Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
February 25, 2008
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: Brandy Mitroff mentioned that New Hampshire Magazine named New Boston the best place in New Hampshire to raise a family.
C. APPOINTMENTS:
1. 7:00 PM Joe Wilson New Police Officer Swearing In
Police Chief Chris Krajenka introduced Officer Joe Wilson who is a certified officer formerly an officer in Manchester. He was here with his wife Ally and their one-month-old daughter. Joe has been working in town for one week. Joe was sworn in by Town Clerk Irene Baudreau.
Chris also mentioned the Department of Juvenile Justice grant he is applying for which would cover $21,435 for a weekend program for at-risk youth. No town match is needed. Prosecutor Rick Bailey and his wife will head the program. Chris will research the liability insurance issue. The Selectmen will sign the necessary paperwork when it is ready.
2. 7:15 PM Mike Sindoni & Mary Barone Evaluation
Recreation Director Mike Sindoni was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss Recreation Department Assistant Mary Barone’s recent evaluation. Mike is requesting assistance from town administration in the evaluation process as he finds it frustrating and inconsistent. He is encouraged that committees are working on evaluations and job descriptions. He said he feels disadvantaged in the evaluation process because he has only one evaluation to do and can only go by job description and his expectations of her job when doing the evaluation. On the other hand he feels he is the only person in town who could evaluate her because he works with her everyday and sees how she works and deals with the public. When he evaluated her for the Sept ’06-aug ’07 period he rated her as commendable but
maybe wasn’t as concise on the form as he could have been. He went through the categories on the form and rated half as commendable and half as competent. He rated her commendable because of how she has been handling new ways of promotion of recreation programs and ease of registration through the website. Mary has been trained on Virtual Town Hall and updates the recreation website periodically. She is also Kim Burkhamer’s backup for the town website. These duties will be added to her job description when it is updated. The on-line registration for recreation programs has been a major help to the recreation department and the number of on-line registrations continues to increase. She was asked to take on this role during this evaluation period and it has flourished. These were his reasons for rating her as commendable in this evaluation period. Her rating could return to competent in the future. He asked the
Board for their criteria in changing her rating from commendable to competent. The Selectmen referred him to the guidelines for commendable. They asked if the town should continue to use ratings to determine raise amounts. Mike said his focus tonight is not on compensation, he just wants to know why he was asked in a letter from the Selectmen to change her rating and suggested he compare her to her peers. He wondered who are her peers and was told other employees in business positions in town. Mike asked if the evaluation categories carry equal weight as he weights them differently. The Selectmen said the explanations he gave in the review weren’t detailed enough and if he had explained them as he has tonight it might have been treated differently. The Selectmen asked if the Recreation Commissioners had any input on the evaluation. Mike said he gave it to them for review and they suggested no changes. Mike asked if he
could have been invited to a Selectmen’s meeting to discuss it instead of being sent a letter asking him to change the rating and the Selectmen agreed that could have been a possibility. Fire Chief Dan MacDonald was present and stated this is not a money issue, it is a communication issue on the town administration side as Burton does not know the employees well enough and the evaluation should have been taken at face value and should communicate better to the Department Heads what is expected to be included in evaluations. The Selectmen referred him to the guidelines and said they are the appeals board and cannot be the review board as well. 6 out of 20 employees got commendable or outstanding ratings in this evaluation period. 2 of 20 were outstanding. Mike again asked for help in the evaluation process and asked to be told clearly and concisely through training or otherwise what needs to be done in this process. He finds the guidelines
confusing. He also suggested that the word competent should be changed to a more positive sounding word. Planning Coordinator Nic Strong is on the evaluations committee and said a representative from Primex is coming to meet with the evaluation committee March 7 at 1:00 pm to listen to issues and then they will come back with suggestions to improve. Burton and Gordon will also be involved with the committee. Recreation Commissioner Lee Brown was present and said the Commission reviewed the evaluation but was not aware of any of these current issues until last week and he wishes that Mike, Mary or the Selectmen had informed the Commission of these issues when they occurred. He said he works with Mary regularly and met with Mike today to discuss the issue and agrees with Mike’s original evaluation. He offered the Commissioners could also become involved if the Selectmen need additional input other than Mike on a Recreation Department
evaluation. Burton mentioned the new job descriptions would not list all expected duties either. Mike suggested job descriptions should be updated every year for accuracy. The employees were asked if it is a good idea to use the current rating system in evaluations. Nic suggested doing reviews in the spring with a follow up checklist with raise potential done in the fall. The committee can study this option. The committee plans to get information out to all departments and managers and administration in a consistent manner and easier to understand. She suggested when new Department Managers are hired they receive training on this in the future. The Department Heads requested that when the Selectmen have a differing opinion than a Department Head on an evaluation they ask the Department Head to meet with them instead of sending a letter asking for a rating to be changed. Mary asked if her compensation or rating will now be changed and
also asked what additional training or knowledge she should obtain to receive a commendable rating in the future. The Selectmen said there is not necessarily any set way to achieve a commendable rating because knowing your job won’t necessarily affect your rating, it is how you use that job knowledge in the performance of your duties. The employees are concerned they will not be motivated in their positions in the town in that case.
