Town of Greenfield
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday – January 7, 2010 – 6:00 pm
Present: Chairwoman, Karen Day; Selectman, Jarvis Adams, IV;
Minutes: Administrative Assistant, Debra Davidson
Call to order: Chairwoman Day called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm
Appointments:
6:00 – Neil Brown –
· Skating area –
o Neil Brown is maintaining ice skating rink.
o Will be making goals so kids can play hockey.
o Highway is doing a great job keeping the parking area cleaned & maintained.
o Signage is being installed indicating skating at your own risk.
o There will be an occasional fire on the beach; it will be safe and overseen by an adult. Chairwoman Day suggested when there is a fire, to let the fire dept. know so they are aware of it.
o It was discussed using a small light, allowing people to skate at night.
o Discussion of skating lessons followed, Stephanie will look into this.
6:15 – Library Trustees – Trustees - Maryanne Grant, Eric Leonardi, WRB President, Bill Harper.
Selectmen asked the following questions:
· Roof –
o Is roof complete? Mrs. Grant stated that what was contracted for 2009 is complete. She reminded everyone it was the intention to spread the project over a few years. A proposal for Phase II of the project was submitted.
o Will there be more CRF requested in March as a warrant? The Trustees will request approximately $8,800.00 at Town Meeting through a warrant article.
o Chimney – Mr. Leonardi explained that as they were working on the roof, it was discovered the chimney to be disillusioned, and to assure the roof was weather tight they could repair the chimney while they were up on the roof. The Trustees agreed if it could be repaired and done in a timely manner it should be done while they were there on the roof. It was in such bad need of repair that in order to keep the project moving forward the chimney needed to be repaired. Bill Harper further explained in detail the repair that was needed. He indicated they had lined the chimney above the roof, the portion under the roof is in good shape but should have a piece
of metal liner installed in the remaining portion.
Adams discussed the manner in which the procedure for authorizing this work was not proper protocol. No real authorization was provided by the Selectboard, now the Board has an invoice to approve and is not sure where the funds will come from. Discussion followed. The invoice will be paid through the Library Building Maintenance, as there are funds remaining from the insurance claim, the remainder of the invoice will be paid with the General Government Building funds.
Maryann Grant stated that the Trustees did meet, and discussed the importance of this repair. She stated West Rindge Builders is a professional business which has a mason on board and they know what their doing. It made sense to the Trustees to move forward and not stall a project that was already long overdue.
Discussion followed about meetings and what makes a meeting. Adams discussed meetings are governed by the right to know law.
Harper explained the importance of this repair, indicating the expense of the roof; he further mentioned it isn’t reasonable to allow the chimney to fall apart when so much money has gone into this building.
Selectmen approved payment of the invoice. Again, funds will be paid through the library funds with the remainder out of the general government buildings.
It is understood in the future, the Board of Selectmen prior to the authorization of any work, must approve any repairs to town buildings.
· Flag Pole - Mr. Leonardi discussed the flagpole mechanism is not working properly. Asked if the DPW crew could look at it and possibly fix it. Mr. Leonardi provided his phone number to forward on to the DPW Supervisor.
6:45 – TEC, Roger Lessard – Energy Grant –
· Discussed a number of grants that are available to retrofit buildings. The energy committee would like to apply for replacement of windows. Day suggested insulating and/or rewiring the Meeting House. Discussion followed regarding the grant process and what really is the best use of requesting this grant funding. Administrative Assistant will work with the TEC to move forward on several energy grants.
7:00 – Al Burtt –
· Emergency Response Representative - Mr. Burtt discussed the Board will need a new appointment for the Emergency Response Representative. The meetings are held the 1st Tuesday of each month. Mr. Burtt explained some of the history of the emergency response program. It has recently combined with Cheshire, the meetings have changed to Tuesdays, and Mr. Burtt has a conflict. Generally the majority of the people attending the meetings are the emergency responders, however they have changed the meeting night to a night that doesn’t work for members of the Monadnock group. Selectmen will look for a liaison for the Emergency Response Representative.
· Tax Exempt properties - Mr. Burtt would like to have the up to date information on the tax-exempt properties, their valuations and a copy of their Payment In Lieu of Tax agreements.
7:15 – DPW Supervisor, Kevin McDonald –Davidson explained Selectman Kullgren recently received a compliment by a resident regarding McDonald putting a real sander on the 1 ton.
· Plowing – McDonald noted the Meeting House sign will be cleaned up next time Matt is out there with the MT.
· Communications – McDonald reported he has been communicating with Fire Chief, Loren White about the Fire Dept. using the same frequency as the Highway Dept. It was a vague question so McDonald indicates he would like some clarity on this question. He explained the frequencies are changing from wideband to narrow band in the year 2013. There is a fee for licensing change, allegedly this provides more frequency, and it makes sense to have all emergency communication be on the same frequency.
· Tax - Discussed town road tax – McDonald is doing some research on what other communities do with funds. The funds governed under Statute and would be utilized for infrastructure improvements. No decisions made at this time.
· New Hire – McDonald discussed he has interviewed three possible applicants and will be moving forward with a final decision soon.
Approval of minutes:
Selectmen approved the December 17, 2009 minutes as written.
Sign Documents:
Selectmen signed the following documents:
A/P invoices
A/P checks
P/R checks
Demand for rent letter
Old Business:
· 2010 budget – Insurances were discussed. Primex offers the best prices for health insurance, while LGC remains the best prices for all other insurances. Selectmen will take this into advisement a decision will be made after the prices from ConVal are received.
· Walkway lights - Matt Blanchard has installed the LED lights, we will see how they work out.
New business:
· Mail - Misc. Mail was reviewed.
· Apartments – # 2 Apt., Longblock – Door Jam and window on the door are broken. Matt Blanchard will install weather stripping on door. He will also repair the door jam.
· Night sky - Administrative Assistant reminded the Board, Kelly Beatty would be at the next BOS meeting presenting a “night sky” talk at 7:00 pm.
Adjournment: With no further business the meeting adjourned at 10:40 pm. The next scheduled Selectmen’s Meeting is Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 6:00 pm.
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