Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, May 14, 2014 – 4:30 PM
Selectboard: Chair Debra Davidson, Selectwoman Karen Day, Selectwoman Margaret Charig Bliss
Staff: Administrator Patt,
Public attending the 6:30 Informational Meeting – Gerald Gelinas, Marjorie Vanasse, David Knowlton, Jon Eber, Eileen Eber, Katie Beltz, Jean Rube-Ranier, George Rainier, John Halper, Nate Brown, Robert McWha, Norm Nickerson, Dan Walsh, Marge Dineen
The meeting was called to order at 4:30 PM by Chairwoman Davidson.
Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
The Selectboard reviewed and/or signed the following items:
§ A/P Checks
§ A/P Invoices
§ Meeting House Rental – Murder Mystery Dinner
§ Application for Current Use: R1-1-5
§ Abatement Applications
§ Healthtrust – Employee Probationary Period Change
§ Minutes of 5/7 and 5/12
§ Review of Road Committee’s Gravel Road Survey for 2013
§ Elderly Exemption PA-29 forms
§ Letter to resident – Abatement request
§ Letter to resident – change of address / Assessing
4:30 PM: Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
The Selectboard opened the meeting at 4:30pm. The Board reviewed elderly exemption forms, signed PA-29 forms, AP invoices, and AP checks. The Board also signed two letters from residents, welfare vouchers, an application for current use, a Meeting House rental form, and approved the minutes of 5/7 & 5/12.
5:00 PM: Planning Board Chairman, Bob Marshall
At 5:00pm Planning Board Chair, Bob Marshall came before the Selectboard to provide an update on the Plan NH Charrette planning to date. He said that he has not heard yet whether Greenfield has been approved for a grant to pay for $5000 of the costs associated with the Charrette. Mr. Marshall explained that on June 7th he plans to have a meeting for interested residents to attend so that they can learn more about the Charrette and take part in the planning. On June 19th he plans to meet with Town employees to gather their input.
Mr. Marshall went on to explain that the agenda that was supplied by Plan NH will require that Greenfield provide two lunches, one breakfast and one dinner over the course of the two days that the professional planners will be in town. Mr. Marshall said that he hopes to recruit people for a hospitality committee that will take over the planning of these meals and help turn the Charrette into a community event.
Based on the Plan NH agenda it looked as if the Charrette team would meet at the Meeting House on Friday, go on a walking tour of the village, then take a short bus tour of the surrounding industrial zones, Oak Park, and possibly Crotched Mountain Rehab Center. Then they would reconvene to meet with town employees at the town office. Following the employee meeting the Charrette professionals would hold a listening session at the library where they invite the residents to provide their ideas about what services and types of economic development they want in the village for the future. There would be a break for dinner at the Meeting House, followed by another listening session in the evening at the library again. On Saturday the Charrette team would have a brainstorming session and then, later in the day, provide a
presentation on their thoughts and ideas about Greenfield, including possibilities for economic development that would allow the town to retain its rural character but still provide residents a walk-able village with embedded services or retail establishments. Mr. Marshall hopes that this presentation will provide invaluable information that can be used for future planning, similar to how the previous Charrette helped shape the downtown beautification bond project. Some of the suggestions are very likely to expand from that project and show how continuing that project to its completion will help attract new businesses.
The walking tour and the utilization of the Meeting House, the Library, and the Town Office will provide the professional planners with a lot of experience of the downtown area during their stay. Mr. Marshall hoped that the dinner at the Meeting House could be expanded to be a community wide dinner.
He envisions a pot-luck affair, but it would be up to the hospitality committee to determine what they want to do. Mr. Marshall suggested that the Boy scouts might be asked to provide a Pancake Breakfast and the Girl scouts or other volunteers might be asked to be responsible for another meal. Mr. Marshall explained that involvement by community groups might be a win-win as it advances their fundraising or increases their community involvement.
The Selectboard then discussed the use of slide shows that could come from some of the meetings that the Planning Board has held in town. There are several slide shows that were presented during the Planning Board’s Vision planning that would be useful. The Board asked Mr. Marshall if he would consider creating some slide shows for the Charrette and that he might also be able to put together a PowerPoint slide show. Mr. Marshall agreed and said they could play in the background during the dinner and help provide some of the historical background for the professional planners. The Board then asked if there had been any traffic studies done on the roads. It was noted that the Town had received permission to create crosswalks with the caveat that the town was responsible for the upkeep of the crosswalk; painting, etc.
