FARMINGTON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MEETING MINUTES
JULY 19, 2004
(Public Session)
Attendance: Gerald McCarthy, Joan A. Funk, Matthew Scruton, Paula Proulx & Paul Parker
Staff: Ernest M. Creveling, Town Administrator, Police Chief Scott Roberge, Lt. Kevin Willey
& Lynn Seaboyer, Admin. Asst.
The meeting convened and was called to order by Chairman McCarthy at 6:00 p.m. He led everyone present in the Allegiance.
Minutes
N/A
Correspondence
N/A
Public Comment
Paul asked if the time limit noted on the Selectmen’s agendas, limiting the public to two minutes per person, could be discussed and possibly changed. Chairman McCarthy suggested addressing this at next week’s meeting.
Equipment Auction
Ernie said he spoke with Clark Hackett about setting up old, unused equipment beside the Highway dept. garage for viewing. He said viewing and the auction would be held on the last week of August with sealed bids due by Friday, Sept. 3rd.
Auction of Tax Deeded Land
Ernie said the Board is still awaiting word from the Conservation Commission, who is still in the process of reviewing the deeded parcels. Gerry asked if word had been received back from the Planning Board and Paul Parker said yes.
Proposed Town Policy Document
Paul Parker made a motion to review the Town Policy document at the end of tonight’s meeting. Joan A. Funk seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.
Mission Objectives/Police Dept.
Police Chief Scott Roberge came before the Selectmen with a video presentation (Power Point), noting he went a little beyond just goals and objectives and has also included some of his department’s recent accomplishments as well. Scott said in 2003-2004 there has been an increase of community relations through the establishment of the new Crime Line. He said the bike patrol was unsuccessful, due to manpower limitations, but his department has conducted a bike auction and have replaced the Kevlar bulletproof vests, worked to increase the presence in the downtown: assisted with traffic control, unfortunately, this was postponed due to budgetary constraints. Scott said the dept. has purchased new spike strips and new radar through grants and have improved officer training as well
Chief Roberge said the objectives for year 2004 and beyond, include short terms goals (1-3 years) to reestablish the bike and traffic control, to update the dept. cruisers utilizing detail funds to purchase two new cruisers in year 2005, to increase community police relations through the establishment of a reward committee for the Crime Line. He went on to say his department would like to update the equipment through the purchase of tasers, more spike strips, new radar, and additional mobile data terminals (MDT’s) to the remaining cruisers, to add mobile policies and procedures, to increase training in homicide investigation, etc. continue to renovate his dept. to include a new roof, new carpeting upstairs and to install exterior
surveillance cameras, etc.
Scott said his other short term goals include: the development/design phase of a new facility, the establishment of a fund to accept donations toward a new facility and to increase staffing levels by one additional officer in response to increased call volume. He said the Police dept. has been forced to be more reactive these days versus the ability to be pro-active. He said his long-term goals over the next 4-7 years are: the addition of cruisers, to complete the MDT project, GPS tracking, silent dispatching, etc. Scott informed the Selectmen that Strafford Dispatch is serving many communities now and is “stretched very
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thin”. He said silent dispatching would eliminate the need for dispatch service and is the future of dispatching. He said in addition to these goals, he hopes to complete site location for a new facility, perform a cost analysis for the facility and increase staffing by the addition of two patrol officers.
He then displayed renovation photos of the work already performed within the police station, including that which remains to be addressed. The new work included two new work stations in the booking room, new rubber flooring (easy to clean) and what will be a new door in the rear entry area of the station, which is being installed to allow for what is known as sight and sound identification (Scott said this reduces liability). He said his dept. had all odd doors in the doorways and they are now all being slowly replaced to all matching doors, along with the installation of wainscoting, all of which will give his dept. more of a professional appearance.
Joan asked Scott about his desire for a traffic control officer, wondering if this officer would be a certified officer or more like a crossing guard and Scott said this would be a part-time position, more like that of the crossing guard, but with appropriate training. He said this is a much less expensive alternative. Paul asked for information on the Crime Line and Lt. Willey said this was designed as another phone number to the dept., for the reporting of criminal activity. He said the number is 755-9797 and it is linked direct to the detectives’ voice mail. Chief Roberge said this has assisted in crime investigation and is working quite well. Kevin said the department is now working on a Reward Committee in hopes of increasing the use of the Crime Line.
