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Selectmen’s Board Meeting
September 10, 2015
Present: John Allen, Chairman; Bob Thompson and Bill Lockard, Selectmen
Visitors: Town Administrative Assistant Julie Hoyt, Police Chief Doug Jette, Building Inspector Kevin Bennett, Videographer Hank Benesh, Bea Davis, George Howard
Chairman John Allen called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.
- Selectmen’s Meeting – August 13, 2015 correction (added) There was an error in the Minutes from August 13th; the request to store books came from the Friends of the Jackson Library not the Old Library Management Committee. The minutes were approved prior to this being noted; this serves as a record of the correction to those minutes.
- Selectmen’s Meeting – August 27, 2015 There is a correction to one name; Chris McAleer was voted in as an Alternate to the Trustees of the Trust Funds (agenda item 7f). The minutes were approved as amended.
- Update on August 27, 2015 Action Items
- Doublehead Parking Lot There is nothing new to discuss; Selectman Thompson noted the Selectmen did meet on the 27th up at the lot and as promised, drafted and sent a letter to the Beals on September 1st; Steve Weeder and the Forest Service also got a letter. The Board is asking to barely encroach to have one lane of parking.
- Diesel Prices This will be discussed at the September 24th meeting.
- Selectmen’s Meeting Dates The next meeting is September 24th; October meetings are the 8th and 22nd. Selectman Thompson will not be able to attend the October 22nd meeting.
- Police Report Chief Jette reviewed Department activities since the last meeting; it’s been a very busy week with a lot of traffic. School traffic monitoring has begun; he’s not been able to connect with the Superintendent regarding Cop Sync. Chief Jette has been working on an Open Container Ordinance; he took ordinances that other towns have already vetted and put into place; he then utilized the verbiage with appropriate changes to the town name and locations involved. The Board supports this; it would need to go to Town Meeting for approval. Selectman Thompson loves that Chief Jette pulled from wording that has already been vetted; he’d like to have the town’s attorney weigh in on the draft before proceeding further. Selectman Thompson, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to take the
original documents (used for verbiage) and Chief Jette’s version to Town Counsel for vetting. The motion passed unanimously. The 9/11 Remembrance will begin in town at 5 p.m. with the Remembrance Walk starting at 5:30 p.m. on the Route 16 side of the Covered Bridge. It is a very somber remembrance and Chief Jette urged all to attend who can; for folks who are unable to walk, there are Fire and Police vehicles available for riding. Officer Koplin is attending the Academy; he has done very well so far; he is a student of the Constitution and he will not go through the Academy quietly; he relies on his personality for the answers.
- Public Comment George noted the Selectmen’s meetings are scheduled for the second and fourth Thursdays; he’d like to know if there’s been any effort to deconflict them with the Planning Board meetings. Chairman Allen noted the Board used to meet on the first and third Thursdays and that was changed to the second and fourth Thursdays to accommodate a schedule change for Selectman Thompson. Chairman Allen likes these meetings both on the same night as it frees up the alternate Thursdays for him. If having both on the same night becomes an issue with more than one person the Board would discuss options further.
- Building Inspector
- Weekly Report – Kevin Bennett Inspector Bennett reviewed his activities since the last meeting; it’s been very busy. The new permit is for a building put up in 2007; Inspector Bennett got calls from two different appraisers about the property so he pulled the file and found this had fallen through the cracks. There was a big list of problems including three Life & Safety issues (egress windows, smoke detectors and an electrical receptacle in the shower); the owner allowed inspection which showed all Life & Safety concerns addressed. The owner was informed he would need a permit if he was going to keep working on it which was obtained. Selectman Thompson wants to make sure, based on the discussion at the last meeting, that Inspector Bennett would respond to this situation differently now.
Essentially, Inspector Bennett responded to this without a written complaint being filed with the town; he reacted to a complaint from someone who is unknown and didn’t get a phone number; Inspector Bennett had no understanding of the motives involved. Inspector Bennett feels he did the right thing as these were Life & Safety issues. The Selectmen agree but cannot allow Inspector Bennett to put the town in a libelous situation by acting without a written complaint. Inspector Bennett believes the town would have been liable had there been a fire and someone died because there weren’t smoke detectors. Selectman Thompson noted people are using the Building Inspector as a weapon. Selectman Lockard agrees two hundred fifty percent; folks don’t like something so they complain; the town is not going to act in this capacity. If there is a concern send them to the Town Office to file a formal complaint. If there is no complaint then
it is harassment. Selectman Thompson reiterated that this situation came up before the Board’s discussion of the complaint process two weeks ago; he hopes if that call came in today Inspector Bennett would handle things differently by sending them to the Selectmen’s Office.
