Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday, January 23, 2014 – 4:30 PM
Board of Selectmen: Chairman Rob Wimpory, Selectwoman Karen Day, and Selectwoman Debra Davidson
Staff: Administrator Patt, DPW Supervisor Murray, Treasurer Katherine Heck, Office Manager Catherine Shaw, Librarian Gail Smith, Childrens’ Librarian Kristin Readel, Building Inspector Mike Borden, Planning Board Chairman Bob Marshall, Library Treasurer Mary Ann Grant, Welfare Director Leah Conway, Fire Chief Loren White, Ken Paulsen Budget Advisory Committee, Economic Development Committee Chairman Paul Renaud
The meeting was called to order at 4:30 PM by Chairman Wimpory.
Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
The Selectmen reviewed and/or signed the following items:
§ A/P Invoices
§ A/P Checks
§ Waste Water Checks
§ Minutes of 12/30 & 1/2/14
§ Cemetery Trustees – Deed
§ Winter Carnival – Meeting House rental
§ Hampshire 100 – Oak Park rental
§ Resident Letter – Warrant Article suggestion /225th Anniversary
§ Resident Letter – 25MPH speed limit zones
§ Hazardous Waste Contract – City of Keene 2014/2015
4:30 pm: Budget Work Session
The Board of Selectmen reviewed the draft Town Warrant and two-year comparative budget worksheet prior to the Budget Hearing at 6:30 pm. Mary Ann Grant came forward and asked to be recognized in order to address the 2014 flower budget. Since her original meeting her estimation for the planting and maintaining of flower beds in town had been revised. Grant shared several concerns about the flower beds and the Board determined that DPW Supervisor Murray and the Town Administrator should go through the grounds-keeping contract with Jeremy Gagnon to determine the best application of his services – given that flowers and plantings will be done by Mary Ann Grant. JGagnon had submitted a request to extend the grounds-keeping contract by an additional month in 2014 in order to account for fall clean-up. The Selectmen agreed
to add the additional funds of $3009 to the budget but indicated that some of the funds would be meant for Grant’s flower budget. The Selectmen would review both the flower and grounds-keeping budget again before spring. They would determine at that time whether to send the grounds-keeping contract out to bid or not.
At 5:12 pm the Selectmen completed their review of the draft Town Warrant and the 2014 Budget and on a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectwoman Davidson voted 3-0 to approve the documents in advance of the Budget Hearing.
At 5:24 pm DPW Supervisor Tim Murray came forward to update the Selectmen about several items that will affect the 2014 budget. The first item was notification that the DPW’s pressure washer, which is used to wash the DPW vehicles after snow storms (this is a heated pressure washer used to remove salt, oil, and grease from trucks and equipment) is failing. DPW considers this a critical piece of equipment for vehicle maintenance, especially during the winter plow season. Murray had three quotes for new pressure washers (C.A.R. Products $5042.40, RPM Inc. $5075, H.O.P. Sales and Service $4584) but had located refurbished products with H.O.P for approximately $2600. After discussion about the necessity of having a heated pressure washer at this time of year, the Selectmen approved the purchase of the refurbished unit.
Next Murray indicated that the DPW intends to spend some time working on Town buildings during this time of extreme cold; fixing light ballasts and the ceiling in the DPW garage and putting up a partition wall in the basement of the Town office. Finally Murray outlined that the fuel tank that holds diesel gas at the highway garage is in need of replacement. The current tank is a single wall tank, is not vented, and has sludge building up on the inside. Murray discussed the possibility of purchasing a double-walled vented tank with the Selectmen. Murray reported that Rymes had offered to install a tank for free in exchange for the gas service. The Selectmen were in favor of purchasing a tank and having the ability to pick a supplier. The Selectmen reviewed proposals from Allen and Mathewson $4500, Beardsley $2893, and Rymes’s offer. The Selectmen and Murray agreed that the Beardsley quote was the best arrangement and approved the purchase.
The Selectmen reviewed a request for a non-public session from the Administrator in conjunction with DPW Supervisor Murray. The Board approved the request after a review of the statute. On a motion by Chairman Wimpory and a second by Selectwoman Day the Board voted in a roll-call vote; Chairman Wimpory aye, Selectwoman Day aye, Selectwoman Davidson aye, to enter non-public session under 91-A II c, Reputation at 5:40. At 5:45 pm the Selectmen voted to exit non-public session and noted that no decisions were made and no votes were taken. The minutes were sealed.
