SELECTMEN’S MINUTES
December 20, 2005
7PM
Present: Chairman Richard DeBold, Selectman Stephen MacCleery, Selectman David Colbert and Administrative Assistant Patty Wooster. Meeting was opened at 7:03PM.
SUBJECT: BUDGET COMMITTEE
HIGHLIGHTS: In attendance for the Budget Committee were Ms. Lucille Carson-Noel; Ms. Pam Stiles; Messrs. Bruce Dyke; John Martell and Jason Weir. On November 29th 2005 the Budget Committee and Board of Selectmen had requested that the Police Department and the Highway Department provide explanations regarding their budgets.
Police Chief Patrick Clarke wants to add an additional full-time police officer so that the Town of Chichester will have round the clock coverage. In the past the New Hampshire State Police have patrolled the area. Currently, Chichester has a mutual aide agreement with Pittsfield and Epsom. If there is an emergency in Town either police department will assist in the call; providing that those towns are not covering an incident in their town.
Chief Clarke introduced Sgt. Player from the New Hampshire State Police Troop D. Sgt Player explained to the Committee and the Board of Selectmen that the State Police are short staffed. Sgt. Player stated that Troop D covers all of Merrimack County; including all of Route 89; portions of Route 93 and as far east as Epsom. He stated that if there was a call, the State Police would come but could not guarantee the time it would take to come to the call. Some calls they would not respond to, i.e. a barking dog. He presented the Budget Committee and the Board of Selectmen with statistics of how many calls came in from Chichester between the hours of 11PM and 8AM. He advised the Committee and the Board that it was better for the Town if they could provide 24 hour coverage. He
stated that Troop D would do the best they could to respond to a call, but if other troops were in need of assistance they would take top priority.
Fire Chief Mike Paveglio was in attendance and stated that it was hard for the Rescue Squad to respond to calls if there was no police back up. He stated that there was a time the Rescue Squad answered a call of a drug overdose and could not attend to the victim until police arrived. He said that sometimes people get out of control; he is concerned that firearms may be on the premises and is concerned for the safety of the men and women that respond to the calls.
Sgt. Player and Chief Clarke were thanked for their time.
SUBJECT: HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
HIGHLIGHTS: Road Agent Mr. David Kenneally presented his documentation regarding one of his lines Contracted Services. In that line he is requesting $120,000.00. The Budget Committee and the Board of Selectmen had requested an explanation of this line and the Payroll line.
Mr. Kenneally provided the Budget Committee and Board of Selectmen with documentation regarding ditching the roads on one-third of the Town’s roads. He presented comparisons of bids from Earth and Advanced. The bid from Advance was $108,000.00 and the bid from Earth was $139,400.00. Mr. Kenneally feels that with two additional full-time employees he can get the work done cheaper and will be able to replace/repair culverts. He also provided costs for equipment rental.
Selectman MacCleery asked Mr. Kenneally how he came up with the figure for his payroll line. He said he based his numbers on himself getting a raise and adding two full-time employees and possibly a part-time employee. He stated that he had done some research as to what surrounding towns are paying their Road Agents and full-time employees. He said his requests are in line with the surrounding towns.
Selectman MacCleery asked Mr. Kenneally if he received his telephone call on Friday. Mr. Kenneally said that he had. Selectman MacCleery wanted to know why Mr. Kenneally had not returned his call. Mr. Kenneally stated that in light of the reason of the call; he did not want to get involved. Selectman MacCleery had called Mr. Kenneally regarding a telephone call that he received from the Stocks located on Lane Road. They called Selectman MacCleery to complain about Mr. Buddy Mayville. The Stocks allege that Mr. Mayville, while plowing snow, pushed up against the stone wall. They stated that Mr. Mayville was plowing on their property. At the Department Head Meeting on December 13, 2005, Selectman MacCleery had requested that Mr. Kenneally speak to Mr. Mayville about this
incident. Selectman MacCleery telephone Mr. Kenneally wanting to know if he had spoken to Mr. Mayville. Mr. Kenneally stated that he had not spoken to Mr. Mayville. He feels that he did not want to get into the middle of the disagreement between the Stocks and Mr. Mayville. In the past, Mr. Mayville on behalf of his mother brought the Stocks to the Board of Adjustments regarding placement of a manure pile. Currently, the Stocks and Mr. Mayville are involved in a legal issue.
Mr. Kenneally was thanked for his time.
The Budget Committee and Board of Selectmen felt they had enough information to further discuss these two budgets. Due to the lateness of the evening it was agreed by the Budget Committee and Board of Selectmen that they meet again on January 3, 2006 to discuss the Town’s Budget. The Budget Hearing will be held on February 7, 2006.
