SEL20080304

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING

MINUTES

March 4, 2008<= /st1:date>

APPROVED – March 25, 2008=

CALL = TO ORDER

PLEDG= E OF ALLEGIANCE – Lead by Boy Scout Pack 25

PRESENT:

Mr. Victor Danevich, Mr. William McDevitt, Mr. Robert Haverty, Mr. Douglas Viger, Town Administrat= or Tom Gaydos

Also present:

ABSENT:

Members of the press and general public.

Mr. Harold Lynde

MINUTES REVIEW<= /p>

February 19, 2008

MOTION:<= o:p>

(Haverty/Lynde) To approve the February 19, 2008 meeting m= inutes as written.

VOTE:

(4-0-0) The motion carri= ed.

OPEN FORUM

None.=

APPOINTMENTS

Brian Johnson, Recreation Director – Operating Policies Discussion

Mr. Johnson said now that he had been on the job for approximately one month he was looking for feedback/approval of the followi= ng policies:

1= ) = No consumption of alcohol at any Town Facilities or functions.

Mr. McDevitt said this ite= m was an Ordinance that was passed years ago at Town Meeting and was enforceable by = the Police Department. He suggest= ed posting signs at the park entrances. Mr. Haverty asked if the Ordinance detailed enforcement action. Mr. McDevitt said it was a misdeme= anor that had an associated fine. =

2= ) = All Recreation positions whether paid or unpaid will be posted on the Town website.

3= ) = All program participants will make payment in full before participating; scholarship applications awarded by need (partial or complete) will be available in the Recreation office and forwarded to the Selectmen for appro= val. There was a discussion regarding t= he scholarship application process. The Selectmen delegated Mr. Gaydos to review the applications for the Selectmen which would be posted on the SSLVPN. Mr. McDevitt was asked by Mr. Lynd= e to convey a concern regarding fees. He said there had been a long-standing practice of the coach’s child not paying a fee if they were on the team.&nbs= p; He questioned if it would be a disincentive to people volunteering to coach. Mr. Haverty, who had e= xperience with Little League and various other sports, didn’t feel that not hav= ing a discount for a coach’s child would be a disincentive. Mr. Johnson also didn’t feel= that it would be a deterrence to charge a coach’s child. The Selectmen reconfirmed the poli= cy that all participants (in a recreation program) would pay. Mr. Haverty asked if there was a m= easurable criteria used in awarding scholarships.&nb= sp; Mr. Gaydos said in general they tried to use the same outline as Gen= eral Assistance. He said a family = had to demonstrate they had need.

4= ) = Program pricing will be full price for the first child and a discount for subsequent children. Scholarships will be awarded based upon need.

5= ) = Refunds for program will not be made once the program started. Mr. McDevitt suggested making sure paperwork signed by participants was clear regarding the refund policy. Mr. Haverty felt there had to be a mechanism to prorate a refund because there would always be exceptions. Mr. Viger pointed out that a lot o= f the programs required a certain amount of money to operate and the risk of givi= ng partial rebates was that certain activities may have to be funded out of the budget or the pocket of someone else. He said that would defeat the purpose of having a self-funded program. Mr. Danevich support= ing reviewing a pro-rated refund as long as the hard costs were recouped. Mr. Johnson said he would work wit= h Mr. Gaydos to create a policy.

6= ) = Registration is not guaranteed until payment is made.&n= bsp; Mr. Danevich suggested the wording ‘Registration is not consid= ered accepted until full payment is made’.

7= ) = Field trips only available to those who pre-pay.= Payment due one week prior to field trip. Mr. Johnson said if a field trip required more notice, he would address at that time.

Mr. Danevich suggested adding the information to the Recreation home page. He said= the fee information (i.e. reduction, refund, scholarships) had to be very prominent. He said a policy f= or handling scholarships would also need to be drafted.

OTHER BUSINESS

Discussion – Department 3-year Plans

Transfer Stat= ion – Mr. Gaydos provided a summary of the 2008 plan: 1) update/revise the informational flier and update/incorporate the new legislation and reiterate the facility rules; 2) explore the ability to give the facility operators the authority to take action against consistent rule violators; 3) explore options and costs of building expansion to possibly handle the flow differently; 4) begin discussion on the feasibility of the Pay as You Throw program. In 2009: 1) if succe= ssful, present the Pay as You Throw details and implementation process; 2) reduce = the number of part-time attendants and add one full-time attendant; and 3) cont= inue to monitor House Bill 503, which would add a surcharge of $2.50 per ton to trash disposal costs. In 2010= : 1) skid steer should be replaced – due on CIP; and 2) hydraulic rams to compactor should be rebuilt. = In 2011: consider feasibility to replace 75-yard trailers with 100-yard trailers.

Mr. McDevitt said he would like the Transfer Station to address a solution to the recycling of plastic bags. Mr. Gaydos said he could ask Trans= fer Superintendent Bruce Mason to research.&nb= sp;

Senior Center – Mr. Gaydos said the Council = on Aging is continuing an aggressive fund raising program for the Senior Center expansion project. He said the Council would explore different methods of expansion and how they wanted to proceed. He said the new/expa= nded programs are being designed for implementation once the center is expanded. They would like to = see the center expanded and the new programs running well before Ms. Hovling retires. New and expanded use= s for the Senior Transportation Program are being considered. Nutrition program to be reviewed s= o it can be done in the most cost effective manner.

Mr. Viger asked if there would be any improvement need= s at the existing center addressed over the next three years. Mr. Danevich believed the focus was getting a new facility funded and built which was outside three years at th= is point.

Mr. Gaydos said as for the Transfer Station, Mr. Mason addressed the actual facility building because he knows that that’s d= irectly affecting the user.

E-911 Update

Mr. Gaydos provided a brief summary regarding the E-911 system and read aloud a letter sent to residents whose road name would be changed. Along with the letter residents would receive a chart indicating what their road would be named a= nd a letter from the Postmaster explaining what residents should do during the r= oad name process. (SEE ATTACHED)<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> There were twenty-five roads that = would have name changes.

Mr. Danevich said once phase I was done they would beg= in phase II with the next set of roads. Mr. Gaydos said the goal was to continue to address the roads and ma= ke the changes effective July 1^st of succeeding years. He said there would be public hear= ings so information could get out.

Mr. Haverty said there had been a letter regarding Magnolia Drive and asked if the name change had been validated. Mr. Gaydos said they had reviewed = the meeting minutes (3 or 4 sets) and the video tape and the actual motion made= at the public hearing was for (Tall Oaks Drive to change to) Magnolia Drive. Mr. Haverty asked if the resident = had been informed. Mr. Gaydos sai= d they had just received the tape earlier in the day. He would follow up with the resident.

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR / SELECTMEN’S REPORTS

Mr. Gaydos informed that the Highway Department had wo= rked a lot of hours this season and the equipment had taken a beating. He said the plow truck that was scheduled for replacement at the upcoming Town Meeting had the front portio= n, which connects the plow to the truck, rust off. He said if they decided to keep it= they would be putting more money going into it than the truck was worth. He said the truck had failed the T= own and needed to be replaced.

Mr. Danevich asked how the Highway Department’s = maintenance and salt budget was doing. Mr. Gaydos said more money was spent on salt than they intended to. The original pricing was very good= and they had continued to get it; however, availability became a problem and th= ey had tried to supplement with different ideas. Mr. Gaydos said the repair budget = was shot because a lot of equipment needed repair.

Mr. Gaydos said bids were opened earlier in the day fo= r the Gumpas Hill culvert replacement. He said there were six bidders; the lowest was from Hudson Paving for $109,925. He read the other b= ids aloud.

MOTION:<= o:p>

(Haverty/McDevitt) To award the Gumpas Hill culver replacement bid to Hudson Paving and Excavation for $109,925.

=

VOTE:

(4-0-0) The motion carri= ed.

Mr. Viger said he attended Candidate’s Night whe= re a question was raised about the amount of money in uncollected taxes this year. He spoke to Mr. Gaydos,= who checked the number, and summarized that the 2007 tax bill was $26,787,073 a= nd at this time the outstanding balance is $863,564 which is a collection rate= of 96.8% on the tax base. He then reviewed the uncollected taxes for the years 2005, 2006 & 2007 which totaled $1.1 million dollars. Mr. Danevich said every year it almost sounded like the Town was on track; some people pay late and pay the penalty. He said it was still unacceptable, but for illustration point it didn’t seem out of the ‘norm’ for a typical year for the Town.

Mr. Haverty said Community Night would be held March 6, 2008. He said the Fire Station would hav= e representatives present to answer questions and the model would be available for viewing. He said he would also be available= to answer questions. Mr. Haverty= also informed that the tour of the existing Fire Station would be held Saturday, March 8, 2008.

Mr. McDevitt had no repo= rt.

Mr. Danevich said the Boarder Riders Fishing Derby wou= ld be held Saturday, Ma= rch 8, 2008. He informed that the Town Meeting = would be held March 11= , 2008 at the Pelham High School from 7am to 8pm. He ended by saying the next schedu= led meeting would be held March 25, 2008.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:<= o:p>

(Viger/McDevitt) To adjourn the meeting.

=

VOTE:

(4-0-0) The motion carri= ed.

The meeting was adjourne= d at approximately 7:50pm.

   &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