Board of Selectmen’s Minutes 5/14/07
Town of New Boston
Selectmen’s Meeting
May 14, 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 selectman was called to order at 7:00, beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance.
B. Public Comment: Brandy Mitroff was looking for an update for the illegal drainage sites on Thornton Road. Brandy was told that a document was signed by the selectman and sent out. The drainage sites needed to be removed within 30 days. Brandy questioned what would happen if the sites were not removed. David Woodbury suggested that they would be plugged up.
C. Appointments:
1. 7:00pm John Sizemore Solid Waste Committee Applicant
John Sizemore was requesting an appointment to the New Boston solid waste committee. John understands the time requirements and is very motivated to be actively involved in the local government. John’s appointment is for a full member for a time frame of three years. David Woodbury moved that John A. Sizemore be appointed to the New Boston Solid Waste Committee as a member for a period of three years. Gordon Carlstrom seconds the motion. All were in favor.
2. 7:10 Solid Waste Committee
Joe Constance asked that in the future he receive notification from the Selectman stating that he is on the agenda, and that he needs to bring written documentation. Joe brought up the issue of paper as part of mandatory recycling. He stated that in the 1993 regulations paper is not listed as a group that needs to be recycled. In the tri-fold pamphlet that the Town sends out to the residents, paper is listed as being a mandatory item that needs to be recycled. Joe wants paper to get into the Town Ordinance. Joe also wants there to be an introduction in the pamphlet stating that in New Boston recycling is mandatory. He wants it stated that there are certain costs for the town to recycle. No matter what revenue is made to offset the costs, there still is a cost. Gordon stated that
there is cost avoidance. Joe’s second issue is the numbers. He wants there to be a revision of the system excluding things such as compost, metal, car batteries, etc. He wants these things explained better. Joe’s third issue is of recycling goals and average weights. Joe stated that people are confused. Joe thinks that there should be a survey done by the members of the Solid Waste Committee. The survey would be done on a voluntary basis possibly on a Saturday. Trash could be opened and weighted so that they could get a clearer idea of an average household weight. Joe’s fourth concern dealt with the current fee structure, especially the incentive system. He brought up the fact that revisions could be made, or possibly even throwing out the incentive program. Joe feels like a second public session may be nice to help better educate people and to make things clearer. Joe’s last concern is
the treatment of the visitors of the transfer station. Joe wants the service to be polite, courteous, and fair. Joe believes that regular or semi-regular management seminars could be beneficial to the head and staff members of the Transfer Station. Joe stated that he volunteered at the Transfer Station and found that the visitors and employees were both very polite. He said that the visitors of the transfer station did have a lot of questions. Joe stated that he will have the tri-fold pamphlet updated for next week. Joe believes that the next informational session should be another selectman meeting. Information would be provided to people on topics such as the incentive program. The Selectman feel that there should be an agenda to follow for this meeting so that things stay on track. Joe stated that Willard Dodge brought up the need for an independent review of the operation of the transfer station. Gerry Cornett has
volunteered to have this done at any time. Joe states that there are many ways to do this. On a low level, members of the Solid Waste Committee could do it. Joe does not think that this is a good idea. Someone from the Department of Environmental Services could do it, or the NH Municipal Authority. Joe thinks that the town should see how the second informational session goes. If many people still have a lot of questions, and feel that things are not being done right, than the review should be done. Carlstrom mentions where the commodities go, and asks Joe if the Solid Waste Advisory Committee talked about it. Joe says that the town charges the manager of the transfer station with finding a suitable source for doing the town’s business. Joe does not feel that the Solid Waste Advisory Committee should review commodity placement decisions. Carlstrom feels that the advisory committee should give a second opinion.
