Tuesday, January 06, 2015

 

News to Know November 25, 2014

BERLIN NEWS TO KNOW  November 25, 2014
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This  communication is put together and distributed on a volunteer basis by resident Corinne Stridsberg simply in an effort to share information and build community, it is not from the town of Berlin.
Please share this with your Berlin friends and neighbors.  If you're not already receiving this news directly by email, send an email to request this to corinnestridsberg@gmail.com.
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NOTES:

Happy Thanksgiving
There is always, always, always something to be thankful for! 
May you enjoy time with family and/ or friends whether in person or by phone (or perhaps even using Skype).  Be the one to reach out.   Hopefully many of you will be enjoying some local foods this week.  If traveling - safe travels to you.

Excellent to see below in a Front Porch Forum announcement that the schools and  central office draft budgets are posted for folks to be able to access.

While we aren't getting several feet of snow like the Buffalo area did, it is still a good time to review information on being prepared for a winter storm... both for the home and the vehicle: http://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1408633655071-32caae446efef4ab2f4fcccdb55f725c/PrepareAthon_WINTER%20STORMS_HTG_FINAL_508.pdf

If you're not familiar with the lantern parade (coming up 12/06/14 at 5pm sharp in Waterbury) - here is a link from a story done a couple years ago on ithttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XouKzGLFsys

Take a few minutes to check out the "Berlin, Vermont" Community News page on facebook to find bits of current news, some never end up here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Berlin-Vermont/205922199452224

Below you will find:
BAKED GOOD DONATIONS NEEDED, PLEASE!!
BERLIN MEETINGS AND OFFICE HOURS
MITTEN TREE GENEROSITY
TWO WOMEN FORGE WIN-WIN MITTEN-TREE PARTNERSHIP

