Town of Greenfield
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Tuesday – July 1, 2008 – 6:00 pm
Present: Chairman, Aaron Kullgren; Selectwoman, Karen Day; Selectman, Jarvis Adams, IV
Catherine Shaw taking minutes
Call to order: Chairman Kullgren called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm
Appointments:
· 6:00 - Adele Hale – Signage in town. Adele came in to discuss putting up a sign at the junction of Forest Rd and Rte 136, which is on state property. The Giver’s had talked about raising the money needed for the sign. Molly Anfuso and Lenny Cornwell are in favor of it. They would like the Boards support, before they contact the state. Selectwoman Day thinks they (the state) may be in favor, if it wasn’t permanent. Adele said it would just be something to identify what is going on at the park. The selectmen will back them up, if it is OK with the state.
· 6:05 – Tom Welden – To discuss his position on the school board. There is a vacancy from now until March. Selectman Adams asked what about him. Tom said what about co-sharing the seat. Any ideas on who is active and would be willing. What is the workload? There is a board meeting every two-week’s, every 3rd meeting is an education meeting. There are 2 other subcommittee meetings a month. Probably one meeting a week for now. It will be in the paper. Tom will check the minutes to see who shows up at the meetings regularly.
The Board thanked Tom for his service of about 9 ½ years altogether.
· 6:30 – Town Energy Com. – To discuss town energy matters. The Board was handed a report that the TEC has been working on. Aaron Harris and Diane Boilard were present. They did a survey of energy cost. The change in gas prices is probably a $45,000 short fall from what has been budgeted. The report is broken down by facility and type of energy. There are short term and long-term solutions. Candi Fowler and Dan Wolaver of the TEC, came to the meeting.
Short term: is office space consolidation. Building shut down, the meetinghouse may be shut down for the winter. Equipment at highway and fire station. Use fire station, library or rent from the elementary school. This would only be temporary, because of the oil prices. Could more people come here? Street lights electrical savings. Rates are going up. The old lights are incandescent and don’t light up much space. The fire dept. has a big light and the highest bill. They spoke to Jim and said they do need the outdoor lighting when they have a call. There are 13 inefficient streetlights that could be shut off. The savings would be $1,000 per year. What do you want the lighting for? Housing lighting vs town issue. The individual homes
could get their own lights. The smartest thing would be to shut them off. To change to more efficient lights, they (PSNH) would charge us $8000 that would be paid off over the years. It would be a visible sign that the town is saving.
Long term 3-5 years: Replacing the boiler in the Town Office would be a first step. The plumbing is one of the largest expenses. Pellet furnace was discussed. The silo would go in the corner of the lot, near the boiler. For the same BTU’s divide the price of oil by 3. The pellet price should get better. Discussion of the Harris Center costs followed. Discussed power plants and geothermal. At town meeting they are going to want to know about every thing. The Selectmen asked what about Crotched Mountain. Have you talked to them and asked what they have done already? What other alternatives are out there?
Diane asked what is the time frame that you want something from the committee. Dan said we need to do something quickly. What direction do you want to go in? How do we go about shutting off the streetlights? Diane was shocked that there is no insulation in here. She found a website that had safe insulation. It settles into cracks and helps with fire proofing and soundproofing. Selectman Adams wondered about the More Tite Company. The Board appreciates everything they have done so far. Insulating would definitely be helpful.
· 6:45 – Sheldon and Scott Carbee – To discuss “progress”, and other matters with the Board. Sheldon said they have been trying to clean up the survey and get clear title on the property. He didn’t get anywhere with the Planning Board. The 2 lawyers are trying to work it out. The Board has received a copy of a letter sent from Town Counsel to the Carbee’s lawyer. Kullgren read from the letter. The Carbee’s read the letter them selves. The only thing with the P.B. is the Site Plan Review. Take away the one line and record a deed accordingly. Sheldon said there is only room for 5 cars, it isn’t that big. Selectman Adams asked what about lot D. Scott said D has a 30% slope. It’s the back lawn behind the Welcome House. The Rymes lot was discussed. Rymes needs an easement to hook up to cross their property. The site plan review will have to go before the P.B. There will have to be a variance for parking. Catherine said the variance would come from the Z.B.A. Carbee
said the parking on the common is all gone. They should have a walkway from the town property up to the road.
