Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Minutes
Tuesday, June 14, 2016 – 5:30 PM
Selectboard: Chairwoman Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectman Robert Marshall
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; Carol Burgess, Recycling Center Supervisor; Neal Beauregard, DPW Manager; Todd Mason, DPW; Dorene Adams, 225th Committee; Adele Hale, 225th Committee; Carele Mayer, 225th Committee
Public:
5:30 p.m. The meeting was opened by Chairwoman Charig Bliss.
Documents for Review/Approval
- A/P Invoices and Checks
- Payroll
- Selectboard Minutes
- NH Retirement
5:30 PM: Public Forum
There were no members of the public present for the public forum. The Chair opened the public session to those present early for administrative meetings. Carol Burgess, Recycling Center Supervisor provided a hand-out that she would like to provide at the 225th Anniversary event to raise awareness about recycling. She wants to have a raffle in order to increase the number of people visiting the Recycling Center booth. After an explanation about the need to reach out to members in the community that might not otherwise use the center, the Selectboard agreed to cover the cost of the tickets that Supervisor Burgess purchased for the raffle prize. Supervisor Burgess also submitted a 90-day review of the Recycling Center’s part-time employee along with a request for a raise in the hourly rate for
retention.
5:52 PM: Neal Beauregard, DPW Roads Manager
Chairwoman Charig Bliss opened the Selectboard session of the meeting at 5:52 pm. She welcomed Neal Beauregard and Todd Mason of the DPW. DPW Manager Beauregard provided an update on the progress with Russell Station Road. The DPW crew has ditched the road again and removed the stones accumulating at the sides of the road. There was a conversation about the material in the road, which is excellent for drainage but is not compacting. Mr. Beauregard said that the material is too gritty, and despite adding significant amounts of calcium chloride and water the road is still not settling. This reinforces the decision to add gravel in several areas once bids are received. The Town went to bid on crushed gravel and the due date is June 28th. A discussion followed about the need to use an outside contractor with an
excavator to dig and place the two 60” culverts that the Department of Environmental Services (DES) required as part of the engineering plans. The two culverts in place today are much smaller. One is a 48” culvert and the other crossing is covered by two 36” culverts. The town had requested placing two 36” culverts at each crossing in the original application. Mr. Beauregard stated that the engineering plans were received finalized with the 60” requirements by the town three weeks ago. As a result of the mandated increase in the size of the culverts, an excavator is needed to complete the culvert crossing. Mr. Beauregard provided six quotes for the work. Two of the quotes were verbal. The lowest quote is from Merzi Trucking for $3520. The second lowest was from Landsite Corporation for $5000. After discussion, Selectman Marshall made a motion to award the work to Merzi Trucking, partly due to being able to start earlier than the other vendors, in addition to being the
lowest price. The Chair seconded the motion. The Board discussed the potential for overruns on an hourly basis. The Merzi Trucking quote includes contingency work at $110 an hour. The closest hourly rate from other bidders was $150 an hour. The Chair called the vote, which passed 3-0 in favor.
A discussion on the timing of the paving was taken up. The Board reviewed expenditures to date, which covered the grinding of the asphalt in the amount of $7861, which was lower than the original bid of $8400. The price of asphalt had come down again and was now $64.95 a ton and could drop again in the near future. The current price to pave was roughly a thousand dollars less than it was in April, at $105,219. A separate purchase order was approved in the amount of $2000 to purchase concrete blocks to build headwalls.
6:50 PM: Dorene Adams, 225th Anniversary Committee
At 6:50 pm the Chair welcomed Dorene Adams, Adele Hale and Carele Mayer to the selectboard meeting. Mrs. Adams provided a tentative schedule for the events during the 225th Anniversary celebration at Oak Park. The committee members provided a map of Oak Park and explained where the different activities would take place. The cavalry re-enactment camp would hold their demonstrations behind the ball field. There will be farm animals including draft horses and alpacas; food vendors; and a parade that will proceed through the center of town and end at Oak Park. There was some discussion with the Board about parking, shuttles, and police traffic control. There is a permit pending with the New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation to allow overflow parking on the green area between Forest Road and 136.
