ADDISON — Addison selectmen and the town’s committee working on the future of Addison’s former town hall have continued working toward finding what it might cost to make the building functional and how the town might best use it.
At selectmen’s Oct. 5 meeting, town hall committee head John Spencer said the committee was just about ready to send out requests to architects for proposals to perform a “needs assessment” on the building, which stands on church property near the town clerk’s office.
The building currently lacks a septic system and needs restoration work.
Proposals are due on Nov. 12, Spencer said, and a Nov. 30 meeting of the selectboard and committee is planned “in order to approve the final bid and conceptual drawings for the town hall,” according to Oct. 5 selectmen’s minutes.
In July, Spencer told selectmen the town departments should be surveyed to learn their needs for “at least the next 20 years” to determine if the town hall might fit in their plans. Selectmen asked him to proceed.
Selectmen also spent time in their past few meetings discussing school issues, and sponsored a forum set for Oct. 28 to examine the possibility of an independent town academy to replace Addison Central School as an alternative to Addison Northwest Supervisory Union unification. Those issues have been covered in Independent articles.
Late this summer, Addison completed construction of a new salt and sand shed. According to minutes, the cost was $14,000 on top of cement work already done.
In September, selectmen re-upped the town’s recycling contract with Vergennes, with the annual cost rising $240 to $6,240.
Recent Addison real estate sales include:
• July 2: James and Jennifer Anair to Christopher and Erin Reed, 5.11 acres at 5470 Route 22A, $80,000.
• June 16: Pamela Scully to Brooke Potter and Chris Dyke, home at 1689 Mountain Road, $179,900.
• June 4: Robert and Paulette Benoit to Lorraine Richards, home at 6 Broadview Lane, $270,000.
• May 28: Lisa Gevry and Roger Gagnon to Timothy and Amy Godard, 13.7 acres on Atherton Road, $40,000.
• May 4: Aaron Harris to James and Linda Stewart, 3.7 acres at 5856 Route 125, $290,000.
• April 30: Erwin Clark to Bradley and Sandra Clark, home at 4811 Route 22A, $125,000.
Panton selectmen ponder town hall
PANTON — Panton selectmen at recent meetings have discussed problems with Panton Town Hall’s leaky roof, particularly around the building’s cupola.
Selectman Eric Carter said during an interview last week that there are minor areas of the slate roof that need repair other than the cupola, but bids for fixing the cupola came in at more than $100,000.
Selectmen then decided to solicit bids for just the roof repairs without doing the cupola, for both roof and cupola repair, and for “removing cupola, roofing over (the hole) and repairing the balance of the roof.”
Carter said informal polling showed residents have an open mind about this issue, and selectmen plan a town meeting to discuss alternatives once the bids are in.
Selectmen would someday like to see a fully functional building with a kitchen and a septic system, which could be installed on town-owned land across the road. Then the building could serve as a community meeting center, Carter said, but probably not without residents agreeing to float a bond to fund the project.
At their October meeting, selectmen also approved a bridge project for Slang Road. The state will pick up $30,000 of the contracted cost.
In September, selectmen and members of the public praised the efforts of road foreman Rick Cloutier and signed fire protection and recycling contracts with Vergennes.
In August, selectmen heard the town had reached an agreement in disputes with the owners of the Vorsteveld Farm. The town had issued a zoning notice of violation alleging that a farm feed bunker was built too close to a road, and the case had found its way to Environmental Court.
Aug. 10 selectboard minutes offered no details on the final settlement. Aug. 4 planning minutes outlined a town offer that had been rejected: “Selectmen John Viskup met with Vorsteveld Farm and offered to accept the feed bunker violation if Vorsteveld Farm would pay the legal fees. Lolka Vorsteveld offered to pay but the three sons declined the town’s offer.”
Also resolved by Aug. 10 was a separate issue involving proper permitting for a mobile home on the farm. Two notices of violation had been issued on the mobile home, according to October development review board minutes.
In July, selectmen decided to spend a net of $37,000 to replace the town’s 1975 grader with a 1994 model. About $35,500 of the purchase can be funded from a capital fund line item, according to minutes. At that meeting, selectmen also reappointed Ed Hanson as town zoning administrator.
Panton planners are nearing completion of a new town plan, according to planning minutes. It appears a final draft could be forwarded to selectmen soon.
Recent Panton real estate sales include:
• May 20: William and Melanie Clark to Martha Panton and Michael Fidalgo, home at 959 Panton Road, $205,000.
• May 28: John Viskup to William and Eleanor Lanning, home at 95 Turkey Lane, $250,000.
• June 11: Hans Vorsteveld to Ben Chamberlain and Gwendolyn Knight, home at 186 Spaulding Road, $185,000.
• June 29: David and Kristin Lawson to Bryan Giroux and Jennifer Rakowitz, home at 1857 Route 22A, $190,000.
• July 19: Winston Whitten to Jacqueline Gosselin, home at 576 Panton Road, $190,000.
• Aug. 13: JPMC Specialty Mortgage LLC to Anita Hayden, home at 78 Pease Road, $50,000.
• Sept. 10: William Findiesen and Catharine Hays to David Meath and Deborah Allen, 27 acres off Lake Road, $700,000.
Waltham paving project finished
WALTHAM — Selectmen on Oct. 4 discussed Waltham’s share of the roughly $168,000 cost of paving Maple Street, a project completed earlier this month.
