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Selectmen’s Board Meeting
September 18, 2014
Present: Bob Thompson, Chairman; John Allen and Bill Lockard, Selectmen
Visitors: Town Office Administrator Julie Atwell, Town Office Administrative Assistant Julie Hoyt, Videographer Hank Benesh, Police Officer Sean Cowland, Bea Davis, Bob Davis, Allen Brooks, Joanne Brooks
Chairman Bob Thompson called the meeting to order at 4:31 p.m.
- Selectmen’s Meeting – September 4, 2014 The minutes were approved as written.
- Update on 9.4.14 Action Items
- Drainage Easement – Brooks’ property This is on the agenda under New Business but has been an Action item. This document is an easement deed that is designed to give the town permission to go across Green Hill with a culvert that will address some drainage issues that have been long standing but exacerbated with all the severe weather lately. The town’s engineer and road agent came up with a solution which was presented to the Brooks. The issues caused on the Brooks’ property is from the road draining so it is the town’s responsibility to fix it. The Brooks feel it is an excellent plan; they noted that Engineer Phillips has been great to work with. Selectman Lockard noted he’s not an engineer; the plan looks fine and there’s no reason not to think it will work. Allen noted he showed the
plan to someone who is a “road person” who thought it looked good. Allen was thanked for getting a second opinion and sharing it. Joanne Brooks wondered what the process would be if the plan doesn’t work; she was assured the matter would be revisited; it will remain the town’s responsibility to correct. This document gives the town the right to do that. Allen noted some sort of stone wall along the bank was supposed to have been built to prevent erosion; he cautioned the Board that part of the road will end up washed out if that doesn’t happen. Engineer Phillips had informed the Board that more work needed to be done. Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to accept the easement deed between the town and Allen and Joanne Brooks. The motion passed unanimously. Allen asked if the Board had any idea when this would be done; he is waiting to order his firewood as he usually has it offloaded in that
area; Allen wants to make sure it’s ok. Chairman Thompson and Road Agent Henry talked about this work today. The Highway budget may not have the full amount for this year so it is either going to be done in the fall or in spring after the Town Meeting. Joanne didn’t know money was an issue. She was informed there were some issues with a truck that just impacted the budget. If the work isn’t going to be done until next year then there would be no issue with the firewood’s location. Chairman Thompson told the Brooks he would get the answer to them by Tuesday so Allen can get his wood ordered.
- Couture Driveway Selectman Allen talked to Sonny Couture regarding the driveway; Sonny is putting in a sediment control feature; he has four to put in and has the first one in. The feature lessens the flow of water by acting as a holding pond from which the water permeates out. This may have a positive impact on the Brassill Pond however until the project is finished that really won’t be addressed. Selectman Allen noted this will be an issue to be taken care of between the homeowners.
- Falls Parking Chairman Thompson is to meet with Road Agent Henry and Larry Seibert from the Conservation Commission to review the Falls area. The one thing he wants to stress to Larry and the Conservation Commission is that the Board was presented with an Action Plan last spring which was the first time one was submitted by a soil engineer regarding Jackson Falls since the early ‘90s. Now Larry is talking about a new action plan. None of the Selectmen were of the understanding there would be another Action Plan after the one already presented. They have done a lot of good work up there. Some of the erosion stone areas were filled in during recent storm events and there’s a question as to whether clearing out the build-up is the town’s responsibility. The Board was under the
impression this was a one-shot deal. There are a couple of areas next to the bridge Larry would like to see boulders placed to limit parking; there is nothing in the Action Plan regarding limiting parking with boulders.
- Prospect Farm/Jackson Ski Touring Chairman Thompson had a nice talk with Breanne Torrey, the new Executive Director at Jackson Skit Touring (JXC); she is on the agenda for October 2nd. He is going to meet with her next Wednesday to go over her thoughts and ideas. There is nothing solid out there for agreements and he asked her to make sure she is prepared to also discuss what JXC plans to do up on Prospect Farm. The Board had a lot of input from the public regarding what they want to do up there. Larry has provided a historical agreement to Office Administrator Atwell; the Conservation Commission had it; she will scan it and send it out.
- Intent to Cut form Office Administrator Atwell talked to the ranger; Jackson could require an Intent to Cut for every driveway. The Board thinks when Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry looks at the driveway and it is clear there will be a lot of wood cut he can let the owner know they need to complete an Intent to Cut. All the environmental issues that the public brought up are under DES and it is up to the neighbors to make a complaint.
- Transfer Station update Town Engineer Phillips is scheduled to do his survey on Thursday September 25th.
- Underground Water pipe Office Administrative Assistant Hoyt noted Dr. Carrier was going to drop off a proposal but she hasn’t seen one yet. She was informed he had been at the Town Offices meeting with someone and looking around at the area involved.