SUBJECT: Mr. Brandon Giuda
HIGHLIGHTS: On Monday, December 19, 2005, Mr. Giuda had contacted Patty regarding e-mails that were circulating between members of the Planning Board with copies being sent to the Selectmen. Patty provided the hard copies to Mr. Giuda in accordance with the Right to Know Law RSA 91-A:2 . Mr. Giuda had requested to meet with the Selectmen regarding these e-mails.
Mr. Giuda stated that he has lost sleep over this issue with the Planning Board. He stated that he was very upset that the Planning Board Chairman, Tracy Scott had initiated e-mails to other Planning Board members, who (some) in return had responded. This is illegal. The e-mails back in forth between a quorum of members is considered a meeting. This meeting was not posted making this illegal.
The next issue that concerned Mr. Giuda is the that Mr. Scott had made slanderous remarks about Mr. Giuda opening up the Town to a lawsuit; i.e. in a response to Mr. Tom Jameson’s e-mail dated December 11, 2005; Mr. Scott states: I hope that by now you can see the game that is being payed{sic}on you and the remaining member of the subcommittee. Brandon has his own agenda that has nothing to do with what is good for Chichester only what is good for Brandon. This was regarding the proposed Open Space Conservation Zoning and the Growth Ordinance. Mr. Giuda stated that when the subcommittee began to discuss numbers (Growth Ordinance) that he did not make any suggestions nor give any numbers.
Mr. Guida believes that Mr. Scott has lost his professional focus and is not doing a good job. He stated that when the subcommittee was forming Mr. Scott refused to be a part of the committee. He believes that Mr. Scott has stepped over the line. Mr. Giuda asked when Mr. Scott’s re-appointment was coming up. Chairman DeBold stated that he thought his re-appointment will be in January of 2006. Mr. Guida stated that would like the immediate resignation of Mr. Scott. Mr. Giuda stated that he does not want to take action at this time, however; if Mr. Scott is not removed, he may reconsider.
Selectman MacCleery asked how far the Board of Selectmen should go. Some of the members of the Planning Board might not have known that the e-mails would be considered a meeting. Members may have seen these e-mails as Mr. Scott wanting a response. Mr. Giuda stated that the members should have known that these e-mails were a meeting.
Chairman DeBold stated that he felt Mr. Scott was personally attacking Mr. Giuda; by the tone and content of his e-mails; he felt that Mr. Scott was not acting as a neutral facilitator, but more as someone trying to control or influence the board members. Chairman DeBold stated that in an e-mail from Mr. Scott on December 8, 2005, Mr. Scott stated: I do not think that we should be looking to someone with such blatent {sic} personal interests as the savior of the town or to give directions to the PB unles {sic} we want to be in the papers just as Pittsfield has been. Chairman DeBold stated that this was comparing apples to oranges and the situation in Pittsfield is much different.
Mr. Giuda feels that Mr. Scott lacks good leadership and if Mr. Scott is still on the Planning Board in January, he should recuse himself from the discussion of the proposed Growth Ordinance
Mr. Giuda stated that he did not want to make a big thing of this; however, he feels that his reputation has been tainted and feels that those who do not know him will look at him objectively. Selectman MacCleery stated that he thought the Board of Selectmen should ask for Mr. Scott’s immediate resignation. The Board of Selectmen decided that this issue is a legal issue and feel that they should seek the advice of the Town Attorney, Bart Mayer. It was decided that Chairman DeBold would contact Mr. Mayer and seek his advice and report back to the other Selectmen. Chairman DeBold asked Patty to contact Mr. Scott and have him come in and meet with the Board of Selectmen on December 27, 2005.
SUBJECT: GENERAL BUSINESS
HIGHLIGHTS: Briefly discussed by the Board of Selectmen was Mr. Bill Stevens and Davis Road. Selectman Colbert stated that the Board has been down this “road” before with Mr. Stevens and feels that this decision is not the Board of Selectmen’s to make that it is a matter for the Board of Adjustment. Selectman MacCleery felt that the Board of Selectmen has no authority to give permission to Mr. Stevens to access his lot from another town.
Patty informed the Board of Selectmen that the ad for the Bond Hearing has been written and will be placed in Suncook Valley Sun and the Concord Monitor on December 28, 2005. Patty advised the Board of Selectmen the interest rates and terms of the bond. Selectman MacCleery asked Patty to find out if there was a penalty for paying off the bond ahead of time.
Patty gave a breakdown of the bids that were received from assessing agents. She gave the Board of Selectmen a copy of all the bids and asked them to look it over to discuss at the next meeting.
The Board signed payroll and accounts payable.
Legal correspondence, mail and e-mail were reviewed.
The Minutes from December 13, 2005 were reviewed and approved.
Being no further business, Chairman DeBold adjourned the meeting at 11:30pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Patty Wooster
Administrative Assistant
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Chairman Richard DeBold
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Stephen MacCleery, Selectman David Colbert, Selectman
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