Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes
May 20, 2019
Meeting called to order at 7:00pm
Roll Call- John Pfeifle, Michael James, Jason Allen, Karen Hambleton, Town Administrator, and Marilyn Gordon, Treasurer were in attendance
Pledge of Allegiance
Appearances:
- Joel Banaszak and Tyler Philips, of Horizon Engineering, appeared to discuss their services offering with the Board. Horizon Engineering provides civil and environmental engineering services and works with Towns throughout the region. They also assist towns in identifying grant opportunities and writing grant applications to secure funding. They asked that the Board consider utilizing their services when undertaking new initiatives both large and small.
Public Input:
There was no public input
Regular Business:
- Minutes from the May 13th, 2019 meeting were reviewed.
Motion: Michael James motioned to approve the minutes.
Second: John Pfeifle
Decision: vote 3-0 in favor
- Account payables and the payroll manifest were approved and signed.
- Michael explained that going forward the meeting’s process would follow a more traditional format. Instead of beginning with discussion of a topic and moving to a motion, a motion and second would be made before the discussion began.
Motion: Michael James motioned to adjust the Select Board meeting schedule to every other week beginning June 3rd through Labor Day. The meeting time of 7:00pm shall remain the same.
Second: John Pfeifle
Vote: 3-0
Board meetings will be held on 6/3, 6/17, 7/1, 7/15, 7/29, 8/12, 8/26 and 9/9. Additional meetings may be added as needed.
Motion: Michael James motioned to adopt an updated Purchasing Policy for the Town of Bradford.
Second: John Pfeifle
- Karen asked whether a purchase involving a previously signed contract would go straight to a Purchase Order without additional signoff requirements. The Board determined it would but any variance from the contract would require approval.
- Karen also asked whether an item passed at Town Meeting as a Warrant Article would need to comply with the Purchasing Policy. The Board determined it would.
- The Board discussed “Sole Source” scenarios which are not specifically addressed in the policy. These will be addressed as a situation arises.
- Item #8 on the draft policy referenced the use of Town vehicles and will be removed from the Purchasing Policy and included in an employee related policy.
- The Board would like to begin using the revised policy immediately.
- Karen will bring the Board any concerns and will monitor and report on any volume impacts as the policy will drive additional Purchase Order activity.
- Laurie Colburn outlined item #5 should be edited to read “A formal bid process shall be used” rather than “A formal bid process should be used”.
- Jason will forward the document to Karen for a final grammatical update.
Motion: Michael James motioned to adopt the updated Purchasing Policy with the removal of item #8, the edit of the word should to shall in item #5 along with final grammatical update from Karen to be adopted immediately.
Second: John Pfeifle
Decision: vote 3-0 in favor
Motion: Michael James motioned to make of copy of Hopkinton’s Tax Relief Incentive Program packet, updating the document to reflect the Town of Bradford in place of Hopkinton, adopt the document and have the document posted on the Town website by the end of the month.
Second: John Pfeifle
- The Board discussed the contents of the Hopkinton document and a document Laurie Colburn put together. The Hopkinton document provided a summary of RSA79E, Laurie’s document provided a summary of RSA79E, an application form and a copy of the RSA as well as the process flow.
- Karen asked whether the Board would adopt the application process provided. The Board determined they would.
Motion: Michael James motioned to adopt “Laurie’s Packet” for the Community Revitalization Tax Incentive Program and have the document posted on the Town website by June 3rd, 2019.
Second: John Pfeifle
Decision: vote 3-0 in favor
Motion: Michael James motioned to accept John’s Quarterly Selectmen’s Update.
Second: Jason Allen
- The Board discussed a draft Quarterly Selectmen’s Update which will be published in The Bridge. John summarized the various topics included and expressed concern with related to an increase in the Education Taxas well as the equalization rate being applied to Bradford by the State. John will continue to assess these changes and update the Board as more information becomes available. Karen and John will finalize the update for publication.
Decision: vote 3-0 in favor
- The Board discussed the planned procurement of a tent to be used at various Town functions. To
- ensure the safe use of a Town owned tent, Jason recommended renting a tent for the 2019 Independence Day Celebration while additional research is done to make sure the Town can safely erect the structure and comply with any regulations regarding its use.
