Link to 1993 Fire Truck included - Please click the link for a description of the 1993 Fire Truck
Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Work Session Minutes
Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015 – 5:00 PM
Selectboard: Chairwoman Karen Day, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectwoman Margaret Charig-Bliss,
Staff: Administrator Patt, Jeff LaCourse, Fire Dept. Deputy Chief
Public: Charles and Linnea Stevenson, Jim Plourde,
The meeting was called to order at 5:00 PM by Chair Karen Day.
Documents for Review/Approval
- A/P Checks
- A/P Invoices
- Minutes of November 5th
- Meeting House Rental Agreement
5:00 PM: Selectboard Vote on 1993 Mack Fire Truck Purchase
At 5:03 pm the Chair opened the meeting. It was noted that on November 11th, 2015 at the Selectboard/Library Trustee meeting, Fire Chief David Hall stopped in and requested that the Board consider the purchase of a fire truck from Sherborn Massachusetts (see Minutes of 11/11/2015) instead of using capital reserve funds (CRF) to rebuild the 1985 former-Peterborough fire truck; the purchase to come from CRF monies. The Chair said that the Selectboard agreed to bring the request to a vote at the next regularly scheduled meeting. She noted that the meeting agenda was updated to include the scheduled vote, and posted online. At 5:03 Selectboard Chair Karen Day read from her notes from the 11/11 meeting. The fire truck contemplated is a 1993 Mack fire engine with the following:
- The 1993 Ladder Engine carries 2X the water that the 1985 Peterborough truck carries
- The 1993 Ladder Engine carries 1500 gallons
- The truck is a one owner vehicle with all records available
- The truck has an all aluminum body – no rust
- The truck has 25,222 original miles and 2273 hours
- The truck is currently in-service as a front-line apparatus
- The tank is a plastic tank
- The truck is 4 feet longer than Greenfield’s biggest truck, but will fit into the town’s bay
- The truck has excellent tires
- The truck has a7500 watt generator
- The 1993 truck is advertised at $40,000 but Chief Hall negotiated the sale at $30,000
The Chair noted during the 11/11 meeting that the truck is 8 years newer, with half the miles of the town’s current vehicle. The ladder is 55’ and has a ladder hose (pipe) for aerial application of water at the scene of a fire.
It was acknowledged that the Fire Department would sell the old Peterborough truck to help defray the expense. Fire Department Deputy Chief Jeff LeCourse reported that members of the fire department visited the Sherborn Fire Department, drove the 1993 truck and reported that it was in perfect working order. Mr. LeCourse said that people on the fire department had felt that the feedback from the informational meeting was that residents didn’t support using the capital reserve funds for rebuilding the older trucks. He said that the use of funds for the purchase was about the same cost contemplated to rebuild the old truck, but that the 1993 fire engine provided a lot more functionality compared to the town’s truck, along with extending the lifespan by approximately 8 years, which they understood, was essential for the
town. Selectwoman Charig Bliss agreed this made a lot of sense for the use of Capital Reserve Funds; the truck has more life and a lot more options than the current truck. Mr. LeCourse said that there are other buyers poised to take the truck if Greenfield is not responsive. The Chair suggested that a formal vote be taken. It was noted that the Fire Apparatus Capital Reserve Fund currently has $109,000, with an additional $20,000 to be paid in 2015 (total of $129,000). The Selectboard agreed to bring the question of the purchase of the fire truck to vote. Chair Karen Day made a motion to purchase the Sherborn Fire Department 1993 Mack/3-D 55’ Telesquirt 1500 gallon fire truck for the price of $30,000 with said funds to be spent from the Fire Apparatus Capital Reserve Fund. Selectman Stephen Atherton seconded the motion. The Board voted 3-0 in the affirmative.
5:10 PM: DPW Budget Work Session
At 5:10 pm the Board met with DPW Manager Neal Beauregard, to discuss the DPW Roads Division budget. Mr. Beauregard went line by line through his budget presentation. Changes to the budget included adding $1000 to the budget for Calcium Chloride for dust control on gravel roads. Mr. Beauregard explained that this product also hardens the gravel roads and increases wear time. Drainage material is increasing $500 and the Gravel line item is increasing by $5000 from $10,000 to $15,000 to reflect more accurately the cost and amount of material needed. Difficult mud seasons and high volume rain storms has pushed the usage of these materials up.
In 2016 the Selectboard has requested that the buildings and parking lots be cleared by the DPW Buildings and Grounds Manager. This is to offset the complaints that were received from Police and Fire and from the Code Enforcement Officer because building emergency access, Handicap access, regular access and parking lots were not being cleared in a timely manner so as to accommodate open and, emergency hours. Mr. Beauregard explained that the result will be an open plow route, which has been advertised for as a seasonal Winter Maintenance position. Part-Time Wages is therefore up from $500 to $6500. Actual Part-Time Wages in 2015 were overspent at $6760 for the year to date. Mr. Beauregard reduced Vehicle Repair/Maintenance from $25,000 to $20,000 partly due to the potential of a new 6 wheeler and partly to help track
winter maintenance items. He is requesting a, new for 2016, Winter Maintenance line item at $5000 to help track snow plow blades, and other implements normally associated with Winter Maintenance in other municipalities, but which have been taken from Vehicle Repair/Maintenance in Greenfield.
