Selectmen’s Minutes 10.22.18

October 31, 2018 Karen Hambleton Minutes, Select Board 0

Board of Selectmen Meeting

October 22, 2018

Pledge of Allegiance

Meeting called to order at 5:30 pm

Roll Call- Jim Bibbo, Chairman; John Pfeifle, Selectman; Michael James, Selectmen; Karen Hambleton, Town Administrator and Marilyn Gordon, Treasurer were in attendance

Appearances: 

  1. Peter C and Peter M Fenton were present to support the submission of Community Revitalization Tax Relief Application’s, submitted by the Appleseed Restaurant, in accordance with RSA 79-E. The Board had accepted the application on October 15th and opened a Public Hearing at 5:35pm to discuss the application and process. The Community Revitalization Tax Relief Program allows the Board to defer an increase in assessment value for a period of time when a property owner makes a capital investment that meets specific criteria. John Pfeifle spoke in favor of granting tax relief but felt the process still needed additional structure established. Chris Frey questioned whether conditional approval could be granted and also asked whether a baseline assessment has been established. Mark Goldberg felt the Board should not rush to grant tax relief, Devin Pendleton suggested the Board set a firm date as to when the process would be established and Marlene Freyler questioned why the process has not already been established.

Motion: John Pfeifle motioned to provide approval, of both the Appleseed and Unless, LLC. applications, pending development of an infrastructure to manage these, and future applications, by December 15th, 2018. Determination on how long the tax relief will be granted for will be decided after standards are established.

Second: Jim Bibbo

Decision: vote 2-0-1 in favor with Michael James abstaining

The Public Hearing was closed at 5:55pm.

  1. The Conservation Committee appeared to provide the Board a report on their initiative to baseline and monitor the condition of Class VI roads. Thirty+/- volunteers have established a process to conduct semi-annual inspections and reporting. Ann Eldridge and Doug Southard spoke about the conditions and a desire to promote the use of Class VI roads for recreation as part of the Open Space Trail system. The Board thanked the Committee for their work and will review the report to establish any recommendations the Board may have.
  2. Melissa Cloutier, Town Clerk/Tax Collector, appeared to speak with the Board about the upcoming General Election.
  3. Mark Goldberg appeared to discuss his planned retirement within the next year. He also wanted the Board to know the department was down by five volunteers. He stated there was not any interest by current volunteers to take on the Chief role, and also expressed concern that there is a lack of interest in filling volunteer positions as well. Mark suggested the Board might want to consider hiring a part-time Fire Chief. The Board thanked Mark for his service as well as the service of all of the members of the volunteer department. The Board will evaluate the recommendations Mark made as possible options to fill the Fire Chief position and determine next steps.

Regular Business: 

  1. Karen proposed a plan to close West Main Street on October 31st to provide a safe environment for Halloween Trick-or-Treating. The Board approved and Karen will work with the Police Chief to define the details.
  2. The granite work for the Town Hall was reported as being on track. Three additional vendors had also visited the Town Hall to establish heating quotes due back next week.
  3. Karen asked the Board for some guidance to provide to Department Heads regarding handling and disposal of abandoned waste as there was a situation where the Transfer Station would not accept tires picked up by the highway department until the rims and rubber were separated. The Board asked Karen to follow up on determining a means to separate the material so it can be disposed of at the Transfer Station.
  4. The Board authorized use of $11,843.79 from the Fire Department’s Building Repair, Maintenance and Improvement Capital Reserve Fund, as approved during Town Meeting.

      Motion: Jim Bibbo motion to release the funds.

      Second: John Pfeifle

      Decision: vote 3-0 in favor

  1. The Board signed an Intent to Cut for Map 9/Lot 47-1 on County Road.
  2. The MS-1 Summary of Inventory Valuation was approved; assessed values were up approximately $1 million town-wide.
  3. The Board signed the MS-535, Financial Report of the Budget.
  4. The Board voted to accept donations for a granite bench. $350 was donated by Susan Sherman and $15 was donated by Ken Anderson.

      Motion: John Pfeifle motion to accept the $365 donation.

      Second: Jim Bibbo

      Decision: vote 3-0 in favor

  1. The Board will meet on November 13th to establish the 2018 Tax Rate.
  2. Accounts Payable and Payroll Manifest were reviewed and signed.
  3. Minutes from October 15th meeting were reviewed.

 Motion: John Pfeifle motion to accept.

 Second: Jim Bibbo

 Decision: vote 3-0 in favor 

After a 5 minute recess, the Board adjourned to Non-Public Session per RSA 91-A3II c at 6:55pm.

Motion: Jim Bibbo motion to move to Non-Public session

Second: John Pfeifle

Decision: vote 3-0 in favor

The Board adjourned to Public Session per RSA 91–A3II c at 7:05pm

The Board adjourned the meeting at 7:06pm

Motion: John Pfeifle motioned to adjourn

Second: Michael James

Decision: vote 3-0 in favor 

The next Selectmen’s meeting will be held on Monday October 29th, 2018 at the Bradford Area Community Center.

Minutes submitted by Laurie Colburn, Recording Secretary