SEL20080122

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING

MINUTES

January 22, 2= 008

APPROVED – February 7, 20= 08

CALL = TO ORDER

PLEDG= E OF ALLEGIANCE

PRESENT:

Mr. Victor Danevich, Mr= . Harold Lynde, Mr. William McDevitt, Mr. Robert Haverty,

Mr. Douglas Viger, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos

Also present:

ABSENT:

Members of the press and general public.

None.

MINUTES REVIEW<= /p>

January 2, 2008

MOTION:<= o:p>

(McDevitt/Viger) To approve the January 2, 2008 meeting minutes as a= mended.

VOTE:

(4-0-1) The motion carri= ed. Mr. Lynde abstained.

The amendments to the min= utes were as follows: page 5, 1st sentence was amended to read: ‘The Selectmen appreciated the work that the Department Heads had done to keep their budgets in line.’; page 4, bottom of page – the word ‘do’ was inserted into the sent= ence : ‘Mr. Gowan said he would be happy to ‘do’ it.’

January 8, 2008

MOTION:<= o:p>

(Haverty/Lynde) To approve the January 8, 2008 meeting minutes as a= mended.

VOTE:

(3-0-2) The motion carri= ed. Mr. Danevich and Mr. McDevitt ab= stained.

The amendments to the min= utes were as follows: under TA/Selectmen Reports, 1^st paragraph, last sentence – the word ‘ask’ was inserted into the sentence: ‘Mr. Gaydos said he would ‘ask’ the Selectmen to award…’; under request for Non-Public Session Mr. Lynde’s vote should indicate ‘Yes’.

OPEN FORUM

None.=

APPOINTMENTS

Fire Chief= Michael Walker – Introduction of New Fire Fighters – Bruce Hallowell III and Patrick Weaver

Fire Chief Michael Walker came forward and introduced = two new firefighters – Bruce Hallowell III and Patrick Weaver. He provided a brief summary of the= ir backgrounds, which began with being Fire Explorers.

The Selectmen welcomed t= he new Fire Fighters.

Walter Sikut – Abatement Discussion

Mr. Gaydos provided the Selectmen with a brief summary= of property being discussed. The property is located on &n= bsp; Marsh Road and had been part of the electric trolley line. The property is triangular shaped = and consist of approximately 5000 square feet.= The property was not adjacent to Mr. Sikut’s property (73 Marsh Road) and therefore could not be combined with that.= Mr. Gaydos said in 2005 the property was assessed at $400 and in 2006 was assessed at $4500. Althou= gh it was recognized that the lot was unbuildable under current zoning standards, there was value placed o= n it because of its frontage (approx. 390 feet along Marsh Road) and its value to an abu= tting property. Mr. Gaydos said the amount of the assessment wasn’t a large amount and believed it was mo= re of a matter of principal for Mr. Sikut.&nb= sp; He said Mr. Sikut had made an application to the Board of Selectmen = for abatement which had been denied. He said Mr. Sikut had appealed to the State Board of Tax and Land Appeal (‘BTLA’). He said= the BTLA was backed up so far that they have encouraged applicants to go back to the Board of Selectmen.

Mr. Walter Sikut came forward and discussed the property. He said the propert= y, which he purchased approximat= ely thirty nine years ago, had been connected to the property he owned. He said up until eight years ago he= would receive one tax bill because both properties are combined on the same deed. He said there had been = some discussions/argument with the people who own the property where the lot fro= nts Marsh and since then he received two tax bills. He said when the land was put onto= a separate tax bill it was assessed for $400 and took $400 off the remaining = land. Mr. Sikut said when the revaluatio= n took place the land increased ten times in value and the land that it had been t= aken from went up four times in value. He didn’t understand how there could be such a difference. He said he had a letter from the Planning Department that indicated the land was pretty much useless. He noted that over the past thirty= nine years there had been three owners of the land that the lot fronts, none of which were interested in purchasing the lot. Mr. Sikut cited two properties tha= t had increased in value with the revaluation and the breakdown of cost per acre. He said he would like to convince the Selectmen to reduce the number so he wouldn’t feel insul= ted paying the tax.

The Selectmen discussed the options which appeared to = be 1) not pay the tax bill and after two years the Town would deed it for non-pay= ment of taxes; 2) current landowner could acquire the land; 3) make an appeal (abatement); and 4) not pay taxes, the Town could attempt to deed the prope= rty and the Selectmen could decide to not accept the deed (which would create a legal impasse). There w= as further discussion regarding the lot and the Selectmen’s previous decision. The Selectmen were = not in favor of granting abatement. =

The discussion was deferred to the February 7, 2008 meeting so = more research could be done regarding the values of similar lots.

