Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Minutes
Friday, Dec. 30, 2016 – 3:00 PM
Selectboard: Chairwoman Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectman Robert Marshall
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; Paul Renaud, Planning Board Chair; Ken Paulsen, Trustee of Trust Fund Chair & Budget Advisory Committee member
Public: Ledger Transcript Reporter Abbey Kessler,
5:35 p.m. The meeting was opened by Chairwoman Charig Bliss. The meeting was originally scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 29th and was postponed due to weather.
Documents for Review/Approval
- A/P Check Register
- Payroll
- Transfers:
- Conservation Account from GF: $120.00
- Recreation Revolving Account from GF: $3,088.33
- General Fund from Waste Water Fund: $5,593.13
- Health Officer Appointment – State of NH
- Library Part-Time Temporary Wage Adjustments
- Minutes of Selectboard Meetings 12/20
- Purchase Order – Jaws of Life
- Welfare Voucher
3:00 PM: Selectboard Work Session
At 5:30 pm the Chair noted that the meeting was open. The Board reviewed the Consent Agenda. On a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectman Marshall the Board voted 2-0 to approve the Consent Agenda.
The Chair recognized Mr. Paul Renaud, Chair of the Greenfield Planning Board. Mr. Renaud brought forward a contract from Southwest Regional Planning and requested that the Selectboard vote to encumber funds from the 2016 Planning Board budget in the amount of $2,500 dollars; from the Master Plan line item (line item amount of $2,500) in the Planning Board budget. After a short discussion on the chapters that the contract with Southwest Regional Planning covers, Selectman Marshall made a motion to encumber $2,500 from the Master Plan line item of the 2016 Planning Board budget. Selectman Atherton seconded the motion. The vote was 3-0 in favor of encumbering the funds for the SWRP contract.
At 3:30 pm the Chair opened bids for the 2017 Gravel Bid that had been posted at the beginning of December for tailgate spread crushed gravel meeting State Spec. 434.3. None of the bids were accompanied by an engineering report of gradation. Bids received were as follows and all provide for tailgate spreading at various points around town:
- Mitchell Sand & Gravel bid $18.59 per ton
- Leighton A. White Inc. bid $12.25 per ton
- D.H. Hardwick & Sons, Inc. bid $15.00 per cubic yard
- JCK Sand and Gravel LLC bid $15.75 per yard
- Mathewson Companies, Inc. bid $19.00 per yard
The per ton price equals 1.5 x the per yard price. The lowest per ton price from Leighton White equates to $18.38 per yard. The lowest bid is therefore D.H. Hardwick at $15.00 per yard.
At the conclusion of the bid-opening the Selectboard reviewed each of the bids and discussed the information that was available. After discussion the Board agreed that D.H. Hardwick was the lowest bidder. The Board had several questions regarding the bid. The Selectboard requested that an engineering specification be provided. The Board indicated that once the lowest bids met the specifications and if there were any issues with the availability of the product due to stock or timing in the year (some gravel companies closed down over the winter) that they were comfortable with the two lowest bidders.
At 3:55 pm the Selectboard turned to a purchase order request from the Fire Department for purchase of a ‘Jaws of Life’ extractor tool. It was noted that there were two quotes provided by Firematic Supply Company; one quote good for 30 days in the amount of $31,625 and a second quote in the amount of $33,150 good until Town Meeting in 2017. The Chair began the discussion by stating that it was her preference to take large capital purchases to Town Meeting in order for voters to have the most engagement with the process as possible. A discussion followed that discussed the impact of the purchase on the 2017 budget. With a large warrant article for the Library foundation, the Selectboard discussed the impact of adding another large warrant article to be funded by taxation. The Chair stated that the town had significant
revenues in 2016 and that the additional revenues would convert to fund balance, which could be used to pay for the warrant article. Selectman Atherton noted that while they could use fund balance to pay for the Jaws, the requirement to gross budget all expenses means that it will unnecessarily inflate the budget significantly, whereas if the Board uses end-of-year monies it will not impact the 2017 tax rate, and it will not increase the size of the 2017 overall budget. Selectman Marshall re-read the motion from the December 6th meeting in which Selectman Atherton had outlined the Board’s intent to provide transparency by posting the discussion in the minutes and then to have the discussion noted on the subsequent agendas; with the Town Administrator asked to bring forward on December 13th an explanation of line items in the 2016 budget that can be used by the Board for this purchase; and a vote on the purchase to be taken on December 20th. Due to
personal reasons Selectman Atherton was not able to be at the meeting on December 20th; he noted that his furnace failed that day. The vote was tabled by the Board in attendance on December 20th and now the Board was considering whether to encumber funds for the purchase.
