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Board of Selectmen's Minutes 05/18/2009 REVISED
Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
May 18, 2009


PRESENT:               Rdney Towne                    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 David Woodbury at 7:00PM beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance.  

B.  PUBLIC COMMENT: 

C.  APPOINTMENTS:

          1.  7:00 PM                      Flood Map Revision                        Public Hearing

This is a public hearing to consider a resolution adopting the Flood Insurance Study for the County of Hillsborough, NH dated September 25, 2009 together with the associated Flood Insurance Rate Maps of the same date as part of the town floodplan ordinance.  Planning Coordinator Nic Strong was present to report to the Selectmen.  She said that the town was notified in 2007 that the Flood Insurance Study and Flood Insurance Rate Maps would be updated by FEMA.  The Selectmen are allowed to adopt these maps instead of waiting for voting time.  The town maps will then be up to date.  New Boston’s map didn’t have many changes.  The public hearing was closed at 7:08 PM.  Rodney moved to adopt pursuant to RSA 674:57, by resolution of the town of New Boston Board of Selectmen, all lands designated as special flood hazard areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in its “Flood Insurance Study for the County of Hillsborough, NH” dated September 25, 2009, are declared to be part of the Town of New Boston’s Floodplain Development Ordinance and are hereby incorporated by reference.  Christine seconded the motion.  All were in favor.  Nic requested a written confirmation from the Selectmen on town letterhead to send to the state.

          2.  7:05 PM                      Kellie Coffey                        Finance Committee Alternate Candidate

Kellie Coffey was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss her application for the Finance Committee.  She said she works for a non-profit in Manchester, does a lot of community service and is a volunteer for Big Brothers/ Big Sisters in Manchester.  She has lived in New Boston for three years and wants to become more involved in New Boston.   She has an accounting degree with a minor in Finance and a master’s degree in Business so she thought she would be a good fit for the Finance Committee.  She would hold an alternate position but Finance Committee member Brandy Mitroff was present and said she would be allowed to express opinions and vote at Finance Committee meetings.  Christine moved to accept Kellie Coffey as an alternate on the Finance Committee for three years.  Rodney seconded the motion.  All were in favor.  Kellie will meet with Town Clerk Irene Baudreau to be sworn in.

            3.  7:15 PM                      Gerry Cornett            Transfer Station

Transfer Station Manager Gerry Cornett was present to update the Selectmen on issues affecting the Transfer Station.

·         He also is on the Mission Statement Committee and has designed a way to post the Mission Statement in each department and the town hall.  He gave it to the Selectmen for review and approval.

  • New Boston Clean Up day was a success with a very impressive response this year.  The truck carrying most of the bags of trash weighed 935 pounds and Gerry estimates over 1000 pounds of trash was collected from the roads of New Boston that day. 
  •  Over the past few years Gerry has been working to improve the entrance to the Transfer Station and has opened up the line of sight on the left, pushed back both sides of the gates for plowing and is now working to widen the opening of the gates.  He expects he can open it an additional 5-8 feet but would need the Highway Department’s help to pave it.  The highway Department has painted a stop line and installed a stop sign at the exit.
  • Gerry said the recycling markets have changed dramatically since the last quarter of last year. The Transfer Station is no longer having difficulty unloading materials.  Pricing for goods are increasing.
  • Corcoran owes the Transfer Station approximately $13,000.  Gerry is holding a piece of Corcoran property at the Transfer Station until he gets the money.  Corcoran is now going into bankruptcy.  The owner told Gerry that he plans to pay the towns he owes back once his company sells.  He also has another company where he takes mixed paper and Gerry will send the town’s mixed paper to him on a load-by-load basis.  There will be no trucking costs for this.  The Selectmen agreed to do that.
  • Gerry said the NRRA is doing well under its new director.
  • Gerry said a lot of vendors are no longer absorbing trucking costs and this is costing the town additional money.  Gerry will continue to try to get trucking included but expects his budget to be over on the trucking line but under on other budget lines.
  • Gerry reported there are no major issues on facility status.  Volumes are down.  This week the Transfer Station processed 1100 cars.  They are averaging1050 cars per week not including vehicles using the scales and brush pile. 
  •  The metal extension off the compactor building (to cover the trash trailer) is half done and Gerry hopes George St. John comes back soon to finish it.  It is already paid for and not in this year’s budget.
  • Chipping the brush pile will cost $1500.
  • Gerry recently attended the Maine Resource Recovery Conference and learned the counties sponsor collection days but each town handles the coops.  Trucking recyclables is a major expense for Maine towns.
  • Gerry recently attended a class regarding forklift training and learned each town needs a custom SOP for its forklift.  New Boston doesn’t yet have one.  Gerry will work on an SOP for each piece of equipment and bring them before the Selectmen.
  • Gerry invited the Selectmen to the New Hampshire Resource Recovery scheduled for June 8 and 9 at the Radisson in Manchester.  Two Transfer Station employees and 4 Solid Waste Committee members plan to attend.
  • Department Heads were asked to find places in their budgets where they could save the town some money. Gerry cut some part time hours in his department.  He is now finding that the department is having difficulty getting some tasks done such as mowing and storm damage cleanup.  Gerry asked the Selectmen to allow some more hours in the department totaling approximately 4 hours per week only if necessary.  A current part time employee can take on these hours.  The Selectmen agreed.
  • The Solid Waste Committee is meeting tomorrow night.
Move to enter Non-Public Session: Christine made a motion to go into Non-Public session per RSA 91-A:3II(a) at 7:36 PM.   Rodney seconded the motion.  All were in favor.

