Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday, July 26, 2012 – 4:30 pm
Board of Selectmen: Chairman Robert Wimpory; Selectwoman Karen Day
Staff: Town Administrator Patt
Public:
The meeting was called to order at 4:30 PM by Chairman Wimpory.
Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
The Selectmen reviewed and signed the following items:
§ A/P Check Manifest
§ A/P Checks
§ A/P Invoices
§ Upton and Hatfield response: Wapack MOU
§ Fairpoint Claim
§ Oak Park rental – J. Hopkins
§ Cemetery Deed
§ Oak Park invoices
4:30 PM: Review of Documents and Correspondence
At 4:30 the Board began reviewing documents and correspondence. The accounts payable checks and vouchers were signed. The cemetery deed was signed and the Oak Park rental agreement signed.
5:00 PM: Open Paving Bids
The Board received four paving bids: Continental Paving bid Zephyr Lake Road and Mountain Road @ 73.85 per ton; Lane Construction Company bid Zephyr Lake Road and Mountain Road @ $78.25 per ton; Brox Industries Inc. bid $68.39 per ton for the two roads; GMI Asphalt Paving Specialists bid $73.70 per ton for the two roads and a portion of Slip Road and .69cents per square yard for the reclamation of 8200 square yards of road. The Board discussed the quotes as read and commented that the specific work outlined in the bid
differed in language with each company. The Board asked if Supervisor Murray had a recommendation. Supervisor Murray indicated that Brox had the lowest per ton quote. He said that each company had a slightly different amount of tonnage most likely as a result of differences in calculating how much shimming was needed. The Board asked Supervisor Murray to review the quotes and come back with a definite recommendation.
5:00 PM: DPW Supervisor Tim Murray / Road Commission
The Board and members of the Roads Commission discussed the differences between bonding and appropriating money for roadwork through taxation. Roads Commission member Myron Steere said that the commission had been contemplating a 5 year bond for one million dollars in order to bring the roads up to a point where there would be a baseline of good roads throughout town that could then be maintained on a rolling basis, possibly by taking out another bond. The first year payment would be $234,000 dollars, which is about $1.50 on the tax rate. Myron Steere suggested that the residents would not see $1.50 increase in taxes, but would see the difference between the taxes for the 2012 Road Reconstruction warrant article of $125,000 and the first year bond payment:
§ $234,000 - $125,000 = $109,000 or about 70 additional cents to the 2012 tax rate.
Over the course of five years the payments would decrease in steps, with a final payment of $206,500. The benefits of bonding included the following:
§ Bonding committed the town to meeting the payments every year
§ Interest rates are very low,
§ Allows the DPW to fix multiple roads
§ Provides better planning
For comparison the rates for a two million dollar bond over a ten-year period were also received. The first payment on this amount is $275,250, or approximately $1.75 on the Greenfield Tax rate. The difference between the 2012 budget is approximately an additional $.96 cents.
Supervisor Murray indicated that he did not agree with the UNH study, which was provided last year. He felt that the costs that they show are only costs associated with paving. The program does not have any way of figuring out the real costs of the road reclamation and reconstruction under the surface. Supervisor Murray indicated that now that mud season has come and gone he has a much better understanding of the costs associated with the non-paved roads and these costs can be very expensive too. In order to prevent the kind of mud that was experienced on Cavender road for example, would take digging out large sections of the road and reconstructing the base of the dirt roads. It’s a job that is beyond the scope of the equipment that the DPW has, and, in order to make it cost effective, would require hiring a
company to perform that work. With regards to the paving, an issue with using a bond to address multiple roads all at once is that they all fail at the same time, whereas if there is a smaller amount of money each year then it can be applied in such a way that you have a flow and the town isn’t looking at a total failure of a significant number of roads all at once.
6:00 PM: Road Construction plan for 2013
At 6:00 PM the Roads Commission members in attendance continued the conversation about the roads, with an emphasis on the practical aspects of developing a town wide roads plan. Selectwoman Day indicated that she would like to see a plan for each road along with a grading system so that residents in town could get an understanding of the scope of the town’s needs. Administrator Patt indicated that he and Supervisor Murray had put together a spreadsheet that would show a grading system for each half-mile of the town’s roads and streets, as well as an estimate for the cost of the work for each road. Given that there are costs associated with dirt roads as well as paved roads, the spreadsheet will account for those repair and reconstruction costs too. Supervisor Murray said that he would need about three days
time to finish the form. Selectwoman Day indicated that to be successful at Town Meeting the Board would have to provide enough information so that people can see how bad the roads really are. Supervisor Murray indicated that while he understood that a bond helped by committing the town to a certain number of payments, ultimately if he knew there was a certain amount available every year he could easily devise a plan for the money.
7:10 PM: Non-Public Session
The Board of Selectmen voted on a motion by Chairman Wimpory, and seconded by Selectwoman Day, to go into non-public session under 91-A:3 II c Reputation. On a roll call vote the Board entered into non-public session. At 7:45 the Chairman made a motion to exit non-public session, Selectwoman Day seconded the motion. The vote being unanimous 2-0 the Board exited non-public session. It was noted that the Administrator was asked to provide specific information on welfare related requests for property tax relief at the next meeting.
8:12 PM: Adjournment
There being no further business, Selectman Wimpory moved to adjourn the meeting. Selectwoman Day seconded. The motion carried 2-0.
The meeting adjourned at 8:12 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.
_______________________ _______________________
Robert Wimpory, Chairman Karen Day, Selectwoman
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