Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday, March 8, 2012 – 6:30 pm
Board of Selectmen: Chairman, Aaron Kullgren; Selectwoman, Karen Day, Selectman Robert Wimpory
Staff: Town Administrator Patt, Supervisor Burgess,
Public: Neil Brown, John Matthias
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM by Chairman Kullgren.
Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
The Selectmen reviewed and signed the following items:
A. A/P Check Manifest
B. A/P Checks
C. A/P Invoices
D. Approval of Selectmen Minutes
E. Oak Park Rental – Hampshire 100
F. Interim Bridge Inspection Report
G. Meeting House Rental Agreement – Schmechel
H. Meeting House Rental – Hale Flea Market
6:30 PM: Document Review and Signing
The Selectmen reviewed the weekly A/P manifest, signed A/P checks, and reviewed items in the Selectmen’s reading file. The Department of Transportation provided an inspection report on the School House Road bridge indicating no action was needed by the Town at this time.
7:00 PM: Greenfield Recycling Committee
Mr. Brown and Mr. Matthias came before the Board to discuss their role in explaining the PAYT program at Town Meeting. As part of the discussion there were several aspects of the reason behind the decision to advance the PAYT program to Town Meeting. Among the reasons cited, the most pressing were that the disposal of solid waste is fuel based, dependent on trucking, and the price of gas has increased .70 cents in the last 4 months or so; that the program causes greater awareness of recycling and therefore increases recycling, which in turn decreases the tonnage that is trucked off-site saving the Town money; that the program is responsible to the environment; that volunteers at the site are aware that currently all kinds of recyclables get thrown away in bags and you can hear the glass and cans clinking when they are
brought in by residents. The discussion covered the question that would likely be posed at Town Meeting about whether the program would deliver immediate tax savings. The consensus was that there would be an initial startup cost and that only over the longer period would savings begin to be introduced. A comparison of the cost of the solid waste disposal contract services ($35,000) and the overall cost of the Center ($116,239 in the 2012 budget request) indicated that on a tax versus PAYT program, in the immediate term it would be less expensive to pay the tax. However, the consensus was that since the costs are certain to rise in the future, implementing the PAYT program would be a pro-active measure that residents could implement now to stabilize future costs.
The mechanism of the revolving fund was discussed and it was explained by Chairman Kullgren that once the initial level of income from bags, to ensure the ability to pay for more bags, has been achieved, the invoices from the contract services would go directly against the revolving fund account. In this way, the revolving fund would accrue funds to buy more bags but it wouldn’t grow over time because it would be used during the year to pay down trash disposal costs. In this case, it would not necessarily be used for Capital Improvement Plan items. The discussion continued and Mr. Brown suggested that in an alternate scenario the fund could accrue revenue over time that could be used to pay for capital items, or, for items that break down and present a need for an emergency expenditure. The difference between these
two scenarios was discussed at length.
The conversation turned to the number of tons of waste that were hauled away in 2011. It was noted that the Supervisor’s 2011 Town Report talked about the total weight of trash at the center as 263 tons. However, this was not the amount through the end of the year. This was the amount through to October when the report was due in advance of the printing for Town Report. The actual number of tons of waste at the Center was 334 tons for the full year. Calculating $115.00 dollars per ton paid to haul the waste away against the potential savings outlined in the PAYT program one could look at the following as conservative estimates for cost savings in increase recycling alone:
If 15% of the trash were reduced this would equal 334 tons x 15% = 50 tons x $115 = $-5761.5
If 25% of the trash were reduced this would equal 334 tons x 25% = 83.5 tons x $115 = $-9602.50
The question of when the program would start, if it were voted at Town meeting was discussed. There needs to be some time that is allowed to provide the bag manufacturer to meet the order. Otherwise the program could begin as soon as all of the necessary planning is accomplished. There was some discussion of starting in September and some discussion of starting during the summer. It was agreed to table this part of the discussion to see if it passes before taking the start date up again.
8:41 PM: Non-Public Session
At 8:41 PM Chairman Kullgren suggested that the Board should vote to enter a non-public session to discuss an employee related matter. A motion made by Chairman Kullgren was seconded by Selectman Wimpory. On a roll call vote of 3-0 the Board entered a non-public session under 91-A:3 II a.
At 9:47 the Board voted to return to the regular session on a roll call vote of 3-0. It was noted that a vote had been taken to change the status of the Town Administrator from Probation to Permanent and that the Board had agreed to provide a contract to the Administrator, which the members would sign as schedules permitted once counsel forwarded the agreement.
9:35 PM: Other Business updates
The Board reviewed an additional resume for the Welfare Director position. The Board asked several questions about the new candidate. The Board discussed all of the candidates and there was agreement between the members with respect to the person they felt was most qualified. On a roll call vote the Board voted to authorize the Town Administrator to fill the position and move forward with the hiring process.
There was some discussion about recent comments regarding the Town Report dedication. There had been a comment that because the report has been dedicated to a person that was also running for office in Town that it could be construed that the Board had been supporting that person. The Board discussed this at length and asked the Administrator to put into the minutes the following statement:
“ The Board of Selectmen does not endorse any person for elective office.”
This statement does not preclude individual members from formulating their own opinions on the candidates.
The Administrator noted that the recent rapid warming of the weather had caused a significant mud issue on dirt roads in town. The DPW Supervisor had explained that as the warm weather thaws the road from the top down the moisture released is not able to drain away due to a still frozen layer below the surface. It will take a number of days of nice weather for the roads to thaw sufficiently and allow the moisture to drain away into the deeper earth. In the meantime, dirt roads are thawing so quickly that the mud has been nearly impassable. Cavender Road was one of the roads with a difficult stretch of mud. The Administrator said that the Highway Department had been out on the roads, filling in with stone, grading, and addressing the roads continuously throughout the week and over the weekend. The DPW supervisor, on
salary, had logged 72 hours by the end of Thursday night. However, even with constant supervision the roads would not return to normal adequately until the weather has had a chance to thaw out the deeper portion of the roads. The DPW Supervisor wanted the Board to know that almost everyone he had come into contact with about the roads, including one who had gotten completely stuck, was extremely good natured about the mud issue and he was struck by how nice some of the residents were to him given the difficulty that the mud represented.
Adjournment
There being no further business, Chairman Kullgren moved to adjourn the meeting. Selectwoman Day seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 9:47 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 in the Selectmen’s minutes.
_______________________ ________________________ ______________________
Aaron Kullgren, Chairman Robert Wimpory, Selectman Karen Day, Selectwoman
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