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Selectmen’s Board Meeting
April 17, 2014
Present: Bob Thompson, Chairman; John Allen and Bill Lockard, Selectmen
Visitors: Town Office Administrator Julie Atwell, Office Building & Fire Inspector Bob Goudreau, Videographer Hank Benesh, Engineer Burr Phillips, Fire Chief/Road Agent Jay Henry, Treasurer Kathleen Dougherty, Police Officer Sean Cowland, Bea Davis, Bob Davis, Marilyn Rodes, Susan May, Margie Furlong, Alicia Hawkes, Bill Wogisch, Jerry Dougherty, Jerry Dougherty IV
Chairman Bob Thompson called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.
- Selectmen’s Meeting – April 3, 2014 The minutes were approved as written.
- Non-Public – April 3, 2014 – sign minutes envelope RSA 91-A:3, II(c) – Welfare The minutes were previously approved and sealed; the envelope was signed.
- Non-Public – April 3, 2014 – sign minutes envelope RSA 91-A:3, II (c) – Welfare The minutes were previously approved and sealed; the envelope was signed.
- Non-Public – April 3, 2014 – Unsealed – Hiring of Building Inspector These minutes have been unsealed. The minutes were approved as written.
- Health Insurance Selectman Lockard reviewed information regarding the changes to health insurance due to ACA; Jackson needs to prepare for this; the government expects to get eighty billion dollars out of the penalties and the employer can’t pass that penalty on to the employee. There is no way out of the costs and the Health Trust doesn’t have any way to solve this. Jackson is going to have to figure out what it’s going to do. Jackson could avoid this with a less-than-Cadillac plan; the local plans are very rich. The town could look at taking a plan with a higher deductible; this is something the town will need to work through. Bill Wogisch asked what the next step is; Selectman Lockard noted the plan is to meet with town employees and talk about the issue; he’d like to have Health
Trust come in. Selectman Allen believes the town will have to go to a different plan. Bill noted it would be beneficial to have this in laymen’s terms; town employees have to be able to walk away and feel good about what they’ve learned. The town will need to give them options. Jerry Dougherty, VI suggested that before talking to the employees the Board should go back to Health Trust; this is not so scary; they provide all the information about other plans and will teach the town how to shop around before the Board starts talking about making changes. Currently there is only one insurance company in New Hampshire; there may be a couple more by next year. Chairman Thompson agrees that is good advice; the Board wants to have some hard numbers and options; he wants to make sure everyone hears the same thing. Town Office Administrator Atwell noted October is when the town starts getting quotes and looking at options. This will
be an on-going topic of discussion.
- Liaisons Selectman Lockard has spoken with the Town Clerk, Librarian and Treasurer; they all understand they don’t have to go through Selectman Lockard but he is available.
- May meeting dates Meeting dates are May first and fifteenth at 4:30 p.m.
- Building Matters – Robert Goudreau Inspector Goudreau has provided updates; there are fifty-five outstanding permits that he is trying to find out the status on. Chairman Thompson was surprised to hear there were fifty-five permits outstanding; he’d like to know why. Inspector Goudreau noted most of them are for repair work; decks, cabinets, interior work; most towns don’t usually require permits for non-structural repairs. For instance, with the new cabinets, what does he inspect; these folks didn’t alter the plumbing or the wiring. He will continue on with closing those out. The Wentworth project is going full bore; they have a licensed plumber and are waiting on finalizing the electrician; they are trying to get it weather-tight. He’s trying to get his head
around the zoning and planning; the place of assembly permits are coming due now; it’s coming into wedding season. The Board wants to make sure Inspector Goudreau is okay with staying on while they continue their search for a new Building Inspector; he confirmed he’s good with continuing on; he gets calls at home as a lot of contractors already know him. The Board is trying to improve communication between the Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Planning Board as well as trying to get more simplified building permits regarding Repairs as opposed to New Construction. The building permit is general; it’s hard to tell what is necessary, what is a complete application or not. Inspector Goudreau isn’t sure why the Planning Board doesn’t approve the applications.
