TOWN OF BRADFORD
SELECTMEN MEETING
OCTOBER 22, 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 Sonny Harris, Barry Wheeler, Cheryl Behr, Administrator, Marilyn Gordon, Treasurer and Marge Cilley, Secretary present.
Review and Consideration of the October 1, 2012 minutes:
Harry Wright, Chair questioned if word has been received regarding the Cub Scouts taking care of the flags to which Cheryl Behr stated she has not gotten in touch with them at this time. Harry stated that a citizen has volunteered if the Cub Scouts are not able to do it.
Harry Wright, Chair also discussed the maintenance of the wood pellet furnace that a group of people from Bradford went to Peterborough for a tour of their facility. The furnaces are quite sophisticated and the thorough cleaning happens once, possibly twice a year.
Motion was made by Sonny Harris to approve the minutes of October 1, 2012 as presented. Seconded by Barry Wheeler. Motion carried 3-0.
Train the Trainer Report:
Cheryl Behr stated that the Safe Routes to School held a class to train adults to teach children bike safety, and she thanked all that participated. This class closed out the first Grant by the end of October. This was a three hour class and Cheryl had taken some pictures to be displayed.
Cheryl Behr mentioned the awards for Edythe Craig and the Police Officers to be held at Appleseed Restaurant at 7:00pm this evening.
Harriet Harris asked Cheryl Behr if she could sit at the end of the table so as to be heard by the attendees.
APPEARANCES:
Laurie Buchar –Historical Society:
Laurie Buchar submitted a proposal to update an Article regarding the Historic District. Laurie advised the Historic District Commission is a group formed to protect the Bradford Center. This group has been non-active since 2005 with the exception of 2008 when the new roof was put on the Meeting House. The proposed names and terms to be voted on are as follows:
Carey Rodd – Cemetery Representative-one year term
Meg Fearnley, Conservation-two year term
Laurie Buchar-Union Congregational Society-three year term
George Cilley-Bradford Historical Society-one year term
Sonny Harris-Selectmen Representative-two year term
Laurie discussed the Town Pound which is part of the District and the Green is owned by the Town. The Meeting House is owned by the Union Congregational Society, which is non-denominational, but a historical building. The Pound has not been mowed, and would it be possible to include the mowing with the cemetery mowing. This was thought to be worked out for next summer.
Perry Teele advised it is very, very difficult to mow the grounds at the Center and something needs to be done, by pulling many rocks.
Motion was made by Harry Wright to approve the slate of officers as presented. Seconded by Barry Wheeler. Motion carried 3-0.
Martyn Chivers – error in issuing permit?
Martyn Chivers did not appear. It was explained that the Selectmen issued a permit in error. This permit needs to be posted in the Monitor for one day, seven days prior to a Hearing. The Selectmen will check out who is responsible to pay for this ad.
Mark Goldberg:
Rob Steiz spoke, explaining the Fire Department has eleven surplus old air packs and twenty six old masks that they would like to donate to the 911 Fund. The town of Bradford and Fire Department would be held harmless from any liabilities from this equipment. Mr. Steiz requested consent from the town to do this and advised these old pieces of equipment would be discarded if not donated.
Motion was made by Sonny Harris to grant permission to the Fire Department to dispose of the old equipment to the 911 Fund as requested. Seconded by Barry Wheeler. Motion carried 3-0.
Marlene Freyler:
Marlene Freyler requested her comments in its entirety be written in the minutes.
“I’m here to discuss um, the uh, I got the disc this morning and I’ve been reading it, and there are some things in there that are not very nice, I want to read to Sonny some things you said when you were running. You said litigation is costly and wasteful, process which should be avoided with implementation of wiser decisions, greater clarity and proof contracts. Programs enhanced personal responsibility and self-accountability will greatly reduce unnecessary expenses. There are critical points in the direction of Bradford’s future-we are all part of the same team. You are either part of the problem or part of the solution, no middle ground here. The time for (not audible) Show our town the respect she deserves so that our children will inherit the precious legacy of freedom, responsibility and wisdom for which they can be proud and continue to build from, with the power of your vote participation.”
