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Norwich Selectboard Agenda -- June 26, 2013

Agenda for the Selectboard Meeting of Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 6:30 PM

(Times Are Approximate)

1)      Approval of Agenda (Action Item) 2 minutes

2)      Public Comments (Discussion) 10 minutes

3)      Town Manager’s Report (Discussion) 10 minutes

4)      Finance – Board to Sign Accounts Payable/Warrants (Action Item) 5 minutes

5)      7:00 pm – Facilities Planning Process – Bread Loaf (Discussion) 30 minutes

6)      7:30 pm – Meeting with Conservation Commission (Discussion) 15 minutes

7)      7:45 pm – Meeting with Milton Frye Nature Area Committee (Discussion) 15 minutes

8)      Reappointment of Linda Cook and Stephen Leinoff as Norwich Town Forest Fire Warden and Deputy Fire Warden, Respectively (Action Item) 5 minutes

9)      Selectboard Priorities and Calendar for 2013-14 (Discussion) 10 minutes

10)   Correspondence (Discussion/Possible Action Item) 10 minutes

a)    Letter from Elaine Warshell Re: Town Manager’s Refusal to Follow Vermont Law

b)    Letter from Demo Sofronas Re: Letter of Thanks

11)   Selectboard

a)    Approval of the Minutes of the 5/22/13 Meeting (Action Item) 5 minutes

b)    Review of Next Agenda (Discussion/Possible Action Item) 5 minutes

Next Regular Meeting – July 15, 2013 at 6:30 PM

To receive email notices of Selectboard meetings and hearings, agendas, minutes and other notices, send an email to manager-assistant@norwich.vt.us requesting to be placed on the Town Email List.

Norwich Selectboard Agenda -- June 12, 2013

Agenda for the Selectboard Meeting of Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 6:30 PM

(Times Are Approximate)

1)      6:30 pm – Final Public Hearing on Town of Norwich Subdivision Regulations Amendments (Discussion/Action Item) 10 minutes

2)      Approval of Agenda (Action Item) 2 minutes

3)      Public Comments (Discussion) 10 minutes

4)      Town Manager’s Report (Discussion) 10 minutes

5)      Finance – Board to Sign Accounts Payable/Warrants (Action Item) 5 minutes

6)      Appointment of Cheryl Lindberg to the Finance Committee (Discussion/Action Item) 5 minutes

7)      Appointment of Nate Stearns to the Capital Facilities Planning and Budgeting Committee (Discussion/Action Item) 5 minutes

8)      Request to Expend $3,625 from the Police Special Equipment Designated Fund to Purchase a Digital Car Camera Transfer System (Discussion/Action Item) 5 minutes

9)      Selectboard Response to §248a Application for Certificate of Public Good for Radio Communications Tower (Discussion/Action Item) 10 minutes

10)   Approval of Bond Package for July Bond Sale (Discussion/Action Item) 10 minutes

11)   Street Vendor Ordinance (Discussion/Possible Action Item) 10 minutes

12)   Strategic Plan Development (Discussion/Action Item) 10 minutes

13)   Selectboard Goals and Objectives for 2013-14 (Discussion/Possible Action Item) 10 minutes

14)   Review of Appointment of Selectboard Members to Selectboard Committees (Discussion/Possible Action Item) 5 minutes

15)   Correspondence (Discussion/Possible Action Item) 10 minutes

a)    Letter from Elaine Warshell Re: Town Manager’s Refusal to Follow Vermont Law

b)    Letter from Anne Garrigue Re: Norwich Public Library’s Use of Transfer Station

16)   Selectboard

a)    Approval of the Minutes of the 5/8/13 Meeting (Action Item) 5 minutes

b)    Review of Next Agenda (Discussion/Possible Action Item) 5 minutes

Next Regular Meeting – June 26, 2013 at 6:30 PM

To receive email notices of Selectboard meetings and hearings, agendas, minutes and other notices, send an email to manager-assistant@norwich.vt.us requesting to be placed on the Town Email List.

Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending June 08, 2013

College Student Drowns Near Patchen's Point 

An international college student drowned in the Connecticut River on June 5 after he jumped off a rope swing at Patchen's Point in Norwich, VT.   The man was attending Riverfest, an annual event by Dartmouth College seniors, celebrating his brother's graduation from Dartmouth. Police do not believe alcohol was a factor.
Divers recover drowning victim’s body
Times-Argus 
June 7, 2013
Divers have recovered the body of a 20-year-old international student who drowned late Wednesday afternoon while attending a party with his older brother, a graduating Dartmouth senior who was among hundreds of students who’d gathered for the annual pre-graduation bash known as River Fest. 
The victim recently attended college in Texas, officials said. 
The victim’s name is being withheld until authorities make sure his family members — who are traveling to attend his brother’s graduation Sunday — have been properly notified. 
Shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday morning divers with the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game, which has jurisdiction over incidents on the Connecticut River, located the body in about 18 feet of water not far from the rope swing on Patchen’s Point in Norwich. The victim was last seen struggling in the water there just before 6 p.m. Wednesday, according to police.
Read the rest of the story. 

