Members Present: Carol Troy, Justin Dohrn, Claire James, Karen Hambleton
Others Present – Gary Dion, Fire Department Chief; Mark Goldberg, Fire Department; Jim Valiquet, Police Department Chief; Ed Shaughnessy, Police Department
Members Absent: Caleb Connor, Jason Allen, Marlene Freyler
Meeting opened at 12:03pm.
Review and Approval of 9.11.19 Meeting Minutes
Motion was made by Carol Troy to approve the minutes with the following edit:
Change the sentence under the Pleasant View Culvert section of the minutes from “Steve advised that after December 15, 2019 it is possible a new law could go into effect…” to read as follows: “Steve advised that after December 15, 2019, a new law will go into effect which could possibly save the town 2-3K”.
Motion seconded by Justin Dohrn. Motion carried 4-0.
Departmental Interviews
FIRE DEPARTMENT PROJECTS:
Pumper – Currently 24 years old. It has already gone down twice this year due to plumbing and electrical issues and needs to be replaced. Mark advised that a pumper really has a life span of 15 years per NFPA (though we do push them beyond that) and that after this time it goes into reserve. A revised estimate of 550K was given for this item.
Driveway – The driveway is not in good shape and is already past the point of crack sealing. It is a safety issue and also potentially a town liability issue. There is a bad tripping/problem area where the driveway meets the station. It has already been shimmed and nothing more can really be done in that respect, since if it gets shimmed any higher water will end up running into the station. The driveway needs to be replaced. It is in violation of ADA and was first put in almost 40 yrs. ago. It was noted that this item technically does not fall within the scope of the fire house maintenance fund. It should be treated as a one-time warrant article.
Furnace – Savings for this should go into a fire department maintenance fund, per Mark. For purposes of the CIP it doesn’t need a designation year because it is still in working condition, but its eventual replacement does need to be saved for. Probably will be around 20-25K to replace but that is just an estimate. Mark recommended to save a certain amount of money in a maintenance fund and cap the fund at a certain amount (but replenish it as needed), to pay for these types of expenses.
SCBA Bottle Replacements – No change to these line items.
SCBA Apparatus – The designated expenditure year won’t change but the cost may increase considerably from the previously estimated 125K.
Medium Rescue Truck – This may need to be pushed ahead of 2028 (TBC). It was purchased 17 yrs. ago. It is overloaded at present and not in great shape.
Forestry Truck – No change to this project as of right now.
Tanker 1 – No change to this project as of right now. It is new and has a 25 yr. life span left on it.
Tanker 2 – There is a lot of rust and scale on the frame of this tanker. Gary advised that it probably has a 10 yr. remaining life span.
Pumper 3 – This probably has roughly an 11 yr. remaining life span. However 525K is not an accurate estimate at this point. (Cost is TBD at some point in the future).
2014 Chevy – Gary advised that this vehicle probably has a remaining life span of roughly another 10 yrs. or so.
Fire Department Equipment Fund – Mark stressed that a Fire Department Equipment fund also really needs to be established, in order to pay for items such as the SCBA Bottle Replacements and other, non-heavy equipment items. He advised that he would like to get it established in the coming year (2020) and that it is a priority.
POLICE DEPARTMENT PROJECTS:
Police Cruiser – The 2021 cruiser could be moved to the year 2022. (Note: The cruiser that was voted on in 2019 is due to arrive in early 2020). Jim advised that prices have gone up and that Ford no longer makes sedans. The department would like to stay with SUVs going forward. SUVs also make sense given the varied and sometimes difficult terrain in town.
Communications Equipment – Jim advised that First Net is now established in NH. Also, with the cell tower now functioning, mobile data terminals are the wave of the future and in some towns in NH are already here. The cost estimate to outfit a vehicle with updated communications equipment is roughly 5-7K, so for three vehicles the estimated total would be up to 21K. Updated radios are a priority and computers would be a nicety. The amount of dispatch used could be saved as well with the advent of the new equipment (computer aided dispatching). Jim recommended that the allocation for this line item should be at least $2500 for 2020 and $2500 for 2021.
Police Facility – Jim advised that by placing something in this fund, even if a relatively small amount such as 1K, it continues the dialogue around the need for a new facility. The current station is one big room so the department can’t do interviews, and they also have to lock all doors for privacy which in turn means that no one (i.e.- members of the public) can get in/have access during that time.
Other notes: Project 3-PD (listed on the CIP spreadsheet) is a 2017 vehicle. Project 1-PD could be replaced in 2026.
Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 1:43pm.
Next meeting date is October 2, 2019.