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Selectmen’s Board Meeting
November 12, 2015
Present: John Allen, Chairman; Bob Thompson and Bill Lockard, Selectmen
Visitors: Town Office Administrator Julie Atwell, Town Administrative Assistant Julie Hoyt, Police Chief Doug Jette, Fire Chief/ Road Agent Jay Henry, Treasurer Kathleen Dougherty, Building Inspector Kevin Bennett, Videographer Hank Benesh, Bea Davis, Bob Davis, Stan Weiss, Gino Funicella, Lisa McAlister, Margie Furlong, Jerry Dougherty
Chairman John Allen called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. noting the Highway and Fire Budget Work Sessions will follow at 5:00 p.m.
- Selectmen’s Meeting – October 22, 2015 Chairman Allen asked for any corrections or amendments; Jeannette Heidmann submitted the following correction:
To Whom It May Concern, October 30, 2015
Having learned through the Selectmen Oct 22nd meeting minutes, published through Enews, that my application to fill the vacated seat as a Supervisor of the checklist was approved, I hereby submit my resignation effective this date as deputy Town Clerk/Tax Collector. (I did not previously submit my resignation as also reported, incorrectly, in the same selectmen meeting minutes – listed incorrectly as TCTX vs TC/TC. Suggest those minutes be corrected. Why resign if I don’t know that I will be appointed to fill the supervisor vacancy?)
I have not as yet taken the oath for supervisor so there is no conflict of interest between the two positions. I just wish to set the record straight.
Jeannette Heidmann
Jeannette Heidmann
Cc TC/TC
There were no further corrections or amendments. The minutes were approved as amended.
- Non-Public – November 5, 2015 – sign minutes envelope RSA 91-A:3, II(a) The envelope was signed.
- Non-Public- November 5, 2015 – sign minutes envelope RSA 91-A:3, II(c) The envelope was signed.
- Set Tax Rate EMAIL info/approval etc. On Tuesday October 27, 2015 the Board had an email exchange setting the tax rate.
- Update on October 22, 2015 Action Items
- Doublehead Parking Lot Chairman Allen noted Road Agent Henry staked out the town’s area and it turned out there was a lot more room up there than originally thought; some gravel has been put down and it’s been cleaned up. The parking area doesn’t encroach on the Beals’ property and will allow the town to get by for the winter.
- PTL Insurance Jackson is still waiting on Bartlett for this; this involves the Ambulance.
- Building Inspector Work Session George Howard had brought up some concerns regarding the position and how funds collected are utilized and accounted for. The Board held a Work Session prior to tonight’s meeting which went well.
- Upcoming Selectmen’s Meeting Dates The next meeting is scheduled for Monday the 23rd at 4:30 p.m. Other proposed dates are as follows: Thursday December 10th at 4:30 p.m. with Budget Hearing #1 to follow at 5:30, Monday December 21st at 4:30 p.m. with Budget Hearing #2 to follow at 5:30, Thursday January 14th and 28th at 4:30. The final Warrant Article Hearing will be held after February second if anything comes up.
- Police Report Chief Jette noted the town is experiencing a lull in activity all across the board except there an increase in homeowners’ alarms going off over the past couple of weeks. It may be due to the change in weather. Chief Jette would like to speak about signage on Dundee Road; the work done for the Doublehead parking lot provides a great solution; Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry did a great job in laying it out. Chief Jette wants to have a discussion about signage; he suggests a cheap temporary sign to get through the winter which would provide clarification that parking is ok here but none here. Chairman Allen hopes this is only going to be for one year; a permanent solution is in someone else’s hands. Signage will reinforce what is already there and redirect folks with new signs.
- Public Comment There were no Comments at this time.
- Building Inspector
- Weekly Report – Kevin Bennett Inspector Bennett noted there have been a lot of new permits; he reviewed them. Chairman Allen noted there have been a lot of solar installations; he wondered who does the final hook-up. Inspector Gaudreau is a master electrician; as the Fire Inspector he looks at these and the Fire Department is also aware of these systems.