Mr. Marshall said that Southwest Regional Planning is currently providing traffic studies. The Board indicated that they would be interested to see the result of traffic studies on route 31, route 136, and Francestown Road.
The Administrator asked Mr. Marshall if the Planning Board was responsible for updating zoning when RSAs change. Mr. Marshall said that any changes to RSAs that may affect zoning could be forwarded to him and he would present the language to the Planning Board for review.
6:08 PM: Set-up for informational meeting
At 6:08pm Tim Murray, DPW Supervisor came to the meeting room and presented pictures of Old Bennington Road. He also had pictures of Old Mountain Road, after paving, in order to help explain how some of the work will occur this summer on Old Bennington Road. Residents began to arrive at 6:15pm. The remainder of the time was used setting up for the informational meeting.
6:30PM: Informational Meeting – Old Bennington Road Paving Project
At 6:30pm the Chair called the meeting to order. The Chair indicated that this meeting was an informational meeting for residents that live on the paved portion of Old Bennington Road that were interested in finding out about the plan to pave their road. This is the paved portion of the road from Forest Road to the Peterborough Town Line. A sign-in sheet was passed around. The Chair turned the floor over to Tim Murray, DPW Supervisor and asked him to explain the process of how the road will be reconstructed and to explain the time line associated with the work.
Mr. Murray explained to the residents that he was tentatively scheduling the grinding of the road start to on Monday May 19th. He explained that the grinding of the roads would pulverize the asphalt, which is currently very deformed. Once the asphalt is pulverized then DPW would grade the gravel and begin filling in low spots in order reconstruct the crown of the road. Mr. Murray outlined the schedule, starting with the grinding and continuing into early July when the paving would be done. He remarked that the longer residents can allow the road to settle and learn to retain its new shape the better it would hold up in the long run once the asphalt is laid down. Marjorie Vanasee said that she has lived in Greenfield in her house for 41 years. She said that the corner is paved the wrong way by her
house and it’s been contributing to accidents over the years. She said there were at least five accidents that she felt were because of how the road is paved. Mr. Murray said the road is super-elevated at that point and needs to have a normal crown put in it so that traffic will not use it like a race track. A discussion of super-elevation took place. Jon Halper then asked if anything could be done about the boulders that are in place to prevent traffic from cutting the corner from Old Bennington Road to Cavander Road. He said the boulders were too close to the road and looked awful. A discussion about the boulders that were placed by DPW to retrain traffic patterns on the road took place. Several people expressed frustration about that corner. Mr. Murray indicated that he would be flexible and look at other options for the road. The important point was to note that if people cut the corner, which is very wide at that point, it will break the edges of the road. The road is
very expensive and people have been disregarding the L shaped turn and treating the road as if it were a Y. George Rainier asked how many culverts would be replaced. Mr. Murray said that four culverts would be replaced. A discussion of culverts was held. Mr. Halper said that he was OK with waiting longer than the beginning of July if Mr. Murray thought it would be better to let the road settle before paving started. Mr. Murray said that he would prefer to wait until late July because the water table drops to its lowest at that point and the road would have more compaction over the additional weeks if they waited. Dave Knowlton asked about the rocks that are under the surface. Mr. Murray said that his crew works in advance of the grinder to remove rocks from the road. They paint the rocks coming through the pavement beforehand. Dan Walsh asked about the flooding that occurred in 2007 and again in 2009. Mr. Murray said that was before his time but he would be interested in knowing
more about the events. A discussion was held about how water flooded the roads and washed away a portion of the end of the road, in the past. Mr. Murray said that when they replace the culverts DPW will use a smooth walled culvert rather than the older model that had ribs, which tended to collect sand and impede water flow. Mr. Walsh was invited by Mr. Murray to meet on Old Bennington Road at 7AM in order to show Mr. Murray where the flooding impacted the road and point out where it originated. Mr. Walsh accepted the offer. Mr. Rainier asked about headers on the culverts. Mr. Murray said that they are prohibitively expensive and only used when the conditions warrant. There was a discussion on headers and different culvert installation techniques. Norm Nickerson asked whether both sides of the road would be ditched. Mr. Murray said that ditching would not occur where there is extensive landscaping of residential property but for those areas where the right-of-way was wooded and not