At 6:15 pm the Board of Selectmen concluded their review of the draft Town Warrant and proposed budget. The Selectmen requested that the draft warrant be edited and renumbered and reprinted in advance of the 6:30 pm Budget Hearing.
6:30 pm: Budget Hearing (sign in sheet attached)
At 6:30 pm Chairman Wimpory opened the Budget Hearing. The Chair made the following remarks: “The time being now 6:30 pm, it’s time to open the Public Hearing and begin a review of the proposed 2014 budget. Is everyone ready? We will now open the Public Hearing”
Chairman Wimpory began a reading of the draft Town Warrant beginning with Article #2.
“To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Eleven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($11,500) to be used for the Town’s 2014 Five Year Revaluation as required by RSA 75:8-a. (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $.07 cents. “
Chairman Wimpory asked if there were any questions. Katherine Heck asked if this sum was for the 2014 portion of the cost of the revaluation or if this was the entire cost of the revaluation. The Administrator answered that the town has been putting money aside in a Capital Reserve Fund (CRF) in order to cover the cost of the revaluation. Each year there has been an amount that has been put into the CRF. This amount is the remainder that is needed to bring the amount on hand sufficient to cover the cost, but since it is going to be expended this year the Town is raising the money and skipping the step of putting it into a CRF. Mrs. Heck asked what is the cost for the revaluation. Administrator Patt said that it was approximately $32,000 and that some money would stay in the CRF to keep the CRF open.
Seeing no further questions, Chairman Wimpory began reading article #3.
“Article 3: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of up to Two Thousand, Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500) for the purpose of expending funds that will be offset by the Used Oil Collection Grant Assistance Program, to purchase materials and/or obtain services to establish, improve, or operate a used oil collection center in accordance with the terms and conditions of Used Oil Collection Grants at the Recycling Center. (Majority Vote required). This article has no tax impact.”
There was very brief and general acknowledgement of this article. Chairman Wimpory asked if there were any questions. Seeing none the Chair began reading article #4.
“Article 4: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Four Thousand Eight Hundred Sixty Dollars ($4,860.00) for the purpose of Glass Removal at the Recycling Center. (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $.03 cents.”
Chairman Wimpory asked if there were any questions. There were several questions about the purpose of the article. Selectwoman Day read an excerpt from the proposal by Carol Burgess, Recycling Center Supervisor that outlined the cost of removing the glass from the glass storage pile over the course of 3.5 years. “The average accumulation per month at the recycling window is 4.5 tons. Using a 30-yard container for each month we could take an additional 5.5 tons off the glass pile to fill the container. This amounts to a total of 120 tons of glass per year. The glass fees of $23 per ton would equal $2,760 per year. The hauling fee of $175 would equal $2100 per year. The combined total equals $4860 per year”. There were some general questions about the location and size of the glass pile. Myron Steere asked if
the pile was covered. George Rainier asked if the glass could be used in construction or DPW projects. DPW Supervisor Murray indicated that projects that use the glass have to have an engineering stamp and must be ground to a particular size, which makes it prohibitively expensive to use. Gary Russell asked for clarification on whether this would remove the glass that comes to the center on a monthly basis and glass from the pile or whether this was just the pile. Selectwoman Day confirmed that the glass from the window at the center would be accounted for as well as an amount at the storage pile. This would result in a clean-up over approximately 3.5 years of the storage pile. At the end of the cycle there would be a maintenance amount that would be accounted for in the Recycling Center budget of approximately $1770 to remove the monthly build up. Seeing no further questions Chairman Wimpory began reading article #5:
Article 5: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of One Hundred Seven Thousand, Seventy Eight Dollars ($107,078.00) to support the Recycling Center. Allocation as follows: (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $0.67 cents.
Chairman Wimory asked if there any questions. There was a general question asking to highlight the changes in the budget from Al Burtt. Chairman Wimpory indicated that the cost of the Monadnock Disposal Contract had gone down, the Administrator indicated that the Town had just received the Hazardous Waste contract from Keene and the cost had gone up from $1850 to $2020. There were also changes in the wage line, health insurance, and part-time wages. The entire budget is up from $105,950 to $107,078 or $1128. There were no further questions.
Chairman Wimpory began reading article #6:
“Article 6: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) and place said amount in the existing Fire/Rescue Apparatus Capital Reserve Fund. (Majority vote required). The Selectmen support this article. This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $.13 cents.”