- Building Permit 2015000039 Map V10 Lot 126 - (Owner – Auditore – 36 Balsam Drive) – Finish alteration list per Building Inspector
- FYI – Site Disturbance Plan Map V10 Lot 147 – Reviewed by Burr Phillips
- New Business There is no New Business.
- Old Business
- Transfer Station – NRRA SWAT – Recommendations & Suggestions Selectman Lockard is frustrated with all the work that is going into this when everybody says there is no money; it’d be great to have a three hundred fifty thousand dollar renovation but there’s no money. There were three plans ranging from seventy two thousand to over two hundred seventy thousand dollars. The town of Jackson has ninety three to ninety five thousand dollars in its Transfer Station Capital Reserve Fund but that’s not the way Bartlett does things and they are Jackson’s partner in this. Selectman Thompson thinks recycling has to be incentivized to make a go of it. The addition of a horizontal baler would allow for the baling of all recyclables. There isn’t another transfer station that allows commercial haulers to
dump for free; this could bring in revenue which would allow for phasing of work. Selectman Lockard noted Bartlett sent out letters regarding recycling but the haulers just take it in and empty it out. Bea noted it’s time for a scale; Jackson could bring in revenue even without the scales if there was a fee per load enacted. If folks pay per bag they pay for what they throw away and can reduce the number of bags they have to pay for by recycling. Selectman Thompson wants to see Jackson invest in a scale and a horizontal baler which would bring in revenue; he sees that as a smart use of funds. Office Administrative Assistant Hoyt is looking into grants through NH the Beautiful. Chief Jette urged the Board to look into alternative funding so Jackson and Bartlett taxpayers aren’t hit with three hundred thousand for the work all at once; he also thinks penalties should be put in place for those that don’t comply. Selectman Thompson noted
paying for more bags would be the penalty; no choices are taken away from residents and they have an easy way to minimize their costs. Chief Jette noted at the West Lebanon Transfer Station his dad gets two bags for every fifteen pounds of plastic he brings in; that’s a type of incentive too. Selectman Thompson thinks this Board has had enough conversation on this and it’s time to schedule a meeting with Bartlett. If Jackson has to go it alone on these items it can; while scales take a lot of land, Chief Jette suggested installing the scale in the road. Once Bartlett sees the impact on revenue they might want to participate and may be a buy-in schedule could be set up for them regarding putting money towards the scales and baler. Selectman Thompson will contact Milton and Littleton Transfer Stations as recommended in the report.
- Public Comment George would like to follow up regarding the fees for Building Permits; he’s looked at the Job Description and he wants to know what tasks are paid for by fees and which are not. Selectman Lockard has thought about this since George originally asked; he wants to know what George thinks should be paid by the taxpayers. George thinks the fees collected should pay for the inspections not for the paper and training. When the town went through the process of making this a town position the voters were told the position would be a wash; if that’s true then the only people that pay for the Building Inspector are those that build; and they are funding something other than inspections. Selectman Lockard came on the Board after the change in position from subcontractor to town employee but he is struggling
with what to pull out. If the Inspector has to go to a training, that’s what qualifies him to be the Building Inspector. Selectman Thompson noted that the Board is not looking at separating this out; the fee increase was not to pay the Building Inspector more but to provide a service; the increase was due to recognizing that Jackson’s fees were far below the market. George is not talking about the Building Inspector’s salary; he’s talking about the position of Building Inspector; what funds that position? Bea noted the Building Inspector used to be subcontracted; the fees came in to the town’s general fund; the Inspector sent a bill for his services and the town paid him from the general fund. Bea thinks the taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for training; the Building Inspector should already be trained. It was noted if one of the Office staff needs training, the town pays for it; that should be the same for the Building Inspector, who
is a town employee. Selectman Thompson noted the town pays the Building Inspector to do his job at sixteen hours per week. George thinks there was a directive that laid out a percentage that was to be paid from the general fund and the fees were to pay for the rest; he will do some further research on this. George believes the fees should pay for services rendered; Selectman Thompson disagrees; there is no direct correlation between fees collected and the money paid to the Building Inspector and there’s nothing in writing that calls for that.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:23 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Martha D. Tobin
Recording Secretary
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