Town of Greenfield
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Monday – August 13, 2007 – 6:00 pm
Board of Selectmen, Chairman: Aaron Kullgren; Selectwomen: Karen Day; Selectmen: Jarvis Adams, IV
Debra Davidson, Administrative Assistant taking minutes
Call to Order: Selectmen Kullgren called meeting to order at 6:00 pm
Appointments:
6:15 – Greg Nadeau, Duffy Fox – Chairman Kullgren noted the purpose of this meeting is to allow the BOS to meet with Duffy and discuss Mr. Nadeau’s concerns and what the options are for Old Lyndeborough Mtn. Road.
Neighbors in attendance were Gene Hennessey of Lyndeborough, Jay Gignac, Chris Weeks & Laurie Weeks, Greg & Joyce Nadeau. Kullgren discussed the BOS & Road Agent did a site walk to visualize Mr. Nadeau’s concerns. Kullgren asked how do we address the issues on this road one by one; he further asked Mr. Nadeau his priority list.
Nadeau responded by saying he has five issues that he would like addressed.
· Culvert issues
· Grade level is causing washout issues
· Bridge
· Fire pond
· Overflow & wetlands issues.
Nadeau stated he thinks the key issue is the bridge, since bridge is skewed he believes it builds up and the capacity of the bridge is not strong enough with water, traffic and all that is taking place on Lyndeborough Mtn. Rd. He went on to say the culverts aren’t linked together, causing the flow to go onto his property. The stream is getting larger and the bridge cannot handle the water. When it washes out the silt goes onto the Nadeau property. Mr. Nadeau continued to give his thoughts.
Kullgren then asked Road Agent, Fox what his thoughts are.
Fox stated he agrees the first culvert is incorrectly installed, if moved it needs a new culvert easement to move onto the Nadeau property. Secondly, Fox said a licensed surveyor needs to delineate exactly where the 32-foot right of way actually is. Replacing a bridge takes a significant amount of engineering and wetland permitting. Dodge Road is a good example of how timely it can become; it has been 9 months since application for the replacement of the culvert on Dodge road was submitted and there has not been an approval yet.
Culvert installation and flowage was discussed
Nadeau asked about changing flows of drainage, diverting the flow onto other property, is this legal? Discussion followed
Chris Weeks spoke and asked that everyone stay on task, he would like to see a solution, lets move forward.
Fox stated this is a problem that has been going on all over town; Lyndeborough Mtn. Road is not an isolated situation.
Nadeau states that since the storm in April, the road has not been graded until last week, it took a ½ a day. Nadeau continued by saying the road is not that bad, but it does need attention.
Fox stated after an emergency like last April, the first criteria are safety for the ability to allow access for fire & ambulance.
Gene Hennessey stated the road is very unsafe; culverts are clogged, he believes that the road is not taken care of first.
Davidson asked Fox if it was true that the town is only responsible for the Class IV portion of the road, not any part of the Class VI road where Mr. Hennessey lives.
Jay Gignac asked why the road wasn’t graded to the bottom
Fox stated because he is waiting for FEMA funds to add more gravel
Laurie Weeks commented that even if we can clean out culverts that isn’t the answer. She thinks the town needs to seriously address these issues. She went on to ask about Mr. Nadeau being compensated for the damage to his property. What can be done to stop this from re-occurring.
Joyce Nadeau asked why when the road was graded last week they could not have moved dirt from the top of the road to the lower portion?
Fox stated he didn’t think there was enough gravel on the road to do that with.
Mr. Nadeau stated all he is asking for is for the road to be graded and repaired, there are a lot of potholes and they need to be repaired.
Mr. Weeks asked what 6” plus gravel is, and asked Fox to please explain.
Fox responded that was a base material to fill in the original washout until the funding to purchase more material is received.
Adams discussed he is supportive of moving the bottom culvert as the first item at hand to be addressed.
Davidson suggested hiring an engineer to make concrete recommendations as to what is actually needed on the road.
Mr. Weeks said he believes there are some common ground and solutions between Duffy & Greg. Discussed some solutions that have been discussed. He would like to see a solution and be able to move forward with this.
Mr. Nadeau would like to propose that the grade in front of the driveway has been growing; he would like to have the grade reduced. Nadeau recommended that if the town would restore the road to the original condition that would help. There was always a swale, another suggestion was can Fox drop a load or two of topsoil, he will seed it and spread it, if it doesn’t work he will reimburse the town. He is sure this will be an option that will work. Mr. Nadeau provided photos of the most recent rainstorm and the damage that took place today.
Mrs. Weeks asked why the road cannot be lowered?
Fox said we can, but it will just divert the water & the gravel into the brook, DES would not approve that.
Selectwoman Day asked when the culvert comes down and dumps into the ravine, if a catch basin would help? She also asked if there is anyway to disperse the water so it doesn’t get to the banking?
Fox explained how and why this is happening.
Nadeau stated that on a personal level this would resolve two or three of his problems and he would appreciate it if the Board would at least consider his suggestion.
Adams stated he appreciates Nadeau’s concerns, but he thinks we need to stop the water from flowing down in the manner it is flowing.
Gignac asked what type of gravel at top of hill?
Kullgren stated no more questions or comments from the audience, as the board needs to discuss this.
Hennessey stated he had a question regarding the current logging, he went on to say that no-one wants to see the property developed and he will be working with Lyndeborough ConCom to purchase the property. He would also like to meet with the Greenfield ConCom and like to see the property purchased and possible easement put onto it.
Day informed Hennessey of the next ConCom meeting.
John Hopkins stated anyone who would like to speak with him outside, he would like to share what the Trails Association is going to be doing with regards to trails on Lyndeborough Mtn.
At this time the Board of Selectmen discussed the following matters:
· How to proceed? Adams & Kullgren asked Fox what he thinks should be done. Fox replied by saying he isn’t against the loam idea but he cannot proceed with any of Mr. Nadeau’s requests without permission from the Board.
· Road Width - Fox stated the width of the road is one issue, another issue is the grade of loam they would want him to purchase
Kullgren asked what would Fox do if he had a priority list for this problem. Fox responded with the following as his priority list.
1. Replace the bottom culvert on the road
2. Flush & Clean all the culverts
3. Put trap rock around the outflows to try to slow sediment that is running
4. Get an engineered study of the water flow in the basin and in the new area to determine if a box culvert is suitable
5. Work on the location in general, to proceed there is a lot of prep work needed. The current culvert was installed incorrectly. In Fox’s opinion he would replace the current culvert with a one with concrete headers and wooden beams
6. Install some sort of a temporary bridge to allow residents continued access to their properties
Fox had a question for Nadeau, he asked if Greg had ever applied for FEMA after the storm in April?
Nadeau replied by saying no, it is not the storms fault this is happening, he believes it is incorrect installation of the bridge & culverts
Decision: The Board grant permission to Fox to provide some loam to Mr. Nadeau and deliver it to the area delineated. Fox is granted permission to put wrip-wrap next to the culvert, which will divert the water, and vegetation will grow through it continuing to allow the water to flow. Deb will contact DES, explain the situation and ask for their opinion. Mrs. Nadeau will get photos to Deb either via e-mail or on a disk. Deb & Duffy will meet with Mr. & Mrs. Nadeau at 9:00 am on August 14, 2007 to discuss this situation one more time.
Mr. Nadeau has other concerns he would like to discuss with the Board, they are as follows:
· He would like see the DPW clean the culverts, install a berm and reposition the culvert
Mr. Nadeau went on to discuss replacing the gravel that had been washed away, he needs to have it cleaned up.
The next concern of Mr. Nadeau’s is his fire pond and safety issues. Fox responded about the fire-pond that the bridge is one foot higher than it should be, material is feeding material to spill over, understanding it is a DES issue until the bridge is changed an impact needs to be accomplished to allow the fire-pond to remain active. Fox cannot disturb any water without permission from the DES to dredge the rocks from the fire-pond inlet. Fox was questioned by Nadeau regarding, even though this is private property could the town and property owner cooperatively apply for a permit from the DES? Also, he would like to get permission to rebuild the stonewall etc.,
Nadeau also said he believes if the fire pond dries up there will be a liability on the town.
