Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday, July 18, 2013 – 4:30 pm
Board of Selectmen: Chairman Rob Wimpory, Selectwoman Karen Day, and Selectwoman Debra Davidson arrived at 4:10PM.
Staff: Town Administrator Patt,
Boards: Greenfield Roads Commission, M. Steere, N. Nickerson,
Public: Ken Paulsen, Ray Cilley, and Tom Bascomb
The meeting was called to order at 4:00 PM by Chairman Wimpory.
Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
The Selectmen reviewed and signed the following items:
§ A/P Manifest
§ A/P Checks (7/25)
§ A/P Invoices
§ Payroll Manifest/ACH Deposit
§ Payroll Checks
§ Town Hall Rental Contract
§ Selectmen’s Abatement – Tx Col.’s posting correction
4:00 PM: Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center Tour
Chairman Wimpory opened the meeting at 4:00 PM at Crotched Mountain. Attendees of the tour included all three Greenfield Selectmen, resident Ken Paulsen, and Administrator Patt. Don Shumway, President of CMRC and Mike Terrian, VP of Operations conducted the tour. Chairman Wimpory thanked the CMRC representatives for hosting the tour.
The tour began at approximately 4:15 PM with a short walk to Carter Hall, followed by the auditorium, the switchboard and downstairs offices, the Brain Injury Center, the cafeteria, the Occupational Therapy Center, then the Media Center and library, the gymnasium, the greenhouse and vocational area, a walk past the school building site, and a short visit at the Hayden Center. Following the most immediate parts of the campus buildings the tour then included a tour of a student apartment, and the facilities and maintenance buildings. The facilities building included a tour of the emergency management-training center, the CMRC wood shop; auto-shop; recycling center; food storage and pharmaceutical centers; and the wood chip heating facility.
Following the tour the Board reconvened at the Town Office meeting room and spent a few minutes reviewing documents and approving payments to vendors before their scheduled appointments.
6:30 PM: Karla Allen, Town Forester
The Board welcomed Town Forester Karla Allen to the meeting. Town Forester Allen provided packets of information to the selectmen. In a previous meeting the selectmen had asked for information on the logging process so that they could evaluate the potential for logging town owned properties. Forester Allen provided information that showed the overview of the process, including a sample agreement, a contract for each parcel, a bid package with terms of sale, a sample sale agreement and a lot summary for one town owned property on Cavendar road. In addition to the legal document samples, a copy of reference letters and an overview of the law regarding timber cuts was also provided. The forester went through each of the items in the package with the Board.
At 7:12 PM the Board recognized resident Ray Cilley. Mr. Cilley had provided a letter to the Board of Selectmen asking that the Conservation Commission be involved in the process of determining the best use of Town owned properties. Mr. Cilley asked the Board of Selectmen if they had a comment on his requests. Speaking for the Board of Selectmen, Chairman Wimpory said that they had just received the information from the Forester and that they have not had time to study the documents and come to any individual sense of where they stand on the whole idea of logging Town property. Mr. Cilley asked if the Board would check with the Conservation Commission. Selectwoman Day indicated that she was the liaison with the ConCom and that she would follow up with them at their next meeting.
7:38 PM: Greenfield Roads Commission
At 7:38 PM Chairman Wimpory welcomed the Roads Commission members and Mr. Tom Bascomb to the Selectmen’s meeting. The Chair opened the conversation with a recap of the Roads Commission’s original tasks, which had included gathering the financial information required to determine the impact of a bond on the Town’s tax rate. A conversation about the financial information was held in which Myron Steere, Chair of the Roads Commission indicated that the bond information had been provided to the Selectmen in the past but the information was not acted on by the Board. The Commission had forwarded information on the cost of a million dollar bond over 5 years, which would cost approximately $225,000 per year. The Administrator outlined to Mr. Steere that the Town Office had looked at the UNH study, which was
originally used as a basis for the bond cost, and determined that a number of the metrics presented (incorrect road widths; the cost for grading was double actual quotes received; the fact that all costs were outlined as contract costs (hard costs), including work that is performed by DPW) were substantially incorrect and the subsequent costs were not in line (much higher) with the costs quoted provided by contractors. As a result the previous discussion of bond costs could not be relied on for the Selectmen’s road plan. Mr. Steere indicated that some of the road lengths in the study also looked incorrect. The Administrator said that this further underscored the inability of the UNH study to capture data needed to correctly budget for roadwork.
