Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Work Session Minutes
Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015 – 5:00 PM
Selectboard: Chairwoman Karen Day, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectwoman Margaret Charig-Bliss,
Staff: Administrator Patt,
Public:
The meeting was called to order at 5:03 PM by Chair Karen Day.
Documents for Review/Approval
- A/P Invoices
- A/P Checks
- Payroll
- Wastewater Checks
- Intent to Cut(s) – R7-24-4 & R(-60
- Letter from William Robbins Sr.
- Letter from Atty. Matt Serge – Fairpoint Abatement
- Letter from Upton & Hatfield – RSA 155-B
- Letter from Upton & Hatfield – Appearance for PSNH vs. T.o.G.
- Letter from K. Mullins – Driveway issues
- Avitar Proposal for Online Tax Kiosk
5:00 PM: Selectboard Budget Work Session
At 5:07 pm the Chair opened the meeting. The Selectboard reviewed the Buildings and Grounds budget submitted by DPW Manager Patrick Greene. The Board requested that a line for the beaches be included into the Buildings and Grounds building budget. A question about Library Sewer fees was raised. Will the sewer fees be part of the DPW budget or stay with the Library. The Board discussed the Gas and Diesel line item and the Protective Equipment line item. Mr. Greene explained the need for the Education line item and the Dues and Conventions line item. Mr. Greene has a DOT CDL and is a Recycling Center Class 3 operator looking to move to the Principal Operator designation in 2016. This helps provide coverage when Supervisor Burgess is out. Lastly, the Board discussed the award of the DPW roof project to R. Seneschal Builders.
Mr. Greene reported that Mr. Seneschal had not returned any of his calls and that he does not have voicemail set up on the phone number he provided the town. Mr. Greene recommended that the town look at the next bidder for the roof project. After some discussion the Board voted on a motion by Selectman Atherton and a second by Selectwoman Charig Bliss to rescind the award of the DPW roof project to Seneschal Builder and to award the bid to K.S. LLC. The K.S. LLC bid was for $10,500, which is $400 more than the previous low bid by Seneschal. The motion passed on a 3-0 vote.
The Board discussed the Property and Liability (P&L Insurance) quote from Primex. In the past Primex would break out the amount of P&L by department. Last year and this year Primex provided spreadsheets and schedules and asked that the town calculate the numbers on departmental insurance. The Board agreed that in 2016 the P&L insurance would run as one lump sum under the P&L insurance line item under the Insurance budget. This will eliminate the process for breaking out the insurance allocations by department.
6:00 PM: Diane Boilard, Icehouse Lane Resident
At 6:00 pm the Board met with Diane Boilard, a resident living on Icehouse Lane. Ms. Boilard introduced a neighbor, Mr. Ken Garnham, also of Icehouse Lane. Ms. Boilard and Mr. Garnham have come before the Board to request that the Town take over the maintenance of the lane. Ms. Boilard read from a letter that she had prepared. Ms. Boilard said that in the course of talking to a local contractor about improvements to the lane she discovered that in the past that the contractor had worked for the town and remembered maintaining Icehouse Lane. Ms. Boilard said that the residents that live on the road have been maintaining the road themselves. This includes snowplowing, snowblowing and shoveling. But the lane also needs grading. Ms. Boilard said that she was surprised to hear that the town at one time had maintained the road.
She said that she went back as far as 1985 in the town records and could not find a vote to abandon the lane. As a result she was asking for the town to resume maintaining the road and “go back to the way we once did it”.
Selectman Atherton stated that in the absence of a vote or record (of the town moving away from maintaining the road), was it possible that the town just “hoped no one would notice”. Ms. Boilard said that when she moved to town originally the postmaster informed her that the lane was not maintained and that she could petition the town to maintain it. Ms. Boilard found out that the road would need to be upgraded to meet State or Town specifications so she didn’t petition the town. But when she heard from her contractor that the lane used to be maintained she started looking into why it was stopped. Mr. Garnham said it was definitely a hardship for the residents to do all of the work on the road. Selectwoman Charig Bliss asked if there was a way to explore (this) more fully. She stated that she would like to see more
information on any history of maintenance.
