TOWN OF FARMINGTON
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES
Monday - March 10, 2008
356 Main Street, Farmington, NH
Selectman Present: Paula Proulx, Martin Gilman, Joel Chagnon and Joan Funk.
Selectman Absent: Gerry McCarthy (excused)
Town Staff Present: Town Administrator Tony Mincu, Parks and Rec. Director Donnie Gagnon and Bonnie Lauze
Public Present: Gail Dodier, Sharon McKenney, Steve Dean, Gail Ellis, Charlie King, JoAnn Doke, Cindy Snowdon and Steve Durrance.
Vice-Chairman Marty Gilman opened the public meeting at 6:02 pm.
A. Review of Minutes:
1. Joan Funk motioned to accept the public minutes of 2/11/08 as amended, 2nd Paula Proulx. Amendments to include slight word changes. Motion carried with Joel Chagnon abstaining.
2. Joan Funk motioned to table the public minutes of 2/25/08 so that Brandy Sanger can check to see if a vote was taken on the Economic Development Committee Discussion, 2nd Paula Proulx. It was also noted to change the spelling of "Wiley" and change Joel Moulton to Joel Chagnon in the votes listed. Motion carried with all in favor.
B. Public Comment:
1. Sharon McKenney submitted a letter to the Selectman, with copies going to the state offices that stated she could not be held responsible for the tree that is down in the river behind her property from the floods two years ago. Ms. McKenney stated that she heard on the news that the state will be holding landowners responsible and she wanted it on record that she does not have the resources to take care of this and that she has been working for the past several years to get assistance with this downed tree.
2. Steve Dean questioned when the new rope would be installed on the downtown flagpole. A discussion was held in that the conclusion was made that maybe the "job" got lost in the shuffle when the rope had to be reordered. Marty said that the Board would make sure the rope is installed.
3. Gail Ellis commented that Donnie Gagnon did an excellent job on the new Parks and Recreation Department Brochure. The Selectman agreed.
4. Joan Funk commented on behalf of downtown business owners that she would like the downtown regulations/ordinances looked at to see if they are reasonable and promote business in the downtown area. The Board agreed to review them and discuss at a future meeting.
5. Marty Gilman offered a thank you and job well done to his fellow Selectman members for all their work over the past year. It was a year of growth and many challenges and together they faced it. All members were in agreement.
C. Department Heads:
1. Abatements - Bonnie Lauze presenting
a. NH Electrical Cooperative requested an abatement based on the fact that they would like to stay with the town's assessment and not DRA's. Bonnie noted that the town assessor would like the Town to adjust their assessments closer to DRA's. She also noted that NH Electrical Cooperative has applied for this abatement for the past two years as well. Marty commented that he would like to see what the surrounding towns have done in regards to this issue and Bonnie replied that she would research it and get back to the Board.
b. Eric Almanzan requested an abatement after the sale of his property based on the price of that sale. Bonnie stated that the assessment of the property was corrected on the tax card (because it was a town error), but because the correction was made before the 2nd half of the 2007 bill, Mr. Almanzan needs to go back to his closing company for the sale to recover his overpayment.
c. Norman Russell requested an abatement because he supplied a survey that corrected the acreage on his tax card. Joel Chagnon asked if the application should be accepted because of the vulgarity on the application. Bonnie replied that they just ignore it and legally the Town has to respond. Joel C. stated for the record that he would not sign the abatement unless it is rewritten without the vulgarity.
d. Robert and Donna Guilbault requested an abatement of $1257 and Bonnie informed the Board that the request should be approved because the assessment error was the town's. The Board agreed to grant the abatement.
e. Paula asked what happened with the TD Banknorth abatement that Mr. Wiley presented. Bonnie replied that she knows it went to the BTLA last Tuesday and Tony added that he would investigate to see what occurred at the trial.
D. Old Business:
1. Budget Committee Vs. School Board Lawsuit: Tony informed the Board that the Judge ruled to dismiss the case due to RSA 32, which gives the right to taxpayers to put an item on the warrant and that the Budget Committee has filed an appeal. Joel asked how much it cost to file an appeal and Tony replied about $500. Joel said he "is completely against any more monies going towards attorney fees for this nonsense." Joel then asked how it was decided upon to file for an appeal when the budget committee has not held a meeting. Tony replied he was unsure but maybe they took a phone poll. Joel asked Paula if a phone poll was taken and she said she was called and asked for her opinion. Joel Chagnon motioned that no further money be released for attorneys
towards the budget committee vs. school board lawsuit case, 2nd Joan Funk. Motion carried with all in favor except for Paula Proulx who abstained because she sits on the budget committee and she also does not know if it is legal to stop the funding.
2. Verizon Contract: Tony requested permission to enter in a contract with Verizon for the Town's 31 phone lines, including the dispatch line, for a total of $1161 per month. He added that this is a 3 year contract and does not include long distance, which will be at a rate of five cents per minute. Joan Funk motioned to accept the Verizon Phone Contract, 2nd Joel Chagnon. Discussion followed in which Paula asked if Tony received a bid from Bayring and he said yes that the bid came in at $1600. Marty then asked if the sale to Fairpoint will have any effect on this contract and Tony replied no, he asked that same question of Verizon and they said no. Motion carried with all in favor.
