Town of Lyme
Board of Selectmen
Minutes 30 April 2003
1. The Lyme Board of Selectmen convened its regular meeting at 1:00 PM. Pete Bleyler, Dick Jones, Allan Newton and Carole Bont (Administrative Assistant) attended the entire meeting. Ray Burton (Grafton County Commission/Executive Council) attended parts of the meeting. (See also “Public Hearing / Site Visits” minutes.)
2. Ray came in to brief the Board and discuss county issues. The major county issue directly impacting the towns in Grafton County this year is a $14 million bond issue for improvements to the county nursing home. He reported that the county farm had a $25K loss this last year and that at the current stage of the budget process there would be an approximately 15.5% increase in the county tax rate.
3. At 1:30 PM the Board started a public hearing on the six applications received for “discretionary preservation easements for preserving historic agricultural structures,” and following the hearings made site visits to three of the structures. (See separate minutes.) At 4:15 PM the Board returned to its regular meeting.
4. The minutes of 23 April were approved as submitted.
5. The following administrative issues were discussed and/or actions taken:
a. The delegation of authority from the Board to the Recreation Commission under RSA 35-B was unanimously approved and signed.
b. Pete led a discussion of progress of the Recreation Commission. They have not yet settled on a change of their regular meeting schedule to avoid conflicts with other Town boards/committees. He is working on adapting the Conservation Commission’s By-Laws for the organization of the new commission and reviewing the “Recreation Area By-Laws”. The athletic league’s “zero tolerance” behavior policy was discussed, and the Board felt that an inflexible “zero tolerance” policy was not desired and would pose possible 1st amendment problems.
c. The need for two full-time police officers was discussed as well as questions raised about RSA 105. The Board concluded that two full-time officers are required to provide Lyme with the level of police services they expect in spite of continued objections to the cost by some citizens. The Board also concluded that it is a Board decision to hire a police officer. The Board then discussed the impact of a Superior Court decision relating to police chiefs’ authority vis-à-vis the boards of selectmen. It is the opinion of Town Counsel that the Board has the authority to set “policy” and the court opinion is not binding
statewide.
d. Allan briefed the Board on the “Rural Fire Protection Initiative” from which Lyme is seeking funding for four dry fire hydrants this year.
e. The Board agreed to advertise for the selectmen’s part-time clerk/receptionist position and a starting pay of $10.50 per hour.
f. Bill Nichols was assessed a yield tax of $151.18.
6. The meeting adjourned at 5:05 PM.
R. G. Jones
Recorder
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