TOWN OF BRADFORD
SELECTMEN’S MEETING
SEPTEMBER 17, 2012
5:30PM
The Pledge of Allegiance was said.
Call to Order and Roll Call:
Harry Wright, Chair called the September 17, 2012 meeting to order at 5:30pm with Barry Wheeler, Cheryl Behr, Administrator, Marilyn Gordon, Treasurer and Marge Cilley, Secretary present. Sonny Harris was absent.
Review and Consideration of the September 10, 2012 minutes:
Harry Wright, Chair stated that since Chief Valiquet requested the contractors of the sidewalk project have flaggers at each end of their work area, they have been there.
Motion was made by Barry Wheeler to approve the minutes as presented. Seconded by Harry Wright, Chair. Motion carried 2-0.
Appearances:
Mark Cashin, Kearsarge Regional School District- High School- Hockey Coach:
Mark Cashin came before the Selectmen to see if they could hold a Fund Raiser at the Bement Covered Bridge in Bradford, probably next spring. They are in need of $25,000 for the Hockey season which is not being covered by the school budget. It would probably be a three or four hour event with a couple of hours each end of the time to set up and clean up. There would be an officer there and a question of alcohol was brought up. Harry Wright, Chair said in the past that has been discussed and turned down by the town, so that probably could not happen. A written proposal will be forthcoming per Mr. Cashin.
Town Hall Restoration Committee, Beth Rodd:
Beth Rodd read a letter from the Town Hall Restoration Committee to the Select Board dated September 14, 2012. (Copy of letter at the end of these minutes)
Regular Business:
Accounts Payable and Payroll manifests were reviewed and signed.
Cheryl Behr stated there is a Personnel Action Form for signature with the Accounts Payable.
The Ordinance for no on street parking was discussed. Cheryl advised she has checked with other towns and the Chief of Police and the possibility of a Public Hearing was discussed.
Curb Cut on the Sanborn Property was discussed again and the question of including the property in the tax sale was also discussed. The merging with the abutting lot to the east of the property was brought up again. Barry Wheeler brought up the septic system in the back of the property. Also, the Police Department will need to go somewhere someday.
Chris Frey stated that there are some 40 acres at the dump area, there is the Naughton property and now the Sanborn property. If the town ends up owning most of the property in the Village District Area, except for small lots, there is no place for business to come, until one by one we drop off as we cannot afford the taxes here. If you want to keep the Sanborn property, then we need to sell say 20 acres at the dump, the Naughton property etc. we just cannot keep adding property to the Town’s property. At the last Town Meeting wasn’t there some overture from the Selectmen that the cost of tearing down the property at the Sanborn house would be recouped at the sale of the property?
Andrew Pinard questioned if the property is large enough to subdivide so the front portion could have two acres for building and still maintain a road going to the back for extra parking, salt shed or extra use for the town? Harry Wright, Chair advised the Zoning Ordinance states that every lot in the district is a conforming lot. Andrew advised that is until it gets subdivided, if the back portion was sectioned off, then the front would then have to comply with zoning.
The contract is expected regarding the Town Owned Property Auction. Ninety day notices do need to go out. Harry Wright, Chair suggested that alternatives need to written down to see if this could be considered a conforming lot with different configurations.
Curb cut is to be discussed with the Engineer of the Sidewalk project. This will be reviewed again next week.
Harry Wright, Chair stated the Regional Planning Commission has the Granite State Future, a new set of Master Plans for all around the state, and Bradford will have a similar form format, which is specific to different regions, including but not limited to Economic Development, Maintaining Casual Country Lifestyle. Harry advised there will be a form to be filled out, coming out next month.
Harry Wright, Chair advised the Health Officer has resigned, stating the position should be bigger and more comprehensive than what was expected and should be a part time position. This position needs to be filled. Harry Wright, Chair advised the board accepted his resignation.
Harry Wright, Chair read a letter out of last week’s Intertown Record commending Cheryl Behr, Administrator for her Grant Writing for the town.
Cheryl Behr thanked Edythe Craig, who has resigned, for all the many years of volunteering she has done at the Community Center.
Note the Highway accomplishments for the past week and upcoming week at the end of these minutes.
Andrew Pinard, Kearsarge District School Board Member, advised the Kearsarge Regional School District has already had two Budget Meetings with the Municipal Budget Committee and had a presentation of the Budget, Version I, from both the Administration of the schools as well as the District Staff. After the increase in the N H Retirement System numbers came in, the budget is slightly under 1% right now.
Andrew Pinard encouraged and invited everyone to attend school board meetings and/or Municipal Budget Committee meetings. Three contracts are up for renewal, Teachers Contract, Para Professional Contract and Transportation Budget. The Transportation Budget is anticipated to be less than prior contracts due to scheduling, and Transferring out of district students that require Transportation for Special Education needs, rescheduling to in district and being able to provide more for our students so they do not have to send them extended distances for their education. Andrew also stated that RFP’s may be going out for old New London High School, a 1941 building, with the intention of leasing out to an outside organization, rehabilitating or to find what the cost would be to the district to maintain the building or possibly demolition.
No other business to come before the Board, meeting adjourned at 6:16pm.
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”.