APPROVED
TOWN OF
BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING
MINUTES
APPROVED –
CALL TO ORDER
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
|
PRESENT: |
Mr. Victor Danevich, Mr. Harold Lynde (arrived at 9p= m), Mr. Jean-Guy Bergeron, Mr. Edmund Gleason, Mr. Tom Domenico, Mr. Tom Gaydos, = Town Administrator |
|
Also present: ABSENT: |
Members of the press and general public. None |
&nbs= p;
MINUTES RE=
VIEW
The Selectmen were unable to approve the minutes becau= se they needed three attending members for a vote. The minutes review was deferred to= the next meeting.
|
MOTION:<= o:p> |
(Gleason/Domenico) To approve the |
|
VOTE: |
(4-0-0) The motion carri= ed. |
The amen=
dments
to the minutes were as follows: page 1 – Open forum – ‘presented accommodation̵=
7; shall read ‘presented a commendation’; page 2 – ‘indicate
anything other than’ shall read ‘indicate
any obstacles to the renewal<=
/i>’,
‘now over 13 parts’ shall read ‘now over the 13 parts’, all references to ‘Novas’ shal=
l be
corrected to read ‘Nobis̵=
7;,
all reference to ‘Rickman’ shall be corrected to read ‘Ricker’; page 3 – state
documented (and informed Weston)’ shall read ‘state documented =
(and
informed Weston of their approval)’
, all references to ‘Kern’ shall be corrected to read ‘Kirn’, ‘the numbers to=
his three’ shall read ‘=
;the
numbers for his three’, ‘reviewed =
and
wanted it like that all the time’ shall read ‘reviewed the site and wanted it kept like that all the time’,
‘the Health Inspector and
conducted’ shall read ‘the Health Inspector had conducted’, ‘the DES guide them’ shall read
‘the DES to guide them’; page 4 – ‘decree of 1977̵=
7;
shall be corrected to read ‘decree of 1997’,
‘Mr. Domenico questioned how fluids were extracted from vehicles. Mr. Mansur said he had a vacuum
system’ shall read ‘Mr. Domenico questioned if Mr. Mansur had a vacuum system like Mr. Bergeron’s.
ANNOUCEMEN=
T
Mr. Danevich informed that the Town Clerk, Town Tax
Collector and Assessing Department would be closed
OPEN FORUM=
Mr. Herman Hanson, American Legion Post 100, said he m= et with the Selectmen a few weeks ago and was awaiting an answer regarding fun= ding for: 1) Memorial Day Parade; and 2) Cemetery Flags. He said the Post had paid $506.75 = for Cemetery Flags for the five Town cemeteries. The remaining expenses for the Memorial Day Parade (food & beverages) totaled $285. Mr. = Gaydos said there was $1000 in the default budget listed for flags and said the Selectmen had asked Mr. Hanson to provide a breakdown of actual costs. Mr. Hanson said the flags were cur= rently in place at the cemeteries and were an item that had to be replaced every year. Mr. Gaydos said the cem= etery flags had been purchased by the American Legion, which the Town had no appropriation for, and further, there was a request for assistance in connection with the Memorial Day parade.&n= bsp; Mr. Hanson said in the past the total bill had been submitted to the Town, but last year the only bill submitted was for cemetery flags.
Mr. Gleason asked if there would be any additional cos= ts. Mr. Hanson said there were two sub= jects: 1) Avenue of Flags, and 2) Memorial Day parade. Mr. Gleason said he would like to = assess the total impact being sought. Mr. Hanson said the cost to cover Memorial Day would be $506.75 for flags, and = an additional $285 for Memorial Day Parade incidentals. He noted that the Avenue of Flags = began in the year 2000 and had been previously funded by donations; however, that fund was now ‘dried’ up. Mr. Gleason commented that the current flag placement looked adequate and questioned if further fun= ding of flags could be deferred to next year because of the default budget.. Mr. Hanson said if the Selectmen w= ere satisfied with the current flags they would leave it as such and try to upd= ate next year.
Mr. Danevich felt that the Selectmen should clearly articulate a breakdown of the actual costs in the budget for the taxpayers = to review. Given the default bud= get, Mr. Danevich said there were difficult decisions to make, some of which were sa= fety concerns.
