Town of Lyme
Board of Selectmen
Minutes 26 March 2003
1. The Lyme Board of Selectmen convened its regular meeting at 1:00 PM. Pete Bleyler, Dick Jones and Allan Newton attended the entire meeting. Carole Bont (Administrative Assistant), Pauline Field (Police Chief), Shaun O’Keefe (police officer), Patty Jenks, Tammy Pippin, George Frame (forestry/assessing consultant) Dina Cutting (bookkeeper/secretary), Carl Schmidt (Chair, NH Historic Agricultural Structures Advisory Committee) and Vickie Davis (Planning and Zoning Administrator) attended parts of the meeting.
2. Pauline and Shaun came in to discuss the purchase of the new police cruiser. Patty and Tammy also attended this discussion. The two major issues discussed were what type of vehicle to purchase, sedan or SUV, and whether to retain the current vehicle as a back-up. Dick said that he felt that that there was a third, usually unspoken, issue of the nature of police operations in town and how they are perceived by the public. Allan emphasized that the process of resolving these issues was very important in light of the “sense of the meeting resolutions” passed at Town Meeting.
The type of vehicle to purchase remains a conflict between the professional police preference for a sedan based on tests conducted by the University of Michigan and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the townspeople’s preference for a SUV as expressed at Town Meeting.
The major factors discussed concerning retaining the existing SUV as a second vehicle or using it as a trade-in and retaining only one police vehicle were:
a. The additional costs. Dick said that it is currently anticipated that a new vehicle would continue to be purchased at three year intervals whether the police have one or two vehicles. Trade-in values of used police vehicles were not positively identified, but were considered considerably less than the $10,000 figure mentioned at Town Meeting. Dina checked with the Town’s insurance carrier and the additional insurance costs would be $342/year for a second vehicle. Operating and maintenance costs of a sedan would be less than an SUV due to their approximately 30% better fuel economy and less complex power train.
b. The discussion of the need for a back-up/second police vehicle centered on liability issues associated with the use of private vehicles for police business, and, if a sedan is purchased, the need for a four-wheel drive police vehicle.
Allan said that he wanted an opinion from the Town’s consul on the legal status of a “sense of the meeting resolution” and potential liability issues if the Town purchases a vehicle not recommended for its intended use and the use of their private vehicles by police officers. The Board concurred in seeking legal advice before making any decision.
3. George and Dina came in to discuss procedures for assessing the yield tax. (Current DRA regulations require grading of the timber rather than just using an average value.) Dina will contact neighboring NH towns to find out if they have been able to find/hire a forester to assess their timber harvests.
4. Carl came in to discuss implementation of discretionary preservation easements to encourage the preservation of historic agricultural structures. He started by briefly discussing the legislative history of RSA 79-D and formation of the NH Historic Agricultural Structures Advisory Committee. He said that the Committee encouraged adaptive use, but that the legislation did not intend to shelter improvements as opposed to maintenance and repair of historic structures. He also said that the amount of public benefit should be the basis of determining where in the range of 25% to 75% of the full assessed value the local governing body should value
the easement and that the freeze on increasing the assessed value only applied to maintenance and repair designed to preserve the structure and did not include improvements. The Board then went on to discuss its proposed check-list for processing applications and several improvements were suggested. Dick agreed to revise the check-list and provide him a copy.
5. The minutes of 19 March were approved as amended to specify the terms of Judy Brotman’s and Freda Swan’s appointments to the Public Works Facilities Building Committee as running until the project is completed and appointments to the Independence Day Celebration Committee as: Dina Cutting (1-year), J. J. Pippin (2-years) and Jodie Rich (3-years).
6. The following administrative matters were discussed and/or actions taken:
a. Vickie came in to discuss the appointment of a regular member of the ZBA. Allan said that the Board had not selected someone yet due to at least one prospect being out of town.
b. Allan moved and Pete seconded a motion to waive the interest on Vickie Bacon-Husband’s taxes. The motion carried unanimously.
c. Diana Calder’s 2003 contract was approved and signed.
d. Brownie Girl Scout Troop #2395 was given permission to sell cookies at the transfer station.
7. The meeting adjourned at 4:25 PM.
R. G. Jones
Recorder
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