7:40 PM: Documents for Review/Approval
At 7: 40 pm Town Administrator Patt requested that the Board enter into non-public session for the purpose of discussing personnel related issues. On a roll-call vote of 3-0 the Board entered into Non-Public session under RSA 91-A:3 IIc Compensation. At 7:57pm the Board entered public session. The Board sealed the minutes 3-0
8:00 PM: Documents for Review/ Approval
The Board signed A/P Checks and the A/P Manifest. The Board signed the Payroll folder manifest. The Board signed a payment manifest to NH Retirement. Non-public minutes from 5/24/16 were reviewed and changes were requested. The Board reviewed a contract for a website upgrade. There was some discussion, which was held over from the previous week due to Selectman Atherton being out sick. After discussion Selectman Marshall made a motion to move the website upgrade. Selectman Atherton seconded the motion. During discussion the Chair said that she was not in favor of spending $1500 on the website. It was noted that the website funds were voted on at Town Meeting and that there had been a discussion about the upgrade. After further discussion the Chair called the vote and it was 2-1 in favor.
Next the Board discussed the concept of using a consent agenda to change the workflow of the Selectboard. Examples of consent agendas were provided. The consent agenda can list more information than is currently on the Greenfield Selectboard agenda, including the amount of payroll and the amount of the A/P run. It also has more information about the types of documents that come under the current agenda list. This can include additional background on the items. Once the agenda is set by the Chair, during the meeting it can be signed off by the Selectboard members and then voted as one item. This will help reduce the time spent on documents. Town Administrator Patt explained that the Greenfield Selectboard could have the consent agenda attached to the minutes when they are uploaded to the website, as a PDF attachment. After
discussion it was agreed that the consent agenda could reduce the time to complete documents while providing more transparency. It was also noted that selectboard members could request an item be pulled from the consent agenda for discussion. It was also noted that some items will require discussion because of their complexity. Not everything that comes to the Board can be placed on the consent agenda for that reason. Examples of items that could be streamlined are appointments, A/P, Payroll, and certain administrative documents such as Intent to Cut applications, Exemptions and Abatement applications, and certain other types of correspondence or administrative documents. After discussion Selectman Marshall motioned to transition to the use of a consent agenda. The Chair seconded the motion. The motion passed 3-0 in favor.
Next the Board reviewed the draft version of the Greenfield Purchasing Policy prepared by the Treasurer. This was compared to the version that was adopted originally in 2008 and has been revised through January of 2016. A discussion was held regarding the purchasing level authorizations associated with Department Heads and the Town Administrator. In order to reduce the amount of documents that the Board must sign, the Board contemplated making changes to the purchasing policy, in conjunction with assigning authorization to the Town Administrator for purchases up to a certain threshold. After the discussion, the Chair made a motion to ‘change the authorizations in the purchasing policy to allow department heads to make purchases, without a purchase order, in amounts up to $1500, and for the Town Administrator to have
purchasing authority from $1501 - $3000 with purchase orders supplied by department heads –and, for the Town Administrator to have authority to approve A/P invoices up to $3000 within the selectboard office reducing the number of invoices that go to the Board for approval. For purchase orders and invoices equal to or greater than $3001 Selectboard approval shall be required’. Selectman Marshall Seconded the motion. The vote was held and passed 3-0 in favor.
Next the Chair made a motion to use electronic signatures on payroll checks and to put payroll on the consent agenda, with the Town Administrator delegated authority for payroll approval. The motion was seconded by Selectman Atherton. The vote was held and passed 3-0 in favor.
The Chair requested that the Treasurer and Office Manager attend a board meeting to discuss these changes.
The Board agreed that they would review the consent agenda as part of their next meeting. The Board members were in agreement that the purchasing policy be updated with the voted changes and the draft of these changes be sent out for review in advance of the meeting on the 21st.
Adjournment
The time being 9:40pm the Chair Charig Bliss moved to adjourn. Selectman Marshall seconded. All were in favor, and 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, Margaret Charig Bliss, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr., Robert Marshall, Selectman
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