BERLIN SELECTMEN TO TAKE ON BEAVER PROBLEM

EASEMENT ISSUE RESULTS IN REROUTE PLAN FOR BERLIN WATER SYSTEM
BEAVER TO LIVE, BUILD ANOTHER DAY
PEDESTRIAN ACCESS, PARKING ARE EARLY CONCERNS ABOUT KOHL'S
FROM BERLIN FRONT PORCH FORUM
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BAKED GOOD DONATIONS NEEDED, PLEASE!!
Carole Lacasse of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department is looking for baked good donations for their food booth at the Winter Festival of Vermont Crafters at the Barre Auditorium which is held the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving.  YOUR help is very important as many bakers are needed to make this a successful event.  Baked goods can be whatever you enjoy making - cupcakes, cookies, squares, breads.  Breads may end up being sold whole or by the slice.   Please drop off baked goods at the Fire Dept. on Nov 28th or 29th.  Note Carole is willing to come pick them up from you on Friday the 28th.  You can reach Carole at 229-9504
The funds raised have been used in a variety of ways over the years -  after Tropical Storm Irene three complete wet suits were purchased, there have also been tools purchased, boots & gloves, turnout gear, stove & refrigerator for fire house, etc.
It would be greatly appreciated if you can do a little extra baking this week!
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BERLIN MEETINGS AND OFFICE HOURS
The Planning Commission Wednesday, November 26th, the Selectboard, Monday, December 1st and the Development Review Board on Tuesday, December 2nd.  These meetings take place at the Town Office at 7pm.
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The PTNA meets Thursday, Dec. 4th at the school 6:30pm.  Monday, December 8th the Berlin Elementary School Board will meet at 6:15pm at the school and invites the public to their budget forum.
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Please note that the Treasurer's office will be closed on Wednesday Nov. 26th and the Town Clerk's office will close at noon that day.  All of the Town Offices will be closed both on Thanksgiving Nov. 27th and on the 28th.  
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MITTEN TREE GENEROSITY
Pub. 11/15/14 Times Argus by Amy Ash Nixon
   BARRE — Cabled, cream-colored, handknit socks, striped hats with ear flaps that tie under the chin, tiny baby sweaters, children’s hats that look like pumpkins or tomatoes and scarves long enough to circle a child’s neck several times are among dozens of handmade winter goods that don two mitten trees in the lobby of The Times Argus’ office.
   Thanks to the generous donations of community members, the trees, which hold the newspaper’s annual appeal for winter accessories, are quickly filling with lovingly created clothing. A few store-bought items also adorn the branches.
   The newspaper first began the collection after the devastation of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, said Terry Smith, customer sales and service manager for The Times Argus, on Friday.
   “It was after Irene, and we were hearing about the schoolchildren, families who just lost everything, and we decided that anybody who was doing a traditional mitten tree would wait until December, and it’s already cold in Vermont in November, so why wouldn’t we want to do this sooner, rather than later, for all these families who had to start over again?”
   Donations are accepted through Nov. 28.
   That first year, most donations were sent to southern Vermont to an especially hard-hit community, recalled Smith.
   “The very first box we sent all the way to Wilmington, Vermont, because that school had just been decimated,” said Smith. “And the rest of the remaining items went to the Green Mountain United Way, based in Berlin, and the remaining donations were distributed here in central Vermont.
   Since then, donations have remained in central Vermont, most distributed through the Green Mountain United Way.
   While many of the donated items are in children and baby sizes, there are also donations for adults, said Smith, pointing to adult-sized slippers and knitted socks on the trees.
   “Give the gift of warmth,” is the message that will show up on rack cards in the newspaper’s boxes starting today. These will have information on how readers can contribute.
   The office is closed Thanksgiving Day, but donations will be taken through 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28.
   Almost all the items that so far have come in are handmade, observed Smith.
   “We’re delighted that mostly what’s being donated is by people who love to knit or sew, and they bring things in,” said Smith. “We have a nice combination of fleece hats and scarves, to slippers that look delightfully warm. ... We love that the community has embraced this, and every year it seems to get bigger.”
   Nancy Zorn, executive director of the Green Mountain United Way, praised the quality of the donations, and said it was a joy to give them as gifts. “The winter is coming, and there are people who do not have the income or the means to be able to purchase warm mittens and hats. This is extremely valuable to those people. We really do appreciate everyone’s help with this, and we know it takes a whole community pulling together to solve the issues that are in the community ... When you’re poor and you don’t have money for things, and something comes in that’s so special, it means so much more to people.”
   The collection continues through the end of the business day on Friday, Nov. 28, at the newspaper’s offices, on the second floor above the Cornerstone Pub & Kitchen at 47 North Main St. There are entrances in the front and back, which has an elevator.
   Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
   amy.nixon@timesargus.com
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TWO WOMEN FORGE WIN-WIN MITTEN-TREE PARTNERSHIP
Pub. 11/15/14 Times Argus by Amy Ash Nixon
   BARRE — One donor to the annual mitten tree is Anne Buttimer, a professor at Norwich University and Berlin resident.
   Buttimer, 57, has a specific place where she gets her donated goods: she buys all the leftover knitted items from Montpelier retiree Pat Culver, a 78-year-old grandmother who knits away all year long and sells her items at two craft fairs.
   Buttimer said one year Culver’s daughter, Debra Papineau, a fellow Norwich employee, had set up a mini-craft fair of sorts in an empty classroom at the Northfield university for employees to purchase her mom’s handmade goods.
   Buttimer, an attorney who teaches in the Norwich School of Justice Studies and Sociology, asked Papineau to save all that didn’t sell, and said she’d buy every last thing to donate. She has done this for four or five years.
   When she used to live in Essex, Buttimer would donate on the holidays to a similar drive sponsored by WCAX. She was pleased to see the local newspaper was sponsoring the mitten tree when she moved to central Vermont.
   She thanks Culver for her hard work making handmade goods (the two finally met this week), allowing her to swoop in and buy so many items to share. While she appreciates the craftsmanship, Buttimer spends all her free time out hiking when she’s not at work.
   The women’s partnership — Culver doing the knitting with Buttimer far and away the “best customer,” Culver said with a smile during an interview — allows a good thing to happen. “It makes you feel good that there are people like Anne,” she said.
   Culver said she’s been knitting since she was about 5 years old, and she knits and crochets all year long — everything from hats and socks to mittens, scarves, slippers, doilies and afghans.
   This week, Buttimer brought in dozens of the handknit goods, filling the trees and then some. Her purchase was $360, she said, confessing she kept one pair of slippers for herself.
   “Why wouldn’t you do this?” said Buttimer, saying she is in a position to give, and that doing so makes her feel good.
   She said she hopes others will do the same.
   “I would like to think, in its way, this will go viral. It’s really a win-win: “What can I do that will help someone else who is selling or making something, and give it to someone else who needs it?”
   @Tagline:amy.nixon@timesargus.com
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BERLIN SELECTMEN TO TAKE ON BEAVER PROBLEM

