PRESENT:
David Woodbury Chairman
Gordon Carlstrom Selectman
Christine Quirk Selectman
Burton Reynolds Town Administrator
CALL TO ORDER: A regular meeting was called to order by David Woodbury beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC COMMENT: None.
APPOINTMENTS:
1. 7:00PM Patti Oakes Recreation Commissioner Appointments
Patti Oakes was present to introduce to the Selectmen the two applicants for positions on the Recreation Commission; Marc Montrone and Lee Brown. Marc has lived in town for about a year now and is interested specifically in implementing young adult programs. He has already served as a Friend for Recreation. Lee Brown has lived in New Boston for many years and has been involved with Recreation for the past ten years, specifically with the youth baseball/softball program. Both Marc and Lee would like to become more actively involved with the Recreation department. Christine made a motion to appoint Lee Brown and Marc Montreau as Recreation Commissioners, their terms to be determined at another time. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
2. 7:10PM John Riendeau Highway Department
John Riendeau was present to give an update on the Highway Department and to report to the Selectmen on the seminar that he took with the Public Works Academy. The classes covered things such as waste water treatment, drinking water treatment, flagging, chain saw safety, and hazardous waste. John felt that the Municipal Association could offer more varied courses to the town employees, thereby saving money. There were a lot of slide presentations and very little hands-on opportunity.
He reported that the Highway Department has been busy recently making repairs to the salt bin, cleaning road ditches, and doing work at Town Hall. Graveling work will begin next week on selective roads and the drainage work on Tucker Mill is scheduled to begin the end of July and should be completed before school starts. The paving is completed on a section of Clark Hill Road. John is going to remind the brush-cutter that he needs to clear the roads of any large debris that is left behind.
3. 7:30PM Carol Holden County Commissioner
Carol Holden was present from Hillsborough County to give the Selectmen an update. She distributed copies of the statutes and handbook to the Selectmen and also a pamphlet on the County Convention. The commission has the care and custody of the county properties, but cannot sell the property. Alan Thulander and Pierre Bruno are currently serving on the executive committee, which oversees and scrutinizes the spending of county money. They are currently refurbishing the Goffstown facility and eventually the leased office space in Milford and Manchester will relocate here. The Court may also move to the renovated buildings. There are two programs that the county provides which would be of benefit to the town of New Boston:
Operation Impact – students from the Goffstown High School go to the prison facility, hopefully as a deterrent to crime.
Community Service – the prison inmates can do certain kinds of work for the various communities, such as painting, yard work, etc, as long as it does not put them in a dangerous situation. More information was requested of this program.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Selectmen reviewed the minutes of the July 8th meeting, but postponed the approval of them until the next meeting.
OLD BUSINESS:
Planning – Gordon was not able to attend the last meeting, but provided a brief report on what was covered:
· Hooper Hill sub-division
· CVI – Cluster development on Bedford Road
· CVI – Clark Hill; cancelled due to a wetlands issue
· Greg Madison – non-residential site plan review
· Compliance hearings
· Informational Session – regarding 85 Clark Hill Road; 16 acres with an A-frame building
John Newton Dodge Road – Gordon will write Mr. Alan LaPenn a letter explaining the difference between Class V and Class VI roads, and why the town of New Boston is not liable for damages caused by vehicles traveling this road.
Ordinance Review – The Selectmen discussed clarifying the process for approval of road signs. An index was suggested for the ordinance folder and it was decided that the ordinances will be reviewed according to priority.
Performance Evaluation Form – The Selectmen reviewed the previous form and decided that the new format must be flexible enough to meet the needs of all departments. It needs to be simple and consistent, and it needs to carefully review the skills and knowledge that employees bring to the workplace. This will be worked on over the next few weeks.
NEW BUSINESS:
9/11 Observance – The Federal and State governments have not yet made any announcements as to what kind of observance will be made, if any. The Selectmen felt that a tree planting at the Fire Department would be a suitable ceremony, maybe at the same time of day as the New York City attacks last year. This will be further discussed.
Fire Department Questions – from Dan MacDonald
· The association would like to extend membership to 16 year old people and older, not to go into burning buildings, but to help around the fire house, and possibly at scenes but in a safe area. The question is what can be expected for insurance coverage?
· Since we carry insurance for the personnel on our fire department when they respond to calls, how is that group of folks defined? Is it defines as “Members of the New Boston Fire Association” or is it anyone responding to a fire on behalf of the NBFD?
· This a legal question I think. If the Fire Wards mandate that only members of the NBFA can attend emergency scenes on behalf of the Town and a person wants to be able to attend emergencies and doesn’t want to join the New Boston Fire Association, would the Fire Wards be forced to let them participate as non-NBFA members?
The Selectmen discussed the above questions and agreed that volunteers should be fully trained and certified in order to respond to emergency calls. Burton will get clarification of the questions from Dan before speaking with the insurance company.
Audit Contract – In the past the town has had a three year contract with Plodzik and Sanderson. Burton has been informed that the new base price will be increasing from $4250.00 to $6000.00. Burton has requested an explanation for the increase and will get an estimate from another company. The Selectmen suggested placing the job out to bid, rather than renewing the contract. This will be discussed again in the future.
OTHER:
Transfer Trailer Repair Bill – the town has paid a certain amount of the overage for the trailer repairs and the bill has been settled, as agreed upon by the Selectmen.
Howe Bridge – The State plans to replace the metal plate with a concrete patch for the winter.
Public Hearing – There will be a public hearing at the August 5th Selectmen’s meeting to accept Carriage Road, formerly known as Sharon Lane.
State Aid – State representative, Pierre Bruno, has inquired as to what kind of State Aid Grants the town of New Boston has received since 1996. The Selectmen recollected money for the new telephone system and for the bridge replacement. The Central School may have also received grant monies from the State, and he should check with principal Rick Matthews.
Chris Bolton’s Trailers – The Selectmen have been to the site and counted approximately twenty trailers that appear to be stock-piled. He is either storing, renting or selling the trailers. He also appears to be stock-piling gravel and stone products. If a commercial business exists, then he is subject to a required site plan. Dennis Sarette, the building inspector, will discuss with the Planning Coordinator and a letter will be sent to the owner to get more information.
New Telephone System – fifty percent of the bill has been paid, the balance to be paid upon satisfactory completion of installation. The installation is tentatively set for the third week in July. There will be a notice to the public in the New Boston Bulletin, informing them of the change.
Seminar – Burton attended a seminar on “Managing the Multi-generational Workforce”. He shared some of the major concepts with the Selectmen and gave them copies of some of the seminar materials.
Christine Quirk made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:50PM. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Cindy Romano
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