Patrick Culbert Benefit Raffle

Mr. Gaydos informed that= 300 tickets had been sold at $20 each. The prizes were three $500 prizes.&= nbsp;

Mr. Frank Culbert (Paddy’s son) picked the ticke= ts at random. Three winners were ch= osen; ticket #172 – Paul & Sharon Martin; ticket #82 – Donation to Paddy Culbert Fund; ticket #550 - Groff.&n= bsp;

Historical Society on Application for Historical Designation for= 5 Main Street

Mr. William Hayes, Pinewood Drive and Mr. Bill Scanzani, Victoria Circle came forward to dis= cuss the Historical Society’s request to have the old library designated a= s a Historic Landmark. Mr. Hayes = said it would be an honorary designation, but would become a prerequisite down t= he road to be able to apply for preservation or restoration grants. He said it would place no restrict= ions on the building. He said the Historical Society was willing to ‘pick up the tab’.

Mr. Danevich said he would like the Town’s attor= ney to review any application. Mr. H= ayes said they would put the application up on their webpage for review; if there were no objections, it would be signed.&nb= sp; Mr. Danevich said the document should originate from the Selectmen’s office, versus the Historical Society. Mr. Scanzani said they would fill = out an application based on what they knew and information they had regarding the historic facts on the building. He said they would then submit it to Mr. Gaydos for Selectmen review.

There was support from t= he Selectmen. Mr. Hayes said the application would be submitted.

OTHER BUSINESS

Town Report and Voter’s Guide Bid Recommendation/Award

Mr. Danevich said an RFP had been posted on the websit= e and there had been several different bidders.&= nbsp; Mr. Gaydos explained that there were two parts: 1) the Town Report; = and 2) the Voter’s Guide. He recommended Case Printing $9568 for the Town Report and $1730 for the Voter’s Guide who had the lowest combined bid received.

MOTION:=

(Haverty/Viger) To award the bid to print the 2007 T= own Report and 2008 Voter’s Guide to Case Printing for a sum not to exc= eed $11,300.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carried.

Mr. Gaydos said the voter’s guide would be draft= ed for review by the Selectmen prior to being provided to the public. The final draft of the Warrant wou= ld be provided to the Selectmen (later in the meeting) for review.

3 Year Plan Updates: Fire Department and Town Clerk/Tax Collector

Mr. Gaydos said he would like to take two departments = at a time and review their goals and objectives. He asked the Selectmen for their comments on the Fire Department and the Town Clerk/Tax Collector updates. He said over a period of time all = the departments would be completed.

The Selectmen discussed the information that would be submitted for review and how the process would be done. Mr. Gaydos said he would speak to = the department heads.

Appointed Positions Through April 30^th=

Mr. Danevich said it had been a long standing policy o= f the Board when appointing volunteers to end the terms on March 31^st.= He said when the Council on Aging = was revising their By-Laws they found that because they had one hundred percent turnover and they needed the Selectmen to appoint the members they were una= ble to take any new business during that month. He said they requested that the Selectmen consider making appointments April 30^th until the new Board of Selectmen were sitting. He asked that the Selectmen consider changing the policy to reflect April 30th or reappointment, whichever came first.

MOTION:=

(McDevitt/Viger) To amend the Appointment Policy, su= ch that appointments run through April 30^th of a given year or th= rough the sitting Board’s appointment date for any appointed individual.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carried.

Designation of Pelham High School for 2008 Presidential Voting

Mr. McDevitt said it was clear that Memorial School gym had exceeded its capacity during the afternoon (of the Primary vote); t= hey had inadequate parking and an inadequate place for people to line up. He said the Moderator observed thi= s and asked him to bring it to the Selectmen’s attention. He asked the Board to consider approaching the School District to reque= st using the high school for the 2008 Presidential Election. Mr. Lynde asked where the State Pr= imary vote would be held. Mr. McDev= itt felt there should be consistency. There was a question if school would be in session at that time.

MOTION:=

(McDevitt/Haverty) The 2008 Presidential Election sh= all be held at Pelham High School.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carried.

Mr. Gaydos will notify t= he Moderator and the School Administrative Unit.