Motion: Michael James motioned to have Jason work with Devin Pendleton to determine a solution for the upcoming Independence Day Celebration.
Second: Jason Allen
Decision: vote 3-0 in favor
- Karen provided the Board with an update on Town Hall activity:
- The septic plan has not been resubmitted to the State yet. An update is needed from Bob Stewart.
- The granite is expected to be delivered late this week.
- Roof leaks are pending a quote from Trumbull-Nelson. Their Project Manager will have this done when they return to wrap up the “Mothball” work.
Motion: Michael James motioned to have Trumbull Nelson move forward completing the “Mothball” activity, per Tony’s April 6th estimate, with the exception of priming and painting the new clapboards installed.
Second: John Pfeifle
- Jason expressed concern about having other resources quote the painting work. Due to the height of the building the Board will need to ensure the work is done by a resource that has the proper OSHA certification. Karen will follow up with Trumbull-Nelson as to what their painting estimate covers.
- The Board needs to follow up on the status of removing the rocks. There has been discussion about using some of the rocks in the landscape.
- A quote is needed to run the permanent electric feed. Karen will speak with Jay Barrett about identifying the best route on the site plan and having Nate Kimball and Paul Flinkstrom identify the conduit and installation demands.
Decision: vote 3-0 in favor
- Jason discussed replacement of a damaged Brown Shattuck Memorial Field sign which sits on his property. A new sign has been designed and Jason will be donating his Selectmen’s stipend to cover the cost to replace the damaged sign. Michael stated there is a group in Town that has put together a new design for signs in Bradford and provided Jason with contact information for this group to facilitate consistency in the sign’s appearance. Marlene Freyler commented that the Town needs to work on maintain all of its signs.
Motion: Jason Allen motioned to approve the sign replacement.
Second: John Pfeifle
Decision: vote 3-0 in favor
Motion: Michael James motioned to have Town Hall Streams provide live streaming service for Bradford.
Second: Jason Allen (withdrawn)
- This service will be $250 a month and the company will provide and install the equipment necessary at no cost. It was not known if there is a commitment term required.
- This service would potentially replace the audio recordings provided by a local resource. Andrew Pinard currently provides the Town website and email support, and uploads and maintains audio recordings as part of his agreement. Karen asked if the Board would allow a local proposal to be considered. Michael feels the Town Hall Streams solution is a good solution and is being used by other local Towns such as Hopkinton and Henniker and does not feel there is a need to seek other proposals.
- Marilyn Gordon and Marlene Freyler questioned funding the expenditure as it was not a budgeted item and objected to the expenditure. John felt the Board would be able to find funds to cover the cost and believes the solution would provide a good resource for more community engagement.
- Jason Allen withdrew his seconding of the motion. He likes the product and supports the initiative but feels it should be researched further and submitted as part of the 2020 budget request.
Second: John Pfeifle
Decision: vote 2-1 in favor; motion passed
- The Board signed Abatement requests for Map 21/Lot 10 and Map 7/Lot 20-1 as recommended by the Assessor.
- The Board signed Intents to Cut for Map 7/Lot 69 and Map 6/Lot 6.
- The Board signed Appointments for the Parks & Recreation Committee.
- Karen asked the Board to approve having a Title Search done on the Masonic Hall. Michael would like to have a large company do this and will forward Karen the name of a resource he would like to use. The expenditure will be funded from the legal budget line.
- John let Michael know he had received a complaint about a Town employee doing work on a lot owned by the James and the complainant was concerned that the employee may be treated differently than other Town employees as a result. This gardening activity was being done on a voluntary basis during non-working hours. Michael stated the property in question is intended to be used by the public and that what an employee chooses to do during their personal time is not something the Selectmen are responsible for. He stated he would certainly not allow an employee to volunteer to work at his personal residence. Jason and John stated they had no concerns.
Motion: John Pfeifle motioned to adjourn at 9:15pm.
Second: Michael James
Decision: vote 3-0 in favor
Motion: Michael James motioned to reopen the meeting at 9:16pm.
Second: John Pfeifle
Decision: vote 3-0 in favor
- The meeting was reopened at 9:16pm and the Board signed a contract for the UNH Theater and Dance organization to participate in the Independence Day Celebration.
The meeting adjourned at 9:18pm.
Minutes submitted by Laurie Colburn, Recording Secretary