Joan spoke to Chief Roberge on behalf of the Downtown Committee, noting the problems folks have pulling out of the municipal parking lot. She asked if the speed in the downtown square is indeed 30 mph and Scott said yes. Joan then asked if the Selectmen could lower the speed limit, to which Scott replied that the Board could petition the State to lower the speed limit, but said the State would not permit a reduction below 25 mph, which is only five miles per hour slower. Discussion then ensued. Paula said speed enforcement is needed in the downtown and Scott said he could “start the ball rolling” to petition the State and that he would have his dept. enforce the downtown speed limit. Joan A. Funk made a motion to petition the State to lower the speed limit in the downtown
square to 25 mph. Matthew Scruton seconded the motion. Discussion ensued. Some felt reducing the speed limit by only 5mph wouldn’t make enough difference, but others felt it would be helpful and more than reasonable, considering the amount of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The Selectmen said the Town needs to enforce the pedestrian crossings, ensuring that vehicles stop to allow pedestrians to cross the street. Scott spoke to the Board about traffic conditions versus court enforcement. The vote was unanimous. Gerry asked about Scott’s presentation concerning the grants applied for, wondering if the spike strips were covered 100% by the grant and Scott said yes, but the radar grant was only 50% grant funded, as well as the bullet-proof vests, which were also 50% grant funded. Gerry then asked Scott why he wasn’t considering hiring part-time officers versus full-time officer. He
said most communities now are hiring part-time and he said he feels this should be looked at very seriously. He said this would be an asset to the community and feels it would be in the best interest of the Town of Farmington to consider this money saving alternative. Chief Roberge said Police Standards & Training have advised against this practice. He said he agrees certain jobs could be done with part-time staff such as: traffic control and crossing guard, but said when hiring part-time, a community/the police dept. simply doesn’t get the best performance. Gerry said if the department loses an officer, and then why not hire 2 or 3 part-time officers to replace the one lost.
Joan said she feels the Town of Farmington would be taking a step backwards in so doing. Paul said Farmington is growing rapidly and really needs adequate coverage. Paula said she sees the officers standing on the sidewalk in the downtown square when traffic is congested and said these officers should perform some traffic control versus hiring additional officers. Scott said his department needs to have officers available for calls for service. Joan asked if a traffic light in the downtown square would be helpful and Scott said yes, but said he’s not sure if the Town of Farmington is ready for this. Paula asked how many officers Scott has on his department and he said ten full-time, on staff, not including himself. Paul asked about the Meetinghouse Hill Road construction,
wondering if there were any alternatives to improve traffic flow during the construction period and the Chief said he had spoken with the D.O.T. about this. He further explained his coordination efforts with the State. Scott said the State has viewed the problem and the issue of backup traffic on Route # 11 and say it is due to the traffic control on the Town level. Scott said the State has requested the Town not perform traffic control between the morning commute
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hours of 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., in order to prevent commuter backup. Lt. Willey spoke to the Selectmen about what they term as naturally occurring gaps. Paul asked if folks could use alternate routes and Scott said vehicles could take Paulson Road or Central St. to Route #11 instead of Main St. Gerry said all the officers should control traffic as Lt. Willey performs it, noting that Kevin keeps traffic moving and is very successful.
Gerry asked Scott what service the Police dept, when Scott refers to “calls for service”. is providing and Scott said his dept. is working with the school system such as the Walk Safety program, has implemented the Citizen Academy, as well as reading to the children at school and the Recreation and Police (RAP) program which works on building a rapport between the youth of the community and law enforcement. He said his dept. also sponsors a baseball league and of course simply deals with all the demands for service (call volume).
Paul asked if Scott has statistics on the call volume and Scott said yes, noting his dept. computer system has tracking capabilities. The Chief said call volume is up dramatically as well as arrests, which are up by 35% and DWI is up by 132%. Gerry asked about mutual aid with the Town of Middleton and the Chief replied that Middleton has a new Chief and that it would be up to him to request mutual aid for his dept. from Farmington. Gerry asked if he would consider this, if asked and Scott said he would consider it. Both Joan and Matt said they feel this should be up to the Chief’s discretion. The Chief said he doesn’t feel this would be appropriate to discuss further this evening in public session. Gerry said he feels the matter should be addressed.