There was very little discussion about the article. Chairman Wimpory began reading article #7:
“Article 7: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Seventy Eight Thousand, Eight Hundred Fifty Dollars ($78,850.00) to support the Fire Department. Allocation as follows: (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $.50 cents.”*
Discussion began on the article as Fire Chief Loren White entered the building. There was a question regarding the Training Service line item, and the Selectmen answered that it was there hope that some younger volunteers would be joining the Fire Department. Al Burtt stated that the Expense Reimbursements was unchanged and that eventually the town was going to have to provide compensation for staff. Chairman Wimpory referred the question to Chief White, asking what his thought on paid staff at the Fire Department was. Chief White indicated that while he was not for this type of arrangement he felt that it was probably going to go that way at some point in the future. There was some additional general discussion about the potential for the future regarding volunteerism. The Chair asked if there were any additional
questions and then began reading article #8:
“Article 8: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Two Hundred Sixty Nine Thousand, Five Hundred Eleven Dollars ($269,511.00) to support the Police Department. Allocation as follows: (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $1.70 cents.”*
Chairman Wimpory noted that Police Chief Giammarino could not attend the public hearing and that the Selectmen would answer questions regarding the budget. There was a discussion of the budget and the third police officer. Clarification was provided by Catherine Shaw that the line item for this budget was for March to the end of the year and the following year the amount would be $40,000 in that line. Conrad Dumas commented to the Selectmen as a past selectman, when the Board at that time brought on the second full time officer they did so as a warrant article and he said that he would prefer to see the third officer broken out into a separate warrant article. George Rainier and Katherine Heck agreed with this. Katherine Heck asked why an article for glass removal was put in as a warrant article but the police officer was
included in the budget. Selectwoman Davidson outlined that she would prefer to see a separate warrant article but was outvoted. Katherine Heck asked if the retirement line item had been increased to account for the third officer. Conrad Dumas asked about the Special Detail and Special Detail Income lines. The Administrator explained that Greenfield has not been gross budgeting this line in the past but that certainly the auditors have said that they would like to see this happen. Catherine Shaw explained that revenues in the Revenue section of the budget make up the remainder of the income and this is why the Special Detail Income line is not completely washing out the Special Detail line. A question of why the Selectmen were recommending the third full-time officer was asked and Chairman Wimpory said that when the Police Chief, the expert in the day-to-day operations of the department- as the professional, said to them that it was overdue, it was time (to have a third officer).
Selectwoman Day said that there are a lot of double shifts worked by the current officers and this would help prevent that from happening. Katherine Heck asked if there would be 24 hour coverage. Chairman Wimpory indicated that 24 hour coverage would require a lot more than three men. Mrs. Heck clarified her question and asked if coverage would be better. Chairman Wimpory answered that the coverage would be much more stable, and that while there would be continue to be times when coverage was not provided (late at night) this arrangement would be safer for the community. He asked if there were additional questions and the request for a separate warrant article was noted again.
Chairman Wimpory began reading article #9:
“Article 9: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) to be placed in the existing Town Buildings Maintenance Capital Reserve Fund. (Majority vote required). The Selectmen support this article. (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $0.06 cents.”
Chairman Wimpory read from a report on the Capital Reserve Funds that indicated that this fund has $117.05 in it after completing repairs and restoration of the Meeting House Steeple. It was generally understood by all that this was necessary and the Chair moved to article #10:
“Article 10: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Five Hundred Ninety Four Thousand, Three Hundred Fifty Nine Dollars ($594,359.00) to support the Operation and Maintenance of the Town. Allocation as follows: (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $3.71 cents.”
Al Burtt questioned the Ambulance line and indicated that it was up over $4000. Mr. Burtt indicated that he was concerned that the Town of Peterborough had benefitted from the purchase of an ambulance by the surrounding towns, which was now being used for a separate transfer business. He said that it had been reported in the Monadnock Ledger that the Town of Peterborough was providing transport and it was very profitable. The profits were in the $100,000 range. He was concerned that the ambulance being used had been bought with funds from the towns and the profits from the transport business were not being used to cover the shortfall of the insurance payments in the multi-town ambulance program. Instead the shortfall was being covered by the towns in that program. The Selectmen asked Chief White to comment. Chief White
was aware of the transport program but was not sure if there was a relationship to the ambulance service, or not, in the manner that Mr. Burtt described. Mr. Burtt questioned the Executive Budget and the Clerical Wages as well as a raise for the Town Administrator. Chairman Wimpory indicated that for the Clerical Wages it was overdue and was a necessary adjustment. He said that the Administrator salary raise was justified. A question about the Interest on TAN was asked and Treasurer Katherine Heck responded from the audience that this is the third year in a row that a TAN was not being planned and that she felt we would not use one again in 2014. There was a question from Conrad Dumas on the Welfare Administration line. The budget was under by more than $8000 so why didn’t the Town lower that budget. Welfare Director Leah Conway answered that there is no way to know how many people are going to come through the door in a given year, and there are a number of factors, such as
how cold it is in winter that causes the number of people to need fuel for heating. Chairman Wimpory said that this is the one budget that by statute we have no control over. If the budget goes over we have to take the funds from other places in the budget. A question about the Payroll Expense and whether it was up because of the third officer in the Police budget was asked. The Administrator confirmed that this was the case.
