Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Minutes
Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017 – 5:30 PM
Selectboard: Chairwoman Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectman Robert Marshall
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; David Hall Fire Chief; Ken Paulsen Trustee of Trust Funds Chair
Public: Abbey Kessler, Ledger Transcript reporter
5:30 p.m. The meeting was opened by Chairwoman Charig Bliss.
Documents for Review/Approval
- A/P Check Register
- Minutes of Selectboard Meeting
- EMPG Grant Application – Governing Body Statement
- Welfare Vouchers
5:30 PM: Public Forum
At 5:30 pm the Chair noted that the meeting was open. There were no members of the public in attendance for the public forum. The Board reviewed the Consent Agenda.
5:45 PM: Selectboard Work Session – Consent Agenda
At 5:45 pm the Chair and Selectman Marshall reviewed the consent agenda items. At 5:50 Selectman Atherton arrived.
6:00 PM: Selectboard Work Session
The Chair welcomed Fire Chief Hall. Chief Hall had discussed the possibility of placing a bid for the ambulance that New Boston has advertised. Chief Hall outlined his experience with the ambulance based on driving it and having it inspected by fire truck mechanic Michael ‘Moto’ Maguire. He explained to the Board that the Greenfield Fire Department is very interested in bidding on the ambulance. New Boston has placed a $15,000 reserve on their vehicle. Chief Hall presented several examples of four-wheel drive ambulances that have been listed in different states and he explained that the reserve pricing was still lower than all of the vehicles that he found, by a substantial margin. He explained that the 4-wheel drive vehicles are rare and command a premium. He stated that the department’s current
ambulance is used daily and while serviceable, the difference between Greenfield’s ambulance and New Boston’s ambulance, which has been carefully maintained, is that New Boston’s ambulance is in much better condition. At the conclusion of the conversation, Chief Hall stated that he was wanted to have the Selectboard give him the go-ahead for the plan. The Selectboard discussed the information that was presented and the Board and the Chief agreed to meet again on the 14th to discuss the amount of the bid.
Next the Selectboard reviewed and discussed the 2017 budget. The Board members agreed that despite taking the budget worksheets home over the weekend, there were very few places if any that it made sense to cut line items. Many of the line items and departmental budgets are the same as they were in 2011 and some departmental budgets are less than last year’s voted budgets. Selectman Atherton suggested that the Board take an additional $3,000 from the DPW Road line item for Gas & Diesel. The Board discussed several other areas including wages lines.
Noting that the discussion was encroaching on individual wage lines the Chair made a motion to enter into non-public session for the purpose of discussing individual wage lines. The Board voted at 8:25 on a roll call vote 3-0 to enter non-public session under RSA 91-A: IIa Compensation. At 8:55 the Board voted to exit non-public session and to seal the minutes 3-0 in favor. It was noted that no changes were made, and no votes taken. Wage lines were not adjusted during the non-public session.
The Board discussed the Library foundation project. After a lengthy discussion it was agreed that the Board would look at using money from the Town Building’s Maintenance Capital Reserve Fund, in addition to the CRF funds that the Library Trustees were committing in order to bring the total of $62,000 in the library foundation warrant article to $52,000.
After additional conversation about the possible use of fund balance to set the tax rate in 2017, the Board voted on a motion by Selectman Marshall and a second by the Chair to target a tax rate figure of 9.28 later in the year; an increase of .29 cents, and to use $10,000 of Town Building Maintenance CRF funds and up to $200,000 in fund balance to reach that tax rate. The vote was 3-0 in favor. It was noted that subtracting $3000 from DPW Gas & Diesel and $10,000 from the library foundation warrant article put the proposed 2017 budget at $2,279,623. This compares to $2,211,3719 for 2016, an increase of $68,252 or 3%.
Next Chair Charig Bliss noted a communication from Neal Beauregard that DPW is in need of more winter sand as a result of the number of storms during the ‘16/’17 winter to date. The Board noted that DPW would be working in the Sand and Gravel site on Forest Road to remove winter sand.
Next the Board discussed a repair that is required at the Fire Department to fix a leaky radiator on the department’s whole-building emergency generator. The amount of the repair is $4,653.77, which will replace the radiator and provide for extended life on the generator up to 10 more years. On a motion by Selectman Marshall and a second by the Chair the Board voted to use capital reserve funds from the Town Building Maintenance Capital Reserve Fund to pay for the repairs to the emergency generator. The motion passed 3-0 in favor. It was noted during discussion that the Fire Chief and the Emergency Management Director had both emailed the Board regarding the need for this repair, which they said would prevent an Emergency Operations Center from being opened at the Fire Station if the generator were to fail.
The Chair made a motion to approve the Selectboard minutes. Selectman Atherton seconded the motion. The motion passed 3-0 in favor.
The Board took up a discussion on perambulating the town lines. A proposal from the Town Forester to provide perambulation services as the Board’s designated perambulator was read and discussed. At the end of the discussion the Board was in consensus to discuss the need for a designated perambulator with people in town so that they would understand the expenditure for this service.
The Board reviewed a welfare voucher submitted by Welfare Director Leah Conway. After some discussion the Board voted to pay an outstanding balance to Holt funeral home on behalf of a former resident.
Lastly the Board discussed the Town Report and made several consensus decisions about the report including the cover photo, dedication, and credits on the inside cover page.
At the end of the meeting the Board agreed to target March 1st to finish any outstanding employee reviews. On a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectman Atherton the Board voted 3-0 to accept the Consent Agenda.
Adjournment
The time being 8:55 pm, Selectman Marshall moved to adjourn. The Chair seconded. All were in favor, and the motion carried 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:55 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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