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Board of Selectmen Minutes -- 08/21/2014
Selectmen’s Board Meeting
August 21, 2014

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

Visitors:       Town Office Administrator Julie Atwell, Town Office Administrative Assistant Julie Hoyt, Police Chief Karl Meyers, Police Office Sean Cowland, Treasurer Kathleen Dougherty, Deputy Treasurer Barbara Theriault, George Howard, Joyce Allen, Susan May, Mary Kendzierski

1.      Amend & approve minutes  

a.      Selectmen’s Meeting – August 7, 2014  The minutes were approved as written.

2.      Update on Action Items

  • Mutual Welfare Agreement  Selectman Lockard met with Conway Town Manager Earl Sires to sign the contract however Conway made some clerical changes; Jackson will wait and see what it looks like.  As far as Selectman Lockard can tell these are not substantive changes; if it turns out the changes are more than verbiage, it will come back to the Board.  
  • Brassill Pond  Sally has been informed that Engineer Phillips is out of town; there were no calls after the latest rain event.  Selectman Lockard doesn’t believe it’s appropriate to go to DES about this yet; he’d like to wait and get input from Engineer Phillips first.  
  • Falls Parking  There is no further update on this; Chairman Thompson expects to have something for the next meeting.  
  • Drainage Easement – Brooks’ property  This is with Counselor Malia.
  • Old Library Management Committee  The term dates need to be finalized      before folks can be sworn in; there are two people who want to be on the Committee.   Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Allen, made a motion to appoint Kathryn Karlsson and Mary Howe to the Old Library Management Committee.  The motion passed unanimously.  
  • Guardrail in town  The state has acknowledged the rail needs to be repaired; it is on the state’s list; in a perfect world it would have been done by July 4th.  They need to do the concrete work and their crew has to be ready to do the project.  Chairman Thompson asked if it would be done by winter and while they couldn’t commit they believe it will be.  
  • Striping Carter Notch Road  At the previous meeting Dr. Carrier had mentioned the difficulty seeing at night where the lines have been covered with the new paving; this is the same concern George has about Carter Notch Road.   The travel lanes need to be identified but the road is too narrow and there’s a money issue, it costs nine dollars a gallon to put the paint down.  Traffic on a daily basis is one of the criteria to paint.  George is going to continue to do research on this; he wants to get more input from those that travel the road.  Chairman Thompson will call the Department head in Lancaster as well.  
  • Underground Water pipe  Dr. Carrier wants to talk to Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry; he heard that either North Conway or Conway has the tool that drills under the pavement; maybe Jackson can borrow that rather than hiring a contractor for three hundred dollars per hour.  
  • Selectmen Meeting Dates  The meetings for September will be the 4th and the 18th.
3.      Old Library – Land Use Agreement  Joyce Allen, representing the PCA, reported that the Agreement has been finalized; the plans have been approved and the PCA will receive an as-built plan once the work is done.  The OLMC would be really happy if the Board would sign the Agreement tonight so they can proceed.  Selectman Allen wondered if the current status of the septic system is known; he was informed Michael Weeder had Engineer Phillip involved; they did some digging around and the system is in great shape; there is one repair to a pipe to be done otherwise everyone is very happy with it.  This second option that Mike came up with is more economical and less complicated.  The PCA Board is very supportive and felt like the Land Use Agreement is in everybody’s best interest.  Voters made it clear they want the building there and used.  Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to approve and sign the Land Use Agreement between the PCA and the town of Jackson.  The motion passed unanimously.  Mike Weeder knows this is happening; the state takes about three weeks, sometimes six, sometimes two to get the permitting and approvals back.  The Board thanked Joyce and the PCA Board as well as those on the OLMC for all their hard work on this project.  The plans for the work to be done will come in to the Office.

4.      Public Comment  Susan May asked about the two folks who asked to be on the OLMC; she was informed this was an Action item and has been approved.  The terms need to be established; Susan noted their next meeting is the first Sunday in September; they will try to establish terms via email.  

5.      Police Report  Officer Cowland reviewed Department activities since the last meeting; some items discussed included four motor vehicle accidents, one involving a moose; one medical assist; three false burglar alarms; one found property and one 911 hang-up which was unintentional.  There were two thefts reported; one from the room of a local establishment and the other involving tools taken from a vehicle.  There was one lost property report; one bear complaint; one criminal mischief call and the fire call to the Wentworth; the Fire Department did an outstanding job.  There were two domestic disturbance calls at a local establishment; one turn-in of prescription medications; one house check and a retrieval of a stolen vehicle.  Arts in the Park last weekend went well.  When asked about the accident last night Officer Cowland noted the damage was bad but the injuries weren’t considered serious at the time.