The Selectboard reached a consensus that they would need to do some research in order to make a decision. It was agreed that when the research was completed that the Board would reach out to the residents for follow-up.
6:30 PM:
At 6:30 pm the Board welcomed Planning Board member Ken Paulsen. Mr. Paulsen provided a presentation on the capital improvement plan (CIP), which was updated by the Planning Board during 2015. Generally CIP programs deal with depreciable assets over $5000 and include vehicles, buildings and equipment for use by departments on behalf of the public.
Attending the CIP presentation: Paul Renaud, Bob Marshall, Myron Steere, Norm and Linda Nickerson, Kim Kamieniecki, Loren White, Linnea Stevenson, Andrew and Katherine Heck, Vicki Norris, Catherine Shaw, Adele Hale, Jack Moran, Kevin O’Connell, Donna Smith, Neal Brown and Andre Wood.
Mr. Paulsen outlined the CIP program; a ten year improvements plan, and the responsibility of the Planning Board to update the CIP as part of the Master Plan. In 2015 the Planning Board made specific recommendations to the Selectboard regarding Capital Reserve Fund (CRF) savings goals for the 2016 budget. Mr. Paulsen explained that CRFs have been in place since 2008 but have not been funded aggressively enough, and, as a result, the town does not have enough savings as it faces increased costs going forward. He provided a slide show explaining some of the pressing issues such as the leak in the basement at the Stephenson Memorial Library, the rotted sill at the rear of the Town Office building, the need for a new furnace at the Meeting House (for the Sanctuary), and the fact that vehicles for Police, Fire, and Highway
have predictable life spans, and need to be replaced on a known schedule. Mr. Paulsen showed several slides explaining how increasing the savings into CRFs each year would help smooth the municipal tax rate when large purchases such as the Highway grader or the Fire Department tanker truck come due. The cost for municipal equipment has increased over time due to inflation. As an example, Mr. Paulsen noted that a Six-wheeler for 2016 is more expensive than the 10-wheeler that the town bought in 2014. The presentation showed that as vehicles and building repairs come due at the same time there is an increase to the amount of funds needed during a particular tax year. Without CRF savings the costs will be prohibitive, especially when several of the capital purchases or improvements occur during the same year or overlap over multiple years. Mr. Paulsen explained how an aggressive savings plan could be implemented, which would help offset future costs and would put the town onto better
financial footing for future purchases.
At the end of the discussion there was a question and answer session with those present. Questions from residents included the use of the CRF funds, the original intent of the CRF, questions about agents to expend (the Selectboard) and cost thresholds for many of the items vs. putting costs into the municipal line item budget.
8:07 PM: Non-Public Meeting - Kathy Valliere, Tax Collector
At 8:15 pm Kathy Valliere, the Greenfield Tax Collector met with the Selectboard. On a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectwoman Charig Bliss the Board voted on a roll call vote to enter non-public session for the purpose of discussing a letter from a resident regarding their property and past-due taxes.
At 8:33 pm the Board voted 3-0 to exit non-public session and to seal the minutes.
9:00 PM: Selectboard Meeting Holiday Schedule
The Board compared calendars and voted on the following work session and regular meeting schedule during the holiday season.
Week of Nov. 23rd - No Meeting
Monday, November 30th – Budget Work Session
Thursday, December 3rd – Scheduled Meeting
Tuesday, December 8th – Budget Work Session
Thursday, December 10th – Scheduled Meeting
Tuesday, December 15th – Budget Work Session
Thursday, December 17th – Scheduled Meeting
December 24th & 31st – No Meeting
Documents for Review/Approval
The Board signed A/P Invoices, Payroll, Wastewater and A/P Checks. The Board signed (2) intent to cut forms.
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 9:40 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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