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Board of Selectmen Minutes -- 08/08/2013

Selectmen’s Board Meeting
Pending Minutes
August 8, 2013

Present:        John Allen, Chairman; Bob Thompson and Bill Lockard, Selectmen

Visitors:       Town Office Administrator Julie Atwell, Police Chief Karl Meyers, Road Agent/Fire Chief Jay Henry, Treasurer Warren Schomaker, Building Inspector Andy Chalmers, Videographer Hank Benesh, Kathleen Dougherty, Mary Canty

Chairman John Allen called the meeting to order at 4:32 p.m. and asked for a moment of silence to remember Officer Brian Abrams and to send thoughts out to his family.

Following a minute of silence, Fire Chief Jay Henry noted Jackson will have a full crew in dress uniform in attendance both Friday at the funeral home and again Saturday at the church.  

  • Amend & approve minutes
  • Selectmen’s Meeting – July 25, 2013  The minutes were approved as written.
  • Non-Public Meting – July 25, 2013 – sign minutes envelope – RSA 91-A:3, II(a)  The minutes were approved and sealed at the meeting; the Board members initialed the envelope.   
  • Update on 7.25.13 Action Items
  • Dog Licenses  The ACO is working on this; there is nothing new to add.
  • Job Descriptions  See agenda item 10 (c).
 
  • Letter for Building Inspector Chalmers  This will be discussed during Non-Public Session.
  • Safety Ordinance regarding vendors  See agenda item 10 (b).
  • Job Description for the Highway Department  See agenda item 10 (c).
  • Jackson Falls Plan  See agenda item 10 (c).
  • Job Description for Deputy Town Clerk  See agenda item 10 (c).
  • Risk Assessment Evaluation  Town Office Administrator Atwell noted this will not be an evaluation of the whole town; these folks will start by looking over member agreements.  
  • Cost Analysis for Transfer Station  The comparison for January through July 2012 and January through July 2013 is in the folder for the Board to review.  The cost is down about seventeen thousand dollars.  Selectman Thompson would like to know if a similar savings could be expected for the next six months.  The new contract went into effect in March; Town Office Administrator Atwell doesn’t think the savings will be as much for the next six months but will follow up on this for a future meeting.  
  • Safety Ordinance sent to the Planning Board  This has been done.
  • Tracking of tax card requests  Tracking is in process and will continue for the next three months to determine if putting this information online with be worth the expense.
  • Projects for grant money  The information has been put in the e-news.
  • Habitat for Humanity  The organization’s request for volunteers has been put in the e-news.
  • Non-compliance letters (2)  There is nothing new on this.
  • Sound System  A recommendation for a system has been received from Sean Doucette; the cost is about a thousand dollars for a Bose system that will suit both inside and outside use.  Additionally, for about four-hundred dollars Sean recommends putting up acoustic boards in the Meeting Room at the Town Offices.  This will go on the wish list for next year; Town Office Administrator Atwell will forward the links to Administrative Assistant Cressy for follow-up.
