TOWN OF ANTRIM
Select Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, April 22, 2019
7:00 pm Town Hall
Board Members Present:, John Robertson, Chair; Michael Genest, Selectman; Robert L. Edwards, Selectman
Staff Present: Donna Hanson, Town Administrator; Jim Plourde, Road Agent; Scott Lester, Police Chief; Brian Lord, Police Sergeant; Marshall Gale, Fire Chief; Sherry Miller, Deputy Chief
Others Present: Rich Cahoon, School Board; John Anderson, Resident;
Agenda Items:
- Approval of Minutes – Public
Mr. Edwards moved to accept the meeting minutes of April 8, 2019 as printed. Mr. Genest seconded. Passed 3/0
- Approval of Minutes – Non-Public
Mr. Genest moved to accept the minutes of April 8, 2019 as printed. Mr. Edwards seconded. Passed 3/0
Mr. Cahoon gave an update on the lawsuit filed by ConVal School District, which asked the State of New Hampshire to meet its constitutional obligation to provide adequate educational funding as well as proportional rate of taxation. They were joined by Monadnock School District, Winchester School District, and Mascenic School District. There will be a hearing on June 3, 2019 and the judge expects to rule within a couple of weeks of that. Mr. Robertson asked what tax payers could do. Mr. Cahoon said letters to the State Senators would be helpful once the lawsuit is settled.
Mr. Plourde explained the paving bids he received with R & D Paving as the least expensive bid. Mr. Edwards asked if it was possible to test the pavement and Mr. Plourde said he could arrange that. Mr. Edwards also asked that we be named as insured on the certificate of insurance. Mr. Plourde said it won’t be in his budget to do Turner Hill and Bridle Path Road. Mr. Genest moved to accept the R & D Paving bid. Mr. Edwards seconded. Passed 3/0. Mr. Plourde stated that the crosswalks (piano keys) will be painted this week.
- Main Street Speed Limit Correspondence
Mr. Anderson said speeding cars on Main Street are dangerous, especially going downhill in front of the mill building that houses the teen center. Mr. Anderson would like the Select Board to petition the State of New Hampshire to reduce the speed limit from 30 to 25. There was discussion on the speed limit and the crosswalks’ visibility. There was also concern about left hand turns from Summer Street. Mr. Genest asked if the landlord for the mill is providing any parking. Mr. Anderson said the parking is across the road. Mr. Genest said that if you are renting at the mill you need to be aware that the parking is across a State Highway. He also is aware that visibility coming up the highway could be improved with more lighting. Mr. Genest suggested talking to the landlord to create more
parking on the mill side of the road if there is a concern about crossing a state highway. Mr. Anderson said he agrees. Resident Mr. Wood would like to see more lighting at the hill. Mr. Lester thinks speed is not the big problem on Main Street. Ms. Gorga said you should be careful about saying you shouldn’t walk on the State Highway when the State Highway is the Town’s Main Street. Mr. Genest said his point was that if you are going to rent a place on the State Highway you should be aware of the traffic. He said he never said you shouldn’t walk on Main Street. Chief Lester said the data shows that the problem on Main Street is multiple issues. Our Main Street is Route 202. We have an exacerbated issue due to the Sullivan detour. He doesn’t have a problem with petitioning the State but he thinks we would be better served by asking for more signs and lighting on Main Street. He has installed speed signs coming into town after Tenney Farm and at Mush Cook Garage. He also
thinks pursuing Eversourse to remove the pole at Summer Street and Main Street would help with visibility. Chief Lester said, “so far this year we stopped 70 cars on Main Street and only 27 stops were for speed”. They are finding multiple stops on Main Street are for hand held devices, stop signs/yield sign, and no directional signal. Chief Lester will start request a meeting with the State of New Hampshire to discuss the issue. Chief Lester would also like to discuss the reconstruction of T-Bird intersection and ask them to reconstruct the crosswalk areas.
Chief Gale explained the difference between transports, that are billed and the non-transports that are not billed. In 2018 there were 127 calls to Bennington but only 81 were actual transports. There were 19 calls to the ski area. Mr. Edwards said it looks like the cost is $321.00 per call to Bennington. Mr. Edwards said by his calculation we are losing money on the service we provide to Bennington. Deputy Miller said she only includes the cost of personnel when establishing the cost to Bennington for Ambulance service. Mr. Edwards said in order not to lose money payment from Bennington should at least be $19,000.00 annually. Deputy Miller said she and Chief Gale think Bennington should pay half of the weekend per diem cost because Bennington is benefiting from this. That cost is
$14,000.00 for total year. Ms. Hanson will meet with Deputy Miller and Chief Gale to look closer at the numbers to determine what rate should be charged to Bennington. Deputy Miller asked why Antrim doesn’t pay for ambulance service. Mr. Genest said, “At the end of the day it, is Antrim Ambulance service not Bennington Ambulance service. She feels it should be a fee for service. Deputy Miller said Antrim should contribute around $25,000.00. Mr. Edwards asked why the Town of Antrim would contribute money when the Ambulance revolving fund is making money every year. He said it is hard to justify charging the tax payers when you make $7,000.00 to $10,000.00 a year in the revolving fund.
Mr. Edwards moved to approve the Solar Exemptions. Mr. Genest seconded. Passed 3/0
- Mr. Robertson attended the Planning Board meeting. He stated they are looking into changing the fee structure.
- Town Administrator Update
- Ms. Hanson said the request for tools by the Water & Sewer department was approved by Rural Development.
- Ms. Hanson said the quote for revaluation from Commerford, Nieder and Perkins came in $3,000.00 lower than last revaluation.
- Mr. Edwards moved to approve Ms. Hanson as authorized representative for the Sewer Asset management application for a loan.
- Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 2 wrote a letter asking the Selectmen to write a letter to Maxwell Davie congratulating him on become an Eagle Scout. Mr. Edwards will write the letter.
- Mr. Edwards questioned whether Elderly Exemptions and Abatements are sealed. Ms. Hanson has a call into Department of Revenue to find out.
Mr. Edwards asked if we have any kind of bonding requirements on roads due to logging trucks using the roads. Mr. Genest said we have done that on a case by case basis in the past. He suggested we put something on the timber tax application that the road agent will review before the application is accepted.
- Mr. Edwards would like to review subdivision regulations on accepting a road. Everyone agreed to do that.
Mr. Genest moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 PM; Mr. Edwards seconded. Passed 3/0
Respectfully submitted,
Donna Hanson, Town Administrator
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