TOWN OF NEWFANE
SELECTBOARD MEETING
MINUTES
AUGUST 7, 2017
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Gary Delius, Marion Dowling, Mike Fitzpatrick, Christopher Williams
OTHERS PRESENT: Alex Beck, Sarah Lang, Steve Levine, Jon Julian, Trevor Kemp, Maggie Kemp, Todd Lawley
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Gary Delius, Vice Chair.
ADDITIONS/AMENDMENTS TO THE AGENDA
Gary Delius requested that the reappointment of Merle Tessier as Zoning Administrator be added to Old Business. There were no objections.
MINUTES
July 17, 2017: The minutes were reviewed. A motion was made by Marion Dowling to approve the minutes as written. The motion was seconded by Christopher Williams. The motion carried with three in favor with Mike Fitzpatrick abstaining.
July 20, 2017: The minutes were reviewed. A motion was made by Marion Dowling to approve the minutes as written. The motion was seconded by Christopher Williams. The motion carried with three in favor with Mike Fitzpatrick abstaining.
ROAD BUSINESS
Please see attached report.
A motion was made by Mike Fitzpatrick and seconded by Marion Dowling to accept the report.
Discussion ensued regarding high-band radios and the Kenney Pond issue. Shannon will work to set up a site visit and special meeting before the August 21 Selectboard meeting.
The motion carried with three in favor and Christopher Williams abstaining.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT
Please see attached report.
A motion was made by Marion Dowling and seconded by Mike Fitzpatrick to accept the report. Gary Delius thanked Todd and Shannon for the work they do on grants. The motion carried unanimously.
SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
BDCC/SeVEDS: Alex Beck gave an overview of programs going on and updated the Board on the Leland and Gray program. He introduced Sarah Lane, who gave overview of her program which connects Windham and Bennington counties, strengthening the network.
Marion asked about advertising and promotion of the programs. Both answered that social media, mailing lists, advertising in local papers, and reaching out to members are the main ways of promotion.
Williamsville Hall Committee: Steve Levine introduced Maggie Kemp and recommended adding her to the Committee.
Steve reported that the grant they applied for was turned down and noted the Committee would like to come back to a meeting in the near future to discuss other ideas for weatherization to be able to use the building more.
The Committee was also present to discuss a new idea with the Board. The idea is to start a Breakfast Club, a place to come in the morning, meet friends, use the Wi-Fi and have coffee and pastries.
After a discussion, a motion was made by Mike Fitzpatrick to approve the idea of a daily breakfast event from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The motion was seconded by Christopher Williams. The motion carried unanimously.
A motion was made by Mike Fitzpatrick and seconded by Marion Dowling to appoint Maggie Kemp to the Williamsville Hall Committee. The motion carried unanimously.
UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
There were no Unscheduled Members of the Public
NEW BUSINESS
August 21 Meeting Quorum: Shannon confirmed that there would be three members present for the August 21 meeting, as two members will be away.
Labor Day Meeting: Shannon explained that the first meeting in September is Labor Day. A motion was made by Christopher Williams and seconded by Mike Fitzpatrick to skip the Labor Day meeting. The motion carried unanimously.
Development Review Board Membership: Shannon recommended Samantha Harlow and Kevin Keppler be appointed to the Development Review Board. A motion was made by Marion Dowling and seconded by Mike Fitzpatrick to appoint Samantha Harlow and Kevin Keppler to the Development Review Board. The motion carried unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS
Employee Appreciation Day: Christopher Williams noted he’d been getting complaints about the town spending money on food, and holding the party during work hours when employees should be working. Marion also noted that she had someone come to her and ask why we’re having this and how do we choose certain people to honor and not others (excluding volunteers) and also showed concern about the money being spent. Discussion ensued. It was noted that with Marion and Carol being gone on the 21st, there is only one more full meeting before the event to plan. Discussion ensued regarding reconsideration of the motion to skip the Labor Day meeting. Shannon will get an update from Carol, and the Board will decide on the September 4th meeting at the next meeting.
Evaluation Schedule: Gary noted that he and Marion have set a tentative date with Shannon for an evaluation and will do the same with Merle. Chris and Todd are working on it with the Highway Crew.
Zoning Administrator Appointment: Gary noted that the Board had neglected to re-appoint the Zoning Administrator by the deadline. A motion was made by Mike Fitzpatrick and seconded by Christopher Williams to re-appoint Merle Tessier for a term of three years. The motion carried unanimously.
