SEL20080923

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING

MINUTES

September 23, 2008

APPROVED &#= 8211; October 7, 2008=

6:00pm

PUBLIC HEARING – Bayberry Woods Subdivision – Site W= alk at Cul-de-sac at end of St= onepost Road

Selectmen present: Mr. Do= uglas Viger, Mr. Harold Lynde, Mr. William McDevitt

Also present: Mr. Peter Z= ohdi and Mr. Shane Gendron of Herbert Associates; Abutters and residents of the area.

7:15pm

Convene at Pel= ham Elementary School M= edia Center, 61 Marsh Road, Pelham, NH

Meeting reconvened from the site walk at the end of Stonepost Road.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

PRESENT:

Mr. Douglas Viger, Mr. = Robert Haverty, Mr. Harold Lynde, Mr. William McDevitt, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos

Also present:

ABSENT:

Members of the press and general public.

Mr. Victor Danevich

MINUTES REVIEW

Septembe= r 9, 2008 – not reviewed.

OPEN FORUM

None.

DISCUSSION

Discussion regarding Site Walk – Bayberry Woods Subdivision and the Site Walk conducted at the Cul-de-sac at the end of Stonepost Road

Planning Director Jeff Go= wan came forward and provided a summary of the site walk that had been conducted ear= lier in the evening.

Mr. Viger noted that Mr. = Haverty had joined the Board. Mr. Hav= erty was not present at the site walk but being on the Planning Board was famili= ar with the project.

Mr. Gaydos said there wer= e a number of people who attended the site walk and the conversation was lively about the traffic. He directe= d the question to the Police Chief regarding what could be done to keep the road = from becoming a ‘drag strip’. Police Chief Joseph Roark came forward. He stated prior to him, Chief Evan= Haglund was on board with the inter-connectivity of Stonepost Road. He spoke with Mr. Gowan and believ= ed an ideal solution would be to allow for the inter-connectivity while at the sa= me time put in some traffic calming measures.= He understood the resident’s concerns, but felt for the greater good of the Town the inter-connectivity superceded the cul-de-sac traffic concern.

Mr. Lynde said some of the residents expressed concern about the 300ft.-400ft. straight away that exis= ted on Town land because it was a straight away located in the woods. Chief Roark believed in the grand = scheme of things the distance wasn’t a long straight away; people tend to sp= eed on many throughways whether it’s wooded or residential. He felt if something could be in t= hat stretch such as a slight bend= to slow people down he would be more than willing to support it. Mr. Lynde asked for Chief Roark= 217;s reaction to adding a second round-about at the other end of the Town property. Chief Roark stated = he would support any traffic calming measures.

Mr. McDevitt asked if the= through road would make a difference regarding emergency and fire response times.

Fire Chief Michael Walker answered yes. He stated they = had to take water with them to a scene in the form of tanker trucks, which would n= eed to be refilled and brought back to the scene. He said having a cul-de-sac slowed= down the process. He said in short= , the inter-connectivity would enhance them.&nbs= p;

Mr. Lynde asked if there = was any difference in response time coming in off Lannan Drive or Poplar Hill Road. Chief Walker didn’t know at = this point. Chief Roark said it wo= uld be difficult to measure without the new road.= Mr. Gaydos confirmed that the connection would facilitate the access= to water. Chief Walker said it absolutely would. He said ano= ther problem with having one access is when fire hose is dropped down it blocks the road.

Mr. Viger opened the disc= ussion up to the public, but there was no one present wishing to speak. He then asked the Selectmen if they wanted to take action. Mr. Ly= nde suggested seeing how the second round-about would look.

Mr. Gaydos asked Mr. Gowa= n how the Board would proceed to review a design with the second round-about. Mr. Gowan said he spoke to Shane G= endron of Herbert Associates (who was present) and it wouldn’t be a complex design problem. He would pref= er the two round-abouts being of the same design.= With the angle of the road, the second one would be less than 300ft. from the first one. Mr. Gowan= said Herbert Associates could design the plan; he would like the Planning Board = to review it. Mr. Lynde would li= ke the Conservation Commission to also review the plan because they were part of t= he review process and had some concerns as well. Mr. Gowan felt that would be accep= table, but asked that the hearing be date specified so they wouldn’t have to= go through the notification process again.&nb= sp;

Mr. Haverty asked if the = plan would have to go back to the Planning Board since it was previously approved. Mr. Gowan believed = going back to the Planning Board would be a formality to keep them informed. Mr. Haverty questioned at what poi= nt it would be brought to them; before or after Selectmen’s review. Mr. Gowan said he would be happy to bring a plan to the Planning Board so they could reach a consensus and send= the Selectmen a letter.

Mr. Viger said unless the= re were objections, the hearing would be recessed for October 21, 2008 so a design with a se= cond cul-de-sac could be brought in for review.= There were no objections.

Mr. McDevitt felt it woul= d be valuable to bring the plan in. His concern was one neighborhood being made better, by one being made worse. In his opinion it would make the S= tonepost neighborhood worse. He said p= art of what made a good community was good planning and safe and good neighborhoods. He didn’t object to bringing a plan in, but questioned how it would make the Town bet= ter by making a neighborhood less better. He understood the arguments from both sides. The connection to Lannan had solve= d, for the most part, the road connections. Mr. McDevitt recalled passing cisterns, which were assumed to work in the event of a fire. He wasn’t totally convinced they were doing the right thing, but would l= ike to hear the proposal.

Mr. Viger said the Board = was moving forward in the hopes of looking at another alternative not to commit= one way or another.

Mr. Haverty noted that he= lived on a cul-de-sac. He viewed th= e plan from the prospective of providing important emergency access to a neighborhood. He stated both = the Police and Fire Chiefs gave testimony (last summer) that it was important inter-connectivity for them. = There would also be access to conservation through a roadway and parking. He felt these things could improve= the area. Mr. Haverty said there = was evidence that cul-de-sac neighborhoods weren’t necessarily safer. He said there were a number of tra= ffic studies done on the topic. He= felt there was a lot of good to be done in looking at connectivity.

Mr. McDevitt questioned i= f the Town already had access to the conservation land because they owned a 50-fo= ot right-of-way off the road. Mr. Haverty said it would be easier access.&nb= sp;

PUBLIC INPUT

Mr. Ron Lamport, 66 Stone= post Road said there had been discussion about having a traffic abatement system whether it be an ‘S’ shape in the road or a turn about with bri= ck to slow people down. He quest= ioned how this topic was dropped. M= r. Viger said the way the plan was presented to the Selectmen was that the ini= tial round-about at the end of Stonepost would have a brick outlay. He said the Selectmen were now discussing having a second round-about at the other end to slow down the cut-through. Mr. Lamport ques= tioned if the present plan for the cut through the conservation land included a round-about. Mr. Gowan stated= that the current cul-de-sac at the end of Stonepost would be converted into a round-about with a green area in the middle and a stone apron. He said the road across the Town property had curvature. He sa= id the Board was contemplating another round-about.

Mr. Shane Gendron of Herb= ert Associates reviewed the plan. He said they were coming off the round-about at an angle and if an additional = round-about were added they may have to change the angle that the road came in. He requested some leeway in the design. There were no objecti= ons.

Mr. Lynde said during the= site walk it was pointed out that the connectivity to Town owned land was a 10-f= oot right-of-way on the back of some property.= He felt that was inadequate. Mr. Gowan said that was a trail easement, not road connectivity.

The public hearing was re= cessed to be reconvened on October 21, 2008 at 7:00= pm so a new plan could be reviewed.

APPOINTMENTS

7:49pm

Park Information – Opening / Closing Hours<= /b>

Park and Recreation Direc= tor Brian Johnson came forward for the discussion. The Selectmen were given a list sh= owing suggested hours for the Town parks. There was a brief discussion regarding the park hours. Mr. Johnson said the goal was to p= rovide a guideline so people would know when to expect the parks to close. Mr. McDevitt suggested using the w= ord ‘dawn’ versus the word ‘sunrise’ because ‘dawn’ had a legal definition and would therefore be more enforceable. He asked the Pol= ice Chief what would hold up in court. Police Chief Roark believed if they had to go to court for a challen= ge they would get the sunrise time out of the newspaper and correspond it to t= he time of the call. However, 99= % of the time it would be the discretion call of the officer. The Selectmen discussed park closu= re time versus the time that lights were turned off. Lights at the park have to be turn= ed on with a key. The goal of the p= olicy was to have enforceability. T= he Selectmen asked for the wording to be amended so the park hours would be fr= om dawn to dusk, unless otherwise approved.&n= bsp; Mr. Johnson said he would amend the wording and resubmit to the Selectmen.

8:00pm

Warrant Article Discussions:&nb= sp; Fire Station, Equipment, Personnel, Assessment Updates, Revolving Accounts for Cable and Transfer Station

Mr. Gaydos noted that war= rant articles had not been received from all the departments. Beginning with the Fire Station, h= e said they had some time to reconsider the design of the station, which would com= ply with the use of the fire impact fees. He asked the Selectmen if they wanted to appropriate any more money = out of the impact fees, or table it. He pointed out that there was $150,000 in impact fees that would be due to be returned to developers if the Selectmen decided to table the station.

Mr. Lynde related two conversations he had. One was= a gentleman who was in construction, wondered what the Town would do about the fire station. The man relayed= the fact that after discussing the proposal to other builders in Town, and they felt that it had been rung out fairly well. The man implied that costs would b= e down this year. Mr. Lynde said the= other conversation was with a gentleman said the traffic had to be fixed and didn’t know about the round-abouts and how the fire station impacted that.

Mr. Gaydos said if the To= wn decided to keep the current fire station (under option B), there would be s= ome expenses. He suggested that a representative from the Department of Transportation meet with the Board and discuss the details of what was involved in option B. Mr. Viger said now would be a good= time to get on board with contractors, however material costs had not gone down. Mr. McDevitt pointed out that when= it was a good time to build, it was also typically a time when people didnR= 17;t have money. He believed the T= own needed a fire station, but couldn’t imagine 60% of people voting yes given the current economic conditions.&nbs= p; He said they were confronted with a difficult decision. He didn’t feel that the Sele= ctmen could put the cost to the voters at this time. At this time he believed the Selec= tmen should decide soon to take the new fire station off the table, say goodbye = to the $150,000 and deal with the reality that the situation had to be solved without the new fire station.

Mr. Viger questioned at w= hat point the Selectmen should not do the right thing. He stated there was a need for the= fire station and didn’t feel that the Selectmen to abandon the project. He felt people should be able to s= ee the deficiencies and then make a decision.&nbs= p;

Mr. Haverty said the Sele= ctmen needed to figure out the = Town Center safety conce= rn and if it could be resolved by leaving the station in place. He feared that the answer was no a= nd that they should speak with the state.&nbs= p; He didn’t feel they had enough information to move forward at = this point.

Mr. Lynde said the Town h= ad $3.9 million in Federal funds to solve the Town center project and there was also $150,000 in impact fees. He believed it was a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question as to whet= her someone wanted to take advantage of the Federal funds. He felt it was the Selectmen’= ;s job to figure out the best economic path to follow, considering the Town as a whole. He said the state had commented that if another year went by the Town stood a chance in losing the money. Mr. McDevitt didn̵= 7;t mean to imply that the Town would abandon the Federal funds. He said it started out as a soluti= on to solve real safety problems in the center and were presented with two possib= le plans that were both good and ‘workable’. He felt the Selectmen should expeditiously act on plan B so the Town would not risk losing Federal funds= .

Mr. McDevitt said he woul= d like to set up a site walk at the fire station to gain a better understanding. Mr. Gaydos asked if PTV would be a= ble to provide a portable camera so the site walk could be broadcast. Cable Television Coordinator Jim <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Greenwood (who was= seated in the public) said that would be available.

The Selectmen decided to = set the meeting with the representative from the state and review the current fire station site.

Jo= hn Basilesco of the Eagle Tribune questioned why the Town would lose the $150,= 000 in impact fees. Mr. Gaydos explained that as impact fees were collected, there was a certain amount of time in which to use them and that as that period of time arrives the money= had to be given back. =

The Selectmen then discussed the leasing program presented at a previous meetin= g by the Police Department. Mr. Ga= ydos asked if the Selectmen had specific questions. There was a discussion regarding w= hat vehicles would be included in the lease and what department the pickup truck and SUV could be given to. Po= lice Chief Roark came forward to discuss the reasons for considering the lease option. Mr. Lynde said he wou= ld like a presentation of the numbers for all the vehicles that were being discussed. He said it sounded= like a great plan. Chief Roark sai= d the state bid numbers would come out in October. At that point he would add it into= a spread sheet showing costs. H= e said the goal was to save money in his budget.&= nbsp;

It= was noted that there wasn’t anything specific regarding a warrant article for personnel. Mr. Gaydos said th= ere had been past discussions about possibly increasing the size of the workfor= ce at the Fire Department. =

Mr= . Viger said the Budget Committee showed concern that the $45,000 for the cyclical revaluation was taken out of the Assessor’s budget. He said they wanted to ask the Sel= ectmen to reconsider adding the amount back into the budget. There was a brief discussion regar= ding the revaluation and whether it should be put back into the budget.

Wi= th regard to cable, the Budget Committee suggested funding the budget with the franch= ise fees that were owed to it and not worry about a revolving fund. Mr. McDevitt stated that the law s= aid a revolving fund could be created. He felt the department heads and Mr. Gaydos should consider it and then come b= ack to the Selectmen with how they would like to handle it. The Selectmen would discuss the su= bject again.

Wi= th regard to the Transfer Station, Mr. Gaydos had a discussion with a member PERC tal= king about revenue enhancement programs which seemed to be the direction that sh= ould be taken. Mr. McDevitt review= ed the RSA in connection with revolving funds and what they could be used for and = said they could be used for recycling.

Mr= . Gaydos said he had a meeting with Mr. Ed Gleason, Trustee of the Trust Funds and w= as reminded that there was a need to have a number of warrant articles to close certain accounts that previously had the money appropriated out of them. He said he also spoke with the sta= te and was informed that the Town could have one warrant article.

OTHER BUSINESS

8:58pm

Update on Retirement Contributions

Mr= . Gaydos stated that the new New Hampshire Retirement contribution rates had been published. The increase in th= e 2009 budget would be $88,565 and would become part of the default budget.

MOTION:

(McDevitt/Have= rty) To amend the operating budget to accommodate the New Hampshire Retirement contribution of $88,565.

VOTE:

(4-0-0) The motion carried.

8:59pm

Selectmen to designate Presidential Election Location – Recommended Pelham High School<= /st1:PlaceType>

Mr. Viger informed that t= he school district had granted permission to hold the Presidential Election at= the Pelham High School.

MOTION:

(Haverty/Lynde= ) To hold the 2008 Presidential Election at Pelham High School on November 4, = 2008 from 7am to 8pm.

VOTE:

(4-0-0) The motion carried.

9:00pm

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S   /   SELECTMEN’S REPORTS

Mr. Haverty had no report.

Mr. Gaydos stated that the September 7 – 13, 2008 test summary for the surveillance of EEE and West Nile Virus had been received. &n= bsp; He reviewed the information and discussed precautions that residents could take.

Mr. McDevitt said he would like to have a discussion in the future about giving voters some guides/explanations regarding tax impacts since they were constrained from having that information on the ballot.

Mr. Lynde said he had done some research going through Town Reports and found t= hat there was no correlation between the warrant article number and what happen= ed to the tax rate. He informed = that fall soccer was well underway. Mr. Lynde told the Selectmen that the Raymond Park fields were done; they had b= een constructed and the final grading and seeding had been done. Pictures had been forwarded to Mr. Gaydos and would be forwarded to the Selectmen.

Mr. Viger reported that the Budget Committee was in full swing.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Haverty/McDev= itt) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(4-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:09 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