Chief Meyers would like to talk about the PTO Policy; Vacation, Sick and Personal days were combined into Personal Time Off.  All the time goes into the PTO bank and once it’s gone it’s gone.  Because of the new policy he gets thirty-three days off; that translates to seven-and-a-half weeks.  This is way too much vacation and it also causes a work slowdown in his Department.  He wanted to bring that to the Board’s attention.  It affects his Department differently as Officers work all kinds of hours as well as being On-Call.  Chief Meyers is the one that fills in when someone goes on vacation; this is just more he has to do.  He has been against this policy from the beginning; and he still is.  Under the old policy he had twenty days of vacation; now he has thirty-three.  

Office Administrator Atwell explained those same thirty-three days used to be broken out into twenty Vacation days, twelve Sick days and one Personal day.  Under the new policy they are in one bank; employees have the option to take twelve days out of the PTO bank and put them into the Sick bank so it is exactly like the old policy.  Chief Meyers didn’t choose to bank any Sick time; she feels he changed the policy for himself.  Chief Meyers noted when that option was offered he and his Officers weren’t thinking about that.  Right now he has seven-hundred-ninety hours in his PTO bank, of which no more than forty can be carried over.  He thinks the Board should go back to the old system.  Office Administrator Atwell noted Chief Meyers can put the old policy in place by putting his Sick time into the Sick bank.  

Chairman Thompson asked if the entire force needs to choose the Sick bank option to make this work; this was affirmed; they were given a choice and in September everybody was on board.  When asked if folks can roll hours into the Sick bank now Office Administrator Atwell noted folks had a window until January 31st to do that.  This is the first year of the plan; folks should have a grace period as they get adjusted to it.  Officer Jette wants to put twelve days into the Sick bank; Office Administrator Atwell noted he can do that.  Chief Meyers noted that would be helpful for Officer Jette.  

Chief Meyers has observed, with that many days off, there is a work slowdown.  Selectman Lockard noted the Board is not going to solve this tonight; it would behoove the Board to get all the Officers together to discuss this.  Chief Meyers plans to retire soon and this needs to be figured out before they can hire somebody else; they have to figure how to make it work.  If somebody takes all their PTO and gets sick there is no way to make up those hours or pay.  The thought process was that if a person has thirty days off a year they would not go river rafting for a month; a lot of people take the thirty days at once and it’s awful when they get sick or are in a car accident.  The Board can’t problem-solve this here; they appreciate Chief Meyers letting the Board know one of the effects of the new policy.  

Office Administrator Atwell reiterated the PTO is the same policy as the town had.  PTO time still is approved by the Department head so Chief Meyers could protect himself and not sign off on requests.  Employees need the Selectmen’s approval for more than two weeks.  Selectman Lockard feels the three law enforcement Officers are affected differently than those who have weekends off; he is the liaison to the Police Department; they’ll get together and tweak it; Chief Meyers has brought forward an unintentional side effect and they will take a look at it and find a way to make it work.  

6.      Building Inspector

a.      Weekly Report(s) Submitted by Robert Goudreau & Kevin Bennett  Chairman Thompson read the reports submitted by Inspectors Goudreau and Bennett.  

All of the following items are permits which have been issued and are FYI.

b.      Building Permit 2014000038 Map V03, Lot 11 – (Owner – Devellian) – Replace rotten deck beams and repost failed concrete posts

c.      Building Permit 2014000039 Map R12, Lot 182-A – (Owner – Lockard) – Install small emergency generator

d.      Building Permit 2014000040 Map V08, Lot 210 – (Owner – McDevitt) – Build 69’ x 30’ single family residence

7.      New Business

a.      Trustees of the Trust Funds – signatures required  Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to authorize the transfer of $30,000 from the State Aid Expendable Trust Fund (Article 20) and $100,000 from the Road Reconstruction Capital Reserve Fund (Article 21).  The motion passed unanimously.

        Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Allen, made a motion to pay the two invoices for FRCarroll for road paving.  The motion passed unanimously.

        Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to withdraw four-thousand-nine-hundred-seven dollars and twenty-nine cents from the Police Cruiser Capital Reserve Fund to pay the invoice from OME for outfitting the new cruiser.  The motion passed unanimously.   

b.      North Country Scenic Byways – response requested  There are three options for the town’s consideration.  The town can:  Participate in the North Country Scenic Byways Council and designate a representative; Participate but not designate a representative or Not Participate.  Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Allen, made a motion to participate by not send a representative to the North Country Scenic Byways Council.  The motion passed unanimously.  
  
c.      Liquor License Request – Ellis River – signatures required  Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to sign the letter acknowledging the new owners, that there are no issues with the Inn and giving permission to continue to serve liquor in the designate areas.  The motion passed unanimously.  

d.      Bids for Police Cruiser  The town received six bids on the cruiser; there was no minimum but the town can refuse any or all bids.  The Selectmen opened the sealed bids and Chairman Thompson read them into the record.  They are as follows:

Pat McCormick, Milford MA                       $1001  
Chis Lamb, New Hampshire phone          $4000
Arnold Shaw, Maine phone                        $2177
Freehold Dodge Subaru, Freehold NJ              $6155
James Ajoudian                          $3751
Kent Mountain Auto, Eaton, NH           $7000  

Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to accept the seven-thousand dollar bid from Kent Mountain Auto.  The motion passed unanimously.  Should they decline then the bid would go to Freehold Dodge Subaru.  

