Fairfax Selectboard Minutes of 06/30/08

Selectboard Members present: Judy Cleary, Charlie Swanson, Randy DeVine, and Bob Horr. Staff Members present: Don Pigeon, Road Foreman, Skip Taylor, Zoning Administrator, and Erin McSweeney, Administrative Assistant to the Selectboard. Public Present: Peter King, Betty Poulin, Joan Wotherspoon, Jon Bondy, John Doty, and Giles Boissoneault.

1.Call to Order

Judy Cleary, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 7:03PM.

2. Minutes

Charlie motioned to accept the minutes from the meeting on June 23, 2008. Judy asked for clarification on one of the amendments made last week. Randy seconded. All board members voted in favor.

3. Items on the Agenda

A. Don Pigeon- Don reviewed an Access Permit application from Lee and Diane Pfanstiel for a lot on King Road. Don indicated that an 18" culvert is required, and brush needs to be cut in both directions to increase sight distance. Judy signed the application.

Don informed the board that he has seen the fuel tank that Larry Young is selling; he informed the board that the tank leaks.

Don will meet with a representative on Tuesday afternoon from DJ's Tree Service to obtain an estimate on the maple tree on the Rowell's property located at 1040 Main Street.

Don informed the board that All-Metals Recycling removed a dumpster containing all of the truck and tractor tires from the Town Garage.

Don also informed the board that the Town has been awarded a resurfacing grant for Fletcher Road from the Agency of Transportation. The pavers will be on-site tomorrow; they will finish paving a section of Huntville Road and River Road.

Judy informed the board that Don, Judy, and Sam Hudson will work on the scope of work for the management of the timber in the 100 acre woods located in North Fairfax.

B.Randy DeVine - Randy gave a summary of activities for the week, including, but not limited to: calibrated the flow chart, to the chart recorder, and to the pump gauge to determine whether the flows were correct, monitored the chlorine residual at the contact chamber; he believes there is a crack in the chlorination line. Randy also worked on the Consumer Confidence Report, which he is distributing to every user of the water system. He trained Paul Langelier on how to do the maintenance on the fire hydrants in Town. Paul and Randy completed maintenance on 8 fire hydrants today. Randy followed up on the list of water accounts to be disconnected; he informed the board that all of the water accounts are paid as of today. He backwashed the filtering system at the WWTF and performed maintenance on the blowers.

C. Skip Taylor, Zoning Administrator- Skip distributed an Activity Report for May 20, 2008-June 30, 2008. He informed the board that he has issued building permits to Gabe Handy for lots 3,4,12, and 13 on Old Academy Street. The final sewer allocations for these lots will expire on August 1, 2008.

Skip suggested to the board that there should be a written policy in place to determine when a lot is considered buildable, and therefore, can be assigned a value on the Grand List. As it stands now, when a developer files a mylar and obtains a State wastewater permit, a value of $25,000 is assigned to the lot. Skip indicated that he can not issue a building permit without all of the State permits being in place, including Act 250; the Listers are not always made aware when there are Act 250 requirements. Skip believes that lots that require Act 250 approval should not be assigned a value until an Act 250 permit is obtained. Skip indicated that the Listers have contacted the Vermont League of Cities and Towns for advice on this process.

D. Jon Bondy - Jon Bondy, the Chairperson of the Fletcher Selectboard and the Fletcher Broadband Committee, and John Doty of Westford discussed Fletcher's efforts to bring broadband service to the area. Jon would like to use a business model that is similar to that of EC Fiber, which consists of a consortium of 25 towns in central Vermont. The consortium signs an inter-local agreement which states that the consortium wants to build the infrastructure necessary to bring broadband to the area. The consortium would then seek funding from banks to build the project. As time goes on, the network will be built, and take on customers, so that the system is eventually user-funded.

Jon suggested that if the board is considering pursuing bringing broadband access to Fairfax, the board should warn a public hearing, and Jon and John will present information to the public.

