SEL20080715

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING

MINUTES

July 15, 2008

APPROVED – July 22, 2008

CALL TO ORDER

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

PRESENT:

Mr. Douglas Viger, Mr. = Robert Haverty, Mr. Harold Lynde (arrived after the meeting commenced), Mr. Will= iam McDevitt, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos

Also present:

ABSENT:

Members of the press and general public.

Mr. Victor Danevich

MINUTES REVIEW

The Selectmen reviewed th= e June 17, 2008 m= eeting minutes. Because there were o= nly two Selectmen able to vote (Mr. Haverty was abstaining), they held off until later in the meeting to make a motion to approve. See below for motion.

OPEN FORUM

None.

APPOINTMENTS

Transfer Station Operations Study Committee: Volunteer Interview – John Kachmore: &nbs= p;

Mr. John Kachmore came fo= rward to interview for the Transfer Station Operations Study Committee. He discussed his work experience (extensive financial background) and what qualifications he felt would help= the committee. He stated that he currently used the Transfer Station facility.

Mr. Gaydos will provide M= r. Kachmore’s e-mail to the committee.&= nbsp; He will also provide information to Mr. Kachmore that had already be= en given to the other members, <= /p>

MOTION:<= o:p>

(McDevitt/Haverty) To appoint John Kachmore to the Transfer Station Operation Study Committee with a term expiring April 1, 2009.=

VOTE:

(3-0-0) The motion carri= ed.

MOTION:<= o:p>

(McDevitt/Haverty) To the close the applications and consider the committee complete at this time.

VOTE:

(3-0-0) The motion carri= ed.

APPOINTMENTS

Discussion - 16 Benoit – Partial Slope Easement Release – possible vote

Mr. Gaydos informed that a request had been received from Two M Construction for a waiver from slope easement construction. He sta= ted that the Board referred the request to the Planning Board because it was originally a condition of the plan. He then read aloud a letter, dated July 8, 2008 submitted by the Planning Director indicating that the Planning Board had voted (7-0) to recommend (to the Selectmen) that the revised slope easement for 16 Benoit = be released per their attorney’s (Attorney John Ratigan) recommendation. The engineer representing the owner provided the signed/notarized release form that was drafted by their attorney that now required a vote, and if approved, signat= ure by the Selectmen. The plan wo= uld have to be recorded. An alter= ed plan showing the easement boundary was submitted to the Planning Board; the copies would be kept in the Planning Office. It was noted that although the pro= perty’s address was 16 Benoit, the slope easement ran along Rocky Hill Road, which would be a candidate for acceptance on the 2009 Ballot. The Planning Director, Jeff Gowan assured the Selectmen in his letter that the easement would be shown on the as-built plan.

MOTION:<= o:p>

(Haverty/McDevitt) To accept the partial slope easem= ent for 16 Benoit (ML 4-180-20).<= o:p>

VOTE:

(3-0-0) The motion carri= ed.

2009 Budget Schedule

The Selectmen reviewed the proposed 2009 Budget Schedule. Mr. Viger outlined the dates that the various department would meet with the Selectmen.

Mr. Lynde arrived.

The Selectmen then revisi= ted the meeting minutes of July 1, 2008 and made the following motion:

MOTION:<= o:p>

(McDevitt/Lynde) To approve the July 1, 2008 meeting minutes= as amended.

VOTE:

(3-0-1) The motion carri= ed. Mr. Haverty abstained.

OTHER BUSINESS

Health Officer Discussion: Possible Appointment

Mr. Gaydos discussed the = Health Officer position, which was broken into two parts: Heath Officer and Deputy Health Officer (position held by Paul Zarnowski) and the functions of each. He stated that the emph= asis of the Health Officer position had been on increasing the participation and planning for a pandemic.

Mr. Viger asked who was h= andling issues during the time that the position was vacant. Mr. Gaydos stated that he had hand= led the few items that had come forward; currently the process was running smoothly.

Mr. Lynde asked if there = was a statutory requirement for the Town to have a Health Officer. Mr. Gaydos stated there was a requirement. He noted that du= ring his employment (with Pelham and other communities) he spent half the time as the acting Health Officer and was familiar with the position. He said the Health Officer was the person the state would contact in the event of an emergency. Mr. Lynde said the question facing= the Selectmen was if the Town needed to have a person designated and who it wou= ld be. Mr. Gaydos stated that any decision the Selectmen made would be reversible by a vote.

There was a discussion re= garding the position and its responsibilities.   Mr. Viger explained that the Selectmen had met with two viable candidates, (although qualified) both of which had full-time jobs. He = said because those candidates had full-time jobs, they may need to delegate jobs= to someone else, which was occurring presently (with the position being vacant). He questioned if som= eone needed to be put into that role, or if the Town could hold tight until a determination was made regarding the budgets and try again next year. The Selectmen continued their disc= ussion regarding the position its responsibilities and if they wanted to appoint a Health Officer at this time. = It was suggested to re-advertise the position with a better defined job description. Mr. Gaydos noted= that he could obtain a job description from the Health Officer liaison and disseminate to the Selectmen for review.&n= bsp;

Mr. McDevitt questioned i= f the former Health Officer held a full-time job in addition to being the Health Officer. Mr. Gaydos stated th= at the former Health Officer had a full-time job and the recommendation was made to increase the stipend because of the amount of time being put in.

The Selectmen decided to = review the job description Mr. Gaydos would provide and have further discussion at= a later meeting. Mr. Gaydos wou= ld continue handling any issues that arose.&n= bsp; The people who previously applied for the position would be invited = to reapply once the job description was put in place.



APPOINTMENTS CON’T…



Public Hearing: Flag Football Donation

Park & Recreation Dir= ector Brian Johnson came forward for the discussion regarding the Flag Football Donation. Mr. Gaydos explaine= d that there was a holding tank used for drinking water for one half of the Town H= all building; there was information that it could be tapped into. He stated that a line would be put through the storm drains. A c= ut would be taken out of the asphalt in two locations, water line put in, then= the area would be compacted properly. The hose would be run just under the surface connecting to two above-ground faucets into tripods that would sprinkle the water. In the future there was a plan to = bury an underground irrigation system.

Mr. Viger asked for clari= fication of who would be responsible for the field’s maintenance. Mr. Johnson said Flag Football had offered to maintain the area of the field that they were redoing to ensure = that it was property maintained. M= r. Viger wanted to know the timeframe for the work to be completed. Mr. Johnson indicated that the construction would begin in mid/late August, 2008. The back portion of Lyons Park would not be in use during the fall season. They would start using the field i= n the spring 2009.

Mr. Lynde asked for the d= onation value. Mr. Viger said it was = valued at $12,000. Mr. Lynde confirm= ed that it was an organization making the donation. Mr. Johnson informed that the New Hampshire Flag Football League was making the donation.

There was no public input= .

MOTION:<= o:p>

(Lynde/McDevitt) To accept $12,000 in the form of ma= terial donation to redo Lyons<= /st1:PlaceName> Park, which would include bringing water out to the park and seeding the park.

=

VOTE:

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

Mr. Lynde confirmed that = the Selectmen’s procedures allowed them to vote the same night as the pub= lic hearing. Mr. Gaydos answered = in the affirmative.

Police Department Budget: Police Chief Joseph Roark

Police Chief Joseph Roark met with the Selectmen to review the Police Department budget for 2009. He explained= that the budget was put together per the direction of the Selectmen, at zero per= cent (or less) in comparison to the 2008 default budget. He stated it was a challenging req= uest given that 90% of their budget was salary driven. He informed they were up to the challenge and cut as thin as they could.&n= bsp; He stated they were hesitant in the following years, if they were as= ked to make that type of continual less than zero increases, on a default budget. He warned that they w= ould run into problems with delivering core services as well as getting into a r= ange of perilous liability situations that should be avoided. Chief Roark reviewed a memo that h= ad been forwarded to the Selectmen which summarized the items that were cut/reduced and how the lack of those items/services would effect the depar= tment and possibly the Town. Some o= f the items were: staff meeting hours, prosecution relief, school canine narcotics search, repairs to animal control shelter, replenish traffic control device= s, school resource officer training, law day (training conference), purchase of two new radar units, simunitions training, IMC training, number of pagers reduced, reduction in canine budget, fire arms and ammunition budget.

The Selectmen then reviewed the line items contained in the proposed 2009 Police budget. There was a brief discussion regarding the cruisers and if there were vehicle options that may have better mileage. Chief Ro= ark will put an information package together for Selectmen review of purchasing versus leasing vehicles. He h= ad discussed the subject with the Budget Committee last year and noted that currently the vehicles run approximately 129,000miles before being decommis= sioned. The Selectmen continued review of = the proposed budget.

In summary, the 2008 Police Operating Budget was $2,027,242; the proposed 2009 Police Operating Budget was $2,002,289 (a reduction of approximately $25,00= ).

The Selectmen thanked Chief Roark for making the effort and coming forward to review the budget.

OTHER BUSINESS CON’T…<= o:p>

Discussion – Process for Bayberry Woods Road Layout

Mr. Gaydos said a petition had been received to layout a road. He met with the Planning Director,= Jeff Gowan who had closely watched the Bayberry Woods progress. It was suggested to hold a public hearing on Septe= mber 23, 2008, conducting a site walk earlier in the day and adjourning such to a later da= te for further discussion. In the event of inclement weather, the Selectmen would still convene at the locati= on and recess the public hearing on site.&nbs= p;

There was no objection by the Selectmen; Mr. Gaydos will schedule the public hear= ing.

Field Use Agreement for Razorbacks= and Little League

Mr. Gaydos indicated that the agreement with the Razorbacks and the Little Leag= ue was fairly informal. He state= d that it was done two years ago. He= discussed the agreement with the Park & Recreation Director and whether the maintenance should be further defined.&nbs= p; He believed the question was if the contract should be used as a template for other groups wanting to use Town property as a primary place to play.

Mr. McDevitt believed the reference to the liability insurance was ‘loose’ and asked if the Town should be more specific about the requirement to carry insurance. Mr. Gaydos suggested asking the Town’s insurance company for a recommenda= tion. Mr. Viger, who was involved in Lit= tle League, said they have organizational insurance that covered liability of t= he coaches, volunteers and the children. Mr. McDevitt asked if there was a need for additional liability assurance to protect the Town. He used Pelham Community Theater as an example and noted when they used Sherbu= rne Hall, they were required to provide a certificate of insurance that would g= uard the Town against claims against them. He asked if the same requirement was imposed on sports organizations that used Town property. Mr. = Gaydos explained why the theater group had that requirement and felt the Town shou= ld make sure that the sports group had the same requirement.

Mr. Gaydos said he would do some more work on the agreement and bring it back to the Selectmen for further review.

Lyons Park<= /st1:PlaceType> – Opening/Closing Hours = 211; Vote Required

Mr. Gaydos said at the la= st meeting (June 17= , 2008) there was a motion to shut off the lights at Lyons Park at 11pm. He said the Selectmen never indica= ted when the park opened or closed. Mr. Viger reviewed the minutes and noted that Mr. Danevich wanted to review the issue as a whole, not just an individual park.

Mr. McDevitt suggested th= at the Selectmen solicit input from both the Park & Recreation Director and the Police Department for all the parks.

Mr. Gaydos felt Mr. McDev= itt made a good suggestion because each park has a different use. He said they would put together information regarding the usage of each park.

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S   /   SELECTMEN’S REPORTS

Mr. McDevitt thanked the = members of the Pelham Community Spirit and other groups who volunteered to put on t= he Independence Day Celebration. He pointed out that the celebration was put on by a very small group of volunt= eers.

Mr. Lynde stated that the= last concert on the common was postponed until July 30^th. He then noted that the upcoming co= ncerts would be July 23^rd, July 30^th, and August 6^{th. He offered condolences to the fami=
ly of
Diane Morissette whose Mother had passed.}

Mr. Gaydos informed that = he had been working with the Sherburne Hall Committee. The hall had been emptied and the committee was looking to make some life safety improvements bringing it into code. He summarized the other improvements that the committee was looking to do. Mr. Gaydos sent a special thank yo= u to (citizen) Ray Cashman, who is a member of the Fire Department Dive Team. He informed there had been an unsa= fe situation at Pelham Veteran’s Memorial Park beach where a pole was st= uck underwater. He stated that Mr. Cashman had gone underwater with a hack saw and removed the pole. Mr. Gaydos indicated that he was w= orking with the schools on bulk purchasing oil.&n= bsp; A broker, who worked primarily with municipalities, was seeking low costs. They were also working= on purchasing electricity with the school.&nb= sp;

Mr. Haverty stated that J= uly 1^st the Town implementing phase I of the E911 street naming and renumbering. He noted that accepting the change= s was sporadic, at best. He felt it worsened = the situation. He encouraged peop= le to renumber their homes and mailbox because of the safety hazard and emergency response. Mr. Gaydos stated t= hat the road name changes could be found in the Planning Department section of = the Pelham website.

Mr. Viger had no report.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

REQUEST FOR NON-PUBLIC SESSION

MOTION:

(Haverty/McDev= itt) Request for a non-public session per RSA 91-A:3,II,c (Matters which, if discussed publicly, would affect adversely the reputation of any person)<= /p>

ROLL CALL:

Mr. Viger-Yes;= Mr. Haverty-Yes; Mr. McDevitt-Y= es; Mr. Lynde-Yes

It was noted tha= t when the Board returned, after the non-public session, the Board would not take = any other action publicly, except to possibly seal the minutes of the non-public session and to adjourn the meeting. The Board entered into a non-public session at approximately 8:50 pm. Also present was Mr. Gaydos.

The Board returned to public session at approximately 9:32 pm.

MOTION:

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

VOTE:

(4-0-0) The mo= tion carried.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Haverty/Lynde= ) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(4-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:32 pm.

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =          Respectfully submitted,

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =          Charity A. L. Willis

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =          Recording Secretary