Draft of the Regular Selectboard Minutes Monday, June 5th, 2023

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BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Angela Sanborn, Jeffrey Chevalier, Ann Golob, and Katy Johnson-Aplin.
Absent: Mike Fitzpatrick.

OTHERS PRESENT: 
Lori Damato, Maureen Bjockmon, Richard Marek, John Davis, Austin Rice (BCTV), and Wannetta Powling (Administrative Assistant.)

Zoom:
Jay Wilson (Road Foreman), Jane Douglas (Planning Commission), Kate Gehring (Planning Commission), Sally Topitzer, Mary Topitzer, Matt Turek.

CALL TO ORDER: 
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by Selectboard Chair Angela Sanborn.

CONFIRM PROPERLY WARNED:
Powling confirmed the meeting had been properly warned.

ADDITIONS/AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA:  

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

  1. May 15, 2023, regular meeting minutes.

Johnson-Aplin made a motion to accept the May 15, 2023, minutes, Chevalier seconded.
Motion passed 3/0/1. Golob abstained.

ROAD FOREMAN’S & ROAD COMMISSIONER’S REPORT:

  1. We have a new bank slide on Sunset Lake Road. I met Marc Pickering from VTrans and Scott Jenson, our River Engineer.
  2. One of the generators we ordered last summer has been shipped. It will hopefully be arriving this week and installed in the next couple of weeks.
  3. I spoke with Ron Bell, our engineer on the Salt shed and Eddy Rd culvert; he is going to try and come by on Wednesday.
  4. The pre-construction meeting for the Depot Rd. box culvert was very long and painful, but everything is moving forward now, with construction starting in about a month.
  5. We had a meeting on South Wardsboro Road with Mike Fitzpatrick, Christopher Williams, David Cotton, John Davis, and me. It was decided that with the removal of some trees on the Cotton property and sloping the bank back from the road, we could increase visibility on the corner and install a better ditch. This would improve the road and safety in that area and help the Davis property at the same time.
  6. VTrans has a Small-Scale Highway Safety Program grant that was recently released, it does not require a local match, and it can be used to extend the clear zone along the road to increase visibility. I wondered if you would like to try it for the South Wardsboro Rd. We need a letter of support from Selectboard to move forward with this.
  7. The Newfane Village, Sidewalk Scoping Study, is completed, and I was working on the design/construction grant for the sidewalks and crosswalks. We will also need a letter of support from Selectboard for this grant. This grant, if we are successful, will take a couple of years before any construction takes place. Do you want to pursue a temporary crosswalk south of West St. to south of Jail St. (this location does have sidewalks on both sides of RT 30)?
    Golob made a motion to accept the Road Foreman’s report, and Johnson-Aplin seconded.

Discussion:
Golob made a motion to have the Chair sign the letter of support for the grant application, Chevalier seconded.
Motion passed 4/0.

Johnson-Aplin made a motion to proceed with the plans for a temporary crosswalk, Chevalier seconded.
Motion passed 4/0.

Johnson-Aplin made a motion to have the Chair sign the letter of support for the grant application, Golob seconded.
Motion passed 4/0.

  1. Gravel Pit Update: A letter was received from Wendy Edwards of the Hazard Material Division; the current information is that the State does not require an EPIA, this letter will be included with the application permit. The Act 250 application should be ready to submit in the next couple of weeks. Then Act 250 will hold a public hearing as part of the approval process.

    The vote was called to accept the Road Foreman and Road Commissioners report.
    Motion passed 4/0.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT: 

  1. There is a new Windham County Sheriff’s Department contract for review and signing tonight. The $ 25,000 budget amount was approved at the Town Meeting.
    1. There must be a motion to authorize the Chair to sign the contract.
    2. I have not received the Animal Control contract but have contacted the department – I expect to have this by your next meeting on June 20th.
  2. The Zoning Administrator (Merle Tessier) has shared a letter dated May 30th, from the attorney for the Higher Ground Conservation Cemetery, with the stipulations and conditions from the Environmental Court. (Copies are included in your packets.) Tessier has indicated that he will follow up with the Town attorney and other parties involved before proceeding with permits.
  3. Jay Wilson and I have drafted the Emergency Management information that was a recommendation from the Selectboard. This information will be posted to our Town website to assist our residents in finding necessary services and contact details if they need emergency assistance.
  4. As a member of PACIF (part of the VLCT insurance program), Newfane has been selected to have all municipal-owned buildings appraised. The process will be during the month of June. They will contact me to schedule an appointment to visit each of the Town-owned buildings (with a value over $ 100,000) to do a property survey of the structures, including recent renovations, to make ensure that the values of the building align with the current coverage. I will keep you informed of their findings and any recommendations.
  5. I have included the Memo from Carol Hesselbach for your information regarding the Unlicensed dogs as of June 1st.
  6. I have made copies of the Amendment to the Zoning Bylaw Flood Hazard by Law Change from the Planning Commission. Would you like to add this to the Selectboard Agenda under Old Business for further discussion?