Pub. 11/15/14 Times Argus by David Delcore

   BERLIN — Hoping to protect the delicate ecological balance of the Berlin Pond watershed, members of the town’s conservation commission have asked the Berlin Select Board to retain the services of what would amount to a town trapper.
   The latest threat to the fragile habitat won’t be found paddling around in kayaks or toting fishing poles, they are large, semi-aquatic rodents with powerful front teeth and a penchant for building dams.
   Technically, the dams are the problem, but the commission has concluded the surest way to prevent their clogging the pond’s outlet culvert on Crosstown Road is to target the beavers that build them.
   In a letter on a subject scheduled for discussion, commissioners noted the culvert in question has been “repeatedly blocked” by beaver dams in the past.
   “… As a result the water rises on the pond side and the water dries up on the outflow side,” the commission wrote.
   That, members agreed, is a problem.
   “... This sets up a situation where vegetation in the protected wetland such as the red maples, important for nesting waterfowl and other birds, are flooded for extended periods of time and will die,” the letter states. “Fish, amphibians and vegetation, which adapt to the natural seasonal fluxations (sic), are all threatened by the artificial changes in hydrology, especially as they prepare for winter.”
   The story on the other side of the dam is equally bleak, according to the commission.
   “... Obviously, when the downstream brook dries up after the culverts have been plugged for a while, the aquatic life such as invertebrates, fish, amphibians and other biota may perish,” members wrote.
   The solution, in the commission’s estimation, entails enlisting the assistance of a licensed trapper to “monitor the culvert and remove beavers.” That service, they indicated, has historically been provided by Montpelier, but apparently won’t be this year.
   The commission dismissed an alternative that would leave the beaver alone.
   “... Manually dismantling the dam is a temporary fix,” they wrote.
   Beaver trapping season opened Oct. 25 and runs through March 31, 2015.
   The commission has recommended the select board contract with a trapper to police the culvert and offered to assist in developing an estimated cost for that contract. The board is scheduled to discuss the commission’s request during its regular meeting on Monday.
   david.delcore@timesargus.com

