and State Historic Preservation) relates to buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places, State Historic Register, or are eligible for consideration, that are being renovated and will receive Federal funds for the project need to apply for review. Section 106 review encourages, but does not mandate, preservation.
B. R. Marek suggested that the Board meet for a special meting to discuss traffic calming approaches and signs or to meet earlier than 7:00 p.m. for a regular meeting to make some headway on implementing the traffic calming ideas. The Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. on October 4th to discuss traffic calming.
4. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by L. Bedell and seconded by R. Marek to adjourn the Special Meeting at 5:25 p.m. Unanimous.
Doris A. Knechtel
Administrative Assistant
Newfane Board of Selectmen
Posted:
Newfane Town Office, Newfane Store, Lessing's Family General Store and
South Newfane General Store & Deli. www.newfanevt.com
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