Johnson- Aplin made a motion to accept the Administrative Assistance report, Chevalier seconded.
Discussion:
Johnson-Aplin made a motion for the Chair to sign the new contract for the Windham County Sheriff’s Department, Chevalier seconded. Motion passed 4/0.
The Vote was called to accept the Administrative Assistants report. Motion passed 4/0.


COMMITTEE REPORT:
Planning Commission updates given by Jane Douglas and Kate Gering. 

The Planning Commission voted to approve submitting the proposed Flood Plain River Corridor By-Law changes to the Selectboard. Powling will forward the documents to the Selectboard. Max Vandervliet has resigned from the Planning Commission and there are now two open seats available. At Thursday’s meeting, we will be discussing the By-Law Modernization Grant.

Gehring will email the detailed statutory timeline for the Selectboard to follow up on the By-Law changes procedures. Golob forwarded the information to Windham Regional Commission to review. Golob would like to recommend that the two documents be placed on the Town website along with when the Selectboard will be holding further discussions regarding the proposed changes.

SCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC:
Richard Marek – 250th Year Celebration (clarifications)

This will be the 250th year anniversary of the first formal Town Meeting. Marek will provide documentation that he wrote with an accurate timeline of Newfane’s history.

In two years (2025), the village of Newfane will celebrate the anniversary of the move from the top of Newfane Hill to become the official County Seat.

Discussion:
With public participation encouraged, this will continue to be on future Selectboard Agendas.


UNSCHEDULED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
None

OLD BUSINESS:
Personal Policy -Johnson-Aplin and Chevalier
A review of the VLCT templates on policy changes was compared. The following recommendations include adding two sections from the VLCT model,

  • Social Media and Town website User Policy.
  • Recruitment Policy.
  • Suspension without pay.
  • Vacation Rollover and a clarification from the Treasurer are still needed on how vacation time is earned.
  • Employee Discipline and Discharge.
  • FMLA to be added.

 Discussion:
The Selectboard would like to encourage employees to take vacation time both for the employees’ health and well-being and for the Town’s financial health as well.

Selectboard members will review recommended changes, and further discussion will be at the next Selectboard meeting on June 20th.

Town Beautification (Chevalier)
Discussion:

Discuss ideas for a 250-year celebration of Newfane’s founding. (Johnson-Aplin) –

(Scheduled Members of the Public with Richard Marek)

FEMA Buy-Out of the South Newfane General Store (SNGS) – (Golob)
No updates from FEMA.

ARPA: (Sanborn and Golob)
None

NEW BUSINESS
None

CORRESPONDENCE:
Newfane Congregational Church is requesting road closure on West & Church Street for October Heritage Festival.
NewBrook Fire & Rescue, Thank you for the ARPA funds donation.

EXECUTIVE SESSION   
Executive session to discuss an evaluation of an employee under the provisions of Title 1 VSA §313(a)(3).

Johnson-Aplin made a motion to enter the Executive session, Golob seconded.
The motion passed 4/0.

Selectboard members entered the Executive Session at 7:30 pm.

Johnson-Aplin made a motion to leave the Executive Session, Golob seconded.
The motion passed 4/0.

Selectboard members left the Executive session at 7:58 pm.

Discussion of the Selectboard, Chair Sanborn will correspond with the employee Tuesday with the recommendations. Also discussed was looking into getting software for a timeclock for the Town Office and the Highway Department, and until such time all time sheets must be pre-approved by the managers before the treasurer pays.

Sanborn will be reviewing Wannetta Powling and Merle Tessier’s time sheets. Beckley Gaudette will be reviewing Katie Bristol’s timesheet, and Wilson will review all the highway employees. Sanborn will send an email to everybody saying that that is the Selectboard’s suggestion.

PAY ORDERS

1.       Payroll Warrant # 11625                   Amount $       5,267.87
2.       Payroll Warrant # 11626                   Amount $       6,457.73
3.       Payroll Warrant # 11627                   Amount $       5,518.66
4.       Payroll Warrant # 11624                   Amount $       5,162.95
5.       Account Payable # 23027                 Amount $     54,622.03

Johnson-Aplin made a motion to approve Pay Orders, Chevalier seconded.
Motion passed 4/0.

ADJOURN:
Golob made a motion to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 8:22 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted,
Wannetta Powling, Administrative Assistant
Angela L. Sanborn Selectboard Chair