Selectman Lockard thinks the Board should move forward with rebidding the Building Inspector job. There had been discussion about using Kevin as a second set of hands; he wondered if Kevin was making progress towards getting certified. Kevin wants to see if there is a future in it. Chairman Thompson and Selectman Lockard will meet with Kevin. The Board would like to rebid the job again; there have been a couple of residents that have folks who might be interested. The Board agrees Jackson needs someone who is qualified and would prefer to hire somebody with certifications in place if possible. Inspector Goudreau feels the Board would get a bigger bidding pool if they advertise for a part time building inspector rather than for a private contractor. Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry
pointed out Jackson has had four contractors in the past five years; it’s not working. Communication hasn’t been there between the Highway and Fire Departments and the Building Inspector. The Board agreed to place an ad for either a Contractor or a part time employee; information will be updated at each meeting.
- Public Comment Jerry Dougherty IV feels the town would be better served with someone working for the town; an outside firm from Vermont coming in once a week is not a benefit. The person must be qualified but there is no law requiring certification. Jerry noted the building inspector is powerful; s/he will have independent autonomy over how the building inspection process works; s/he will have authority over how land is used in this town.
- Police Report Officer Cowland reviewed Department activities since the last meeting; some items included a medical assist at the Falls; there were two 911 hang ups; there was one domestic disturbance; a dead moose on Route 16 was turned over to Fish & Game as was a bear complaint. Jackson assisted Bartlett Police with an open window at Attitash; there were two false burglar alarms, two motor vehicle accidents and three arrests.
- MWV Bicycling Club – request police officer to attend Kids Bike Safety Day Officer Cowland usually has the privilege of attending; this year it will be held on May tenth at Storyland.
- Bartlett Recreation Department – Annette Libby Annette was unable to attend; this will be moved to the next meeting.
- New Business
- Old Library Trust The Trust would like to know if they need to get a building permit for the work planned; this was affirmed. They would also like to know how many bids they need to solicit. The warrant article didn’t specify; the Board believes a couple would be fine. The Trust is looking to establish a formal agreement with the church before moving forward. Joyce Allen is looking for what has happened in the past for agreements between the church and the Old Library. The Trust would like to have some sort of lease with them if the Trust is putting this much work into it.
- Eagle Mountain House – Liquor License Request – requires signatures Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to approve the Liquor License request from Eagle Mountain House to serve liquor at outdoor events from May first to November thirtieth of this year. The motion passed unanimously.
- Health Trust – FYI The Health Trust will be returning money to the town.
- Liberty International Trucks – Tax Exempt verification – Signature required Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to authorize Chairman Thompson to sign the Tax Exempt verification. The motion passed unanimously.
- Carroll County Appropriations – FYI
- Town of Lincoln Planning Board – FYI
- Trustees of the Trust Funds – Transfer Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to transfer three thousand dollars into the Police Department vehicle equipment fund. The motion passed unanimously.
Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to withdraw nine thousand six hundred forty dollars from the Police Department Equipment Expendable Trust Fund to pay the Watch Guard Video invoice number 4ELXINV000316 dated April 9, 2014. The motion passed unanimously.
Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to withdraw forty seven thousand, one hundred seventy seven dollars from the Highway Truck Fund to pay the invoice dated April 8, 2014. The motion passed unanimously.
- DES – Whitneys’ Pond FYI The letter from DES was read into the record (see attached); it was received on April fifteenth. The water is quite high now so removal of sandbags won’t happen until the water is down. Bob Davis hopes the town doesn’t put any more money into that pond. Black Mountain and Whitneys’ get more out of it than the town does. The town spent money on it last year and the year before. The costs for repairing it (post-Irene and Sandy) were supposed to be split four ways. A culvert was put in with a spillway a year or two ago; it looks pretty poor now. The Board’s last discussion was that the town was not going to put money into it. The town will be copied with DES’s report.
- Treasurer Dougherty Treasurer Dougherty would like to specify who is authorized to make deposits if she is not available. The RSA allows her to designate any of the Selectmen or Police to make deposits if she is not here. Selectman Allen wondered about establishing a Deputy Treasurer; she doesn’t think a Deputy would be necessary; she’s not going to be gone that long. If there is over fifteen hundred dollars it has to be deposited within forty eight hours unless the town has no bank and then the money could stay here for up to a week. Treasurer Dougherty wanted to bring this to the Board before she talked to the Police Department. While the Board was ready to make a motion to address Treasurer Dougherty’s proposal, she’d like to check with the Police first.