“I am addressing the whole board, I’m addressing Sonny also because you signed on for Sonny to go into this. This was something that was supposed to be just against the um road agent. There is another letter that Sonny wrote –I guess he thought he was going to die at some point and not live-and decided to mention eleven or twelve people’s names to the Sherriff’s office, which is now open to the public. I’m not here for anybody else, I’m here for myself, I have a business here, I have a family here, my kids are here and I do not appreciate where um it stated to the Sherriff’s Department desk, Marlene Freyler was in trouble regarding eleven hundred dollars in fireworks or women’s club money that mysteriously disappeared. Now why-I I called the Women’s Club, I’ve called the treasurer, I’ve called the town. I have not absconded with any eleven hundred dollars. And, I do not know how many people will read this and believe it, and the things in here about eleven other people, that’s up to them. I think this is unconscionable. You talk about keeping a town together-I work for this town, and I do a lot for this town, and if you think this is going to stop me from coming to meetings, stop me from opening my mouth, it’s not, but I think it’s unconscionable what you’ve done.
The Secretary questioned Marlene Freyler what tape she was referring to and she replied:
“I wasn’t referring to a tape, it was a disk, I got it today from the Sherriff’s Office, the Attorney, Merrimack County Attorney’s Office. The disk is all that has gone on with the road agent and everything else. My next question is the road agent fired? Is there any more litigation going on? If he’s fired, then Barry should be stepping down and you should post the position for road agent and let him come in on it, but if he comes in, he has to step down as Selectman. And also, when I talked with Mr. George Waldren, at the Merrimack County office, he said if one person is fired, there should be two people fired and you know what I’m talking about. Thank you very much.”
Robert Manchester advised he also looked at that disk and seen the letter, the interviews, Mr. Fixerupper, Mr. T and we don’t trust you Harry. A large number of expersions against people in this town and I just wonder why after all this time and you’ve put us in a position for litigations and suits. Not only from Mr. Remillard, but from the other people that are there. Mr. Manchester questioned why, Delbert that you in fact would say those things, and where do you think you stand right now with regard to that?
Much conversation ensued.
Sonny Harris advised some of the contents were being taken out of context. He also stated he took an oath to represent the interest of the town, not anyone personally and second of all, we’ve been instructed not to discuss this as it is all personnel issues.
Mr. Manchester reiterated the question regarding the status of Mr. Remillard? Is he still sitting out there in limbo?
The question was asked when was this disk made available to which Marlene Freyler advised this morning. Question was asked how come two people knew it prior to anyone else, and Marlene Freyler advised she came over to the Town Office and got it from Cheryl this morning. Barry Wheeler, Selectman advised he too was curious how they knew about the disc. Marlene went on to state she had talked with George Waldren who advised it would be available to her, she has a right to it, it is public knowledge. Marlene also advised she had called Harry a week and a half ago and asked him about it and asked him for the tape, so there was no convoluted stuff going on, what’s been convoluted is up there. Question was asked why this information was not given out to everyone at a public meeting. Cheryl Behr advised when the report was returned from the County Attorney’s office, a copy needed to be sent to Mr. Remillard and at that time, according to Town Council, it was then a matter of public record. At that time, Harry said make sure people put it in writing which they did and we gave them five days before we produced the CD.
Barry Wheeler questioned what time Marlene Freyler received the disk and she stated 7:45 this morning. Barry questioned if Mr. Remillard had been served the papers to which Cheryl Behr stated she did not know. Barry went on to say that Mr. Remillard should have received his letter prior to the report being released to the public.
Harry Wright advised it is a personnel issue and they cannot speak to it. More comments were heard.
REGULAR BUSINESS:
Accounts payable and payroll manifests were reviewed and signed
The Unofficial Tax Rate was discussed and it was stated that the additional one hundred thousand dollars in the Fund Balance is due to the FEMA money.
Motion was made to apply one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) from Fund Balance to reduce taxes in the Town of Bradford in 2012 was made by Harry Wright. Seconded by Sonny Harris. Motion carried 3-0.
