APPROVED
TOWN OF
BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING
MINUTES
APPROVED &#=
8211;
CALL TO ORDER –
approximately
|
PRESENT: |
Mr. Douglas Viger (arri= ved after the meeting commenced), Mr. Edmund Gleason, Mr. Robert Haverty, Mr. William McDevitt, Mr. Harold Lynde, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos |
|
ABSENT: |
None |
Mr. Gleason conducted the= meeting until Mr. Viger arrived (during the Renovation behind Police Station discussion).
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
OPEN FORUM
Mr. Paul McDonough came f= orward to address the Board. He want= ed people to know if there were personal disagreements with a board member, th= ey shouldn’t let it change their view of the board. He said he didn’t know how t= he board kept coming back, but was thankful that they did. He apologized to the board members= that he had disagreements with. Mr. Gleason told Mr. McDonough that he was always welcome to step forward and speak.
APPOINTMENTS:
2010 Tax Rate Setting
Mr. Gleason said the Sele= ctmen were pleased to announce that the tax rate for this year had been establish= ed at $19.53, which represented a $.04 reduction from last year. He said there were contributing fa= ctors (for the reduction), but personally believed it was through the continuing diligence of the Board and School Board maintaining costs.
Mr. Lynde said he had a s= pread sheet that compared Pelham to the surrounding towns and would provide a cop= y of such to the Board.
2011 Warrant Article Discussion and Possible Vote
Mr. Gaydos said the Selec= tmen discussed the proposed warrant articles at their last meeting and provided = the Board with updated figures. <= /p>
Highway Block Grant – The number had not yet been set.
Forestry Maintenance – Mr. Gaydos stated it was funding t= hat came from their operations and managing the forests. The request was to expend $45,000;= the amount would need to be appropriated out of the fund. This would not affect the tax rate= .
Fire Station – Mr. Gaydos informed he should have a numbe= r by the end of the week for the building as originally designed. Additional review was still being = done, such as the electrical, removal of the elevator and other items. The number expected later in the w= eek would not include those changes. (additional discussion – see line 186)
Pawn Shop Ordinance – This is not a ‘money’ warrant article. There was a = brief discussion regarding the possibility of shortening the article. Mr. Gaydos stated he would provide= the Selectmen with an answer. Mr.= Lynde suggested having a copy of the ordinance in its entirety available at the polls. Mr. Haverty also sugge= sted a copy of the entire ordinance should be available for pick up at Town Hall.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>
Acceptance of Roads - This is not a ‘money= 217; warrant article.
Sand Bag Machine – Current cost $57,000; if others participate the cost could be reduced.&nbs= p; Mr. Gaydos questioned how the Selectmen wanted to fund the cost, eit= her through a warrant article, surplus or from the Emergency Management Fund. <= /p>
Mr. McDevitt felt the vot= ers should weigh in on a piece of equipment that big and that expensive, even though it might be taken from surplus.&nbs= p;
Mr. Haverty felt $57,000 = would be a tough sell for a piece of machinery that the vast number of residents wou= ld never see the benefit from. He believed it fit a specific need with emergency management and was in favor = of taking out of the FEMA money. He was interested in seeing if other towns in the region would like to also invest.
Mr. Gleason questioned ho= w much FEMA money the Town had. He w= anted to know if it were taken out of surplus, if it would be from this year̵= 7;s fund balance. Mr. Gaydos repl= ied it would come from the undesignated surplus; this year it stood at $2.4 million. He noted there was approximately $100,000 in FEMA money, but had traditionally used it as a bu= ffer in the event it was needed. <= /p>
Mr. Lynde wanted to know = if the FEMA money could still be used in the event a warrant article failed. Mr. Gaydos said they could still p= urchase it, if the article failed. Mr. Lynde asked if it was important for the Town to have the capability to help= the residents out and mitigate what they saw as harmful effects. He said if there was a safety situ= ation he would not have a problem approving the use of the funds.
Mr. Gleason discussed the
problems the Town had with flooding and the fact that the
Mr. McDevitt discussed us= ing the FEMA money and questioned if there was a chance of having it replenished if= it was used. Mr. Gaydos said in = the case of a declared disaster the Town would receive a portion of the money s= pent in the disaster. The buffer w= as used in the event there was a lot of damage.
Mr. Haverty felt there wa= s an important economic development story to be told; this was the only piece of equipment that they could find and it was made by a company in Pelham. If that story were told there woul= d be important economic value to bring the spotlight to Pelham.
