PRESENT:
Gordon Carlstrom Selectman
David Woodbury Chairman
Christine Quirk Selectman
Burton Reynolds Town Administrator
CALL TO ORDER: A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was called to order by David Woodbury at 7:03PM beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC COMMENT: None.
APOINTMENTS:
1. 7:00PM Road Acceptance Hearing Orchard Road
Developer Al Bell was present for the hearing. Selectman Woodbury read a copy of the public notice hearing. The road is in the Forest Hill sub-division, and has been recognized by the planning board as the completion of phase IV of the sub-division. Nic Strong, planning coordinator, informed the Selectmen that final inspection of these roads was hindered due to snow cover and that monies are being held over for any road work that may need to be done in the spring of 2003. Hearing no objections from the public, Christine made a motion to accept Orchard Road as a Class V town maintained road. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Secondly, the Selectmen brought up the subject of 1st Settlement Lane. Also within the Forest Hill sub-division and part of phase IV, the same issues were applied relative to planning board approval. Money is being held over until spring to cover any potential expense prior to final inspection of the road. Christine motioned to accept the road as a Class V town maintained road. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
2. 7:05PM Planning Department
Nic Strong and Brent Armstrong were present for this portion of the meeting. Nic presented to the Selectmen a proposal to restructure the planning department by adding a third person to the staff for clerical work. This would allow Nic to expedite planning issues and spend more time on the Master Plan. The third person is someone who is presently employed by the town, and the hours would be Wednesday afternoon and Fridays, beginning at the end of January or the beginning of February. Nic pointed out to the Selectmen that this would increase the payroll budget by $625.00 until March, when the town would then vote on the matter. The Selectmen were comfortable with funding the position but were more concerned with the potential employee taking a risk of losing the position, should it not pass at Town Meeting. Brent commented that New Boston, as a whole, needs to take a critical look at the future growth of the town. With the widening of Interstate-93, there will be an increase
in residential building within the next five to ten years, and the town needs to have a strong planning office to be sure the zoning changes support good growth for the town. This proposal will require a six month transitional period before Nic is free to work on the larger projects. The Selectmen were in favor.
7:20PM Pat Jennings & Judy Keefe Pathways through the Village
Present for this portion of the meeting were Pat Jennings, Judy Keefe, Sandy VanScoyoc and Randy Parker. Pat Jennings presented to the Selectmen the new project being undertaken by the New Boston Central School Artist in Residence Program, with Judy Keefe as coordinator. There is a committee comprised of members from the school, various organizations, and people with professional skills. The name of the new project is “Hand in Land”, with landscape architect Ron King. The goal is to involve the whole school in the various planning, designing, and creating stages for play, learning and recreation on the undeveloped five acres of school land. Ron King is planning on forty working days, with eleven monthly meetings extending into March 2004. The cost of each meeting is $275.00 which includes
advance work and materials. Judy Keefe is presently seeking several grants for the project, but they are looking for sponsors for the monthly meetings with Ron King. The committee is asking if the Selectmen would like to:
Support the cost of one of the meetings
Assign a representative to the Committee
Beyond that, the group hopes to expand the walkways beyond school grounds to create a network of pedestrian trails to network the village of New Boston. The Selectmen agreed to fund one of the meetings, but it should probably be done through the Open Space committee, Forestry, or Conservation. Gordon made a motion to fund one of the planning meetings of the 2003 Artist in Residence Program, leaving the source of the funds open. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor. They also suggested that the planning board work with the committee. Brent Armstrong liked the idea and suggested that the presentation be placed on the agenda for the Planning Board members.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Minutes of December 9, 2002 – The Selectmen reviewed and corrected the minutes. Christine motioned to accept the minutes of December 9th with corrections and changes. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
OLD BUSINESS:
Planning – The following items took place at the 12/17 meeting:
· Public Hearing - on amendments to the Zoning changes. No one was present from the public.
· Public Hearing – Capital Improvement Program – approved.
Planning (cont’d) –
· Compliance Hearing – Best Way Homes - there was a question of whether Phase IV of Labree and Orchard roads was completed, so money will be held until spring to see if work needs to be done.
· Compliance Hearing – 1st Settlement – three thousand dollars was held over until spring to assure that the road meets compliance for Phase IV of the sub-division.
