Town of New Haven

Town of New Haven Selectmen’s Meeting

7:00 pm Town Clerks Office

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Present: Burt Allen, Paul Audy, Keith Hall, Pam Kingman

Others: Claire Van Buren, Barb Torian, Cris Messerle, Betty Bell, Tom Crilly, Jeff Everest, Ebenezer Punderson

Agenda Results

NEW BUSINESS:

• Ebenezer Punderson RE: Release of School Lease Lands – This is a follow up from the last meeting on November 20, 2007. Mr. Punderson came back to the town office to do a more extensive search, but was still unable to locate the actual lease. He drew up a subordination agreement, in the hopes that the selectboard would sign it if they chose not to sign the quit claim deed. The current owner of the property, James Schaefer is interested in donating 100 acres of “glebe lands” to the Vermont Land Trust. This would be a significant donation. VLT in turn needs a clear title before taking possession of the property. The property is located between Pearson Rd. and Route 17, much of which has frontage on Rte. 17. Vermont Land Trust will ask Mr. Schaefer to keep the property open for public use such as hunting. There was discussion on the old class 4 road  (now a trail) that used to run through that land. The class 4 road was thrown up by the Town a few years ago; but a portion of the road that leads to the cemetery still remains a class 4. The amount of glebe land was also discussed because it is such an unusual amount. 100 acres is very uncommon; usually glebe land is roughly 1-2 acres.  This property could still change hands and VLT would continue to hold the conservation rights. This property has been changing hands since the early 1800’s and this lease of lands has been on every deed with no issues. By signing the subordination agreement the Town would still have a claim on the property. Paul Audy made a motion to sign the subordination agreement, pending the Town lawyer’s approval, seconded by Keith Hall. All agreed.
• Tom Crilly –  Dispute about Rivers Bend Road –  Mr. Crilly owns Rivers Bend Campground, which is a land locked piece of property at the very end of Rivers Bend Road. Mr. Crilly is looking to have help with maintaining the right of way from the owners of lots 1 – 4. Mr. Crilly had the minutes from the December 1, 1994, Planning Commission from when Hastings subdivided parcel 2 on Dog Team Road into 4 lots. These lots are at the beginning of private Rivers Bend Road. Three of the lots have frontage on Dog Team Road and the fourth would be an interior lot.

Mr. Crilly feels that the Town should never have issued the 911 numbers on Rivers Bend Road for the three lots that have frontage on Dog Team Road. He believes the Town has violated the purpose of his “private road.” He is looking for verbal agreements with the new neighbors to share in the cost of maintaining the road, but so far he has not had much luck. Mr. Crilly thought there was something in the Town Office protecting him from having sole responsibility of the maintaining the road. Mr. Crilly feels there is no authorization for the new owners to use his private road. Keith Hall said he feels Tom Crilly should take the matter up with the Zoning Board of Adjustment, and possibly they could help resolve the issue.                                                                

Claire Van Buren addressed the selectboard explaining that Mr. Crilly’s deed from Hastings/Whitney clearly states for Lots 1, 2, 3 and 4 “for use of ingress, egress and the installation, repair, maintenance and replacement of necessary utility lines to serve said campground, the owner of the campground shall be responsible for repair and maintenance. All parties utilizing the right of way in winter shall equally share the costs of snowplowing.”

Cris Messerle showed the selectboard the mylar for the subdivision approved by the Planning Commission on September 9, 1999. Mr. Crilly’s deed from Hastings/Whitney was drawn up after the mylar, showing the subdivided lots were approved and recorded.

Keith Hall made a motion to have Jim Ouimette, the Town’s lawyer look over all of the information and forward his findings to Tom Crilly, seconded by Paul Audy. All agreed.