· 7:00 – Brian Giammarino, Chief of Police – To discuss employment issues. The Chief gave information updates on the stats to date for the G.P.D. Glenn graduated Friday night and is back to work on Thursday. There was an open position for a patrolman, so he decided to hire Frank Shea as an administrative position. So the Chief can patrol more. Budget is at 50%. Fuel is up. Last bill was high, but it all checked out with the logbooks. May limit miles per shift. Talked about a no idle policy. Glenn had an excellent review from the staff at the academy. Discussed State Park duties and court docket.
Every town that borders us has a town prosecutor, but our officers do their own work for court. It takes a lot of time. Chief would like their blessings, to help out the Town of Antrim as a patrol officer. In the interim while they are looking for a new Chief. Chief says it won’t interfere with his duty here. The Board is more concerned with Brian than with his duties. Chief discussed the problems in Antrim. Selectman Adams is worried about his stress levels. Chief talked about the past schedules since April 2003. Chief would be utilizing the car and equipment of the Town of Antrim, not Greenfield’s. Chief would like to say Antrim has an issue, not a problem. Discussion followed.
· 7:30 – Molly Anfuso, P&R Director – To discuss time cards. Molly did not attend.
Other Business:
Mail –
Signatures –
· A/P invoices and checks
· P/R check
· Gravel Tax Warrant
· C.U. letters to Strickland R9-5-3 and Plowshare Farm R9-72-2
· Memo to G.P.D. reference unpaid returned check from Karen Hall.
Discussion:
Lee and Pandora Clough (not on the Agenda) from Lake View Circle came in about getting a building permit for their garage. The lot doesn’t have enough frontage. Lee said, “The Town owns the land that they are being taxed for.” When the last lot was sold on Lake View Circle they lost their frontage. He believes the road stopped at their lot and then the road moved over to build new houses. It has never come up until now. They did get a building permit in 1995 for a deck. The house was built in 1960 and then was added on. The Board looked at the survey and the property list to see what they are being taxed for. Their survey shows 1.9 acres and they are being taxed for 1.9 acres. The tax maps are not an accurate survey. Peter Hopkins came in and explained the
issues that have come up, in order to grant him a permit. Hopkins wants to issue the permit first, with the Board’s permission and then have them get a variance from the ZBA. Selectman Adams thinks this is the best way to resolve this problem. Selectwoman Day asked if they are going over the heads of the ZBA. Catherine stated that to ask for a variance from the ZBA they have to be denied a permit, so how can they get a variance if the permit is granted. Hopkins said he has verbally denied the permit and now it will be granted, then they will go to the ZBA to have the variance on file.
The Board made a decision to check with Town Counsel, before granting the building permit. They will meet again Thursday to make a decision. Then they will let the Clough’s know. Selectman Adams will call Town Counsel in the morning.
Repair of town sign - The sign on the common was discussed with Adele Hale. It is in need of repair. Day said a kiosk would be a good idea. Adele said the Givers would be willing to help. The Board told Adele to please repair it.
Planning Board update – No update was given.
Usage of personal vehicles re: gas reimbursement. No discussion at this time.
Review Y.T.D. Budget Report: Kullgren reviewed the budget report. Put on the Agenda for 7/15 to discuss the budgets fuel and energy costs. Set up calendar with departments.
Town Office Closing - Selectman Kullgren stated he gave Catherine permission to close the Town Office on Thursday afternoon.
Financial updates: Catherine shared with the Board our current financial status; the tax receivable balances and the GFD funds were discussed.
Post a meeting for Thursday, July 03, 2008 at 6:00 pm to discuss the Clough building permit decision.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:00 pm. The next scheduled Selectmen’s meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 6:00 pm.
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