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Selectboard Minutes 10/15/2015
Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Work Session Minutes
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015 – 5:00 PM

Selectboard: Chairwoman Karen Day, Selectwoman Margaret Charig-Bliss, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr.
Staff: Administrator Patt, Ken Paulsen, Norm Nickerson, Linda Nickerson, Vickie Norris, Kevin Taylor

Public: Gary & Karen Russell, Debra Davidson, Charles & Linnea Stevenson, Leonard Boutin, Andrew Heck,
The meeting was called to order at 5:00 PM by Chair Karen Day.

Documents for Approval/Review/Signature
The Selectboard reviewed and/or signed the following items:

  • A/P Invoices
  • A/P Checks
  • (2) New Hire Worksheets – Recycling Ctr. PT & Library Aide Temp.
  • Minutes of 10/08/2015
  • Non-public Minutes of 10/08/2015 (3 Sessions)
  • Library MOU – Revised and edited for discussion
  • Police Dept. Memo to Selectboard – Thank you
  • Meeting House Rental – Birthday party

5:00 PM:  Building Inspector, Michael Borden

The Selectboard met with Building Inspector / Code Enforcement Officer Michael Borden. Mr. Borden recently completed an inspection of 12 Slip Road, an abandoned building that the town took for tax deed in 2015. Mr. Borden advised the Selectboard that the building is not safe and should be razed. Mr. Borden explained that the building is stripped down to the studs, has no insulation, has holes in the roof, and contains areas where new construction is not supported properly. The most critical issue is that the roof has very shaky support along one major support header. Mr. Borden reported that the building is not safe and would take a significant amount of money to make safe. He reported that neighbors to the property have complained that people are getting into the building. He went on to say that the there is a liability due to the closeness of the buildings on either side. In the case of collapse or fire, the proximity presents a significant risk. Selectwoman Charig Bliss asked if there were any dangers of hazardous materials. Mr. Borden replied “no, the building has been stripped down to the bare wood inside”.  At the end of some discussion with the Town Administrator and the Building Inspector, the Chair made a motion to have the Administrator speak to Town Counsel and to take his direction on whether to have the former owner’s residual interest in the property taken to court to be purged prior to taking the building down, or to take the building down as the law allows. The motion was seconded by Selectman Atherton and the vote was 3-0 in favor of the motion.

5:30 PM: Treasurer, Katherine Heck

At 5:30pm the Board met with Treasurer Katherine Heck. The Chair noted that the Treasurer had not signed a check to the Academy of First Response, a vendor to the Town’s Fire Department. The company is owned by Greenfield Fire Chief David Hall. Mrs. Heck outlined her duties as Treasurer and explained that she had questions about a payment to the Academy and whether it was a conflict of interest. Selectwoman Charig Bliss explained that the Selectboard met with Town Counsel on October 1st and went over the relationship between the town and the Academy. She said that according to Town Counsel there is no conflict of interest between Mr. Hall acting as Fire Chief for the town, and providing services through his company. Mrs. Heck referenced an article by the NH Municipal Association about best practices for segregating financial duties and noted that the check had been sent out without her signature. Mrs. Heck suggested that policies are getting tighter, not looser throughout the State, and that the checks and balances in place are necessary to prevent issues. She quoted from the NHMA article and said that she thought the Selectboard violated the purchasing policy. The Chair stated that those policies are adopted by the Selectboard and stem from the internal controls that are the Selectboard’s responsibility according to RSA (41:9). The Selectboard did their due diligence, which included meeting with Town Counsel to go over the issue. She stated that the bank does not require the treasurer’s signature to honor the check. Selectwoman Charig Bliss said that it was important to move forward in an amicable fashion. She stated that the Board checked with Town Counsel about this issue; “we asked the question and the answer came back that it was not a conflict of interest”. The check was mailed out after the manifest was signed, and, the Board reached a consensus in a public meeting to release the funds, as outlined in the 10/8 minutes (see RSA 41:29  Ia).

6:00 PM: Selectboard Budget Workshop

At 6:00pm the Selectboard reviewed the 2016 budget. The 2016 budget contains changes to the format of the DPW budget. The Selectboard reviewed the format and requested several additional changes. Based on the changes the budget could be provided to the DPW managers for updating. The Board discussed the need to expand the vehicle/equipment purchasing forecast (Gantt chart) and include building work that is needed in the future. Over the past several weeks, especially during the heavy rains it has been noted that the basements of the Library, Meeting House, and Town Office have been leaking significantly. The Meeting House, in particular, took on a lot of water. It was noted that the buildings had leaked in previous years but this year’s rainfall increased the size of the leaking and had highlighted that there are drainage problems with the old stone foundations. The Chair said that all of these issues were starting to form a ‘perfect storm’ for Greenfield, as there were coming to a head at the same time that the town was working on its equipment replacement schedule and its Capital Reserve Fund savings plan.

The Board reviewed the 2016 budget and noted that it was preliminary at best. The Chair asked that the DPW budget be updated with the changes noted and provided to the DPW managers.

