Town of Greenfield
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Tuesday – November 27, 2007 – 5:45 pm
Present: Chairman, Aaron Kullgren; Selectwoman: Karen Day; Selectman: Jarvis Adams, IV
Chairman Kullgren called the meeting to order at 5:45 pm
Selectman Kullgren and others introduced themselves
Appointments:
5:45 – Tim Fountain – Cartographic Associates, Inc. – Having been awarded the contract, Mr. Fountain attended the meeting to discuss the 2006 & 2007 mapping needs for Greenfield. After introductions, Mr. Fountain thanked the Selectboard for their willingness to meet him and allow this introduction. While responding to the letter of October, 2007 Cartographic Associates, Inc. (CAI) are very excited to do this work for the Town of Greenfield and Mr. Fountain stated he is prepared to discuss what is exactly needed.
Discussion followed how Southwest Regional Planning Commission shared all their databases with CAI, however the data that was provided is in disarray, organization is not very structured, formats that are maintained are not consistent, completeness of the data is skeptical. Several hours have already been spent reviewing the data and Mr. Fountain has several suggestions for improvements of the Town Tax Maps.
Mr. Fountain commented that with such disarray of data and mis-management of data from SWRPC, the impact it will have on the work CAI services would be minimal. The conversion has been completed and, at this time CAI does not want to put too much emphasis on recommendations as to what mapping concerns need to be addressed. Mr. Fountain stated he is concerned about the accuracy of the current data the Town has for mapping. CAI is willing to cost effectively split additional costs with the town to allow more accuracy of the data. The data must be spatially accurate – when the town grows into GIS databases the spatial accuracy is very important.
Adams asked about sharing the costs and how does that work.
Mr. Fountain responded that CAI is willing to split the cost of the setup; this will show they want a good working relationship with Greenfield, and that they stand behind their word. Mr. Fountain indicated they are not too concerned about maps at this time. CAI needs to get the data accurate before any maps can be created. Until some preliminary work is done, there cannot even be a conversation about costs for the re-mapping the whole town in the future.
CAI is willing to share the costs of reformatting and sharing the data.
Re-mapping is a $60-$70 thousand dollar job, Mr. Fountain is not of the opinion that re-mapping should be done at this time to keep maps maintained. They will take the existing data, reorganize it, convert it back into an auto-cad system, reformat it, breakout layers and then ultimately utilize the tools to cost effectively process the data. This assures that no subdivision will be missed. The estimated cost for this is $1,900.00; one other piece of this project is that the office wants to use the data in the Avitar assessing system. Fountain stated he works closely with Josh from Avitar, though this was not part of the initial bid he wants to address this. He went on to explain the current link to Avitar is not structured properly, this will be recreated allowing for the shape files to be placed in the
correct file, this cost is $500.00. Normally, they would charge $4,000 for both of these services, with the town incurring ½ of the cost ($2,000.00). The paper maps are important, but he does understand it is a valuable tool for the town to be able to use the maps within their software program. It is the opinion of Mr. Fountain this was not done correctly by SWRPC and does need to be addressed.
Again, he wants to work with the town, and wants this done properly and will work to maintain a long relationship.
Chairman Kullgren asked the question of costs if this wasn’t a public relations meeting.
Fountain stated the cost would be $4,000 to reformat & restructure data; then update from 05-06 would be $1,375 and updating 06-07 would be $1,975.
Kullgren stated the discount that is being offered seems to be very generous, Kullgren stated he does not think that CAI should incur the costs for Greenfield upgrading of its data.
Fountain stated he knows that what has been reviewed within the current data, roads are not matching. This needs to be corrected; CAI wants a good working relationship and assurance that in the future the town has trust with the company.
Selectwoman Day commented that she doesn’t think the Planning Board requires GPS maps, but if that could be a requirement would that be helpful for CAI and their services.
Fountain responded by saying that is a good question, however the best way to assure accuracy on our tax maps is to have an accurate base map and build off that. He further stated that by requesting GPS maps would not help make the job easier.
Selectwoman Day also commented that the DOT map was a big problem when a base map was trying to be constructed, will that be addressed.
Fountain said he hopes his explanation as to why this has happened is helpful. He thinks the fact that CAI is a mapping service will make the difference in the service received by the Town. Fountain did say he wanted it on the record that SWRPC was very kind and helpful, the organization itself has had some personnel challenges and it should not be a reflection of their work. With a couple of years of maintenance, then bringing forward new mapping Greenfield should be in good shape with their tax maps.
It was agreed by both the Board of Selectmen & Mr. Fountain that these services being discussed, if accepted will be completed within the first quarter of 2008. Kullgren again expressed his support of CAI.
Adams said he understands how Catherine has been frustrated and her opinion is very important, if she is happy Adams is supportive of CAI.
Motion by Kullgren to contract with CAI in the amount of $3,000.00 for restructuring/reformatting the existing data for the purpose of map maintenance services. Seconded by Day – discussion did not follow. Roll call vote was unanimously (3-0) in the affirmative.
To reiterate what will happen in 2008, the mapping software will be reformatted & restructured for $4,000.00, negotiated to $3,000. The board will receive 3 contracts one for restructuring the data, one for 2006 updates and one for 2007 updates, as per the CAI October 07 proposals.
6:30 – In accordance with RSA 91A:3 II (b) Hiring Chairman Kullgren motioned to enter into a non-public session. Seconded by Day & Adams. Voted in the affirmative.
8:45 – motion by Kullgren to enter out of the non-public session and to further seal the minutes. Seconded by Day & Adams. Voted in the affirmative.
Decision: There will be no decision made at this time; the Board will meet again on Monday, December 3, 2007 to conduct the remaining interviews.
Budgets:
The Board was provided year-to-date budgets for review
Other Business:
Spirit was reviewed and approved as written.
With no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:30 pm. The next scheduled meeting will be held Monday, December 3, 2007 at 6:00 pm.
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