Town of Greenfield
Selectmen Meeting Minutes
Thursday– January 13, 2005 – 5:45 pm
Present: Chairman, William Brooks; Selectman; George Rainier; Selectman, Conrad Dumas
The meeting was called to order at 5:45 pm
Administrative Assistant, Debra Davidson taking minutes
Department Heads:
None scheduled
Appointments:
None scheduled
On – going matters:
Recycling Bay – Recycling Bay update –
· Selectman Rainier reported that recycling attendants Angelo Mirabella & Frank Pelkey worked on the garage door, not quite tight enough yet, needs a longer bar to adequately tighten the spring.
· Selectman Rainier explained to Mr. Pelkey the letter Selectmen sent to Crotched Mtn., inquiring about a donation for insulation.
· Mr. Pelkey is back to work full time.
Other Business:
Minutes - Accepted the minutes of December 29, 2004, Selectmen’s Meeting as written. At this time, Selectmen did not accept the minutes of January 7, 2005 Selectmen & Budget Committee Meeting. Selectman Dumas will make changes to the minutes as discussed by Selectman Rainier.
Selectmen Approval –
· P/R, A/P & Invoices –
Mail – Review misc. incoming mail –
Letter from Senator Gregg, Deb spoke with Senator Gregg’s assistant, Matt Lahey; l he indicated he would contact Deb and discuss any available funds that we have not yet sought out, he recommended CDBG, however this has been looked at and we do not qualify.
Letter from Mason & Rich requesting information before May 3rd when they are scheduled to begin financial compilation.
MCH Legislative Breakfast – February 4, 2005 – 7:30 – 9:00 am
Town of Peterborough, correspondence regarding ambulance service & invoice for 2005.
DRA – Tax Rate comparisons
Report of injury – Jim Orr tipped over in a chair in the meeting room.
LCHIP 2004 Year End Report
Attorney Teague – Potential Litigation; Interrogatories case #04-E-0348
Budget/Personnel Policies –
Personnel Policies - Selectmen have not yet approved the updated version of the Personnel Policy.
Budget –
· Options for Warrant Article - Waste Water Project, CRF for Fire Dept.
· Bonds – Are you going to be bonding? Deb spoke with Sandra Rourke, DRA; she and I discussed using surplus to offset the tax rate.
· DSL – As Selectmen asked Deb to do; she contacted Verizon regarding DSL running through Greenfield. It has been reported that the Library, one line at the Town Office, Fire Dept. & Elementary School can get high speed internet. The cost is approximately $60.00/month. It is significantly higher than what currently is being paid. Selectmen need to decide if it is worth it, for those who use the Internet, to have a higher speed Internet. Discussion followed, examples of use for DSL were provided to the Selectmen. An additional $465.50 to each budget that would be affected.
Deb was instructed to notify the various departments of this and they could each handle it how they want.
Computers – Deb spoke with Claire Kent from Choice Computers about purchasing Dell Computers – she said we could but that it would be “penny wise and pound foolish”, Claire did a quote for what we would need, the $500 Dell would end up costing approximately $1500.00 when we had the insides we need, XP Professional, monitors, keyboards etc. She is happy to come speak with you & the budget committee and/or give you a written proposal from Dell to allow you to clearly understand what exactly the $500.00 computer is all about.
Fire/Rescue Dept. – Meeting with Wilton/Lyndeborough was held earlier this week, Wednesday. Chief White reported to the Administrative Assistant that the meeting went well; he stated the final dollar amount from Wilton/Lyndeborough for 2005 is $12,574.00. He indicated he would appreciate a decision one way or another from the Board to allow him the ability to notify Wilton/Lyndeborough. If Selectmen would like more information, please let Chief White know. However he would really appreciate a determination if you are supportive or not.
Administrative Assistant reported that earlier this week she received a call from Peterborough Town Administrator, Pam Brenner. They discussed the concerns the Town of Peterborough has regarding the recent discussion about the Town of Greenfield leaving Peterborough ambulance. They have billed the final bill for the ambulance, it is in your to be discussed folder. The Town is hopeful that we don’t leave Peterborough; they are implementing a program and are happy to have our staff participate in a volunteer position.
Decision: Selectmen want more information regarding Wilton/Lyndeborough. They don’t know enough to make any decisions, especially this late in the budget season.
Old Lyndeborough Mtn. Road – Deb inquired as to what is being done about the situation that earlier took place regarding the state of the road? Selectmen discussed this, they have asked the Police to patrol out there, and in the spring town highway crew will most likely repair the road. Mr. Hennessey will be responsible for the expense.
