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Selectmen’s Board Meeting
February 5, 2015
Present: Bob Thompson, Chairman; John Allen and Bill Lockard, Selectmen
Visitors: Town Office Administrator Julie Atwell, Police Chief Doug Jette, Police Officer Andrew Coughlin, Building Inspector Kevin Bennett, Stan Weiss, Bea Davis, Dean Davis, Stephen Weeder, George Howard, Penny Miller
Chairman Bob Thompson called the meeting to order at 4:34 p.m.
- Selectmen’s Meeting – January 22, 2015 The minutes were approved as written.
- Budget Hearing #1 – January 22, 2015 The Town Clerk/Tax Collector provided a correction; the minutes state
she works thirty hours a week whereas she had said the office is open to the public thirty hours a week. She works thirty-five hours a week. Additionally, it was Office Administrator Atwell that talked about the Conservation Commission mowing Prospect Farm. There were no further corrections. The minutes were approved as amended.
- Update on 1.22.15 Action Items
- Stump Dump Selectman Lockard will check this out in the spring.
- Groundwater Monitoring Office Administrator Atwell spoke with DES; the end result is that Jackson should plan on having a monitoring expense for twenty to thirty years. The town can do it at a reduced rate by testing every other year but that won’t happen until 2016 when the town can get a waiver.
- Neighbors watching neighbors Office Administrative Assistant Hoyt is working with Chief Jette on a notification to go out.
- 10 Candy Cane Lane There was a question of work being done; there were two permits; the work being done is in the buildable zone; the permit in question is just the porch and has been denied.
- Selectmen’s Meeting Dates The upcoming Selectmen’s meetings are February 19th, March 5th and 19th; all beginning at 4:30 p.m. at the Town Office. Tuesday March 10th is the town election with voting at the Whitney Center from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Town Meeting is on the 12th at 7 p.m.
- Public Comment George Howard asked what the specific reason for the building permit (Candy Cane Lane) being denied was. Inspector Bennett noted the second permit is for a screened-in porch between the house and the river which is in the Jackson River Conservation District. George asked what the issue was and Inspector Bennett noted there would be an increase in volume by adding the roof and screening the porch in. Chairman Thompson noted this time is for comments the public has for the Selectmen; George is more than welcome to have a conversation with Inspector Bennett about any issue. Inspector Bennett has set hours and George can meet with him then; the Board is not going into an in-depth discussion here.
Penny Miller noted Town Clerk Burton has presented that she wants a raise which will be presented in a Warrant Article; she asked how this process works. Chairman Thompson noted anyone can petition an article with twenty-five signatures; the Board doesn’t have the ability to approve or not approve Articles that are petitioned with signatures.
Stephen Weeder would like to discuss Doublehead ski trail parking; the Board needs to find a path for discussion. People are parking in his driveway and on the street and he would like to find a solution. Selectman Allen noted the family is dealing with the passing of Mack. Office Administrator Atwell is looking into the possibility of grant money to create an area for parking. The ball’s in Selectman Allen’s court; there will be a formal discussion; Stephen would like to be involved. Chief Jette has also been involved in this; there have been parking issues; folks have been blocking drives. Chairman Thompson noted the Selectmen have been trying to get ahold of Andrew Beal; the Board has nothing major scheduled for the March 5th meeting; he would invite these folks in
and have a work session then. Bill Woodason is another person interested in resolving this issue. Chairman Thompson will see what the town can do to reach out formally to Andrew and the Forest Service. There isn’t adequate parking for the hut use; four cars for people staying in the cabin fills it; last Saturday cars were double-parked on both sides. In a perfect world, it’d be nice to see a dozen spaces. This is a government road; it’s not on private land.
- Police Report Chief Douglas Jette reviewed Department activities since the last meeting. Most of the Department’s time has been spent dealing with storms, parking and traveling problems. He’s been working with Road Agent Henry and the Highway crew on that. Chief Jette has been filing documents with Concord and dealing with personnel issues. On February 1st Andrew Coughlin was hired to fill the full-time position; he’s a Marine Corps veteran; he has tactical and mechanical experience along with his military experience. He lives within four miles of the town and hopes to dig deeper roots; he’s set his sights on living here. Officer Coughlin was welcomed. Chief Jette noted Officer Coughlin is a solid addition; the Department is now up to its full numbers. The Police Academy
session begins in May; in an effort to expedite the process, Officer Coughlin will begin his field training now. He’ll go into the Academy with some of it in place, making him more valuable.
