Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
October 1, 2007
PRESENT: Gordon Carlstrom Selectman
David Woodbury Selectman
Christine Quirk Selectman Absent
Burton Reynolds Town Administrator
A. CALL TO ORDER: A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was called to order by Gordon Carlstrom at 7:28PM beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance.
B. PUBLIC COMMENT:
Brandy Mitroff was present to speak to the Selectmen about the plans to cut down the white fir tree on the common. She left a petition at Dodge’s Store today asking the town to prevent its removal from the common and has already received many many signatures. The Selectmen decided not to cut the tree down. Jon Strong has offered to donate stringing Christmas lights for the tree. Bartlett sent a quote for $300-400 for this. Dick Moody asked if Goffstown would bring their ladder truck for an exercise and put up the lights. However, it is doubtful they would do this every year.
C. APPOINTMENTS:
1. 7:00 PM Gerry Cornett Transfer Station
Gerry Cornett was present to meet with the Selectmen to update them on projects at the Transfer Station.
· A $5800 check was received from a vendor for 1 load of aluminum cans. The paper loads average $2000 every 3 weeks.
· Burton sent a letter to Capitol Trash telling them the town is looking into their request for a refund. Gerry hasn’t had time to do the math yet. Burton and Gerry will meet this week to work on it. Capitol Trash requests a refund for charges going back to 2005 before they changed the company name to Capitol Trash. They admitted they brought recyclables in from other towns to improve their recycle rates. Information on paper recycling was given to them and the public via the annual trifold. They feel they shouldn’t have to recycle paper but Capitol Trash has been sold.
· The new J&J Trailer is being inspected. It is expected to get its overweight permit next Tuesday.
· Weare and New Boston will purchase new stickers for residents’ cars allowing them to bring materials to the Transfer Station. New Boston owes Weare $800 for tipping glass but Carl at the Weare Transfer Station has asked if New Boston could purchase their stickers for them as they are purchasing the same type from the same company in lieu of paying the $800. The Selectmen agreed to this and asked Gerry to write a memo for the file. 2500 stickers will be purchased for New Boston and 6000 will be purchased for Weare.
· The Selectmen reviewed the revised Transfer Station Ordinance and it is ready to go on the March 2008 Warrant.
· The Transfer Station backhoe arrived Thursday. It cost $16,900. There was an issue with the extend-a-arm but the part is being shipped immediately.
· 1 bid was received for the MSW contract. Gordon moved to accept the contract with Denning. David seconded the motion. All were in favor.
· Burton gave Gerry a brochure from a company that does what GZA does (landfill monitoring) to compare services. Gerry will also look into another company in Henniker.
· The above ground storage tank permitting is almost ready to be submitted to the state.
2. 7:30 PM John Riendeau Highway Department
Road Agent John Riendeau was present to meet with the Selectmen to update them on projects the Highway Department is working on.
· John is still talking to NH DES about the Bog Brook Road bridge replacement permit. He will go to Concord to meet with the person in charge of his permit if necessary. He will talk to her again tomorrow.
· John is planning to apply for emergency DES permits for the culverts on Tucker Mill Road. These were damaged during the spring flood. The state recommended immediate repair and partial closure. John might get Bob Foote to help with some welding on the repair of the culverts.
· John has been talking to NH Fish and Game about the Howe Bridge project. The floater mussel study they request may be unnecessary as the project is not planned to go into the water, they will stay on the bank.
· Spring flooding in the riverbank by the Depot Street Bridge is causing problems and knocked down a retaining wall. This might be state property. John will call Tom Mansfield of NH DOT to meet with him and look at it.
· Clark Hill Road was resurfaced. Lull Road will be resurfaced by October 24. Bog Brook will hopefully be done soon.
· The Highway Department plans to do the drainage on Thornton Road next week. John is meeting with the Mitchie representative tomorrow about it.
· John met with potential engineers at the Lyndeborough Road Bridge on September 25. Interviews are scheduled for October 22. Tom Miller who works for NH DOT and is on the Road Committee is willing to sit in on the interviews.
· John received a quote of $52 per ton for salt. He will get more quotes and will ask Amherst what they use as an alternative for salt treatment on roads.
· The Highway Department did some work on Lull Road to prevent icing like what happened there a few years ago. They also replaced a culvert on Lull Road. An excavator was rented for that project.
· The roadside mowing is done.
· A lot of grading is done.
· The temporary grade stakes on Cemetery Hill Road were removed.
3. 8:00 PM Chief Krajenka Police Department
Police Chief Chris Krajenka was present to meet with the Selectmen to update them on projects at the Police Department.
D. Move to enter Non-Public Session: Gordon made a motion to go into Non-Public session per RSA 91-A:3II(a) at 8:36 PM. David seconded the motion. All were in favor.
E. Move to exit Non-Public Session: David made a motion to exit Non-Public Session at 9:15 PM. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
· The Highway Department recently landscaped the front yard.
· Chris and some other officers recently attended an advanced driver training program that was excellent. They also offer a modified program for teenage drivers.
