January 7, 2002
PRESENT: Gordon Carlstrom Chairman
David Woodbury Selectman
Brent Armstrong Selectman
Burton Reynolds Town Administrator
A. CALL TO ORDER: A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was called to order by Gordon Carlstrom at 7:05 PM.
B. PUBLIC COMMENT: State Representative Pierre Bruno of Lyndeboro Road was present to inform the Selectmen that it was too late in the year to submit new legislation at the State level regarding the previously discussed Timber Tax. He also suggested that it would be difficult to do away with the Timber Tax as it is one of the tools used to distinguish land in current use, and it is also a source of revenue for the towns. He stated that the DRA can facilitate a simpler formula for the calculation of timber tax for New Boston and he is willing to look into the
matter further. The Selectmen thanked Pierre for looking into the matter.
C. APPOINTMENTS:
1. 7:00PM Irene Baudreau Town Clerk
Irene Baudreau was present to give the Selectmen a status report for her office. All deposits are current and a year-end report has been submitted to the town treasurer, June Hicks. During Irene’s recent illness, Paula Bellemore filled in for Irene and did a great job. The filing for automobile registrations is almost current. Letters have been sent out to persons who presented checks with insufficient funds and will be followed with a second letter in one month’s time. Irene will also notify the State and the DMV as part of this process. The Town’s computer consultant, Dave Pollock, is working on a new computer program for the Town Clerk and is also working on the website and internet access. This should be completed by the end of January.
2. 7:15 PM Bill Rossignol Howe Bridge
Bill Rossignol and Tom Levens from Holden Engineering gave the Selectmen an update on the engineering study that is being done on Howe Bridge. They will be submitting a report regarding what types of repairs need to be done. The horizontal members are steel and are badly rusted. The piers and abutments are in pretty good repair. They can hold the current loads, but cannot be rehabilitated to standards that would withhold an earthquake. The three types of construction are; solid concrete box beams, steel and concrete, or a continuous timber bridge. The timber structure has a longer life, requires less maintenance, and is aesthetically pleasing. The Selectmen agreed that a timber structure would be preferable. There was some discussion about whether a pedestrian sidewalk would be practical, Holden promised to review the options and report
back. The timber bridge also happens to be the least expensive of the three types of construction.
3. 8:00 PM Town Employees Employee Compensation Plan
Linda Sizemore, Cathy Widener, Tim Lamy, Patti Oakes, Nic Strong, June Hicks, John Riendeau, Lee Murray and Bonnie Koch were present to discuss the Employee Compensation Plan with the Selectmen. The general consensus of these employees was that there is a lack of uniformity within the employee review process from one department head to another, causing some overall inequities in the interpretation of the review scale. Long-term employees feel that there are some inequities amongst salaries. After much discussion, some suggestions from the employees were to include self-reviews, change the timing of the review within the year to allow for improvement, training for the department heads of the rating scale, and individual departmental monthly or bi-monthly meetings to discuss problem issues. The employees requested a second meeting on the
28th to discuss more points and get some answers. The Selectmen asked for a list of their top ten concerns, to be discussed at this time.
At this time, Dave Woodbury moved to extend the Selectmen’s meeting beyond 10 PM in order to complete the agenda items. Brent Armstrong seconded the motion. All were in favor.
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
December 3, 2001 - The minutes were reviewed and Dave Woodbury moved to approve with the necessary changes. Brent Armstrong seconded the motion. All were in favor.
December 10, 2001 – The minutes were reviewed and changes were made. Dave Woodbury moved to approve the minutes with the changes. Brent Armstrong seconded the motion. Gordon abstained because he did not have time to review the minutes before the meeting.
E. OLD BUSINESS:
1) Planning Issues – Meeting of December 18, 2001
- CIP was forwarded on to the Selectmen and the Finance committee.
- A public hearing was held regarding an amendment to the “Wetlands District”. Presented by Bob Todd, on behalf of the sub-committee, three members of the Planning Board unanimously voted not to recommend the amendment.
- Building Code – Establishment of sprinklers in houses was discussed. Jim Dodge suggested that the building inspector should have better credentials and also pointed out that they may be a hazard in developments due to wells not being sufficient. There are no requirements to date.
- Thibeault compliance hearing – approved with various conditions subsequent. Bond held for one year. Deadline for compliance was set at March 15, 2002.
- Moss Drive – Cimray Compliance Hearing – motion passed to confirm compliance.
- Driveway permits; several were presented and approved.
- Moss Drive – road entry permit was granted.
2) Budget Issues and Warrant Wording – The Selectmen reviewed the remaining budget issues with Burton and the wording of the warrant articles in preparation for the budget hearing on Monday, January 14th. The warrant articles were assigned to the Selectmen for explanation at the hearing.
3) Payment of Transfer Trailer Overage – The Selectmen discussed the matter with Burton and it was decided to pay ten percent over the estimate and include an explanation for not paying the full amount.
4) Open Space Proposal – Burton is checking to make sure the committee is legal.
F. NEW BUSINESS:
1) Petrucelli CLU Penalty – The Selectmen have agreed to support George Hildum in his assessment of the property.
2) Status of 2001 Budget – Paula is updating the budget.
3) January Schedule – The Selectmen decided to hold a meeting on January 21st.
4) Public Budget Hearing – Will be held on Monday, January 14th, at 7:00PM in the Central School Library.
5) Picture for Town Report – The Selectmen agreed that a picture of the cemetery would be appropriate for the front cover of the town report. The cemetery deed was transferred to the Town in 2001 after having been overseen by a private Board of Trustees.
G. OTHER:
1) Elected Cemetery Trustees – met for the first time with Mr. Gregg to discuss the Saunders Hill Cemetery. They concluded that a few trees ought to come down, and headstones need to be straightened. A question was raised as to whether the old Cemetery Trustees can gift to the town an amount of five thousand dollars to be used to build an access road to additional back lots in the cemetery. Burton is looking into this matter.
2) Burton - met with the Cub Scouts last week.
3) Post Office Driveway – Burton had a conversation with the DOT regarding the driveway and the traffic flow. Without knowing the type of tenants a new building near the Post Office might house, the Department of Transportation would not commit to any specific traffic improvements at any specific level of traffic count.
4) Hazard Mitigation Committee Meeting – to be held January 21, 2002.
5) Recreation Accounts – Burton distributed information regarding the recreation accounts and maturity status of CD accounts to the Selectmen.
6) Department of Transportation – The Selectmen signed off allowing the Department of Transportation to do a road traffic study to determine if using less salt on Chestnut Hill Road near the Phillips residence was an option.
7) Letter from George Hildum – a copy of George’s letter, relative to taxing of golf courses, will be sent to Jim and Claire Dodge, hopefully answering some of their question regarding future plans for the farm.
H. PUBLIC COMMENT: None.
I. ADJOURNMENT: Dave Woodbury moved to adjourn the meeting at 12:14AM. Brent Armstrong seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Cindy Romano
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