Mr. Gleason recognized the difficult budget, but felt cemetery flags for veterans were important. He understood that the Memorial Day parade was well attended and believed that the associated costs (not more t= han $800) could be absorbed within the default operating budget (under Town Celebrations).
Mr. Bergeron said he was unable to participate in the initial meeting with Mr. Hanson. He said he was concerned with the Town working within a default budget and not= ed there may be others dealing with celebrations who may want to seek funds (i= .e. Old Home Day). He said his di= lemma was how the Selectmen would address others seeking funds.
|
MOTION:<= o:p> |
(Gleason/Bergeron) To authorize the Town to reimburs= e the American Legion Post 100 not more than $800, which would cover cemetery f= lags and the associated expenses for the Memorial Day parade. |
|
VOTE: |
(4-0-0) The motion carri=
ed. |
Mr. Danevich asked Mr. Gaydos to make a note in the To= wn Celebration budget to properly identify the items so they would go through = the normal budget process with full disclosure to tax payers. He also asked that the American Le= gion stay consistent with the Town policy of reimbursement. Mr. Hanson said he sent receipts t= o the Town. He confirmed that the A= venue of Flags program was on hold until next year. Mr. Danevich said the current prog= ram would run (without expanding). Mr. Hanson questioned if the flags (and maintenance) would have to be on the ballot. Mr. Gaydos said the m= oney would have to be appropriated or placed in a warrant article. He believed it could be itemized w= ithin the Town Celebrations line item. Mr. Domenico said the line item should be further broken down to indicate: 1) cemetery flags, 2) Memorial Day parade and 3) Avenue of Flags = so there would be a better understanding of actual costs. Mr. Gleason said it would be benef= icial to know if the funds would be supplemented by donations.
Everyone was invited to attend the Memorial Day parade,
which would be held
APPOINTMEN=
TS
Continuati=
on of
Public Hearing for the Approval of the Junkyard / Automobile Recycling Faci=
lity
License of:
Jean-Guy̵=
7;s Used
Cars & Parts, Inc., 180 Marsh Road, Pelham, NH 03076
Mr. Bergeron recused himself.
Mr. Gaydos said the public hearing had been continued =
from
the last meeting to give Mr. Domenico and Mr. Gleason the opportunity to re=
view
all the information and to speak with Ms. Sara Kirn a Hydro-Geologist from =
the New
Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (‘DES’). Mr. Gaydos, Mr. Domenico, Mr. Glea=
son
and Mr. Bergeron (who had recused himself and was only there to listen and =
not to
participate) had a telephone conversation with Ms. Kirn. Mr. Gaydos said he had been direct=
ed by
the Selectmen to obtain the March testing results, which were forwarded by =
Ms.
Kirn. It was noted that the t=
ests
were done by Nobis in March, 2005 and the results showed that only three wa=
ter
supply wells showed a detection of MtBE above the drinking water standard
during the sampling event; the last documented report showed five. Mr. Gaydos said DES believed that a
portion of the MtBE contamination in the
Mr. Domenico said on
Mr. Gleason said he asked Ms. Kirn if in her opinion M= r. Bergeron was doing everything possible to cooperate with the state and to t= ake measures to ensure this type of thing didn’t happen again. He said it was Ms. Kirn’s op= inion that Mr. Bergeron was taking action and there was nothing further Mr. Berge= ron could do. Mr. Gleason recogni= zed that if a license were granted, the Selectmen would have the ability to rev= iew it again if the impending test results indicated anything other than improvement. He was in favor = of granting a license at this time.
Mr. Danevich provided a summary of the submitted application. He said a comple= ted application was submitted with the fees, the fire inspection was completed (including the new checklist), the Health Officer had completed his inspect= ion and made a recommendation to grant a license, the Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer had been on site, completed his inspection and made a favorable recommendation to grant a license for twelve months, Weston Solut= ions didn’t perform complete evaluation, but made a comment that the situa= tion had improved. Mr. Gaydos said Weston’s comment was made in January, 2005 regarding the November, 20= 04 tests. Mr. Danevich said two = of the Selectmen had requested further information from DES and Ms. Kirn had provi= ded favorable comment.
