Town of Danville

Selectboard Minutes

September 17th, 2009

Marvin Withers called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. Selectboard present were, Michael K Walsh, Doug Pastula, Steve Larrabee, Denise Briggs, and Marvin Withers. Also present were Kevin Gadapee, Merton Leonard, and visitors Ken Linsley, Leslie Parker, Jefferson Tolman, James Brimblecombe, Kim Prior, Jeff Frampton, Dianne and Albert Achilles. Michael K Walsh moved to accept the minutes of the September 3rd meeting as written; Denise Briggs seconded the motion with the exception of two typos, minutes were approved with corrections.

Leslie, Jefferson, and James were present to propose renewing the current five year contract for operating the towns waste water treatment plant by United Water. The new contract would be the same as the previous one as far as normal operation of the plant. The charge of operation is increased each year by the amount of the consumer price index, better known as the inflation rate. For the next year there will be no increase in operating charge as the CPI did not increase. The price of propane for heat is the only increase, based at $1,000 per year five years ago, propane cost increased to $2,400 this past year. In addition the Board approved spending $3142 for two electrical control units to reduce the amount of electricity used by the plant by 25%. Michael K Walsh moved to renew the current contract for operation of waste water treatment plant with United Water for the next five years. Denise Briggs seconded the motion which was approved.

Dianne and Albert Achilles were present to discuss their neighbors continued burning habits. They believe that their neighbors do not follow the towns burning ordinance, and burn items other than wood products which are not allowed. They have called the town fire warden and fire department but the burning has continued. The Board agreed to write the neighbors a letter on a motion by Michael K Walsh that was seconded by Steve Larrabee.

Kevin reported that the grading continues along with culvert replacement and ditching; body work on truck 4 is complete and the truck is back on the road; the safety audit project is complete except for the road markings that seem to keep getting rescheduled; the water project continues on Hill Street and Highland Avenue; the Wightman Road project is complete except for paving, which will come latter after traffic packs it some, VTrans has approved the construction work; work will begin on Lower Brainerd St on Monday and will take a couple weeks to finish; about half of the winter sand has been hauled to date. Kevin has also reached agreement with the water construction engineer to evaluate the Hill Street road condition and mark areas to remove additional stones and material and fill with two feet of gravel and 3 inches of pavement. Kevin will supply a new culvert for Munson to install near upper portion of Hill St to replace one that has failed.

Jeff and Kim discussed the zoning bylaw changes with the Board, and the pros and cons of the Board voting to approve the revised document. They feel that the planning commission and Smart Growth have involved the town's people extensively through the use of questionnaires, surveys, focus groups, the Development Review Board and the Zoning Administrator. They feel that the bylaw changes are appropriate for the Town of Danville. The Board decided they would hold the public hearing the first meeting in November to get input directly from the community.

Merton reported that the first monthly financial meeting of the Fire District water project was held on Wednesday and indicated that the project is on schedule with both progress and costs. The contractors hope to gain progress during the next month as they will be adding another connection crew to the project next week. They very much want to get this project done this fall. Where this is a stimulus project there was also discussion of job creation. It appears that many of the people on this project would have been unemployed as the contractor has no other new projects at this time. The sewer extension project has preliminary drawings, and the project engineer for the water project is collecting connecting information from the 12 buildings that would be available for connection to the sewer project. I would hope to have a rough estimate for the cost of project by next meeting. Judging by the amount of blasting for the water project on Hill St, there will probably be a fair amount of blasting for the sewer line extension as well. That will add significantly to the cost of the project. Merton noted that he attended the annual North Danville Community Club meeting on Monday. The meeting was well attended and lots of activities were planned. In an effort to locate the "Otis Brickett" park on Joes Pond, Merton looked up the deeds to the town. The original deed from Elisha P Brickett and Almira P Brickett to the town in July 1903 had a clause that the land would revert back to the Brickett's or their heirs if the land was not used for school or educational purposes. In 1983 a deed for this land was given to Otis Brickett from the town, as the land was no longer used for school purposes. In Feb of 1988 it was deeded back to the town from the Otis Brickett estate as it was somehow determined that Otis Brickett was not an heir of Elisha and Almira Brickett. The park is just west of the bridge over the outlet of Joes Pond, on the right. It goes 50ft down Route #2 from the bridge and down to the water on the north. Denise Briggs moved to allow the Boy Scouts to work on cleaning up the Brickett Park and making it usable, Michael K Walsh seconded the motion which was approved.

The Board reviewed and signed the orders. They also approved the driveway curbcut permits for Bryce & Debroah Gonyaw on Bruce Badger Memorial Hwy, Robert & Denise Stuart on Walden Hill Road, Roland & Denise Bigelow on Walden Hill Road, Daniel & Janice Ouellette on Kittridge Road, and Anthony Nutbrown on Partridge Lane, on a motion by Michael K Walsh that was seconded by Steve Larrabee. They approved a wine tasting license for the Eden Ice Cider Co for Autumn on the Green on a motion by Michael K Walsh which was seconded by Denise Briggs. Michael K Walsh moved to designate Merton Leonard as the Town Delegate to the VLCT annual meeting on Oct 1st, seconded by Denise Briggs and approved by the Board. They also approved a new driveway curbcut for Gail Devereaux on the Wheelock Road to access a divided lot on her property, on a motion by Michael K Walsh that was seconded by Steve Larrabee. Elizabeth Ferraro had requested to use the Town Hall for a model horse show with out charge to benefit the horse rescue effort. After some discussion, the Board chose not to waive the town hall fee, as it was not connected to a 4-H Club this year.

With no other business, the Board adjourned the meeting at 8:42 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Merton Leonard

Clerk of the Selectboard

Town of Danville

Send mail to Mert.Leonard@DanvilleVt.com with questions or comments about this web site.