Fairfax Selectboard Minutes of 01/29/07

Selectboard members Bill Ormerod, Charlie Swanson, Doug Webb and Judy Cleary were present at the meeting. Also present were Don Pigeon, Randy Devine, Skip Taylor and Norm Steinhour. These minutes are unofficial until approved by the Board at the next regularly scheduled Selectboard meeting.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00PM.

Don Pigeon reviewed the Town Highway Class 2 Roadway Program grant application.8/10th of a mile on Buck Hollow Road is the targeted area for this grant. The grant request is for $45,000.00 from AOT with a $15,000.00 town match. Charlie moved to accept the application and Don's recommendations. Bill seconded the motion. 4 board members voted in favor, none opposed.

Don informed the board he had received prices for a new truck. Bids for the truck dump body, plow, plow frame and non-truck body components were received from Howard P. Fairfield ($49,760.00) and Tenco New England ($45,973.00). For the truck body, two bids were received from J&B International ($49,235.45) and Clarks Trucking ($53,000.00). Charlie Moved to award the Contracts to J&B International ($49,235.45) and Tenco New England ($45,973.00), (total = $95,208.45) pending budget approval at Town Meeting Day. Doug seconded the motion. 4 board members voted in favor, none opposed.

The board reviewed a letter received from Randy Reid at AOT requesting signed authorization on a claim form to authorize payment for AOT's portion of the River Road project. Don confirmed that the request was valid, and the letter was signed and returned to AOT.

Doug reviewed two road name applications. "Hanley Road" was approved for the request submitted by Richard and Peggy Wimble. "J.D. Country Road" was approved for the request submitted by the Sullivan Estate.

Randy Devine reviewed the monthly Water and Sewer reports for December 2006 with the board. Judy Signed all reports that required a signature so that Randy could submit them to the appropriate agencies.

Randy reviewed a request for a new meter received from Bruce Paige. Randy will determine if the current meter is functioning properly, as it was replaced just prior to Mr. Paige purchasing the home. The meter for 1054 Main Street was discussed, and Randy will be replacing the one at Cain St. A comparison reading will be taken in two months to determine if water usage is being metered accurately. Randy also received a complaint received from Sam Hudson about his water and sewer bills. Randy informed the board that he visited Mr. Hudson and replaced the existing old style meter with one that had a demand flow indicator. Once the replacement meter was installed, the new meter registered a demand from somewhere inside the residence.

Randy requested that the Water Department renew both his and Morris' membership in the Green Mountain Water Environmental Association for a total cost of $40.00. Charlie moved to approve the membership renewals. Doug seconded. 4 board members voted in favor, none opposed.

Randy reviewed a letter received from VLCT asking for a $100.00 contribution to support VT Water Week activities. Water week is May 6th - 12th. Doug motioned to table discussion on this item until Feb 5th meeting, so water department account balance could be ascertained. Charlie seconded the motion. . 4 board members voted in favor, none opposed.

Randy also noted that Chris Laberge from VLCT performed an inspection of the water control building to increase its insurance value.

Skip Taylor submitted a road name application that will be reviewed at the next meeting. Skip also reviewed the Zoning Administrators report and the NRPC's Appendix 1 (FAIRFAX BUILDOUT SUMMARY) which will be included in the regional report; with the board. 2007 Year to date, 4 Building Permits, 3 certificate of Compliance, and 1 Certificate of Occupancy have been issued. Skip discussed the Zoning office's new policy requiring site visits to properties that are being sold, prior to issuing a Certificate of Compliance.

Norm Steinhour made a presentation to the board concerning a property he purchased at 6 Boissoneault Road. His previously purchased building permit has expired, and his preliminary Sewer allocation for the property is scheduled to expire on 4/11/2007. Mr. Steinhour requested the following: 1) To have the previously paid building permit fee of $750 applied as a credit against the new building permit fee of $1000 he would need to obtain to complete the project. 2) To have the impact fee associated with the new building permit waived; since he paid the impact fee with his initial building permit for the property. In addition, Mr. Steinhour wanted to determine what needed to be submitted to the Sewer Department so he would not lose his preliminary sewer allocation for the property in question. The board agreed to review Mr. Steinhour's requests, and formally respond in writing as soon as possible. Mr. Steinhour then commended the board on it' ability to work together and the change in atmosphere that he observed from a previous board meeting he had attended.

Bill motioned to accept the minutes from last week's meeting. Doug seconded. Bill offered one revision to remove the duplicate lines "Bill motioned to accept the minutes from last week's meeting. Charlie seconded. 3 board members voted in favor, and 2 board members abstained." No further amendments were offered. Bill motioned to accept the minutes from last week's meeting as amended. Doug Seconded. 4 board members voted in favor, none opposed.

OTHER BUSINESS: The board reviewed a letter of response to Bill Superneau regarding his proposal for a secondary water source for the Water Department. By consensus, the board approved the letter as drafted. Judy it signed on the board's behalf. Charlie advised the board that in recent discussions with the NRPC, he learned that no funding remains for the Town of Fairfax to pursue an engineering study for traffic in and around the BFA Fairfax Campus. Charlie will contact the School Board to determine if the blueprints used for the elementary wing might be helpful for this portion of the safe routes to school project. Bill informed the board that the new power pack for the Fire Department's computer did not resolve the problem. A new computer will be required to replace the non-functioning one. In addition, Bill signed the "Community Cares Grant" for the Recreation Department on the Town's behalf.

PUBLIC INPUT: There was no public input this evening.

The Selectboard meeting was adjourned at 8:45PM.

____________________________________ Bill Ormerod, Selectboard member