· Miscellaneous –
- Bond/Eric Farris – The road contractors put up cash on behalf of Eric Farris, and now that the road has met compliance they want their money back. This leaves the town responsible for the balance. Eric needs to provide the town with a bond, and then the money can be returned to the road contractors. The Selectmen suggested that Eric be encouraged to attend a planning board meeting. Nic Strong commented that Attorney Bill Drescher has reviewed the sub-division contract and agrees that it is a good contract.
- Carl Houghton – has been instructed to seek guidance from DES and the fire chief regarding the operation of a one acre propane tank recycling business. As of 12/17 he had not done so. Carl will be coming to the planning board meeting of January 14th, 2003.
- Ivan Byam’s Petition has been turned down due to technical reasons. There were not enough signatures of registered voters and the language was vague, therefore the petition was not acceptable.
- Agency Funds Listing – This portion of the Town Report provides a listing of funds showing beginning balances, transactions, and ending balances. It is currently four pages long, but the Town’s auditor has told Burton that it is not necessary to include it in the Town Report in the future. Nic Strong has found the information very useful to both herself and the developers who are looking for information. She claims that this information needs to have an official appearance in dealing with the public. If it is taken out of the report, then an adequate substitute for the data needs to be available. Nic and Burton will check the files to see if the bank statements are enough to meet her needs. The records should be accurate and readily available.
Employee Evaluations – Intro Letter to Evaluators - Burton put together random thoughts, to make the evaluation process easier for the evaluators. The Selectmen will review his comments and discuss them at the next Selectmen’s meeting.
2003 Budget Issues – Items for Review with Finance on Jan 4th – The Selectmen reviewed Burton’s memorandum of 12/27/02. The Selectmen reviewed the 2003 budget issues with Burton and discussed the warrant articles for review with the finance committee on January 4th. The Selectmen need to decide which warrant articles they are willing to support. Also discussed was the longevity plan for long term employees.
Old Houghton Pit Area – Need for Reclamation Security – Dave Woodbury suggested that they have a copy of the law regarding grandfathered terms. He also suggested that Burton generate a letter to all pit owners, summarizing the law. Burton pointed out that he needs to inform John Neville that his permit will not be renewed in the spring because he is functioning as a mixing/storage site, not a gravel pit, where excavation is occurring. Gordon noted that the gate at the entrance to Coastal’s pit is missing again, and that maybe the police ought to investigate when the gates to gravel pits are open after normal hours of operation.
Lull Road Letter Response – The Selectmen reviewed Burton’s letter to Mr. and Mrs. Carlson regarding their request for no thru trucking. Burton will rewrite the letter with changes and then send it to them.
NEW BUSINESS: None.
OTHER:
Vacation/Holiday Pay – One of the police officers requested Christmas day as a holiday and a vacation day. Being a part-time employee, vacation days are pro-rated according to the number of hours worked. Burton is concerned with paying for vacation days when they can’t be taken during the year. The Selectmen would rather have employees carry over vacation days to the next year, than pay them double.
Pro-rated Formula – Kathy Widener calculated pro-rated hours for vacation time for part-time employees using one method. The Selectmen suggested pro-rating based on the relativity between part time hours worked compared to full-time hours.
Letters to the Library – The Selectmen discussed and suggested that Burton write two separate letters to address the following items:
First Letter -
· Budget Preparation – Burton feels that because the library did not discuss their budget with him, the result was some differences between them and the town that could have been resolved before meeting with Finance.
· Employee Reviews – Based on a comment Sarah Chapman made at a Department Head meeting, the library trustees evidently feel it is okay for Burton to participate in Sarah’s evaluation, but that they do not expect he would be involved in the review of the other employee’s evaluations. Burton and the Selectmen feel that it is not right for the library employees to take advantage of the town’s salary and benefits plan without involving Burton in the evaluation process.
Second Letter – the second suggested letter addressed the amount of the library bond. The Selectmen feel that the library trustees should determine the amount of bond they want to ask for on their own.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Al Romano of 609 Lyndeboro Road made a request that the highway department avoid leaving a snow bank in front of their horse trailer when clearing the snow from in front of the fire cistern on their property. Burton made a note to mention it to Lee Murray. Cindy Romano questioned why the trucks stop plowing the road where the pavement meets the gravel road in front of their home. Burton explained that they have to use a different sand/salt mixture on the gravel roads, but that it can probably be turned of from inside the truck.
ADJOURNMENT: Christine made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:45PM. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Cindy Romano
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