Discussion: Fleet Vehicles – Review Current Inventory and Disposition of Older Vehicles=

Mr. Gaydos said in the past the Town had attempted var= ious methods of selling the vehicles, but had not always been successful. In working with Police Chief Roark,= they had partnered up with a group called propertyroom.com that would come and p= ick up items that the Town wanted to dispose of and would in turn sell them on = the internet. Mr. Gaydos said they could advertise the items, but wanted to know if the Selectmen had a problem with donating the vehicles to one of the charities. It was noted that the vehicles weren’t anything of value. After further discussion, Mr. Gaydos suggested posting the vehicles on the Town website under Town assets for sale and if there was no response within 30-d= ays they would call three automotive junkyards to see if they wanted to bid on = them and if they weren’t willing to bid on them, or didn’t respond, = they would have the authority to call up one of the charities to haul them away. He said he would write something up and present it to the Selectmen at the next meeting.

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR/SELECTMEN REPORTS

Mr. Gaydos provided the Selectmen with the draft Warrant. He said they could u= se it to start creating the voter’s guide, which needed to be worked on rig= ht away. He said they would be p= osting the Warrant on J= anuary 25, 2008. He then pro= vided the Selectmen with a draft handout that would be provided to people signing= up to be elected to a position. = He said Moderator Philip Currier and Town Clerk worked on the document.&= nbsp; The Selectmen didn’t object to the wording in the candidate handout and would post it on the website for the public.

Mr. Viger had no report.=

Mr. Haverty updated the Selectmen regarding the Fire S= tation Communication project. He sai= d the first draft milestone for the flyer would be January 21, 2008. They needed feedback quickly. They wanted to send the flyers out= by February 15, 2008. Another milestone is January 30, 2008 when a model of the Fire Station would be delivered to the Town Hall.

Mr. Lynde pointed out that the number of warrants was = 30% less than last year; there were only twenty-five on the ballot. He then informed that the Annual F= ire Fighters Ball would be held January 26, 2008 at Harris’ Inn. Mr. Lynde said he attended a Munic= ipal Advocacy Committee meeting, which is an arm of NHMA Local Government Center. He said a letter (dated January 17, 2008) had been sent out; the subject of the letter was a potential mandate Article 28A-Litigation. He said during the past year legis= lation was passed to create a committee to study the NH Retirement System. He read a portion of the letter al= oud. He said there would be a potential increase in rates would be put onto the cities and towns which was not prop= er and would violate Article 28A of NH Constitution which says you cannot pass= unfunded mandates onto local taxpayers. He said a suit would be filed against this.&n= bsp; He said they would be looking for help funding the suit which may be $2000-$3000. He wanted the Selectmen to be aware of it. =

Mr. McDevitt thanked the volunteer who worked the elections. He thanked the Moderator. He also thanked the voters. Mr. McDevitt encourag= ed the Fire Department to hold an open house, which seemed to help the Police when they were seeking support of a new station. Fire Chief Michael Walker, who was seated in the audience, nodded his head in the affirmative regarding holdin= g an open house.

Mr. Danevich thanked Mr. Gaydos for his help with work= ing on action items at the Senio= r Center and having t= he small maintenance items taken care of.&nbs= p;

Mr. Gaydos informed that there were a number of positi= ons open if anyone was interested in running for office. The filing period to sign up began= January 23, 2008 and would end February 1, 2= 008. The School positions should be req= uested through the School Administrative Unit.&nb= sp; He said if anyone had questions they should contact the Town Clerk.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

REQUEST FOR NON-PUBLIC S= ESSION

MOTION:=

(Haverty/Viger) Request for a non-public session per= RSA 91-A:3,II,b,d &e (Hiring of any person as an employee; Consideration = of acquisition, sale or lease of property; Consideration of negotiation of pending claims or litigation)

ROLL CALL:<= /b>

Mr. Danevich-Yes; Mr. Lynde-Yes; Mr. McDevitt-Yes; M= r. Haverty-Yes; Mr. Viger-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 8:12 pm. Also present = was Mr. Gaydos.

The Board returned to pu= blic session at approximately 10:= 00pm.

MOTION:=

(Lynde/Haverty) To seal the minutes of the non-public session indefinitely.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carried.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:<= o:p>

(Lynde/Haverty) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carri= ed.

The meeting was adjourne= d at approximately 10:00pm.

&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Respectfully submitted,

&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Charity A. L. Willis

&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Recording Secretary