Newfane Special Town Meeting 12/7/21
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Town of Newfane Special Meeting washeld Tuesday, December 7th at 6:00pm at the NewBrook Fire House
Vote on Town Purchase of Gravel Pit at Radway Hill Road and River Road
November 30, 2021
The Town of Newfane will be holding a special town meeting on Tuesday, December 7th to discuss the proposed purchase of a gravel pit located at the juncture of Radway Hill Road and River Road in Newfane. The meeting will be held at the NewBrook Fire House located at 698 VT-30, Newfane at 6:00pm. An informational meeting was presented on November 15 as part of the regular Newfane Selectboard meeting and will be re-presented at the December meeting. The presentation is available on the town’s website.
The proposal is to purchase a 21-acre site for $450,000. Based on a report by Savoy Engineering that analyzed the composition of the gravel and sand on two-thirds of the site, there is sufficient material to meet the town’s gravel needs for at least 30 years. The available sand at the site would last even longer. The analysis was done on only 13 of the 21 acres and based on visual examination, the additional 8 acres have a similar composition. Therefore, the town can anticipate using the pit for several decades.
The cost of gravel and sand have risen 54% in the last year and the town’s budget for these two items has had to rise from $145,000 annually to $223,000. This is an issue being experienced by scores of Vermont communities as well as across the globe as sand has become a scarcer resource. A financial projection estimates the savings to Newfane of $2.1 million over 10 years.
Town residents will be asked to vote on two articles which will allow the Selectboard to both purchase the site and borrow the necessary funds to cover the purchase price and other associated costs, particularly the cost of completing the required Act 250 permit. There will be a floor vote; one must be registered to vote in the Town of Newfane and present at the meeting in order to vote.
- 0:00:08 - Call to Order
- 0:26:41 - Motion on Article 1
- 1:21:57 - Vote on Article 1
- 1:22:47 - Article 2
- 1:28:54 - Article 3 - Other Business
- 1:31:04 - Adjourn