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EASEMENT ISSUE RESULTS IN REROUTE PLAN FOR BERLIN WATER SYSTEM
Pub. 11/19/14 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — Eager to advance a multimillion-dollar water project and troubled by what was characterized as Central Vermont Medical Center’s frustrating inaction on an easement request to install a water line on hospital property, the Select Board tentatively approved an alternate plan this week.
   Members agreed that if they have to rip up the road in front of the hospital to install the water line, that is what they will do, even though they were told it would cost a bit more and likely be a lot more chaotic.
   The board opened its Monday meeting by approving $4 million in interim financing for the water project.
   Town Administrator Dana Hadley said he had reached out to the medical center several times, but had been unable to make perceptible progress on an easement that has been the subject of discussions since August.
   With a contractor itching to start work on the first phase of the project and the town committed to completing its new municipal water system by this time next year, Hadley said time to nail down the easement was rapidly running out. With that in mind, he said, he had discussed the possibility of bypassing the hospital property entirely with Mark Youngstrom of Otter Creek Engineering.
   According to Hadley, Youngstrom has estimated that installing the transmission line under Fisher Road would add about $20,000 to the project cost and save the time and expense of exercising the town’s power of eminent domain to run the public utility across private property.
   Chairman Ture Nelson said it wasn’t the town’s preference and could be cause for concern for CVMC officials, but the price was right.
   “That would be a serious disruption to the hospital, but only $20,000? It seems like a no-brainer to me,” he said.
   Nelson was openly frustrated that hospital officials hadn’t treated the town’s request with more urgency.
   As an example of the town’s past willingness to accommodate the medical center, he cited the board’s decision to equip its police officers with Tasers — a move endorsed by CVMC based on a spike in violent incidents at the hospital’s emergency room.
   “I understand they don’t want to be a customer on the project,” he said of the medical center. “That’s fine, that’s their loss — but don’t hold up the project for everyone else.”
   Board members said they shared Nelson’s frustration and instructed Hadley to inform medical center officials of the decision, which could still be aborted if the easement is swiftly approved.
   Contacted for comment Tuesday, CVMC spokeswoman Susan Kruthers said the town’s request had not been ignored and the proposed easement was being reviewed by the medical center’s attorney.
   “The legal work is being done,” she said, stopping short of promising the easement would be approved, but suggesting that was the intention given the nature of the request.
   “We’re headed in that direction,” she said.
   Hadley, who hadn’t yet spoken with CVMC officials Tuesday, said that was welcome news. He said he was hopeful the medical center could give him a definitive answer by the end of the week so he could provide the U.S. Department of Agriculture the documentation it needs to finalize the financing package for the project and sign a construction contract with low bidder Munson Earth Moving.
   It was unclear how firm that deadline is and whether the town could give the USDA an either-or plan for installing the section of transmission line that was originally planned to cross the hospital campus.
   “That is the preferable way,” Hadley said, noting the alternative would require significant excavation and disrupt traffic on the well-traveled road between the medical center and the Berlin Mall.
   The desire to keep traffic flowing smoothly during construction drove the initial decision to pursue an off-road route for the transmission line and Hadley held out hope that would still be possible.
   The section of water line that would cross the hospital property is a small but important portion of the municipal water system that is the product of a seven-year process. Plans call for the installation of 5 miles of water transmission lines serving the Berlin Four Corners area, as well as the construction of a 400,000-gallon water storage tank and pumping station near three wells that have already been drilled, tested and permitted on Scott Hill Road.
   The project also contemplates the eventual acquisition of the private Berlin Water Co., which would extend the town-run system down to the Barre-Montpelier Road.
   Board members agreed Monday that they aren’t yet ready to acquire the Berlin Water Co. system but are interested in extending the town’s option to purchase that system from Dean Hedges.
   @Tagline:david.delcore @timesargus.com
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BEAVER TO LIVE, BUILD ANOTHER DAY
Pub. 11/19/14 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — The beaver of Berlin Pond will live to dam another day.
   Unwilling to pull the trigger on a recommendation they hire a trapper, Select Board members approved something of a beaver reprieve this week when they agreed to ask the town’s conservation commission to explore a more animal-friendly solution to a culvert-clogging problem on Crosstown Road.
   It was the commission that recommended the board hire a licensed trapper in the first place, but before Monday night’s meeting some members were said to be having second thoughts based on feedback from residents who viewed the request, detailed in a story that was published in Saturday’s edition of The Times Argus, as an overreaction.
   One of those residents, Cathy Hartshorn, reached out to commission members Andrea Chandler and Phil Gentile and to John Aberth, a Roxbury resident, college professor and licensed wildlife rehabilitator.
   According to Hartshorn, Chandler, chairwoman of the commission, and Gentile both expressed support for a more humane solution that targets the problem — dams that prevent water from freely flowing through culverts at the outlet of Berlin Pond — and not the beavers that build them.
   Town Administrator Dana Hadley told board members he’d received an email from Chandler earlier in the day acknowledging concerns of residents, like Hartshorn, and expressing interest in a less lethal approach to the problem.
   “I think it’s something that needs to be thought out a little more before we go forward,” Hadley said of the week-old request that the board consider retaining the services of a trapper.
   Board members, some of whom had themselves been contacted on the issue, didn’t need much persuading.
   Chairman Ture Nelson suggested the issue be referred back to the commission so that alternatives — including the installation of what is known as a “beaver baffle” or a “beaver deceiver” — could be considered.