Warrant Articles – Resident, Ann Majeski would like to be on the agenda next week. She wants to propose a warrant article to “throw up” all Class VI Roads that haven’t been used in 50 years or better. She doesn’t want to present a warrant article though unless the Board supports it. She will be here next week to discuss this with the Board.
Alarm – Selectmen were made aware that recently it appeared that someone had touched the panel for the Alarm in the Meeting House. It was recommended a cover be placed on the system with a key in the Knox box and one kept in the central office key box.
Selectmen’s Meeting adjourned at 7:00 pm at which time they opened the informational meeting for future plans of the Waste Water Project.
There were several members of the public present as well as Underwood Engineer, Keith Pratt, Board of Selectmen members & Administrative Assistant.
The meeting was opened with Keith Pratt again introducing himself to the public and further explaining the current status of the end of the final municipal project, which was passed in 2000. Further explanation of funding followed, why the Waste Water portion has not been constructed as of yet. It was restated that all articles presented in 2000 are complete with the exception of the wastewater project. The system has been designed and approved by the State of NH; not yet built for the following reasons. A small amount of history was discussed, the fact that in 1997 the charette, held by the Office of State Planning, came to Greenfield. Due to nuisance septic systems and the presence of septage odors. The OSP recommended the purchase of the East Coast Steel property and further recommended construction of
a waste water site.
Operation & Maintenance of the project is included in the increased rates.
The system is approved for 14,400 gallons of wastewater flow/day; designed at maximum capacity for what the state required for the size of the lot, wetlands and other factors that were considered when the design took place.
Looking for feedback from the general public - Mr. Griffing stated he is supportive of the project.
Adele Gagnon spoke on the entire project funding and grant funds that were not anticipated, if we received additional funding, why do we need the additional financing? Pratt explained, though we did receive additional funding, projects went over, and the fact that it is 5 years later, costs have increased.
David Buchanan asked about a “clip” that now leaves drainage onto their driveway. Duffy has been notified of this several times, Duffy has been back a couple times to take care of it, but the problem has not been fixed. It is the same on other side of road at the gap. Pratt indicated that they (Underwood Engineers) would look at the situation. However, Selectman Rainier stated that there were two road projects happening at the same time and it might be the town project that did the damage, he (Rainier) will check with Duffy and see what the status is.
Jarvis Adams asked about the American Steel building the Church recently purchased and how the impact fees will affect this property? He would like to be able to report to the church for budgeting issues. The AS property is listed on the septic plan as a 2 bedroom, 8 employees no bath, no bedroom or the equivalent to a three bedroom house.
Norman Nickerson – what are the hookup fees going to be? Pratt explained the cost to hook up is the property owners expense; the project will bring the pipe to the property line, and then to the house is the property owner responsibility.
Adele Gagnon stated it appears the user fees have pretty much doubled from original estimates, can this be explained.
Keith Pratt explained that the estimates are pretty much only $50.00 more than original quote, how they are paid is what may or may not change.
Selectman Dumas closed by saying that the amount the town is looking for is minor in comparison to the entire bond of 5 years ago.
Kent Vincent asked why couldn’t we incorporate meters?
Selectman Rainier – cost, figuring how to meter accurately, etc. are all variables. The cost is approximately $1,100.00/meter just to hook up meters to each property
Pratt explained where the figures came from, purchase & cleanup was in another line item. The original budget was $465,000 actual bid figures $652,000. The contractor has agreed to hold his price until Spring 2005. We will need a new warrant article authorizing additional debt of $270,000 (increase of only $30,000). We already have the authority to borrow those funds;
The authority was granted in the bond article in 2000, we would be doing a housekeeping article to simply provide some clarity.
If approved, the system will be operational by next fall.
If it is not completed by fall, there will be performance penalties. The contract reads the project must be completed within 90 day, possible the contract reads120 days, however that will be confirmed before any construction begins.
With no further business or questions the meeting adjourned from the Waste Water project discussion at 8:08 pm.
Selectmen’s meeting reconvened at 8:20 – Selectmen finished up with weekly agenda items. Selectmen reviewed the 2000 Warrant, the town authorized the Selectmen to spend $1.5 Million dollars, to date we have spent $1.3. Therefore, we still have the authorization to bond for the remaining $240,000. Deb will confirm this with the bond attorney; it is desired to utilize a portion of the fund balance and to use remaining funds
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm. The next scheduled Selectmen’s Meeting is Thursday, January 20, 2005 at 5:45 pm.
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