TOWN OF BRADFORD
SELECTMEN’S MEETING
AUGUST 20, 2012
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, Sonny Harris, Cheryl Behr, Administrator, Marilyn Gordon, Treasurer and Marge Cilley, Secretary present.
Review and Consideration of the August 13, 2012 minutes:
Harry Wright, Chair advised that contrary to his statement at the August 13, 2012 meeting that a member of the highway crew will attend the State Training Session for ditching roads, they will not be attending.
Harry Wright, Chair advised that on the August 13, 2012 meeting they went into non-public session at 6:16pm and came out of non-public at 6:50pm and closed the open session at 7:00pm with no decisions made in the non-public session.
Page 2: Cheryl Behr advised the MS1 has been revised by the Department of Revenue, the numbers are incorrect on page two of the minutes, ( should read: one hundred ninety five million seven hundred thirty eight thousand three hundred and ninety dollars ($195,738,390) however, the whole paragraph should be deleted per Cheryl.
On Page 3: Cheryl Behr, advised the question made by Dave Pickman on August 13, 2012 regarding are we bonded for the new sidewalks, Cheryl had replied “we are” This is incorrect per Cheryl, the contractor is bonded and they provide the bond to the town.
Page 3: The two letters the Health Officer gave to the Selectmen were not for them to sign, but were signed by the Health Officer who returned them to the Selectmen per Cheryl.
Motion was made to approve the minutes with the above edits by Harry Wright, Chair. Sonny Harris seconded. Motion carried 3-0.
Regular Business:
Accounts Payable and Payroll manifest were reviewed and signed.
Cheryl Behr went over the operating budget and many of the budgets are very close. Overall, including all the operating budget and the continual appropriations we should have 38% left of our budget, however, some of our budgets are very short.
Cheryl advised she will be meeting tomorrow night with Bill Thompson, Jon Marden and Andrew Pinard and anyone else who would like to attend, at 6:30pm at the Community Center regarding going over some technology issues.
Notes from Carl Rubchinuk and Bob Lincoln:
Cheryl read the notes into the minutes (see attached at the end of the minutes)
Cheryl Behr advised the Town has been working with the State for many years on the Municipal Managed Bridge Program, the program that provides us with 80% of the cost of repairing a bridge. Six bridges with this program over the past fifteen years and seven and eight are already in the pipeline. These are for red listed bridges. Breezy Hill Bridge is scheduled to be built in 2017. There is also a second slot which was supposed to be for the other bridge on Breezy Hill Road, at the end of the lake. Cheryl advised that over time, the decision has been tossed around that that bridge does not need to be replaced, and if that is the case, which do we want to repair next. The other West Meadow Road Bridge has been discussed. The cost estimate for that Bridge was seven hundred fifty five thousand dollars. ($755,000.) The cost to do the bridge at the end of Lake Massasecum was eight hundred and some thousand dollars ($800,000 +) Cheryl also advised the State should not have a problem swapping the bridges, but the information does need to get to them fairly soon. Discussion ensued.
Cheryl Behr advised the West Meadow Road Bridge is currently a one lane bridge, and if a new bridge built, then it would be rebuilt into a two lane bridge. The bridge on East Washington Road was also discussed. Cheryl Behr advised the State examines all the bridges in town annually. Harry Wright, Chair advised he would like to review the engineering study that was done on the Lake Massasecum end of Breezy Hill Road. Barry Wheeler questioned if the town could fix the bridge themselves if they so desired.
The Highway Department report on what they have done the week ending August 18, 2012 and the Schedule for the week of August 25 will be found at the end of these minutes.
Dave Pickman questioned how much money is there in the budget to rent any highway equipment to which Barry Wheeler advised there is about five hundred dollars. Dave Pickman also questioned how much money is left in the highway department? Cheryl Behr replied one hundred twenty three thousand eight hundred eighty six dollars $123,886.00) which includes wages.
