BOARD OF SELECTMAN
TOWN OF FARMINGTON
MONDAY - OCTOBER 30, 2006
356 Main Street - Farmington, NH
Selectman Present: Chairman Paula Proulx, Paul Parker, William Tsiros, and Gerald McCarthy.
Public Present: Joan Funk, Sylvia Arcouette, Rebecca Howard, Chief Richard Fowler, Kathy Seaver, and Charlie King.
Chairman Paula Proulx called the meeting to order at 6:10pm
Public Input
Joan Funk, Chairman of the Farmington Downtown and Business Committee brought forward a suggestion of a lot for the BOS to consider purchasing for town use. She indicated that the price written on the Selectman's copies was a firm price if the purchase had to go to a public hearing but would be negotiable if not. The BOS was in agreement that the town would definitely benefit from looking into the purchase but it would have to be brought forward as a warrant article in the March voting. Joan also updated the BOS on the work he committee has been doing on putting together a business directory.
Sylvia Arcouette questioned the Board on what was happening with her request from a few weeks ago about her land on Perkins Ave. Paula responded that Joel Moulton went down and looked at the property but was not sure if the survey is accurate and suggested that the land be resurveyed. Paula will have Joel set-up a meeting with Sylvia to get the surveying information she has, so that he can see if he is comfortable accepting the survey pins that are in place.
Charlie King reported that Ten Rod Road is closed from Meetinghouse Hill Rd. to the Rochester line for the next two weeks because the town of Rochester is doing road work.
Old Business
Minute approval from 10-23-2006:Paul Parker moved to accept the public minutes from 10/23/2006 as amended, Bill Tsiros seconded. Motion passed with all in favor.
Paul Parker moved to seal the non-public minutes from 10/23/2006 due to personnel issues, Bill Tsiros seconded. Discussion followed: Gerry stated the minutes are already out to the public so there is no sense in sealing them now. Motion failed; Paul Parker (yes), Paula Proulx (no), Bill Tsiros (no), and Gerry McCarthy (no).
Paul Parker moved to table the discussion of the 10-23-2006 non-public minutes until the non-public session, Bill Tsiros seconded. Motion passed with all in favor.
Fund Balance Update: Paula stated that though the Selectman were assured by the past town administrator that the town would not go below the 12% fund balance, the town did. Right now the town is at about 7% fund balance with $835,131 and the tax rate is set for $17.05, which is up 26 cents. Gerry questioned how this happened and where the error was. Paula and Kathy Seaver
believe that either the warrant articles were not taken out or the administrator did not include the schools and county when he came up with the 12% fund balance. Sylvia Arcouette asked how the BOS is going to assure that this does not happen again. Kathy suggested maybe having the auditor sign off on what the fund balance is and also reminded the board that this has not happened since the town started with an administrator in the early 1970s. Charlie King suggested that the BOS be sure that the new town administrator they eventually hire be very familiar with the budget process and good with numbers. Gerry added that all departments be notified to watch their spending throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.
New Business
Town Clerk, Tax Collector Budget: Kathy Seaver informed the BOS that she received two grants recently, one from the Moose Conservation License Plate Grant for $8500 and another for $2500 from the State/Vital Records Grant. She also said she is expecting another $7500 that will be used to purchase roller shelves for the safe in the Town Hall. The records will be brought out of the basement and the old town hall and put on these roller shelves so that they are safe from mold.
Kathy Seaver presented her draft budget.
1. Bill questioned the $600 for Dog license renewal, what it is for and if a response is generated. Kathy responded that a letter is sent out to all dog owners who have not yet renewed their license each spring and that they do not get many responses.
2. Paul questioned why the TC training went up and Kathy stated it was to cover trainings for Theresa.
3. Kathy explained that she always budgets for 2 elections/voting’s so that she is prepared for any surprise voting’s brought forth by the planning and zoning offices.
