Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, July 02, 2014 – 4:30 PM
Selectboard: Chair Debra Davidson, Selectwoman Karen Day, Selectwoman Margaret Charig Bliss
Staff: Administrator Patt,
Public: Bob Marshall, Paul Renaud, Roger Williams, Virginia Williams
The meeting was called to order at 4:35 PM by Chairwoman Davidson.
Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
The Selectboard reviewed and/or signed the following items:
§ A/P Invoices
§ A/P Checks
§ Payroll
§ Oak Park Rental Agreement update
§ Meeting House Rental Agreement update
§ Oak Park Rental – Wedding Ceremony
§ Minutes of 6/18
§ Riverside Café – Request for outdoor seating reply
Chair Debra Davidson opened the meeting at 4:35pm.
4:36 PM: Selectboard Scheduled Non-Public Meeting
The Chair moved to enter into a non-public meeting for the purpose of discussing personnel issues under RSA 91-A: II a, personnel. Selectwoman Karen Day seconded the motion. On a roll call vote the Selectboard voted Chairwoman Davidson, Aye; Selectwoman Day, Aye; Selectwoman Charig Bliss, Aye. At 5:00pm the Selectboard voted to exit non-public session on a vote of 3-0. The Board noted that no decisions had been made and no votes taken in the non-public meeting. The Board voted 3-0 to seal the minutes.
5:04 PM: Public Hearing
At 5:04pm Chairwoman Davidson announced the opening of a public hearing for the purpose of accepting unanticipated grant monies from the NH Charitable Foundation. The Chair announced that the Town of Greenfield had been awarded $5,000 from the NH Charitable Foundation for the purpose of funding a Greenfield Community Design Charrette (GCDC). The Chair noted that Planning Board Chairman Bob Marshall and EDAC Chair Paul Renaud were in attendance. The Chair announced that the Board would take comments from the public. Paul Renaud was recognized and commented that the Town should accept the funding as it was specifically for the Charrette. Bob Marshall was recognized and announced that as part of the Charrette planning, the Planning Board had reserved 8 rooms at the Jack Daniels Motor Inn in Peterborough. He added that
accepting the grant was a “no brainer” because it’s a very straightforward grant for the purpose of supporting the GCDC. The cost for the Charrette is exactly $5,000 so it will be applied directly and not like other grants that have been awarded over the last few years, where the Planning Board had to provide specialized accounting as part of the award. Selectwoman Day asked about the food planned for the event. PB Chair Marshall indicated that there is fund raising underway, however if the fund-raising should fall short, the Planning Board budget will act like a fall back reserve. The Chair asked the dates of the Charrette. Mr. Marshall indicated that the event would take place on the 26th and 27th of September. He said that the professional planners will be meeting with the Selectboard, then the public, the Department Heads, the public again, and finally have dinner in a public session. A presentation would be held on Saturday the 27th. Marshall indicated that the goal was to
have professional planner look at the town resources and layout of the properties in order to provide input to the town. The Chair asked about the streetlights that have been left over from the previous downtown project. Marshall explained that the Planning Board is looking at ways in which the Town can tie up loose ends left over from the previous Charrette. The GCD Charrette is not meant to highlight these projects that can be part of the Town’s normal budget process. The Chair indicated that she had heard from a number of people that finishing the installation of the lights down past the Corliss residence was important.
The Chair asked for any further comments from the public. Seeing none she closed the public hearing. Selectwoman Day motioned to accept the NH Charitable Foundation Grant, as funded from the Ruth and James Ewing fund and the Monadnock Community Foundation, and to accept the terms of the award as outlined in the accompanying paperwork provided by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Chairwoman Davidson seconded the motion. The Board voted 3-0 to accept the funds.
5:15 PM: DPW Supervisor, Tim Murray
The Board welcomed Tim Murray to the Meeting. Virginia Williams asked if she and her husband could be heard. The Chair replied that they would need to be on the agenda.
The Chair moved to enter into a non-public meeting for the purpose of discussing personnel issues under RSA 91-A: II a, personnel. Selectwoman Charig Bliss seconded the motion. On a roll call vote the Selectboard voted Chairwoman Davidson, Aye; Selectwoman Day, Aye; Selectwoman Charig Bliss, Aye. At 5:43pm the Selectboard voted to exit non-public session on a vote of 3-0. The Board noted that no decisions had been made and no votes taken in the non-public meeting. The Board voted 3-0 to seal the minutes. The Chair re-opened the public portion of the meeting.
The Board took up a letter from a resident regarding Francestown Road. The Board questioned Supervisor Murray about Francestown Road. Murray answered that he knew the writer from earlier in the year. The writer had wanted to redo their leech field when the road was posted. Murray said that they did not receive permission from Greenfield or Francestown to allow a large truck to haul in fill for a leech field due to the weight limit posting. Selectwoman Day said that she was well aware that there are gravel roads that need new gravel but that the Town could not afford to do everything all at once. A discussion of the Supervisor’s prioritized roads was held. Selectwoman Day concluded that the Town is fixing the gravel roads in a prioritized manner. Supervisor Murray said that it was a very intense winter and that led
to a prolonged mud season. “We can only go so far with the money that is voted in March”, he said. At this time all of the roads have been graded once and DPW has been using calcium chloride to harden the roads. Francestown and Dodge Roads have been graded twice because of the request of residents. Selectwoman Day asked if DPW could go out and add a gravel overlay to South Francestown Road if he were told to. Supervisor Murray said it wasn’t possible because they don’t have enough product, or money to purchase product, to do Francestown Road. Our DPW policy is that if residents think their road is bad (gravel roads) “then call us and we’ll do our best to fix it”. He further stated that no one from Francestown Road has called to express concerns about the road.
Supervisor Murray updated the Board that the paving dates for Old Bennington Road had been changed recently. Previously DPW had been given tentative dates of the 9th and 10th. This had just been moved to the 15th and the 16th of July.
Selectwoman Charig Bliss exited the meeting at 6PM.
6:05 PM: Review/Approval of Documents
The Board signed Payroll, AP invoices, AP checks, Meeting House rental agreements and two Oak Park rental agreements.
The Board signed the minutes from June 18th.
The Chair explained to Selectwoman Day that she had received three phone calls about the lifeguards at Sunset Lake Beach. She outlined the reasons for the calls. There was a discussion about the lifeguard manuals, lifeguard duties, and the need for police to patrol the beach parking areas. The Administrator noted that each of the lifeguards receives an updated manual, but the manual did not include a reference to the “no floaties” policy that was adopted several years ago. The manual should be updated to include this policy. The Administrator advised that he had had conversations with the police department and that subsequent patrols of the beach had resulted in several written warnings to people who were not Greenfield residents or taxpayers.
Next the Selectmen reviewed a letter to the Riverside Café. The Selectmen had concluded that the current waste water project seating plan indicated that Riverside Café is allowed up to 60 seats in the restaurant. The Chair signed a letter to the café to this effect.
Adjournment
On a motion by the Chair, and a second by Selectwoman Day, the Board voted to adjourn. The motion carried 2-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:12 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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