Chris Frey advised that on the selectmen’s behalf he attended a meeting with District two of the DOT. They reviewed the lighting of the intersection of Route 114 and Route 103 and Main Street and Route 103. At that time they proposed to remove one of the lights at Main Street and 103 on the western side and the northern side of the intersection and to take three or four lights down off 103 and 114. The Police Chief had indicated the accident data is not that great compared to other intersections. Chris indicated it would cost the town about $38.00 per month to maintain a light. A letter will be coming from the State in a week or so. Harry Wright, Chair thanked Chris for his input.
Chet Mitchell reiterated the discussion from the Selectmen and the Planning Board regarding the Administrator having a key to the file cabinets in the Planning Board office, as no decision has been made as yet. Mr. Mitchell advised he has documented all the records that have occurred, actions, inactions, Bradford Bridge articles etc. since May regarding the Right to Know Law. Much discussion ensued reiterating previous comments and information from meeting minutes. Mr. Mitchell went on to say the Selectmen had passed a motion for the Planning Board file keys to be turned over to the Administrator and at this time they have not insisted this be done. This is a public access issue, it is the principle with me and I do not think anyone should ask what you want the records for. He advised he wanted to know what the Selectmen are going to do about it, and if nothing, he will take action in Concord. Mr. Mitchell went on to invite anyone who would like to join him, they could file a petition, an injunction against the town or the committee that is blocking access and be under the supervision of the court under the Right to Know law.
Harry Wright, Chair suggested the position is not the key, but access. At last weeks Planning Board meeting, they came up with a draft resolution of new process and procedures that address this subject that is very close to what they thought was the proper procedure to go about it. A revision to the Planning Board’s Process and Procedure document requires reading and approving at two consecutive meeting. Harry Wright, Chair went on to advise the form is being edited and will be acted on at the next meeting. Verbal commitment was received by Mr. Wright stating that for this interim of two weeks period they would work hard to make sure there was access. Harry Wright, Chair also went on to state that the town attorney was not requested to forward information to the Planning Board, nor did the Selectmen’s office, consequently they did not receive the information for two more weeks.
Discussion continued regarding the draft being worked on by the Planning Board stating it should be available for everyone right after the meeting
Harry Wright, Chair advised that the length of time for keeping tape recordings of meetings is up to the discretion of the organization doing the taping, in response to a question asked by Marlene Freyler. Marlene Freyler reiterated that nothing is ever done at meetings. Much reiteration of comments from previous meetings continued. Marlene Freyler advised if things don’t get done she will go down to Superior Court with Mr. Mitchell.
Motion was made by Harry Wright, Chair that immediately Cheryl be given access to the third cabinet for the records therein for public access. Sonny Harris seconded. Motion carried 3-0.
Harry Wright, Chair advised this is for the tapes other than Planning Board.
The Secretary suggested that all the tapes except the Planning Board tapes be left in the Selectmen’s Office for the Administrator to handle as soon as the minutes have been written up and approved. Harry Wright, Chair said ok.
Dave Pickman questioned again what about putting out a request for an additional highway employee. Barry Wheeler advised he feels they are getting a lot of work done with the present crew.
Mark Goldberg, Fire Chief suggested they think real hard about the retention of the tapes, as for several issues, those tapes are very important and feels they should be kept for some time, such as seven years. Cheryl Behr advised this is part of what they are trying to do with the newly formed Technology Committee.
Harry Wright, Chair advised the Historical Society has a book “Images of America” written by Laurie Buchar from Bradford and Rebecca Courser from Warner, and incorporates pictures and knowledge from Sonny Harris and Steve Hansen.
Motion was made to go into non -public per RSA 91A3IIa Personnel at 6:20pm
Seconded by Sonny Harris.
Harry Wright, Chair Yes Sonny Harris, Yes Barry Wheeler, Yes.
Meeting Adjourned 6:20pm
Respectfully submitted,
Marjorie R. Cilley,
Secretary
For an audio file (mp3) of the recording to this meeting, please visit http://bradfordnh.org/mp3/ where they are named according to the date and the organization. Please note that, due to space issues, any recordings may be purged from the website without notice. Files can be saved to your hard drive, by right-clicking the link to the file (from the index list) and using “Save Link As” or “Save File As”.