September - The North Star Monthly

32 September 2012 The North Star Monthly
What’s Happening at Town Hall
Barnet
Town Clerk: Benjamin Heisholt
Selectmen: Ted Faris, Gary Bunnell and
Jeremy Roberts
August 13, 2012
Access - The board reviewed
the application of Doris Stetson
with an attached sketch of the
proposed highway access onto
Harvey Mountain Road,and
discussed with Barclay and
Doris Stetson the conditions
applicable to the permit. Faris
and Assistant Road Foreman
Keith Gadapee indicated that
they had viewed the site and
recommended the permit’s approval.
The board agreed to approve
the permit.
Roads - Road Foremen Keith
Gadapee discussed several matters
with the board.
• Groton Peacham Road: Gadapee
discussed scheduling for
paving. Pike Industries has indicated
that paving will be performed
at the end of August.
• Gravel purchasing: Gadapee
indicated that a local contractor
has approached him regarding
selling gravel to the town from
a local pit.
• Comerford Dam Road: Gadapee
discussed an estimate received
from Pike Industries for
grinding a portion of the paved
surface. To grind and leave material
in place for a 3,700 foot
section will have an estimated.
• Insurance and repair of totaled
truck: Gadapee requested
that the board issue a decision
regarding dump truck #006,
which was recently deemed to
be totaled by the town’s insurance
carrier after an accident
at the Gilfillan Road stockpile.
September 2012 Menu
West Barnet
Senior Meal Site
Meals served at West
Barnet Church. All meals
served with a beverage.
Reservations not required.
Suggested donation
of $3.00 per meal is
appreciated.
Phone (802) 633-4068.
Sept. 5 - Meatloaf, mashed
potatoes, green beans,
muffins, coconut cream pie
Sept. 7 - Buffet
Sept. 12 - Spaghetti and
meatballs, corn bread,
tossed salad, lemon pudding
cake
Sept. 14 - Turkey and
biscuits, stuffing, California
vegetables, cranberry sauce,
tapioca pudding
Sept. 19 - Baked haddock,
mashed potatoes, carrotraisin
salad, peas and fruit
jello
Sept. 21 - Beef stew, raw
veggie salad, biscuits, pears
Sept. 26 - Chicken cordon
bleu, scalloped potatoes,
broccoli, rolls, cherry cobbler
Sept. 28 - Baked beans, hot
dogs, brown bread, cole
slaw with pineapple, cottage
cheese, cookie bars.
The Board agreed to purchase
the truck from the insurance
company for the salvage cost
of $4,558, and instruct the road
commissioner and road foreman
to decide whether to use
the remaining insurance proceeds
to repair the truck or purchase
a new one.
• West Main Street project:
Gadapee indicated that construction
is scheduled to commence
the week of Aug. 20,
2012.
Health Incident - Correspondence
from Health Officer
Theodore Faris regarding a
sanitation and health incident
was read describing damage to
a septic system in Barnet Village
(owned by Brauer, Farman,
McLaren, and Schoolcraft)
caused by a substantial rainstorm
on July 4, 2012.
Politics - Roberts spoke regarding
recent political campaigning
at the Transfer Station. The
board discussed policy with
regard to allowing free speech
while maintaining safety and
traffic flow. The board agreed
to require political campaigns
to receive permission from the
board in order to campaign at
the Transfer Station; such permission
will specify location.
Danville
Town Clerk: Wendy Somers
Town Administrator: Merton Leonard
Selectmen: Douglas Pastula, Ken
Linsley, Craig Vance, Michael K.
Walsh, and Angelo Incerpi
August 2, 2012
Benches - Lois White was present
to request the use of the sap
bucket benches at the Peacham
Acoustic Music Festival (PAMfest)
on Aug. 17 and 18. Lois
is a member of the organizing
committee and requested to use
the seating for the audience in
the family tent. After a short
discussion, Craig Vance moved
to allow Lois White to use the
sap bucket benches at the Pamfest,
provided she sign a waiver
with the town of Danville for
liability and get the town as a
named insured on the sponsors
insurance policy.
Planning - Gary Fontaine of
the Planning Commission was
present to advise the board
that the commission has interviewed
three of the applicants
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interview the fourth on Sunday
afternoon. The Planning Commission
will review the applicants
and recommend one for
the board to interview at their
next meeting. The commission
met with the Burlington
area realtor who is requesting
to change the maximum building
size on the Danville zoning
regulations of the Route 2 corridor
from 5,000 square feet to
10,000 square feet. The realtor’s
client wants to build a 10,000
square foot building west of
Marty’s. The commission will
research the request and relay
their information to the board
for their action or further direction.
Road Report - Road Agent
Kevin Gadapee’s road report
included that the Highway Department
continues working on
general summertime road maintenance.
As the dry weather
continues, they have to apply
chloride immediately after the
roads are graded, the usage
continues to be high. The excavator
still continues ditching
and installing pipe daily.
Joe’s Brook - The reclaiming
work for Joe’s Brook Road was
done on schedule last Wednesday
Aug. 1. The stone sub-base
will be laid out. The stone was
stockpiled at nearby Robinson’s
mill yard. Any additional
equipment needed will be hired
by the equipment schedule
that contractors submitted this
spring.
Roadside Mowing - The road
side mower has returned to service
on the Danville roads.
New Sidewalks - Discussion
was rather lengthy on the
new sidewalks and the type of
equipment that may be needed
to maintain them in the winter.
Kevin would like to get multi
use equipment so that it can
also be useful in the summer.
The other problem discussed
was the lack of budgeting for
the sidewalk equipment as the
sidewalks were not scheduled
to be finished for this year. Ken
will contact the state to get a
definition of what the town will
be responsible for maintaining
this winter.
Fire Department - Town Administrator
Merton Leonard
reported the light fixtures recommended
for replacement at
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Efficiency Vermont is $75 per
fixture on these lights. He will
contact Matt to determine if
the rebate has been figured in
his estimate or not.
Beach - The water at the town
beach on Joe’s Pond has tested
swimmable on Aug. 2. The actual
cause of the contamination
has not been determined, only
speculation. After some discussion,
Walsh moved to not allow
dogs on the beach. Angelo Incerpi
seconded the motion that
was approved by a 4-0 vote.
North Danville School - Mike
Sorrell worked up an estimate
for a steam to hot water conversion
for the North Danville
School. The estimate, including
two new boilers, was $50,000.
The estimate using the existing
boiler, was $37,000.
Town Hall Boundary - Prior
to starting the Route 2 construction
the state had laid out
all the parcels of land involved
with the project. As the contractor
works to fit each drive way
to the plan, they are working
with each landowner so each
access becomes agreeable. The
state placed a couple uncertified
stakes where they had cited the
western boundary of the Town
Hall. The board decided, as
the work was approaching the
Town Hall access, they wanted
to set the boundary to be sure
where the line is. Bill Willis was
available to start the surveying
within a couple days, and
expects to be finished by next
meeting.
Traffic Islands - Ken Robie,
the state project engineer, requested
an agreement from
the town to modify the traffic
islands. As currently designed,
the islands on each end of the
project are designed with granite
slope edging and all the
other islands built with a vertical
granite curb. The difference
being slope edging is a 6-inch
high curb angled 45 degrees
and vertical curb has a 7-inch
vertical reveal. In most situations,
median islands, splitter
islands, etc. all use slope edging.
The benefits to slope
edging are: It is less likely to
be damaged by plows and vehicles;
It is “mountable,” allowing
easier access across/
over it in an emergency; It allows
some room for error for
turning vehicles (trucks) unable
to negotiate within the
lines. Considering the added
benefits, Robie is proposing to
install slope edging on all the
islands in the project and is requesting
concurrence from the
town. After some discussion
Ken Linsley moved to agree to
changing all the islands in the
project to sloped edging. Walsh
seconded the motion which
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was approved on a 4-0 vote.
After further discussion Angelo
Incerpi moved to request
the removal of all the plantings
on the islands because of safety
issues maintaining them in the
middle of the road with no
protection. Michael Walsh seconded
the motion which passed
on a 4-0 vote.
Lyndon
Town Clerk: Dawn Dwyer
Admin. Asst.: Dan Hill
Selectboard: Martha Feltus, David Dill,
Kermit Fisher.
August 13, 2012
Wellness - Heidi Joyce, of
VLCT, presented the direction
of the Wellness Program, asking
for the board’s continued support.
The next level is the Wellness
Culture Survey. She will be
getting in contact with Laurie
Willey, wellness coordinator for
the town of Lyndon.
Boys & Girls Club - Mollie
Moghari, Michelle Tarryk and
Kelly Tarryk presented to the
board their plan to organize a
Boys & Girls Club in Lyndonville.
This is a three-semester
project through Springfield College.
They are in stage three, organizing
a steering committee.
Highway Report - The budget
is still in good shape. Paving for
the Lily Pond Road will begin
the week of Sept. 9.
Wastewater Upgrade - Dan
Hill will be meeting with everyone
involved for a walkthrough
for substantial completion. A
punch list will be created.
Enhancement Grant - The
Transportation Enhancements
program has been temporarily
put on hold since the passing of
the new transportation bill on
July 6. Our letter of intent will
be kept on file and will be able
to apply to the new program if
the town is eligible once they
have created the new program.
Fuel Bids - Motion made by
Marty Feltus, seconded by
David Dill, to accept the bid of
a fixed price of $3.279/gallon
from Fred’s Plumbing & Heating
Inc. for the 2012-2013 heating
season. Motion carried 2-0
with Kermit Fisher abstaining
because of a conflict of interest.
Peacham
Town Clerk: Bruce Lafferty
Selectboard: Andy Cochran, Richard
Browne and Annette Lorraine
August 1, 2012
Auditors Report - Two of the
town auditors, Charles Byron
and Jan Eastman, presented
their corrected “Peacham Town
Auditors Report: Shortfalls in
Transfer Station Receipts” to
the board and town treasurer.
This report and an earlier uncorrected
version, had been
made available to the board and
treasurer by email a few days
prior to the meeting. In March
2012, the Transfer Station attendant,
Dick Blair, informed
assistant town clerk/treasurer
Stan Fickes, that he thought
the Transfer Station revenues