- Selectmen’s Meeting Dates The upcoming meetings will be held on October 2nd and October 16th at 4:30 p.m.
- Bushes by School Crosswalk Officer Cowland had expressed a safety concern about the bushes near the Grammar School being too high so drivers are not able to see the kids in the crosswalk. Selectman Allen agrees it needs to be cut back. Office Administrator Atwell will contact Principal Dembowski and see if something can be coordinated with school maintenance and Road Agent Henry.
- Public Comment There were no comments at this time.
- Police Report Officer Sean Cowland reviewed Department activities since the last meeting; some items discussed included one Project Good Morning check; one lost property report; five false burglar alarms and one assist to the Carroll County Sheriff in clearing a house in Bartlett. Officer Cowland asked if anyone had called the Selectmen or the Office regarding the late wedding parties at the Wentworth and Whitneys’ Inn. No one has called although the Selectmen’s Office was Cc’d on an e-mail that didn’t come to the Selectmen. Chairman Thompson was in the Office on Saturday and from the front door of the Office building he could hear every word of the song; it was deafening; he toyed with going in to speak with the owner but so far the Selectmen are not involved. Based on the
ordinance that is in place, there is no role for the Selectmen but clearly it is a concern. The Police received two noise complaints; one report of a tree down; one call for a medical assist; one attempt to serve paperwork; one parking complaint at Doublehead; one house check; one assist to the Fire Department; one loose goat complaint; one theft report and two reports of suspicious circumstances. The Freedom Walk on 9/11 and voting on the ninth, went well. Selectman Allen would like to remind folks that the town has a PA system; he’d heard the Chamber brought their own system and it was still hard to hear. Officer Cowland was asked to explain what is involved with assisting the Sheriff with “clearing a house”. He noted the Sheriff had no one available for back-up and this was a suspicious circumstance involving drugs near the Covered Bridge Shop. The renter left and a call was put in via 911. The Officer hears “drugs”; hears
“unknown” and is going in blind. In this case they asked for back-up and Bartlett Police were not available so Jackson provided back up. They went through the building and cleared it, making sure no one was there.
- Building Inspector Chairman Thompson reviewed the report.
- Weekly Report(s) Submitted by Robert Goudreau & Kevin Bennett
- Drainage Easement – Brooks This was discussed as an Action item (2a).
- Trustee of Trust Funds – Signature Required Selectman Allen, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to withdraw six-thousand five dollars and fifty cents from the Road Reconstruction Capital Reserve Fund to pay the gravel invoices from Coleman and Sons. The motion passed unanimously.
- Cemetery Lot Agreement – Signature Required Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Allen, made a motion to approve the Cemetery Lot Agreement for Connolly, Edward & Phyllis. The motion passed unanimously.
- Driveway Permits (added) Office Administrator Atwell contacted the LGC about the permits; it requires the signature of either the Selectmen or the Road Agent but not both. The Board had agreed they were going to have the Road Agent sign these. Selectman Allen talked to Road Agent Henry about this and Road Agent Henry’s concern was with the extra paperwork. To minimize the work load, Road Agent Henry will approve the work, sign the permit and then the Board will be notified via the weekly report.
- Doublehead Parking (added) Something needs to be done about the parking for Doublehead. Perhaps the Forest Service can construct some parking down there; it’s horrendous; there’s no room to park at the south end trail. Bea thinks the Board should talk to the Forestry; hikers are always parked out in the road by Steve Weeder’s drive. Bea suggested talking to Andrew Beal about using some of their land. Bob Davis noted the Forestry has plenty of money to work with; they talk poor but get everything they want. Joe Beal works for them.
- Communication Survey Results (added) Chairman Thompson passed out the results of the Communication Survey; he has gone through it with Office Administrator Atwell and Administrative Assistant Hoyt. He’s looking to implement the lower hanging fruit. For example, one issue was the lack of a master calendar and that would be feasible to do; merging all the calendars would allow the Office to get the information out there more clearly. He asked the Selectmen to look at the results and get back to the Office staff with any input. Everybody wants to improve websites and online calendars but at the same time they also want increased face-to-face stuff to go on.
- Dog Licensing (added) Selectman Lockard has generated a letter to go out to the few owners who have yet to respond to the town’s request to license their dog(s). He will email it to the Board for input.
- Public Comment Bob Davis noted the culverts at the end of Black Mountain are all plugged and the road is washing away. Road Agent Henry crowned the road but that won’t do anything with the culverts plugged. These are new, plastic culverts and they aren’t going to be able to dig them out; he suggests taking the Fire truck up to blast out the culverts. These have been poorly maintained and he asked that the Selectmen look at it.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:13 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Martha D. Tobin
Recording Secretary
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