Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday, December 22, 2011 – 6:30 pm
Board of Selectmen: Chairman, Aaron Kullgren; Selectwoman, Karen Day; Selectman, Robert Wimpory
Staff: Town Administrator Patt, Library Trustee Brown
Public: Leigh LeBlanc, resident; Monadnock Ledger reporter Saari
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM by Chairman Aaron Kullgren.
Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
The Selectmen reviewed and signed the following items:
A/P Invoices
Payroll Check Manifest / Payroll Checks
Approval of Selectman’s Minutes of December 5, 2011 - delayed
Abatement R3-40 / Avitar Letter
Waste Water Warrant 4th Quarter
Intent to Cut R7-23-1
Intent to Cut R4-23
Timber Tax Bond request R4-23-1
6:30 PM: 30 Minute Document Signing and Review of Correspondence
The Board of Selectmen reviewed correspondence and signed documents. It was noted that the office copier machine had a technical issue that prevented printing or copying prior to the meeting. The previous meeting’s minutes were therefore not available for handout and approval.
7:10 PM Neal Brown Library Trustee
Mr. Brown came before the Board of Selectmen with an amended budget line item. Mr. Brown outlined that the trustees had discussed the attendance of town functions by the library staff, as it relates to the part-time wage line. Mr. Brown provided an updated budget and requested to add an additional $450.00 dollars to the part-time wage line because the current line item had been calculated without the cost of the staff’s attendance at town events during the course of the year.
7:30 PM Scheduled Appointment with Bob Marshall: This meeting was re-scheduled to December 29th.
Peter Hopkins Code Enforcement Officer:
Mr. Hopkins the Code Enforcement Officer came before the Board of Selectmen to discuss the excavation on the Vincent property. Pursuant to the court order to fill the excavation, Mr. Hopkins received two quotes for the material and a limited amount of grading of the fill. A quote from Francestown Gravel for $1478 and a quote of $1490 from Bruce Gagnon were shared with the Board. Mr. Hopkins requested to award the work to Bruce Gagnon. The reason was that the bid differences were nominal and Mr. Gagnon is from Greenfield. Mr. Hopkins felt, as a result, that he would have the flexibility that he needs to schedule the work with Gagnon.
A motion was made by Selectman Wimpory to accept the recommendation of the Code Enforcement Officer to award the bid to Bruce Gagnon and to fill the excavation at the Vincent residence, pursuant to the court order, with 120 yards of material and slope with backhoe, at a cost of One Thousand Four Hundred Ninety Dollars. The motion was seconded by Selectwoman Day. Chairman Kullgren asked for discussion and finding none called the roll. The motion passed 3-0.
General Budget Discussion
The Selectmen reviewed the updated year-to-date budget comparison spreadsheet that had been requested at last week’s meeting. Several line items had been updated and were compared to the previous year’s budget. The discussion was held at a general level and it was decided that a non-public, although not scheduled, should be held to discuss specific employee wages. The conversation moved to a comparison of several tax rate projections based on projected road project costs. The Administrator provided a Y-T-D budget that included warrant articles for Meridian Engineering for the proposed DPW salt shed and for road construction costs. The Meridian proposal was briefly reviewed and it was determined that a public hearing should be held in advance of finalizing the warrant article. The public hearing
would provide information on the need for a new salt shed, the issues with the current DPW site, and gain public input on a proposed DPW site on the parcel on Forest Road.
It was noted that for each $150,000 of taxes to be raised included in the budget the local tax rate would increase by approximately one dollar. The spreadsheet provided by Chairman Kullgren comes from the DRA and calculates offsetting revenue, overlay, credits, and expenses to provide an approximate town tax rate. Mr. Kullgren explained that in his calculation he had included $100,000 of taxes to be raised in the Highway Budget in the Road Reconstruction line item, bringing the total of that line item to $175,000. In addition he included fund balance of $50,000 to offset the expense of capital reserves. He also contemplated using $100,000 of fund balance against the tax rate in order to offset the highway department line item. Mr. Kullgren noted that his estimation of the 2011 year includes a fund balance
increase from operating budget savings, which he feels could be as much as $100,000. This would require the Administrator to find $50,000 in savings in 2012 to offset the capital reserve expenditure.
The discussion turned back to several department budgets where there appeared to be significant increases in the budgets. At the library, where there is a request to increase the budget $9437 (including the earlier request of $450) it was noted that this request was based on the intent of the library trustees and librarians to have more open hours for the public. As a result, this increase, while one of the more substantial increases department to department, actually increases the amount of service available to the public.
A discussion of the police department part-time wage line item outlined the increase in the calls for service as well as the increase in the complexity of the calls, resulting in officers putting in more time to process the call for service, the resulting paperwork, and any arrangements that need to be made as a result of the call. It was noted that there appears to be a significant increase in the level of serious offenses. It’s in the newspaper on a daily basis.
The discussion turned to departmental line items for full-time and part-time wages. It was decided to enter into non-public session.
Non- Public Meeting to discuss compensation issues
Chairman Kullgren moved to adjourn the meeting to a non-public session under RSA 91-A:3II(a) to discuss employees’ wages specifically and personnel compensation for 2012. Wimpory seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
The regular meeting was adjourned to a non-public session at 8:40 PM. A non-public session was held. The meeting reopened at 9:45 PM. A decision to award certain wage increases to several employees and a rate adjustment for one employee were made in the non-public meeting. The Administrator was asked to calculate pro-rated increases and provide the information to the Board at the next meeting.
Skid Steer Discussion
The Skid Steer was briefly discussed and it was decided to schedule a review of the information collected at the next board meeting on December 29th.
Adjournment
Kullgren moved to adjourn the meeting. Day seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 10:07 PM
Respectfully Submitted:
Aaron Patt
Town Administrator
The minutes are final when approved and signed by the Board of Selectmen. A signed copy is on file.
________________________ ________________________ ______________________
Aaron Kullgren, Chairman Robert Wimpory, Selectman Karen Day, Selectwoman
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