  • Video conference call – Robert Kazizian – Map V08, Lot 57  This has been postponed.  Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry has looked into this; the owner is in Florida.  Engineer Burr Phillips says it’s not the town’s responsibility or problem; Engineer Phillips is willing to talk to Robert but he’s not likely to like that answer and will be looking to the Board for a different one.  This is on Juniper Hill; there is a culvert that has been handling the water that comes down the hill; Robert’s land has been taking all the water for years but he’s trying to sell it so it’s causing issues.  Engineer Phillips says it’s Robert’s problem; Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry is not willing to go onto his land however, if the town were to divert the water it will go somewhere else; that culvert has been there since the 1960s.  The Realtor called yesterday and was going to send a letter to be presented to the Selectmen; the Realtor wanted to know what is involved in moving the culvert.  Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry noted it can’t be done without a permit and no matter how the culvert is moved that water is going to go somewhere else and someone else gets the problem; it becomes a revolving issue.  This is not a town issue.  Selectman Thompson wondered if it was a town liability; Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry quipped that it all depends on which lawyer is asked.  Moving the culvert won’t change where the water goes; Robert will have to build a huge ditch within his property; he will have to control the water no matter where it goes which means another holding pond.  Robert is pretty serious about not taking “No” for an answer.  Building Inspector Andy Chalmers noted Mr. Kazizian wants to sell the land for a three bedroom home but his septic approval is based on the soil and will only allow for two bedrooms.  Selectman Lockard believes the owner should be burdened with coming up with an engineered proposal.  The town has received phone calls that the town is not keeping the culvert maintained.  
  • Public Comment  There were no comments at this time.
  • Police Report  Police Chief Karl Meyers reviewed Department activities since the last meeting; some items included maintaining house checks for folks who are absent; Officers assisted the state police with investigating cars that were broken into; the ACO got a call for a bat in a house; it was in bathroom with a young boy; apparently it’s possible not to know if  one has been bitten; the bat tested negative.  There was a bear complaint; it got into a house and swiped at a dog.  There were six false burglar alarms; a car hit a moose, which had to be euthanized; there were parking complaints up on Carter Notch; tickets were issued.  There were two different disturbance calls at a local motel between guests and a staff member; the situation is not settled; Chief Meyers will keep the Board posted.  A person complained about getting calls at night from a telemarketer; the Department is doing the best it can to track them down; calls to that number go to an answering service.  There was a motor vehicle accident at the Jackson town line where a deer was hit; a report was received regarding an elderly subject who was overdue.  Officers assisted the Ambulance with an elderly female who fell and hit her head.  There was another bear complaint at a local hotel.  Officers assisted a gentleman who was stung by bees; there was a noise complaint on Tin Mine Road.  The covered bridge dance went very well.  There was an accident in a hotel parking lot between a car and a golf cart.  An open line 911 call was a child playing with the phone.  
Chairman Allen wondered if there are a lot of repeat offenders with the false burglar alarms.  Chief Meyers noted folks have started paying attention now that the fines have been increased from twenty-five to one-hundred dollars; everyone has two free false alarms; the third one costs.  