CORRESPONDENCE:
- Rescue Inc. Invitation to Selectboard – Gary Delius will attend.
PAY ORDERS
A motion was made by Marion Dowling and seconded by Mike Fitzpatrick to approve the pay orders as follows:
- Accounts Payable Warrant No. 18002 in the amount of $61,241.90
- Payroll Warrant No. 07/26/17 in the amount of $4,021.55
- Payroll Warrant No. 08/02/17 in the amount of $5,115.18
- Payroll Warrant No. 08/09/17 in the amount of $4,982.15
The motion carried unanimously.
ADJOURN
A motion was made by Mike Fitzpatrick and seconded by Marion Dowling to adjourn at 7:27 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Shannon Meckle
ROAD FOREMAN’S AND ROAD COMMISSIONER’S REPORT
AUGUST 7, 2017
- Roads: The roads have held very well with all the heavy rain we keep getting. There have been several heavy storms with heavy down pours in the last few weeks and we have not had any major damage. The crew keeps going out and checking culverts before the storms and it has paid off very well. We have put in overtime three times this week going over the roads when we are getting these heavy rains. The crew has been replacing culverts and doing some ditch work, as well as cutting brush around intersections and signs.
- Equipment: The 2009 Sterling is at Twin State Truck Repair for an exhaust leak. The exhaust fumes are so bad that you have to drive it with the windows down and it still makes you sick. We have had it looked at by several truck shops and they can’t seem to find the problem I am very concerned about carbon monoxide in the truck. John had to drive it with the windows down when he was plowing. This truck needs to be replaced. It has been a money pit for a long time I think the board needs to put it in the budget to get rid of it and put the grader off one more year. The crew has serviced the grader as well. The new york rake is working well.
- Paving: We are done with the paving work for this year. Between last year and this year we were able to pave over four miles of road, due mainly to the grant the town received from VTrans. That made a huge difference.
- River Road Bridge Update: Daniels Construction got the bid after Marc Pickering reviewed all the bids. I have talked to Daniels and they said it will take a couple weeks longer than they thought to get the beams made. They should have all the work done by November 15th. There is enough money in the Capital bridges account to pay for that bridge. VTrans gave us a $175,000.00 grant which will help a lot. It pays for the town to go after these grants and paving grants. Shannon and I always go after these grants and the town makes out very well. Shannon puts in a lot of time with the paper work.
- Kenny Pond Update: We met with the State Of Vermont dam inspectors at the pond. They are saying that they will do a full inspection of the dam and then do report on their findings and send it down via email. They are saying that an engineer will have to be hired to draw up a set of plans on how to repair the wall. It will then have to be sent up to the state for approval before any work can be done.
- River Road Complaints: I have had several complaints about traffic on River Road, mainly about speeding. There is also a lot of trash dumping going on as well. This is house hold trash-not recycling. I have been in touch with Chris Campany to see if WRC can help us out by putting a counter on that road for awhile to see how much traffic it is getting and it will also tell the average speed. I have been in touch with a state trooper and they will monitor it as well. They have been running radar and have issued some tickets. It looks like a lot of people from Brookline are using it as a cut off road to Route 30.
- Radio Bids: I will work with Shannon on getting a bid out to replace all out two way radios due to the FCC, doing away with low band radios. All our radios are low band, back when the town bought radios in the mid 80’s Low band was the best thing. Now high band radios are better.
Jay is on vacation this week.
Thank you,
Todd Lawley, Road Foreman
Christopher Williams, Road Commissioner
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT
AUGUST 7, 2017
GARBAGE/RECYCLE REMOVAL AT TOWN OFFICE: The Town Office’s garbage and recycling will be picked up by Franklin & Son. They were the lowest price. They began on Wednesday.
GREEN LANTERN SOLAR UPDATE: Field sampling was done on the landfill last week. The report should be done and to Green Lantern by this week. There isn’t a lot for the town to do at this point, but I’m copied on all of the emails that go back and forth so that I’m kept informed of what’s happening.
VLCT WORKSHOP: Marion and I were able to speak with VLCT and they will begin working on a workshop for the Board and anyone else interested. I’ll also be talking with other area towns to see if they are interested in joining. I believe it will take place sometime after Labor Day.
AUDIT: Melissa and I have been working on gathering information for the auditors who will be here on September 13.
ADAMS BROOK GRANT: The application for a Stream Alteration Permit has been completed. This is a grant program to repair the extra material put into Adams Brook after Tropical Storm Irene. It has been postponed a few times, but it looks like it’s moving forward now.