- Building Permit 2015-60 Map V02 Lot 47 – (Owner – Wroblewski – 18 Black Mountain Road) – Add new toilet and sink for staff under stairwell/entrance to our upstairs office space
- Building Permit 2015-61 Map R08 Lot 09 – (Owner – Belhumeur – 17UE Dana Place Road) – Remodel kitchen
- Building Permit 2015-62 Map V05 Lot 36 – (Owner – Rhodes – 95 Whitney Hill Loop) – Build 15’x17’ shed
- Building Permit 2015-63 Map V05 Lot 36 – (Owner – Letourneau – Presidential Road) – Build new 46’x34’ home
- Building Permit 2015-64 Map V02 Lot 15 – (Owner – Karlsson – 129 Carter Notch Road) – Mount solar panels on ground just north of garage
- Building Permit2015-65 Map V07 Lot 65 – (Owner – Gabriel – 86 Jackson Highlands Road) – Add pole mount solar energy arrays in the yard. There will be 4 pole mounts connected to NHEC
- Building Permit 2015-66 Map R17 Lot 26 – (Owner – Petruska – 219 Moody Farm Road) – Redo small entrance landing adding approximately 2-3 feet to landing
- Building Permit 2015-67 Map R08 Lot 09 – (Owner –Lowden – 17UC Dana Place Road) – Rebuild deck 10’x16’
- Building Permit 2015-68 Map R14 Lot 21 – (Owner – Garrison – 169 Thorn Hill Road) – Remodel bathroom
- Building Permit 2015-69 Map V10 Lot 08 – (Owner – Burnett – 8 Norton Drive) – Remove 3 decks and replace with new PT decks of same size
- FEMA Grant Application for the Fire Department – Anne Peterson Inspector Bennett noted Anne Peterson is working on a grant for air packs; she needs the Board’s permission to pursue this. Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry noted the price of air packs has gone way up; they are about seven thousand dollars each and the grant would probably be fifty thousand dollars. Selectman Lockard, seconded by Selectman Thompson, made a motion to support Anne Peterson pursuing the grant for air packs. Bea Davis asked if there are any strings attached to the grant; no one is aware of any; it’s believe this is straight money; the Board will find out. There was no further discussion. The motion passed unanimously.
- Old Library – Key Policy Margie Furlong noted there are many keys out there for the Old Library Building and there’s no way of finding out who has them; they’d like to rekey the building. The Office staff are working on generating a sign-out sheet. The Board has no issue with there being one key in the lockbox for folks who use the place regularly and three keys for members. There will also be at least two keys for the Office. The keys will also be numbered and they can’t be duplicated.
- Intent to Cut (Map R24 Lot 01) The Intent to Cut was signed.
- Report of Cut The Report of Cut is not here; the information wasn’t available to calculate the bill.
- Health Insurance Selectman Lockard noted Town Office Administrator Atwell does ninety-nine, point nine percent of the work on this. The town continues to reevaluate options. There is a plan that would lower the Cadillac tax thus reducing the town’s exposure. There is no dramatic reduction to employee benefits so it helps Jackson and its employees.
- Trust Fund Withdrawal Selectman Thompson, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to withdraw $78.34 from the Bridge Repair Expendable Trust Fund (0034) for Lucy Hardware invoice #249561 dated 10.29.15 and $219.77 from the Bridge Repair Expendable Trust Fund for Hancock Lumber invoice #1010302 dated 10.29.15. The motion passed unanimously.
- Whitney Hill Road pavement concern Selectman Thompson noted there was a concern brought to the Board that shim coating done by the town was causing flooding on the complainant’s property. Engineer Phillips as well as Board members and Fire Chief/Road Agent Henry went up to look at it and it was not clear to anybody how the town could be involved in the increased flow.
- Public Comment Gino Funicella noted there was a discussion at a previous meeting about putting money aside for a lawsuit claim and a rumor was overheard that one of the participants that sued the town before received a settlement. Gino thinks that should be public. Selectman Lockard noted the Board talked about putting in fifty thousand dollars for a potential loss. Gino wants to know what Jackson’s risk is and, since the discussion noted the town may need additional money put aside in case a claim exceeds Jackson’s coverage, Gino would like to know how exposed the town is; is it a few hundred dollars or a million? Selectman Lockard knows there was something that happened a couple of years ago with two employees. Chairman Allen noted the town is expecting the lawsuit to be settled and doesn’t know how
much it will be but the Board has to deal with it if it’s over the town’s coverage. Selectman Lockard noted the amount depends on where it ends up so he doesn’t know how to answer this. Gino wants to know if the town will ever know the results of the case(s). Selectman Lockard noted if this goes to trial it will be public information; the point is Jackson doesn’t have a secret pot of money here. Gino is wondering how this is going to impact him; his taxes were two thousand dollars more last year and he would prefer not to have to do that again this year. Gino is concerned about punitive damages with a civil case; it could be very high.
Stan Weiss noted he is confused on the Board’s procedure; he brought up a subject and was told there would be no response at all from the Selectmen. He wants to know what Public Comment is for. Selectman Thompson noted the rule of order is to take Public Comment but he doesn’t respond to questions in Public Comment. He is happy to have anyone contact the town office and give the Board time to prepare and put the topic on the agenda; an agenda length issue shouldn’t be inserted in the meeting. He also noted that as previously noted, he did not respond to the topic Stan brought up.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:36 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Martha D. Tobin
Recording Secretary
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