Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
November 13, 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 Gerry Cornett Transfer Station
Transfer Station Manager Gerry Cornett was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss projects at the Transfer Station.
· The tri-axle has been installed on the trash trailer. Jeff Denning will take it for its final inspection and overweight permit on Thursday. It is hauling small loads until this is done. Gerry discussed sanding and painting the trailer that is expected to cost approximately $11,500 including exterior paint and a front landing gear change to steel rollers. The budget should be able to cover it.
· John Strong removed three trees at the transfer station entrance over the weekend. Gerry wants to take more trees down next year. Some trees in the circle will be removed soon. The lumber from the trees now belongs to the Recreation Department.
· The brush chip pile is shrinking as 5 loads have been taken out so far and brought to a facility that will turn it into low-grade mulch. Gerry plans to chip brush every year in the future and hopes to find a company that can chip and remove all the brush in 1 day. The cost for this brush chip and removal was $5,700 for 2 years worth of brush.
· The commercial haulers have improved their recycling rate. Now 40-50% of their loads are recycled. The incentive program is motivating them and is not costing the town anything as the town is reimbursed when they cash in the recyclables and bia a reduction in trash that we pay to get rid of.
· Gerry has the material to put a roof over the C&D area and plans to start the work this year. This will help reduce water weight in the C&D. The cost to remove C&D is expected to keep going up.
· The pick up truck was sold for $500.
· The low spot near the scale office will be repaved as the first attempt did not raise it high enough to allow for proper drainage.
· Gerry is encountering some recycling enforcement issues, as some people seem to have given up on recycling. The Selectmen will send out the town form letter to these people encouraging them.
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. Minutes of October 30, 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.
E. OLD BUSINESS:
1. Planning: Dave will begin his term on the Planning Board tomorrow night.
2. Employee Surveys-The Selectmen have reviewed the results of the employee surveys and are trying to decide how to give the information to the employees. They will check with the department heads on if the comments included with the survey answers should be released to the employees. The Selectmen noticed that a lot of employees are interested in the NH retirement Plan and they will get information on the plan to see if it is something to offer to the employees. Workload and resources seem to be concerns for the department heads per their survey answers. Other issues brought up in the survey are rewards and recognition programs, politics, salary, communication between the Selectmen, Town Administrator and employees. The Selectmen should make sure
the employees know when they make a decision, not the Town Administrator, and this could be done through a memo or something else. The Selectmen will discuss this further. The department heads might want to come in to discuss the results with the Selectmen. The Selectmen will ask the department heads to list the issues they feel should be worked on.
3. Finalize 2007 Salary Ranges-Brandy Mitroff was concerned at the Finance Committee meeting that more department heads are not salaried employees. Burton explained at the Selectmen’s meeting that this was investigated many years ago and it was found that salary or hourly pay depends on the amount of time spent doing administrative tasks and making decisions and each department was looked into and each position was decided to be exempt or not depending on how the department heads spend their time. Burton distributed material regarding police salaries for the Selectmen’s review and said there is a strong correlation between the Local Government Center’s material and the information Police Chief Chris Krajenka obtained in his salary survey.
Chris is scheduled to meet with the Finance Committee on November 30 to discuss salaries he wants for his new hires. However, it is not up to Finance to approve the salaries. Dave suggested all Selectmen should attend that meeting. Chris has also been concerned with the percentage the town pays for health insurance as larger communities pay 100%. The Transfer Station Manager salary is a concern and Gerry’s position may be restructured at review time. This topic will be reviewed again after the Selectmen review the police information.
4. Exemption Limits- Gail Stout, the tax collector in Amherst who lives in New Boston, has been working with New Boston’s tax collector Ann Charbonneau to come up with a calculation to revise the elderly exemption. She said she took the old exemptions and increased them by the town revaluation (in other words multiplied by 2.2). Ann sent her the new figures to review and Gail is expected to reply tomorrow. Increases in exemption limits will be placed on the March 2007 Warrant.
F. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Deliberative Session Snow Date-Town Moderator Lee Nyquist is unavailable for the date of the snow date, February 6 and asked if the Selectmen could move the snow date to Friday night or Saturday. Dave might be in Canada the beginning of that week and will let Burton know the dates. The Deliberative Session is required to take place the first week of February by law.
G. OTHER:
1. The culvert is in on Bedford Road and the driveways paved.
2. A foundation has asked to plant an elm tree in town to try to bring back elm trees. The Selectmen suggested the cemetery might be a good place to plant it. Grass is now growing at the cemetery. The stones on top of the stonewall are moving and may need to be capped.
H. PUBLIC COMMENT: No comments at this time.
I. Move to enter Non-Public Session: Gordon made a motion to go into Non-Public session per RSA 91-A:3II(a) at 9:35 PM to discuss input for the Department Head reviews and the Lull Road litigation. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
J. Move to exit Non-Public Session: Gordon made a motion to exit Non-Public Session at 10:34 PM. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
L. ADJOURNMENT: Christine made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:35 PM. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Maralyn Segien
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