• Cris Messerle – Update on Resignation letter from Emergency Management position. The reason for the resignation is because there is not much support from the Town. This entity requires a lot of support from other factions. The New Haven Fire Dept. has been supportive, but that is about it.  Mr. Messerle said he was in possession of the equipment for running it and would be returning it to the Town Office next week. The selectboard thanked Cris Messerle for his time as the Emergency Management Deputy.
• Betty Bell – RE: Sandy Kemp, Caretaker of Riverside Cemetery. Mr. Kemp would like to be given two plots in the cemetery for being the caretaker. Two plots are valued at $800, $400 a piece. Mrs. Bell said a couple of years ago Mr. Kemp had written a letter stating he would like the treasurer to take a certain amount of money out of his seasonal pay to cover the cost of the two plots, but the treasurer has no authority. Betty Bell said Sandy Kemp is a great caretaker, and it would be very difficult to find a replacement. Treasurer, Barb Torian said it would require Mr. Kemp signing a contract with the Town stating the Town will be taking a certain amount of money out of his seasonal pay of $2200, to cover the cost of the two plots. Paul Audy made a motion to not give the plots to Mr. Kemp, but draw up a contract with Sandy Kemp to allow money to be taken out of his seasonal pay to cover the cost of two plots in Riverside Cemetery, seconded by Burt Allen. All agreed.
• Aaron Gingras – has been checking the Town Hall for a month. He comes over each night to check the doors and windows from the outside of the building. If he ever notices a problem, he calls either Suzy Roorda or Wayne Marcelle. Paul Audy made a motion to pay Aaron Gingras a stipend of $200 for the year 2008 and a portion of that for 2007. To be paid prior to Town Meeting each year, seconded by Keith Hall, all agreed.
• Discuss Development Review Board: Keith Hall believes having a DRB will save both time and money, he is all for it. The Development Review Board will assume responsibilities currently held by the Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Adjustment; excepting the Planning Commission will continue to function in matters concerning the Town Plan. Paul Audy feels it is worth a try, as does Burt Allen. Burt Allen made a motion to hold a Public Hearing to discuss the Development Review Board on Tuesday, January 8, 2008;  7:00  – 7:30pm in the Town Hall,  prior to the regularly scheduled selectboard meeting, Seconded by Paul Audy. All agreed.
• Suzy Roorda – Trash can with a lid is needed for the Village Green. Burt Allen said he will have the road crew pick up the two blue barrels from the Village Green and replace them with the 90 gallon tote the road crew just received from Casella Waste Management.

A crank handle is needed for the basketball hoop upstairs in the gym. Basketball season is upon us, and it would be a lot easier to be able to crank the hoop up and down. Burt Allen said he will call around to find a crank handle that can be attached to the cable. Jeff Everest offered one for free that he has lying around if Burt Allen cannot find one.

Paul Audy made a motion to sign a Town Hall Application for Cindy Kayhart to run the New Haven Dairy 4-H Club in the gym on the following dates in 2008: January 12th & 26^th, February 9^th and March 1^st, seconded by Keith Hall. All agreed.

• Keith Hall - Jim Ouimette is almost done with the deed for the King House. The Deed will include a deadline for moving the house no later than May 1, 2008. The Fortiers are hoping to start moving the house by March 2008.

Architect, Peter Morris gave Keith Hall some tentative numbers for the new Town Offices. Mr. Morris had been waiting to hear from Bud Carpenter to get his figures. Mr. Carpenter estimated roughly $350,000, but he forgot to include the following items: electric and foam insulation, the geo-thermal heating system will be $150,000. The vault door cost $7,000. There is a building envelope up to $500,000. Landscaping cost total $60,000. The Park and Ride grant will help immensely with the parking lot and the road crew should be able to do the bulk of the work. The total preliminary amount is $760,000.

Keith Hall visited Doug and Mae Everest RE: Sidewalk Project.  Mr. and Mrs. Everest have two issues with the sidewalk 1) they don’t feel it is necessary to have a sidewalk on their side of Main St. They don’t feel there are any children who will benefit from it. 2) Concerns about the front of their house and where the curb ends. They use the front driveway/parking area a lot; they are afraid they will lose this. Keith Hall thought maybe there could be a dip put in to allow access to the spot. Burt Allen suggested ending the curb before getting to that location.

MISC. CORRESPONDENCE:

• State of Vermont, Agency of Transportation – New Haven Park and Ride; Town’s copy of the signed agreement
• State of Vermont, Addison County Sheriff’s Office – Summons / Complaint from John Madden
• VELCO - response to letter from the Forest Drive residents RE: Plans to conduct noise testing following the completion of the 115kv line.
• Schindler Elevator Corporation – Servicing all Vermont and offering Municipalities a “Service Partnership”
• Managing Construction Projects in Vermont – January 22, 2008 in South Burlington
• Vermont Center for Independent Living – Thank you for donation for the FY 2007.

TREASURERS REPORT:

• Barb Torian – issue with computer concerning Scott Busier’s payroll. Scott Busier questioned Ms. Torian about his raise and wondered why it wasn’t showing up in his checks. She went back and realized it had come through on the first check, but the computer kicked it back after that. She issued him a check for back pay in the amount of $2591.29 this week.

Barb Torian had received a request from a member of the New Haven Fire Dept. asking the road crew to please plow in front of their bay doors. The snow builds up after it falls off the roof, they would be grateful for a clear path.

Burt Allen made a motion to sign pay orders and bills, seconded by Keith Hall. All agreed.

REGULAR  BUSINESS:

• Amend minutes from November 20, 2007 meeting; Paul Audy made a motion to hire Scott Warner for the road crew position. This will be full time, with a probationary period of three months. Rate of pay will be $12.50 per hour. Scott Warner will not accrue any vacation/holiday or sick time until the probation period has ended, and the selectboard meets with him for a review. Burt Allen seconded the motion, all agreed.
• Amend minutes from May 15, 2007. Keith Hall made a motion to pay Addison County Transit Resource $1,000 for FY 2008. Seconded by Paul Audy. All agreed.

OLD BUSINESS:

Adjourn: 9:15 pm