   Board members generally agreed that some of the options appeared inexpensive and easy to install and made more sense than hiring a trapper.
   “This is a more permanent fix,” Selectman Pete Kelley said of the beaver baffles. “Trapping them … is going to be a constant battle.”
   Hartshorn, who arrived shortly after the board had moved on, echoed that sentiment as did Aberth, who drove from Roxbury to deliver a PowerPoint presentation outlining the merits of installing simple trapezoidal or hexagonal wire fence-like structures at the mouths of culverts.
   According to Aberth, the “beaver deceivers,” a few strategically placed pressure-treated wooden poles and some wire caging, have a 97 percent success rate with next to no maintenance.
   “It’s an easy solution to your beaver problem,” he said.
   According to Aberth, trapping doesn’t work.
   “It’s not going to eliminate the problem,” Aberth said noting that trapping has an 84 percent failure rate even when the animals are caught and killed.
   “Even if you trap and eliminate those beavers, you’re going to have the same problem … guaranteed,” he said, suggesting leaving the beavers alone and settling on one of a number of water flow control devices allows beavers to remain in their habitat without becoming a nuisance.
   “It’s better to have the beaver you know than the beaver you don’t,” Aberth said. “The best defense against beavers is beavers.”
   Aberth said by investing a few hundred dollars in materials and doing a little routine maintenance the town could keep beaver from clogging the culverts, eliminating the potential for ecological problems outlined by the commission in its initial request.
   The board said Aberth’s presentation might be helpful to the commission as it considers alternatives to trapping.
   @Tagline:david.delcore @timesargus.com
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PEDESTRIAN ACCESS, PARKING ARE EARLY CONCERNS ABOUT KOHL'S
Pub. 11/21/14 Times Argus by David Delcore
   BERLIN — The District 5 Environmental Commission has turned its attention to plans to construct a Kohl’s department store on an undeveloped lot that is part of the Berlin Mall complex.
   This week Chairman Jito Coleman issued a report outlining issues raised during a prehearing conference last week and will surely resurface during hearings before the three-member commission.
   The district commission must decide whether, and under what conditions, to issue a state land use permit for the 55,502-square-foot Kohl’s store proposed by Berlin Mall LLC. The proposal is also being scrutinized by Berlin’s Development Review Board, which held its second and final hearing on the project Tuesday.
   Members of that panel have started their deliberations and likely will issue a decision next month.
   The district commission is interested in the status of the local permit and several other state permits that will be needed, including a wastewater and potable water permit, a stormwater permit and a wetlands permit.
   Representatives for the mall’s owner have indicated they are close to obtaining at least two of those permits, though the wetlands permit appears to be more of a question mark.
   The various state and local approvals are needed to satisfy criteria of Act 250, Vermont’s development review law.
   According to Coleman’s report, the district commission is also interested in a number of plans. It has asked for a snow storage plan, a wetland buffer management plan, an invasive species control plan and the pedestrian access plan.
   Pedestrian access and parking were both discussed at length during the prehearing conference, with Coleman and fellow commissioners Ginny Callan and Jeff Cueto questioning the orientation of the store and the size of the parking lot that would serve it.
   The store would face Fisher Road and Central Vermont Medical Center. It would feature a single entrance opening onto a 294-space parking lot that would be between the store and the road.
   The commission noted the rear of the store would face the mall’s 903-space parking lot and wondered whether some of those spaces could be shared if the new store were built facing the opposite direction or featured a rear entrance that was easily accessible from the mall’s parking lot.
   Chuck Storrow, the Montpelier attorney representing the mall’s owners, said Kohl’s frowns on second entrances. He also said “flipping” the store wasn’t possible given the geographic configuration of the 6.9 acre “out-lot” and that the 294 spaces were dictated by Berlin’s zoning regulations. Kohl’s, he said, requires only 222 spaces.
   That sounded better to Coleman, who suggested Storrow explore a possible variance from Berlin’s parking requirements with the Development Review Board.
   “It may be advantageous to the project to have less parking, and it may not hurt Kohl’s at all,” Coleman said.
   Commissioners remained concerned by what Coleman described as “limited accessibility” to Kohl’s by pedestrians, though the panel was told the distance between mall anchors Wal-Mart and J.C. Penney was greater than the distance between J.C. Penney and the proposed Kohl’s. That concern was amplified by the absence of a second entrance that would make it easier for shoppers to travel between the mall and the proposed department store without getting in their cars.
   Another issue discussed at length involves a newly modified criterion designed to discourage commercial sprawl.
   Coleman’s report indicates the commission has concluded the mall property is not within an existing settlement.
   “All projects located outside existing settlements must make efficient use of land, roads, utilities and other infrastructure,” Coleman wrote. “Please demonstrate that the proposed project is an efficient use of land, energy, and infrastructure.”
   Storrow sounded ready to argue that the store is something other than suburban-style development. While he conceded it was a long shot to describe the area surrounding the mall as an existing settlement as defined in Act 250, he urged the commission to consider Berlin officials’ hope of creating a town center in the Berlin Four Corners area. The alternative, he said, would be to treat the Kohl’s proposal as infill development — describing that as his “fail-safe argument.”
   “This is the epitome of infill,” he said of the store planned for an undeveloped area of the 65-acre mall property.
   The commission has asked that supplemental evidence addressing the issues Coleman raised in his report be submitted no later than Dec. 17. No decision has been made on when the first hearing will be scheduled.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com
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FROM BERLIN FRONT PORCH FORUM
Below are recent posts .... there have been many more about a variety of topics, looking for services, garage sales, meeting announcements, events, etc.  Membership is free - to join go to: http://frontporchforum.com