Kathy presented to the board an idea of the town acquiring the use of a Virtual Town Hall internet site where taxpayers could go online and see and/or pay their tax bills using a credit card. The set-up charge for the program is $6500 and then $2500 a year to maintain, though this cost would be offset because the town would not longer need to pay the $500 for election software and $1000 for motor vehicle software. The Selectman asked Kathy to put a survey out at the November elections as to how the taxpayers feel about this.
Kathy also brought forward the idea of putting debit card machine on the counters for bill payments. She explained there is no cost to the town for the machine and use and many residents have requested it. The board was in consensus that Kathy could order the machines and start using them right away.
Kathy asked the Selectman to consider letting her turn the janitorial closet into an office for herself so that she would have a private place to meet with taxpayers. She estimated the cost to rebuild the room to be about $2500 and then another $2000 for the painting of the new office and the main tax collector office. Kathy suggested the monies to be expended from the SAU rental line. Paul requested Kathy put her proposal in writing.
Gerry questioned spending the money on this project when there are other more immediate needs
like making the front door handicapped accessible and grinding down the base at the door to meet state requirements. Paula will look into the costs of the door projects. Paul added that the windows in the building also need to be replaced to be more energy efficient and that a long-term plan for window replacement should be looked into as well. Paula agreed and stated there may be grants available for the window project as well.
Paul Parker motioned for a five minute recess, Bill Tsiros seconded. Motion passed with all in favor.
Meeting recessed at 7:55pm
Paula Proulx reconvened the meeting at 8:09pm
Fire and Ambulance Department Draft Budget: Chief Fowler brought forward a combined budget for both the fire and ambulance departments.
1. The Chief explained that the increase in day-time coverage is to cover the position that was approved this year, but has only been being paid since August for this year. The increase shows the position being paid for a full year.
2. The training line is down $5000 because they are able to do a lot of in-house training.
3. Prevention line is up $500 because he would like to keep broadening the excellent program that the station already has in place to educate the school children, elderly and more. He did note that he received a grant to purchase 200 9-volt batteries to handout at the open house for smoke detector battery replacement.
4. Vehicle maintenance line is up $2500 to keep the vehicles properly maintained.
5. Paula questioned the cost for the fire alarm system repair and the Chief responded that $1900 has been expended so far this year.
6. Chief explained that the building maintenance line is up $2000 to cover the materials need for patching and painting the exterior walls of the station, upgrading the bathrooms and painting the white building.
7. Protective clothing was added as a new separate line, it use to be under equipment expense.
8. Equipment expense line is to cover hand tool replacement, supply hoses, pulse oxcimitors and emergency warning equipment.
9. Billing services down $2250 because now using Comstar.
10. Telephone line down $2800 because reduced Nextels
Chief Fowler brought up a few other areas of discussion. First, he would like the board to consider doing payroll on a hourly system instead of the P point system to make it more fair. Under the current system a firefighter who responds and goes out on a call that takes 5 hours receives the same amount of points a volunteer receives who showed up but was not needed for the call. The BOS asked the Chief to create a proposal on how many volunteers he has and how he would track hours, plus how this change would potentially affect his budget.
The Chief also brought forward some vehicle proposals. (see attachment) Currently, there is approximately $446,000 in the fire capital reserve fund and the Chief proposed purchasing a new Rescue truck, a new pumper truck and over $100,000 in repairs to the ladder truck from this fund. Gerry and Paul would like the Chief to look into purchasing used trucks from other towns. Bill suggested waiting to find out if the ladder is going to pass inspection before making plans for it. The Chief stated that Engine 2 and the Ladder truck do not meet NFPA standards, though they do not "have" to. Paula asked the Chief to look into what the projected cost of a Quint 85 foot ladder/pumper truck and availability of a used rescue truck, if the town was to purchase one in the spring. Bill added
that the town might be able to recover the $20,000 spent on the engine of the ladder truck by selling it.
Chief Fowler requested that the board ask the Town Hall Rental Coordinator to make it a condition when renting the building for more than 50 people that the renter needs to contact the Chief to hire fire watch for the event. The Selectman will notify the coordinator and discussed reviewing the permittable uses of the Town Hall and the specifics having to do with the renting.
