Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday, January 03, 2013 – 4:30 pm
Board of Selectmen: Chairman Rob Wimpory, Selectwoman Karen Day, and Selectwoman Debra Davidson
Staff: Town Administrator Patt, Transfer Station Supervisor Burgess, Town Forester Karla Allen
Public: Ken Paulsen, Ashley Saari-Monadnock Ledger, John Mathias, Candi Fowler, Diane Boilard, Guy Tino, Neal Brown, and Myron Steere
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 Invoices
§ Payroll
§ Payroll Manifest
§ Assessing correspondence
§ Meeting House rental agreement / Family Gathering – contd.
4:30 PM: Karla Allen, Town Forester
At 4:30 PM Chairman Wimpory opened the meeting. The Board welcomed the Town Forester, Karla Allen. Forester Allen had completed a review of Town properties that could be logged for revenues, and she shared her thoughts about specific properties with the Board. The review of the properties was held with forest management in mind first, and with economic priorities second. Due to the dry summer 2012 had been a busy year for loggers and the mills were running full. As a result the best time to layout the groundwork would be in the springtime, with potential for cuts in the summer, depending on how wet the weather is. Follow on cuts could happen in fall but would likely be held in the winter. With the variables in weather, logging activity could continue into 2014, or, over an 18-month term depending on when the Board has the
layouts commence. The Board discussed the possibility of realizing some of the available revenues in 2013.
5:00 PM: Guy Tino, Waste Water Quarterly Billing
At 5:00 PM The Board welcomed Guy Tino, owner of the local restaurant at the Greenfield Commons. Mr. Tino has been running the restaurant for over a year and looks forward to staying. Mr. Tino explained that the seating at the restaurant had been upgraded from 40 seats to 65 seats and that the share of the wastewater bill reflected the costs associated with the additional seats because the bill is based on an amount of gallons per seat. Currently the restaurant is steady but below the original seating and nowhere near the 65 seats. As a result there is a steep fixed cost that the restaurant faces each quarter and Mr. Tino was there to inquire if his seating plan could revert to the 40-seat plan and the bill reduced accordingly. The Board discussed the fact that there is a public hearing every year for the wastewater bond
and at the next hearing this issue could be brought up to the other people on the system. The Board concluded that other users, which have had a reduction in their wastewater bills, might be willing to absorb a proportional increase if it meant keeping the restaurant in town.
6:00 PM: Greenfield Recycling Committee
The Board welcomed Neal Brown, Diane Boilard, John Mathias, Candi Fowler, and Myron Steere from the Greenfield Recycling Committee, and Supervisor Burgesss from the Transfer Station. The committee members were revisiting their interest in sending out a survey that would collect information about the use of the Transfer Station. The Board had requested that Supervisor Burgess attend the meeting to help them determine if a survey would provide helpful information to the Transfer Station. Supervisor Burgess reported that the survey she looked at would be helpful but that certain questions could be changed to maximize the usefulness of the information. Selectwoman Day provided a list of updated questions for the survey and the Board discussed each of the questions with the Committee. At the conclusion of the discussion on
each question, the Chair asked for a show of hands on whether to keep or discard the question. At the end of the exercise the Committee agreed that they would revise the questions to reflect the results of the discussion. The Committee also agreed to start by handing out the questionnaire at the transfer station to test the survey results rather than start with a mailing.
7:00 PM: Work Session / Review and Approval of Documents
The Board began a work session at 7:00 PM. Myron Steere, Greenfield School Board Rep. asked to speak to the Board on the subject of the ConVal school budget. Rep. Steere provided a worksheet that outlined the increases to the School Budget that had been discussed on the 27th of December. Following a short discussion on the worksheet, Candi Fowler provided a list of enrollment statistics from the ConVal school district and provided the Board with background information on the pressures that school systems are under as a result of Federal and State laws. Fowler described the budget for special needs children (Fowler is a former Special Needs Administrator) and explained that the special education reserves are not enough to pay for an Individualized Education Program (IEP) child should a severely high-need child
move into the area during the school year. The reserve number was actually a placeholder from the seventies before the laws were passed.
The Board spent the remainder of the hour reviewing and signing payroll, AP invoices, Payroll Manifest. There was a brief discussion on the Meeting House rental fee and the Board indicated that there should probably be a seasonal rate for the winter months that is higher than the rate for summer months. The Board requested that the Administrator come back to the next meeting with a proposed summer/winter fee schedule that would accommodate the need to heat the building in the winter.
8:00 PM: Town Administrator
At 8:00 PM Selectwoman Davidson requested a non-public meeting to discuss wages and salaries of employees. The Chair motioned to enter into nonpublic session under 91-A II a, Compensation in order to address compensation of public employees. On a roll call vote of 3-0 the Board entered into non-public session. At 8:50PM the Board exited non-public session on a vote of 3-0. It was noted that a decision was made to update the wage line item for the Treasurer, and that the minutes were sealed.
8:52M: Adjournment
There being no further business, Selectman Wimpory moved to adjourn the meeting. Selectwoman Day seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0.
The meeting adjourned at 8:52M
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.
_____________________ _____________________ _______________________
Rob Wimpory, Chairman Karen Day, Selectwoman Debra Davidson, Selectwoman
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