Lots of posts with people looking for somebody to plow them out this winter, with tires for sale, and more!

More on Beavers - FPF #491 11/25/14

JEREMY HANSEN, HANSEN.SELECTBOARD@GMAIL.COM, SELECTBOARD MEMBER, BERLIN
Oops - a Correction!
The beavers have been damming the culverts under Crosstown Road near the intersection of Shed Road, not Mirror Lake Road. I apologize for the mistake!
Jeremy 
279-6054
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A Few Updates - FPF - FPF #491 11/25/14

JEREMY HANSEN, HANSEN.SELECTBOARD@GMAIL.COM, SELECTBOARD MEMBER, BERLIN
I have a few updates to share between the regularly-scheduled Selectboard meetings:
1) Exit 6 Park & Ride meeting
There's a public meeting scheduled for 7:00 PM on Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission offices at 29 Main Street, Suite 4 in Montpelier to talk about establishing a new park & ride lot close to the Interstate at Exit 6 off VT 63. From what I've been told, "VTrans is interested in whether a new lot at Exit 6, would take some of the pressure off of the Exit 7 lot."
2) Planning grant
The Planning Commission was awarded a Planning Grant in the amount of $12,500 from the Department of Housing and Community Development to update the Town's subdivision regulations. Congrats to Planning Chair Karla Nuissl and the rest of the Planning Commission!
http://www.berlinvt.org/boards-agendas-minutes/planning-commission/
3) New hires & promotions
The Town of Berlin has hired a new highway crew member to replace Richard Freeman, and has also hired one of our part-time officers Rhy Schnee (pronounced "rye sh-nee") to go fulltime starting January 1st. Officer Schnee will attend the police academy to be certified as a fulltime officer, and will help reduce the amount we rely on part-time officers and improve the Town's hours of police coverage, especially on weekends. Police Corporal Chad Bessette has also been promoted to Sergeant.
Jeremy 
279-6054
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Washington Central School Budgets - FPF #490 11/24/14