Mr. Domenico said another question that was asked of M= s. Kirn was regarding Nobis and their ability to fulfill the requirements that Weston was previously fulfilling. He said Nobis was a company that DES did frequent business with; Ms. Kirn indicated that Nobis was qualified and did work on a contract basis for DES throughout the state.
PUBLIC INPUT
Mr. John Sergi,
Mr. Sergi said Mr. Bergeron had made changes, however = there were still on-going problems like no fence. He said the neighbors had heard wh= at the state spent (in excess of $500,000), but costs incurred by Mr. Bergeron had= not been discussed. He believed M= r. Bergeron’s costs had not been discussed because of Mr. Bergeron’= ;s position as a Selectman. He f= elt Mr. Bergeron should be held accountable.&n= bsp; He reiterated that the license should not be granted for more than 90-days. Mr. Sergi said the Building Inspector’s background was in building/contracting and limit= ed in what he could provide to the Board for a professional opinion regarding = the site. He used the unfinished dwelling on Mr. Bergeron’s property as an example of something that c= ould be done to set a precedent for property maintenance as a representative and Selectman. Mr. Danevich asked= that the discussion maintain focus with respect to licensing.
Mr. Sergi said his purpose for testifying was to note = that the problem was ongoing and the only reason the water contamination was get= ting better was because the state provided fifty-two homes with water filtration systems. He said the state wa= s not coming out to maintain and clean the filters anymore because it cost $800.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He said there had to be contaminat= ion in the well for the state to maintain the systems because it was too costly for the state to do so otherwise. He said the homeowners now had to maintain the systems to prevent anything from happening.
Mr. Sergi felt the situation was due to the many gallo=
ns of
gasoline and oil coming from the cars being cut up. He said Mr. Bergeron stated that t=
he gas
tanks were taken off and the gas was removed. He said there were many tanks on t=
he
cars that had not been removed still on the site. Mr. Sergi said he had a friend in a
similar business to Mr. Bergeron who would put the cars on a cradle, punch a
hole in the gas tank, attach a hose and drained the contents into a tank.
Mr. Sergi said a lot of people asked him to speak on t= heir behalf. He said Mr. Belleville resided in Town for forty years and didn’t feel he was given proper respect. He wanted the Select= men to take the situation seriously. He said he wanted the following: 1) unfinished home to be completed or destroy= ed, 2) Mr. Bergeron’s place= to work properly and not contaminate the water, 3) the state to conduct period= ic checks on the water in the homes with the filtration systems (with or witho= ut contamination). He reiterated= that Mr. Bergeron should be granted a 90-day license and at the end of the 90-day period should be inspected by a professional company with no agenda. He said there should be notificati= on to the abutters that a hearing was going to be held. He said if the neighbors had to ta= ke legal action against the Town, they would.= Mr. Sergi said it appeared because Mr. Bergeron was a Selectman and a Representative that the rules that applied to others, didn’t apply to him. He said the political ag= enda had to stop. He hoped that the current Selectmen would take action to correct the situation.
Mr. Sergi was concerned that there may be a rodent infestation at Mr. Bergeron’s site and questioned if it was being reviewed or corrected. He end= ed by saying the process needed special attention and if legal action was needed,= the neighbors were ready to do so.