The Chair asked the commission members what a reasonable time frame for gathering the data regarding the roads, as the Selectmen have not received any information to date. Selectwoman Davidson asked how many meetings the committee has held. Mr. Steere said that they have shifted gears and begun to evaluate the roads and are determining a criteria for reporting on each road. They have evaluated six or seven sections of roads and have approximately 20 man-hours involved in actually walking and inspecting the roads. Chairman Wimpory said that some of the evaluation that is being done by the Roads Committee, now, could change significantly because of time and weather over the course of a year of more. In addition the normal maintenance schedule could improve the quality of the roads. Selectman Wimpory questioned whether the
commission felt that the work they have started recently is going to be productive. The Board of Selectmen recently received a road plan from the DPW Supervisor and it has the priorities mapped out as well and the costs. Mr. Steere indicated that it’s not the responsibility of the Roads Commission to prioritize the roads. Mr. Nickerson said that he could see that it’s possible that the Roads Commission is doubling up on the work. Selectmen Wimpory and Selectwoman Davidson agreed with Mr. Nickerson’s statement. Chairman Wimpory indicated that the Selectmen don’t want people going out and performing unnecessary work. Chairman Wimpory then asked if the Roads Commission could provide something to the Selectmen given that two years has passed. Mr. Steere said that the Roads Commission was voted in at Town Meeting and if the Selectmen want to dissolve it they would have to go to Town Meeting. Ray Cilley was recognized and said to the Selectmen that it sounds as if
the deliverables and the time frames have not been agreed upon since the beginning and that Selectmen should provide an outline of the deliverables that they want and the time frame that they need the information within. Selectman Wimpory said that at the last Town Meeting it was very evident that the residents wanted the Selectmen to come up with a plan for the roads. The Selectmen now have that plan. Mr. Cilley said that to avoid confusion the Selectmen should assign tasks to the Roads Commission. Mr. Nickerson said that the Roads Commission assumed that they were supposed to do (evaluate) the roads.
Chairman Wimpory outlined that the Board was interested to see if the data that the Roads Commission has compiled is useful to the process, and he would like to have it reviewed by the DPW Supervisor. If it turns out that the data is useful then he believes that the Selectmen will want to continue to receive the information from the Committee. It was agreed that the information from both parties would be shared by Weds July 24th and that if the Roads Commission’s information was deemed helpful, the parties would move forward. Selectwoman Day indicated that the Commission could be helpful researching the right of way of each road as some of the records at the Town Office are not sufficient or the road names have changed and it takes a lot of time to pull that information together.
8:40 PM Oak Park Pavilion vote
At 8:40 PM the Board discussed a request by John Hopkins of the Oak Park Committee to use some of the Oak Park funds to pour a concrete floor under the Oak Park pavilion. DPW Supervisor Murray provided three quotes from Carroll Concrete, Miche Concrete, and Granite State Concrete. Miche Concrete had the lowest cost per yard. Murray estimated 22 yards of concrete at $113.00 a yard. Hopkins provided DPW Supervisor a verbal quote of $800 for the finishing work based on three quotes he gathered. Total cost is likely to come in under $3500. There is currently $7480 in the Oak Park fund with $1483 earmarked for the Jamboree. The remainder of $5997 is available. The Board voted 3-0 to move forward. It was generally agreed that this would provide a better space for rentals in the future.
Adjournment
On a motion by Chairman Wimpory and a second by Selectwoman Day the Board voted to adjourn. 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 office.
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________
Rob Wimpory, Chairman Karen Day, Selectwoman Debra Davidson, Selectwoman
| 
