Town of Greenfield
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday – May 4, 2006 – 5:45 pm
Present: Selectmen - Chairman, Conrad Dumas; Selectman, Aaron Kullgren; Selectman George Rainier
Catherine Shaw taking minutes.
Selectman Dumas called the meeting to order at 5:45pm
Appointments:
7:00 – Roger Lessard – to discuss the recycle center. There are a lot of air conditioners being stored on the DPW lot. Why are they being stored there? He is concerned that something shady is going on. Has the refrigerant been removed? The aluminum could be removed and sold. Roger says, Frank doesn’t know anything about it. Angelo brought it to his attention. You turn left up on the ridge. It’s all aluminum that’s up there. They appear to be intack. He doesn’t know who put it there. We got .80 cents per pound last week for aluminum cans. They should be brought back down to recycling and have the refrigerant removed. Rainier will talk to Duffy and find out. Roger would like follow up on this.
The metal pile was discussed. It all goes in the same truck. We don’t segregate the metal.
Road side pick up was done different this year. Everyone felt good about it. It was a great thing.
Roger has stepped down as the Chairman of the Recycling Committee. Neal Brown has been appointed as Chairman. Mr. Brown discussed they are talking to Frank about a long range plan. How do we see the future? Selectmen said the should announce the meetings before hand. There is a lot they could be doing at no cost to the community. Getting people involved. Starting new changes like sorting styrofoam peanuts. They try to use the Spirit to get people involved. Karen would like to do a new brochure to hand out on recycling with prices. Some new people have attitude on recycling. They need to be informed.
8:00 - Kathleen Valliere, Deputy Tax Collector – Valliere discussed we have two forebearance agreements. The agreement for the Greenfield Industries (Carbee’s), has not been kept up. There has been no payment since February 2005. Carbee’s owe more than $117,000.00 back to 1997. Mr. Brooks has been keeping his agreement. The Board asked, why weren’t we told? The Board needs to be informed by the Tax Coll. when these agreements are not met. What is the procedure? The letters need to go out to deed the properties. They have a 3 year period of time to repurchase it for the amount of taxes owed. She already sent out delinquent notices. They will send the 2004 notices to start. She thinks we should just lien 2004. The Board agreed in
proceeding with the letters by law.
On – going matters:
WW Hook ups – BOS must motion to make changes to the Waste Water Policy –
· Remove – Nickerson
· Add – Library, Old Town Office and GM Realty properties.
No Decision. Put on agenda for next week.
Donavan asked, what if the property is sold in the future? The engineer had previously told us that it becomes part of their deed, as an attachment.
· Bookkeeping has been set up
· Peter Hopkins will be in with updates
Only one person was hooked up this week. It was Adele Hale (Gagnon). Need to have Deb be specific of who is being hooked up. Hopkins stated, Cockell’s and Buchanan’s will go together. It needs a “clean out” before it goes into the main. Question came up with Nickerson’s and Delays. The stubs will stay there. Hopkins said there should be no charge for the work on that. If they hook up down the road, what will happen with money? Nickerson’s have opted out, but Delay’s have not. Rainier stated, we can’t hook up the Old Town Office until the usage is determined. The numbers were figured on X number of users. It will be a different ratio with their payment. If we give it to another user, and then a new house is rebuilt,
then what? Let the restaurant expand? Another apartment at Adele’s? These decisions have to be made.
Church Lease – Work on lease . No new complaints have come in. Dumas would like to hear the people that want to be heard. Rainier feels some of the concerns will not help the Town. Dumas says, they have a duty to listen to their concerns. A certain group of people are against the group that is there now. We should not rush into it. Kullgren says, based on fact is what we should decide on. Dumas said, it is a different church than it was 100 years ago. Is it a community church? He knows someone was refused to have a burial service there. Is the rent fare? They could do increments up on the rent amount. Do we have the right to dictate what they can be doing as a church? Does the Town have access to the building or not? If they do not break
the conditions of the lease, can you dictate what they can and can not do? Dumas wants to have an informative discussion on a saturday morning at the meeting house. Rainier can’t do a saturday after May. He would be available in the fall. Dumas stated that anyone should have access to the sanctuary, not just the church. At another meeting go through the draft and discuss our concerns.
Cupola Bids – 6:30 Open bids –The Board opened three (3) bids for the cupola repairs.
· West Rindge Builders $50,610.00;
· Steven Langley Construction Co., Inc. $120,145.00;
· Target New England $34,640.00.
To provide all labor, materials, equipment and insurance for the project.
Dumas discussed a builder suggested that the scope of work be changed to a sloped roof. Bill Harper of W.R.B. thought it should remain in-kind, as a historical building. Half the money proposed is for staging. It has to be done on staging per OSHA standards. He just had a 30 hour course on this. They just did a very similar project in Temple, and Rindge is going to do a project.
