Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
December 12, 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 Inkberry Road Acceptance Hearing
Michelle Brown sent a memo saying that Inkberry Road is ready to be accepted. Dave moved for acceptance of Inkberry Road. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor. Burton will send notifications to the Post Office, Planning Board and school principal.
2. 7:02 PM Gerry Cornett Transfer Station
Transfer Station Manager, Gerry Cornett, was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss the status of projects at the Transfer Station.
· Gerry and 2 employees have taken the weighmaster certification test. Gerry and one employee passed the test. The Transfer Station scales were calibrated and were found to be accurate. He is waiting for the state license to come in.
· ½ of the lighting is done by the hopper. PSNH will put a light on the pole at the fork in the roadway as you come up the hill to the recycle area.
· Recycling update-The lowest tonnage ever was sent to wheelabrator this year since the Transfer Station opened in 1989. The volume of solid waste is at 1,416 tons and was 1,450 tons in 1989. The recycling rate is 53%.
· Oil Collection System-they are now transferring oil in a way that does not spill within the building. The heater is in and working.
· The compactor company representative came in and mentioned he had a baler available for $10,000. Gerry said he was interested and asked for the quote in writing. He has heard back that the price is around $20,000.
· Gas well progress-A well will be installed to the left of the scale house building Thursday. Also just off the logging road on the Lydia Dodge lot (owned by the town) as this abuts the nearest dwelling on Dane Road. The wells are needed to make sure no flammable methane gas is going into the building or going to surrounding properties.
· GZA has performed the engineering work for the closed landfill since it was capped. It may make sense to ask for other quotes for this service for 2007.
D. Move to enter Non-Public Session: Christine made a motion to go into Non-Public session per RSA 91-A:3II(a) at 7:40 PM. David seconded the motion. All were in favor.
J. Move to exit Non-Public Session: Gordon made a motion to exit Non-Public Session at 7:50 PM. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
3. 7:05 PM Chris Krajenka Police Chief
Police Chief, Chris Krajenka was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss budget items.
· Chris has received a quote on the 2003 Crown Victoria, which will be his police car. $11,500 for the car, $600 delivery fee and $3,447.69 for outfitting including painting the car black to match the other vehicles in the fleet. The car has 23,000 miles on it and is still under warranty. The car comes from Tennessee and will be delivered to Adamson in Lawrence, MA to be checked over and outfitted. The radio from the Ford Explorer will be reusable in this vehicle. The car will be outfitted in a low profile manner with lights on the grill and interior upper roof deck and the vehicle will not have the town insignia on it. The Ford Explorer will be
auctioned off soon. David moved to authorize the town to expend $14,547.67 for this vehicle and outfitting secondary to inspection by a person of the Selectmen’s choosing. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor. The Selectmen do not wish to expend the money to paint this vehicle at this time.
· The budget has been revised. Chris would prefer hiring a prosecutor to adding a new part time officer. Townspeople have been mentioning to Chris that they also want a part time officer. The necessity of a part time officer was shown in a New Boston Speaks survey and in Bruce MacDougall report. The Police Department has not been able to keep the department fully staffed. One reason for this is the pay for police in town is not competitive with surrounding towns. The Police Department needs a new computer server and a PC. Turbotech will be used for computer maintenance. Overtime and part time budget items are the main issues. The
budget is up 13% this year once the vehicle lease expense is included. Labor intensive tile replacement is needed at the Police Department. Christine suggested they could get some mats to put over the bad spots this year if this building maintenance has to be put off a year to keep the budget lower.
· Chris asked about televising the town meetings. This is not in the current contract with Adelphia.
· Chris plans to put together a procedures checklist for officers to keep in the vehicles and refer to as a guide when they respond to incidents.
· Chris plans to update the Selectmen with a written report every month.
· The Expedition has been detailed.
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. Minutes of November 28, 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.
2. Non-Public Minutes of November 28, 2005 - The Selectmen reviewed the minutes. David moved that they be accepted. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
E. OLD BUSINESS:
1. Planning:
· There was a sitewalk on Susan Road. Dave noticed the sight distance looking to the left onto Carriage Road from Susan Road is questionable. Gordon asked if Susan Road could be raised instead of Carriage Road being cut down.
· The Selectmen discussed the Steep Slopes Ordinance and decided that policing is needed by a separate engineering firm.
· The Conservation Commission sent a letter suggesting that someone from the Conservation Commission should be on the Planning Board. The Selectmen will wait to hear from the Planning Board on this. They thought someone from the Conservation Commission could possibly be an alternate or just sit-in for portions of meetings that discuss topics where input from Conservation is desired.
· Nic Strong from the Planning Board sent a memo asking if the Selectmen would be available for a meeting regarding the Master Plan on January 30, 31 or February 1. The Selectmen are available the evening of January 31.
· A meeting regarding Beard Road will be scheduled between the Selectmen, Amy Alexander of Dufresne-Henry and the Road Committee.
· Thibeault has made sure their trucks travel the route according to the rules that were established.
2. 2006 Selectmen’s Budget-The Selectmen reviewed an overview of the town budget.
F. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Vacation Holdover Requests-Burton Reynolds, Mary Barone, Sgt. Kohanek and Cathy Widener have requested to holdover some unused vacation time. Dave moved to accept the requests for vacation holdover. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
2. Instructions for Salary Range Review-There are just under 5,000 people in town. However, some surrounding towns are much larger and are paying their employees more than is suggested for a town this size making it hard for New Boston to find and keep good town employees. Burton suggests using the salary ranges from towns with 5,000-15,000 people and increasing the range from a 40% spread to 50%.
3. Discussion of Revenue Fund Options-Burton distributed information regarding the option of revolving funds, which may be useful to some town departments, such as the Recreation Department. Any department that collects fees can set up a revolving fund.
G. OTHER:
1. Eric Pothier sent a letter regarding the difficulty he has recycling. The Selectmen will send him a recycling booklet and remind him that he can hire a service to pick up his trash.
H. PUBLIC COMMENT: No comments at this time.
I. Move to enter Non-Public Session: David made a motion to go into Non-Public session per RSA 91-A:3II(a) at 10:00 PM. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
J. Move to exit Non-Public Session: David made a motion to exit Non-Public Session at 10: PM. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
I. ADJOURNMENT: David made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:36 PM. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Maralyn Segien
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