3. EPA Administrative Order: Tony reminded the Board that they new this was coming and that the Town will need to come up with a plan to respond to the order. Tony said that the meeting with the EPA is tentatively set for 3/26/08 at 9:30 am in Farmington. Paula asked if the Board is going to meet with the Wright-Pierce before meeting with the EPA and Tony replied yes, this meeting is tentatively scheduled for 3/24/08 at 5pm.
4. Update on Middleton and Milton Ambulance Service: Tony informed the Board that Middleton has advertised for EMTs and have established a committee to review their situation with a goal to come up with a plan by March of 2009. He also added that Milton is now experiencing a walk-out threat so there is potential for more calls from them as well.
5. Town Meeting Power Point Presentation: Paula noted that she would like to see the explanation of the tax impact (which was well written) at the beginning of the presentation before the warrants. The Board was in consensus that this was a good idea.
E. New Business:
1. Campbell Commons Order: Tony informed the Board that the Judge found RSA Development to be responsible for the pumping station at Campbell Commons and is liable for all costs expended thus far for maintenance and repairs and ordered RSA Development to continue the maintenance of the pumping station. Cindy Snowdon questioned how RSA Development will be aware there is a problem with the station when up to now she would receive phone calls from the residents closest to the station who could see the alarm going off when there was a problem. Tony suggested Cindy ask her attorney to pose that question to Mr. Campbell.
2. Legal RFP: Tony informed the Board that the RFP has gone out to ten municipal law offices with a deadline of 3/19/08 and that he has not received any as of yet.
F. Other Business:
1. Preservation Guild: Tony informed the Board that the Farmington Community Preservation Guild is closing it's doors and will no longer be in operation. As a result, warrant article 19 for the Guild for $19,600 needs to be amended. Tony stated that he had been working with Donnie Gagnon to come up with some possible solutions because they feel the Explore for Grown-Ups program that the Guild prepared is an important and popular asset to the Town. A solution they came up with was to change the wording for the article to state it is for the Explore Program and then the funds can be utilized to pay an employee to organize the program and print the brochures.
Joan replied that when the Guild budget was presented in the past, it was said this money was for the insurance premiums and questioned how one could justify the article. Tony replied that this year the budget proposal explanation stated the funds would be used for Guild programs. Paula stated she does not think you can change the article in this way because it changes the intent of the funds and asked Tony to check with counsel. Tony replied that he had a conversation with counsel and they did not feel this type of change would change the intent and therefore would be okay.
Paula asked how much it actually costs to run the Explore Program. Tony replied that he and Donnie had not had a lot of time to research the exact costs but feel that a large majority of the funds would be for administration. Donnie added that in his conversations with Cyndi Paulin he gathers that the $19,600 would have covered the Explore Program.
Cindy Snowdon said another aspect of the Guild closing that needs to be addressed is the grant writing. Cindy noted that Cyndi Paulin did a lot of grant research and writing and someone in the Town will need to pick up that slack. She also questioned if any of the warrant article funds would be set aside for this purpose.
Charlie King asked if the funds for this year's Explore Program can come from the unexpended fund balance until the Town has the true costs evaluated.
Paula suggested running the Explore Programs already scheduled for the winter/spring and then take the time to set-up the next set of programs and find out what the true cost is. Tony replied that another part of the Guild closing that would be an issue is that the grants will need to be turned over to someone.
Marty questioned if the Guild received any funds from other towns that utilize these programs. Donnie replied that there are a lot of programs offered by residents of the other towns and he is not sure if you would want to search out funds from those towns. He also noted that Cyndi worked very hard to gain the cooperation of the participating towns and set up these relationships over the past few years.
Joel C. stated that he firmly believes the Town should just vote no on the article because the Guild is closed and also that he does not think the Explore Program should be under the guidance of the recreation department.
Joan asked Cyndi P. what the total grant funding is for the Guild and she replied about $80,000 and that their fiscal year runs October-September. Cyndi also stated that she has seen continuous support and success of the Explore Program and the residents of Farmington would be very disappointed to see it end. Joel argued that he is not sure there is a town employee who could devote 1/3 of their time to organize the Explore Program.
Joan commented that she would like to see the funds stay in the warrant to give the town a chance to try organizing the programs and then if they find they cannot do it, the funds would go back to the taxpayers anyway. Charlie King suggested explaining the situation at the Town Meeting and letting the residents debate and decide the fate of the programs. Paula asked Tony to contact DRA to check on the legality of amending the warrant.
Marty Gilman motioned to go in non-public session under RSA 91:A.3.2.(b) and (d), 2nd Joan Funk. Roll Call - Marty Gilman (yes), Paula Proulx (yes), Joan Funk (yes) and Joel Chagnon (yes).
Joan Funk motioned to adjourn, 2nd Paula Proulx. Motion carried with all in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Brandy Sanger
Recording Secretary
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Chairman, Gerry McCarthy Vice-Chairman, Martin Gilman
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Paula Proulx Joan A. Funk
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Joel Chagnon
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