landscaped that DPW would be ditching both sides of the road. He said that there are some areas where there simply isn’t a lot of room for ditching but they were going to do their best to increase drainage so that the road would last. A discussion of when the roads would be closed and for how long was held. Mr. Rainier said that he would like to have the police department on the road as soon as the road is paved because people drive much too fast now. Dave Knowlton suggested that DPW swale the side of the road where the boulders are located instead of having boulders. He said that if DPW were to put in a deep swale then people would not be able to cut that corner onto Cavender Road and would have to stay on the pavement. Mr. Murray said he would think about it. Several members of the audience agreed with Mr. Knowlton. A resident asked about chip sealing the road. Mr. Murray explained that he is not a fan of chip sealing. He said that it’s nearly as expensive as paving a
top coat on the road and that is his preference when he can budget the money. He said the paving that will be used on Old Bennington Road will be a 2 ½ inch winter binder which is dense asphalt that does not allow water to have an easy access into the road surface. As a result it will last a long time. There was a discussion about the top coat, which was concluded by the Selectboard who said that it would have to be brought to Town Meeting as a warrant article in the future. Mr. Murray said that once Old Bennington and Russell Station Road are completed the town could look at top coating and sealing the new pavement. The meeting wound down and the Selectboard Chair thanked the residents for attending the meeting. Several residents thanked Mr. Murray for explaining the project calendar and time frames for the road reconstruction.
7:25 PM: Old Business
At 7:25 pm the Selectboard reviewed the agenda and moved the abatement decisions to May 21st. The Board voted on a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectwoman Charig Bliss to remove the 90 day probationary period for HealthTrust insurance products. This includes Short Term and Long Term disability and Life Insurance. There is no cost associated with making this change. The vote was held and passed 3-0 in the affirmative.
Mr. Murray asked if he could carry over vacation time beyond his hire date anniversary. He explained that he has worked nearly every day for several months and has not been able to take any time off. He said that he would like to work some time off into the summer months. The Board voted on a motion by the Chair and a second my Selectwoman Charig Bliss to extend the vacation available due to the extenuating circumstances of winter season followed by a difficult mud season, as a one-time extension, for 60 days past the anniversary date. The motion passed 3-0.
Mr. Murray then provided a picture of a tree on New Boston Extension road that is so close to the road that the plow has continually abraded the tree over the years. The tree is now a hazard and should be removed said Murray. On a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectwoman Day the Board held a voted to remove a hazardous tree from New Boston Extension road. The vote passed 3-0.
Mr. Murray thanked the Selectboard for their support and left the meeting. The Chair noted that no one from the Greenfield Roads Commission attended the informational session, despite the fact that the meeting had been publicly posted. The Board reviewed a corrected copy of the Selectboard’s report on their review of the Road Commission’s 2014 Gravel Road Study. The Board approved the report and asked the Administrator to post the report on the website.
The Board then discussed safety issues associated with the Town Office and its employees. The Board reviewed the panic buttons that are on site and asked the Administrator to purchase one for the meeting room.
The Board discussed a number of inquiries about the procedural requirements for town committees. There are some new committees that have been set up and some new people volunteering. Some of the committees that have veteran volunteers could use a refresher on the Right-to-Know law, RSA Chapter 91-A. The Board asked that an overview document be drafted that could be handed out to members of the town committees and boards so that everyone understands how to meet the requirements of the law and how the Town Office can support their efforts.
Adjournment
On a motion by Chair Davidson and a second by Selectwoman Day, the Board voted to adjourn. The motion carried 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 PM.
The minutes are final when approved and signed by the Selectboard. A signed copy is on file in the Selectboard’s office.
______________________ _____________________ _____________________
Debra Davidson, Chairwoman Karen Day, Selectwoman Margaret Charig Bliss, Selectwoman
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