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At the Chelsea Selectboard’s December 18 meeting, it was noted that Harry Flint and road foreman Rick Ackerman had purchased a new John Deere 672D grader in Springfield November 18. Feedback from other towns led the selectboard to the conclusion that this would be a better piece of equipment for the town, it was available immediately, and the deal was comparable to that on the CAT previously considered. The grader cost $174,000, with payments of about $25,700. The trade-in of the old grader constitutes the first payment, with the next payment due January 1, 2009. The machine comes with a seven-year, 4,000 hour warranty and included in the deal were a full set of chains and on-site service calls at 250, 500, and 1,000 hours. Alan Ackerman of the facilities committee, with Pete Bania from Morton Buildings in Castleton, presented a contract for Phase I of the town garage. Ackerman went to Pittsfield and Bristol to look at some of Morton’s municipal buildings, and spoke with references, all of whom said they were more than satisfied. For 1% of the project cost, the company will complete the design, preliminary drawings, and preliminary budget. This will take four to five weeks and will produce solid information to present to the town. The next step, before Phase II, will be to hold a bond vote. The 1% ($5,000) is a retainer, which will be applied toward the project. The proposed site is the present sand pile location. Phase II will be specifics of design. It was agreed that aesthetics will be very important, due to the building’s location. Bania reassured the selectboard, "We want to build your building but we’re not in a hurry. We understand the process with town buildings can take time." The selectboard signed a contract for Phase I of the project. Parks Commission Caleb Rick and Tim Buess of the parks commission shared their meeting schedule for the year: the second Tuesdays of March and November, with work days to include the third Saturday in May for the commons, scheduled days for the Barre corner triangle flower bed and holiday lights in December. Rick asked the selectboard about the structure of the Parks Commission and whether they could increase the number of commissioners and elect a secretary. There was a discussion about park benches. Froggy 100 granted the town $3,000 for something visible to benefit the whole town. The selectboard earmarked those funds for benches, but they have not been purchased. The commons are down to about four usable benches, due to wear and tear on the cheaper, "temporary" benches purchased previously. Rick said that the cost of buying and maintaining benches is not insignificant, and $3,000 will not cover all the benches the town will need. The parks commission would like to conduct a survey at Town Meeting to determine what kind of benches the townspeople would like and possibly initiate a fundraising campaign in the memory of Dr. Brewster Martin to benefit the town parks. Carol Olsen expressed concern that Froggy 100 expected the money to be spent months ago, rather than to be used as seed money. She also felt strongly that there should be benches on the commons next spring. She recommended buying two or three sturdy granite or stone composite benches. The selectboard agreed to make a decision after Rick consults with the radio station personnel. Quik Stop The owners of the Chelsea Quik Stop have allegedly violated terms of their building permits. The issues are encroachment/property lines, concrete pads, outdoor storage of trash, and a compressor. There was a discussion of the legal process for addressing zoning permit violations when the zoning administrator has recused himself due to conflict of interest. In this circumstance, if there is no assistant zoning administrator, the planning commission nominates, and the selectboard appoints, an acting zoning administrator with the same powers and responsibilities. The board plans to explore this process, review the DRB minutes from the decision, and invite the Quik Stop owners to a meeting. ____________ |
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