E. Giles Boissoneault - Giles met with the board this evening to discuss the classification of Ledge Road, which is between Sam Webb Road and Buck Hollow Road. Giles owns land on the north side of Ledge Road, and would like the road to be officially classified as a Class IV road. Giles indicated that he has requested this from previous Selectboards; a previous board applied for re-classification to a Class IV road from the State in 1998. The State requested a survey of the road, which Giles did not have at the time. Giles located the original survey that was done in 1802, which shows that Ledge Road is a Town road, and went back before the Selectboard in 2003. He asked the Selectboard to re-apply for Class IV status in 2004.

Giles is requesting that the board re-classify Ledge Road as a Town road so he can access the land he owns. He is trying to subdivide a portion of his land into 2 lots. Judy indicated that any road that is not on the official Agency of Transportation map is not recognized as a Town road; Ledge Road is currently not on the Agency of Transportation's map.

Bob suggested that Giles should contact the Vermont League of Cities and Towns for information on the Ancient Roads legislation, and how to proceed in re-classifying Ledge Road. Bob asked when Giles bought the land he owns; Giles indicated that he purchased the land in 1974. Bob noted that Giles bought the land with no access to it.

Giles would like the board to submit a request to re-classify Ledge Road to the State; the board would like to review the information Giles obtains from the Vermont League of Cities and Towns before any action is taken.

4. Other Business

A. The board reviewed an e-mail from Colleen Steen indicating that the Municipal Planning Grant application materials will only be available on-line. The board also reviewed an e-mail from Colleen regarding dogs running at large in her yard. Josh Langelier, Town Constable, has issued a $75.00 fine to one of the dogs' owners.

B. Charlie motioned to sign the addendum to the current All-Cycle contract for a three-year extension to provide trash collection. Randy seconded.

Joan Wotherspoon expressed concern regarding the cost of trash service. She suggested that the board should take another look at the contract and think about other options, such as having trash collection 3 times a month, rather than every week. Joan noted that the cost of trash service has increased from $122,000 a year to over $400,000. She stressed that trash collection is not free, and people who live in homes with higher values are paying more than other people in Town.

Betty Poulin asked if a transfer station would be a cheaper alternative. Charlie noted that the initial costs, including permitting, are high.

2 board members voted in favor, and 2 board members voted against. The motion did not pass. No action was taken. The addendum will be discussed next week when a full board is present.

C. The board reviewed a letter from the residents on Rocky Ridge Road regarding the intersection of Rocky Ridge Road and Route 104. The letter will be forwarded to the Vermont Agency of Transportation.

D. The board reviewed a letter that Bob Horr has written to the Fletcher Selectboard regarding the proposed Rose Hill subdivision, to be located on a private road at the end of Lawton Road. Some of the homes in the subdivision will be located in Fairfax, while the remainder of the homes will be located in Fletcher. Bob expressed concern that Fletcher does not have road standards; the Fairfax Fire Department and Fairfax Rescue provide services to Fletcher, and Bob is concerned about the departments' ability to access properties on the Fletcher end of the private road, which has not been constructed yet.

The board would like Bob to re-draft the letter; Charlie would like to visit the site of the proposed subdivision.

E. Judy indicated that the Town Office has had problems with the telephone system that it shares with the school. The board discussed two proposals for phone systems that would be independent of the school.

Charlie motioned to purchase a phone system from Tim Wills of All Lines Communication. Randy seconded. 3 board members voted in favor, and one board member abstained.

F. Judy informed the board that she and Erin attended the Community Advisory Board meeting at the State Police barracks in St. Albans on June 24th.

G. The Board of Civil Authority will conduct appeal hearings on either July 15th, 16th, or 17th.

H. Randy indicated that he would like the Listers to meet with the board periodically to discuss any questions or concerns they may have. He indicated that all of the other Town departments either meet with the board or submit a report.

5. Public Input

None.

6. Adjournment

Bob motioned to adjourn the meeting at 10:15PM. Randy seconded. All board members voted in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15PM.

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Erin McSweeney, Administrative Assistant to the Selectboard