Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
August 7, 2006
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 David Woodbury 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 Public Hearing Pulpit Road Class VI to Class V
A public hearing was called as the town is considering allowing the upgrading of a portion of Pulpit Road from Class VI to Class V as a result of a subdivision planned by SHB Properties, which is being considered by the Planning Board. Tom Souser from SHB Properties and Bob and Connie Brown from 1 Pulpit Road were present. Bob said he understood that the town would deed the land at the triangle to him so he can continue his driveway onto Bedford Road and the Planning Board agrees. At this time it is unknown who owns the triangle and the Selectmen urged the Browns to have an attorney or a surveyor research this for them. The town won’t abandon the ROW until at least March when the town will vote to release it. Gordon moved to raise the class from VI to V on the portion of Pulpit Road shown in the plan
of SHB Properties that coincides with the existing Pulpit Road once the work to bring the road to Class V standards by the contractor has been completed. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
2. 7:10 PM Gerry Cornett Transfer Station
Transfer Station Manager Gerry Cornett was present to meet with the Selectmen to update them on activity at the Transfer Station.
· Plow Truck-The current truck is no longer usable. It was suggested that the old highway truck could be brought to the Transfer Station and the Highway Department could get a replacement. Burton will check with Road Agent John Riendeau about this. If this doesn’t work Gerry could find a replacement for approximately $5,000. The current plow truck can be put out to bid, traded or used for parts.
· Wage consideration-Gerry spoke about one particular part timer, David, who works 33 hours per week and is a weighmaster and is in charge at the Transfer Station on occassion. Gerry recommended David should earn $13.000 per hour effective immediately and said this will fit into the Transfer Station’s budget. Burton suggested building a range and doing the salary plan before approving this raise. The Selectmen decided to make a decision at the next meeting after building a range.
· Capitol Trash-Gerry said Capitol is not recycling as they should be and Gerry has worked with them to improve their recycling and has even offered to go around with them on pick ups the first week of September. He suggests banning them from the Transfer Station or make him pay what he is costing the town if they don’t improve their recycling by the end of September.
· Storage Trailer Purchase-Gerry purchased 4 trailers for $500 each, which Sizemore will deliver to the Transfer Station next week. Gerry will pull the 3 old trailers out and give them to St. John and put the new trailers there. The 4th trailer will mean no more mixed market loads going out of the Transfer Station.
· Refurbish 4-year-old trailer-Gerry received a quote from Merrills for $7,960 to refurbish the trailer because of premature rust. It will probably be done next month. Gerry spoke with a representative from J&J Trailers and will look at some of the J&J Trailers in Methuen next week. Buying a new trailer is in the CIP for 2007 and will be on the March ballot.
· NRRA-Gerry called Warner per Burton’s request who also was unhappy with NRRA 6 years ago for the same reasons New Boston is unhappy with them. Warner now uses a company in Massachusetts and is very happy with them. Gerry is using Corcoran now and is happy with their service so far. The Selectmen considered sending a response to NRRA in writing prepared by Gerry to be approved by the Selectmen about the weights given to NRRA by a weighmaster being reweighed and changed and that NRRA is no longer meeting the needs of New Boston. New Boston is still using NRRA for C&D and tin. Gerry said NRRA also ships Weare’s material to Canada where they
get better rates when they were shipping New Boston’s material to Massachusetts for a lesser rate.
· Resident Injury-Gerry said the Transfer Station staff did not witness the accident over the weekend and it was not reported to the staff at the time it happened. However, Gerry has heard of a witness in town. Gerry asked how he could make the area safer. He was told that loss prevention at the Local Government Center should be consulted.
3. 7:30 PM Chief Krajenka Police Department
Police Chief Chris Krajenka was present to meet with the Selectmen to update them on activity at the Police Department.
· Chris said there have been some problems at the construction site on McCurdy Road such as complaints about parking and shots fired into the port-a-potty. There have also been thefts of equipment at another site of the same construction company.
· Sgt. Kochanek notified Chris that Wal-Mart has awarded the department a $3,000 grant which he plans to use to purchase a digital camera, video camera and maybe some curtains and other needs to fix up the station. Gordon moved to accept the $3,000 grant from the Amherst Wal-Mart to purchase Wal-Mart merchandise to use in our agency. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
· Accreditation-Chris said Dunbarton has had their on-site and presented at a meeting in KY and met all requirements except the NH Police Academy has come into conflict with CALEA regarding part time officer training. Now if the department has a part timer it cannot become accredited unless they have the same training as full time officers. Chris has decided to forego state accreditation and get CALEA accreditation. The training is time consuming but Chris feels it is worthwhile.
· Grant progress-Chris said all the officers have been incident command certified which is required for the grant. The items are on order for the Communication Infrastructure Grant. The Air Force Tracking Station is supplying the tower and has offered to help R& R Communications with the installation. Chris said the equipment at the Ridgeview tower might be moved to Jim Dodge’s cell tower or a tower on Rte 77 to improve service.
· MacDougall’s report-Chris said that now that he has been in his position for 10 months he doesn’t feel there is need for 24-hour coverage but wants to move around some shifts to get better coverage. Chris does feel the department needs 2 more officers. He hopes to extend coverage hours to 6am-2am instead of 7am to 11pm. Chris feels that being creative in problem solving and fortunate in receiving grants helps this department. He feels there is still some need in the computer area. Officer Keeley Bergeron is working on getting some Panasonic Toughbooks that the State Police have recently replaced in their vehicles. New Boston currently
has laptops in their cruisers, which are getting banged around too much.