Bill Kimball • Superintendent, Washington Central Supervisory Union 
Posted to:
Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex, Worcester
In order to facilitate a more transparent budget process, Washington Central Supervisory Union is using this page, (http://www.wcsuonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=274&Itemid=174) to post budgetary information for the residents of our five towns. The budget preparation cycle starts in late September, with each school starting with budget development. In October, each board gives budget direction to the administration. During the months of November, December and January the Boards in Washington Central will be working on the budgets and would like to have input from the community.
In the budget development process, we rely on multiple pieces of information to anticipate the final expenditures and tax rates. During the month of November, we receive the maximum increase for health insurance, during December we receive the state base amount per pupil, the estimated state tax rate increase, our Equalized Pupil Numbers and the Common Level of Appraisal. As we receive these figures, our budgets and estimated tax rates will become more precise.
If you have questions, comments or concerns, please contact one of your school board members or attend a meeting.
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Notes from Nov. 17 Selectboard Meeting - FPF #490 11/24/14

Jeremy Hansen • Selectboard Member, Berlin 
Posted to: Berlin
Here are my notes from last week's Selectboard meeting:
1) Fuel bids
We elected to stay with Gillespie as our fuel supplier, and will re-bid in two years.
2) Work in right of way on Bartlett Hill Road
We approved some work in the right of way to allow Sandra Vitzthum to rebuild some logging access roads on her property.
3) Sewer commission
Wayne Lamberton was appointed to the Sewer Commission to fill the vacancy left by Norb Rhinerson. Unfortunately, another Sewer Board member, James Hartson, recently died. If anyone is willing to fill James' seat on the Sewer Commission, please let me or Town Administrator Dana Hadley (townadministrator@berlinvt.org) know.
4) Beaver dams
There has been some blocking of culverts under Mirror Lake Road by beaver dams. Berlin's Conservation Commission initially requested that the Selectboard hire a trapper to take care of the problem, but after some discussion with a variety of interested parties, the Selectboard has asked the Conservation Commission to look to their budget and consider installing a "beaver baffle" -- really a fence in the water -- around the culverts. Systems like this are apparently more than 95% effective compared to trapping alone, which is less than 20% effective. Aside from small annual maintenance costs, the fencing costs about $750 to install. If you're interested in more details, I can send along the slides that we were given.
5) Computer server issues
The rest of the issues with the office computer systems have been resolved. (Thankfully!)
As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns! 
Jeremy 
279-6054
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Notes from Selectboard Meeting - FPF #483 11/16/14

JEREMY HANSEN, HANSEN.SELECTBOARD@GMAIL.COM, SELECTBOARD MEMBER, BERLIN
Here is what we covered back on November 3rd:
1) Pedestrian/Bike Study for Rte 302
There was a great presentation about the options for reconfiguring the lanes on the Barre-Montpelier Road to allow for better pedestrian and bike traffic. If you'd like a copy of the Powerpoint slides that were presented, let me know.
2) Server issues
The gentleman providing the tech support for some of the office staff's recent issues described some of those issues and how they've been resolved (or not). As the issues continue, we asked him to rebuild the server from scratch if there isn't a satisfactory resolution in a week (from the Nov. 3rd meeting). I hope to have some more information about this after the Nov 17th meeting.
3) Tax payments via credit card
We're waiting on the Town Attorney's review of the contract with the payment processor before we move forward on enabling taxpayers to use their credit cards to pay property taxes. It should be in place before the February 15th payment deadline.
4) Surplus Pathfinder sale
We accepted the highest bid in the amount of $3450 for the Pathfinder that is no longer in use.
5) Bids for diesel & heating fuel
We opened three bids from fuel dealers, discussed the prices briefly, and agreed to revisit them and decide at the next meeting how to proceed.
6) Mercier Road
To allow residents to apply for a subdivision, we designated Mercier Road as a private road.
7) Water system
We approved the opening of a line of credit to be used in anticipation of building the water system. The system was also reconfigured to add 6 residents on Richardson Rd. There are still two easements that we're waiting on for the system to be 100% ready to go: one from Berlin Rehab & one from CVMC.
8) Health insurance plan for Town employees
We selected the Silver Plan (from BCBS, as I recall) for Town employees for 2015. If employees choose a higher level of coverage, they will pay the difference between that plan and the Silver Plan.
Have a great week! 
Jeremy 
279-6054



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