Selectmen Meeting Minutes of June 23rd, 2008
Present: M. Genest, S. Schacht, G. Webber, W. Prokop, S. Bonnacci, S. Nelkens, R. Morel, B. Merrill, A. Merrill, A. Morse, M. Pon, M. Healey.
1. The selectmen approved the minutes of the meeting of June 2nd.
2. The selectmen voted to accept the letter of resignation from Lt. Matt Elliott which will be effective Thursday, June 26th, 2008.
3. The selectmen then met Mr. Michael Healey, from Municipal Resources, Inc. who will be acting as the Administrative Police Advisor for an interim period until a decision is made of a new Police Chief. Mr. Healey is a retired police Chief from Massachusetts and also served as a selectman for nine years in his home town. He will be working in Antrim for 16-18 hours per week and will be overseeing the administrative, legal, and scheduling details in consultation with the Board of Selectmen.
4. The selectmen were ten told by S. Nelkens that she was offended by the article in the Ledger/Transcript regarding Lt. Elliott’s comments. Chairman Genest stated that her comments are noted.
5. S. Nelkens than asked if her letter that she had given to Selectman Webber could be addressed regarding her concerns about the prosecutor and how much time he spent on her Misdemeanor B. Criminal Threatening case. Selectmen Genest and Schacht asked what she was talking about since they had not seen the letter. W. Prokop then advised S. Nelkens that this is not an issue for the Antrim Board of Selectmen but it should be raised with the Executive Board of the Antrim-Bennington-Hillsboro-Deering Regional Prosecution Program. M. Genest is the Antrim representative on that board and will raise it at their next meeting which will be held sometime in July.
6. R. Morel then asked the Board to please bring back to Antrim community minded policing. He felt that our policing has gotten to military and questioned why we needed tasers, why we needed to bring in a “swat team” to apprehend one intruder, and why we need such strong enforcement tactics. He felt we needed policing like Chief Campbell provides to Bennington. The board thanked him for his opinion.
7. The selectmen voted to approve the Park and Recreation Commissions recommendation to add two new members to their commission; Ms. Thelma Nichols, and Ms. Barbara Reynolds.
8. The Board asked selectmen Webber about the last meeting of the Recreation Commission and where the Recreation Commission and the Recreation Land sub-committee stand on pursuing discussions with the Maharishi School about developing a plan for a cooperative use of recreation facilities. Selectmen Webber explained that the possibility of working out an easement arrangement with the Maharishi is being explored. That being said there are a lot of questions that must be answered such as; the location is it too far out of town? Do we really have the need for additional ball fields at this time? What will be the cost to develop one or two fields? And, what is in the best interest of the Town both short and long term. The commission is currently trying to address all of these questions and come up with a plan that can be brought to Town meeting
early next year.
9. The selectmen were advised by the W. Prokop that the North Main Street Bridge Project is now out to bid and that the bids are due and will be opened on Monday, July 7th, at 2:00 P.M. If any bidder has any questions they are to call Quantum Construction Consultants, LLC at 224-0859 in Concord.
10... The selectmen approved the payroll for the week and reviewed miscellaneous correspondence.
11. The selectmen voted to go into Non-Public session per RSA 91:4a at 6:00 P.M. to discuss some legal and personnel issues.
12. The selectmen went back into public session at 6:30 P.M.
13. The selectmen voted to seal the minutes of the non-public session.
14. The selectmen discussed the regionalization plans for public safety and specifically the Police Department. They are very much in favor of pursuing possible benefits of regionalization but realize that the study and implementation could take several years. They will be meeting with the other towns on Thursday, July 3rd, to discuss who is really interested in pursuing the study. However, in the meantime, they have decided to begin our search for a Police Chief. The position will be posted on the Town website, and will be advertised in the Ledger/Transcript, Keene Sentinel, and the Union Leader. All applications will be due by 4:00 P.M. on July 7th. The selectmen will appoint a committee of five members plus themselves to serve as an advisory committee in the selection of a new Police Chief. The committee will be
comprised of three professional police officials, and 2 citizens of the community in addition to the Town Administrator and the Board of Selectmen.
15. The selectmen discussed the water issue that remains on Summer Street in front of the Bars anti’s. Selectman Schacht will meet with the Bars anti’s and explain the improvement that the Town will be making sometime this summer.
The meeting adjourned at 6:55 P.M. The next meeting will be a work session with Bennington, Deering, and Hancock to discuss regional issues. The Antrim selectmen will be meeting on Thursday, July 3rd at 4:00 P.M. at the Antrim Town Hall and will then be going to the Hancock Town Office for the 5:00 P.M. meeting with the other towns. The next regular selectmen’s meeting will be July 14th at 5:00 P.M. at Town Hall.
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