Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday, August 23, 2012 – 4:30 pm
Board of Selectmen: Chairman Robert Wimpory; Selectwoman, Karen Day, Selectwoman Davidson
Staff: Town Administrator Patt, Planning Board Chairman Bob Marshall
Public: Ken Paulsen, Ashley Saari – Monadnock Ledger
The meeting was called to order at 4:32 PM by Chairman Wimpory.
Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
The Selectmen reviewed and signed the following items:
§ A/P Check Manifest
§ A/P Checks & AP Waste Water Checks
§ A/P Invoices
§ Municipal Planning Assistance Agreement –SWRP
§ Municipal Planning Assistance Budget Schedule
§ Dept. of Transportation Order for Railroad Crossing Exemption
§ MS-1 Summary Inventory of Valuation – DRA
§ Resident correspondence
§ Selectmen’s Minutes August 9th
§ Intent to Cut R4-28
4:30 PM: Review of Documents and Correspondence
At 4:30 the Board began reviewing documents. The Department of Transportation Order for Railroad Crossings was reviewed and the Board questioned whether the Town would have to pay for ‘Exempt’ signs or if the State would provide them. The MS-1 (Inventory Valuation) was reviewed and it was explained that the DRA had updated their form that week and the form differed in format from the MS-1 that currently prints from the Avitar assessing software. Because the form was released so late in the year (it is due Sept. 1st) there are two MS-1 forms to review and a signed copy of the Avitar form will be kept on file with the electronic copy of the DRA form sent to the State. The Minutes were reviewed and approved as amended by the Board. An Intent-to-Cut form for R4-28 was reviewed and it was noted
that the work had already been done prior to the form being approved. The Board requested that the town forester look into the issue. A resident wrote a letter of appreciation for the new paving on Slip Rd.
4:45 PM: Paving Update – DPW Supervisor Tim Murray
DPW Supervisor Murray came before the Board to report on the paving by Brox Industries. The cost of the paving under the warrant article came in at $124,998.82 ($125,000 was voted at Town Meeting). The amount of shim that was laid down was much more than expected due to road conditions. The cost of the shim came in at $16,555.85 and Supervisor Murray reported that despite the increase over the estimated cost, the highway budget line for road maintenance was at approximately 50% for the year. Supervisor Murray indicated his budget was in good shape for the year-to-date. Supervisor Murray then discussed an issue with traffic that occurred on the day that the paving was taking place.
Next, Supervisor Murray informed the Board that the trees in front of the Meeting House require attention, as there are a number with dead limbs that should be removed. The Board asked Supervisor Murray to find a qualified arborist to look at and make recommendations for the maples.
5:00PM: Non-Public Session / Welfare Department
At 5PM Welfare Director Leah Conway came before the Board to discuss two outstanding vouchers. On a motion made by Chairman Wimpory and seconded by Selectwoman Day, a roll-call vote was held to enter into non-public session under 91-A:3 II c, Reputation. The vote was 3 yes, 0 no. The Board entered non-public session at 5:03 PM. At 5:28 the Board voted to go out of non-public session on a vote of 3-0. The Board noted that the minutes had been sealed.
5:30 PM: Planning Board Chairman Marshall – Community Planning Grant
At 5:30 PM Planning Board Chair Bob Marshall came before the Board with a copy SWRP contract to perform a regulatory review. The scope of the contract had been outlined in the previous sessions minutes. The contract was reviewed and approved. Chairman Wimpory executed the document. Chairman Marshall thanked the Board for their help in moving the grant to the execution phase.
The Board reviewed several items in the reading file while waiting on the 6:30 appointment slot to arrive.
6:30 PM: Budget Committee members
Town Administrator Patt had recently communicated with Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) Chair, Norm Nickerson, in advance of budget season that there were several outstanding appointments that had not been sworn-in. BAC Chairman Nickerson committed to attending tonight’s meeting to discuss the plan for the 2013 budget with the Selectmen. Several committee members arranged to be at the meeting and be sworn-in by the Town Clerk. Budget Committee members Myron Steere, Aaron Kullgren and Ken Paulsen accompanied Chairman Nickerson at the meeting and the group discussed several items with the Board of Selectmen including a road bond, the bond process, the Roads Commission, and the focus of the 2013 budget season.
Committee member Steere indicated that some of the committee members had been working independently on other budget issues/ideas. One of these likely to come up during the 2013 sessions was the Recycling Center. There are committee members that believe that by looking at other towns that the Town of Greenfield could make some changes that would save money in this department.
The Board and the BAC members discussed the process that was required to reach an agreement to bond road reconstruction in 2013 and determine how much was affordable for the residents. They agreed that the Road Commission should be involved early on and provide input as to the overall plan for the roads. Selectwoman Day indicated that the residents should be given a ballpark figure to fix all of the roads so that they could evaluate the extent of the need in town and understand how much money would be needed. BAC Chairman Nickerson indicated that it appears that there is a consensus that the Town of Greenfield DPW is not a builder of roads; the highway department is a maintenance department. The job of the DPW is to maintain the roads we have. Aaron Kullgren indicated that the planning should cover a low-end figure, a
median figure, and a high end figure, with the high end being the cost for fixing all the roads in town and the low end and median figures providing reasonable alternatives so that residents can gauge the affordability of each plan over a period of time. Myron Steere indicated that the time line associated with the planning should include what was actually reasonable over a period of five years and that the affordability of the planning would be based in part on prioritizing the work in five year chunks, which could correspond to a bond cycle. A new bond would be introduced every five years.
Norm Nickerson indicated that he was also still interested in the idea of the Town providing its own materials and raised the question of whether certain work couldn’t be done as a result of the town’s access to a gravel pit for fill work. Savings could be accomplished as a result if this turned out to be feasible.
There was some discussion on the vehicles at the DPW. One of the questions regarding the vehicles at the DPW was whether a fleet leasing program would provide cost savings. Could a leasing program extend to other items beyond the vehicles, such as compactors and equipment.
The BAC and the Board of Selectmen agreed that the Roads Commission should meet at the soonest possible time to get started. The schedules for the Roads Commission and the BAC meetings were discussed and it was noted that the Budget Committee was planning on making a presentation to the Board of Selectmen in October. The Budget Committee requested that members be sent an updated Year-to-Date Budget report via email. The Board of Selectmen asked for several items to be followed up on by the Administrator.
7:30 PM: John Hopkins Blue B-Q
John Hopkins and David Corliss approached the Board to let the Board members know that they were going to focus on the mountain bike race next year and, as a result, would not be planning the Blue-B-Q next year. If other residents were interested in taking over the event that might be workable but it was likely that this would be the last Blue-BQ.
Calendar Changes:
Due to vacation schedules the next Selectmen’s meeting will be moved from September 6th to September 13th. The September 20th meeting will be rescheduled to September 27th. Weekly meetings will resume the first part of October.
7:36 PM: Adjournment
There being no further business, Selectman Wimpory moved to adjourn the meeting. Selectwoman Day seconded. The motion carried 3-0.
The meeting adjourned at 7:36 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 Debra Davidson, Selectwoman
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