Selectboard Meeting Minutes – July 6, 2015

TOWN OF NEWFANE

SELECTBOARD MEETING

DRAFT MINUTES

JULY 6, 2015

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:  Todd Lawley, Mike Fitzpatrick, Marion Dowling

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Carol Hatcher

OTHERS PRESENT:  Cor Trowbridge, Laura Sibilia, Adam Grinold, Cina Friend, Doris Knechtel, Beverly Bates, Adele Graham, Domenic Poli, Gini Grabowski, Gary Delius, Lynn Forrest, Tim Cawrse, Pauline Deen, Henry Carr, Pat Weisbrich, Al Weisbrich, Karen Meyer

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 6:02 p.m. by Todd Lawley, Chair.

MINUTES

June 15, 2015 Special Meeting: A motion was made by Mike Fitzpatrick to approve the minutes. The motion was seconded by Marion Dowling. The motion carried unanimously.

June 15, 2015 Regular Meeting:  A motion was made by Marion Dowling to approve the minutes. The motion was seconded by Mike Fitzpatrick. The motion carried unanimously.

June 22, 2015 Road and Bridge Tour Meeting: Approval of the minutes was tabled pending a quorum of members who were present.

ROAD BUSINESS:

Road Foreman’s and Road Commissioner’s Report: See attached report.

Gloria Cristelli asked for clarification about community service workers. Todd noted that he was referring to the Department of Corrections community service workers.

A motion was made by Mike Fitzpatrick to accept the Road Foreman’s and Road Commissioner’s Report. The motion was seconded by Marion Dowling. The motion carried unanimously.

Arch Bridge: Marion Dowling read four letters from tax payers regarding the Arch Bridge design.

Gary Delius asked about striping down to one-lane, noting it wasn’t mentioned in the letters. It was noted that these letters were written by people who did not necessarily attend that meeting. Todd noted that as one Board member, it would be his recommendation to go with the one-lane striping.  Timeline for a decision was discussed. Shannon will contact VTrans and get a deadline for a decision.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT:

See attached report.

SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

Cor Trowbridge, BCTV: Cor Trowbridge, Executive Director of BCTV was present to talk to the Board about their contract renewal. In order to obtain funding, BCTV must show a strategic plan on what they will do with the funding. She noted that funding comes from cable subscribers.

Cor gave a demonstration of the BCTV website and presented a video about BCTV’s current broadcasts.

Cor asked for feedback from the Board and audience.  Marion remarked that she liked the video but would have liked to watch the segments a little while longer.  Todd noted he watches other towns to see what they are facing.  Mike stated that  he doesn’t like to watch himself, but watches other towns; and that he receives a lot of comments from  people who watch Newfane’s meetings.  Marion expressed that she was happy with being able to access the video on the website.

Gary Delius mentioned the Mambo on the Common concert coming up and asked if there could be coverage. Cor stated that anyone could come in and take a training and have access to the equipment, or pay a fee to cover the costs of having someone from BCTV come and film.  She explained that there is a base level of service for towns that is free of charge. Everything else is volunteer or someone is paying for it.

Laura Sibilia, BDCC, SEVEDS: Laura Sibilia and Adam Grinold from BDCC and SeVEDS were present to give a presentation to the board about the work that they’ve been doing and new programs coming along.

Mike Fitzpatrick suggested targeting high school students as it seems like schools are encouraging kids not to find work. Laura did note that Leland and Gray has a work release program for the kids.

The Board thanked Laura and Adam for coming to speak to the Board.

UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

Karen Meyer was present to speak to the Board about Red Chaffee’s 100th birthday. The Board gave its blessing to plant the trees where appropriate.

NEW BUSINESS:

Planning Commission Requests: Lynn Forrest spoke for the Planning Commission and requested that Selectboard recruit more members of the Planning Commission.  Shannon clarified that it is currently a five member board, but the Selectboard can vote to change the number, up to nine members.

Discussion ensued regarding the possibility of changing the Planning Commission to a seven-member board.

Gunther noted that it used to be a seven-member board, however it wasn’t working, so the Planning Commission requested that it be brought down to a five member board.

The consensus was that the Planning Commission should concentrate on getting the fifth member and then come back to the Board to revisit changing to a seven-member board.

Doris Knechtel noted that someone can be on the Planning Commission without living in Newfane as long as the majority of the members are from Newfane.

Tax Rate: Doris presented background information on where the numbers came from to set the tax rate at 0.4416.  She noted that she and Shannon reviewed and verified the numbers.

A motion was made by Mike Fitzpatrick to set the FY 16 municipal tax rate at 0.4416. The motion was seconded by Marion Dowling. The motion carried unanimously.

Pay Increases: Approving the July 1 pay increases was tabled pending a quorum of others present, as Todd felt it was a conflict of interest for him to vote.

Law Enforcement Contracts: The Board discussed both the Sheriff’s contract and the Vermont State Police’s contract. As Road Foreman, Todd Lawley noted that he was not happy with the service from the Sheriff’s Department.

A motion was made by Mike Fitzpatrick to contract with Vermont State Police for Fiscal Year 2016. The motion was seconded by Marion Dowling. Shannon will invite them to a future meeting. The motion carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS

Town Office Building:  Shannon brought to the Board’s attention a file showing an estimate of $175,000.00 for all necessary repairs to the building. Discussion ensued about bonding and fixing the building all at once. It was recommended to focus on temporary fixes this year and then have something ready for town meeting.  Further discussion was tabled until the next meeting.

