Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes
July 29, 2019
Meeting called to order at 12:13pm
Roll Call- John Pfeifle, Michael James, Jason Allen, Karen Hambleton, Town Administrator, Mark Goldberg, Fire Chief, Alan Brown, Second Deputy Fire Chief and Brian Duggan, Municipal Resources Inc.
Motion: John Pfeifle motioned to adjourn to non-public session per RSA at 12:14pm.
Second: Jason Allen
Decision: 3-0 in favor
The group reviewed candidates for the Part Time Fire Chief position.
Motion: Michael James motioned to adjourn to public session at 5:21pm.
Second: Jason Allen
Decision: 2-0 in favor
Motion: Michael James motioned to adjourn the meeting at 5:22pm.
Second: Jason Allen
Decision: 2-0 in favor
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:
Mike Tardiff, Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission, appeared to extend an offer of support to the Economic Development Committee. Jared Reynolds, New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, has been mentoring the development of this committee and Mike proposed including CNHRP as an additional resource.
Mike felt the CNHRP could lend support to program development and encourage sustainability and momentum. Concerns were voiced about challenges with maintaining volunteer support for this type of Committee and Mike felt the inclusion of CNHRP might be helpful in energizing the Committee.
Mike encouraged the Board to formalize this Committee and highlighted various economic development strategies he has been discussing with the Planning Board as part of the Land Use chapter draft being written for the Master Plan revision. These included RSA 79-E (Community Revitalization Tax Incentive Program), the use of TIF (Tax Incremental Financing) Districts and establishing Economic Revitalization Zones. Claire James asked whether a Concord, NH example of utilizing the TIF program had been successful. Mike noted the project had paid the note off early so it was a successful endeavor.
Mike will have Matt Monahan attend the next Economic Development Committee meeting which is scheduled for August 8, 2019 at 6:00pm.
Matt Monahan is CNHRP’s Brownfield expert and Mike extended an offer to update the Select Board on an analysis done for the former Naughton property as well as land behind the Transfer Station. Karen will coordinate this review on a future Select Board agenda.
Claire James appeared on behalf of the Historical Society to discuss demolition of the school house on Dunfield Road which is in a derelict state. Claire had visited the site with Mike Bauer who determined that the beam framing was still salvageable. The Historical Society is seeking Board approval to demolish the site. Michael James asked the Society to present an assessment of the building and identify the next steps to be taken. This property was a tax deed acquisition and Karen will follow up on identifying any previous owner notification obligations.
Motion: Michael James motioned that the Select Board grant the Historical Society with the authority to move forward with volunteer resources to pursue preserving the building pending the presentation of an assessment of the building and identification of next steps. Karen will review any deeding requirements and provide recommendations.
Second: John Pfeifle
Decision:3-0 in favor
Public Input:
- Marilyn Gordon informed the Board she had received the details surrounding the use of the Parks and Recreation financial accounts. She will provide that information to Karen for distribution and discussion at the next Select Board meeting.
Regular Business:
- Minutes from the July 15th, 2019 meeting were reviewed and accepted.
Motion: Jason Allen motioned to approve the minutes.
Second: John Pfeifle
Decision: 3-0 in favor
- Account Payable and Payroll Manifest were reviewed and signed.
- Jason Allen presented a document outlining overtime activity by the Highway Department in response to inquiries by the Budget Committee and members of the public expressing concern that overtime expenses were being incurred during the summer months. Steve Hall, Town Road Agent was present and spoke to the types of activity that would drive overtime. 64.5 hours of overtime has been incurred since the beginning of April.
Some of the specific drivers include sanding during snow events in April, the completion of ditching, grading or York raking required to avoid leaving road work in unpassable conditions, sweeping where the Town is utilizing rented equipment to avoid additional rental charges and a call out event to address a downed tree (on-call response is a 2 hour minimum event).
The Board asked Steve about the use of account 3901, Contract Services, which had been noted as over expended during the Q2 expense review. This line was used for sweeping expense and additional part time snow removal. Sweeping was by far the largest portion of this as 100% of the roads were addressed this year which will result in more effective ditch maintenance in the future. Steve did note that the original quote for this work was $150/hour plus a $50 travel fee to and from the worksite. Pricing was negotiated to a flat rate of $125 an hour. Steve is confident that he will manage the budget to his bottom-line amount. Steve did note that he has incurred additional expenses this year for routine activity that had not been done in previous years such as fire extinguisher inspections.
