Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Minutes
Tuesday, Oct. 04, 2016 – 5:30 PM
Selectboard: Chairwoman Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectman Robert Marshall
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator;
Public:
5:30 p.m. The meeting was opened by Chairwoman Charig Bliss.
Documents for Review/Approval
- A/P Register 9/27/2016
- A/P ACH Register
- Payroll Register
- Wastewater Register
- Selectboard Minutes
- Preliminary Revenue Review
5:30 PM: Public Forum
There were no members of the public present for the public forum. The Selectboard reviewed the Consent Agenda during the 15 minute session. It was noted that Carol Burgess, Recycling Center Supervisor had asked to move her annual review to another night. The 6:30pm meeting time would be a Selectboard Work Session. The Town Administrator provided brief remarks on the Town’s revenues in 2016 prior in advance of the Selectboard’s Work Session at 7PM.
At 5:40 PM Rick McQuade, DPW Buildings and Grounds Manager came before the Board and requested a short meeting in order to go over the requirement to replace a furnace at the Fire Station. Noting that no public were present the Chair invited Mr. McQuade to provide a brief presentation. Mr. McQuade said that the fire department furnace that provides heat to the equipment bays was recently red-tagged and taken offline during a cleaning and inspection. He said the furnace has been ‘condemned’. It was discovered that the heat exchanger had a sizable hole in it and this was leaking C02 into the bays. The age of the furnace made parts unavailable and the town would have to install a new furnace soon, in order to get a head-start on the heating season. Mr. McQuade provided three quotes and reported that he expected one or
two more. Quotes range from $7200 to $5400. He noted that the heating ductwork had insufficient vents installed and the installer would have to install 2 or more vents along the duct in order to provide for adequate heating and to mitigate back pressure and heat buildup. After a review of the quotes and noting that the nights will be cooler shortly, Mr. McQuade asked the Board to consider providing him authority to purchase a furnace for a not-to-exceed price so that he could contract with a vendor and get them scheduled. After some discussion the Chair made a motion to authorize the Town Administrator and the DPW Buildings & Grounds Manager to negotiate the purchase and installation of a new furnace with additional vents; for a cost not to exceed $6,000, at the Fire Station. Selectman Marshall Seconded the motion. On a vote of 3-0 with all of the Board members in favor of the motion, the motion passed.
6:00 PM: Katherine Heck. Treasurer & Catherine Shaw, Office Manager
At 5:55 pm the Selectboard Chair welcomed Katherine Heck and Catherine Shaw to the meeting. The Chair outlined that the meeting was to follow up on changes made to the purchasing policy that the Selectboard made earlier in the summer. The changes having been rolled out, there has been some feedback from Department Heads; and a newspaper article outlining issues with the purchasing policy for the Fire Department. The Treasurer reviewed the purchasing policy noting the change to a delegated authority policy utilizing the Town Administrator, and providing greater spending authority to the Department Heads. After some review and discussion the Treasurer noted that the purchase-order threshold could be updated such that a paper trail is created at a $500 threshold even though the Department Heads have spending authority up to
$1,500 from their budget -before going to the Town Administrator for spending authority up to $3,000. She noted that the purchase-order guidelines are not clear from an end-user point of view and suggested how to bring the purchase-order guidelines into focus. She also suggested that the shipping and freight costs should not count toward spending limits, since that can impact a department’s ability to ensure that parts and services required for critical maintenance. Instead she advocated that shipping/freight be noted as part of the exceptions. There were some additional discussion about the changes and how the workflow affects the Office Manager.
7:25 PM: Selectboard Work Session
At 7:25 pm the Board entered into a work session discussion on several items. The first being a long discussion on the MS-434 report of revenues and the preliminary numbers for the 2016 tax rate. The Town Administrator outlined the preliminary rate of the Town at $9.00. The Board agreed that the make-up of the town tax rate was to remain as outlined. The town rate is up approximately seventy three cents over the previous year, mainly due to Capital Reserve savings.
The Board reviewed the Consent Agenda and on a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectman Atherton, voted 3-0 to approve of the Consent Agenda items. This included the A/P Check Register, a A/P ACH Register, and Payroll.
Old business items were taken up and discussed. It was requested that a letter in answer to Diane Boilard be written for the Board to review and approve. A checklist of other items was reviewed and the Town Administrator was asked to follow-up on several items.
Adjournment
The time being 9:45 pm the Chair moved to adjourn. Selectman Marshall seconded. All were in favor, and the motion carried 2-0.
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, Selectman, Stephen Atherton Jr. Selectman, Robert Marshall
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