Meeting called to order at 7:00pm
Roll Call- Michael James, Jason Allen and Karen Hambleton, Town Administrator, were in attendance.
John Pfeifle was absent.
Pledge of Allegiance
Appearances:
- Will Davis, from Horizons Engineering, appeared to discuss a revised engineering proposal to address water runoff concerns on Cochran Hill. Horizons original proposal incorporated a plan to realign the intersection of High Street, Water Street and Cochran Hill. The revised proposal focused on a drainage design that addresses the existing situation, extending further out Fairgrounds Road and Water Street, which extends the conceptual design done in 2005. Horizons proposal includes survey work, construction plans and support for the bid and permitting processes. The Board will review the proposal with the Road and Bridge Committee and then follow up with Horizons Engineering.
- Lois Kilnapp appeared on behalf of the Bradford Community Gardeners. She requested the Select Board send a letter to the Department of Transportation expressing the Board’s support for the gardener groups desire to beautify the traffic islands at the intersection of Route 103 and Route 114. The gardeners will review a plan with DOT in the spring to ensure the plantings do not provide a distraction concern.
Regular Business:
- Minutes from the December 30th, 2019 meeting were reviewed.
Motion: Jason Allen motioned to approve the December 30th, 2019 minutes.
Second: Michael James
Decision: 2-0 in favor
- The Accounts Payable and Payroll Manifest were reviewed and signed.
- The Board reviewed a list of volunteers for a Solar Project Committee who will focus on identifying whether any solar/energy efficiency projects would be of benefit to Bradford.
Motion: Jason Allen motioned to appoint Kathleen Bigford, Sue Ryder Moss, Sue McKevitt, Michael James, Michael Bauer, Marcia Keller, Richard Olohan and Brad Keller to the Solar Project Committee at the next Select Board meeting.
Second: Michael James
Decision: 2-0 in favor
- The Board reviewed the 2020 General Budget request, outlining preliminary thoughts on their recommendations which will be finalized at the January 27th, 2020 Select Board meeting.
- Items of note were:
- The Selectmen discussed reducing the Police Departments request by $10,000. Chief Valiquet was present and stated the budget is put together with significant detail and expressed a concern that any reduction would impact the services provided to the Town which could raise concerns with taxpayers.
- Mark Goldberg, Carl Goldberg and Gary Dion answered questions concerning the Fire and Rescue Department requests. There was a heated discussion between Mark Goldberg and Jason Allen concerning whether the Board had the ability to potentially cap on-call pay at $15,000 versus the $28,000 recommended by the Fire Chief, Gary Dion.
- Jason made a recommendation to reduce the Highway Department budget to $531,000 versus $575,731 requested by the Department. The Board will have additional discussion with Steve Hall, Town Road Agent.
- Michael has heard the Library request should be $2,000 higher to support program costs. Provided there was a guarantee that the funds would be used to support programs, he would like to increase the budget request by $2,000. Additional follow up is needed.
- The Board reviewed the proposed Warrant Article items:
- The Board would like to rework the existing 2015 Highway Equipment Expendable Trust Fund to separate repairs from new equipment purchases. They discussed a warrant article to allow the Select Board to utilize a fund for catastrophic equipment repairs, with a total value of $40,000 consisting of $24,000 currently in the fund and an additional $16,000 in 2020 warrant article. A separate fund would be created for Highway Equipment Replacement, with a funding request of $25,000, to be expendable by the Town. Karen will research the most effective manner and wording for this adjustment.
- The Board discussed a warrant article for a new pumper truck. Mark Goldberg stated a petition Article would be submitted if the Board does not submit their request as outlined in the Capital Improvement Program. The Selectmen have proposed a warrant article to add $10,000 to the 2006 Fire Dept Heavy Equipment Fund to continue saving towards the replacement in 2020 rather than purchasing the replacement now. This is based upon initial feedback from a mechanical inspection that indicates the pumper does not currently need to be replaced. The Board is waiting for the mechanical report to make a final decision on their recommendation. The Chief outlined a NFPA requirement which outlines a need to replace the pumper now.
- The Board signed the McKibben Environmental Report.
- The Board signed the annual contract with CAI Technologies to update the tax maps.
- Michael proposed soliciting groups in Town to see who may be interesting in doing fund raising at Town Meeting. Michael James will be donating funds/produce to a non-profit for additional breakfast items to support a full breakfast offering from 8:00am and 9:00am, Karen will follow up with the State to ensure there would be no conflict of interest. The Board is also investigating a provision for childcare from 8:00am through 12:00pm.
- The Board discussed Town signs. There have been multiple sign proposals that folks in Town have worked on. This has not been a collaborative effort and Karen and Jason suggested that the design proposals be voted on at Town meeting. Michael feels there is a group of folks in Town that are active volunteers who have designed a new sign and he feels that favoritism should be shown to any group that demonstrates the type of continuous volunteerism this group has. Michael will reach out to Clark Roberge to discuss the sign design Clark had previously submitted. If there is no resolution prior to Town Meeting, Jason would like the Town to vote on the design.
- Karen asked about the status of the dumpster at Dunfield Road as a rental fee for January was received. Michael will follow up on the status. There is no reason to have it onsite, it will not be needed until next spring.
- Karen let the Board know that Courtney Schusler had resigned from the Budget Committee.
- Karen requested the Board consider a one-week vacation payout for the Road Agent, originally discussed November 12th, 2019, but not presented by him as he has been plowing during the last few Select Board meetings.
Motion: Jason Allen motioned to payout one-week of vacation time to the Road Agent.
Second: Michael James
Decision: 2-0 in favor
- Karen let the Board know that Pinky Porter, a past Bradford Code Enforcement Officer, had passed away.
- The Board discussed upcoming agenda items; A major focus will be the general budget as the Board is concerned about the significant increase in the requested amounts year over year. Warrant Articles are a priority as well. Jason feels responsible to keep the Town budgets in line and appreciates all the work the departments do but believes the departments will need to make decisions to keep spending increases to a minimum. Michael proposed reducing the budget by a proportional percentage. While Jason felt a proportional percentage would be good, he felt they should base that reduction amount by reviewing specific areas that the Board thinks have an opportunity for reduction. Michael and Jason agreed that they would like to put more money in the Road and Bridges Warrant Article and not do temporary patch repairs going forward. Karen will follow up on the certified mechanic report on the Fire Department pumper truck and Highway equipment which the Board will use to recommend Warrant Article amounts. The Board reviewed several other Warrant Article proposals including generator installation for the highway garage, highway garage lighting, kitchen upgrades at the Community Center and road construction on Cochran Hill. The Board felt these items could be accomplished using other funds. Non-monetary items included elimination of the Tax Incremental Finance District, an Article to change the Right of Way at Center Road and Route 103 along with wording changes on existing fund accounts. Karen will draft the Warrant Articles for a vote at the next Select Board meeting.
Motion: Jason Allen motioned to adjourn at 10:49pm.
Second: Michael James
Decision: 2-0 in favor
The next Selectmen’s meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 21st, 2020 at 4:30pm, at the Bradford Community Center
Minutes submitted by Laurie Colburn, Recording Secretary