This arrangement is acceptable to the Selectmen; Selectman Lockard will check with the Police to make sure it’s agreeable to them.
- Ad hoc budget committee The Board would like to move ahead with this; Chairman Thompson would like to see it publicized rather than appointing members and then hearing from folks that they’d be interested had they known about the committee. The Board will put the opening out in the e-news and at the Office. The original discussion called for one Selectman, Office Administrator Atwell and two private citizens who have already come forward; the Board will seat these four and then see if one more person is interested to make it a Committee of five. This would be a committee that would make recommendations to the Board regarding short and long term budgeting. The opening will be posted tomorrow and responses will be required by April twenty ninth so the Board can act on this at its May
first meeting. Selectman Allen will be the representative on this Committee.
- Board Appointments – Review The informational night was held; Chairman Thompson feels it was a great outreach opportunity that served a purpose. The openings are as follows:
Planning Board – two members, two alternates
Conservation Commission – three members
Library Trust – two alternates
ZBA – two members, one alternate.
Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to appoint Sarah Kimball and Scott Badger as Planning Board members. The motion passed unanimously.
Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to appoint Pamela Smillie, Mike Dufilho and Dave Matesky as Conservation Commission members. The motion passed unanimously.
Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to appoint Brian Walker and Kate Curtis-McLane as Library Trustee alternates. The motion passed unanimously.
Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to appoint Frank Benesh and Dave Mason as ZBA members. The motion passed unanimously.
The ZBA is down one member but Jerry noted there are so few applications the Board has good lead time for Chairman Benesh to assure a quorum can attend. There are still alternate positions open; Chairman Thompson is not sure advertising would get the Board anywhere; that avenue has been exhausted. The Board already agreed not to have each Committee/Board try to find folks to fill these important seats as it might be seen as “fixing” the board but it may be appropriate for the Chair to come up with several names for the Board to choose from.
Jerry Dougherty noted he missed the Building Inspector discussion; he’d like to know about the driveway situation for Couture. The issue is a matter of public safety whether it’s a driveway or ROW, forget frontage; this comes down to, “is the driveway safe?” Rather than sending it to the ZBA to deal with, the Planning Board could plat it as a road and then it would have to meet road standards or the Selectmen could waive the issue with an appropriate recommendation from the Fire and/or Building Inspector. These issues come to the Planning Board time and time again; the applicants claim hardship but that can’t be proven as they haven’t tried other methods first. Selectman Allen noted the permit is approved or denied based on the Zoning Ordinance; that’s in place already;
there’s no leeway; anything that doesn’t meet the Ordinance gets kicked to the ZBA. Jerry noted there are provisions for the Selectmen to approve this as a road; he wondered how several recent driveway issues were handled. Two properties did a lot line adjustment while another driveway was made into a road to avoid the frontage issue. Jerry dislikes the position the ZBA is put in when these come to it; the rules are so strict.
Selectman Lockard, as liaison to the Fire Department, has been following these issues. It would be appropriate for the Planning Board to have a conversation with Inspector Goudreau around the issue of whether there are life safety recommendations that he feels are important to make. Jerry would like to see specific recommendations for the Evans property. That might change due to the lot line but they still have to cross the brook. The Board thinks the Planning Board should work out a time for discussion with Inspector Goudreau about the Couture property. This has a murky timeline; the recommendation to deny came from the outgoing Building Inspector after he submitted his resignation. Jerry noted the owner believes he has a case for estoppel; he has been told by a town official that he will be
approved; the applicant has put money into this project; he felt he had verbal approval. The Board noted this decision is not up to the ZBA or the Selectmen; it’s a court matter.
- Town Assessor contract – also see DRA letter of recommendations The contract has been reviewed and amended; it just needs to be signed; it now includes the clause regarding fees to be incurred if dates are not met; the town didn’t get the date they had wanted but came to a satisfactory compromise. Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to approve the 2014 assessing services agreement. The motion passed unanimously.
- Liaisons – Town Clerk, Library, Treasurer…. This was already discussed.
- Exemption This was already approved pending income verification; it needs to be signed.
- Veteran’s Exemption This is new and will need to be discussed in Non-Public; it is tabled for the next meeting so it can be noticed properly.
- Public Comment There were no comments.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:19 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Martha D. Tobin
Recording Secretary
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