The proposal and bid spec were discussed. If you delete items option #1 less $8,210.00. $48,245.00 from the $56,000.00 if you take out option #3 cedar. The options 1, 2 & 3 were not in the bid specs. It would be down to $42,000.00 without the options. Harper said, there are a lot of places that are leaking. The Board wants to take care of it all now, not a patch job. Harper stated, when you budget for repairs, you should have a 5% or 10% contingency for unseen damage. The government approved the use of Azek for above the roofline on historical buildings. There are other companies making it now. You can not use it down where people see it. It is very clear what you can and can not do to a historical building.
Kullgren would like to find out about Target N.E. before they decide. He would like references. Have Deb get references before next Wednesday. Hopkins will check with his contacts too. The Board will try to make a decision next Wednesday night. $45,000.00 is budgeted for this.
Wage & Benefits -
Parks & Rec. -
Recycle Center & Committee – (see appointments)
Code Violation – 6:00 Peter Hopkins reviewed draft letter to the Pero’s. The septic system was discussed. Hopkins will be visiting the site. Temporary housing may be an issue. They need a safe and healthy place to reside in. The Town can foot the bill and put a lien on the property. The temporary building permit has long expired. Selectmen asked, are there dug wells or drilled wells nearby? Hopkins explained the water course.
Hopkins asked, any Board discussion? Rainier stated, they have bent over backwards to these people and it is up to them to do the work. Dumas asked, is there anyone out there that may do the work for them? There is a family help thing, that went nowhere. They have choices and opportunities. The Board agreed, the letter will go out. A matter of procedure. They tried Habitat and it went nowhere. Deb has history of the group in Hillsborough.
Other Business:
School House Road development – Hopkins said, he has a building permit application for one of the new lots. They discussed how the road meets Route 31. The visibility is horrible. A letter may be in order to be sent to the State (DOT). Hopkins should ask Duffy to talk to Renny Fish in Swansey. They need to call to the States attention about this road and what is happening on Russell Station Road. Rainier would attend a meeting on this when set up.
Emergency Management Plan – Chain of command was looked at. What kind of emergencies? Dumas read the types of emergencies listed. Dumas is going to a meeting in VT. Hopkins state, this is a small part of the whole plan. They need to put some time into discussing the best way to take care of our Town. Rainier was pleased to see how people pulled together during the windstorm. We need to create lines of communication. We should be prepared for the possibility. They need a Selectman available. Who would they call second? Dumas will not be here on Saturday for the drill. Dumas asked Hopkins the schedule for Saturday. Hopkins explained the request to update the emergency Management Plan and the Hazardous Mitigation Plan. It will be updated this fall. Monadnock Hospital is doing something on community health. A lot is going on. He may need help with all this.
Review Budget Report Y.T.D. – No discussion at this time.
Selectmen Approval –
· P/R checks & A/P invoices
· Minutes – Non-public 3/29/06 accept as written
· Minutes – accept 4/26/06 as written
· Rural Development Monthly Project Budget Report through March 31, 2006
· SCI’s payment requisition No. 3 through April 14, 2006
· Rural Development Monthly Project Budget Report through April 14, 2006
· Application for Sewer Connection – Delay’s
· Notice of Intent to Cut – Lorden R5-13
· Notice of Intent to Excavate – Robertson R1-1-GRVL
· Town Hall Rental Contract – American Steel 5/26/06
· Light Duty Policy – You need to choose if you want the policy to be for non-work related illnesses/injuries or not. Please vote and let the AA know. No discussion at this time.
Review Misc. Mail -
Review Deb’s memo –
· (see waste water above).
· When Deb’s ready to present the data on the Personnel Policy changes, they will discuss it.
· Do you want the audit based on the information they have received to date? The auditor’s only received back 30% of the audit letters. They discussed making phone calls to people who did not respond. Dumas motioned to accept the audit based on the information they have received to date. Seconded by Rainier. Voted in the affirmative.
Shaw stated, a L.G.C. insurance adjuster was here today to look at the Old Town Office claim. Rainier met with him and said he was measuring and will submit a report to our insurance company. The insurance company will arrange the clean up. The water should have been removed right away. The insurance does not cover mold. As a result of the break they may cover it.
The flags are going up tomorrow. Selectmen agreed that Frank should not be the one to put up the flags. Rainier said that Duffy said he would do the flags. Rainier will call and tell Frank not to put up the flags.
With no further business the selectmen Dumas adjourned the meeting at 8:30 pm. The next scheduled meeting will be Wednesday, May 10th at 5:45 pm.
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