Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Minutes
Tuesday, August 16, 2016 – 5:30 PM
Selectboard: Chairwoman Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectman Robert Marshall
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; Janet Renaud, Conservation Commission
Public: Ken Paulsen, Marlene Paulsen
5:35 p.m. The meeting was opened by Chairwoman Charig Bliss.
Documents for Review/Approval
- Approval of A/P Checks - August 10th, August 17th
- Payroll for August 1st
- Vacation Day(s) Request – Town Administrator
- Intent to Cut R1-1, R1-2.
- Minutes from August 2nd Meeting
- James R. St. Jean Auctioneers – Auction Agreement
- Meeting House Rental Agreement Ice Cream & Pie Social by GCCC 9/2 & 9/3
- Meeting House Rental Agreement – Wedding Party Dance 10/14/2016
- Meeting House Rental Agreement – Funeral Service 8/13/2016
5:30 PM: Public Forum
There were no members of the public present for the public forum. The Chair made a formal statement of welcome regarding Chief Brian Giammarino’s return to work. She indicated that the Chief had met all of the requirements required by the Selectboard and that his first day back was August 6th.
5:45 PM: Paul Renaud, Greenfield Planning Board Chair
At 5:45 pm the Selectboard heard from Planning Board Chair Paul Renaud regarding the request by John Paradise to build a house on a Class VI road. Mr. Renaud outlined the Planning Board’s due diligence toward the request as required by statute (RSA 674:41). He also outlined the Bennington Planning Board’s letter outlining their requirements for the building. He noted that the Greenfield Planning Board had agreed that the lot was grandfathered in terms of its lot size, for which there is some discrepancy. He stated that the discrepancy of lot size was between the owner and the Registry and the owner would have to address that issue. He further noted that while the Planning Board provided their assessment of the lot, it was the Selectboard’s determination that was needed in order for the applicant to move forward. Mr.
Renaud said that because there is an issue of frontage on the lot, Mr. Paradise would need to go before the ZBA in order to get a variance for the frontage requirement. After some discussion the Chair made a motion to take the letter from the Planning Board under advisement for discussion later in the evening. Selectman Marshall seconded the motion and it passed, all in favor.
6:00 PM: Carol Burgess, Recycling Center Supervisor
At 6:00 pm Carol Burgess came before the Selectboard and provided them with a letter of update regarding several projects that the Recycling Center has underway for the year. The first project for discussion was the NH The Beautiful Grant for a scale that has been awarded for 2016. The Board needs to come up with the 50% matching grant funds of $1,500 in order to take delivery of the scale. The second project is the installation of the paper compactor; the concrete pad has been poured and the compactor will be delivered for installation on September 7th. In the meantime the building has a new window being installed to help residents dispose of paper into the compactor.
The Selectboard discussed the location of the current burn piles and Supervisor Burgess explained that with the drought the brush is accumulating and will require her to shut down the brush pile in the near future. After further discussion it was the consensus that the Board would like to meet with DPW Manager Beauregard, Chief Hall, and Supervisor Burgess regarding the future location of the burn pits.
Supervisor Burgess outlined that there were several other personnel related issues that she wanted to discuss, however, the time being later than 6:30 the Board asked her to return for a discussion at a later meeting.
6:30 PM: Non-Public RSA 91-A:3 II C
At 6:40 pm Darlene Sweeney, a property owner in Greenfield approached the Board. Ms. Sweeney asked if the Board would enter into a non-public session to discuss an abatement request. The Chair made a motion to enter into non-public session, Selectman Atherton seconded the motion. On a roll call vote the Board entered non-public session under RSA 91-A:3 IIC reputation. At 7:18 the Board voted to exit non-public meeting on a vote of 3-0 and to seal the minutes. It was noted that the Board would provide information to the Tax Collector regarding an abatement request.
7:20 PM: Chair of the Library Trustees, Bruce Dodge
At 7:20 pm Bruce Dodge, Chair of the Library Trustees asked if Ken Paulsen would allow Mr. Dodge to make a brief statement to the Selectboard regarding a recent vote by the Library Trustees on building a new website. Mr. Paulsen agreed to postpone his meeting for a few minutes.
Library Trustee Dodge explained to the Board that the Library has been looking at the possibility of building a new website with features that are not available on the town’s current website, where the library currently has a webpage. The library Board has voted on a proposal that was provided by the town’s current website provider – Virtual Towns and Schools. After a brief introduction to the idea, Mr. Dodge turned the library presentation over to Library Director Julie Steenson. Ms. Steenson said that after several months review of many different website designers and vendors, the library settled on a proposal from Virtual Towns and Schools that would complement the town’s website upgrade due this year, and provide a robust library sub-site as part of the town’s website. There are some costs associated with
this but the library found a private donor to cover the costs. There would be no future costs to the library because the hosting and website maintenance fees to the town would stay the same in the future as they are today. Summing up the proposal, Director Steenson said that this solution, which costs taxpayers nothing today, will not add a requirement to the library budget in the future, and was therefore the most cost effective solution on one hand, and, had the most flexibility and capability for the library on the other.
After a brief discussion the Selectboard Chair made a motion to allow the library to join with the town’s website upgrade and pay for the difference of $4,500 and to authorize the Town Administrator to sign the updated contract. Selectman Marshall seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously 3-0.
7:40 PM Chair of the Trustee of Trust Funds, Ken Paulsen
Mr. Paulsen provided several documents for the Selectboard to review that covered the progress of the Trustees of Trust Funds in working with an investment company to invest town trust funds in such a way as to have a higher return than inflation. He noted that most of the banking investment opportunities have returns of a fraction of a percent. Inflation in 2016 has been pegged at 1%. Therefore investment returns have to exceed that inflation amount in order to maintain their value. Mr. Paulsen delivered a talk-through presentation with several documents outlining the progress to date. He noted that the funds have generated a positive return that is greater than inflation so far this year. He noted that the investment company has quarterly fees and that after accounting for the fees, the return on investment exceeded
inflation. The Board appeared satisfied that the investment program was working as originally discussed and thanked Mr. Paulsen for his time and efforts.
The Chair reviewed the Consent Agenda. 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.
Adjournment
The time being 9:47 pm the Chair moved to adjourn. Selectman Marshall seconded. All were in favor, and the motion carried 2-0.
The meeting adjourned at 9:47 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. Selectman, Robert Marshall
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