Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Minutes
Tuesday, June 21, 2016 – 5:30 PM
Selectboard: Chairwoman Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectman Robert Marshall
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; Neal Beauregard, DPW Manager; David Martin, Emergency Management Director; David Hall, Fire Chief; Ken Paulsen, Trustee of Trust Funds
Public:
5:30 p.m. The meeting was opened by Chairwoman Charig Bliss.
Documents for Review/Approval
- A/P Invoices and Checks
- Wastewater Checks
- Selectboard Minutes
- Employee Vacation Request (2)
- Boyscout Troop 271 – Oak Park Rental
- Request for Payment – Garden Funds
- Dept. of Revenue Inventory Form PA-28 Usage Questionnaire
5:30 PM: Public Forum
There were no members of the public present for the public forum. The Chair opened the meeting and reviewed the Consent Agenda, a new format for the ‘Clipboard’ items that the Selectboard have reviewed and approved in the past. After review of the Consent Agenda the Chair made a motion to accept the Consent Agenda as presented. Selectman Marshall seconded the motion. The Board voted 3-0 in favor to accept the consent agenda.
At 5:41 Hancock Police Chief Andrew Wood and Greenfield Patrolman Jonathan Quigley came before the Board and asked to enter a closed session. On a motion by the Chair under RSA 91-A:3 IIc Reputation, and a second by Selectman Marshall, on a roll-call vote the Board voted to enter into non-public session. At 5:59 pm the Board voted to enter into public session on a vote of 3-0 in favor. It was noted that no votes were taken and no decisions made and that the minutes were sealed.
6:00 PM: David Martin, Emergency Management Director
At 6:00 pm the Chair recognized David Martin, EMD. Mr. Martin outlined recent due diligence into emergency notification systems. In the past the town had contracted with Code Red for emergency notification capabilities. The cost of enrollment in previous years was $4,211 and eventually the system was discontinued at Town Meeting. Mr. Martin said that after a review of pricing and functionality it appeared that Code Red was still one of the better products on the market and that the cost had come down and was now $2,500 a year. He said that he still considered this expensive for the town so other options were researched. After discussions with the Fire Chief and resources from other communities, Mr. Martin was approaching the Board to discuss the possibility of setting up a Citizen Emergency Response Team or C.E.R.T. A
CERT team makes use of local volunteers to act as an emergency response network in times of natural disasters or threats to the community. This is a neighbor to neighbor approach, which he felt was much more in keeping with the Town of Greenfield’s character, and needs, as compared to technology applications, which might not be used by the elderly and other families that have needs that fall under the EMD department. There followed a discussion on several fronts regarding the CERT program, which included how best to recruit volunteers, how to segment the town by zones; neighborhoods, rural roads, or by number of households. A discussion about how to ‘trigger’ a CERT response led to a discussion of a dialer service that could be utilized to call a phone tree (household/cell phone numbers) that would alert CERT volunteers to initiate their emergency management protocols. This could include door-to-door notifications, telephone calls to households that Opt-in to the EMD/CERT
program. As a follow on discussion, the Board and Mr. Martin discussed the fact that many people that are self sufficient would more than likely Opt-out of the CERT program, and that some people who are close to their neighbors may already have a neighbor-to-neighbor practice in place. It was noted that with approximately 600 households that a limited number of volunteers, it could be possible to determine those with the highest level of need and who might be receptive to the program, in a relatively short time. It was also noted that the volunteers could receive training from the fire department for emergencies such as CPR, and also how to make municipal services available to residents in times of emergencies.
At the end of the discussion the Chair noted that the Board was in support based on a consensus during the discussion. A discussion followed on how next steps would follow and tentative plans were made to meet again in September prior to budget season.
At 7: 37 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 7:45pm the Board entered public session. The Board sealed the minutes 3-0
7:45 PM: Neal Beauregard, DPW Roads Manager
At 7:45 Neal Beauregard, DPW Roads Manager stopped in to update the Board on the progress being made at Russell Station Road. He noted that both culverts are installed and that one culvert needed headwalls built and then DPW would be ready to put down gravel on the road to provide a firm compactable surface for paving in July. The culverts are significantly larger than what was in place at 60”. DPW has been able to replace a culvert and re-open the road by nightfall for both culverts. Overtime was used as the culverts have taken an average of 14 hours each to complete placement of the culverts. Mr. Beauregard made special mention that the crew worked straight through the heat and that he was particularly pleased with their hard work and accomplishment.
There followed a brief conversation about a truckload of tires that have been dumped on Gulf Road, and the need to put the dock in at Sunset Beach.
8:25 PM: Documents for Review/Approval
The Board discussed the need to delegate the authority to award the gravel bid (due on June 28th at 4pm) to the Town Administrator as there will be no meeting on June 28th. It was the consensus of the Board that the Town Administrator would collect any and all bids and make a determination on the best bid proposal for gravel, so that DPW could continue with the Russell Station Road project as seamlessly as possible.
The Board compared the consent agenda format to the older version of the selectboard’s workflow. It was a consensus that the consent agenda provided more information for the public, as it would be appended to the minutes on the website, and save the Selectboard the time associated with signing every invoice and every payroll check. The Board reviewed the A/P and Wastewater manifests, and signed each of the documents attached to the consent agenda. The Board reviewed the minutes of the 6/14/2016 minutes and determined that their votes were accurately reflected and that the changes to the purchasing policy would now be in effect.
The Board then took up a conversation about the Town of Greenfield purchasing policy. After some discussion it was agreed that the following changes would be made and brought back to the next meeting in draft format:
- Move the Authority section of the purchase policy to the front of the document.
- Change the “Introduction” title to “Purpose”.
- Keep the ‘conflict of interest’ section at the back of the document in order to emphasize the positive nature of the document.
- Move the “No Artificial Division” section #8 to bullet ‘e’ of section #3
- Combine the Exception to the Purchasing Policy Addendum under section #9 with the “Items not requiring a bidding procedure” in section #6. Renumber the articles accordingly.
The Board re-affirmed their intention to meet with the Treasure and Office Manager to discuss the roll-out of the policy changes. It was the consensus of the Board to change the internal processes to reflect the Selectboard’s votes, and delegation of authority, in the meantime.
Lastly, the Board discussed a recent email from Jay St. Jean of St. Jean Auctioneers regarding their request to have properties held by the town placed at absolute bid for the property auction that is currently in the process of being scheduled. The Board issued their interest on providing a minimum bid for one property and requested that the back-tax amount be brought forward on July 7th.
Adjournment
The time being 9:45pm the Chair Charig Bliss moved to adjourn. Selectman Marshall seconded. All were in favor, and the motion carried 3-0.
The meeting adjourned at 9:45 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, Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectman Robert Marshall, Selectman
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