Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
October 29, 2007
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 Christine Quirk 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 James Cavan Solid Waste Committee Appmt.
James Cavan was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss his application for a Solid Waste Committee Appointment. He said his experience was in manufacturing management at Gillette to prevent or alleviate environmental problems after he retired from the Navy. He trained factory workers to be sensitive to waste. He compares the Transfer Station to a factory and feels he can apply manufacturing management to the Transfer Station. He became interested in becoming involved with the Transfer Station after he retired from Gillette because he wants to make a contribution and continue doing his type of job in some capacity. Gordon moved to accept James Cavan to fill the fifth member position on the Solid Waste Committee for a three-year term. David seconded the motion. All were in favor.
2. 7:05 PM Edwards & Kelcey Lyndeborough Rd. Bridge
Mike Desrochers, John Wilson and Steve Halloran from Edwards & Kelcey were present to interview with the Selectmen, Road Agent John Riendeau and Tom Miller from the Road Committee on their ideas for repair of the Lyndeborough Road bridge in 2009. The bridge will be closed during construction with a detour route. Construction is expected to be completed before school starts in fall 2009. They identified the biggest issues with the current roadway and bridge were inadequate sight distance, structurally deficient bridge superstructure and it is only a 1-lane bridge. They presented that safe passageway would accommodate 2 lanes at a minimum bridge width of 20 feet and moving the roadway easterly on the Misty Meadow Road side would improve sight distance in the area. They have not yet determined where the
right of way is and are unsure of the right of way issues at this time. They suggested they could either use the existing abutments by cutting them and adding a new seat or the existing abutments could serve as a cofferdam. They also suggested covering the old abutment to match the new abutments. They expect all work to be done outside of the riverbed. In their plan they expanded the bridge width and length slightly and used riprap slopes instead of retaining walls and Uback retaining walls on one side with guardrail attached. They suggested timber v. concrete construction and recommend timber for this bridge. They also considered conspan which would require a 3rd beam in the river which they expect wouldn’t be allowed in the area. Other concrete/steel type bridges are options but this would eliminate use of the current abutments which would increase the cost so they decided these options were not optimum for this bridge.
The Selectmen then discussed choosing an engineering firm with John Riendeau and Tom Miller. Dave suggested John and Tom get an estimate of cost for services and references from the companies interviewed. John and Tom will research references and meet with the Selectmen again at the November 19 meeting. Tom has worked with these engineering firms before on other projects. He is concerned that timber won’t last long and feels the town might be better off going with a material that costs a little more but lasts longer than the timber bridge. He suggested a maintenance program to clean the salt and seal the town’s current wooden bridges periodically. The Selectmen are interested in that and will have John contact him for the specifics.
3. 8:00 PM Benefits Discussion
The benefits committee was present to report to the Selectmen. Spokesperson Mike Sindoni said the committee had reviewed 4 benefits so far.
Dental: They find the current plan lacking and suggest the town change to option 2a instead of the current option 5 offered by Delta Dental. This option doesn’t cover orthodontic but the committee hopes that more employees will use the flexible spending program for this. The committee was wondering if the town would cover the dental insurance premiums in the same way they cover health insurance premiums. Police Chief Chris Krajenka feels the current cost sharing is not adequate for hiring in his department. The Selectmen suggested the town will no longer cover any employee’s health insurance premium 100% once the final benefits have been decided. Fred Hayes said the school board did the same thing a few years ago when they were renegotiating teacher contracts. Burton will analyze cost
sharing ratios even though it was done last year and is on file. Health and dental insurance premiums will increase again this year. Fred suggested the town might save money by choosing a plan with higher deductibles and reimbursing the difference between the new deductible and old deductible to any employees who actually spend the entire deductible in a year.
Short and long term disability and life insurance have also been reviewed. Linda Sizemore asked the Selectmen for their permission to get a quote to increase life insurance coverage, which will be provided to give to the company. The committee will meet again.
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. Minutes of October 15, 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 15, 2007 - The Selectmen reviewed the non-public minutes. David moved that they be accepted. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
3. Minutes of October 22, 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.
4. Non-Public Minutes of October 22, 2007 - The Selectmen reviewed the non-public minutes. David moved that they be accepted. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor.
E. OLD BUSINESS:
1. Planning: None.
2. Survey-The Retirement Plan meeting will be held Wednesday night. Christine attended a meeting of the mission statement committee a month ago. The committee is still working on the mission statement and will meet again November 7.
3. Time Card-The Selectmen reviewed examples of time cards. Burton will ask Kim Burkhamer to design a new time card.
F. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Gravel Pit Use-Mary Pinkham-Langer from NH DOT says gravel pit owners can’t store material from other pits in a pit. Bo Strong has expressed concern about this and agrees to go to the Planning Board for a site plan review only if absolutely necessary. Dave said this was also discussed at a recent Road Committee meeting where they suggested it could be included in the new gravel pit ordinance. The Selectmen will ask the Planning Board if they would like to do this or if they want to make it a policy that it is ok for gravel pit owners to do this unless it contradicts the zoning ordinance. Burton will write to the Planning Board to put it on their agenda.
2. Saunders Hill Cemetery-The Selectmen will write to the Loddengaards to invite them to a Selectmen’s meeting to discuss the town’s policy of cemetery maintenance.
3. Footbridge Agreement-Sandi Van Scoyoc from the Livable Walkable Committee was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss an agreement with the Eggers that needs review and approval by town counsel to get the footbridge easement on the Eggers’ property. The Selectmen decided to ask Dwight Sowerby from Town Attorney Bill Drescher’s office to review the agreement. Sandi requested it be reviewed and ready before March to allow time to get word out about it in the New Boston Bulletin. Sandi will write a cover letter to send to town counsel with the agreement.
4. Maintenance Letter-Transfer Station Manager Gerry Cornett was present to meet with the Selectmen to review a memorandum to be sent to the Department Heads regarding the town building maintenance program. A letter was received from Bruce Tostevin regarding treatment of private haulers at the Transfer Station. Solid Waste Committee Chairman Joe Constance will respond.
5. Fiscal Impact Study-Administrative Services-The study was reviewed by Burton and the Selectmen and they will discuss it with Jack Munn from the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission at the meeting on Thursday at 9:30 AM.
G. OTHER:
1. The Community Church is planning to ask the town to plow their parking lot in exchange for the services the church provides to the town allowing the town to use space in their building.
2. Road Agent John Riendeau has his Bog Brook Road permit paperwork completed and filed with the NH DOT but the DOT has not yet approved them. The road cannot stay in its current condition through the winter. The Selectmen will call the person at DOT.
3. Susan Carr of the Energy Use Committee wrote to the Selectmen about placing a sign on the town common and will meet with the Selectmen at their next meeting to discuss the committee’s progress. The sign they request needs to meet the sign criteria and will be allowed on the common.
4. Burton asked if the Selectmen had any input or feedback for the newsletter committee. The only suggestion the Selectmen had was not to use e-mail for distribution.
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 10:10 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 11:00 PM. David seconded the motion. All were in favor.
K. ADJOURNMENT: Gordon made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 11:00 PM. David seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Maralyn Segien
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