7:00 PM: Trustees of Trust Funds

The Selectboard met with the Trustees of Trust Funds, Ken Paulsen Chair, Linda Nickerson, and Vickie Norris, to discuss the town’s investments with Charter Trust Company, which is the company that the Trustees chose to invest Capital Reserve Fund monies. Charter Trust is located in Peterborough and works with a number of municipalities. Ken Paulsen, Chair of the Trustees of Trust Funds explained that after the law changed, the Trustees looked at several companies for this service; allowing certain types of investments strategies be used for Capital Reserve Funds. The Trustees had been trying to move away from CDs because the interest rates were so low. Mr. Paulsen explained that they need to stay ahead of inflation; otherwise inflation will erode the principal on hand, year after year. After a discussion on the investment strategy the Selectboard asked if the income was keeping ahead of the expenses that Charter Trust was charging. Mr. Paulsen noted that for the brief time (slightly more than 2 quarters) that the investments had been active, that the town had received $860.40 in income versus $264.00 in fees. Mr. Paulsen said that the Trustees had settled on Charter Trust due to their conservative investment philosophy. The Selectboard and the Trustees discussed the fees and Linda Nickerson said that the two ways to pay for fees are for the town to vote to allow fees be taken directly from the income that the funds generate, or the fees can be budgeted. Currently the fees are being paid out of a Bank Fees line item, in the budget. A discussion about bringing a warrant article to the Town Meeting by the Selectboard was held.

7:30 PM: Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) members

The Selectboard met with Budget Advisory Committee members Norm Nickerson, the BAC Chair, Ken Paulsen, and Kevin Taylor. It was noted that Myron Steere could not be at the meeting because he was attending a School Board meeting (Mr. Steere is the Greenfield School Board representative). The Chair outlined some of the highlights to the 2016 budget, noting that the budget was preliminary based on submissions from Department Heads and from the Planning Board’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) recommendations. The insurances, wages, and personnel administration line item updates have not been received or updated yet. There are placeholders in the budget for those numbers. There was a discussion of the budget which covered the following:
  • The need to deal with the heat in the attic at the library
  • The discussion of gasoline for departments and the decision by the Board to work with CMRC
  • The Planning Board Capital Reserve Fund CIP recommendations
  • The need for building repairs at the Town Office (the building sill at back of building)
  • The need for drainage work and foundation sealing at the Library
  • The need for drainage work and foundation sealing at the Meeting House
  • The need to increase substantially the Capital Reserve Fund (CRF) savings
The Budget Advisory Board members discussed the CRF funding. Mr. Nickerson and Mr. Taylor both agreed with the CIP recommendations from the Planning Board that Mr. Paulsen had worked on. They discussed the need for the town to start a savings program for major purchases. Mr. Nickerson said that the town has to start saving the same way that it has been paving roads; every year there needs to be a significant investment made for the future. The Planning Board CIP recommended $50,000 for the Fire Apparatus Fund, $50,000 for the Highway Equipment Fund, and $15,000 for the Police Vehicle Fund. The CIP recommendations totaled approximately $135,000. In 2015 the town put $52,800 into Capital Reserve Funds. When the Planning Board recommendations are added to the 2016 CRF that are needed for the five year assessment program, and the need to put aside monies for fire fighter gear, the 2016 budget starts with $163,000 earmarked for CRF funding. The Selectboard and the Budget Committee discussed this number and it was noted by Selectwoman Charig Bliss that the Board would be looking at the overall budget and may need to make changes before the budget is finalized. The Board and the BAC members discussed how to help inform people of the need for the CRF funding. It was determined that there would be an informational meeting held on Nov. 19th. The Capital Reserve Fund discussion presentation would be provided with the bulk of the meeting information to be provided by Selectboard , Planning Board, and BAC members.

The Board and the BAC members went through the budget by department and noted changes and updates. It was noted that the Recycling Center has budgeted a significantly higher amount budget for contract services due to the compression of the markets and the fact that in 2016 the town will need to pay for hauling of paper and plastics that in previous years it had made money on. In addition with the  collapse of Empire Hauling, the town hasn’t been able to hold a vendor to a price for the hauling. Pricing for vendors has changed mid-year and vendors aren’t able to promise a specific cost structure for the coming year. As a result Recycling Center Supervisor Burgess has added $8,000 to the contract services line.

Much of the remaining budget is flat according to the Chair, with increases in the outstanding numbers of insurances expected.

Documents for Review and Approval

The Board signed documents and reviewed correspondence. The Board discussed several A/P invoices and approved them. The Board approved A/P Checks and Payroll. The Board approved minutes of 10/01. The Board approved two Intent to Cut applications. The Board approved the Purchase Order of pagers for the Fire Department. The Board approved a laptop quote from Twin Bridge Services for a Town Office laptop to be used for presentations at Selectboard work sessions, and public informational meeting/hearings.

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 9:34 PM.
The minutes are final when approved and signed by the Selectboard. A signed copy is on file in the Selectboard’s office.

_________________    _______________________                        ___________________________             
Chair, Karen Day            Margaret Charig Bliss, Selectwoman    Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectman