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Selectmen’s Board Meeting
March 19, 2015
Present: Bob Thompson, Chairman; John Allen and Bill Lockard, Selectmen
Visitors: Town Office Administrator Julie Atwell, Police Chief Doug Jette, Officer Chapman, Building Inspector Kevin Bennett, Videographer Hank Benesh, Bea Davis, Bob Davis, Stan Weiss, Edith Houlihan
Chairman Bob Thompson called the meeting to order at 4:33 p.m. noting the meeting has a different order today in order to accommodate the police who have important business to do.
- Police Report Chief Jette would like to thank the Selectmen for allowing him to say a couple of things at the Town Meeting; he believes it was beneficial for the town to see the Police officers. The past couple of weeks have been business as usual. A month or six weeks ago Chief Jette reported an untimely death that was believed to be heroin related; that death was attributed to natural causes. Chief Jette thanked folks for reading the Neighbors Watching Neighbors notice; it has had the desired effect as a resident reported some odd activity near the Dana Place Inn. The individual was tracked down and upon investigation Officers found this was not criminal activity.
- Chairman Selection Chairman Thompson noted it has been the custom to pass the gavel to the next person in line, which would be Selectman Lockard, however, he has enough to do and would prefer not to serve. Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Thompson, made a motion to nominate Selectman Allen as Chairman. The motion passed 2-0-1 (Allen abstains). Chairman Allen thanked everyone for voting for him; it’s an honor to serve as Selectman again. He thanked Selectman Thompson for his service as Chairman; his input is always needed.
- Amend & approve minutes
- Selectmen’s Meeting – March 5, 2015 The minutes were approved as written.
- Update on 3.5.15 Action Items
- Melloon Road Stump Dump This is on hold until the area is accessible; Selectman Lockard will check it out.
- Village Parking Selectman Lockard has been working with Chiefs Jette and Henry on the parking concerns; there isn’t much to be done until the snow is gone. He urged folks not to get hung up on the details; this can be solved. The number one issue with parking has to do with event planning and the way to resolve this is to have parking people. Rather than hiring outside parking staff; Chief Jette and his Officers are willing to do this and they can make sure it is done it right. Several spaces could be built on Thorn Hill for not a lot of money; as well as across from the soccer field. To make others gets more complicated as it would be taking folks’ front yards. There has been discussion of parking by the Golf Course Maintenance shed; which could be created without paving.
They will be talking to Mike Mallett to see how far the parking can go over. If folks hold an event then they have a parking attendant. This project may take a little bit of gravel but it won’t be a million dollars. As far as parking for soccer, there’s room by the fire pond for four to five cars there and then the three to four on Thorn Hill. In his opinion, use the police on the detail work; it would only be three to four times a year and Chief Jette and his crew will be glad to do it.
Edith noted there is parking by the Fire Station and the tennis court. She noted neither of these are very visible; the “P” parking sign is inside the tennis court parking lot so folks don’t see it as they approach. She’s not sure if a sign could be put closer but at least put up a sandwich board with a sign showing the way to more parking. People are blocking the Wild Cat Inn and Thorn Hill; it’s more dangerous for them to walk that way than walking from right here. Selectman Lockard noted that’s what the parking monitors would do. They did talk about having more obvious signage; the town will have to spend some money. There’s not much that can be done until the snow is off the ground.
- Double Head Parking Lot This is on hold for the Board’s April 2nd meeting.
- Railing by Badger Selectman Thompson talked with Brian at DOT regarding the bridge railing. He suggested speaking with Phil who is most familiar with the structure. Selectman Thompson first talked to Phil in June of 2014. Nothing has been done; Jackson is still on the list and Phil recognizes it’s been a year and it’s still not done. The town is at the mercy of the concrete crew as the posts need to be done before the wood is replaced. Phil did commit to contacting Kenny Crowther regarding getting a short term fix.
- Upcoming Selectmen’s Meeting Dates The meeting dates for April are the 2nd and 16th; meeting in May are on the 7th and the 21st.