8.      Old Business

a.      Clifton Smith Cemetery Trust Fund – New Fence  Barbara Theriault noted it’s taken a lot of time and emails but everybody understands where the Trustees do have the authority to draw out the funds.  The wording has been changed so all the funds are coming from the Eddie March Fund; there just wasn’t proof enough to take it out of the Clifton Smith Fund.  Helene now has approval to make the first withdrawal to pay the vendor.  The work will be done this fall and at completion the vendor gets the rest of the money from the trust fund.  Office Administrator Atwell noted this is between the two Trusts and has nothing to do with the town.  It took a municipal lawyer, the Trustees’ lawyer and the Towns’ lawyer to get there.  The Board wants to make sure everybody is clear on the steps that need to be taken to use the money out of the Clifton Cemetery Trust Fund.  The Trustees can only withdraw the yearly interest not from balance; there was never a signed document that they could use the balance; that was a verbal agreement.  Mr. March’s fund has no restrictions.  Selectman Allen asked if there had been any movement regarding the mowers and weed-whacker bids.  These were put out to bid; one bid has been received but it’s a good one.  This hasn’t closed yet.

b.      Prospect Farm  Larry is working on this with the Conservation Commission; he’ll bring this back to the Board when he has new input.

c.      Intent to cut  This was discussed at the last meeting and a response was received from Town Forester Don Johnson; if the Board feels it cannot sign off on an intent to cut due to concerns over erosion it needs to go to DES; the whole erosion/pitch issue on the site falls on the landowner, the contractor or the Forester; Wetland issues goes to DES.  The Board needs to square that with recent concerns over erosion.  When the Board gets an Intent to cut it expects a complaint at that time or it is presumed there are no issues but an abutter may not be aware of an Intent to cut.  The Board has only limited reasons not to sign an Intent to cut and erosion doesn’t count.  George has been involved with an Intent to cut; the form is for taxes.  There are several RSAs that address forestry; if work is done without a contractor and an abutter has an issue it becomes an issue between the owner and the complainant; not for the town to get involved.  The landowner has to go through enough; there is enough inspection; the Selectmen’s job is to make sure the items on the form are completed.  Selectman Lockard agrees.  

Selectman Allen noted there have been concerns over two properties that didn’t fill out Intent to cut forms for a driveway.  George noted this form is for taxes; it doesn’t apply here; there is no Intent to cut needed for a driveway.  Selectman Allen noted this is a two mile long driveway; that’s a lot of board feet.  Owners can cut up to twenty cords on their own property.  The Intent to cut is for timber that is sold.  It was noted there would be a lot more than twenty cords on that driveway.  George noted maybe the contractor took the wood and burned it in exchange for the work.  This is a once in a lifetime issue; if the run-off goes onto a municipal road then it involves the town; if it goes into a stream then it goes to DES.  Building a road and harvesting timber are two separate issues and George cautioned the Board not to mix them.  

Selectman Allen wondered if, because of the yield, there should have been an Intent to cut form filed for this; the answer needs to be clear because this might come up again.  He thinks the next time someone wants to put in a two mile long driveway they need to do an Intent to cut.  George pointed out that bartering might be involved; does the town plan to tax that?  Selectman Allen believes the town should be able to tax the value; he believes this needs to be addressed in case it does come up again.  Perhaps the driveway permit could have a note that would remind folks putting in one of this length to get an Intent to cut if the timber is to be sold.

9.      Public Comment  George noted the Building Permit applications cite a Lot and Map number; he’d like to see the 911 address be included.  Selectman Lockard noted he tried to come up with a way to get properties identified for 911; the law states the home must be properly identified and signage needs to be luminescent; he supports going into the permit and adding this; make it part of the building permit.  The purpose is so there is a known address should there be an incident during the building process.   The Office will email the Building/Fire Inspectors that the Building Permit is being changed.  The final inspection should also include checking that 911 signage is appropriate.    

Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Allen, made a motion to go into Non-Public Session in accordance with RSA 91-A3, II(c) at 5:48 p.m.  The motion passed unanimously.

10.     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.

Respectfully submitted by:

Martha D. Tobin

Recording Secretary