Mr. Danevich informed that every April 1st licenses came up for renewal. He said abutters weren’t notified regarding the Selectmen agenda items, = and there was no provision in the budget to do so. He said there were public postings= and notifications in newspapers and on public television. He then indicated that each of the= Town inspectors performed inspections within their disciplines; rodent control would fall u= nder the Health Inspector, who had to follow his guidelines for inspections. He said the most detailed inspecti= on was the 60 item checklist done by the Code Officer through the Fire Department. Mr. Danevich said= the jurisdiction was the state, an outside agency (third party with no vested interest in Pelham). He said it was good = to hear the problem was getting better and moving in the right direction, but = noted it took time. Mr. Danevich sa= id in the past, the Selectmen had been given a presentation regarding MtBE and unders= tood its implications. He noted th= at the monitoring wells were reviewed quarterly.&= nbsp; Mr. Gaydos said once the reports were completed, the state website posted the information for public review.&= nbsp;
Mr. Sergi said the reason the correction was shown to = be a benefit was because fifty-two homes had filtration systems. He didn’t feel a one-year li= cense should be granted because it would take time for corrective action could ta= ke place, because the process of taking a license is lengthy. Mr. Gaydos said the monitoring wel= ls were outside the filtering system; the tests taken from the monitoring wells didn’t flow through the filtering system. Mr. Sergi said water samples were = taken from his house. Mr. Gaydos sa= id water samples were taken from the houses; however, the monitoring wells bei= ng used were not filtered to see if the MtBE was flowing outside the area. He understood that the state was no longer paying for the maintenance of the systems because there was no trace= of MtBE there. Mr. Sergi said th= ey had no guarantee that it wouldn’t come back until it was tested. He questioned what portion Mr. Ber= geron had spent out of the total amount spent on the problem. Mr. Gaydos said it was irrelevant = to the conversation. Mr. Sergi went = on to say the Town was looking to bring a water line up the street to correct the problem, which meant the Town would spend thousands and neighbors would spe= nd hundreds of dollars. He said = they would also be subject to changing water prices. Mr. Danevich said water lines and unfinished homes were outside the scope of the discussion. He said the process was governed b= y the Town Policy (adopted by the residents) and by the state informing what could and could not be done. He sai= d if information changed as a result of an inspection or dramatic increase in contamination, the Selectmen had the right to re-open the hearing and revoke the license.
Mr. Sergi questioned who would conduct the inspections= if a one-year license was granted. Mr. Danevich said the independent party was the state, who continued to monitor= the monitoring wells as part of the remediation program. If there was failure to comply wit= h the obligations of doing the inspections, the Selectmen had the right to reopen= the application, revoke the license and issue a cease and desist. Mr. Sergi questioned how the homeo= wners would hear what was happening. Mr. Danevich said information was available every 90-days on the state DES website.
Mr. Danevich said he saw in one of the reports that th= ere were approximately twenty properties/homeowners that declined access and de= nied the DES from coming onto the property.&nbs= p; Mr. Sergi said he had denied access to the state. He said the state contacted him an= d said they were going to remove the filtration systems because they belonged to t= he state. Mr. Danevich questione= d how the Selectmen could help him. Mr. Sergi said the only thing the neighbors felt good about was having the syst= em and people were fearful that the state, instead of doing inspections, would= pull the systems. Mr. Danevich questioned how the wells could be monitored if DES wasn’t allowed access. Mr. Sergi said the pe= ople should be notified that the systems would be monitored, not taken out. Mr. Danevich said the data before = the Board was absent of the information from the residents that denied access.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He said the information before the= Board was from several different inspectors (of different disciplines) who gave favorable recommendations and the governing agency, DES that had done, and continued to do testing were also in the affirmative to granting a license. He said in the overa= ll picture the MtBE had improved. Mr. Sergi questioned if a one-year license was granted, who would be held accountable/responsible to provide the Selectmen with reports. Mr. Danevich said DES, as they had= done, would contact the Town if an investigation was needed. Mr. Sergi felt there should be an outside agency, with no vested interest in the Town or state should conduct= the inspections.
Mr. Domenico took umbrage to the comment by Mr. Sergi =
that
Mr. Bergeron may be receiving special treatment because of his membership a=
s a
Selectman or State Representative. <=
/span>In
fact, Mr. Domenico felt Mr. Bergeron was probably under more scrutiny becau=
se
of his position. He said it w=
as
also implied that the Selectmen weren’t taking the situation
serious. He said since the la=
st
meeting he had spent hours on the phone with DES, reviewing environmental
documentation, speaking with Mr. Gleason and Mr. Gaydos getting all informa=
tion
possible, reviewing court justice rulings and consent decrees. He noted a temporary license had t=
o be
contingent upon specific issues. If
Mr. Bergeron were granted a temporary license it would have to be related t=
o a
specific deficiency, and there would be a time limit for compliance with the
set of outlined deficiencies at which point the Selectmen would have to give
him a full license. Mr. Gaydo=
s also
confirmed this. Mr. Domenico =
said
information obtained from the DES indicated Mr. Bergeron was in compliance =
with
their directives; there were two independent firms that worked for the stat=
e of
Mr. Sergi asked if the Selectmen were aware that Mr.
Bergeron didn’t allow one of the companies on his property. Mr. Domenico said it was reported =
to the
Selectmen at the last meeting by a member of the public. He said the Selectmen asked DES di=
rectly
about this and were informed Mr. Bergeron was within his rights to do so.
Mr. Danevich said his resolve had not changed and went=
on to
discuss the actions he had taken to make information available. He noted that the Pennichuck water
discussion was a result of resident action and being pro-active. He said the public hearing for
Pennichuck was a long, lengthy process and wouldn’t happen
overnight. He said the reside=
nts
had no obligation to connect to a water line if it was to be run down the
road. Mr. Sergi asked who wou=
ld pay
for the water line. Mr. Danev=
ich
said the financing could come from multiple different sources; the Selectmen
were still learning and only had initial discussions. He said the Planning Board had rec=
ently
approved a storage tank (off
Mr. Sergi asked how to set a precedent that a building permit would expire in a year or two unless there was a hardship. Mr. Danevich said the ordinance wo= uld need to be changed, which could be done through Town Meeting. He said a petition warrant article= could also be proposed.
Mr. Gleason wanted to assure the residents of the area=
that
the Selectmen were concerned. He
said his primary concern was if the situation was under control and that
adequate measures were being taken to ensure that this type of thing did not
happen again. He said the sta=
te
assured him that was the case. The
state will test the source every 90-days to make sure contaminants
weren’t going into the wells.
The information will be available on the state website. He believed the Selectmen were obl=
igated
to grant a license, but if the 90-day testing indicated degradation in the =
site
the Selectmen had the right to go back and rehear/revoke the license. Mr. Sergi asked if the Board could=
also
walk the site every 90-days as well as the state. Mr. Gleason said if he went to the=
site
he wouldn’t know what to look for.&n=
bsp;
He didn’t share Mr. Sergi’s lack of confidence in the st=
ate;
he felt the state along with Nobis and Weston were more than qualified to
conduct the evaluations. Mr. =
Sergi
asked why no one had asked Mr. Bergeron to provide a fence around the
property. Mr. Gleason said it=
was
beyond the scope of the hearing.
Mr. Danevich said the ordinance was written when the Town was more r=
ural
and believed the Town was at a point to review the ordinance. Mr. Domenico encouraged those with
input/requests regarding the ordinance to contact the Selectmen. Some of the items the Selectmen co=
uld
consider: 1) can/should abutters be notified as part of approval process; 2)
mandate participation on the Green Yards program; 3) bond posted for busine=
sses
with potential to harm water supply; 4) fencing around entire perimeter; 5)
rodent profile. <=
/p>
Mr. James Russell,
Mr. Ray Belleville,
Mr. Belleville said he would like Mr. Bergeron to tell=
the
Selectmen that his junkyard was responsible for the contamination in the
Mr. Jean-Guy Bergeron, of Jean-Guy’s Used Cars &=
amp;
Parts, Inc.,
Mr. Bergeron discussed the remarks made earlier by his
neighbors. He felt he had been
cooperating with the state and noted that he followed the Best Practices in=
his
industry. He said since the T=
own
came up with an ordinance for recyclers, testing had been done. He said the state tested the filte=
rs and
only changed it if it had failed.
Mr. Bergeron didn’t feel he should be granted a 90-day renewal;
the RSA indicates licenses are renewable every year. He noted that the recyclers in
Mr. Bergeron said there were things discussed that had nothing to do with an automotive recycling yard. Such as the amount of money he had spent. He said he had spent thousands of dollars and was still paying to date. He said his house was spoken about= ; he owns property and buildings in Town and paid taxes on them. He said he had a lien put against = him (in 2000 or 2001), his checking account was frozen and there was currently a judgment against him for 1.2 million dollars (which was being appealed in Supreme Court). He was not in= a position to do a lot to his house at this time.