- Public Comment Bob Davis would like the Board to follow up regarding the horse manure pile at Black; it is in the ditch that runs directly into the brook; it’s in a worse area than it was. John has put the manure in there all winter and it’s time to clean up his act; kids play in that pond. Bob also believes that when wood is being cut in town, it should be kept in town; Jackson paid for wood to be hauled to Conway; there are plenty here who could use it.
- Building Inspector
- Weekly Report Submitted by Kevin Bennett Inspector Bennett reviewed his activities since the last meeting. He’s approved three permits; a Certificate of occupancy was issued for a new home which does have its reflective number. He talked with someone about a piece of land in an old subdivision that was never approved by the town. There are a couple of properties that have gone to the ZBA; they meet again on the 25th.
- Trustees of Trust Funds – Signature Required Selectman Thompson, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to withdraw funds from the Office Expendable Trust totaling six-hundred, seventy-two dollars and ninety-six cents. The motion passed unanimously.
- On Hold – Board Appointments Board appointments will be completed at the April 2nd meeting.
- Liquor License for Wentworth (added) This is a notice from the Liquor Commission letting the town know that the Wentworth has requested a permit to serve alcohol at its outside tent from May 1st to November 30th of this year. Stan asked if the Board could add some restrictions; he finds it is very loud and these events go very late. Selectman Thompson agreed noting he’s said it was an issue last year; he was working at the Office and could hear every lyric! He knows Fritz Koeppel would not be happy about this if he’d been around so Selectman Thompson reached out to the Koeppels on February 25th. While it’s not the Board’s responsibility to get involved in this type of dispute, there have been complaints generated. There have been emails back and
forth. The Koeppels want to be good neighbors. The sound level can be measured and he would voluntarily set a noise limit that is acceptable. The Labnon family (Town & Country) said they are required to keep events under 90 decibels. Fritz’s contracts are already signed for the season but he’ll add it into next year’s contracts; as well as letting folks who already have a contract know of the request. Stan feels 90 decibels is too high; it’s like a jet engine; he wondered who would measure the decibels and from where. He also wanted to point out how long it’s going to go on is also an issue. Selectman Thompson noted Stan is welcome to put together an article if he thinks the town needs one. Stan noted he’d just like to see conditions put on this permission. Office Administrator Atwell noted the Liquor Commission doesn’t need the Selectmen’s approval; it’s just a notice of application; the Board can submit
the comments but it’s ultimately the state’s business to issue the license. Stan wants the state to know these parties go to midnight and that 90 decibels is enough to cause hearing loss. As far as the time frame; most of these end around 10 but do go later and midnight is bothersome.
Edith noted she can hear the Shannon Door from her house; if the Board is going to tell one venue it has to stay below 90 decibels; it needs to tell them all. Selectman Thompson noted the Board doesn’t have the authority to tell anyone to keep a sound level; this would be something Fritz would voluntarily do. Perhaps next year someone will come forward with an ordinance but at this time it’s not enforceable. The Board has to sign off on this document before it goes to the Liquor Commission and will attach all the concerns folks want to pass on. Stan wants to know how the Board feels about this; Selectman Thompson feels it’s clear since he’s be working on this for a couple of months however, the town has to be respectful of the business’s rights. If folks in town want an
ordinance, the town would be more than happy to have it vetted through town counsel. There was no further discussion. The Board signed the notice.
- Assessing Contract (added) The only change is the fee is going from ninety dollars to one-hundred for going to court, which the town has not had to do. Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Thompson, made a motion to sign the contract with North Town Associates for 2015 Assessing services. The motion passed unanimously.
- On Hold – Double Head Parking Issues As noted earlier; this will be on the agenda April 2nd.
- Public Comment Bea asked if the Forestry would be coming to the meeting to discuss Double Head; this was affirmed.
Selectman Thompson, seconded by Selectman Allen, made a motion to go into Non-Public Session in accordance with RSA 91-A3, II(a) to discuss a personnel issue at 5:16 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
- 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 the public body itself, unless such person requests an open meeting. This exemption shall extend to 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.
The Board returned to Public Session at ***
[any public business following nonpublic goes here]
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at ****
Respectfully submitted by:
Martha D. Tobin
Recording Secretary
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