TOWN OF BRADFORD
SELECTMEN’S MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 10, 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
Cheryl Behr, Administrator, and Marge Cilley, Secretary present. Sonny Harris and Marilyn Gordon, Treasurer were absent.
Review and Consideration of August 27, 2012 minutes:
Motion was made byBarry Wheeler to approve the minutes as presented.
Seconded by Harry Wright, Chair. Motion carried 2-0.
Bob Odell – State Senate:
Bob Odell came to the Selectmen’s meeting to introduce himself and presented an updated map with proposed re-districting areas showing as well his short biographical background. He was thanked by the board for coming in.
Police Chief Valiquet:
Harry Wright, Chair asked the Police Chief to come in and give a brief discussion regarding two recent residential burglaries in town, which they were able to resolve.
Further discussion regarding another break in is being investigated. Chief Valiquet advised there were five or six different groups doing burglaries in the area, Warner, Sutton, New London, Newbury and Henniker. Chief Valiquet advised he is going to have a unit citation for the employees in the department that participated in all these investigations and Office Shaughnessy will get a citation.
Chief Valiquet also indicated that he has been in contact with the construction company engineer that is doing the work on East Main Street, regarding adequate stopping and yield signs for traffic control, which was missing. Two flaggers and proper equipment was then procured by the company.
Cheryl Behr thanked the Police Department as well as the Highway Department for all their help in the Bike Rodeo. This finished the final Safe Routes to School requirement for the first level Grant.
Accounts Payable and Payroll were reviewed and signed.
The Department of Revenue form received confirms that Inventory Forms will not be used this year and was signed by the Selectmen.
Cheryl Behr advised there is a form to file with the State of New Hampshire indicating how many full time police positions the town has, and Bradford has three, one Chief and two full time officers. When the Chief was replaced with a part time officer, that slot was used as the third full time slot, and the State of New Hampshire states that needs to be left empty, as a full time, so if we need to assign a new member, the space would be there. Brian Eaton is being paid for by the New Hampshire Cops Grant, and we have one more year out of the original three years the Grant pays for, then the town pays the salary. The Selectmen signed the required forms.
Cheryl Behr advised the town has been granted the Phase II award for the Safe Routes to School for $14,500.00. This covers more engineering work, reviews etc. Cheryl advised this will hopefully help prepare for the next T E Grant, which will be for West Main Street. The next phase for Safe Routes to School is for $200,000.00 and does not require matching funds.
Coverage for tomorrows Election was discussed and worked out between the Selectmen.
Cheryl questioned if there was anything to go to auction and the Highway Department has nothing, the Police Dept. has one vehicle.
The budget will be gone over next week per Harry Wright.
Street Lighting:
Cheryl Behr advised that Chris Frey had attended a meeting with DOT a couple of weeks ago regarding the number of street lighting they want to take down, and was able to limit the removal to three, one at Route 103 and Main Street, and two at Rte 114. Chris was thanked for his effort.
Flag Status:
Discussion ensued regarding the putting up and taking down of the flags, and the Boy Scouts will be contacted to see if they would be interested.
Bridge replacement:
Cheryl Behr advised bridge reports have been received and much discussion ensued regarding the possibility of changing the scheduled Breezy Hill Road Bridge to the West Meadow Road Bridge. Cheryl Behr advised that if the Covered Bridge, Breezy Hill Road Bridgeand West Meadow Road Bridge were to be done, the town’s portion would be $76,000 per year for the next five years. An engineering estimate would need to be procured for west main street bridge repair. Cheryl advised the West Meadow Road Bridge and the Breezy Hill Bridge would run about $755,000. Cheryl Behr will ask Nancy Mayville for an estimate for the West Main Street Bridge.
Former Sanborn property:
Discussion regarding curb cut at the Sanborn property on East Main Street was discussed as to just where it should be located. Thought was to put it on the westerly edge of the property next to the hedge. Discussion also took place regarding joining the two town owned properties that are abutting. Point was made that a driveway on the east side would be near the septic system in the back portion of the property.
Harry Wright, Chair and Cheryl met with an auctioneer who advised it would not be a good time to adjoin the two properties.
Cheryl advised a week from Wednesday will be the first construction meeting.
Barry Wheeler stated that because of the curbing on the new sidewalks, they will have to purchase a sander to go on the bobcat to sand the sidewalks.
It was stated that there needs to be an active Highway Safety Committee/Road Committee and Harry Wright, Chair questioned the three members present if they could call a meeting and get together.
Employee Evaluation:
Harry Wright, Chair advised he prefers the Department Heads do the annual employee reviews and report back to the Selectmen. The police do their own and the Chief checks back with the Selectmen. Are the evaluation sheets being used for budgets and if so, they will be required by the end of September. Cheryl will put evaluation sheets in the respective boxes.
Brown Memorial Library:
The Selectmen approved the appointment of Erica Gross as an Alternate to the Brown Memorial Library Board for one year as requested by the Trustees of the Library. It has been checked with the Attorney General and been assured there is no conflict of interest with her position as Town Clerk.
Cheryl Behr stated that Barry Wheeler has made the town proud by being in the Soonipi Magazine.
The Police Department monthly report of activity was provided.
A resignation letter was received from Bill Glennie as he will be unavailable for some time. It was also stated that he is resigning from the Regional Planning Commission and a replacement volunteer is being requested. Marcia Keller commented that someone with an interest in economic development as well could be an asset for the town’s interim and long term future. Harry Wright, Chair advised there is right now, between Central New Hampshire and Southern New Hampshire, two regions that are working on a Community Economic Development Program to see how to best serve the areas. The first meeting is next Monday evening and Harry Wright, Chair will be attending and bringing back more details.
Bill Glennie was thanked for all he has done for the town by the Board of Selectmen.
Motion was made to go into non-public session with Health officer 6:30pm per
RSA 91-A:3IIc followed by
Non-public with Mark Keith re land issue per RSA 91-A:3IId
Motion seconded by Barry Wheeler.
Harry Wright, Chair yes Barry Wheeler Yes.
Motion carried 2-0.
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”.