Jason and John both expressed confidence in Steve’s judgement in managing overtime as well as the Highway budget.
- Steve presented the Board with an update on culvert replacement activity. The first project discussed was Pleasant View Road. Steve has received 3 quotes to address the situation which all outline different solutions. $38,000 was budgeted for this activity but does not appear to be enough to cover a long-term correction without considerable work being conducted internally by Town employees. Steve is concerned about the time frame it would take to internally dedicate resources to the project and the impact of having the road closed. Jason Allen would prefer to submit another Warrant Article in 2020 utilizing contract services if there is not enough funding to complete the project now. Steve will be reviewing the proposal received by the previous Road Agent to determine if that solution would be effective.
A culvert replacement project is also needed on Gillingham Drive. This project will be more involved than the Pleasant View project as it involves raising the road and managing a retention pond during the repair work. John Pfeifle requested the project be submitted as a Warrant Article in 2020.
Claire James asked why $38,000 was used as a Warrant amount if the amount won’t cover the job. The amount was based upon the only quote received at the time but it’s not clear whether the work quoted will be an effective long-term solution. Claire asked about guidelines in the Purchasing Policy and whether the policy addresses nepotism. Michael responded that the Purchasing Policy outlines requirement based upon the dollar value involved, that quotes would be procured based upon a specific solution, once that solution is finalized, and thanked her for her input.
Steve requested an update on establishing Road Bonds for Timber work.
Motion: Michael James motioned to have Karen research the details around establishing a Road Bond policy.
Second: John Pfeifle
Decision: 3-0 in favor
Steve asked whether there was any update on declaring Fire Lanes on Class VI roads. Jason Allen responded that this is still pending feedback from the Conservation Commission.
Steve also asked the Board whether there is a Town Ordinance regarding parking on sidewalks as this is a maintenance issue. The Board believes there should not be an issue on East Main Street and will confirm the Ordinance and that signage exists.
Motion: John Pfeifle motioned to pass an Ordinance for no parking on the sidewalk side of West Main Street.
Second: Motion was not seconded
Motion: Michael James motioned to have Karen research and provide verbiage for an Ordinance that restrict vehicles from parking on the sidewalk and to follow up on signage for East Main Street.
Second: John Pfeifle
Decision: 3-0 in favor
- Town Hall update: A project update from the Trumbull-Nelson Project Manager had not been received prior to the meeting. Karen believes TN is pending an update from the mason who will be doing the granite installation which had been scheduled for mid to late July. Karen will follow up with Trumbull-Nelson as well as Bob Stewart to determine if the septic plan permit has been resubmitted. She will also follow up with Jay Barrett on the status of the Site Plan he is preparing.
- The Board discussed whether any fuel services should be active at the old Masonic building. The building has been drained and will remain vacant until a determination is made for its future use.
- Michael read a communication from Devin Pendleton into record thanking the Town employees as well as the public for their help with the Independence Day Celebration event. John added the Board’s thanks to Devin for organizing the event so well.
- The Board signed a driveway permit for Map 6/Lot 84-7.
- The Board sign an Intent to Cut for Map 13/ Lot 20 and Lot 30.
- The Board signed a letter to the Secretary of State regarding the formation of the Lake Todd Association as the appropriate paperwork had not been filed when the Lake Todd Village District was initially formed.
- The Board signed a Disabled Tax Exemption as recommended by the Assessor.
- The Board signed the Department of Revenue’s annual request as to whether or not the Town would be using the PA-28 form for gathering property information for 2020. The Town will not be using the form.
Motion: Jason Allen motioned to adjourn to non-public session at 8:35pm per RSA 91-A:3II(a) personnel.
Second: John Pfeifle
Decision: 3-0 in favor
Motion: John Pfeifle motioned to adjourn to public session at 9:19pm.
Second: Michael James
Decision: 3-0 in favor
Motion: Jason Allen motioned that the minutes of the non-public session be sealed.
Second: Michael James
Decision: 3-0 in favor
Motion: John Pfeifle motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:20 pm.
Second: Michael James
Decision: 3-0 in favor
The next Selectmen’s meeting will be held on Monday August 12th, 2019 at 7:00pm, at the Bradford Area Community Center.
Minutes submitted by Laurie Colburn, Recording Secretary