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. Minutes of February 11, 2008 - The Selectmen reviewed the minutes. Corrections were noted. David moved that they be accepted as amended. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
2. Non-Public Minutes of February 11, 2008 - The Selectmen reviewed the non-public minutes. David moved that they be accepted as amended. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
E. OLD BUSINESS:
1. Planning:
· The Planning Board discussed stormwater runoff management regulations and they are now ready for adoption by the Board. There is a drain between Dodge’s Store and the Fitness Center that is unknown who the owner is. Willard Dodge has been researching it and said he doesn’t know at this time but believes it is private. He suggested lifting the grates to see which direction the drains go down the road.
· The Doug Hill Construction issue was resolved with a 100-foot common driveway.
· A complaint from Heather Alton at 229 Joe English Road was reviewed concerning her neighbor Mr. Bilodeau’s cordwood business. Mr. Bilodeau will meet with the Planning Board tomorrow night to discuss it. He applied for and received a non-residential site plan permit for a weekend business but has now stockpiled logs that will rot before he can cut them. The non-residential site plan may need to be altered.
· The owner/developer at Indian Falls promised to repair the road issue under his control and expense.
2. Survey-
· The evaluation committee started. Gordon was unable to attend the first meeting. A speaker from Primex is coming to meet with them March 7 at 1:00.
· Burton is working on the personnel manual and is now ready to sit down with the Selectmen to review it. Then the Selectmen will meet with the committee again. It will be reviewed by town counsel at the very end of the process.
3. Church Parking-The Selectmen will send the church a letter confirming their position. Complaints have been received that the parking lot is not cleaned appropriately. The Selectmen feel the church ought to hire someone to clean the rear parking lot regularly. The town could then help pay the bill for it but will not know the amount it will contribute until usage is clarified and a cost established. Parking spots along Mill Street regularly used for patrons of the library could be more easily cleaned if cars are not parked there during cleaning. The town now plows those spots when the streets are plowed and they will be neatened up when the Highway Department neatens downtown with the loader. In addition it will be plowed at the same time the
library is shoveled (not by the Highway Department). There have been lots of complaints about the slipperiness of the front parking area. The library used to contribute approximately $400 to the church for plowing but Library Director Sara Chapman said she was unaware of the amount of Skip Gomes’ bill when he plowed regularly for the church. She said it appears the lot is plowed once per storm and no sand or salt is put down in the area. The Highway Department will be asked to put down some sand and salt in the area now. The Recreation Department sends money to the church to pay for rent and heat for use of the church room for recreation activities. They are not sure if any of the money is used toward plowing. Another option is the church could give the parking lot to the town.
4. Communications Meeting-Burton is trying to schedule a meeting between the Department Heads and the Selectmen during the day and is trying to get a facilitator. He suggested Lee Nyquist who is from town and moderates for a living. Nic is also looking for a facilitator, not Lee Nyquist, maybe Paul Porter who is retired from Manchester. Dave said if he is involved in the Supreme Court case of Porter v. Manchester he might not be a desirable choice either. Chris Krajenka expressed concern that scheduling the meeting is taking longer than originally stated at the last Selectmen’s meeting where this was discussed. Burton said other deadlines needed to be met before scheduling this. A preliminary meeting will be scheduled to discuss the choice of
facilitator.
F. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Temporary Trailer Ordinance-The Selectmen will review material prepared by Building Inspector Ed Hunter outlining how temporary trailer permit duties would become the responsibility of the Building Inspector.
2. LGC Multi Year Property-Liability Ins. Agreement-Postponed pending review. Renewal is not due until July.
G. OTHER:
1. The gravel permit process is coming up. Some pits didn’t get into compliance last year. Kim Burkhamer suggested holding one hearing for all the pits in compliance and another hearing for the pits that are not in compliance. The Selectmen agree to this plan. Town Attorney Bill Drescher is still reviewing the gravel pit ordinance.
2. Burton asked Dave to call and set up a non-public meeting regarding purchase of land for the town.
H. PUBLIC COMMENT: No comments at this time.
I. ADJOURNMENT: David made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 PM. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Maralyn Segien
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