Carlstrom feels like this is what an advisory committee should do. Woodbury agrees. He feels like the advisory committee should give their advice. The Selectman are not looking for putting any responsibility on the committee. They just want another opinion as to whether doing business with a vendor other than LIRRA is in the best interest of the town. Joe says that the committee can do this. Brandy asked if there was any idea when the next informational session would be held, and if questions about the ratios and incentive programs will be answered. The Selectman stated that it will take about a month to do a survey. Therefore, this information will probably be available by the end of June. Brandy suggested that the meeting be set up for the first week in July. Everyone agreed that this date should work. There was much discussion on the accuracy and value of the proposed survey. Some people question
whether such a survey will tell much. Carlstrom believes that the most accurate percentage figures are based on all trash that comes into the facility. There was also a lot of discussion on the incentive program. Some feel that it is a positive thing, while others don’t like it. Willard Dodge said that he feels it is a horrible idea. He said that haulers have no control over what they pick up. Sally Delevan of Capitol Trash and Recycling said that the incentive program gives them absolutely no real incentive to meet the recycling rate. Explaining the numbers to people will be discussed at the July meeting. Selectman signed a contract with Clean Harbor, for $5,800 to handle commodities brought in on hazardous waste day. Hazardous Waste Day will be on June 23, and will be held at the Highway Department this year instead of the Transfer Station.
D. Approval of Minutes: Gordon Carlstrom requested that the minutes be put in a more coherent form because they were difficult to follow. Burton Reynolds and Christine Quirk discussed earlier that Burton could put them in their more typical format as long as everyone else thought that the changes that Burton made were fine. All agreed that this would be good. A summary of the meeting that was held upstairs will be attached.
E. Old Business:
1. Planning
· On May 1st there was a site walk for the New Boston Health and Wellness Center. The Wellness Center will be buying the property on 18 High Street. They are planning on selling and having the barn removed to make room for a parking lot. The center needs at least 11 parking spaces. Shrubbery will be planted to help shield the road. The Wellness Center will place their facility in the existing house.
· 110 River Road, Lisa Jeck’s place. Lisa is opening a spiritual growth and development workshop home business. The only concern that the planning board had was parking and lighting. The parking and lighting were found to be fine.
· Susan Road site walk. This is a continuation of a development. There was already a site walk for this site, but because of new members on the planning board another site walk was scheduled for Thursday May 17th. The conservation commission had a lot of concerns for this site because of the wetland crossings and wildlife issues.
· Future plan for the master plan recommendation. There will be a committee started to study the village district, residential, agricultural, and open space districts. Nic made it clear at the planning board meeting that the board needs to be more involved in these committees because these committees need to be in line with what direction the planning board wants them to head in. One of the brand new members, Mr. Levin, on the board is willing to be on this committee.
· Major sub-division of 3 lots on Beard and Gregg Mill Road. David Woodbury mentions that there may be site distance issues with two lots. Christine Quirk said that this did not seem to be a problem with the site distance where they had the current driveways placed. The only possible issue is runoff onto the roads. The two house lots on the top of the hill are close together and the developer clear cut the top of the hill. There may need to be barriers put up before anymore development is done. The sub-division was approved.
· 13 lot sub-division Indian Falls Road. This sub-division is a continuation of an 8 lot sub-division. There will be another road placed within the sub-division. All the roads need to be checked before a certificate of occupancy is given. David Woodbury questioned the legality on this, but Burton Reynolds said that it was discussed with attorney Bill Drescher.
· Major subdivision of Indian Falls road.
· Site plan review for the eyelash extension home business on 5 Orchard View Road. All the criteria were met and were approved.
· Susan Road, major sub division of 8 lots. Site walk scheduled for Thursday May17th.
· The Health and Wellness Center came back in front of board after the site walk because they are going in front of the ZBA to get approval for a two foot addition to their porch area. They want to take out a screened in porch area, add two feet, and then remodel the space to make more room.
· Compliance Hearing, condos on Kettle Lane. This was approved.