Kullgren responded that there is an awful lot of information, this will remain on agenda until solved, we will whittle away at each problem one by one. We will come up with a detailed time line as quickly as possible and provide it to all interested parties. Major concerns of the last conversation:
· Berms on both sides of roads
· Bridge
· Dredging for the fire pond
· Replace the stonewall –
Nadeau asked does it make sense to replace the rocks to divert the flow of water.
Mr. Weeks discussed the safety issues on that road and further discussed the Town contacting the DES to hopefully expedite the permitting process. He further discussed the safety of the fire pond and whose responsibility to keep it cleaned out, culverts cleaned etc.
Kullgren asked Deb to research when the culverts that disperse water onto Mr. Nadeau’s property went through the Planning Board and what was the determination.
On-Going matters:
Policies – Review Draft Recycle Policy – this will remain on the agenda until the Selectmen have an opportunity to review the policy & adopt it.
Other Business:
Misc. Mail - Selectmen reviewed incoming mail
Calendars
· The next two weeks will be Tuesday, Selectmen’s meeting as usual
· Sunday September 16 there will roundtable discussion – Selectmen will all brainstorm and come up with some topics. They will discuss this at the next Selectmen’s meeting, Aug. 21, 2007.
· September 18th or 25th a meeting to be set up between the BOS and the Budget Advisory Committee to discuss strategy for the 2008 Town Meeting.
· September 24, BOS will review of preliminary 2008 budgets Deb.
· October 16 Selectmen will meet at Crotched Mtn., they will hold a short meeting and then tour the wood chip plant. The public will be invited to this meeting.
Pre-ambulation of Town bounds – (Lyndeborough/Greenfield) - Kullgren read a letter from Lyndeborough Selectmen regarding the pre-ambulation of the town lines. The BOS instructed Deb to set up a meeting with Lyndeborough Selectmen & Greenfield Selectmen to discuss this matter further. The Board discussed this could possibly take two or three meetings to complete. The Board would like to meet on an alternate evening than a regularly scheduled meeting.
Greenfield Congregational Covenant Church - GCCC Representative, Michael Sparling asked for permission to plant perennial garden(s) in the outcropping areas of the sidewalks in the downtown area. The Board of Selectmen unanimously agreed to this request.
Wetlands permit – Greenfield Trails Association were approved for a wetlands permit to install some trails off Lyndeborough Mtn. Rd.
At 8:50 pm in accordance with RSA 91A:3 II (a) – Chairman Kullgren motioned to enter into non-public session for the purpose of discussing a personnel matter. Seconded by Day & Adams.
Voted: Day; Yes – Adams; Yes- Kullgren; Yes.
At 9:00 pm motion by Selectman Kullgren to enter out of the non-public session and to further seal the minutes.
Voted: Day; Yes – Adams; Yes- Kullgren; Yes.
Decision: no decisions made at this time
9:00 – Chief Plourde (not on the agenda) – Plourde asked “what, if anything, the board decided to do about a decision on his question last week he posed towards one of the board members”. Kullgren stated the board has not made a decision, not sure if the board can make a decision on this matter. The individual selectperson must make the decision.
Adams stated he understands where Plourde is, Adams stated he had crafted a letter himself, and understands the situation completely. As Kullgren stated the board has not discussed this matter between themselves and agreeably the individual needs to make the decision not the board.
Kullgren asked if this is ok with Plourde who replied he would like this resolved as soon as possible and then thanked the board for their time.
Kullgren would like this matter resolved quickly to satisfaction to everyone.
Parks & Rec. – Selectman Kullgren read an e-mail they received from resident, Margo Charig-Bliss asking about lifeguards and why there aren’t any on the weekend, trash at the beaches etc. The Board would like Davidson to ask Anfuso what are the priorities, why there are two guards during the week and they are not spread out a bit. The Board would like to discuss this with Anfuso, and then they will get back to Ms. Charig-Bliss.
No further business the meeting adjourned at 10:00 pm – next meeting will be Tuesday – August 21, 2007 at 6:00 pm.
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