Weston board picks Zoning Admin; road grading almost done

By Bruce Frauman
©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Will Goodwin was appointed by the Weston Select Board on Tuesday May 8 to a six-month probationary period as the town’s Zoning and Flood Plain Administrator, with his initial salary to be determined.

Goodwin, no relationship to board member Charles Goodwin, was recommended by the Planning Commission. Only three members of the board were present: Annie Fuji’i and board chair Denis Benson were absent.

In his report, Road Foreman Almon Crandall said that during the windstorm of early April, about 12 trees were downed. He added that the heater on the 550 plow truck has been repaired. During this past long winter, he said, the truck blew hot air on the passenger’s side but only cold air  on the driver’s side, but he did get by.

Four roads remain on Crandall’s list of those still to be graded. Following that work, he said, all the town’s roads will have been given a first pass.

The board unanimously accepted the offer of David Chaves Excavating of Londonderry to sell the town 1,000 to 1,500 yards of sand at last year’s price of $14 per yard. Chaves was to deliver the sand last week, but will not ask for payment until the winter.

Treasurer Kim Seymour said she has “quite a bit of money on hand” and was approved by the board to borrow $50,000 from a special funds account until Oct. 9 if it is needed to pay ongoing bills.

The Bennington Regional Supervisory Union returned $6,200 to the town from recapture based on health care, Seymour told the board. She did not know exactly where the money was coming from.

To protect permit files now stored in file cabinets in the Town Office that are not fire proof, the board approved $6,175 for Seymour to purchase floor-to-ceiling sliding bulk shelves to be installed in one of the two walk in vaults.

One set of shelves will cover the side wall of the vault and the other shelf will slide in front of that. Seymour expects the work to be completed in August.  The existing wooden shelving will be made available to whoever wants it in August.

The board agreed to sign a contract with CAI Technologies to provide mapping services for the listers. The amount had been agreed to when the Board approved the vendor list.

Linville said the old fire truck is being auctioned off on line, but the bids have not yet reached the town’s reserve amount.

Linville said the delinquent tax report is the shortest he’s seen.

And finally, Linville, as acting board chair, chose to not discuss the agenda item Regulating Outdoor Storage Policy: Unsafe Building Policy until there was a full board present to discuss the issue. Only he, Goodwin and Bruce Downer were present.