Fire Chief Henry noted he’s looking into fining regarding nuisance fire calls.  Inspector Gaudreau isn’t comfortable setting up any system of process and fines until the town has an ordinance.  The Police have had a policy regarding false alarms for six years.  Fire Chief Henry wondered if he can write an in-house policy; there is one offender he’s trying to deal with.  Town Office Administrator Atwell will follow up with the LGC.  

  • Building Matters – Andy Chalmers, Building Inspector  Inspector Chalmers reviewed the permits issued since the last meeting; these were straight-forward.  
  • Building Permit 2013000035 Map R12 Lot 146 – (Owner – Ross-Parent) – Remove old foundation and install new concrete foundation
  • Building Permit 2013000036 Map R31 Lot 09 – (Owner – Wing) – Construct a 14 ft. x 15 ft. wood shed
  • Building Permit 2013000037 Map V06 Lot 31 – (Owner – Hiller ) – Convert 3 season room to 20 ft. x 16 ft. family room and re-side entire home
  • Building Permit 2013000038 Map17 Lot 31A – (Owner – Kennedy) – Remodel kitchen, upgrade electrical panel and hardwire smoke detectors
Inspector Chalmers noted the next two items are extensions of existing permits.

  • Building Permit 2013000039 Map V07 Lot 120 – (Owner – Curtis) – Extend permit 2012000042 for 26 ft. x 24 ft. 2 car garage
  • Building Permit 2013000040 Map V10 Lot 211 – (Owner – Crane) – Extend building permit 2012000033 for 1 year
  • Change in application fee  The town has had an application fee in addition to the permit fee; Inspector Chalmers doesn’t know how the application fee was decided on; it is set at either twenty-five dollars or seventy-five dollars based on value, which Jackson no longer does.  The cost to process the application is the same for a four-thousand dollar shed or a four-hundred-thousand dollar new home.  The purpose is to cover the costs to the town.  Chairman Allen suggests fifty-dollars per application; Inspector Chalmers thinks the Board needs to look at what it is costing the town.  Town Office Administrator Atwell will have follow-up on this for the next meeting.  Selectman Thompson is for setting the fee at twenty-five dollars if it covers the town’s expenses.
  • Job Description  Work continues on the job description for the Building Inspector; a Work Session will be scheduled.
  • A/P Manifest to be signed  The manifest was signed.
  • Legal Fees through – 8.8.13  There are no changes from last month; Town Counsel has been on vacation.  
  • New Business
  • Highway/Fire Department Reports (added)  Road Agent Henry noted paving is underway; the Board is likely to hear from a woman who was held up on Black Mountain Road.  This happened after Road Agent Henry left at 5:30 p.m.; she was extremely unhappy and mad; she was abusive to the flaggers and the neighbors.  Black Mountain Road is so narrow the pavement has to be done in one pull.  She came in to the Town Offices and asked for Road Agent Henry; she wants to speak with the Selectmen and as his liaison, it was suggested she contact Selectman Thompson.  Road Agent Henry noted the woman was pretty miserable and there was absolutely no reason to behave that way for a fifteen minute wait.  Selectman Thompson noted Jackson has a road system it can be proud of; these things have to be done.  
The work on Dundee is done except for some grading; roadside mowing is done; staff is preparing to do some painting on the town Offices; winter sand is piled up.  While the paving is going on Black Mountain has given permission to use their parking lot for a staging area; the Board will send a letter of thanks to John Fichera.  There is town gravel on Fichera’s property so if anyone complains about it the town put it there.

Road Agent Henry wants to discuss the parking situation on Carter Notch; it’s possible the Class V road extends four-hundred to five-hundred feet beyond where the town stops plowing; classified roads have to be maintained.  Road Agent Henry just found this out; parking has been talked about for years; he’d like to find some way to resolve this but he doesn’t know if this is fixable.  The property owner won’t allow the town to build a turnaround however Class V roads have a fifty-foot ROW.  Jackson Ski Touring has talked about trying to do something for parking up above; Road Agent Henry plans to take advantage of the town’s ROW without going on any property.  Parking in the turnaround outside the fifty-foot ROW is between the property owner and the parker.  Selectman Thompson went up there with the property owners.  There was an agreement signed six or seven years ago to create a turnaround by using the owner’s property; she is frustrated that people are using it as a turnaround and she would prefer this not be used when she’s up here; she’d prefer people not park there but they see that its wide so they do.  She wants the town to tow anybody who parks up there yet she wants that same area to be held in reserve for her family members to park and for people who use her summer cottage to park there; the Police can’t selectively ticket.  Road Agent Henry noted the town needs to have a turnaround there or they will have to drive all the way to Prospect Gate.  The agreement says any party can vacate the agreement; he has had a number of conversations with the owner.  The town has a fifty-foot ROW.  The other land is owned by the Trust and so far there hasn’t been any cooperation.  Road Agent Henry will find out if the Class V road extends beyond the Class VI sign; if so the town should be plowing further anyway; the town won’t be able to use the big truck on Carter Notch so they could use the small truck and have enough space there for a turnaround.  If the town can’t get the turnaround there then will use the ski parking lot to turn around in;  he’s hoping to be able to take advantage of the fifty-foot ROW at the end of the Class V road.  The land-owner is gone for the year as of Monday but she will continue to have family members up so the concerns will continue.

Regarding the bridge on the Evan’s property, Fire Chief Henry would like to clarify that the requirement for the bridge is not a request from him or the Fire Department; it is part of the AST standards. Fire Chief Henry did have a discussion with ZBA Chair Frank Benesh about the requirements; it has to be designed to AST standards; that means guardrails and the bridge needs to be posted; the guy driving up with a huge fire truck to a dinky bridge needs to know he can go over it.  This isn’t something Chief Henry pulled out of thin air; he can get anyone a copy.