Mr. Gleason felt the Sele= ctmen should make a decision to either fund the machine out of the FEMA money, or= put it forth as a warrant article (either out of surplus or taxes). He said another option would be to= not do anything. Mr. Haverty was = in favor of funding it out of FEMA. He made a motion to fund the sand bag machine from funds available in the FEMA account. Mr. Gleason seconded= the motion for discussion. <= /span>
|
MOTION: |
(Haverty/Gleas= on) To fund the sand bag machine from funds available in the FEMA account. |
|
VOTE: |
( |
There was a discussion regarding the machine. Mr. Lynde said the T= own seemed to be doing a start up investment and questioned if there would be a return in the event the machine was really successful. Mr. Gaydos said it had been discus= sed, but as a practical matter, if five machines could be manufactured methods c= ould be use that would save on the cost for the machine; that was the goal. There was further discussion. Mr. Gaydos noted that the agreemen= t the Town had with Patriot Welding stipulated if the machine didn’t perfor= m as designed/specified, the Town would pay nothing. Patriot Welding has proof of conce= pt; the Town would be purchasing a machine, not investing in a machine to be built.
Ambulance Capital Reserve – Mr. Gaydos said the Town had a different method of refurbishing the ambulance rather than purchasing a new= one. However that had not proven to be = as successful as once thought. Financing is now off kilter and the Fire Chief believes if the amoun= t of ambulance revenues (going into the revolving account) were increased from $25,000 to $50,000 they would have sufficient revenue to purchase the next ambulance when it was due to be replaced.&= nbsp; At that point they could go back to the original investment of $25,000.
Then Mr. McDevitt discuss= ed the proposed article. His feeling= was to leave the amount at $25,000 because he felt the Town would need the money against the general fund next year. He also believed when there was a need to purchase an ambulance and a case was made to do so, that the Town would buy one whether the money was s= aved or not.
Mr. Lynde wanted to see a= basis for the numbers showing what funds were in the account, what was needed and= go beyond that showing when they would need the next ambulance. Mr. Gaydos understood the request.=
Mr. Gleason wanted to kno= w how much was currently in the revolving fund.&= nbsp; He said if they weren’t going to increase the amount there was= a way to transfer the funds from the Capital Reserve. Mr. Gaydos believed that the Capit= al Reserve was included in the money needed.&= nbsp; Mr. Gleason said in doing the tax rate it appeared that the Town suffered a $300,000 decrease in revenues.&= nbsp; Conversely, Mr. Gaydos said when the fund was set up the idea was th= ey didn’t want to find themselves in a position (as in the past) where t= hey were requesting a large sum for (a needed) ambulance that would then be balanced against other needed items. Mr. Lynde wanted to review the data, as did Mr. McDevitt and Mr. Gleason.
School Resource Officer – Mr. Gaydos said he calculated a= ll the costs entailed with the position. The total annual cost would be $73,356. He said in speaking with the Police Chief, they thought it would be very realistic to advertise and find the ri= ght candidate to start in June; the cost to the taxpayers the first year would = be $39,800. The monies for the D= ARE program would be removed from the operating budget if this position were to= be approved. There was a discuss= ion regarding the position.
Compensated Absence – Warrant Article to put $100,000 into
the fund held by the Trustees of the Trust Fund to fund the liability. Mr. McDevitt asked if any money ha=
d been
put into the budget. Mr. Gayd=
os
noted any money that was not spent last year was put back into the general
fund. He said there was money=
in
this year’s budget. He =
noted
they had always had money left over that went into the general fund. Two years ago the Budget Com=
mittee
encouraged the Board to use the operating fund to fund the current retirees=
and
those severing with the Town; and to use the Trust Fund to fully fund the
liability. Currently there was
approximately $68,000. Mr. Gl=
eason
told the Board that the Budget Committee felt it would be prudent to start =
to
fund the unfunded liability. =
There
was further discussion and a consensus to move forward with the article.
Land Transfer – Mr. Gaydos noted it was a non-money warra= nt article and explained the situation. He felt the Town would be better served by having the property on the tax roll because it only serviced one property through a right-of-way.
Renovation behind Police Station – Mr. Gaydos said there = was discussion that kept coming up to move the board meetings into a meeting ro= om. Because the conversation kept comi= ng up he wanted to make sure it stayed ‘on the radar screen’. Mr. Lynde was in favor of doing it= , but was unsure of spending $125,000 and wanted to understand the basis for the cost= . Mr. Gaydos said the cost involved = the correction of code issues, egress issues and structural issues that would h= ave to be addressed. Mr. Haverty = said he would use a bid process to have the space reviewed and determine actual costs for the renovation. He = didn’t think they had time to have that process completed this year. Mr. McDevitt said he would love to= do the renovation, but not this year. <= /span>Mr. Gleason felt the renovation would be appropriate, not for this year, but pu= t on the ‘radar’ for next year as a serious endeavor to pursue. There was a discussion regarding t= he space and how to proceed. Mr.= Lynde believed the review of the space could be done now. Mr. Haverty said he would like to = have a bona fide conversation with the Police and Fire Chiefs and the Building Inspector so they could understand how the room would be used and the feasibility of such.
Mr. Viger arrived.
Mr. Gaydos said he could = review the space with the Building Inspector, Fire Inspector etc. and put together= a list of the requirements for review. He said a suggestion had been made by the Building Inspector to have large exhaust fans, versus a cooling system. He said he could get the informati= on together by the next meeting in two weeks.
Mr. Viger asked about the= Fire Station status. Mr. Gaydos said they = had requested an update cost to do the work and expected to receive one shortly. The updated cost was= to the $3.95 million plan to reflect current value. There would also be a theoretical = price for removing the elevator. Mr. McDevitt said a question to have answered was if the Town was under legal obligation to have the elevator. Mr. Gaydos said that topic was an ongoing discussion.
Mr. Viger said they still= needed to hear back from the Planning Department regarding the status of the impact fees. Mr. Gaydos said t= he impact fees were not being returned. There was further discussion regarding what would be presented to the Budget Committee. Mr. McDevitt suggested having a ‘place holder’ number. Mr. Haverty said he was in favor of having a place holder number for the sake of procedure, but when there was a solid figure he wanted the Selectmen to discuss it again and decide if the = fire station would go on the warrant.
Mr. Gleason asked that the Selectmen vote on the warrant articles that had money associated with them.
|
MOTION: |
(Viger/Lynde) =
To move
forward with the Highway Block Grant |
|
VOTE: |
(5-0-0)
The motion carried. |
-------------------------= --------------------------------------------------------------------------<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>
Mr. Viger made a motion to
include the
Mr. Viger stepped out of = the room.
Mr. Gleason felt the item= should begin to be funded to show good faith to the state. He recalled there was a little mon= ey in the Capital Reserve, but no where near what would be needed (for the Town’s 20% portion).
|
MOTION: |
(Lynde/McDevit=
t) To
submit a warrant article for $100,000 for the |
|
VOTE: |
(4-0-0)
The motion carried. Mr. Vig=
er was
out of the room. |
Mr. Gaydos noted that the= value for the Willow Street Bridge Capital Reserve was currently $124,000.
-------------------------= ----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
MOTION: |
(Lynde/McDevit=
t) To
withdraw $45,000 out of the Forestry Fund. |
|
VOTE: |
(4-0-0)
The motion carried. Mr. Vig=
er was
out of the room. |
-------------------------= ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Viger returned.
Mr. Lynde made a motion t= o place the fire station on the warrant with a temporary place holder of last year’s figure. Mr. Vige= r was uncomfortable with voting on last year’s figure because there were too many open ended questions. He= would rather come forward with a fire station and a price to be determined at reconsideration. Mr. McDevitt= said the motion could state that it was a place holder being submitted to the Bu= dget Committee. The motion was ame= nded to submit the warrant article for the fire station as a place holder to the Budget Committee with funding to be determined (no cash stipulation). Mr. Gleason said the Budget Committee could be told that they were working with last year’s number and were looking to reduce it, but didn’t know by how much at this time.
|
MOTION: |
(Lynde/McDevit=
t) To
submit a warrant for the fire station as a place holder, with funding to =
be
determined. |
|
VOTE: |
(5-0-0)
The motion carried. |
-------------------------= ----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Ambulance Capital Res= erve Fund was discussed. Mr. Lynde= said they were looking for data and felt the number should remain as ‘to be determined’. Mr. Viger thought the number was the Fire Chief’s to bring the account back to where it should be. Mr. Lynde= said he wanted a basis for the number. There was further discussion how to proceed.&nbs= p; Mr. Lynde suggested making a motion to change the fund from $25,000 = to a number ‘to be determined’ after reviewing data. Mr. McDevitt suggested submitting = the warrant article as written and go back at reconsideration to change the num= ber as needed. Mr. Lynde made the motion to submit the warrant article as written. He stated that he disagreed with t= he process because the Selectmen should have already received the back up data. Mr. McDevitt seconded t= he motion. He commented that he = would probably vote against it.
Mr. Viger asked how the w= ording of the article would be drafted. Mr. Gaydos said the revolving fund was designed so that the Selectmen were agents to expend.
|
MOTION: |
(Lynde/McDevit=
t) To
submit the (Ambulance Capital Reserve) warrant article as written. |
|
VOTE: |
( |
-------------------------= ---------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Gleason reviewed the = language for the School Resource Officer warrant article. Mr. Viger asked how the cost would= be broken down. Mr. Gaydos said = it could be broken down how ever the Selectmen wanted. Mr. Gleason read aloud the language contained in last year’s warrant article. Mr. Gaydos discussed how the numbe= rs were broken down. The Selectm= en agreed to follow the format established last year with the new numbers inserted.
|
MOTION: |
(Lynde/Haverty=
) To include
the request for a School Resource Officer on the warrant. |
|
VOTE: |
(5-0-0)
The motion carried. |
-------------------------= -------------------------------------------------------------
The Selectmen discussed t= he proposed Compensated Absence Fund article.= Mr. Gleason stated he was concerned about an unfunded liability and = felt they should try to mitigate it.
|
MOTION: |
(McDevitt/Lynd=
e) To accept
the warrant article for the Compensated Absence coming from surplus. |
|
VOTE: |
( |
-------------------------= --------------------------------------------------------------
The Selectmen did not vote regarding the warrant article for the transfer of property.
-------------------------= -------------------------------------------------------------
Muldoon second egress was discussed. Mr. McDevitt said = he would like to see the specific wording of the article.
Mr. Gleason made the dire= ctive to publish the warrant articles, with appropriate language, by Friday.
The article before the Bo=
ard was
for a second egress for
|
MOTION: |
(McDevitt/Lynd=
e) To include
a warrant article for a second egress, of gravel, for |
|
VOTE: |
( |
-------------------------= -----------------------------------------------------------------
The Selectmen made the de= cision to ‘table’ the article for renovating the space behind the Poli= ce Station. After hearing inform= ation at the next meeting they will decide whether to pursue such.
Mr. Gaydos noted that the= Fire contract and Support contract were currently being negotiated.
OTHER BUSINESS
Mr. Gleason turned the me= eting over to Mr. Viger.
Review of Potential Voting in Sherburne Hall
Mr. Viger understood that= the Moderator Phil Currier expressed an interest in moving voting into Sherburne Hall. Mr. Gaydos discussed the difficulties that occurred during the last election of having people vote a= t a school while it is still in session. He said when he first received word of the issue they discussed the logistics; the Fire Inspector John Hodge will meet with Town Clerk Dorothy = Marsden to review the layout. The log= istics of how to get emergency vehicles in and out will also be reviewed because t= here have been problems in the past. There was further discussion regarding Sherburne Hall and the possib= le use of such for voting.
&n= bsp;
TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S / SELECTMEN’S REPORTS
Mr. McDevitt had no repor= t.
Mr. Lynde noted that he w= ould be meeting with Jill Longval and two others who were do consulting work through energy grants for the Nashua Regional Planning Commission. This would be a preparation meetin= g to meet with the Selectmen on the energy audit that they had done. He noted that they had individuals= who may be able to give suggestions on the new fire station design that may help reduce operating costs looking at it from an energy efficiency audit point = of view. Mr. Lynde reported that= the Festival of Trees was about to begin.
Mr. Gaydos said the Selec= tmen had a discussion some time ago regarding licensing costs and the fact that the state was requiring anyone who worked at the Transfer Station had to be licensed. He met with Representative Ober and discussed her possibly sponsoring legislation that would define ‘full-time’ employee. He asked for the Selectmen’s support to work with Rep. Ober. There was no opposition by the Selectmen to have Mr. Gaydos work with Rep. Ober. Mr. Gaydos said Representative Ober asked if anyone in public had any impacts from new state laws that they forward them to her.
Mr. Gleason discussed the=
Budget
Committee actions regarding the School Budget. He said they would now be reviewing
warrant articles. He reported=
that
the
REQUEST FOR NON-PUBLIC SESSION
|
MOTION: |
(Haverty/Lynde) Request for a non-public session per RSA 91-A:3,II, a (personnel) |
|
ROLL CALL: |
Mr. Viger-Yes;= Mr. Gleason-Yes; Mr. Haverty-Yes; Mr. McDevitt-Yes; 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
The
Board returned to public session at approximately
|
MOTION: |
(Haverty/Lynde= ) To seal the minutes of the non-public session indefinitely. |
|
VOTE: |
(5-0-0) The mo= tion carried. |
ADJOURNMENT
|
MOTION: |
(Haverty/Lynde=
) To
adjourn the meeting. |
|
VOTE: |
(5-0-0)
The motion carried. |
The
meeting was adjourned at approximately
= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Respectfully submitted,
= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Charity A. Landry Willis
= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Recording Secretary
BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING/November 9, 2010