· Officer Fussell sends his appreciation to the Selectmen and town employees for their support during a difficult time.
· The Police Department is still moving forward on the accreditation process. They are working with the Administrative Assistant from Dunbarton who has been coming in to help with the files.
· Tom May at TD Banknorth spearheaded junior police week. $2000 was raised so far.
· The vehicle maintenance budget is overspent because the braking system in the vehicles failed and also affected the tires. The Selectmen suggested Chris talk to a Ford zone representative. Chris will also talk to other police departments to see if they have had the same problem.
· Chris is still moving forward on the second antenna grant. Chris got the information AT&T needed from the Dodge’s but hasn’t been able to get through to the correct person at AT&T to give her the information yet.
· Project 54 is moving forward and the equipment will be installed around Thanksgiving. The old laptops will be cleaned and given new hard drives.
· The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention grant was awarded to New Boston. The officers will work with the recreation department, school and Kim Craven (who wrote the grant) mentoring kids in general and targeting at-risk youth.
· The new sign at the Police Department is installed.
· The Police Department open house is scheduled for October 20. Hannaford and Wal-Mart will donate refreshments. A sample car 54 might be available for residents to view.
· Chris and the Selectmen reviewed a letter to Mr. Macieski and will send it.
· Chris will be out of town Friday.
F. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. Minutes of September 17, 2007 - The Selectmen reviewed the minutes. Corrections were noted. David moved that they be accepted as amended. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
2. Non-Public Minutes of October 1, 2007 - The Selectmen reviewed the non-public minutes. Gordon moved that they be accepted. David seconded the motion. All were in favor.
G. OLD BUSINESS:
1. Planning:
· Gordon doesn’t have information to report to the board, as he was unable to attend the last meeting.
2. CIP Update-The Selectmen reviewed a spreadsheet showing when the departments’ CIPs are expected to begin and the amounts for each year from 2008-2013.
3. Survey-2 meetings took place regarding insurance. One option is a second higher tier employees could purchase for dental insurance that includes an orthodontic option. An opt out option was discussed for health insurance where if an employee decides not to get health insurance through the town policy the employee would get more than the current $500. The committee will research what surrounding towns do in this situation. Short term and long-term disability and life insurance are not offered in all surrounding towns. Most surrounding towns pay more for dental insurance than New Boston does. The pay plus benefits (the whole compensation package) has to be considered when comparing with other towns.
A representative from the NH Retirement Plan presented to the employees recently. The committee and employees haven’t had a discussion yet regarding what it all means. If someone is a conservative investor the plan might sound like the plan for them but the rate really isn’t enough. The annual conference in November will have a segment on this subject. Burton will attend and get updated information then.
H. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Lyndeborough Road Bridge Engineering Presentation Date-October 22
2. Context Sensitive Solutions Meeting Date-October 17 at 7:00 PM.
3. Annual Conference Presentations to Attend-The Selectmen reviewed brochures explaining the presentations offered at the Annual Conference in November and decided Burton, David and Gordon will attend the following presentations: Retirement, Values Based Management in NH, Seeing Eye to Eye Having Effective Conversations, Legislative Update, GIS, Activating Your Energy Committee, Innovative Land Use, Court Update, Monitoring Financial Reporting, Municipal Licensing of Junkyards, How to Get Your Employees to Say I Love my Job, Enforcement of Land Use Ordinances, What’s New In Municipal MAP Program, Stormwater Management. David will attend Wednesday and Burton and Gordon will attend Wednesday and Thursday.
2. Non-Public (Employee Review Input)-The Selectmen decided to discuss this at a later meeting as this meeting was going very late into the night.
I. OTHER:
1. Brandy Mitroff discussed her concerns about one of the employee’s work arrangements and the resulting effects on their daycare arrangement as well as the town employee daycare policy in general. Burton will ask the Local Government Center about the legal ramifications of allowing various work arrangements and its affect on other employees in a similar situation that could do their job as well at home as at the office.
2. The Supervisors of the Checklist are putting in time because they must by law add the date of birth to each record. The budget doesn’t have money for that.
3. Nic asked if the Selectmen would agree to release a copy of Town Attorney Bill Drescher’s letter regarding off-site improvements to Pat Panciocco Attorney for Right Way Builders. The Selectmen feel it is ok to give it to her because it is not in litigation. They will check with Bill to see if he feels it is sensitive information.
4. Bill Drescher reported the Beard Road case was decided in the town’s favor.
5. Burton is meeting with the boy scouts on Friday for an energy evaluation of the town hall to help them in their work for Dean Kamen’s Lego project.
6. The Selectmen decided the department heads should use $2.60 per gallon for gasoline and $2.80 per gallon when working on their budget for next year.
7. Alternative Geometric Roadway Design Standards will be in the Selectmen’s read folder for the Selectmen’s review. This will be discussed at the October 9 Planning Board meeting.
8. The list of paving projects Burton has been working on will be in the Selectmen’s read folder for review.
J. PUBLIC COMMENT: No comments at this time.
K. ADJOURNMENT: David made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 11:30 PM. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Maralyn Segien
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