Mr. Beauregard noted that he anticipated that Russell Station Road would be completed next year. All of the permitting has finally been approved by the Department of Environmental Services (DES). He anticipates that the road will cost $143,000, with $10,000 coming in as drainage materials (culverts, gravel, and drainage stone). He also noted that he anticipates recommending a Mack 6 Wheeler, which he said was comparable in price to the 10 Wheeler in 2014, due to inflation, and because the price difference is not that great despite the size. He believes that payments will run in the $30,000-$37,000 range depending on the term of the payments. The Mack 10 wheeler was financed on a six year program with payments ranging from approximately $26,000 - $33,000. The Chair asked Mr. Beauregard to look to see if it is
possible to buy a good second hand vehicle that would do the job for the town instead of buying new. Mr. Beauregard said he would take a look to see if there is anything out there that is in good condition.
At 5:35 the Selectboard reviewed DPW Manager Patrick Greene’s proposed budget. Mr. Greene outlined the research he has undertaken to date. He provided worksheets showing the core costs for each of the town’s buildings. This included scheduled inspections and cleanings for furnaces, generators, fire extinguishers, and security monitoring programs. He expanded the list to include septic inspections and pumping, noting that these services have not been done on a scheduled basis in the past. There do not appear to be any records of the septic pumping being done, which led to emergencies over the past winter. The Selectboard reviewed the worksheets and asked that Mr. Greene finalize the line items and put the total budget figures into the departmental budget format so that they could review the line items and total amount
for the Buildings and Grounds department.
6:30 PM: Recycling Center Budget Work Session
At 6:30 pm the Board met with Recycling Center Supervisor Carol Burgess. Supervisor Burgess provided outlines for the 2016 budget to the Selectboard members. There a couple of significant issues that will impact the Recycling Center in 2016. Hauling fees for recyclables has increased significantly and the town has not been able to hold anyone to a contracted fee for this service. In the past recyclable hauling fees have been offset by demand for recyclables, which has provided an income stream to the town. Going forward, Supervisor Burgess reported that demand has collapsed for many of the products, which is causing a significant exposure to the department. For 2016 Supervisor Burgess is increasing the recyclable hauling fee portion of the contracted services from $1750 to $9750, an increase of $8000, in order to cover
the potential for this hauling cost to increase significantly. She also said that revenues will be much lower than this year and requested that the Board address the revenue targets in the 2016 budget to reflect the collapse in commodities. The other significant area of increase is in the part-time wages line item. The department has had a lot of turn-over and is moving back to a permanent part-time position of 20 hours a week in order to retain part-time staff.
The Selectboard reviewed the budget line by line. A discussion on heat for the building and heating fuel use was undertaken; especially now that the building has water and facilities. A discussion of the Department of Labor (DOL) recommendations from their inspection was included in this conversation. The DOL has made a strong recommendation that there be two people on-site whenever the building is open to the public. The Board reviewed the part-time position to determine if there was sufficient coverage to meet this mandate. The Board noted that the Recycling Center Supervisor position is a 38 hour week. After discussion of the difference with other full-time employees in town (at 40 hours a week), the Chair motioned to increase the number of hours from 38 to 40 for the Recycling Center Supervisor and to use leftover
part-time wage monies to fill in for the last few weeks of the 2015 year. Selectwoman Charig Bliss seconded the motion. The motion passed 3-0. The Selectboard addressed the safety issue of employees at the site and requested that there be a cell phone made available at the recycling center.
7:30 PM: Doug Batty, Greenfield Fire Department Grant Writer
At 7:30 pm Doug Batty of the Greenfield Fire Department visited with the Selectboard. Mr. Batty introduced himself and described how he has taken on the role of writing grants for the fire department. Mr. Batty described some past grant experience in his previous work history. He outlined some of the recent grants that he has written for the department, including a zero match grant to replace the Extraction equipment (A.K.A. Jaws of Life). Mr. Batty went on to describe a current grant that he is writing for a new tanker. The grant is a FEMA grant and requires a 5% match from the town. Mr. Batty said that Dublin recently purchased a new tanker and, on delivery, the cost was $367,000. Assuming that the grant, which is based on a September 2016 delivery, covers inflation over the course of the next year, the actual cost of a
tanker will be closer to $400,000 and a 5% match by the town will be approximately $20,000. The Selectboard discussed this grant in detail with Mr. Batty. Mr. Batty said that the grant is based on need and that demographics in the region as well as the response to facilities such as CMRC would be taken into consideration. He went on to say that he would be requesting a memorandum of understanding (MOU) from the Selectboard prior to the grant submission, outlining the willingness of the town to fund the 5% match. The Board agreed that this was a project worth undertaking, and asked if this could be covered by funds from the Fire Apparatus Capital Reserve fund (CRF). The Board reached a consensus that when the MOU was needed that they would involve the town’s lawyer to draft the MOU and weigh in on the use of CRF funds.
8:15 PM: Kathy Valliere, Tax Collector
At 8:15 pm Kathy Valliere, the Greenfield Tax Collector met with the Selectboard. Ms. Valliere introduced Ann Charbonneau, the tax collector from New Boston to the Board. Ms. Valliere said that Ms. Charbonneau replied to the town’s ad for a deputy tax collector and she felt that her background was a good fit for the town. The Board discussed the position with Ms. Charbonneau who said that she was not looking to give up her other tax collector position where she works for 18 hours a week, and that the position in Greenfield would provide her some additional hours during the week but the hours are still substantially below full-time hours for both positions giving her the flexibility to respond to both communities during busy times. The Selectboard thanked Ms. Charbonneau for visiting with them and said that they would be
talking with the Greenfield Tax Collector before making a final decision.
9:00 PM: Documents for Review/Approval
The Board signed A/P Invoices and A/P Checks. The Board reviewed a Meeting House contract and approved and signed the agreement.
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 9:30 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
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