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May 19th, 2026

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  VILLAGE DISTRICT OF EIDELWEISS 
Commissioner’s Meeting 
Tuesday, May 19th, 2026 
 
 
The Board of Commissioners Meeting was held at 9:00 am on Tuesday, May 19th, 2026.  In 
attendance at the public meeting are Commissioner Mark Graffam, Commissioner Nancy Cole, 
Commissioner Wooda McNiven and DPW Foreman Jeff DeMartino. In attendance also were Village Clerk, 
Doug Prescott, Bob D’Ambra and Terri Cancelarich. 
 
The meeting was videotaped by Evan Woss with Madison TV. 
 
Public Meeting 
 
At 9:01 am Commissioner Wooda McNiven calls the meeting to order. 
 
Approval of Agenda 
Wooda McNiven makes a motion to discuss and approve the May 19th agenda. Nancy Cole 2nds 
the motion. Mark Graffam suggests a non-public session to discuss contract negotiations. The 
motion to approve the agenda is passed 3-0. 
 
• Approval of Minutes @ 9:02am 
Wooda makes a motion to discuss and approve the meeting minutes of May 12th. Nancy Cole 2nds 
it.  Mark points out that possible future Water Fees paid by credit cards “MAY” versus “SHOULD” 
require an ACH Transfer. Nancy points out the errors regarding Water Manifest reporting. Nancy also 
advised “DRIVE” needs to be added to Eidelweiss. Nancy also requests that bullet alignment be 
corrected in Wooda’s Commissioner’s report. And finally, Nancy points out Club House needs to be 
changed to “The Lodge”. Motion is passed 3-0. 
 
Approval of the Manifests @ 9:08am 
• Wooda makes a motion to discuss and approve the Operations Manifest in the amount of 
$15,821.82. Nancy 2nds the motion. Discussion follows regarding Dodge RAM 2018 repair costs, 
road work costs including FEMA designated roads, and vehicle fuel expenses that are extraordinarily 
high at present due to war related oil price increases. Motion is passed 3-0. 
 
DPW Report @ 9:16 am 
• Jeff discusses ongoing efforts to clean culverts and to identify curb-stop valves in advance of ditching 
work by contractors. Identification was made by staking and painting the valves blue. Mark points 
out that future water hook up installations need to locate curb-stop valves where ditching work will 
not damage them. Jeff also reports that the rental Porta-Potties have been placed at all five beaches. 
In addition, all the swim rafts except Geneva Beach are in the water and the Geneva Beach raft 
should be in the water before the Memorial Day Weekend. Jeff reports that VDOE has only one 
spare ladder for the swim rafts and that this spare is not a heavy-duty ladder. The ladder on the 

 
 
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Thusis Beach raft is not in top condition and could break this season. At 9:22 am, Mark makes a 
motion to purchase a heavy-duty ladder. Nancy 2nds. The motion passes 3-0. Jeff reports that the 
42 culverts that were ordered will start to be delivered this week. Black Dog Excavating will be doing 
ditching work on Middle Shore and West Bergamo this week, with future work over the next month 
on Little Shore Geneva Place, Interlaken, Porridge Shore, East Bergamo and Waldsbut. Jeff requests 
more gravel for pothole filling and because some roads do not have much gravel at all for a road 
base. At 9:28 am, Mark makes a motion to purchase 6 loads of gravel to be stored behind DPW 2 
and for use by the Shepperds to lay out on Grachen, Burgdorf, and Barden. Nancy 2nds Motion 
passes 3-0. At 9:30 am, Mark makes another motion to allow Jeff to purchase up to $1,000 of 
additional gravel for DPW use as needed. Nancy 2nds. Motion passes 3-0. Mark discusses a 
problem driveway on Huttwil Road that is 34 feet wide versus 20 feet allowed by the Driveway 
Ordinance. This driveway has two culverts that are joined together to span the 30+ fee but there is a 
failure at the connection point, so water is flowing out and damaging the road. Everyone agrees this 
driveway needs to be decreased to 20 feet and use one culvert only. The timing of road paving repair 
work around the district and Crack Sealing on Blinden Drive is still unknown. At 9:41 am, Mark 
makes a motion to let Mike Gallagher come and take the logs from DPW-1 at his cost. Because 
Jeremy Gibbs also expressed interest in these logs but has not yet responded to Jeff about them, 
they will go to whoever acts first. Nancy 2nds the motion and it passes 3-0. At 9:43 am, Mark 
makes a motion that Mike Gallagher’s request for fill at 60 Huttwil Road be approved. Nancy 2nds, 
the motion passes 3-0.  
 
