Illegal dumping vexes Selectboard
NEWFANE — NEWFANE - As town officials continue to deal with illegal dumping at the recycling area in the Town Offices parking lot, their work has hit a wall.
For many months, the Selectboard has discussed the possibility of installing surveillance cameras to monitor activity at the bins. This way, when someone drives up and leaves trash, the cameras can record the perpetrator's license plate.
Administrative Assistant Shannon Meckle has researched options for the cameras and has worked with officials from the Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) in Brattleboro, which has an effective anti-dumping program at its Fairground Road recycling area.
But before the board decides to invest in the cameras, it wants to know if the bins will be there much longer.
WSWMD, which owns and manages the collection bins, lately has considered removing them from the district's towns.
At the Nov. 2 Selectboard meeting, Chair Todd Lawley suggested tabling the issue until the town receives word from WSWMD.
In a follow-up email, Meckle told The Commons, “They won't be deciding until their budgeting, which is December and January, just like ours. It will make it difficult for the town to do their budget in a timely manner.”
Arch Bridge gets new railing
NEWFANE - Although the Arch Bridge will get a complete replacement in five years, the town has been ordered to repair its crumbling concrete railing on the downstream side a lot sooner.
As in, now.
At the Nov. 2 Selectboard meeting, Chair Todd Lawley told his colleagues the state's bridge inspectors demanded the repairs happen before winter to prevent further damage.
Lawley told the board the inner railing needs to be refaced, and cracks must be sealed to keep water from flowing through them.
Three bids were received for the work, and Renaud Brothers' bid for $17,500 was selected; it was considerably lower than the other bids. According to information Lawley presented to the board, Renaud Brothers said they could start immediately, and have the project complete by Nov. 25. He also said the company will remove loose concrete by hand.
The Selectboard unanimously voted to accept Renaud Brothers' bid, but board member Carol Hatcher expressed some concern.
She cited the problem with Renaud Brothers' work on the Hunter Brook Bridge, where they installed a used beam but billed the town for a new one. This was never disclosed by Renaud Brothers but was discovered by a bridge inspector.
Lawley assured Hatcher that Renaud Brothers “pretty much” made good on the error, attributing it to “a typo,” but Hatcher asked for more oversight to make sure something similar does not happen again.
Many board members chimed in with comments on the “good work” that Renaud Brothers has done on bridges in Newfane and in other towns.
Lawley, who also serves as the town's road foreman, said he will look over the Arch Bridge work as it happens and that he will get the bridge inspected before the town pays the invoice.
“What happened there” at the Hunter Brook Bridge “wasn't good,” Lawley said, “but they've done a lot of good work for us, and that bridge is a lot better than it was.”
Town Offices project moves along
NEWFANE - Administrative Assistant Shannon Meckle told the Selectboard at its Nov. 2 meeting that inspectors contracted by Cotton Design have found many issues with the town office building and have offered some possible solutions.
As part of the the board's process of figuring out what to do about the building, which is in need of a great number of repairs, board members recently contracted with whom to inspect the structure.
Meckle told the board the inspectors noted the roof should be replaced.
The good news is: the inspectors found the heating system an appropriate size to heat the building, but the town offices lack sufficient duct-work and insulation to keep it comfortably warm.
Final FEMA buyout almost bought out
NEWFANE - Months after the four-year anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene, which caused so much damage to some town homes that it rendered them uninhabitable, the sale of the final property, at 246 Dover Rd., is almost complete, Administrative Assistant Shannon Meckle told the selectboard at its Nov. 2 meeting.
The town is almost finished with the buy-back process of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). For the displaced property owners, and town officials, the demolition closes the final chapter of a long story.
FEMA does not purchase the damaged properties, but it offers grants to assist local and state governments to do so.
“The funds come from a grant administered by the Vermont Department of Public Safety, although it is a federal grant. They also reimburse the cost of the demolition,” Meckle told The Commons via email.
“All 'due now' paperwork is in to the state and they have approved us to move forward with the appraisal stage,” Meckle wrote, adding, “we will order that right away and then the title search will come next. Then the closing. Then the demolition sometime in the spring.”
Once homes are demolished, FEMA's buyout deed restrictions declare the property as public open space.
“Then we will be done!” said Meckle.
Cell service in Newfane: Will it happen?
NEWFANE - When asked by Chair Todd Lawley about the status of town receiving cell service, board member Marion Dowling said, at the Nov. 2 regular meeting, “there's nothing very new, unfortunately.”
Dowling had recently contacted state Rep. Emily Long, D-Newfane, to express the town's concerns to the Legislature and to find out if any progress has been made.
Specifically, Dowling wanted to know about the new cell tower AT&T erected on Browns Road, which does not appear to be active. She asked Long when the tower would go live, and if other cellular companies will have access to it.
Long told Dowling that AT&T anticipates the tower to be in operation by the spring of 2016.
When Dowling reached out to Will Dodge, the attorney handling the tower, he confirmed Long's estimate. He said he had “no guarantees,” but said that AT&T hoped to have the tower powered up by April.
According to Dowling, Dodge said no other cellular carriers had requested use of the tower.