Auger Hole Road Junk Ordinance Violation: Mike, Marion, and Shannon viewed the property and felt that the violation had been resolved.  Frank Suponski, Deputy Health Officer submitted a report that he revisited the property and found no evidence of septic issues. He recommended no further action. Shannon will send a letter verifying that there is no violation at this time.

Selectboard Vacancy: Todd Lawley opened three letters of interest from Dennis Wiswall, Gary Delius, and Christopher Williams.  The Board scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday, July 8 at 5:30 in the Town Office to make a final decision.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Park and Ride Grant: Mike Fitzpatrick reported that he spoke with Brian McAvoy at the state who said he’d be sending the permit. Todd will call the Grant administrator to talk about the grant deadline.

FEMA Closeouts: No update.

CORRESPONDENCE

The following correspondence was received:

– Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Notice of New and Increased Fees

– Letter from Dennis Wiswall regarding Trash Pickup

– Letter from Doris Knechtel regarding Arch Bridge design

– Letter from Dan Dewalt regarding Arch Bridge design

– Letter from Chris Druke regarding Arch Bridge design

– Letter from Gloria Cristelli regarding Arch Bridge design

– Letter from The Current regarding merger with The Moover

– Letter from FEMA regarding approval of Hazard Mitigation Plan

PAY ORDERS:

A motion was made by Marion Dowling to approve the pay orders as follows. The motion was seconded by Mike Fitzpatrick.

– Accounts Payable Warrant No. 25: $5,402.57

– Accounts Payable Warrant No. 16001: $11,807.04

– Accounts Payable Warrant No. 16002: $23,477.93

– Payroll Warrant No. 07/08/15: $3,851.12

– Payroll Warrant No. 07/01/15: $6,167.08

– Payroll Warrant No. 06/30/15: $2,797.86

– Payroll Warrant No. 06/24/15: $3,825.28

– Payroll Warrant No. 06/17/15: $3,934.18

The motion carried unanimously.

ADJOURN

A motion was made by  Marion Dowling to adjourn at  8:00 p.m.  The motion was seconded by Mike Fitzpatrick. The motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully Submitted,

Shannon Meckle

ROAD FOREMAN’S AND ROAD COMMISSIONER’S REPORT

JULY 6, 2015

  1. Roads: The roads are in pretty good shape over all. We are still grading them due to the heavy rain. The crew has been out checking and cleaning culverts. We are also still graveling roads.  Some culvert replacement has been done as well.
  1. Equipment: We have replaced the mole board wear strips on the grader, otherwise the rest of the equipment is running fine at this time.
  1. New Loader: The new loader should be here any time now. They have it in at the dealership and they are installing strobe lights on it; then it will be delivered.
  1. Arch Bridge: VTRANS has finished the drilling and boring. It is now open during the day. We had a board meeting with VTRANS at the bridge site and discussed many options relating to the new bridge. They can do a one lane or a two lane bridge; and if we go with the two lane bridge they will stripe it to narrow it and they will also put up a three way stop to help to slow the traffic down.
  1. Adams Hill Brook: I met with John Bennett the other day to go over what will have to be done so the fish can go up stream. Windham Regional had an engineer there who is going to come up with a plan so that fish can get up stream and the water will flow over the rip rap instead of under it. They will let the board know when they are done with the plans and we will have an on-site visit to go over the plan.
  1. Steep Way Road: I have met again with contractor to go over what they are supposed to do. They have done some of the work but still have more to do. The road is quite a bit better than it was and the ditching they are doing looks good. I will check with them again to make sure it gets done.
  1. Brush Cutting: I will work with Shannon on getting a hold of the Town of Jamaica to see how they get community service workers to cut brush for them. We have a lot of brush that needs to be cut but we don’t seem to have enough hours in a day for our crew to keep up with road work and cut brush as well. I will look into it to see what it entails.

Thank you,

Todd Lawley,  Road Foreman

Christopher Williams, Road Commissioner

 

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT

JULY 6, 2015

990 Dover Road: Progress is continuing on the demolition of the mobile home at 990 Dover Road.

639 Route 30 Junk Ordinance Violation: The reported violation at 639 Vermont Route 30 has been corrected. I’ve sent a letter confirming that the violation has been cleared up. No further action is needed at this time.

Williamsville Hall Insulation Bids: I’ve reviewed the file, and there are five competitive bids. I would recommend authorizing the Williamsville Hall Committee to hire 4 Seasons Foam Insulators for cellulose application, not to exceed $3470.60. I would also recommend sending a copy of the newly updated purchasing policy to all Committees and town groups, as I do not think we did so upon updating last year.

246 Dover Road:  Our Hazard Mitigation Plan was approved by FEMA. I spoke with the State Hazard Mitigation Officer this afternoon and he said they expect buyout approval very soon.

279 Dover Road: Bids have gone out for the demolition of the sheds on 279 Dover Road.  There will be a site visit on July 22 at 1:00 p.m. for contractors wanting to bid, and bids are due on August 3rd. Once a bid is awarded, the Town has to notify the State of Vermont and EPA that we are demolishing the properties and submit the asbestos reports.