Chief Fowler also presented the board with a written proposal to put in place monthly monitoring fees on the digital fire alarm system and creating a deadline for current users of the old system to change over to the new.
Request from Megan Taylor and Pamela Merill: Megan Taylor and Pamela Merill brought a written proposal forth for the painting and refurbishing of the municipal lobby and kitchen. Gerry stated he believes the first priority should be the front door (making it handicap accessible) and that the board should check to make sure the boiler is in good condition. Paula will look into these areas and report back to the BOS.
Town Wage Sheets: Pamela Merill, Finance Administrator, forwarded the town wage sheets per request of the BOS. Paul questioned the inconsistency of the dental and life insurance. Paula will check with Pam and report back to the BOS.
Wright-Pierce Contract: Wright-Pierce drafted an Amendment for Agreement Between the Town and Wright-Pierce for an Engineering Report Phase and Contract for Professional Services for Treatment Works. This would make a new contract with Wright-Pierce for the purpose of negotiating an implementation schedule for meeting licensing requirements with NPDES on the town's behalf, the cost is approximately $7600. Bill Tsiros moved to have an analytical breakdown of indirect costs on proposed new contract with Wright-Pierce, Paul Parker seconded. Discussion followed that the BOS will question Wright-Pierce on the costs at the Nov. 13, 2006 meeting. Motion passed with all in favor.
LEOP Review Meeting: All Selectman got an invitation to the LEOP Review Meeting on Wednesday, 11-15-2006 at the Governor's Inn in Rochester. Paula suggested having as many Selectman there as possible since Farmington is the host site in case of a pandemic.
Town Planner Position: Paula is meeting with Charlie King, Doreen and Paul Esswein on Wednesday to create a plan so that all employees have a clear understanding of their roles and what needs to be picked up by an outside professional until a new Town Planner is hired. Paula also reported that she has made some contacts in finding an interim Town Planner but will have more information next week. Gerry questioned if they had decided the town needs a full time planner. Paula responded no, they had just motioned to have her find an interim person to fill the immediate need and then they can decide where to go.
FEMA: Paula reported the town just received a check for $30,670.12 from FEMA for the flood reimbursements.
Budgets: Gerry questioned if there is a timeline for the budgets for 2007. Paula said the budget committee has not given one but the BOS has just gone through the first round of all drafts and are on target.
Wastewater Extensions: Gerry questioned if the BOS should set some type of policy for only the Village Center and possibly Spring St being extended onto the Wastewater lines so that the town is not extending the plant capabilities anymore.
Paul Parker moved to go in non-public session under RSA 91A:3.2.b - hiring of a public employee, Gerry McCarthy seconded. Roll Call - Bill Tsiros (yes), Paula Proulx (yes), Paul Parker (yes) and Gerry McCarthy (yes)
Bill Tsiros moved to go out of non-public, Gerry McCarthy seconded. Roll call- Bill Tsiros (yes), Paula Proulx (yes), Paul Parker (yes) and Gerry McCarthy (yes).
Bill Tsiros moved to go in non-public under RSA 91:A.3.2.a, Gerry McCarthy seconded. Roll call- Bill Tsiros (yes), Paula Proulx (yes), Paul Parker (yes), and Gerry McCarthy (yes).
Bill Tsiros moved to come out of non-public, Gerry McCarthy seconded. Roll call - Bill Tsiros (yes), Paula Proulx (yes), Paul Parker (yes), Gerry McCarthy (yes).
Letter of Resignation: Paula received a letter of resignation from Marty Gilman to be effective October 30, 2006. This letter was read but not accepted by the board. Gerry was asked to talk to Marty about his decision to see if he would reconsider.
Gerry McCarthy moved to adjourn, Bill Tsiros seconded. Motion passed with all in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 11:05pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Brandy Sanger
Recording Secretary
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Chairman, Paula Proulx Vice-Chairman, Paul Parker
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William Tsiros Gerald McCarthy
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Martin Gilman
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