Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Work Session Minutes
Thursday, August 20, 2015 – 5:00 PM
Selectboard: Chairwoman Selectwoman Karen Day, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr.
Staff: Administrator Patt,
Public: Ken Paulsen, Norm Nickerson, Bob Marshall, George Rainier
The meeting was called to order at 5:00 PM by Chairwoman Karen Day.
Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
The Selectboard reviewed and/or signed the following items:
- A/P Invoices
- A/P Checks
- Employee Vacation Request
- Resident Complaint
- Atty. Letter re: Fairpoint Abatement
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5:00 PM: Department of Public Works Updates
At 5:06 the Selectboard Chair opened the meeting. Building and Grounds Manager Patrick Greene discussed the budget for 2016. The Administrator provided examples of DPW budgets as requested in the previous meeting. There followed a discussion on allocation of building and grounds maintenance line items from departmental budgets into either the General Govt. Buildings budget or the DPW budget. The Board asked that the departmental line items be added to the 2016 DPW budget and updated for the meeting on Sept. 3rd.
At 5:35 PM DPW Roads Manager Neal Beauregard provided an update the paving schedule for Gould Hill Road and Longwood Drive. DPW has replaced two culverts a day on Gould Hill Drive.
6:00 PM: Informational Meeting – Road Paving Update
At 6:00 pm, the Chair announced that the Board’s informational meeting would begin. The Chair introduced Earl Sanford of Sanford Engineering. Mr. Sanford outlined the work that had been done on the wetlands application to the Department of Environmental Services (DES) starting in April of this year. Mr. Sanford outlined the issues that had developed after initial meetings with DES. DES computer records showed that the wetlands area associated with the culverts on Russell Station Road were in excess of 100 acres. This changed the DES requirements from a tier II application to a tier III application. Discussions with DES showed that they were initially leaning toward a 16’ bridge instead or replacement of two 48” culverts, which was well outside of the financial capability of the town and did not seem historically
appropriate. Subsequent investigation by Sanford and Greenfield DPW showed a high point within the wetlands area that causes a significant portion of the wetlands to drain into Zephyr Lake and away from the Russell Station culvert. DES downgraded its classification to tier II but still has an issue with the 100 year storm capability of the culverts. If DES maintains its guidance on the 100 year storm threshold then the town will have to raise the road by a foot in order to accommodate a 100 year flood. This will have to be done in conjunction with the culvert replacement. Since this is an open question that has not been resolved, there is still the possibility that DES will approve the culvert replacement with the requirement for some minor road work. But that it still unknown at this time. The permit will be good for 5 years once it is issued.
The Chair reported to those present that the timeline for all of this discussion with DES has pushed off the work until 2016. As a result DPW will be focusing on Gould Hill Road and Longwood Drive this year.
George Rainier asked if the Board had considered having the engineering done the year before. The Chair responded that in the past that hasn’t been necessary but this project will make that possible going forward. The 2016 budget will have funding to begin engineering on East Road.
George Rainier asked a question about the warrant article, suggesting that he believed that Town Meeting had voted to pave Russell Station road specifically. Bob Marshall made several comments about the discussion that happened at Town Meet and said that the discussions did not guarantee that a specific road was going to be paved. Mr. Marshall said “it was not the intent of the legislative body to micromanage the road plan”. George Rainier made a suggestion to the Board that they encumber the funds rather than change the order of the roads. He said that he thinks that there should be a special town meeting if the Board wants to change to a different plan. Selectman Atherton replied that the Board looked at the warrant article, which was “to see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of One Hundred
Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($115,000) for the purpose of providing Road Paving” and determined that the town did not need to wait a year before expending the warrant article funds.
Neal Beauregard, DPW Roads Manager provided an update on the progress on Gould Hill Road. He was asked a question from the attendees if they had found a lot of metal under the road. Mr. Beauregard replied that they found an engine block that was being pushed up by frost, inside the road. He provided pictures to the Board. Mr. Beauregard outlined the paving schedule and some of the thing he would be doing to blend the paving into Zephyr Lake road.
At 6:22 the Chair closed the informational meeting.
6:30 PM: Budget Committee
Ken Paulsen and Norm Nickerson, members of the budget committee stayed behind to discuss the upcoming 2016 budget season with the Selectboard. A discussion about the need for increases to the capital reserve funds was held. A conversation about the budget season calendar was held. The Planning Board Capital Improvement Planning (CIP) presentation will take place on the 14th at the Planning Board. Once the CIP is voted by the Planning Board it will be presented to the Selectboard. This year the Planning Board is going to take the CIP one step further and provide a list of priorities for the 2016 budget year, for the Selectboard’s consideration.
7:00 PM: Documents for Review and Approval
The Board reviewed and signed A/P Invoices, and A/P Checks. The Board signed Minutes of 8/13/2015. The Board discussed a resident complaint. An employee request for vacation was approved. A letter from the legal team working on the Fairpoint abatement suit was read and discussed by the Board.
Adjournment
On a motion by the Chair, and a second by Selectman Atherton, the Board voted to adjourn. The motion carried 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:10 PM.
The minutes are final when approved and signed by the Selectboard. A signed copy is on file in the Selectboard’s office.
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Chair, Karen Day Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectman
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