Chairman Wimpory read article #11:
“Article 11: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate Eighteen Thousand Dollars ($18,000.00) to support the Replacement of the Old Meeting House Cemetery Fence under the direction of the Cemetery Trustees as voted on at Town Meeting in 2013. (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $.11 cents.”
Seeing little discussion about the article Chairman Wimpory read article #12:
“Article 12: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) for a Plan NH Charrette for the purpose of infrastructure planning for the further development of the town. This amount may be offset by donations received from local businesses. (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $.03 cents.”
Planning Board Chairman Bob Marshall asked to speak to this article and indicated that it was a Charrette similar to the one in the early part of the 2000s that led to the improvements downtown. This Charrette was going to pick up where the improvements left off. There was little discussion on this article. Seeing no further comments Chairman Wimpory read article #13:
“Article 13: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Twenty Nine Thousand, One Hundred Sixty Three Dollars ($29,163.00) to support the Planning Board Community Planning Grant (CPG #2). Of this amount, $23,330.00 is reimbursable and will be provided by the NH Community Planning Grant, $4,374.00 will come from volunteers donating their time to complete the project and the remaining amount of $1,459.00 will come from taxes (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $.01 cents.”
Planning Board Chairman Bob Marshall asked to speak to this article. This was an article that was awarded already and the Planning Board has already begun paying for consultants’ time toward the Master Plan projects and planning. This article was in place to provide the Planning Board an expense line so that it was not going through their budget.
Chairman Wimpory moved to article #14:
“Article 14: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Seven Thousand Six Hundred Dollars ($7,600.00) as a follow on to the Community Planning Grant #2 (above). This is an additional award that has no impact on taxes.”
Planning Board Chairman asked to speak to this article and pointed out it was a follow-on article to article #13. This money was earmarked for the Planning Board to pay for planning services of the town.
Chairman Wimpory moved to article #15:
“Article 15: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of One Hundred Fifty Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($157,500.00) for the purpose of providing Road Reconstruction. (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $0.99 cents.”
A question was asked by George Rainier if this was for the paved portion of Old Bennington Road. Chairman Wimpory indicated it was and that the reason why it did not have it stated explicitly was so the Town could provide paving elsewhere if the voters at Town Meeting were to amend the amount in the article to a lower amount.
Chairman Wimpory moved to article #16:
Article 16: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Five Hundred Sixty Six Thousand, Two Hundred Eighty Eight Dollars ($566,288.00) to support the Highway Department. Allocation as follows: (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $3.56 cents.
There was discussion about the Salt and Sand lines from Andre Wood. The questions as to whether the old Salt & Sand line needed to be shown in the article. The Administrator indicated that it takes a year or more before the line can be dropped. Mr. Wood asked about the amount of the expenditures in the Salt and Sand line in the 2013 budget. The Administrator answered that the purchases in this line item were all purchases of salt. No sand was purchased in 2013 because the Town had access to the gravel site (R7-28) this past year. Chairman Wimpory asked DPW Supervisor Murray to explain the cost of the new salt shed that was built where the old road through the DPW site was located. Murray indicated that they were able to create a very stable structure using a lot of steel that was on-site and blocks that were purchased
for around $2100. The new structure is much safer and doesn’t have issues leaching the salt down the length of the driveway when it rains. It also holds a great deal more salt, which is why the budget for this line is up. A question about the health insurance was asked as the budgeted number was much higher in 2013 than the amount that was spent. The Administrator said that it was gross budgeted but didn’t know why it showed up as such a high number in 2013 and that this was being looked into. Conrad Dumas asked why the amount in the warrant was higher than the amount in the budget. A person in the back of the room showed him that the warrant included the W.A. equipment expenses. Myron Steere asked how much longer the Backhoe was going to be on the budget. Selectwoman Day answered it was a seven year purchase agreement so it would not come off until after 2015.