Bruce Edwards needs to hold a public meeting on November 7th for a Hazard Mitigation Acceptance meeting. There has been several meetings and the report produced was accepted by FEMA. Now the public needs to look at the report before the Board of Selectmen can accept it. The meeting must be posted and the meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 7, 2012, not on a Selectmen’s meeting date. They will meet in the Senior Room at the Bradford Community Center.
Budget Review: Town Clerk, Library, Lighting and Other General Government, Assessing, reports are in. Results of Budget Committee meeting – possible scheduling by Selectmen for each department. It was decided that the each Dept. Head be asked to bring in their budget, then meet with the Budget Committee. Cheryl will call each Department Head to set up a schedule.
Sidewalk project updates:
Issue of curbing at corner of Route 103. Concrete pouring will be starting tomorrow.
Walking can be done, but no driving on it for five days.
Placement of the driveway on the Sanborn property – That was placed where it is because of the ADA requirement for wheelchairs.
Installing curbing in front of Master’s store, now owned by Jesse Singh, the site plan was approved after the plan was set for the sidewalk. Mr. Singh went over his approved plan from the Planning Board with the Selectmen at length. The main entrance and parking would be from the east side of the building with the Main Street door remaining there but unused. There would be no parking in the front of the building. Considerable discussion transpired. Harry Wright, Chair advised he did not feel there is any action that can be done at this time to interrupt the sidewalk project.
Harriet Douglass questioned if there is a definite plan to pave Fairgrounds next spring, and are the funds there to do it. The reply is yes, that is in the plan and there are partial funds available.
Drainage on Cilley property- It was stated that this came up at the start of the sidewalk project, but cannot be included as it would be considered enhancing private property. The contractor is willing to do the work for $2500.00.per Cheryl Behr.
George Cilley advised the town has done two things to create the problems with the drainage. One was when they paved the parking lot of the Community Building with the run off being 30% greater now. With several days of rain, the water pools on the Knapton lawn. Now with the curbing, they have pushed the waterway 4 feet closer to her house on level ground and will flood into that house if there is a snow bank there.
The town did create the problem. Cheryl Behr advised it is not in the sidewalk plan.
It was decided that it could be taken care of at a much lesser fee than the estimate quoted by Jim Parker, contractor.
Motion was made by Sonny Harris for the town to authorize putting in a drain in the Cilley property to take care of excess water into a drain. Seconded by Harry Wright, Chair.
Motion carried 3-0.
Motion was made by Harry Wright for no through traffic ordinance for greater than 6 wheels on East Main Street between East Main Street and 103. No second.
Motion tabled at this time.
Notice has been posted for the up-coming Election.
Timber Tax Warrant was signed for Chris Mock.
Since Bradford does not have a Health Officer at this time, Warner has been called upon to do a required inspection. Warner pays one hundred dollar a month. It was the consensus of the board to call Warner if needed again on an on call basis.
Employee Reviews will be put on hold until next week.
Motion was made by Harry Wright, Chair to allow Cheryl Behr to purchase a new computer for the Bookkeeper as that one is malfunctioning. Seconded by Sonny Harris. Motion carried 3-0.
Martyn Chivers:
Martyn Chivers arrived, and Harry Wright, Chair reiterated to Mr. Chivers that the Selectmen signed a permit improperly without having a public hearing first, making it invalid. Mr. Chivers advised he would like an answer. The Planning Board has approved the plan, and Mr. Chivers advised he would like to put it back to where it was. It was stated that this is regulated by State Law and towns have no leeway regarding junk yards.
It was stated that if this is something the Planning Board does not think is a reasonable change in zoning, and then it should come in by petition. A petition must be submitted to the Board of Selectmen between 120 and 90 days prior to the Annual Town Meeting.
The Secretary was requested to forward a letter of explanation to Mr. Martyn Chivers.
Decision was to have Department Heads to come in for reviews at the regular Selectmen’s meetings.
Discussions continued.
Motion made to adjourn, seconded and carried.
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”.