Selectman Atherton concluded his discussion about the Board’s transparency by saying that the Jaws of Life discussion has been posted on the website after the December 6th meeting, and every agenda since has provided an indication that this was up for discussion – “if anyone was interested or had an issue with the Board buying the Jaws, they could have come to three different meetings”. He stated that the Board had provided transparency, which was the intent of his original motion. Selectman Marshall said that he felt that this was a critical instrument for the Fire Department, which would be more expensive if they waited. He noted that there is a difference in the cost greater than $1,500. He then noted that the Treasurer had forwarded notes by email, as she was not able to attend the meeting, which
showed that the discussion about purchasing new Jaws has been under discussion since 2008. She urged that purchase of the Jaws be completed in 2016 with end of year monies, and cautioned the Board in her email that while this was not the best practice (she emphasized the need to purchase based on budget planning) it would have the least impact on taxpayers. She noted that in addition to discussions since 2008, the Jaws were featured in the Planning Board’s 2016 Capital Improvement recommendations. The Jaws are Number 4 on that list. However, number 2 – replace the DPW International Six Wheeler was completed at the end of 2015 and is no longer an item; number 1 – repair the Stephenson Memorial Library Foundation will be on the warrant this year; and number 3 – replace the 1977 Dodge Brush Truck is in the works. This leaves the Jaws as the only item left of the top three items.
A discussion of the brush truck followed: the Fire Department has submitted a plan to accomplish the replacement of the brush truck by first replacing the ambulance at a lower cost than proposed for the brush truck this past fall. The plan includes taking the current ambulance vehicle (which goes out on calls every day) and converting it to a utility truck, and then converting the current utility vehicle into a brush truck. This will accomplish the replacement of the brush truck, which goes out on calls very infrequently, as well as upgrading two of the other vehicles that see more use. The current ambulance from circa 1996 goes out on calls daily. Satisfied by the description of this plan, the Selectboard noted that Jaws are in the top 2-3 CIP recommendations as a result.
The Chair asked if there were a motion. Selectman Atherton indicated that he felt that the Board should purchase the extractor tool and noted that he would prefer that the vote be unanimous but in this case it was likely to be a 2-1 vote. The Chair affirmed her intent to vote Nay, but said that it was perfectly fine not to be unanimous on every vote. Selectman Atherton thanked her and then made a motion to encumber funds for the Hurst Extraction Tool – ‘Jaws of Life’, which includes the cutter, spreader and ram in “E-draulic” configuration, with funds from the following line items as outlined in the Dec. 13th memo to the Board from the Town Administrator:
- General Government Buildings: Heat - $2,000 current balance: $3,218
- DPW Roads: Road Maintenance - $15,000 current balance: $21,927
- DPW Roads: Gasoline/Diesel - $10,000 current balance: $17,074
- DPW Buildings & Grounds: Equip. Rental -$2,000 current balance: $2,000
- Legal: balance of $2,625
- Total - $31,625
Selectman Marshall seconded the motion. The Chair called the vote and the vote was Chair Charig Bliss – Nay; Selectman Marshall – Aye; Selectman Atherton – Aye. The vote passed 2-1 and the funds are therefore encumbered to purchase the Hurst extraction tool.
The Board discussed several other items relating to the budget. It was noted that there may be an issue with the current P.A. system and that the town should look at making arrangements to rent or purchase a P.A. system in advance of March.
Adjournment
The time being 5:25 pm, Selectman Marshall moved to adjourn. The Chair seconded. All were in favor, and the motion carried 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 5:25 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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