~ approved ~

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

• Approve Minutes of Last Meeting
• James Maxfield – 400 ft. Road for Town to Take Over
• Library Plowing
• Mellett Gravel Pit Update
• Road Foreman Report
• Clerk's Report
• Fuel Bids – Date for Renewal
• Mitigation Grants TH-3
• Other Business:

• Conservation Commission Update
• Ancient Roads Committee Update
• Atwood Bridge Update
• Young Bridge Update
• Recreation Committee Update
• Town Report Online
• Tent/RV Campsite Proposal Update
• Forestry Committee Update
• Paquette Road
• Historical Curtains
• Stember Safe

The Selectboard met at the Craftsbury Town Hall on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 7:30 PM. Selectboard present were Bruce Urie, Jim Jones and Susan Houston. Yvette Brown (Town Clerk), Michelle Warren (Clerk of Selectboard) and June Cook (Hardwick Gazette) were also present.

Mr. Jones made a motion to approve the June 20, 2007 Selectboard Minutes as printed, Mr. Urie seconded. The June 20, 2007 Selectboard Minutes were approved.

Ms. Brown said that she spoke to Mr. Maxfield and he wants to start the process of the Town taking over the 400 feet of road at the end of Town Hill Road. Mr. Marckres had told Mr. Urie that he hasn’t had a chance to get back down to the road yet but plans to be ditching over there soon and will work on the turn around area then. Mr. Urie said they plan to plow it this winter, testing to see how it goes and then will bring it up at the next Town Meeting. Ms. Brown relayed that Mr. Maxfield didn’t want to have a special town meeting for the road, next Town Meeting would be fine. Ms. Brown said that she told Mr. Maxfield that it has to be up to class 3 standards.

Mr. Urie said that he spoke earlier with Mr. Marckres about plowing the Craftsbury Public Library and noted Mr. Marckres’ preference was not to plow the driveway. It would take an extra 20-30 minutes of plowing and difficult to maneuver. Ms. Houston suggested Mr. Marckres speak with Ms. Wells about it since the Town turns around at the Library during snowstorms anyways. Mr. Urie relayed that Mr. Marckres told him that sanding wouldn’t be any problem. Mr. Urie also mentioned that earlier Craftsbury Community Care Center had wanted the Town to plow there too and people objected because it was taking work away from private contractors.

Mr. Urie said that the permit specialist is currently talking to the engineer. Mr. Urie has posted the notice of intent. Test holes have been dug 16 feet with no sign of modeling, which is good news. Ms. Cook asked if a soil erosion plan was in place and Mr. Urie replied that they’re currently working on that. Ms. Cook asked if the Selectboard have received any objections regarding the Gravel Pit and Mr. Urie said one person had concerns with the Gravel Pit entrance being on Lake Road. Mr. Urie noted that it is now located at the end of Mellett’s driveway instead.

Mr. Marckres told Mr. Urie earlier that the mower would be here about 3 weeks, starting Monday. They are finishing up ditching in Mill Village, starting now on the Creek Road.

Ms. Houston had safety concerns regarding the new pavement on the Wild Branch Road not having lines painted. Mr. Urie said that the Wild Branch Road paving was already reported to the State so next time the line painters are in the area, Craftsbury will be on their list. He said the shoulders should be finished up next week and that Mr. Marckres is working on getting the guardrails up soon as well.

Ms. Brown said that she’s pleased with the new copier. The networking should be hooked up this week. Total cost including the service contract was a little over $6000, slightly over budget. All the computers will be able to print to it though, which will save in toner costs since the toner cost is already included in the copier contract. Wolcott Town Hall and Craftsbury Schools use this brand of copier as well.

Tax bills have been sent out, a few issues still need to be resolved. $265,000 has been received from Prebate.

Mr. Urie said that although the prices are good through September, the Selectboard needs to start thinking about getting bids. As requested by Mr. Urie, Ms. Brown will send out letters to bid now with a due date of August 16^th. She also will post a notice in the paper the first week of August.

Mr. Urie said he’s watching for this grant, which usually arrives in August or September. This grant would be for the actual construction work at the corner of Denton Hill Road. The Town already has the price and design from previous grants.

Ms. Houston noted the Conservation Commission would be meeting on the last Tuesdays of the month. She also said that Farley Brown and Ken Menard are co-chairs, Diane Morgan is the secretary. Ms. Houston will get back to Ms. Brown regarding the list of members so that terms can be set.

Ms. Urie said that the last Ancient Roads Committee meeting had good discussion about where they were going and also the process. Mr. Mutrux had given a good presentation about the work he has done already . Mr. Urie is working on getting a speaker for their next meeting tentatively scheduled either July 16^th or July 23^rd.

Mr. Urie said there was no news yet on the Atwood Bridge. Mr. Urie told Ms. Brown she could start submitting in the Stantec bills into the State. She will go over them first with Mr. Urie to make sure they are categorized correctly.

No news still on the Young Bridge Mr. Urie said.

Ms. Warren said that the Recreation Committee recently met and is working on Old Home Day. The committee has concerns with parking and hope to rope off the old parsonage section so that the floats turn around more safely. Mr. Urie said that the Committee can borrow Fire Department "Parking" Signs and also "No Parking" tape to use. Mr. Urie suggested having Outhouse Races like Bristol does, which are very popular. Swimming lesson applications have been slow coming in. With the lack of applications and donations from town groups, it may be cut down to just one week next year. Ms. Brown suggested getting prices for busing children up to Iroc next year as well.

Ms. Warren said that she had been working on an online pdf version of the Town Report for visitors to download from the town website. Although there may be a few retyping errors, the 8 MB file will take about 2 minutes on the broadband connection to download. Mr. Urie said it was ok to put the pdf file on the website.

Ms. Cook asked if there has been any reaction to the proposal for the potential RV Site. Mr. Urie said he had heard both positive and negative comments. Ms. Brown said there has been a few concerns, mostly in the Collinsville area. The Selectboard is still looking into the road situation for Mr. Goodridge.

Mr. Jones gave Ms. Brown two Forestry Committee bills to be paid, $40 for bridge planking to Everett Demeritt and $130 to Stuart LaPointe for planting an elm tree on the Common. Mr. LaPointe donated a tree as well. Mr. Jones will stop in to talk to Mr. Marckres about bringing up a couple loads of gravel for a small parking area that’s near the forestry sign.

Ms. Paquette spoke to Mr. Jones earlier and asked when gravel would be brought up for the Paquette Road. She thought it was sinking down. Mr. Jones will discuss it with Mr. Marckres.

Ms. Brown said that a woman stopped into the Town Clerk’s Office this spring, looking into restoring the historical curtains in the Town Hall. By next Town Meeting, Ms. Brown suggested that the Town look into grants or appropriations to help get the curtains restored. The original location of the curtains is unknown, unlikely to be from the Town Hall. Ms. Houston thought it may have been from the stage area at the Academy with Ms. Jean. Mr. Urie suggested asking Ms. Wilson regarding the curtain’s origin. Ms. Brown explained that once they are restored, they would need to be hung up carefully, possibly on the back wall. There are two curtains, one is the backdrop. A sitting edge would need to be made to lessen the tension. They also would need to rearrange items on the stage so they don’t lean against the curtains.

Mr. Stember had contacted both Ms. Brown and Mr. Urie noting that he decided to use his safe now.

The Selectboard Meeting adjourned at 9:15 PM. Next meeting is scheduled Tuesday,

August 7, 2007.

Respectfully submitted,