Chief Henry took a call from a friend who was going to get married at Nestlenook, the word was that it was the Fire Chief that shut them down. Mr. Cyr has accused Chief Henry of this before.  Selectman Thompson verified, for the record, it is not true.  

The Grader is great; thanks to the town for supporting the request.  Road Agent Henry passed around the packet for the Board to review.  Greg Howard put it together; Road Agent Henry has discussed this with both Greg and Conservation Commission Chair Larry Seibert; everybody is on the same page regarding what needs to be done and how it should be done.  It’s going to take time to figure out what works best; it’s tough for him to do this with it being so busy; they did it in the mornings.  There were specific recommendations and only one was not going to be followed; that was to cease mowing; after a walk-through all parties agreed that what is being done should continue; all the stakeholders recommend moving forward.  Greg also recommended getting rid of the telephone poles and putting in granite curbing for the parking lot.  Kathleen Dougherty suggested the town look at concrete curbing; it’s less expensive than granite and can be made to look like granite; Road Agent Henry will look into this.  The Conservation Commission didn’t want smooth granite at the Wild & Scenic River; Selectman Lockard wondered if the round telephone poles are okay.  

Regarding the sandbags in the river; this is in the hands of Black Mountain and Whitneys’ Inn.  This is a fire pond; it’s a very important resource to the town; the town has used it but has no responsibility to maintain it.   It’s important to maintain the pond so Road Agent Henry has worked cooperatively with Black Mountain and Whitneys paying LADrew and the town provided trucking.  After Irene those involved decided to try to fix it and get by.  On the online dam site this isn’t classified as a dam; it’s less than five feet in height.  The dam height includes all the grade from when it was built in 1950.  Road Agent Henry is looking at a permit for the work that was done; there were some other things that have to be fixed; he took some immediate action to solve erosion issues.  The sandbags have all been cleaned up.  In the future it would be best to rebuild the dam so there isn’t a need to use sandbags but that gets into the logistics of who will take care of it; if the weather report says a flash flood is coming who will be responsible to shut it.  There needs to be an engineering study done so the town knows how much it is going to cost.  This will go to the voters in March.  It was noted that because this is a fire pond Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry can legally, by state statute, repair or do maintenance without a permit; he can dredge it, clean it out and work on the intake area but he can’t make it wider or encroach on other wetlands.  That’s how the town has done the work in the past; it’s been a cooperative effort.  The state is telling Road Agent Henry it’s not okay for him to work on it even if it’s okay for the town to do so; some work may have been done without a permit, especially during natural disasters.  

