TOWN OF BRADFORD
SELECTMEN’S MEETING
JUNE 7, 2011
5:30PM
The Pledge of Allegiance was said.
Call to Order and Roll Call:
Harry Wright, Chair called the meeting to order at 5:30pm with Barry Wheeler, Jack Meaney, Cheryl Behr, Administrator, Marilyn Gordon, Treasurer and Marge Cilley, Secretary present.
Review and Consideration of May 31, 2011 minutes:
Request to add comments from George Cilley regarding the Sanborn/Griggs house on East Main Street was noted, and should include: George Cilley stated that a petition had been presented to the Select Board 21 months after the fire at the East Main Street home of then Robin Sanborn property and advised he has been unable to find any minutes that it was read at a public Selectmen’s meeting. This petition initiated some activity on the Sanborn property which has apparently died again. Since two of the board members were not on the board at that time, he handed out copies of the petition for them all. George advised he would like a timeline as to what is being done. There is an ordinance on the books of within one year after a fire to either be in the process of being re-built or in the process of being torn down. Discussion ensued.
Motion was made by Harry Wright to approve the minutes with the noted edit.
Jack Meaney seconded. Motion carried 3-0.
Appearances:
Jon Marden and Caren Morrill discussed ditch cleaning on Oakdale Road as well as an underground electrical under the road that has been severed. There is also a 6 foot drop off on the edge of a narrow road without any warning devices. Much discussion ensued as Jon Marden presented pictures of the conditions. Caren Morrill advised a culvert that goes under Oakdale Road had been closed off for years has been opened up. Debris was left floating out in the lake which she retrieved. Caren is concerned about losing her lot, if a heavy rain storm comes.
Jon Marden advised the minutes of June 28, 2010 stated the property owners on Oakdale Road would receive letters prior to any action taken to clarify what was where for safety reasons. Cheryl Behr, Administrator advised these letters were not forwarded.
Jon Marden advised at the time the wires were dug up, they were live. When he saw the damage that was done, the wires had been cut, he found his circuit breakers were still on.
On the house side you cannot see how far the wires are, but there is one strand of wire left of an 8 gauge ground wire with no insulation on it. Jon Marden stated he also has a surety predating the Zoning laws, in 1981 that shows the sleeve underneath the road, an apparent water line but actually has electric wires in it to for a pump that ran down there to service water that went to the cottages on Oakdale Road.
Jon Marden advised he wants what was ripped out to be replaced. If it has to be replaced with current specs so be it. It did not need to be disturbed and certainly not live.
Jeff Remillard, Road Agent discussed his points of view regarding the situation, and advised the road crew is not done working in that area.
Caren Morrill questioned if a letter would be forwarded to residents of Oakdale Road to let them know this has been torn up so they have the opportunity to replace it, they do not even know their water line is gone? Harry Wright, Chair advised a letter would be forwarded to residents involved.
Selectmen Barry Wheeler advised the ditch is deep in front of Jon Marden’s house and should be filled with some stone. He also advised he did not think it fair to rip out a man’s electrical wire and tell him he has to now fix it to code, and feels the town should replace the wires. Jeff Remillard, Road Agent advised there are RSA’s that state the town is not liable for any of that.
Jon Marden advised if the town does whatever is necessary to reconnect this on the lake side, terminating at his stonewall, put a drawstring in it so he could pull the wire through, would be a reasonable solution.
Harry Wright, Chair questioned if they could hold on action and review the alternatives and look at what it would take to drill and bring to the next meeting. Jon Marden advised he makes great use of his lot during the summer especially in July and does not want this to go for three more meetings before it is decided.
Motion was made by Barry Wheeler to fix the town’s portion of the problem which will be done in combination with Mark Goldberg, Fire Chief and Jeff Remillard, Road Agent working together so it will be done in the most cost effective manner for the town that meets code in a short term, immediately. Seconded by Harry Wright, Chair. Motion carried 3-0.
Jack Meaney questioned what was going to be done by the town. Answer was: put the pipe in above ground in front of Jon Marden’s stone wall with a drawer string and reconnect whatever has to be done on lake side so the drawstring continues. Jon Marden reiterated that whatever has to be done to make it functional again will be what is required.
The six foot drop and the culvert was addressed by Caren Morrill who advised the culvert was closed for reasons many years ago. She advised she has a 25 foot X 8 foot lot which is her waterfront and now if a big storm comes up, it will be gone, because that culvert was not meant to handle the flow that now exists to Route 114.
Motion was made by Barry Wheeler to cement it up and seal up the culvert that was cleaned out. No Second, No Vote.
Jack Meaney questioned removing the metal culvert completely so it could not collapse years down the road. Much discussion ensued.
A suggestion was made by Chris Frey from the floor for the Selectmen to instruct the Road Agent to correct the culvert issue. Cheryl Behr, Administrator stated this as a Motion. So moved by Barry Wheeler, seconded by Harry Wright, Chair. Motion carried 3-0.
Rob Messer- Re: Equipment rental to the town:
Rob Messer stated that the Selectmen have made a sizeable mistake with the equipment rental contract. Rob stated that he has never seen a rental of equipment set up for the summer; it is usually on an hourly basis. If the equipment is used for 10 hours, there is a huge amount of money used for the rental. If for 1000 hours then the rate is not very much. When the town has done large projects in the past, these have gone out to bid to construction companies, as recently as the Center Road project. If the town decides they are going to take on a large undertaking in road work, what is going to take place as far as the maintenance in the rest of the town roads? His feeling is that the road crew is in place and has the equipment to maintain town roads. The 6 wheel dump truck is not a safe vehicle to be moving rocks due to its size. The old protocol was put in place for a reason and feels it worked well, especially in this economy. There are local excavators that have zero work. Putting jobs out to bid would save the town more money. Jeff Remillard, Road Agent advised the excavator was going to be used for ditching, being able to get so much more done. Crusher will be coming in next week. Harry Wright, Chair advised he did a spread sheet which he would share with Rob Messer. Robb reiterated that the road crew would better serve by maintaining the roads, cutting brush, ditching etc. A good grader operator can do the ditching, and they do have a good operator. Jeff Remillard, Road Agent stated the State does not want graders to be ditching due to spreading of bamboo etc. Conversation continued.
John Mock stated that there are five excavators here in town, a lot of them out of work, and they all pay taxes in this town, and the Selectmen voted to hire the Road Agents excavator by a vote of 2 to 1. John advised he feels the Selectmen are setting a very poor precedent. It is not good for the town, and not good for the tax payers, and it should not happen.
Bruce Edwards – Pay Pal Account:
Bruce Edwards came before the Selectmen requesting permission to set up a Pay Pal account with Lake Sunapee Bank for the 5K Road Race. This would be a credit card account for the convenience of registering on line. The Treasurer would handle the account. Registrations would go to Bruce Edwards and the payment would go to a Pay Pal who manages the whole account for a 1% fee. The treasurer, who would have their own pass word, would transfer this money into a Revolving Fund for Parks & Rec. This is the first year Parks & Rec have taken over the endeavor.
Motion was made by Barry Wheeler to let Bruce Edwards set up a Pay Pal Account for the 5K Road Race. Seconded by Harry Wright, Chair. Motion carried 3-0.
Warrant was signed by the Selectmen for unregistered dogs.
Accounts Payable and Payroll Manifests were reviewed and signed
Bement Bridge update:
Harry Wright, Chair gave an update on the Bement Bridge by stating J. R. Graton came forward with an unsolicited bid last week to straighten the bridge. Last weekend, Harry and Barry Wheeler met with Mr. Graton and reviewed the project and everyone who is knowledgeable about it came up with about the same process. J. R. prefers to pull the bridge back into plumb by pulling with a cable. A very detailed overview was presented, and they will begin tomorrow with an opening date of the 4th of July
Update on Sanborn property:
Cheryl Behr, Administrator advised that George Cilley had questioned what was happening with the Sanborn property and once again, she has contacted the Town Attorney and the town is publishing a notice in the newspaper for four weeks consecutively again. The full notice was read by Cheryl Behr, Administrator. (Notice on file June 7, 2011) Notice advised you are to complete the work by September 1, 2011.
Marcia Keller interjected that with the new sidewalks going in and all the other properties along East Main Street that are in danger of going in this direction, this is a positive first step to revitalize the property.
The Selectmen advised the Police Dept. will check into the car that is parked in the driveway of the Sanborn property. Cheryl Behr, Administrator read the “Order for Correction of Hazardous conditions of a Building pursuant to RSA 155:B which the Selectmen signed and will be posted on the door of the property tomorrow.
Chris Frey asked if the Selectmen could get a list of properties that could be liquidated and show the people the base of income offset that is in lieu of that property. Barry Wheeler has volunteered to work on this and Chris Frey has volunteered to work with him. How to advertise these properties will be discussed after the list has been obtained.
Ambulance Billing:
Cheryl Behr, Administrator advised she had received a call from Andrew Pinard who suggested some amount of money in the Ambulance billing account was to be used for Rescue Squad wages or the operating of the ambulance and equipment. His thoughts were that some amount of money should be left in that fund with the balance to go back into credit the wages paid and then the bottom line of the ambulance budget at the end of the year be turned back into the General Fund. Mark Goldberg, Fire Chief gave a brief history of the Ambulance billing. The first Ambulance was purchased through donations, the second ambulance purchase was when the town started picking up part of the cost, in about 1983.
Motion was made by Jack Meaney to leave the money where it is for the Ambulance Billing Account. Seconded by Barry Wheeler. Motion carried 3-0.
More conversation ensued regarding per diem which was put in a line item to keep it separate. Chris Frey suggested the Selectmen check with the Fire Dept. prior to setting the tax rate and not raise money that is not needed and make a motion so stating. Harry Wright, Chair advised a motion is not required.
Tax Rate setting date:
Cheryl Behr, Administrator advised the Budget Committee is invited to the Tax Rate setting. This is usually a short noticed meeting, but she will alert the board members as soon as she hears.
Update on mold testing:
Cheryl Behr, Administrator advised that someone is coming in to make an inspection of the mold in the Police Dept. for $500.00. Dave Sullivan will take the wall down that needs repair. If required, there will be a modular trailer for the Police Dept. to work out of.
The Selectmen signed an authorization for the Town Clerk to make deposits.
Selectmen signed a Building Permit.
Mark Goldberg, Fire Chief discussed the steps at French’s Park and does not know who is doing things there. It was discussed that Parks & Rec were involved.
Jon Marden questioned if the grader has been repaired as yet to which Jeff Remillared, Road Agent replied no, as they are waiting for use time to lessen. It is still usable.
The Warner joint Selectmen’s meeting that was scheduled this week was canceled regarding regionalization, and will be rescheduled.
Motion Adjourned at 7:30pm
Respectfully submitted
Marjorie R. Cilley
Secretary