Mr. Bergeron said fluid removal was discussed and note=
d he
would never punch a hole in a tank because some fluid may remain in the
hoses. He discussed the filtr=
ation
systems that had been installed by the state which took out MtBE and all ty=
pes
of other water pollutants. He=
said
he purchased his own systems that cost approximately $1400 each and were te=
sted
every three months. Mr. Berge=
ron
said it was mentioned that there were three wells that had over 13 parts per
billion and in the past there were several. He said there had been signs of
discharge in other parts of the
Mr. Bergeron noted that bedrock wells were usually dee=
per
than monitoring wells. He was=
only
aware of monitoring wells being located on his property; there were seven of
them. He said one monitoring =
well
in particular previously read 7000 parts per billion and did so after
Mr. Bergeron said the state reviewed/checked every 90-=
days
and was unsure how much more it could be checked. He said he was seeking renewal of a
license and in his opinion MtBE was a separate issue. He said MtBE had been detected in =
at
least 1000 sites in
Mr. Bergeron said testimony was given by Mr. Russell t= hat the levels had shown up again. He said the Selectmen would be able to review the full report from DES that sh= owed the numbers from the time testing began to date. Mr. Bergeron discussed the fact th= at he previously had drains in his facility and the state told him he couldn’t. He said there= was no report dealing with MtBE during the work to close the drains, which he p= aid several thousand dollars to do.
Mr. Bergeron believed the first family to know about t= he MtBE were the Gagnons. He bel= ieved Ms. Kirn went door-to-door asking people to allow the water to be tested in their homes. He said it wasn’t until MtBE started showing up in several places that DES did a better job at informing people.
Mr. Bergeron said one of his neighbors wanted him (Jean-Guy’s) to admit fault, however people can’t see in the gr= ound and there had been reports all different ways. He said a representative from Nobis informed that a ½ drop of MtBE would show a reading. He said there were no restrictions= on who could purchase gasoline and everyone had it. He said during dismantling if anyt= hing came from the cars it was cleaned up. He said one part per billion was equivalent to one second every thir= ty two years. He was hopeful MtBE would be removed from the gasoline.
Mr. Gleason asked Mr. Bergeron if he was totally commi= tted to support the state in its efforts to clean up the site and make sure the = residents in the adjoining area had safe water. Mr. Bergeron said he had always felt that way, but could not control= the whole neighborhood. Mr. Gleas= on asked Mr. Bergeron if he was committed to assisting the state in anyway possible, to the extent of his ability, to protect the ground water. Mr. Bergeron answered yes; he was presently doing so, and would continue.&nb= sp;
Mr. Russell in reference to the 1999 report about noti= fying the neighbors said he found out from a neighbor in August of 2002 even thou= gh the first time DES went to Mr. Bergeron’s property was in 1998. He said they knew there was a prob= lem and just didn’t want to ‘open it up’. He reiterated his feeling that Mr. Bergeron should have contacted him, especially since his pregnant wife was drinking the water. He said a= t this point the possible health affects were unknown.
Mr. Belleville said before last week’s Selectmen=
meeting
he contacted Mr. Ricker and asked if he could provide readings on the
monitoring wells. He said Mr.
Ricker responded by saying Mr. Bergeron threw me off his property and
you’ll have to contact Ms. Kirn.&nbs=
p;
Mr. Belleville said he contacted Ms. Kirn who gave him the
information. He said he
hadn’t heard Mr. Bergeron accept responsibility/accountability and th=
at
he agreed that his junkyard contaminated the
There was no additional request from the public to pro= vide input.
The Selectmen discussed the information provided to th= em by the state, Town inspectors and Town residents. The residents were asked to contac= t the Selectmen in the event they saw anything of concern, such information would= be used in conjunction with information obtained by the state and their testin= g to review the situation. It was = agreed that this was a difficult case.
Mr. Lynde arrived.
Mr. Danevich believed it was time to revisit the Town Ordinance and would discuss during a later meeting. Discussions regarding Pennichuck W= ater Works providing alternative solutions would also be discussed at a later meeting. He said if Mr. Berge= ron fell out of compliance, or the situation began to degrade, the public heari= ng would be re-opened for review. The Selectmen supported the renewal of Mr. Bergeron’s license.
|
MOTION:<= o:p> |
(Gleason/Domenico) To approve a one-year license for=
Jean-Guy’s
Used Cars & Parts, Inc., |
|
VOTE: |
(3-0-1) The motion carri=
ed. Mr. Lynde abstained because he w=
as not
present for the discussion. |
Mr. Bergeron returned to the Board.