Related stories:
Drowning victim identified
Students Tried in Vain to Mount Rescue

ValleyNet Ends Nicole's Suspension From Listserv

Perhaps it was the Free Nicole movement or Vermont common sense or maybe Ms.Hastings learned her lesson … whatever the reason, ValleyNet will allow Ms.Hastings to resume posting on the Norwich Listserv.  To the Norwich Observer, the suspension cost ValleyNet good karma points as it seemed its opaque enforcement of "rules" about Appalachian Trail posts was petulant.

Ms.Hastings was gracious in her return.  Read her June 7th listserv post here.

Sunday Storms Down Trees and Power Lines

The weather front that cause the tragic tornados in Oklahoma reached the Upper Valley on Sunday June 2nd.  About 400 residents of Norwich lost power and downed trees closed Route 5. 

Matt Herbert of the Norwich Fire Department directs traffic around a fallen tree and a downed power line on Turnpike Road in Norwich yesterday. (Valley News - Libby March)

Riding Out the Storm: Weather System Leads to Power Outages, Road Closings in Valley
By Ben Conarck, Valley News Staff Writer
June 3, 2013 
A series of powerful thunderstorms crackled across the Upper Valley yesterday, bringing downed power lines and forcing road closings in what amounted to some of the storm system’s worst damage in northern New England.
Plainfield Fire Chief Frank Currier said his department had seen “all kinds of mayhem” in the aftermath of yesterday’s storm, but no one was seriously hurt.
Currier said that lightning struck an electrical transformer near Center of Town Road, and that the strike did “very minimal damage to one house but pretty well wiped out the electrical wiring in the second house.
“It blew the electrical receptacles right out of the wall,” said Currier, who added that his department received about nine calls yesterday. The lightning strike near Center of Town Road forced the closure of Route 12A traffic in both directions for about four hours.
In Canaan, a man and a woman in their 20s were injured in a lightning strike while getting back into their car at the town boat launch on Goose Pond, according to ambulance squad member Alan Ricard, who declined to release the names of the victims.
Storm
Read the rest of the story. 

Rickards Of Montshire Museum Receives Noyce Foundation Fellowship

Upper Valley Business Briefs: People on the move
Times-Argus
June 04,2013
Jennifer Rickards, associate director of the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, VT, has been selected to participate in a year-long sponsored fellowship, with the aim of increasing the public impact of science centers, museums, and related institutions.
Rickards will focus on developing a community partnership model to determine how the Montshire should engage underserved families in the region, and implement new strategies to do so effectively.
The Noyce Leadership Institute (NLI), in partnership with the Association of Science-Technology Centers, the European Network of Science Centers and Museums, and the Association of Children’s Museums, gathers leaders in informal science education from around the world to focus on societal trends, global issues, and the cutting edge of science. The effort is funded by the Noyce Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Read the rest of the story. 

LINKS: 

http://www.timesargus.com/article/20130607/NEWS03/706079939/0/SEARCH

http://thedartmouth.com/2013/06/07/news/river

http://www.vnews.com/news/police/fire/courts/6877254-95/students-tried-in-vain-to-mount-rescue

http://www.vnews.com/news/6758847-95/riding-out-the-storm-weather-system-leads-to-power-outages-road-closings-in-valley

http://lists.valley.net/lists/arc/norwich/2013-06/msg00152.html

http://www.timesargus.com/article/20130604/BUSINESS11/706049989/0/SEARCH

Shumlin Offers To Sell Land Back To Dodge

Governor Shumlin is willing to sell the land back to Jeremey Dodge, if the two can agree to payment plan said Montpelier attorney Jerome Diamond who was retained by Shumlin earlier this week.  Critics say Shumlin toke advantage of a neighbor with a ninth-grade education, when he bought the property for less than fair market value.  “We want the Dodge family to know that the governor has been approaching this in good faith … and that his proposals embrace the very things that Jeremy Dodge and his family have asked for,” Diamond said Wednesday, according to the Rutland Herald.  
Dodge does not yet have a lawyer.  The family says they feel financially out-gunned by the governor, reports WCAX.com.  Vermont Legal Aid turned down their request for help, because the organization does not handle real estate cases.

Related stories
Shumlin offers to sell property back
Shumlin, Dodge lawyering up over land deal

LINKS:
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20130606/NEWS03/706069926
http://www.wcax.com/story/22502685/shumlin-dodge-lawyering-up-over-land-deal