PRESENT:
Gordon Carlstrom Selectman
David Woodbury Chairman
Christine Quirk Selectman
A. CALL TO ORDER: A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was called to order at 7:07PM by David Woodbury beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC COMMENT: None.
APPOINTMENTS:
1. 7:00PM Irene Baudreau Town Clerk
Irene Baudreau was present to talk to the Selectmen about the logistics of doing mail-in automobile registrations. Presently, she handles an average of 560 registrations per month. She stated that the new process would serve as a reminder to residents, decrease the long lines at the beginning and end of each month, and would also cut down on late registration penalty fees. Irene has spoken with a company who provides this type of service and the total cost to the town would be fifty dollars per month. This would include processing a letter, a return envelope, and stuffing the envelopes. The cost would be offset by a one dollar fee added to all registrations. The registration information is provided directly by the DMV to the service provider, and each letter will accommodate up to four registrations per
individual. The owners would send two checks to Town Hall for each registration, one made out to the state and one to the Town of New Boston. Irene would then process the registrations and mail the new registrations back to the owners. Any other type of automobile requests, such as new registrations, vanity plates, or change of address, will still have to come into Town Hall. Irene will check into canceling the program if there is a negative response from people, but the Selectmen agreed to try the program starting in March 2003.
7:15PM Evaluation Form Committee
Representing the committee were Tim Lamy, John Riendeau, and Sarah Chapman. The evaluation committee presented their version of the rules and regulations for the evaluation process at their last meeting. Burton Reynolds, the town administrator, made minor changes to the form and sent it to Linda Pandolfi at Municipal Resources for her review. The members of the committee feel that Burton’s version allows the town administrator to make changes to employee ratings. The committee does not feel that the town administrator should be involved in the rating of employees, but that it should be handled by the department heads. They feel that the town administrator should be overseeing ratings and only making changes in the case of gross negligence. The committee went on to state that the Selectmen need
to remain uninvolved in the evaluation process if they are to be a grievance board for dissatisfied employees.
Burton stated that he sees his purpose in the evaluation process as helping the evaluators think through the ratings by answering questions, so that they are fairly confident with the ratings before they are given out to employees. If the employee is dissatisfied, then they may present their grievance to the Selectmen. The Selectmen explained that they feel the town administrator should be involved in the beginning of the evaluation process, instead of after the employees are rated, in order to maintain consistency in the process. Also discussed was the self-evaluation form. It helps the employees set goals for themselves and provides an avenue for feedback, should it be mandatory. The committee would like to have one more meeting to resolve the issues and to review the response letter from Linda
Pandolfi. They agreed to submit a revised addendum by December 16th and the Selectmen will finalize the evaluation process at that time.
3. 7:45PM Personnel Matter Non-Public
Gordon made a motion to enter into a non-public session according to RSA 93-A: 3, Section II (a) for the purpose of discussing a personnel matter. Christine seconded the motion. Each member of the board was polled individually and all were in favor.
The Selectmen met with John Riendeau to speak with him in general terms regarding the position of Road Agent, which will be vacant in March 2003.
Gordon made a motion to exit the non-public session according to RSA 93-A: 3, Section II (a). Christine seconded the motion. Each member of the board was polled individually and all were in favor.
Gordon made a motion to seal the minutes of the non-public session for a period of five years. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Minutes of November 18, 2002 – postponed until next week.
OLD BUSINESS:
Planning – There was no meeting last week. A meeting was held on November 26th. Issues covered were:
Site Walk at C & G Property – Storage Facilities to survey a potential problem with automobile headlights shining into abutters windows at night. There was another site walk held on Saturday morning to look at the berm and to determine whether the abutter’s privacy was being violated. It was determined that it was difficult to see into the abutter’s yard.
Planning Board related subject – The planning board is talking about doing a build-out study of the town, and wanted to know if they could use encumbered funds that were set aside for the master plan. There is nine thousand dollars available and the build out study would cost ten thousand dollars. Burton spoke with Steve Plodzik, the town’s auditor, and explained the situation. His quick response was affirmative, but he and Burton will speak again.
NEW BUSINESS:
Background Checks – Burton questioned the Selectmen as to whether or not they want to extend criminal background checks to include part-time employees and/or private contractors. Gordon suggested that anyone who works in town hall have at least a minimal check done, and those that have fiduciary responsibilities definitely have one done. The Treasure, Tax Collector and Town Clerk all have performance bonds in place. Burton will check on pricing and timing.
Miscellaneous Selectmen Budget Items – The Selectmen reviewed the line items with Burton in the Selectmen’s budget. Legal fees were a bit over budget, but there is room in other areas of the budget to compensate. Burton informed the Selectmen that the selectmen’s and planning secretaries will be coming in soon to speak to them regarding computers and new software.
Start Warrant Articles List – Burton distributed to the Selectmen a list of proposed warrant articles for their review. Burton will generate the wording for the articles and the DRA will review them with him.
Land Use Change Tax – The Forestry Committee will be coming in next week to speak to the Selectmen. Discussion will include replacement of the CRF with a funding mechanism using Land Use Change Tax revenues and a request to keep 100% of revenues realized when timber is cut on town forest land.
OTHER: None.
ADJOURNMENT: Christine made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:38PM. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Cindy Romano
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