The state will pick up 80 percent of the tab, according to Town Clerk Mary Kinson and Tom Langeway at town hall last week, and Kinson and Langeway will look into the best way for the town to foot the bill for its share.
Selectmen Harold Francis and David Kayhart also met with Agency of Transportation official Wayne Davis, who oversees AOT park-and-ride lots, and they said Davis told them the Waltham Town Hall parking lot could easily become such a lot. That move might mean the state would pave the lot for the town, and Davis told selectmen there was room for a commuter lot without interfering with town functions. A decision is expected in December, according to minutes.
According to earlier minutes, the town also paid about $5,600 to have the floor under town hall’s meeting room stabilized.
According to Sept. 21 planning commission minutes, that board has approved a new subdivision application form, and planners are also continuing to work on their ongoing update of zoning regulations. The topic on that date was “scale and style standards” for the town’s Highway Commercial district.
Waltham real estate sales this year include:
• June 16: Eric and Catharine Winter to Christopher Oxley, home at 1680 Route 17, $200,000.
• June 29: Robert Myers to John and Nancy Brigan, mobile home on leased land at 103 High Manor Park, $22,000.
• Oct. 22: Dorothy Tucker to Charles and Jacqueline Arel, mobile home on leased land at 86 High Manor Park, $12,000.
Ferrisburgh eyes boundary issue
FERRISBURGH — Ferrisburgh selectmen on Oct. 5 reviewed a survey of the town’s Union Meeting Hall property that showed a neighbor’s garage, driveway and stone wall lies on town land.
Selectmen agreed to consult with the town’s attorney “about the best way to resolve this situation,” according to meeting minutes.
At that meeting, selectmen also agreed to use the Addison County Humane Society in Middlebury as the town’s dog pound, a move made after the Vergennes Animal Hospital indicated it was no longer interested in acting as a pound.
The board also met on Oct. 19. In a 50-minute meeting, they agreed to hold a budget meeting on Oct. 26 and heard from Bob McNary that the move of the historic Vergennes rail station to the Agency of Transportation commuter lot in Ferrisburgh will probably now be done over the winter when the ground is frozen, making the move more practical.
On Sept. 21 selectmen asked zoning administrator Tom Mansfield, who has resigned, effective January, to write a job description for his post. Selectmen, minutes said, “will use that to help determine what the new zoning administrator will do, including pay and hours.” In August, zoning chairwoman Charlene Stavenow and planning head Bob Beach said Mansfield has been “invaluable to the town; he was very objective and helpful to all applicants.”
A number of properties in Ferrisburgh have sold between late May and October, including several on the lake. Sales include:
• May 25: Timothy Otis to William and Melanie Clark, home on 10 acres at 457 South Middlebrook Road, $375,000.
• May 25: Diane Butler to Dean Pepperine, home on 10 acres at 292 Gilson Lane, $384,500.
• June 21: Echo & Pond Road LLC to Steven and Karen Crosby, 7.03 acres on Pond Road, $115,000.
• July 8: Patricia Stacey trust to Matthew and Diane Chandler, camp at 451 Bay Road, $235,000.
• July 9: Maryann Berard to Scott Curtis, mobile home at 357 Quaker Street, $118,000.
• July 16: Michael and Amy McLaughlin to Karyn McGovern, home on 4.29 acres at 296 Mt. Philo Road, $390,000.
• July 19: John Baker estate to Russell and Alison Henry, home at 16 Annex Road, $179,000.
• July 19: Bernard Martin trust to Brian Clancy and Amy Driscoll, camp at 161 Blue Heron Lane, $270,000.
• Aug. 18: F.I.C. LLC to Ferrisburgh Solar Farm Operating LLC, 15.9 acres on Route 7, $400,000.
• Aug. 18: St. Albans Shopping Center Inc. to Ferrisburgh Solar Farm Operating LLC, 1 acres on Route 7, $55,000.
• Aug. 20: Robin Ashley trust to Henry Prange and Julien Martindale, home at 345 Four Winds Road, $370,000.
• Aug. 27: Echo & Pond Road LLC to Charles Nardozzi and Wendy Rowe, 5.3 acres on Pond Road, $115,000.
• Aug. 31: Gregory and Deborah Christman to Catherine Hill LLC, partially built home on Stage Road on 97.18 acres, $408,000.
• Sept. 3: John and Nancy Barnes to Steven and Dunia Partilo, camp at 242 North Road, $440,000.
• Sept. 8: Sylvia Barrows to Kimball Farm LLC, home with farm buildings and three camps on 122 acres at 186 Kimball Dock Road, $856,000.
• Sept. 13: John and Irene Pierce to Ferrisburgh Realty Investors LLC, 50.28 acres off Stage Road, $230,000.
• Sept. 14: Citifinancial Inc. to Mathew Norris, home at 48 Fuller Mountain Road, $42,025.
• Sept. 30: Miriam and Randy Hill to Nicholas Stephany and Tobiah Schulman, home on 11.03 acres, $240,000.
• Sept. 30: Pierrette Monteith to David Fontaine and Lissa Nilsson, home at 1045 Shellhouse Mountain Road, $290,000.
• Sept. 30: Bernard Gevry and Jennie Larson, trustees, to George and Mona Schreck, home on 10.2 acres at 212 Gilson Lane, $269,000.
• Oct. 13: Edward and Connie Pecott to Edward and Sarah O’Hara, home at 605 Round Barn Road, $260,000.
Andy Kirkaldy may be reached at [email protected].