· New Boston Tavern-Chris can’t say at this point there is going to be a problem or a higher volume of calls from the planned expansion. The State Police are supposed to respond after hours but there are usually only 2-4 officers on for coverage and there have been complaints that the state police have not responded at all when called. Chris plans to follow up with them on issues. ½ hour is a good response time for them but it could be 1.5 hours or not at all. Chris will attend the Planning Board meeting tomorrow night where they will be discussing the New Boston Tavern expansion.
D. Move to enter Non-Public Session: Gordon made a motion to go into Non-Public session per RSA 91-A:3II(a) at 9:00 PM. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
E. Move to exit Non-Public Session: Christine made a motion to exit Non-Public Session at 9:10 PM. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
F. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. Minutes of July 10, 2006 - The Selectmen reviewed the minutes. Corrections were noted. Christine moved that they be accepted as amended. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
2. Non-Public Minutes of July 10, 2006 - The Selectmen reviewed the non-public minutes. Corrections were noted. Christine moved that they be accepted as amended. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
3. Minutes of July 24, 2006 - The Selectmen reviewed the minutes. Corrections were noted. Gordon moved that they be accepted as amended. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
4. Non-Public Minutes of July 24, 2006 - The Selectmen reviewed the non-public minutes. Corrections were noted. Gordon moved that they be accepted as amended. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
G. OLD BUSINESS:
1. Planning:
· Jeffrey and Jacqueline Fillmore-The Fillmore’s were told that they can have a common driveway for the first 100 feet per the Planning Board’s policy. They are now expected to have 2 separate driveways.
· Rick Martin’s Beard Road Subdivision-Approved with 2 outstanding issues of the dam and the off-site road improvements. Selectmen must discuss both further.
H. NEW BUSINESS:
4.Off Site Road Improvements-Several different prices were presented at the Planning Board for the off site road improvements at Rick Martin’s Beard Road subdivision. The Selectmen need to determine the correct price and will speak to the Road Committee and Roch Larochelle for this purpose. Road Agent John Riendeau will also speak to both groups about the actual cost. Christine suggested comparing the actual cost of a similar road that was done recently such as Indian Falls, Twin Bridge or Tucker Mill.
I..OLD BUSINESS:
Planning:
· Plantiers Bedford Road 4 lot subdivision-An issue of a single culvert that forks off to 2 separate driveways will be discussed further.
· Proposal for a 34 lot subdivision off Middle Branch Road-2 cul-de-sacs are planned. They were asked to create a recreation area, deed off a 24 acre parcel they plan not to build on, create a wildlife corridor, shorten the upper cul-de-sac and redraw some lots.
· A public hearing on the new driveway regulations was scheduled.
· Ragamuffin Tavern-A lot of people are expected to attend the next meeting regarding this.
2. Opinion Survey-The Selectmen reviewed a memo prepared by Burton listing the LGC’s concerns about the survey to be discussed at the next department head meeting. Dealing with personnel issues is the Selectmen’s responsibility. The employees wish to remain anonymous when filling out the survey, however, the Selectmen feel the employees will have to suspend anonymity to some degree for the survey to be effective. Burton has discussed the survey with Attorney Kim Hallquist. She agrees the issues are probably personnel and thus qualify for non-public treatment. The department heads currently plan to give each employee a copy of the results. The Selectmen feel they are the responsible party to receive the surveys/data. Sharing is an
issue not yet resolved.
3. Johnson Temporary Trailer Permit-The Selectmen are willing to extend his temporary trailer permit from September 1, 2006 to June 1, 2008 and will send him a letter to that effect.
4. Rumore Lot Appeal-Gottesman & Hollis wrote saying they want to take the Selectmen’s decision regarding tax map 8, lot 77 to the ZBA and the Selectmen have no problem with that.
5. McLean Response-The Selectmen signed a letter to Judy McLean prepared by Burton. Judy complained about Highway Department damage to her property while working to unclog a culvert during the May rain event.
J. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Alarm System Inspection of Town Hall-John Briggs was in to test the panel, which short-circuited and blew out and was replaced. He will test the other town buildings soon.
2. May Rain Event Repair Estimates-Warren Bennet from FEMA prepared the final figures. Transfer Station $67,600 including engineering. Roads approximately $100,000. FEMA will pay 75% of the cost of each project. Warren still needs the benefits information.
3. Hazard Mitigation Plan Review-A questionnaire was received which is due back August 15. Burton will talk to Road Agent John Riendeau about it.
5. Saunders Pasture Management Plan-Betsy gave the plan to the Selectmen for review and comment. They see no problem with the plan. It includes waiving the usual timber tax.
6. Potential Lot Purchase- They might be interested in the $10,000 option if the abutters put up a majority of the price. The Open Space Committee questions whether an outright purchase of the property at the current price is appropriate.
K. OTHER:
1. The trailer on Old Coach Road across from the campground now has lights on the wood at night. The mess is now going into the right of way, which is a hazard, and they have also put in a second driveway. Building Inspector Ed Hunter spoke to Burton about it, as he has not had time to work on this. His hours will be increased 1 additional hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays and he will now work Wednesday mornings.
2. The unfenced pool on Bedford Road now has a fence around it.
3. Burton will remind Road Agent John Riendeau to work on the culvert at the lawn mower repair place on Bedford Road since they are finishing up paving at that end of Bedford Road.
4. Signs keep appearing on town right of ways.
5. Peter Baudanza needs a response.
L. PUBLIC COMMENT: No comments at this time.
M. ADJOURNMENT: Christine made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:56 PM. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Maralyn Segien
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