Commissioner’s Concerns/Reports @ 9:44 am 
Mark Graffam 
1. Mark discusses history of the Grison Culvert issue and the high cost of a previously proposed 
box culvert. Mark makes a motion to approve the $23,320 quote from Dubois & King for a 
new architectural design using an elliptical culvert for Grison. Nancy 2nds. The motion 
passes 3-0.  
2. Mark discusses Neighborhood Energy, a lower cost supplier of electricity that VDOE should 
perhaps consider but with the caveat that the Board must pay attention to rate increases 
down the road and if the increase is no longer favorable then consider other alternatives and 
compare rates to Eversource.  
3. At 9:52 am, Mark makes a motion to advertise for a part time, flexible hours, office 
manager at a rate of $40 an hour. Wooda 2nds. This ad should attract a skilled individual 
who values flexible part-time hours, at a higher hourly pay rate than could be given to a full-
time position with benefits. The upside of this arrangement is it will not cost as much as a full 
time Office Manager / Administrator.  The motion passes 3-0. 
4. At 9:57, Mark makes a motion to contract an electrician to work on Office Doorbell, Office 
Lights plus DPW-1 lights and at Huttwil Parking Lot. Nancy 2nds. The motion passes 3-0. 
5. Mark discusses the Eidelweiss Crest, its history and various color schemes. Mark makes a 
motion to adopt a new color scheme that makes the fish a goldfish, but the mountain, sun 
and flower color scheme remain as is. Nancy 2nds and says that this change will require an 
update of VDOE letterhead. The motion passes 3-0.  

 
 
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Nancy Cole  
Nancy reports that Julie Shields can put in some extra hours this week. The operations 
account has been reconciled through April, and the water account reconciliation is still 
pending. The latest P&L can be transferred to the standard presentation budget form for a 
year-to-date review of actual expenses to approved budget. Nancy is still looking for the 
missing Driveway Permit Log. This log needs to be updated and ready for new driveway 
permit applications.  
 
Wooda McNiven 
Wooda reports that just one of 24 contacted CPA audit firms has responded with a cost 
estimate of $18,000. A decision is made to vote on this particular firm next week if no other 
firms are heard from.  
 
Correspondence @ 10:10 am 
• Mark discusses email from a former Board Member as to how the sale of The Lodge and the 
subdivision of the lots was handled. It turns out no subdivision was required because the lot for The 
Lodge and the lot for the Cabana were always separate lots. This information was conveyed to the 
current owner of the former Lodge due to the question brought up by Mark Olhson at the BOC 
meeting from two weeks prior.  
 
Public Appearance/Public Comments @ 10:15 am 
• Terri Cancelarich inquires about how many boards are in the dam. She is informed that all of them 
are in. She then presents her concerns about cars speeding on Eidelweiss Drive, among other Village 
Roads. She then cites a study about how wider roads lead to incremental higher speeds and that 
maybe VDOE roads should not be as wide as they are.  
• Doug Prescott reports that NHDES cannot perform E-Coli tests this year as part of the VLAP testing 
program due to insufficient manpower.  
 
At 10:39 am, Wooda makes motion to end the public meeting go into a non-public session. Nancy 2nds. 
The motion is approved 3-0. 
 
Submitted by 
Wooda McNiven 
 
 
 
To view the meeting on video, please click on the following link: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPXmDD7Zvvo