OTHER BUSI=
NESS
Funding
Funding Am= erican Legion Memorial Day Activities – discussed during Open Forum.=
Financial =
Review
Mr. Gaydos provided the Selectmen with a financial review/update. He noted the a= reas that were running behind and said the biggest impact areas were fuel and re= pairs. In summary Mr. Gaydos felt the Tow= n was running well and that the 2004 audit was being completed; results will foll= ow shortly.
Mr. Danevich asked if there were other concerns with t= he Fire or Police Departments that may need to be addressed in the special meeting. Mr. Gaydos said the = Fire Chief indicated that the Fire Department was working within the budget, was comfortable with what he was given, and would make it work. Of course a catastrophe or an exce= ss of emergency calls was out of the Chief’s control. Mr. Gaydos said the Police Chief indicated that he would work within the extra funding he had been provided with. He said he asked the Hi= ghway Department to draft a report of items for Selectmen review containing items that may be put off.
Mr. Domenico said he would like to evaluate the option= s that exist to enter into a long-term (3-year) contractual agreement for both hea= ting oil and diesel fuel. Mr. Gayd= os discussed the current process and explained that he would have to have a definite number. There was fu= rther discussion whether a contract could be entered into. Mr. Gaydos said he believed if the= re was a savings to be had it would be to partner with the school system.
Special To=
wn
Meeting Schedule
Mr. Danevich said at the last Selectmen meeting the Bo= ard voted in the affirmative to provide Mr. Gaydos with direction to start prep= arations for the special meeting. He s= aid in order to set the date the Selectmen had to understand the legal obligations. Mr. Gaydos said = his direction was to establish the earliest and latest possible date that a spe= cial Town Meeting could be set and still comply with the timeline for revaluation. He said after me= eting with several companies it had been established that mid-September was the absolute end. Mr. Gaydos said= using September 13, 2005 as the special Town Meeting date, he spoke with the state and worked backward to come up with the following dates: July 6, 2005 ̵= 1; Budget hearing notice; July 14, 2005 – Budget Committee would be aske= d to convene and hold session; July 27, 2005 – Deliberative Session would = be posted; August 11, 2005 – Deliberative Session would be held; Septemb= er 13, 2005 – special Town Meeting held.
Mr. Danevich understood the fee schedule would increas= e if the special meeting date was to be moved back. Mr. Gaydos understood from feedback received from revaluation companies was that the fee schedule would stay the same if a contract was signed in September, 2005. Mr. Gleason believed the proposed schedule was a ‘dead end’; if the Town went beyond the proposed schedule there was a risk of the validity of the proposals. Mr. Gaydos said if the Board wante= d to move the dates back, the other dates would all need to be shifted back accordingly. Mr. Gleason was = in favor of the proposed schedule to provide adequate time to review the propo= sals of the revaluation companies.
There was further discussion regarding the schedule be= ing proposed.
|
MOTION:= |
(Gleason/Lynde) To adopt the proposed schedule for a Special Town Meeting as follows: July 6, 2005 – Budget hearing noti= ce; July 14, 2005 – Budget Committee would be asked to convene and hold session; July 27, 2005 – Deliberative Session would be posted; Augu= st 11, 2005 – Deliberative Session would be held; September 13, 2005 – special Town Meeting (ballot session) held. |
|
VOTE: |
(5-0-0) The motion carried. |
Mr. Gaydos was asked to prepare for a Special Town Mee= ting and asked to do the appropriate postings.&= nbsp;
Codificati=
on
Project
Deferred to the next meeting.
TOWN
ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT/SELECTMEN’S REPORTS
Mr. Gaydos said every year the Town did a lot with the=
state
in connection with Off Highway Road Grants. He said the Selectmen had routinely
authorized Police Chief Evan Haglund to sign on behalf of the Town to take
advantage of these programs. =
He
asked the Selectmen to authorize Chief Haglund to sign on behalf of the Town
and take advantage of the grants and for the Chair to sign the document.
