Town of Lyme
Board of Selectmen
Minutes for November 14, 2007
1. The regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen convened at 8:00 AM in the Fire Station training room. The following attended the entire meeting: Simon Carr, Dick Jones and Charles Ragan. The following attended parts of the meeting: Earl Strout, Police Chief Pauline Field, NH Municipal Bond Bank Program Administrator Tammy St. Gelais, Bookkeeper/Secretary Dina Cutting, and Administrative Assistant Carole Bont.
2. The following administrative matters were discussed and actions taken:
a. The minutes for November 7 and 9 were approved with minor amendments. The minutes for November 8 were approved.
b. The first non-public session minutes for November 7 and the non-public session minutes for November 9 were both approved. The second non-public session minutes for November 7 had not been sent out. Simon will do this immediately.
c. The manifest was reviewed and signed.
d. The Board agreed that there will be no meeting next week, and that there will be no public hours on Friday 23. The Town Clerk’s office is shut that day.
e. The Board regretfully accepted Mimi Weinstein’s resignation from the Conservation Commission.
f. The town meeting invocation was discussed. The Board agreed that this was Bill Waste’s decision as Moderator. However, the issue currently at question is where or how Bill may publish comments he’s received on an invocation.
3. Earl Strout came in to report on his informal discussions with Orford Selectboard on the possibilities of sharing services. He and Dick Justice had met with Paul Dalton from the Orford Selectboard. None of the discussions would have any impact on the current budgeting process. The major areas where there might be some use in sharing were:
a. Transfer Station: Orford expects there to be significant changes in their operation in the next few years and there could be an opportunity for useful co-operation.
b. Buying Power: both towns felt that a joint operation could strengthen their buying power and that this could also include other adjoining towns.
c. Highway: there are some informal links between the departments and they should probably keep to that format.
d. Emergency Management: although both towns have emergency management plans, Orford would like some assistance in refining theirs.
e. Assessing: Orford has some issues with assessing and would like to see if they could work with Diana. This is probably unlikely as she is more likely to be reducing her workload in the future.
f. Police: both towns felt there could be opportunities for sharing resources.
The Selectboard authorized Pauline and the Transfer Station committee to undertake further investigation of cross/town operations in their respective areas.
4. Tammy St. Gelais came in to discuss the operation of the NH Bond Bank. She explained the operation of the bank and gave details of the current rates for bonds. The rates would be reviewed at the actual time of a bond. She also gave details of Bond Anticipation Notes, which may be issued by the bank, between a town meeting vote for a bond and the actual issuance of that bond. Currently these are at 3.69% Notes can be issued three weeks after an application, which requires the same documentation as a bond.
5. Current Town Offices:
a. Scapewells: The total cost for three ’scapewells’ is $16,275. There is not enough in the budget to undertake them this year and the contractor felt it was too late in the season for construction. They should be included to next year’s budget.
b. Lighting: We have had a report from a lighting architect on the conditions in the offices. Whilst he made some recommendations on possible replacement lighting, his main recommendation was that such lighting should be replaced once the staff relocations and additional escape windows had been implemented
c. Security: Pauline had already got proposals from Tasco for security measures and the Board agreed that Carole and Dina should pursue these security measures.
6. There was a discussion on the Upper Valley Land Trust land on Route 10 and whether it should be tax-exempt. Dina will verify the timeline as to when this had been removed from tax-exempt status.
7. Planning and Zoning Issues:
a. Building and Zoning permits were signed for:
i. Case 07-99 – Dani Ligett and Mike Morton, 40 Isaac Perkins Road
ii. Case 07-100 – Janice G. Treadwell trustee, 18 Horton Lane
b. There was a discussion on the Keane’s “corrective conservation easement deed”. This has not yet been filed and there was some concern about this. The Board will wait for Jae Whitelaw’s confirmation before making a decision on filing the corrective deed.
c. There was a discussion on enforcement of planning code.
8. At 9:40 AM Dick moved and Simon seconded a motion to go into non-public session under the authority of RSA 91-A:3 II(c) – “matters which, if discussed in public, would likely affect adversely the reputation of any person”. The motion carried by unanimous roll-call vote. Simon Carr, Dick Jones and Charles Ragan attended the non-public session. No decisions were taken. The Board returned to public session at 10:20 AM.
9. The Meeting adjourned at 10:22 AM.
Simon Carr
Recorder
| 
