Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
August 8, 2005
PRESENT: Gordon Carlstrom Selectman
David Woodbury Selectman
Christine Quirk 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 7:00PM beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance.
B. PUBLIC COMMENT: No public comments were made at this time.
C. APPOINTMENTS:
1. 7:00 PM Doug Smith New Highway Employee Candidate
Doug Smith was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss his qualifications for the opening on the Highway Department. The Road agent, John Riendeau was also present and stated that Doug has been working for the past couple of weeks and doing well. Doug has experience with land clearing, chipping, building road and house sites, and basically a little bit of everything. He can run equipment and do mechanical work as part of his duties on the highway department. He has lived in town all his life and worked with the former Road Agent, Lee Murray, back in the 1980’s.
2. 7:15 PM John Riendeau Road Agent
John Riendeau was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss the status of current projects that the Highway Department is working on.
· The sweeper blew a head gasket again, but fortunately, after sweeping the downtown area.
· Meetinghouse Hill Road is almost done, they still have a little more paving to do and the frames and grates have not been changed yet.
· Bog Road project-John is working on getting the necessary permits from DES. There are currently 4 bidders on this project. Bids are due Friday. The Highway Department is now cutting brush to get ready for this project. Fall is the best time to work on this project, as the bog will be driest then. The box culvert is on order.
· Lull Road was ground last week. They still have to fix some drainage issues by replacing a culvert and fixing some areas of the road.
· The new Mack truck chassis was delivered today. Now it goes to have the dump body and plow assemblies installed.
· The insurance people came by for the boiler inspections and deemed the culvert steamer to be “unfit for use.” John says it works fine but was built in 1926 and it would take a lot to get it up to today’s standards. John has not yet had time to look into the replacement cost for a steamer. He will do some more research on this.
· The underdrain is in on McCollum. The only thing left to do is paving and new riprap installed.
· John asked the Selectmen if they wanted to put the 1987 International out for bid since the new Mack is here or keep it as a plow truck. Mack has indicated they will allow $4,000 trade-in value. A decision has to be made this week. The Selectmen decided to trade it in, as it would take too much work and money to make it a plow truck that would last several years for the town and, given its condition, bids were not expected to be much more than the trade in offer. The town will look to buy a 10 wheeler for plowing and overall general use at some point.
· Whipplewill, Bedford and Twin Bridge Roads are paved.
· The Highway Department cleaned ditches on Highland and Houghton. These roads will need to be resurfaced next year.
· A spreadsheet is being compiled to help keep good records and facts about the town roads. Another is designed to assist in the development of a town-wide resurfacing plan for the paved roads.
· The Highway Department will need to cut down the curb on the side of the crosswalk near the library and get permits from the state to paint a walkway on the state property by the Apple Barn to create a legal sidewalk downtown. The curb also needs to be cut down some at the end of the crosswalk by the gazebo.
3. 7:30 PM Gerry Cornett Transfer Station Manager
Gerry Cornett was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss issues at the Transfer Station.
· Saturday Part Time Employee Hours-Gerry recently hired Jeff St. John to help out on Saturdays as an extra pair of eyes while residents are dropping off their trash. Jeff has since moved to Florida. Gerry asked the Selectmen if they wish to replace Jeff and keep this position. He feels this is beneficial as the transfer station is still having a problem with illegal dumping of hazardous chemicals, the swap shop needs to be monitored and another person is needed as the scale house process takes longer now. Gerry has hired Joe Grohs as Jeff’s replacement. Gerry feels Joe is meticulous and a hard worker. Gerry projects that the transfer station
will come in under budget this year. He states the swap shop needs to be moved to where there steel pile is to make it more visible. He expects the steel will be hauled out soon.
· Resident bag check issue-Gerry had a long discussion with a resident about bag inspection. The resident mentioned that a lot of residents don’t like the bag inspection. Gerry invited her to attend this Selectmen meeting and reminded her that the Solid Waste Committee will begin meeting again in the fall. Gordon suggested posting a sign with the applicable RSA and mentioning that the transfer station is trying to help people with their recycling efforts by doing this.
· Brush Pit/Commercial Use-The brush pit is currently 1/3 full. Recently a commercial outfit came in with entire trees on a large trailer to be put into the pit. He was told trees were too big to be accepted into the pit but Gerry took them although this is a pit for use by residents only. 2 stumps were discovered on the trailer also which were not accepted and the driver told Gerry he had two more similar loads he wanted to bring to the pit. These were also not accepted. Some other smaller companies have been bringing in pick up truckloads of brush and put these loads in which Gerry feels is acceptable. He asked the Selectmen if he should change the
policy to be limited to volume and contents instead of residential v. commercial.
· Hopper replacement update-The ram has been built. 2 coats of polyurethane were applied. The hopper is being designed now. He expects the hopper to be delivered in September. The transfer station will be closed for one Tuesday while the ram is being installed.