Chairman Wimpory read article #17:
“Article 17: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Eighty One Thousand, Seven Hundred Eighty Dollars ($81,780.00) to support the Stephenson Memorial Library. Allocation as follows: (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $.51 cents.”
Library Trustee Bob Marshall indicated that the Chair of the Library Trustees, Neal Brown was unable to make the meeting. As a result he would speak to the budget. A question was asked why the Books/Periodicals/Videos line item had gone up so much. Mr. Marshall explained that in previous years the Trustees had been requested by the Selectmen to reduce the budget and keep their budget low. As a result the Trustees had relied on the Merrill fund to help purchase books and videos. Now however the Merrill fund was low and the Trustees felt that the fund needed a break in order to recoup. As a result they were asking the town to fund the line as they have in the past and to help provide some relief to one of their important funds.
Chairman Wimpory moved to article #18:
Article 18: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Thirty Thousand, Four Hundred Fifty Dollars ($30,450.00) to fund the operation of the Town Clerk’s office. (Majority vote required). This article has a tax impact (2013 values) of $.19 cents.
Chairman Wimpory asked if there were any questions. Katherine Heck asked if the Town Clerk Salary was a raise. The Administrator indicated that this was a budget for an elected official and the Selectmen had no control over the budget by statute, which is why the Selectmen broke it out so that it could be discussed by the town.
Chairman Wimpory read article #19 (not an appropriation article):
Article 19: To see if the town will vote to accept the Driscoll Road as a class 5 road from its beginning at Mountain Road to the end at large turn around 50yds past driveway at Greg and Karen Martus’ residence, (lot 10-2 on map R-10). (By Petition)
There was some discussion of the article and the fact that it was written as submitted as per statute. A lengthy conversation was held about the efforts of the residents on the road to have this road adopted by the Town. Conrad Dumas explained some of the issues that the Selectmen had discussed in previous years and indicated that past discussions with previous Selectmen had required the petitioners to do an engineering study of the road. Mr. Dumas indicated that in his mind the petitioners didn’t have the funds to do the necessary engineering study. He said that he felt that at some point the town should pay for the some of the necessary requirements because it was clear that the residents that lived on the road could not. The conversation about the article continued and Mike Borden indicated that if the town
accepted the road then the values of the properties would go up and result in more tax dollars. Several residents appeared to be in general agreement that the Selectmen should have much more information for Town Meeting than was available in the warrant article.
At 7:57 pm Myron Steere, School Board Representative asked to speak and indicated that Brendan Minnehan, a resident and superintendent of the ConVal School system was in attendance. Mr. Steere asked to provide a quick update on the ConVal budget, which he thought had improved from its inception and was now coming in at 2.7% over the previous year. Mr. Steere indicated that the ConVal Deliberative Session was scheduled for February 5th. Mr. Minnehan introduced himself and made some remarks about the hard work that was being put into the ConVal budget. He indicated that they had reduced staff by two teachers, two para-professionals, one person in administration and one administrative assistant. The school system was also focused on efficiencies in fuel, electricity, lighting and other areas where savings could be
found. A discussion followed about several items. The school system is updating its Capital Improvements Plan, its infrastructure planning and integrating these budgets so that they are more cohesive. Al Burtt asked questions about the fund balance and Mr. Minnehan responded that the numbers he was quoting were not accurate and did not tell the entire story. Questions were asked about the parking lot that has been in the news and Mr. Minnehan responded that it was a budget item that had been carried over for several years and not updated. When the work began it was discovered that beneath the pavement the sub-level support was old trees that had been laid down, which had finally rotted away. As a result the substructure of the parking lot has to be replaced. Chairman Wimpory asked what the 5 year target for the school population is likely in the future. Mr. Minnehan answered that it was likely to be in the 700-750 range. Myron Steere went through the warrant articles noting which
were funded through the use of Capital Reserve funds. He commented that the school does need a new tractor. There was some additional conversation and the meeting wound down.
At the conclusion of this discussion Chairman Wimpory closed the Budget Hearing with closing remarks: “Thank you for coming everyone, at this time we will close the public hearing.”
The meeting was adjourned a few moments later.
Adjournment
On a motion by Chairman Wimpory and a second by Selectwoman Davidson the Board voted to adjourn. The motion carried 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:07 PM.
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
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