  • Accept check  The town has received a refund check from the LGC for the portion of funds that are held to cover health insurance for elected officials that retire.  The Board needs to accept the funds and decide where the funds should go.  Chairman Allen would like to see the funds to go to the general fund for return to the taxpayers.  Selectman Thompson, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to accept the refund from the LGC Trust in the amount of $1507.68 and that those funds be placed in the General Fund.  The motion passed unanimously.  
  • Old Business
  • Jackson Falls Plan  Road Agent Henry has discussed this already; he noted he’s put in the drainage area with rock steps; he’s set up the driveway so the water goes into the drainage area.  This has created more maintenance as he’ll need to maintain the collection pond.
  • NH Department of Safety Ordinance  This will go to the Planning Board for review.  It would be adopted at the next town meeting.  Fire Inspector Gaudreau was surprised at the lack of basic ordinances Jackson has; when there is a complaint, such as fireworks or nuisance fire alarms, town staff are expected to deal with it but without an ordinance it’s hard to do anything.  While some in town would like a fireworks ordinance, the state says they are legal; Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry doesn’t think the town should create ordinances for things that happen once in a blue moon.   A draft version of an ordinance for false alarms and vendors will be distributed for the Board’s review and input.  
  • Job Description – Police Department/Deputy Clerk/Highway Department  
  • Police Department  This is a pretty straightforward; he has to adhere to the regulations.  Selectman Thompson, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to approve the Police Officer Job Description as presented and recommended by Jackson Police Chief Meyers.  The motion passed unanimously.  
  • Deputy Clerk  Selectman Thompson, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to approve the Deputy Clerk Job Description as presented and recommended by Town Clerk Jeannette Heidmann.  The motion passed unanimously.  
  • Highway Department  There are two Job Descriptions, one for full time and the other for part time.  The Road Agent’s Job Description has been approved; a copy will be provided to him.  Road Agent Henry is fine with the Full time one; he’s not sure about the Part time one; there have been some changes; the Job Description for the Part time Highway position is tabled.  Selectman Thompson, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to accept the Job Description for the full time Highway employee.  The motion passed unanimously.  The purpose of having job descriptions is so that the town’s employees can know what is expected so the changeover in Selectmen won’t affect the town’s employees.  
  • Salary vs. Hourly  The Board is investigating changing the Town Office Administrator’s position from hourly to salaried.  The Board can make a motion to do that at a public meeting so it doesn’t have to go to Town Meeting.  There are positives to making this a salaried position including clarifying the distinction between Department Heads and Staff.  
Police Chief Meyers has mentioned his concern about being hourly; it was clarified that the Police Department operates differently.  

Road Agent Henry has an issue with being salaried; in the winter time he could be working sixty, seventy, eighty hours a week; is he going to be able to even that out with short hours during the summer?  He is currently working on the paving and will be into overtime this week.  As far as being salaried, there is a level of trust when someone is hired as a manager and the expectation would be that the manager will get the job done.  Selectman Lockard is concerned with this; Road Agent Henry has a crew to supervise and folks are going to wonder where he is.  The perception will be that if he’s not there he’s not working.  In a bigger town the Public Works Director could be salaried.  

As far as the Town Office Administrator’s position; the duties were looked at during Town Office Administrator Atwell’s ninety-day review and Selectman Thompson thinks changing this to a salaried position makes sense.  The position carries a set range of hours; there are essential duties.  It makes sense to put some folks in a salaried position but he would not advocate a change from hourly to salaried unless the person in the position wanted to make that change.  

Selectman Lockard has had a conversation with the LGC regarding changing a position from an hourly rate to a salaried position.  An employee can’t be a supervisor and away; the Town Office Administrator’s position is different; the Board is looking at that for the end of the year.  The town has somebody whose performance evaluation makes it clear the quality of work coming out of the office now; the Board understands the benefit to having this as a salaried position.  Selectman Thompson, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to change Town Office Administrator Atwell’s rate of pay to a salaried position as of January 1, 2014.  The motion passed unanimously.  

  • Opening on Planning Board (added)  Frank Benesh is off the Board; this needs to be posted, advertised and filled.  Mike Mallett is still on the Board but he is too busy in the summer and takes it off.  
  • Public Comment  There was no comments at this time.
Selectman Thompson, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to go into Non-Public Session in accordance with RSA 91-A:3, II (c), matters involving the reputation of a member of any person other than a member of this board at 6:06 p.m.  The motion passed unanimously.  

  • Non-Public Session
  • RSA 91-A:3, II(c) Matters which, if discussed in public, would likely affect adversely the reputation of any person, other than a member of this board, unless such person requests an open meeting.  This exemption shall extend to include any application for assistance or tax abatement or waiver of a fee, fine or other levy, if based on inability to pay or poverty of the applicant.
  • RSA 91-A:3, II(a)  The dismissal, promotion, or compensation of any public employee or the disciplining of such employee, or the investigation of any charges against him or her, unless the employee affected (1) has a right to a public meeting, and (2) requests that the meeting be open, in which case the request shall be granted.

Respectfully submitted by:

Martha D. Tobin

Recording Secretary