· Misc. - Driveway permit for Hutchinson Road. There was a concern because the engineer certified that the driveway was 12.5%, but John said it was 8.5%. A site walk was taken, and the driveway was measured by the planning board. While using a smart level, the driveway was measured at 8% at the beginning of the driveway. Further down the driveway it was 12% on the left side and 14% on the right side. The driveway goes right into a garage. Another driveway in the area was measured and was found to have 18% grade going up. One of the houses that is currently occupied has a driveway with a slope of 14%. There seems to be a large issue within
this development. It was suggested that if these as built driveways don’t meet the specifications required, than these houses should not receive occupancy permits. Due to the slopes in the area, all of these houses were supposed to be built at specified levels. There is a question on who should be checking these houses. Woodbury suggested asking the building department if it is there responsibility to check these sites. John Bunting suggested that when the foundation is poured, an out of town surveyor should be hired to check the work done. The cost should be occurred by the builder. Gordon Carlstrom mentions that it may be difficult, if not impossible, to get emergency vehicles up these driveways if they do not meet the correct specifications. Burton spoke with Nic and Nic says that the focus should be on the fact that the engineers are saying that the grade is fine, but the town is finding otherwise. Woodbury asked how
many houses have occupancy permits. Quirk says that there are 3 or 4 houses with occupancy permits. It was said that all other houses are going to need to stay empty until all the levels are taken and found to meet specifications. There is currently nothing that can be done to the houses that already have occupancy permits. It was suggested that when the foundations of new houses are first put in, it is then when everything should be measured. If it does not meet the specifications required, the foundations should be torn out and started over. The earlier that the issue is caught the better. Burton said that he will check on all these issues.
· Steve LaBranche Byam Road Map 6 Lot 41-4.
Steve was requesting that the guard rail be moved back approximately four to six feet from current location, and also for the guard rail to have a tighter radius. This is being requested so that he can put in a driveway for the site. Steve clarified that he did not want the guard rail removed; he only wanted to have it moved back. David Woodbury asked who would be responsible for the cost of this. Steve replied that Thibeau Construction would be responsible. Steve said that John had already signed off on the driveway permit. David Woodbury asked what kind of hazards moving the guard rail back would cause. Woodbury stated that he would feel better if he went to the site to take a look. Christine Quirk asked if Steve had gone to the planning board. Steve said that he spoke
with Nic and that Nic told him that it was in the paper work and that he should just show up to the meeting in case the selectman had any questions. The site is on map 6, lot 41-4. Burton said that he would speak with Nic and would be then be able to get back to Steve, but the selectman need a copy of the plan.
· David Woodbury was invited by Dick Moody to attend a meeting of the historical society. The historical society is interested in getting together a historic district commission. They were discussing registering the buildings in the center of town that were replacements of the buildings burned in 1887. The historic society is talking with people who are interested in historic preservation in hopes to get this project started. The historic society wants everyone to understand that this is not an attempt to regulate the town. This is just an attempt to have these building registered so they can be appreciated for what they are. Burton mentioned that
the planning board is currently working with southern NH planning on a village district concept. It may be a good idea to see if they can work together.
2. Gravel permits/use of pits for recreation.
There was discussion on the use of using gravel pits off hours for four wheeling, motorcycles, etc. Specifically, the Thibeault pit going through Bo Strong’s pit. The selectman received a letter from T-Vo stating that he only gave four employees permission to use the pit. If people don’t have written permission than they are trespassing. Willard Dodge said that they have had many issues at their pit. He said that he was concerned that someone could get hurt and could then sue them. Willard also said that his parking lot gets chewed up by the ATVs. Willard said that he welcomes anyone on foot or on horseback. He said that these people don’t cause any problems. Willard does have no trespassing signs up, but it does not differentiate between ATVs
and people walking. Willard said that he should put up signs that say no motorized vehicles allowed. David Woodbury said that they should probably speak with the police chief and see what kinds of signs he recommends.
3. Employee Survey-Process update
Burton said that at the department head meeting there was progress made on the department head portion, but there is still some work to be done. The employees had a meeting. Kathy said that she would put together a summary that included everyone’s input. When this is done, everyone will meet with the department heads and then they will meet with the selectman.
