Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday, January 17, 2013 – 4:30 pm
Board of Selectmen: Chairman Rob Wimpory, Selectwoman Karen Day, and Selectwoman Debra Davidson
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 Invoices
§ Payroll Manifest
§ Payroll Checks
§ Meeting House Rental Contract – contd. Discussion
§ IT Vendor Maintenance Contract
§ Motion to Intervene – LGC vs. NH Bureau of Securities
§ Greenfield Covenant Church – Inventory of stored items list
§ Meeting House Rental Contract – Baby shower
§ Waste Water Warrant – Taxes for 1st quarter 2013
§ Draft Minutes from 1-03-13 & 1-10-13
§ Intent to Cut Notice – R5-8-3 & R5-9-2
§ LGC Board Action update
§ Concord Monitor article – Increase in Local Retirement Costs
4:30 PM: Review and Approval of Document
At 4:30 PM Chairman Wimpory opened the meeting. The Board reviewed and signed the AP invoices, Payroll manifest and Payroll checks. Chairman Wimpory announced that the Board would be holding an employee & volunteer appreciation party at 6PM but would reconvene with the Budget Committee at approximately 7:15 PM. The Board reviewed a quote from Arrow Equipment to install a new 275 gallon oil tank into the Town Office building. This would allow the Town to move away from the use of the underground tank that currently causes the oil feed lines to plug up and causes extended maintenance on the oil furnace. The underground tank must be removed by 2015 as required by the State so a new oil tank will substantially reduce the maintenance fees and accomplish a necessary step in moving away from the underground tank. Arrow
Equipment’s quote is substantially less than Keating Plumbing and Heating, however the quote referenced the transfer station instead of the Town Office. The Chair indicated that he is in favor of having the tank installed but that the quote should reference the Town Office building and the Administrator should double check on the feed and fill pipe set-up to make sure its covered in the quote. A conditional vote to move ahead with the Arrow proposal was made, subject to verification of the information and administrative edits to the proposal being completed.
The Board asked the Administrator to notice the meeting on the 24th with the Towns of Antrim, Francestown, Bennington, and Hancock, noting that the selectmen from all five towns would meet to discuss the ConVal school budget. The meeting would start at 6 PM.
5:30 PM: Work Session
At 5:30 PM the Board set aside documents and contracts to discuss the budget for 2013. The most pressing issue was a piston failure on the 10-wheel dump truck on 1/16/2013. A pin holding the piston to raise the inner dump body broke through and the piston caught the inside of the dump body and twisted the entire dump body, breaking the body in three locations and raising one side of the body away from the chassis. On inspection it was determined that the body was not repairable and would need replacing. Because of the age of the truck and the equipment package, the discussion arrived at the conclusion that the truck and all of the equipment would have to be replaced. Part of the reasoning behind this conclusion was based on resale value weighed against trade-in value; in both cases the truck had some value with the
current plow package included, but the value of the vehicle was greatly reduced without the equipment. A comparison between the cost of new six wheeler versus a ten wheeler concluded with the observation that the pricing was within twenty thousand dollars and the ten wheeler carried twice as much sand & gravel, making it much more productive. It was determined that the Town would more than make back the difference in cost over the lifespan of the vehicle once overtime, fuel, and wear and tear on the vehicles was weighed. Another option considered was the question of whether a sub-contractor could be used to plow and move salt and sand. A quick review of the cost of a sub-contractor against the average number of hours per year that the ten wheeler runs concluded that a subcontractor could be substantially more than the cost of a lease payment on a new vehicle. The truck runs approximately 1000 hours over the course of a year. When multiplied by the cost of a subcontractor on a
per hour basis the Board could quickly conclude that there would be a sacrifice in response time or a significant expenditure if a subcontractor was used for an entire year; especially if there is a bad winter. The Board determined that it would need additional time to consider the options available regarding the replacement of the truck and equipment. The Chair motioned to hold a meeting on January 22nd starting at 5:30 PM in order to hold a work session so that the cost of replacing the vehicle could be weighed in light of the overall budget. The motion passed 3-0 and the Administrator was asked to notice a meeting for the time and date.
6:00 PM: Employee, Elected Officials, and Volunteers Appreciation
At 6:00 PM the Board broke for a gathering of employees, Town officials, Board members and volunteers. Chairman Wimpory made brief remarks thanking the participants for their efforts over the course 2012 and recognizing the hard work that everyone provided. Food and beverages were available.
7:22M: Budget Advisory Committee
At 7:22 the Board of Selectmen and the Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) met to discuss the BAC’s thoughts on the projected 2013 budget as well as any recommendations that the BAC felt were needed as part of the budget. The BAC members in attendance included Norm Nickerson, Aaron Kullgren, Gary Russell, Ken Paulsen, and Myron Steer. Norm Nickerson, Chair of the BAC took the floor and said that the Budget Advisory Committee had reviewed the budget and was satisfied with the numbers that they had looked at. The BAC did not see any changes that they wanted to make but did want to advise the Board of Selectmen that they felt that a warrant article for Highway Equipment Capital Reserve Funds was needed. A conversation about the status of the ten wheeler took place and the BAC was updated on the failure of the inner body
piston and the resulting damage to the dump body. The conversation about the ten wheeler concluded with the thought that DPW Supervisor Murray would have to pull together the specifications for a replacement truck and have a warrant article available for Town Meeting. The BAC turned to a second recommendation, which is to put in a warrant article to open the gravel pit next to the Greenvale Cemetery as they felt that with the amount of the savings from using sand and gravel that the Town already owns would save the residents a lot of money.
8:24 PM Sharon Maloney
At 8:24 PM the Board welcomed Sharon Maloney to the meeting. The Chairman made a motion under 91-A, II a Reputation to enter into non-public session. On a roll call vote the Board entered non-public session. At 8:52 PM the Board exited non-public session and noted that a decision to extend the time to pay by two weeks had been made, the Administrator would follow up with Mrs. Maloney early the following week, and that the minutes were sealed.
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 9:00 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.
_____________________ _____________________ _______________________
Rob Wimpory, Chairman Karen Day, Selectwoman Debra Davidson, Selectwoman
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