Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes
Thursday, February 27, 2014 – 4:30 PM
Board of Selectmen: Chairman Rob Wimpory, Selectwoman Karen Day, and Selectwoman Debra Davidson
Staff: Administrator Patt, DPW Supervisor Murray
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
§ Payroll Checks
§ Southwest Region Planning Commission – Agreement
§ Meeting House Rental – Roadside Round-up
§ Meeting House Rental – Mardi Gras Party
§ Intent to Cut – R2-4
§ Special Edition of the Spirit – Planning Board outreach
§ Zoning Ordinance review – NHMA bulletin
§ Certificate of Vote – State Park DRED / Police Patrols
The Board reviewed and signed the minutes of February 6th, 13th, and 20th. The Board reviewed and signed an Intent to Cut for property R2-4. The Board voted 3-0 to support police patrols at the Greenfield State Park and signed a certificate of vote for the Department of Economic Resources (DRED). The Board reviewed a letter from the DRA Equalization Division that outlined the equalization ratio prior to the Revaluation. The ratio is 125.4%. The Board noted that an employee reimbursement request required a response to ensure that the purchasing policy was being followed in the future.
4:30 PM: Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
At 4:30 PM the Chair opened the meeting. Selectwoman Karen Day welcomed Chairman Wimpory back from vacation. Selectwoman Debra Davidson arrived at 4:35pm.
DPW Supervisor Tim Murray stopped in at the meeting and requested a few minutes with the Selectmen. Murray wanted to apprise the Selectmen on the fact that the Town had received 4-5 calls during the snowstorm from residents who were concerned with the snow plowing. Murray explained to the Board that DPW has two hour truck routes. Each truck route takes two hours to complete. Barring refueling, picking up more sand, or stopping to clean wiper blades the trucks ran continuously throughout the storm. Murray explained that this past storm was particularly intense and Greenfield received a lot of snow very quickly. No town in the area was able to keep up with the amount of snow that fell, which was nearly a foot of accumulation in a few hours. Murray wanted to assure the Selectmen that DPW provided the best service they could.
There was some conversation about the use of contractors during snowstorms. DPW has been very conscious of the amount of people who spoke out against using contract services for past services. DPW had discontinued the use of contractors as a result. However, in this instance Murray thought it might have been a good thing to have available. Murray outlined the amount of sand and salt usage that this winter has required. The amounts have been much larger than previous years. There is a salt shortage being reported in the newspapers. DPW has used more than 2400 yards of sand this winter and has ordered salt at least 7 times. Each load costs approximately $1800.
The Selectmen indicated that they felt that DPW was doing a good job and the Chair indicated that he had not received any complaints from people. The Fire Chief sent in an email indicating that he had not received any negative feedback from this storm. Sergeant Roberge stopped in to tell the Selectmen that the roads were very good by 8pm that night and the DPW did an excellent job cleaning up the snow. He also said that during a snow storm DPW calls the Police Department on average 3-4 times a shift to check-in and ask if there had been any trouble spots identified or if residents had called to express concern about their safety.
Recycling Center Supervisor Carol Burgess stopped into the meeting to say hello to the Selectmen. The Selectmen asked about the Recycling Center and she reported that she is doing a lot of cleaning and work around the building since her return.
5:00 PM: Doreen Adams Resident Requested Meeting
At 5:00 PM Doreen Adams came before the Selectmen. She presented the Selectmen with a Zoning Protest Petition under RSA 675:5. The protest petition on validation will require that a vote taken on a zoning amendment be required to reach 2/3 majority in order to pass. The protest petition is for Zoning Amendment #2 on the ballot. This is the amendment to establish a neighborhood heritage district. The Selectmen asked several questions about the RSA. Mrs. Adams provided a copy of the district, color coded to show the properties affected by the proposed ordinance. The RSA requires 20% of the owners in the affected district to sign the petition, or, 20% of the owners within 100 feet of the boundary of the petition. This does not include property that is owned by the municipality or the State. Mrs. Adams indicated that all of
the data that was needed she found on the town website. The Selectmen accepted the petition and asked that the Administrator examine the RSA for next steps. There followed a discussion about the pros and cons of the ordinance in question. Mrs. Adams said that she went door to door in the proposed district and that she met a lot of nice people that she hadn’t previously known.
6:00 PM: Review of Special Edition of the Spirit
At 6:00 PM the Selectmen reviewed the Special Edition of the Spirit that will be mailed out to residents. The Selectmen discussed the layout of the articles. The Administrator indicated that Town Counsel had reviewed the language of the Planning Board’s grant, which requires that there be community outreach. The Planning Board Chair had discussed the grant application and the potential of creating a Special Edition in advance of Town Meeting in an earlier meeting with the Selectmen. In order to meet the requirement of the Planning Board grant: “the Municipality will conduct an ongoing outreach and education process to maximize input of community members, including traditionally underrepresented populations, and to ensure that the Municipality's citizens are fully informed of the Project and its resulting
regulatory proposals”. Selectwoman Day is the layout and design person for the Spirit. She said that the Planning Board grant would be used to pay for this edition. In addition there are two additional articles from the Selectmen that were reviewed by the Town’s lawyer. The first is written by the Town Administrator about the 2014 budget and the Town Revaluation, which will happen over the summer. The second is from the Selectmen and is to provide background information on the sand project and the articles that pertain to the project that are in the warrant. This was gone over by Town Counsel and edits had been incorporated to ensure that the article was strictly factual. The Selectmen reviewed the articles and pictures in the article. They approved the Special Edition subject to any administrative changes before printing. It was noted for the minutes that all aspects of the Special Edition of the Spirit are being paid for by Planning Board’s grant as part of
their public outreach requirement.
At the conclusion of the meeting the Administrator noted that a recent article in the Ledger Transcript about the town budget had statements that were not true. The Selectmen asked that the newspaper be contacted and a correction made to the article.
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 6:30 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.
______________________ _____________________ _____________________
Ron Wimpory, Chairman Karen Day, Selectwoman Debra Davidson, Selectwoman
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