F. New Business:
1. FEMA (rain event damage).
John Reindeau and Burton Reynolds went to the Bedford meeting. They completed a form saying that the town had damage. This form was needed so that FEMA would come and review the damage. Burton should receive notification of a FEMA representative this week. Arrangements will then be made for FEMA to come and look things over. FEMA will work with Burton on allocating funds to certain areas. There are certain areas where there was damage last year and then again this year. In these cases mitigation may need to be done. The road committee may need to meet and discuss the areas where there was major damage last year and this year. They could discuss what is currently in place or recommend something new. They could then take these areas to FEMA and discuss possible
mitigation programs. There are some other areas where material got washed off the road. There was discussion on whether or not this material should be removed. This will be discussed with FEMA. Burton originally stated that there was about $400,000 worth of damage, because he was not sure of any damage to the bridges. Now Burton estimates that there is about $150,000-200,000 worth of damage.
2. Downtown Cistern Survey Work
The selectman are not sure who should pay the $900 for a site survey of a spot along Meetinghouse Hill Road for a cistern placement. At the last meeting the selectman questioned if the school would be interested in splitting the cost. Todd is thinking that this is on town property. No one is quite sure who owns the property on the hill. Burton spoke with Dan McDonald and stated that there is a $2000 misc. fund. He said that some of this has already been spent and that more of it will need to be spent in the future. If the town had to pay the $900.00 it would take up almost half of this money. Burton asked Dan if the fire department would consider splitting, or coming up with a portion of the cost. Burton said that Dan seemed to be willing to pay a portion of this, but he
did not want to pay the majority of it. It is important to find out who owns the property on the hill. Burton said that he will propose to Dan that he pay a couple hundred of this cost, and the town will pay the rest.
3. Replacement Flag Poles for War Memorial.
The flag poles will be replaced at some point this week or the beginning of next week. They will be replaced before Memorial Day.
4. Tape Recorder for Meetings.
The Selectman agreed to look for something a little more hi-tech to record the meetings. This will also be discussed with Nic since the planning board also uses the recorder. David Woodbury also asked when it would be appropriate for the town to by an amplifier system since the town is always borrowing one.
G. Other:
1. The signs on Hooper Hill Road are folded up. There is a question whether or not the road is now opened or it is closed. The town was trying to keep the traffic down on the road. The road should be paved soon by Continental Paving. Burton said that he will touch base with the highway department.
2. Town Hall Drainage. There was a blow out during the last storm. There was a question whether or not the drain will be rerouted or replaced. Burton said that the town will be speaking with FEMA to see what their thought is on it. The town currently does not have any money in the budget to fix it. John did say that he would measure it, and give the cost of a pipe. John said that they should be able to do the work, but they would have to rent an excavator. There is a concern that this system could fail in the future if it does not get replaced
3. Burton reminded everyone that there is a gravel hearing tomorrow night and on Thursday night.
4. Gordon Carlstrom stated that the selectman were given a packet by Nic that contained background information on the Herget-Hayse rock picking operation. Mary Pinkham-Langer pointed out in a letter that they are not a true excavation because they are not digging into the earth. They are taking rocks from on top of the earth. They still qualify under 155E. Mary suggests that the selectman could make some exceptions to the rules and regulations on how they will be handled, based on the fact that they are not digging into the earth, they are only taking things on top of it. Gordon says that the selectman need to read over the packets and then talk to him so he can get back to them.
5. David Woodbury says that Nicky suggested that when memos are received that people get some kind of response back. Using e-mail was suggested as a good way to respond back to people.
6. Boston Post Cane will be given to Rhoda Shaw Clark, at the church this Thursday at 12:30. One more cane was ordered and was in. The cost of the cane was $105.00.
7. Burton reminds Carlstrom, Woodbury and himself, that they owe $13.25 for Don Sims dinner.
8. Burton says that Ann has been looking for a deputy tax collector. Karen Haselton was relieved of this position, and Mary Berone will take over her position. Ann wrote a letter to the selectman requesting the approval to appoint Mary Burone. David Woodbury moved to appoint Mary. The motion was seconded by Gordon Carlstrom. All were in favor.
H. Public Comment:
1. Will Chapman spoke of the validity of the numbers that make up the 60/40 recycle rate. Will recommends that the board takes a look at the cause of the distrust; otherwise none of the numbers will be meaningful. Christine Quirk says that his recommendations will be taken into consideration.
I. Adjournment:
Carlstrom made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:45. Woodbury seconded the motion. All were in favor.
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