· Property maintenance update-
1. The Stecco trailer is rusting prematurely and Gerry noticed some completely missed welds. He has been in contact with the dealer and the trailer will possibly be repainted and repaired by Stecco.
2. Two roll offs are being repainted.
3. Numerous holes in the main building roof were repaired.
· Recycling Update-The metal market dropped but is now picking up to $10/ton of steel. The transfer station is taking names and numbers of people who want to recycle large tires and will call them on the day the tires are to be picked up to have their tires weighed and they will be charged the rate on that day.
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. Minutes of July 11, 2005 - The Selectmen reviewed the minutes. Corrections were noted. David moved that they be accepted as amended. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
E. OLD BUSINESS:
1. Planning:
· Right Way Builders large subdivision-cancelled.
· Right Way Builders condex-This is the first planned condex to come before the Planning Board and it was passed on conditions of condo rules and the applicant was willing to take that risk.
· James and Wilma Dane and Carol Hess-Lot line adjustment finalization.
· AT&T Wireless-Public hearing for revocation for Wilson Hill Road. Cingular sent a letter saying their business plan has changed.
· RJ Moreau Communities-Compliance hearing on conditional use permit for wetland crossing on Inkberry Road didn’t go very well, but he has promised to go back and fix it.
· Joe Foistner-Foxberry Drive Waldorf Estates. He wanted to keep the silt fencing in, as it will cost too much to remove. It is expected to rot in place over time.
· Whipplewill Storage Units-Postponed 2 years.
· Jack Moon-A letter was received requesting the Planning Board’s review of steep slope ordinance and his proposed driveway.
· A woman wrote to the Planning Board recently stating her position against the Steep Slopes Ordinance and saying it was devastating to the community. The Planning Board has decided to respond by asking her to become an alternate on the Planning Board.
· The Concerned Landowners of New Boston recently sent out a mailing to residents regarding a discussion about driveway regulations that is planned for tomorrow night’s Planning Board meeting. This card may have upset residents and many residents are expected to attend the meeting. Gordon will be at the meeting and plans to make a statement about the misleading contents of this mailing.
2. Lease Agreement-Mill Street-Town Counsel, Leslie Nixon, responded that the language in the agreement is fine. She suggested the Selectmen make sure insurance will cover the contents inside the storage facility. They are worth approximately $11,000. Burton will inform the trust. The first rental payment has been made. The Selectmen signed the agreement.
3. Address Numbering Ordinance-The Selectmen reviewed the revised ordinance and suggested several additional changes. Burton will make the changes and schedule a hearing.
F. NEW BUSINESS:
1. I.D. Cards-Some pictures have been taken for the town employee I.D. Cards. A proof of the card design is expected shortly.
2. Employee Evaluations/Selectmen Session With Dept. Heads-Burton has prepared a letter to the various department heads for the Selectmen’s review. The Selectmen will prepare some questions to ask of each employee before the meeting takes place.
3. Master Plan Questionnaire-The Selectmen reviewed a compilation of the results of the recent Master Plan Questionnaire. Everyone involved was surprised by the number and quality of responses received.
3.Boiler Inspections-The town boilers were inspected by the insurance company who took issue with the 1926 boiler on the culvert steamer as discussed above. All other boilers were found to be in good working order.
G. OTHER:
1. The town was served with two lawsuits recently. One is for Lull Road Corp. v. Town of New Boston disputing the fact that the ZBA wouldn’t allow a gravel pit on Lull Road, the other is for Vista Road v. Town of New Boston disputing the steep slopes ordinance. Burton will forward both of these summonses to Attorney Bill Drescher.
2. Work has started at the cemetery. They are currently working on building the stonewall. D&S will start the work on the expansion project shortly.
3. The Assessing office has been working with Jim Dodge regarding his timber cut in March. Kim Burkhamer has prepared a document showing how she calculated the $4,300 in taxes he owed based on the timber tax worksheet. Jim feels he only owes $3,000 based on the value of the wood and the quality of the soil. He has provided a check in that amount. Both Jim and Kim have spoken with Dennis Thorell, State Forester, on this issue. Burton has prepared a letter to Jim asking him to produce the mill slips showing the actual value of the wood, which will resolve this issue.
4. The head of security at Southern New Hampshire University recently approached Dave, as he believes a former employee who he fired from the security department at SNHU has been “riding along” with the New Boston Police and carrying a gun in the vehicle. The Selectmen will look into this allegation.
H. PUBLIC COMMENT: No comments at this time.
I. Move to Non-Public Session: Gordon made a motion to go into Non-Public session per RSA 91-A:3II(a) at 9:55 PM. Dave seconded the motion. All were in favor.
I. ADJOURNMENT: Dave made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:26. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Maralyn Segien
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