Police Dept. DARE Acct.
Chairman McCarthy said he feels the Selectmen should automatically receive quarterly reports on the DARE Acct. Ernie explained to the Selectmen the issue behind the account is, because the funds raised must fall under the purview of the Treasurer and must be treated as unanticipated revenue, with a public hearing before expenditure of the funds. He said the other option is to spell out the budget line item(s) to enable expenditures through the purchase order system or the third option being, the formation of a Police Assoc. Scott said all the Police dept. fundraising goes to specific items such as: the Christmas lights, sponsoring a baseball team, department renovations, etc. Gerry asked how many accounts are there and Scott said several.
Building Permit on Private Road
Ernie said the Planning Board has forwarded this permit, with their approval/recommendation to the Selectmen for final approval. He said this permit is for a 22’ x 26’ accessory building (barn) for horses and tacks. Ernie said the parcel has 160 acres in size. Discussion of the details ensued. Joan A. Funk made a motion to approve the building permit on a private road, for applicant, Stuart, owner of Tax Map R26 Lot 001. Paul Parker seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.
Planner Applications
Paul said the Planning Board would like to discuss with the Board of Selectmen the formation of an Interview Committee to assist in the process of hiring a planner. He said the Planning Board felt the committee could consist of one Selectman, one Planning Board member and the Town Administrator. Joan said this task is traditionally under the sole purview of the Board of Selectmen and Paul said the Planning Board would be working closely with the new planner and would like to be part of the interview process. Ernie said the deadline to receive applications/resumes is July 23rd. He said he could set up a process at the next meeting in non-public session. Matt asked if the Planning Board would assist in the process in a joint meeting and Ernie said yes, they could participate in the
process. Paula asked about the criteria and Ernie said it was included in the advertisement for the position.
The Selectmen recessed for five minutes. The time was 7:30 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 7:35 p.m.
Town Policy Document
Ernie asked the Board of Selectmen to note the color corrections/comments from Town Counsel on the draft of the Town Policy provided in their agenda packets. He said Counsel recommends codifying the Town ordinances and to repeal those no longer applicable. Joan expressed her concern about what appears to be the inability/option for the Board of Selectmen to suspend a Town Administrator without a public hearing. Gerry then debated the words “just cause” or “for cause”, as it pertains to dismissal of a Town Administrator. The Board of Selectmen decided the words “just cause” should be eliminated from the
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document. Much discussion ensued about the wording, as it applies to reprimand and removal of a Town Administrator. The Board felt very strongly about four Selectmen voting affirmatively before any action
could be taken against the Town Administrator. Ernie said the policy provides for more structure concerning the relationship between the Board of Selectmen and the Town Administrator.
Gerry spoke about the section, which pertains to administrative interference. He said this would eliminate the ability to have simple government. Ernie said “one person, a Board of Selectmen doesn’t make.” He went on to say individual Selectmen should not be giving orders to Town employees.
Gerry said he has a problem with the Conservation Commission. Matt asked why other committees aren’t included in this process and Ernie said he would add the other appointed administrative board/committee members.
Paul Parker made a motion to adjourn public session and enter non-public session in accordance with RSA 91-A:3(II). Paula Proulx seconded the motion. Paula Proulx – yes, Matt Scruton – yes, Paul Parker – yes, Joan Funk – yes, and Jerry McCarthy – yes..
Public session adjourned and the Selectmen then convened in non-public session.
Public session reconvened at 9:15 p.m. A motion was made by Matt Scruton and seconded by Joan Funk to give permission to NHMA to establish a new health insurance policy for one of the Town’s retirees. The vote was Joan Funk, Matt Scruton, Paul Parker and Paula Proulx in favor, with an abstention by Jerry McCarthy. The motion passed.
The Board then discussed the need for an update from the Budget Committee about the school and the overall feeling was the Budget Committee was not being aggressive enough.
The meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn C. Seaboyer
Admin. Asst.
APPROVED
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Gerald McCarthy, Chairman
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Joan A. Funk
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Matthew Scruton
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Paula Proulx
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Paul Parker
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