- Building Inspector
- Weekly Report(s) Submitted by Robert Goudreau & Kevin Bennett Inspector Bennett reviewed his report; some items included doing four onsite inspections; he found some electrical violations at the Old Library which Tamarack will fix. There is a piece of land with a cabin on it which is on the market for forty-nine thousand dollars. Folks have inquired about it and think they can do whatever they want to it and they can’t; it needs to be torn down. There are two permits that have gone to the ZBA; abutters have been calling to talk about what is going on. Inspector Bennett met with Fire Chief Henry and Fire Inspector Goudreau regarding a demolition permit issued to Rich Levine. Rich has subdivision approval for twelve one bedroom units; he wants to take down the Inn; he’s going to either put in dumpsters
or have it burned. The demolition permit notes if Jackson Fire Department is involved they charge seventy-five cents per square foot of building. It’s going to cost twenty-one thousand dollars; Rich is under the impression that he only needs to make a donation to the town. Inspector Bennett has received a question about building a yurt in town; it’s a wooden structure; it meets all the code standards but he’s not sure a million dollar home wants a yurt next to them. Inspector Bennett generated a list of minor violations at a renovated home; the contractor is going to fix those. A new permit came in today; the septic is designed for two bedrooms and the owner wants a three-bedroom house; they are in the process of fixing it. There are a lot of contractors coming in to ask questions; Inspector Bennett is being kept busy.
- DOT Bridge Inspection - FYI The Valley Cross Road bridge is in compliance; there’s no action needed.
- Intent to Cut Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Allen, made a motion to approve the Intent to cut for Map R16, Lot 18 and 18b. The motion passed unanimously.
- Report of Cut The forester hasn’t responded regarding the value of the wood but if the Board approves this now the town can send out the bill as soon as the figures come in. Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Allen, made a motion to approve the Timber Tax, contingent on the numbers that come in. The motion passed unanimously.
- Assessor Evaluation Letters The Board had tabled this at its last meeting for further review. Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Allen, made a motion to approve the abatements based on the Assessor’s review. The motion passed unanimously.
- Public Comment Dean Davis noted he can’t get a dump truck through Doublehead in the fall; he wants to know if the Board is going to put up No Parking signs. He reminded the Board that the signs on the town line don’t hold up in court; it’s the same by the Harding’s. Chairman Thompson noted it would be nice to implement changes based on a nice clean plan all have worked on; he assumes this can be done at the March 5th Work Session; he welcomes Dean’s input.
Chief Jette was asked his opinion regarding signs for winter parking. He believes the signs the town has could be more effective; they are white and therefore lost in the snow. The Police could be instructed to ticket cars or even to tow; right now they tow when there’s a call from a homeowner or the Highway Department; he doesn’t see more signs as presenting well for the town. They can tow from the Wildcat to the J-Town Deli but then there are complaints from the business owners; this becomes a balancing act. Road Agent Henry thinks Mike Mallett should be invited to a meeting to work on making off-street parking that would encroach on the Golf Course. Chief Jette noted he could enforce the signage the town has but it’s important to understand that there are nineteen signs near the
covered bridge and folks still park there; they will take the fine. He noted recreationalists build the fines into their budget for their vacation. The town needs to decide what it wants to portray as an image. Bea wondered if folks could utilize the Grammar School parking lot when school isn’t in session; the Superintendent would need to be involved in using school property. Penny noted a lot of these folks that park illegally are ski patrons; she’d like to see the Board ask JXC’s help in informing their ticket holders to not park on the street.
Chairman Thompson noted this will be addressed on March 5th, with a core group to have an overall discussion around signage and parking. Chief Jette noted there’s a lot more to be considered than hanging up a sign and enforcing it. There’s the image of the town and what people are willing to put up with and still come back. Stephen doesn’t think signs will help; he puts No Parking signs in his snow banks to mark his driveway and folks still park there. Chief Jette noted the town could call a tow truck; the fine is twenty-five dollars and the towing fee is one-hundred-thirty-five bucks; that’s one-hundred-sixty dollars. The town can affix a real monetary value on what it might lose if these folks leave and don’t come here to enjoy the town; if you make one person mad,
statistically, you lose ten people. Chairman Thompson reiterated town officials are going to have this conversation. Illegal parking is an issue; no one wants to have a plow truck picking off a car but these vehicles are also delaying the response of emergency vehicles; this is a safety issue.
Penny asked the Board to look at JXC’s Master Plan; their plan is to build more lots in town; she’d like to combine the parking discussion with their Master Plan. Where does Jackson want to be? She wondered if a shuttle service created by JXC would help move people around town; Chief Jette thinks that’s a great idea. This is a conversation to have with Mike Mallet; perhaps there could be a shuttle from the restaurant to JXC. It was noted there used to be a shuttle.
Chief Jette would like to commend the Town Highway crew; they’ve done an excellent job with these last two storms; they were out a lot and often had broken equipment to deal with.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:19 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Martha D. Tobin
Recording Secretary
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