|
MOTION:= |
(Lynde/Bergeron) To authorize Police Chief Evan Hagl= und to sign on behalf of the Town and take advantage of Off Highway Road grants. |
|
VOTE: |
(5-0-0) The motion carried. |
Mr. Gaydos informed that the Coombs and Gendron junkya= rd applications were available for review.&nb= sp;
Mr. Gaydos said there had been questions regarding the
procedures for unsealing non-public session minutes. He reviewed the policy for un-seal=
ing
non-public session minutes as further outlined in RSA 91-A. He said it had been brought to his
attention that the minutes for
Mr. Gleason said his assumption was that the non-public meeting minutes were not permanently sealed. Mr. Gaydos said the Selectmen rout= inely sealed minutes for an indefinite amount of time. Mr. Gleason said the fact of the m= atter was that there were personnel issues that would not be revealed because of = the jeopardy of a person’s reputation and legal ramifications, but in the cases where the non-public session minutes could be un-sealed, they would be upon request (per RSA) and at the discretion of the Board. He said the Board acted under a po= licy that didn’t mandate permanent sealing of minutes. Mr. Gaydos reiterated that per RSA= 91-A, if there was no longer a reason for sealing the minutes, they could be un-sealed by vote of the Selectmen.
|
MOTION:<= o:p> |
(Gleason/Bergeron) To amend the following meeting mi= nutes to reflect the adoption of the motions to seal the non-public sessions and adjourn: January 14, 2003 non-public minutes (in accordance with RSA 91-A:3,II a, c) were sealed at 12:15am by McDevitt/Bergeron a motion was = then made to adjourn the meeting at 12:15am by McDevitt/Bergeron; January 28, = 2003 non-public minutes (in accordance with RSA 91-A:3,II,c) were sealed at 11:15pm by Lynde/Derby a motion was then made to adjourn the meeting at 11:15pm by Lynde/Derby; April 12, 2005 the non-public minutes (in accorda= nce with RSA 91-A:3,II,c,d) were sealed at 10:15pm by Bergeron/Gleason a motion was then made to adjourn t= he meeting at 10:15pm by Bergeron/Gleason. |
|
VOTE: |
(5-0-0) The motion carri=
ed. |
Mr. Gaydos informed that the long standing dispute wit= h Mr. Plumber, Inc. had been resolved and the Town’s Attorney’s had received a check in the amount of $6450.
Mr. Gleason said he had been busy with the revaluation preparations. He said the 2006 budget preparation had begun.
Mr. Lynde informed that the Park & Recreation Advi= sory Committee held a meeting last Monday and would provide an update at the nex= t Selectmen’s meeting.
Mr. Bergeron said he attended the NRPC Economic Develo=
pment
Forum. He noted who was in
attendance and reviewed what was discussed. He informed that the next meeting =
would
be held the third week in July. Mr.
Bergeron said DES had prepared a report dated April, 2005 regarding MtBE.
Mr. Domenico said he received positive feedback regard= ing the Transfer Station and was happy to hear that the staff was proactive in informing the public regarding the new CRT policy and holiday closings. He informed that the Revaluation W= ebsite URL had been forwarded to the Selectmen and comments would be appreciated.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Domenico ended by informing he reviewed all the Town requests for CIP and compiled a spread sheet and evaluated the submittals.
Mr. Danevich had no report.
REQUEST FOR NON-PUBLIC SESSION
|
MOTION:= |
(Lynde/Domenico) Request for a non-public session pe= r RSA 91-A:3,II,a (Personnel) |
|
ROLL CALL:<= /b> |
Mr. Danevich-Yes; Mr. Lynde-Yes; Mr. Bergeron-Yes; M= r. Gleason-Yes; Mr. Domenico-Yes |
Mr. Danevich noted that when the Board returned, after=
the
non-public session, the Board would not take any other action publicly, exc=
ept
to possibly seal the minutes of the non-public session and to adjourn the
meeting. The Board entered in=
to a
non-public session at approximately
The Board returned to public session at approximately =
|
MOTION:= |
(Domenico/Bergeron) To seal the minutes of the non-p= ublic session indefinitely. |
|
VOTE: |
(5-0-0) The motion carried. |
ADJOURNMEN=
T
|
MOTION:<= o:p> |
(Domenico/Bergeron) To adjourn the meeting. |
|
VOTE: |
(5-0-0) The motion carri=
ed. |
The meeting was adjourned at approximately
&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Respe= ctfully submitted,
&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Chari= ty A. L. Willis
&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Recor= ding Secretary
BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING/