SEL20110322.mht

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING

MINUTES

March 22, 2011

APPROVED &#= 8211; April 12, 2011<= /p>

CALL TO ORDER – approximately 6:30pm

PRESENT:

Mr. Douglas Viger, Mr. = Edmund Gleason, Mr. William McDevitt, Mr. Robert Haverty, Mr. Hal Lynde (arrived= during non-public session), Town Administrator Tom Gaydos

ABSENT:

None

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

BOARD OF SELECTMEN - ELECTION OF OFFICERS

MOTION:

(Haverty/McDev= itt) To elect Mr. Edmund Gleason as Chairman.

VOTE:

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

Mr. Viger stepped aside.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Gleason then took his position= as Chairman. Mr. Viger was thank= ed for his efforts during the past year as Chairman and was congratulated by the S= electmen.

MOTION:

(Haverty/Viger= ) To elect Mr. William McDevitt as Vice Chairman.

VOTE:

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

Mr. Gleason discussed how= he would like the Selectmen to proceed during the upcoming year.

MINUTES REVIEW

March 1, 2= 011

MOTION:

(Viger/Haverty= ) To approve the Mar= ch 1, 2011 meeting minutes as amended.

VOTE:

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

Clarification of minutes = that there wasn’t a prohibition of trucks on Young’s Crossing, it is trucks over 3 axles.

APPOINTMENTS

Announce Public Hearing on Pole License Amendments for March 29, 2011<= o:p>

Mr. Gaydos stated during = the last meeting there was discussion about some of the areas of taxation, during wh= ich poles were brought up. There = was current legislation that exempted poles owned by a telephone company from b= eing assessed. Mr. Gaydos received communication from the Town’s Assessor that indicated the Town had the ability, if pole licenses were amended, to tax the value of the right-of-wa= y on public land. He said the hear= ing would be held on March 29^th because assessments had to be done on April 1^st. All the holders of licenses were notified individually Certified Mail.

Mr. Gleason said he would= like to meet with Mr. McDevitt and Mr. Gaydos to lay out the issues that would have= to be addressed.

OPEN FORUM

Mr. Paul McDonough, 29 Mammoth Road came forward and discussed his opinion regarding the failure of the fire station. He asked if the state could step up and do something about the fire station. Mr. Gleason said when reviewing the entire state and the obligations that they faced in terms of services, they couldn’t help just one town; they would then be faces with doing the = same throughout the state. He said= it would be too costly for the state to get involved with the infrastructure n= eeds of the Town. Mr. McDonough discussed the importance of the fire station. Mr. Gleason said during the upcomi= ng year they would discuss their options.&nbs= p; Mr. McDonough told the Selectmen that there was a sign on Willow Street at one of the bridges that was bent. Mr. Gleason said the Highway Road Agent (Don Foss) was out around Town and was = sure he would tend to it. He said = Mr. Gaydos would follow up with Mr. Foss to ensure it was corrected.

APPOINTMENTS CON’T…

Public Hearing to Accept Donation of $9000 to the Town of Pelham from the Pe= lham Council on Aging

It was brought to Mr. Gleason’s attention at the completion of the extension; in order to m= atch the appearance of the new flooring with the existing flooring the cost of approximately $9000 was being donated by the Council on Aging to replace the old tile.

Mr. Gleason opened the pu= blic hearing and asked for public comment. There was no public comment offered.

MOTION:

(McDevitt/Viger) To approve the acceptance of the $9000 donation from the Council on Aging to the Senior Center, which is a Town building= .

VOTE:

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

Results of the March 8, 2011 Town Meeting

The Town Clerk provided t= he Selectmen with the results of the March 8, 2011 Town Meeting. Mr. Gleason said he was very appreciative of the voter’s support for the Selectmen. He said unfortunately the fire sta= tion didn’t meet the requirement for the 3/5 vote.

Mr. Viger was very please= d with the outcome of the ballot vote results.&nb= sp; He felt it was unfortunate that there wasn’t a super majority needed for the fire station.

Mr. McDevitt commented th= at there were seven articles that would have cost people additional taxes in 2011; he was humbled that all seven received a majority vote. He compiled a sheet that showed the voting statistics from the 2011 vote and shared the information with the Selectmen.

Mr. Viger found it distur= bing that there were only 2683 ballots cast given that there were 9332 registered voters in the Town. Mr. Gleas= on said they had to get people involved in the Town. He suggested that the Selectmen di= scuss the topic at a future meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS

2011 Board/Committee Announcement of Openings=

Mr. Gaydos said the list = of Board/Committee openings would be advertised on the Town website. The anticipated openings were: Zon= ing Board of Adjustment one opening (3-year term); Zoning Board of Adjustment Alternate; Conservation Commission two openings (3-year term); Council on A= ging fifteen openings; and Forestry Committee one opening.

BOS Committee Assignments

The Selectmen reviewed th= e list of committees. The following appointments were made:

Planning Board – Mr. McDevitt

Budget Committee – = Mr. Gleason with Mr. Viger as the alternate

Council on Aging – = Mr. Gleason

Pelham Communication Comm= ittee – removed from list

Merrimack Valley Regional= Water District – Mr. Gaydos with Judge Lynch as the alternate

NRPC Commissioner –= Mr. Gleason

Pelham Citizen’s Co= uncil – Mr. Haverty

Hazmat – Mr. Havert= y

Pelham Context Sensitive = Solution – Mr. Lynde?

Sherburne Hall – Mr. McDevitt

Greater Salem Chamber of Commerce – Mr. V= iger

High School Building Committee – Mr. Haverty with Mr. Viger as the alternate

Trustee of the Trust Funds – Mr. Gleason

Forestry Committee –= ; open for appointment.

Library – Mr. McDev= itt would be available when they had questions.

CIP – potential com= mittee assignment

Mr. Gleason proposed havi= ng a School Committee liaison. He = felt there was a need to have direct dialog with the School Board on issues that were germane to the Town. Mr. Haverty believed the concept had a lot of value. Informally, he and Mr. Viger had maintained relationships informally with the board. He said he would be happy to conti= nue with Mr. Viger’s participation. Mr. Gleason felt it would be good to continue.

Mr. Haverty said Planning Director Jeff Gowan should be contacted to find out the Planning Board̵= 7;s intentions regarding the CIP Committee.&nb= sp;

Fire Contract

Mr. Gaydos introduced Fir= e Chief Midgley.

Fire Chief James Midgley = came forward to introduce the current IAFF President Paul Fisher and former IAFF President Jim Foley.

Mr. Gaydos stated they we= re pleased with the election and believed they had a very good contract that w= ould end in three years (2014). He= had a copy of the contract, which he signed as negotiator and initialed every page. He asked that the Chief negotiator and Union President sign the agreement along with the Selectmen. The agreement was = signed by the appropriate parties. <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

Agreement for Municipal Responsibility and Liability<= /u>

Mr. Gaydos stated that the representative for the owner indicated that they were certain there was no = need for this; the Planning Director, Highway Road Agent and engineering firm was going out to do measurements and asked the Selectmen to put this on hold. Mr. Gleason recalled speaking to t= he Planning Director to draft a generic model to be used in the future. Mr. Gaydos said the document they = had was that model.

Roundabout Update

Mr. Gleason believed they= would be meeting with the Department of Transportation (‘DOT’) at 10am. He believed there was also a flood= ing meeting prior to the DOT meeting at 9am. The people attending the DOT meeti= ng were Mr. Gleason, Mr. McDevitt, Fire Chief Midgley and Planning Director Je= ff Gowan. Mr. Gaydos said some o= f the unresolved issues were the sidewalk from Windham Road to the intersection of= Windham and Nashua Roads up to the Senior Center. He said because of the close proxi= mity of some of the houses, the right-of-way etc., the state wanted to move the sidewalk across the street, which defeated the whole purpose of the sidewal= k. The Board would have to make a dec= ision in the future if they wanted the sidewalk go to the round-about and not continue to the Senior Center. Mr. Gaydos said another discussion= was possibly involving the Garden Club for ideas on decorating the round-about = and also a future discussion about lighting.&n= bsp; The fire station (building) would also need to be considered. The date for advertising had been = moved out to March, 2012. The utili= ty companies won’t schedule work until the bids were awarded. The schedule and next steps planne= d by the state would need to be firmed up during the DOT meeting.

Mr. Gleason attended a Na= shua Regional Planning Commission meeting and was informed that Representative Campbell went before the Legislature with a list of proposed cuts in the ev= ent that the $30 surcharge on licensing was eliminated. A lot of projects were on the ‘chopping block’. He asked what the possibility was that the Town’s funding for the round-about might be in jeopardy. Mr. Gaydos didn’t believe it would be in jeopardy because it w= as a specific earmark. The state h= ad received the money already, if they choose to delay the project they will h= ave to explain why. If the projec= t is cancelled, they would have to give the money back. Mr. Gleason was concerned that the project kept being delayed all the while the state was spending money/resources. He wanted th= em to be aware that the Town was watching and expected that they would fulfill th= eir obligation. Mr. Gaydos stated= that the state had committed to 20% and 80% was Federal money. Mr. Gleason was happy to hear that= the date had been extended because it gave the Town the opportunity revisit the fire station.

Mr. Gaydos noted one of t= he agreements the Town made when the Governor’s Counsel accepted the ear= mark was they wanted to make sure all the money came in before they scheduled the work. He stated that the 80% = from the Federal Government came in and was in the hands of the state.

Mr. Viger wanted to put r= umors to rest that the Selectmen had no discussion as to how they should move forwar= d as a result of the election. The= re had been no official discussion what to do with the fire station not passing. Mr. Gleason said the Selectmen wou= ld review all the options and examine them all in a public forum so everyone w= ould be aware of how they would proceed.

Flooding Update

Mr. McDevitt provided a b= rief update regarding a meeting on March 4, 2011 that was at the urging of neighbors and abutters of the= Abbott Bridge. He said having the Army Corps of Engineers involved would be key because they could review the Beaver Brook = from the beginning to where it went into the Merrimack Ri= ver. There was a lot of discussion abou= t the dam in Dracut, MA.&n= bsp; Mr. McDevitt discussed the flooding concerns that had been raised du= ring the meeting. It was important= to look at the situation as a whole.

Mr. Gaydos said the Army = Corps had been contacted; the next meeting would probably be in early April. Mr. McDevitt discussed how the Tow= n of Salem handled the flooding situation with the Spicket River. He said when they met with DOT, Mr. Gowan planned to meet with the man responsible for the Main Street Bridge design to be caught up to date with the status. <= /span>A report would be provided to the Board.&nbs= p;

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR / SELECTMEN’S REPORTS

Mr. Gaydos stated that al= l the repairs/upgrades to comply with the Occupancy Permit at the Senior Center had been completed. They were= now in total compliance. He infor= med that Congressman Bass will have David Chesley available for a walk-in constituent service in Sherburne Hall on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 between 10am and 2pm.

Mr. Haverty and Mr. Viger= had no reports.

Mr. McDevitt said he forw= arded the Selectmen a newspaper article regarding the state revenue issues and pension costs issues. He said= the amount of money the Town may have to absorb post-Town Meeting was alarming. He asked Mr. Gaydos= to keep it on his radar. Mr. Gay= dos said the Local Government Center did a super job of tracking it for towns.&= nbsp;

Mr. Gleason indicated at = the recent NRPC meeting it was presented that the state was facing significant = cuts in highway funds. He said if = the registration fees were eliminated the state was proposing that the twenty-y= ear plan be non-existent. There w= as a list of candidates that would be eliminated; NRPC was asked to advice the state = as to whether or not they should be eliminated. Mr. Gleason said one elimination w= as the Main Street Bridge, but he had been told it was proceeding anyway. He asked if the project would be in jeopardy if the cuts went through and was told they would proceed anyway. He was told there may be a decreas= e in maintenance of state roads. M= r. Gleason informed that the Budget Committee would hold a meeting in April, M= ay and June. He noted that Joe Puddister came forward seeking appointment onto the Budget Committee.

REQUEST FOR NON-PUBLIC SESSION

MOTION:

(Viger/McDevit= t) Request for a non-public session per RSA 91-A:3,II, a &b (Personnel; Hiring of any person as an employee)

ROLL CALL:

Mr. Gleason-Ye= s; Mr. McDevitt-Yes; Mr. Viger-Yes; Mr. Haverty-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-publi= c session and to adjourn the meeting. T= he Board entered into a non-public session at approximately 7:40 pm.

Mr. Lynde arrive= d.

The Board returned to public session at approximately 8:45 pm.

MOTION:

(Haverty/Lynde) To seal the minut= es 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 8:45 pm.

= &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