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Board of Selectmen's Minutes 04/07/2008
Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
April 7, 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 Gordon Carlstrom 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             Forestry Committee

Vice Chair of the Forestry Committee Tom Lazott and several members of the Forestry Committee were present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss changes they propose for the procedure of filing an intent to cut.  Tom said the committee usually reviews the intents to cut at their monthly meetings when a lot of times the cut has already occurred.  The committee wanted to make a better process for review.  They researched the applicable RSAs and what other towns are doing and proposed a letter and informational packet to be given to an applicant for an intent to cut and ask for a map to be attached to the intent.  They hope this will make the process more efficient.  Tom showed the Selectmen an example of an intent to cut that is currently acceptable but which the committee feels is inadequate.  Members of the committee are willing to review the intents outside of their meeting schedule when necessary and the committee will work on the review process schedule further.  Kim Burkhamer was present and said there are not a lot of intents to cut filed regularly and she doesn’t expect them to increase.  She also doesn’t expect loggers and landowners to be very upset about the proposed changes.  She said the new process will help her in her job assessing timber and will make it easier for the town to determine when to hire the town forester.  The Selectmen are willing to try the new process but were concerned that loggers and landowners would find the new process to be a hassle and suggested they should be educated about the new process.  Perhaps some guidelines for when an intent needed the additional information and more thorough review thus allowing clearly minr cuts to be processed quickly.  Kim will send the informational packet to the loggers and landowners who ask for intents to cut regularly.  The Selectmen thanked the committee for taking the initiative to improve this process.

2.  7:30 PM             Gravel Hearings

A public hearing was noticed in the paper to issue gravel permits for the JFM Company on Bunker Hill Road, HJG Strong Brothers on Riverdale Road, Middle Branch Associates on Middle Branch Road, Riverside Sand and Gravel on River Road, Hillsborough County 4-H Foundation on River Road, Tingley Family Trust on Mont Vernon Road, Townes Family Trust on Lyndeborough Road, Strong, Carolyn, Nathan and Nicola on Lyndeborough Road, Houghton, Rita and Warren on Lyndeborough Road, Granite State Concrete on Lyndeborough Road, Townes, Charles on 2nd NH Turnpike and Joe English Stone on Summit Drive. The meeting was called to order at 7:34 PM.  The purpose of the meeting is to issue gravel permits for the pits mentioned in the notice and to solicit comments from the pit owners and abutters.  All the mentioned pits are in compliance.  Jay Marden expressed concern about the exposure of the Tingley pit to traffic traveling on Route 13 north where trees are falling down into the river.  It was his understanding two years ago that cutting would not continue and the view would be reclaimed.  He believes excavation has continued since then and more of the pit has been exposed to the view of travelers on Route 13 north.  He said this should be a concern to the Selectboard as it is to himself and other residents and this area should be preserved as a scenic part of town as the Thibeault pit on River Road is doing.  Sue Tingley was present and said the berm was reinforced two years ago and high winds and weather have caused some additional trees to fall down the embankment, exposing the brim, and they plan to repair that.  She said that area is not being dug and they know what they have to do to clean the area and are working on it but it has been slow so far due to the long winter.  Dave Elliot was present and said it is unreasonable to expect travelers to drive by and not be able to notice a pit and thinks the Tingley operation should continue because the road is higher than the pit in that area.  Gordon said up until a couple of years ago travelers couldn’t see into the pit.  Sue offered to lower the access road if necessary so it wouldn’t be seen from the road.  Jay expressed concern about a lack of buffers in the future.  The Selectmen said no changes to the permit will be made tonight but that pit is held to a different standard than some other pits because a buffer is important in that area compared to the location of other pits but the Selectmen want to make sure it is handled with the best management practices.  Chris Stuart from Francestown was present representing JFM Company on Bunker Hill Road asked if the pits would be allowed to work on reclaiming and stripping but no trucking from 12-5:00pm on Saturdays.  The pit owners said the restrictions on their hours make it hard to make a living.  The Selectmen said the pits cannot be in operation beyond the permitted hours at this time but this can be reviewed as part of the gravel ordinance review.  They discussed the possibility of allowing work one Saturday per month or permits could be given for occasional Saturdays on a case by case basis as the Selectmen do want reclamation done.  Burton notified the pit owners that the gravel ordinance is not yet completed but when it is they will be invited in again to discuss it.  Kim mentioned that DES has a question on the site specific only for Warren Houghton and she will speak to Craig and Anna Herrero again on it soon.  Building Inspector Ed Hunter will visit each pit this year to make sure they are running in compliance with their permits.  The public hearing was closed at 8:12 PM.  David moved the board accept the applications for gravel permits for the JFM Company on Bunker Hill Road, HJG Strong Brothers on Riverdale Road, Middle Branch Associates on Middle Branch Road, Riverside Sand and Gravel on River Road, Hillsborough County 4-H Foundation on River Road, Tingley Family Trust on Mont Vernon Road, Townes Family Trust on Lyndeborough Road, Strong, Carolyn, Nathan and Nicola on Lyndeborough Road, Houghton, Rita and Warren on Lyndeborough Road, Granite State Concrete on Lyndeborough Road, Townes, Charles on 2nd NH Turnpike and Joe English Stone on Summit Drive.  Christine seconded the motion.  All were in favor.  The Selectmen will sign the permits and mail them to the pit owners.

