Town of Greenfield
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday – October 28, 2004 – 5:45 pm
Present: Selectmen - Chairman, William Brooks; Selectman; George Rainier
Absent: Selectman – Conrad Dumas
The meeting was called to order at 5:45 pm
Administrative Assistant, Deb Davidson was taking minutes
Department Heads:
6:00 – Road Agent, Duffy Fox – To discuss his 2005 proposed budget –
· The well for the Library was discussed. Duffy explained where he would put it on the lot.
· Rainier asked if he got a price from UEI for the New Boston Road. No he did not. His budget is up about 5%. Prices are going up.
· Should have some surplus, overtime line item alone only 1/3 of it was used Jan. – April. Can now operate more efficiently than in the past. It is one of those guesstimates.
· Equipment rental? Would rather have it in the budget and return it to tax payers, than not have it and need it. Plan on eliminating one more hired truck in future.
· Rainier asked about road repairs? Fox stated that the next mile ¼ of New Boston Road repairs are going to be expensive. Discussion followed regarding allowing residents to vote on what they want. UEI estimate was $120,000. If the Town Highway Dept. did the work, Fox stated he could take at least 1/3 off the price.
· Warrant Article: Hillsborough Ford quoted $64,000 for a new 1-ton – F550 - will get comparative price from Grappone in Concord. Grappone is a good place to get a second price for the.
Other Matters:
6:20 RSA 91-A:3 II (a) - Personnel
In accordance to RSA 91-A:3 II (a) at 6:20 PM motion by Selectman Rainier to enter into a non–public session.
Seconded by Selectman Brooks. Voted affirmatively.
6:40 PM motion by Selectman Rainier to enter out of the non–public session and to further seal the minutes.
Seconded by Selectman Brooks. Voted affirmatively.
No action to be taken at this time.
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7:20- RSA 91-A:3 II (c) - Reputation
In accordance to RSA 91-A:3 II (c) at 7:20 PM motion by Selectman Rainier to enter into a non–public session.
Seconded by Selectman Brooks. Voted affirmatively.
7:40 PM motion by Selectman Rainier to enter out of the non–public session and to further seal the minutes.
Seconded by Selectman Brooks. Voted affirmatively.
No action.
Out of non-public at 7:40 pm
Selectmen asked Chief Giammarino to research Tickets v. Warnings in Greenfield – Giammarino reported, as of last week there have been1,019 stops – 792 were warnings, the remainder of the “other” was 279. Roughly 12% are tickets vs. warnings. Not sure how this compares to other agencies in the area. Giammarino stated he leaves it to the discretion of the officers whether to ticket or warn a driver. Open for discussion and willing to consider other options is Selectmen want to discuss this further. There are many stops for a small community. There have been18 motor vehicle accidents this past year, all reportable and several had injuries.
Appointments:
On – going matters:
Recycling Bay – Recycling Bay update – No update
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Other Business:
Minutes - Selectmen did not accept the minutes of October 21, 2004 Selectmen’s Meeting as written; there was a change to page one.
Selectmen Approval –
· P/R, A/P & Invoices
· McCanna Fund Allotment – was not discussed, no action was taken
Mail – Review misc. incoming mail –
Budget/Personnel Policies –
· Approve updated personnel policies. This was not addressed, will remain on the agenda until either approved as is, or changes are made.
SWRPC – Bookkeeper, Catherine Shaw discussed the fact that recently she experienced a difficult time from Eric Twarg, SWRPC, this past week. Again, the maps they submitted to the Town for approval were incorrect. The maps, which had previously been updated with subdivisions, were re-presented to the town without the subdivisions being included. Mr. Twarg told Ms. Shaw that she didn’t understand how the GIS worked and that these errors have to do with the layers of data. Shaw reported he was very unprofessional, we have paid them a lot of money and they are insinuating that we are wrong in our office. Shaw recommended the Selectmen consider not continuing use of SWRPC in the future. The office will look into if we must pay dues and if we have to continue to use them or do we
have another alternative.
Discussion followed.
Decision: A letter with the past years scenarios will be mailed to Jeff Porter. We will look into what Peterborough does; we will discuss with Carol Oglvie what she recommends. Administrative Assistant will talk to the Local Government Center and see what options they suggest. Deb will report back her findings to the Selectmen.
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Grievance – Ms. Shaw brought a grievance before the Board of Selectmen; she does not want this to be a non-public session. Shaw’s grievance is regarding an invoice submitted by Parks & Rec. Director, Molly Anfuso for 4.5 hours of clerical work done for the Highway Dept., this invoice requested Anfuso to be paid $15.00/hour. Shaw further stated that by authorizing payment of this invoice, the bar has been raised for the entire clerical staff of the Town. Shaw stated she works on budgets every day. After 8 years of employment with the Town, Shaw stated she does not make $15.00/hour, and doesn’t feel this is right. She realizes Selectmen probably really didn’t even think about what they were approving when they approved it. The Administrative Assistant had already done
the highway budget list Anfuso created. Shaw stated she wants something done, she feels she works very hard and has a lot on her shoulders, she would like to have this seriously looked at. No one knew there was a position open in the Highway Dept. Shaw & Davidson both do a lot of work for other departments (i.e. Planning Board, ZBA, Building Inspector, Fire, Highway, Recycling etc.) and these departments aren’t billed directly, this invoice is not appropriate. Selectmen understood what Shaw was saying and are sensitive to her concerns. They will keep this under consideration while working through the 2005 budget season. The Administrative Assistant will work on a title and a reasonable pay increase for Shaw for the 2005-year and forward.
Benches & Lights – Maintenance person, Frank Pelkey asked when Selectmen want him to put the benches away and put the lights up? Selectmen do not want the lights put up until after Thanksgiving, the benches should be brought in and stored before snow flies.
Tax Rate - Tax rate was set this past week = $28.25 up 1.99
Administrative Assistant and/or Bookkeeper will not be available at the next meeting for minute taking. Administrative Assistant will check with Jean Cernota to see if she can take minutes.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm. The next scheduled Selectmen’s Meeting is Thursday, November 4, 2004 at 5:45 pm.
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