Town of Danville

Selectboard Minutes of

May 20th, 2010 Meeting

Chair Michael K Walsh called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. Selectboard present were, Michael K Walsh, Marvin Withers, Denise Briggs and Douglas Pastula. Also present were: Kevin Gadapee and Merton Leonard; Fire Warden Jeremy Withers; Marc Joncas, visitors Barb and Gary Fontaine; and reporter Sally Cook.

Marvin Withers moved to accept the minutes of the May 6th meeting, Douglas Pastula seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as written. Douglas Pastula moved to accept the minutes of the May 12th Special Selectboard Meeting, Marvin Withers seconded the motion. With the correction of the spelling of duly, the minutes were approved.

Marc Joncas was present to give an update of his concerns with the water line construction on his property from last fall. He still has a problem with the placement of the fire hydrant directly in front of his house, the unusual height of the hydrant and water runoff problems he is having in his yard. He has discussed these problems with the construction foreman last fall, and the fire district commissioners several times. Munson has returned this spring, done some work and has left. They have not corrected the problems that Marc feels is required at his property. He has a quote to fix his yard problem from a private contractor for $2500. He says he will sue the water district to pay for it, if they refuse to help him. While the Selectboard members may sympathize with his situation, they certainly feel that it is up to him and the water district to resolve this dispute.

Deputy Fire Warden Jeremy Withers was present to discuss the revised burning ordinance. Added to section IV of the ordinance was: No burning permits will be issued for the Village Core District and Historic District in Danville Green, and the old design control areas in West Danville and North Danville. Residents residing in these areas may deposit their allowable materials at the town wood dump. After a short discussion changing a few words, agreement was reached on the above changes. Denise Briggs moved to approve the burning ordinance as revised above. The motion seconded by Marvin Withers and approved by the Board. The ordinance was signed, and notices will be posted as required to notify the public. The full text can be viewed at the town clerks office, or on the town website at www.Danvillevt.com. Any questions contact Town Administrator Merton Leonard at his office or by phone at 684-3426.

Kevin reported that the grader continues to go every day trying to catch up on the gravel roads, as the last snow storm had brought out the potholes again. As the grader goes, the chloride truck is not far behind. On Hill Street they are cleaning up around the new catch basins, raking, seeding and mulching. The pavement has been cut around all the drains, manholes, water shutoffs, etc, to get ready for the Bomag machine to remove the pavement the first part of June. On Bridge #7, Austin Construction moved in on Monday the 17th and has proceeded to remove the deck. Austin expects to be finished next week, so AC Trades can they can proceed with the cement work. The shop drawings on the new bridge should arrive from J P Carrara in the next day or two. Tim Ruggles and VTrans will check them over for their approval, and then the new bridge can move into production. Kevin is still working on getting commitments on the crane to place the new bridge, the bridge membrane, the bridge pavement, and the guard rails. Kevin has received a materials list and pricing for a wood frame for the old garage roof, he has passed them on to the engineer for his comments.

Merton reported he reviewed the application for the RV Park and Motel from 20 years ago, as requested. At that time the sewer system was fairly new and had a lot of the reserve committed to other projects that were not built at that time. This left very little reserve for additional projects, so the RV Park and Motel had to be turned down for lack of capacity. Since that time the reserved projects have been built and some floor and roof drains disconnected, allowing the uncommitted reserve to grow. At this time the sewer system has enough reserve to connect up to 64 additional houses. With the discussion of the sewer system and approach of the sewer bills, the subject of Marty's sewer charge came up. The sewer charges have not been increased by the Town for the various additions that Marty has added. Since there are no water meters, charges are assessed based on a chart of estimated uses that was supplied by the engineers. With Marty's present configuration and based on the chart, the sewer charge should be raised to $400 for 6 months. After some discussion it was the Board's was in agreement with the new rate. Merton agreed to discuss it with Marty before the bill was sent. It was also agreed to review all the rates before the next billing session.

Merton also had two engineering estimates on the front porch of the town hall. One estimate was at $4500 and recommended an additional $5500 for architectural services. The other was for $3500 plus expenses from Burlington. After some discussion the Board agreed on the estimate of Venture Engineering of $3500 plus up to $1000 of expenses without further approval. They are the firm that did the engineering on the Town Hall restoration. Merton also advised the Board: that the shooting ordinance in the wood dump will go into effect on May 30th; that the Danville Quebec is looking for additional information for visitors on July 3rd, Denise and Michael will commit to go from the Board; that the Congo Church is requesting to use the Green, the Board in general agreement; the new phone system is in and operational; the grant application for broadband to eVermont was not successful on the first round.

The Board reviewed the budgets and the expenditures and signed the orders. They also signed the contract with Austin Construction to remove Bridge #7 in North Danville. With no further business, the Board voted to adjourn at 7:48pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Merton Leonard

Clerk of the Selectboard

Town of Danville

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