D.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

        1.  Minutes of March 24, 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 March 24, 2008 - The Selectmen reviewed both sets of non-public minutes.  David moved that they be accepted as amended.   Christine seconded the motion.  All were in favor.

E.  OLD BUSINESS:

1.         Planning:
Christine reported Doug Hill’s matter couldn’t be done at the last meeting and will be done at tomorrow night’s meeting.  They worked on a couple miscellaneous items at the last meeting.  Gordon will attend tomorrow night’s meeting with Christine.
2.          Survey-
·       Gordon met with the benefits committee who suggested part timers working 18 hours per week and up should receive prorated sick days.  Some surrounding towns do that.  This will be reviewed again at the next Selectmen’s meeting.
·       The employees still seem interested in the NH Retirement Plan v. 401Ks.  Dave attended the retirement committee meeting where Jack Herzog from AIG, formerly from Nationwide, spoke about the problems with customer service Nationwide has been having since they laid off many salespeople in 2000.  Bill Gleason from Modern Woodsmen Company spoke saying he writes plans and the NH Retirement Plan is better than his plan.  Tamara McRae spoke about the NH Retirement Plan and the employees seemed interested because less money comes out of their paycheck toward retirement and they don’t have to know how to invest.  The Selectmen feel if the employees want to change to the NH Retirement Plan they will have to make the case for doing so.  The Selectmen still feel a private company is a better option.  Jennifer Carleton spoke with Burton and said the market for 401ks is not huge and she recommended staying with Nationwide in a different option at a low fee from Nationwide where the employees can decide what they want to take and she could work one-on-one with the employees for better customer service. She will meet with the employees soon.
·       The evaluations committee also met where a list of topics to be discussed was distributed.  Tax Collector Ann Charbonneau was tasked with reviewing forms from other towns and providing some samples to the committee.
·       Kim Burkhamer is working on the job descriptions.
3.          Mutual Aid Letter-The Selectmen reviewed a draft letter and will send it to Fire Chief Dan MacDonald for review and approval.  Weare has been requesting ever more assistance and this places a strain on our resources.  The idea is to help Weare look at options that will allow them to be more self-sufficient.
F.  NEW BUSINESS:

1.          Investment Policy-The Selectmen reviewed and then signed the town investment policy.
2.          Appointments-The people who are up for renewal for the positions on town committees were contacted.  Some have sent in their applications and some haven’t.  Burton will call any outstanding applicants next week to see if they are interested in continuing their positions.  David Craig and Laura Todd have applied for their positions on the Zoning Board, Craig Madison has not yet applied.  Rebecca Balky will apply for her position on the Conservation Commission.  Brandy Mitroff has applied for her position on the Finance Committee, John Bradfield has not.  Fred Hayes is also interested but not this year.  Dave Allen and Jon Brooks have not yet applied for their positions on the Forestry Committee.  Tom Miller will replace Bob Todd.  Ken Lombard has applied for his position on the Open Space Committee, Mica Stark has not.  Stuart Lewin has applied for his position on the Planning Board, Travis Daniels will not be.  Lee Brown has applied for his position on the Recreation Commission.  1 commissioner is still needed.  Dick Moody and Matthew Costa applied for the Road Committee.  The Selectmen will invite Matthew to a Selectmen’s meeting to meet him.  Susan Clay will replace Steve Burkhamer on the Solid Waste Committee.  Kevin St. John has not yet applied as an alternate on the Solid Waste Committee.  The Selectmen will appoint Fred Hayes as a Trustee of the Trust Funds for 1 year.  Gordon moved to approve the above appointments.  David seconded the motion.  All were in favor.
3.  1st Quarter Financials-The winter maintenance budget for the Highway Department is overbudget including diesel fuel and salt and will affect the summer maintenance budget.  The paving bid also came in higher than the budgeted amount.  Road Agent John Riendeau will review it further with the Selectmen.
4.          Ball Field-Recreation Commissioner Lee Brown was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss the plans for a new grandstand at the ball field behind the Town Hall.  Gordon spoke to Jean Lowell and Dave Elliot the other day who mentioned Wayne Daniels was considering selling off the depot to fund the rebuild of the grandstand and start a fund for the ball field but Gordon thought the town wanted to take over the playground property including the ball field.  Language would be inserted in the contract preserving the ball field.  Gordon will be invited to a meeting with the Playground Association.  David feels the depot is of historical preservation interest.  The town probably wouldn’t purchase it but probably shouldn’t be on the open market.  A plan should be made for future preservation of the building before it is sold.  The Contoocook depot restoration and downtown association is a good example to follow.  That restoration cost $350,000.  The costs to acquire the depot would be separate from the renovation costs. The location of the depot is wonderful and the area around it is good for town use.  Lee said he and Glenn Dodge met with Wayne Daniels in the fall to show him the plans for the ball field and were told he would get back to them.  He never did and Kenny Hamel recently wrote a letter to the editor in the New Boston Bulletin, which got things moving again.  All parties involved feel the Playground Association has done great work for the past 88 years but it is now time to turn it over to the town.  The Playground Association wants the proposal reviewed by Attorney David Nixon who has agreed to do it.  The Recreation Commission has authorized a document to be outlined and presented.  The Playground Association is limited in what they can do with the property behind the Town Hall since the 2006 non-profit status review.  The Selectmen don’t want the area behind the Town Hall to change and agree the contract language is the main area to be worked out.  The Selectboard will send a letter of support to Dave Nixon before the meeting this month.  A quote of $110,000 was received from architect Dave Hely in 2006 for a replica grandstand 2/3 the size of the current grandstand including use of donated lumber with upgrades of enclosed sides, plumbing for restrooms and a foundation.  Some savings are possible through donations, volunteer labor, the Playground Association fund and the Recreation Commission revolving account.  Dick Moody (Historical Society) is also willing to help but Lee is not sure how much at this time.  Grants are a possibility.  Lee and Recreation Director Mike Sindoni met with the Newmarket Recreation Director who recommended using a woman who writes grants up north. Alternatively the grandstand could be replaced with something other than a replica.  There are also drainage issues and the field needs some improvement.  Glenn and Lee will continue talking to the interested parties.

G. OTHER:  

1.         Complaints about the condition of the gravel roads have been coming in and someone said they were told if they don’t like it they should move when they called the Highway Department about it.  The Selectmen feel this was not an appropriate response.

H.  PUBLIC COMMENT:  No comments at this time.  
 
I.  ADJOURNMENT:    David made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:52 PM.   Christine seconded the motion.  All were in favor.


Prepared by Maralyn Segien