BOARD MEETING MINUTES
January 26, 2005
Selectmen Present: Mrs. Silverman, Mrs. Knight and Mr. Clukey
Mrs. Silverman convened the meeting at 7:00pm.
PRIMARY:
*** DISCUSS INTENT TO CUT TAX MAP 03 LOT 39 AND BRIDGE AND ROAD EVALUATION, FORESTER REVIEW: Mrs. Thompson spoke with Robert Barry at the State of NH Municipal Bridges. She called to ask if he could help with an estimate on how much the bridges should be bonded for. One of his concerns is in regards to the bridge that we just repaired. If the metal pipe gets compressed on this bridge we would have to rebuild the bridge and that could cost up to $300,000. He noted that they haven’t rated this since the repair in December. He suggested that Mrs. Thompson call LGC and speak to a staff attorney in regards to this. Mrs. Thompson spoke with Paul Sanderson, an attorney at LGC, and he stated that we should get a
professional engineer to look at bridges and determine the load that the bridges can hold. This should be done before any haul of timber is completed. He said that the Selectmen can tell them that they cannot use the bridge until this is done. The cost for the engineer would be the town’s responsibility. Mrs. Silverman would like a quote of what this would cost to hire an engineer. Mrs. Silverman stated that the problem with posting a load limit is who is there to enforce.
The board would like Charlie Koch to look at this cut prior to the start of cutting.
*** UPDATE ON FROZEN PIPES DISCOVERED 1/24/05 IN THE TOWN HALL:
The pipes have been replaced that burst due to freezing. Mrs. Thompson filed an insurance claim. We have a $1000 deductible. Water flowed into the sprinkler system. Hampshire Fire drained this. There is a chance that a pipe froze in the tower. We won’t know until the spring when this melts. They think it is pretty slim that it did freeze.
*** VISION QUOTE : They have provided a quote in the amount of $55,950 over a three-year period. We will need to add $18,650 to our reassessment line of the budget. Mrs. Silverman stated she got the feeling from the Budget meeting that they would not be in favor of the partial revaluation. Mrs. Knight stated that the best the board can do is explain this and present this to the town meeting. She feels that if the Budget Committee does support this, they should also speak in favor of this at Town Meeting.
Mrs. Thompson stated that she received information from Larry Biron on the school apportionment. She feels that we may be paying more based on our assessment ratio. The board will give the Budget Committee a memo with this information along with the letter from Vision, and a revision to our budget to include the money for the update.
*** APPOINT GENE CUOMO ACTING CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Mrs. Knight moved to appoint Gene Cuomo as acting Code Enforcement Officer until such time that we appoint someone to fill this position. The motion was seconded by Mr. Clukey and was passed by a 3-0 vote.
*** REVIEW UNRESERVED FUND BALANCE AS DETERMINED BY LAST WEEK’S AUDIT: Reviewed
*** REVIEW DRAFT OF MRSD PROPOSED 2005/2006 BUDGET AND APPORTIONMENT: Reviewed
*** NON-PUBLIC SESSION – REVIEW OF ELDERLY EXEMPTION APPLICATION:
At 9:50 PM, Mr. Clukey made a motion to go into Non-Public Session
under RSA 91 A:3 II (e). Mrs. Knight seconded the motion. The
motion passed 3-0. Roll Call Vote; Mr. Clukey – yes, Mrs. Knight –
yes, Mrs. Silverman - yes.
At 9:55 pm. Mr. Clukey made a motion to go out of Non-Public Session
under RSA 91 A:3 II (e). Mrs. Knight seconded the motion. The
motion passed 3-0.
*** NON-PUBLIC SESSION – PERSONNEL:
At 9:55 PM, Mr. Clukey made a motion to go into Non-Public Session
under RSA 91 A:3 II (e). Mrs. Knight seconded the motion. The
motion passed 3-0. Roll Call Vote; Mr. Clukey – yes, Mrs. Knight –
yes, Mrs. Silverman - yes.
At 10:00 PM Mr. Clukey made a motion to go out of Non-Public Session
under RSA 91 A:3 II (e). Mrs. Knight seconded the motion. The
motion passed 3-0.
*** DISCUSS REVISIONS TO THE ELDERLY AND DISABLED EXEMPTION INCOME AND ASSET CRITERIA TO APPEAR ON 2005 WARRANT: The disabled income and asset limits we have are very low. For elderly we require $25,000 for single, $30,000 for married, $60,000 assets for elderly. We will increase the married income limit to $35,000, and single to $30,000. Mrs. Knight moved to place this on the warrant, the motion was seconded by Mr. Clukey, the motion passed 3-0.
Disabled we will increase the income and asset limits to the same as elderly. We will increase the exemption to $30,000.
*** REVIEW POLICE ACTIVITY REPORT: Reviewed
*** AMBULANCE BILLING: Mrs. Thompson put a question out with regard to the ambulance billing that Mr. Methe is looking into. She questioned whether to set up a special revenue account instead of a capital reserve account to put the money generated from this into. If it is a capital reserve you have to appropriate money into the account and out of the fund. If it is a special revenue fund money can be put into it without an appropriation but requires an appropriation to withdraw funds. We have to have a public hearing to establish the special revenue account at least 30 days prior to Town Meeting. The selectmen agreed to set the public hearing for the
special revenue account for February 10th at 6:30pm. The Budget Committee will be holding the hearing on the proposed 2005 budget the same night at 7:00pm. Mrs. Knight would like to send a memo to the Fire Department along with a copy of the Budget Committee Minutes to let them know this is being pursued. We will let them know that in light of this request we have scheduled a Public Hearing.
*** WARRANT: Mrs. Thompson feels that we should have a lawyer look at the article for the Conservation Easement placed by the Conservation Commission. The board is concerned that the Conservation Commission is the body that negotiates the easement. The board feels that the Board of Selectmen should be authorized to negotiate with the Monadnock Conservancy. Mrs. Silverman feels that their needs to be more of a review process prior to making a decision. A memo will be sent to the Conservation Commission stating that we have a problem with the wording of this article. We would like the Board of Selectmen to have the authorization to negotiate
these easements. Mrs. Silverman would like Mrs. Thompson to contact Mrs. Zug and Carmen Yon and let them know we will be changing this article to have the Board of Selectmen negotiate the easement. Mrs. Silverman feels that the cost associated with this needs to be discussed at Town Meeting.
*** Mrs. Thompson spoke with Mrs. Wright with regard to the Supervisors request. Mrs. Wright said that she does not have a problem with giving Mrs. Sillanpaa a key but she does not feel that there should be anyone else who has access to these alarmed offices. Mrs. Silverman feels that we may need to consider making the meeting room into offices and moving meetings to the Library at some time in the future. The board discussed an alternate place to hold voting. They feel that we should look at Meadowood Hall. The board will look into this after Town Meeting. Mrs. Thompson questioned if we should institute some type of check in to
allow people to vote at town meeting. Mrs. Silverman feels that if we are going to change anything we would need to meet with the Supervisors. We will meet with the Supervisors and explain that we would like to institute a card system for voting.
SECONDARY:
· Various committee/board minutes
· Newsletters
· Review Police logs/reports
SIGN:
· Minutes
· Correspondence
· Payroll and Accounts Payable Manifests
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