Move to exit Non-Public Session:    Christine made a motion to exit Non-Public Session at 7:50PM.   David seconded the motion.  All were in favor.

            4.  7:35 PM                      Sandi Van Scoyoc            Footbridge

Sandi Van Scoyoc was present to meet with the Selectmen to give an update on the Footbridge project.  She said she learned from the Eggers’ attorney Chris Eggers that the New Boston Tavern property is now in the hands of a bank and there is a potential buyer.  She said the committee’s first plan is to follow the sale of the property for the originally planned location of the footbridge.  In the meantime they have been trying to figure out what to do.  They are looking at an alternate location and walked the property with Bill Rossignol from Holden Engineering Thursday.  They found a new site south of the original site.  There is an easement along the river from grantor Jay Marden to the grantee Piscataquog Land Conservancy.  This location would avoid the wetland at the abutment and the other side of the river is town property.  The Piscataquog land Conservancy is meeting June 11 and will discuss granting an easement for the footbridge.  If they decide not to grant the easement the committee will not go to the property owner (the land is currently for sale).  The grant money for the footbridge is secure until 2010.  The committee would have to meet with the DOT committee again to inform them of the location change if necessary.  Holden has been asked to not work on this further until the committee knows they can move forward.  A third location closer to the Parker’s property was viewed but determined to be unsuitable for the footbridge due to the necessity of a dangerously high abutment.  The committee has also discussed what they will do if neither of these plans work.  They are now trying to save money, as the town would be responsible for any money spent if the project doesn’t go forward.  Holden has not indicated if the second location would be cheaper to build on as to find out that opinion would require the committee to spend more money.  Sandi is of the opinion the second location might be cheaper because it would not require a wetland crossing but on the other hand there is no clear access for a crane.

D.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

          1.  Minutes of May 4, 2009 - The Selectmen reviewed the minutes.  Corrections were noted.  Christine moved that they be accepted as amended.   Rodney seconded the motion.  All were in favor. 

2.      Non-Public Minutes of May 4, 2009 - The Selectmen reviewed the non-public minutes.  Christine moved that they be accepted as presented.   Rodney seconded the motion.  All were in favor.

E.  OLD BUSINESS:

1.   Planning: 

·         The Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission presented to the Planning Board regarding land use and transportation affected by the I-93 expansion.  New Boston and Weare are not included in the 26 towns that will get financial assistance for this but are expected to be affected with additional residents.

·         The Planning Board reviewed the driveway regulations.  The changes have been made and it will be sent to counsel.  If counsel has any suggestions the Planning Board will review them again.

·         An informational discussion took place regarding the library.  The Planning Board questioned if an additional public hearing with the Planning Board or Selectmen would be necessary and decided by vote that the Public Hearing June 9 would be sufficient.  The post office road on the right side of the library was recommended to be one way for traffic coming out of the library.  Burton will discuss this proposal with Planning Coordinator Nic Strong and write to Don Grosso the owner of the post office land.

·         An application for a major subdivision for 2 lots on Parker Road was submitted.  A technicality on the map will be fixed to confirm that two lots are actually one lot and another lot will be divided for a total of two lots.  The application was accepted and approved.

·         An abutter to the cordwood business on Joe English Road requested an abatement because their property has lost value according to the recent assessment due to the business.  The abutter will be at the next Planning Board meeting.

·         The cell tower applicant will meet with the Planning Board at their next meeting.

2.    Survey-    

·         The Selectmen approved the draft of the Mission Statement to be posted in each Department and with a larger version to be posted in the Town Hall and it will be published in the town report.

·         Toni Flewellyn from Primex came for the spring evaluation meeting.  Nic is preparing a summary of the meeting for the Selectmen to review.  One of the things discussed was how reviews can get done in a timely manner.  September is the deadline in the new policy manual because someone said they need to be done to prepare the following year’s budget, this is not entirely true but it is good business practice to get them done by a deadline.  Burton has been having trouble getting his done and it has been suggested that he take 1 day a week every week in September to work only on reviews.  The Selectmen agreed and suggested he work from home on those days.  Forms were discussed at the meeting and Nic will present revised forms to the Selectmen. 

·         The Selectmen will work on the Town Administrator job description.

3.    Sign Program-Police Chief Chris Krajenka and Road Agent John Riendeau are scheduled to meet with the Selectmen to discuss the signs recommended for the town but there was a question if the Selectmen wanted the Road Committee involved with this.  The Selectmen decided they do want the Road Committee involved.  The Selectmen sent a memo to John and Chris saying the Selectmen felt too many signs were planned for too many roads.  John agrees that could be.  The Selectmen wondered if the recommendations were computer generated as no consideration was made if the road was a major road or not.  Burton suggested the Selectmen should meet with the person from the state who is working on this project.  The Selectmen decided this person should work it out with Chris, John and the Road Committee then they will advise the Selectmen on it.

4.  Town Hall Energy Audit-Burton received an e-mail from the Jordan institute where they questioned their ability to move ahead on assessing the town hall due to the presence of asbestos on the boiler pipes.  They are afraid the blower door test would upset the asbestos and asked the town to consider the problem and abate and remove the asbestos.  Burton spoke to Building Inspector Ed Hunter about this and the town plans to contact companies that conduct blower door tests to see if they have concerns about the asbestos and if wrapping the asbestos would be sufficient.  The Selectmen also wondered if wrapping the asbestos would satisfy the Jordan Institute and if DES would need to become involved.  Burton will also call New Boston Central School Principal Rick Matthews to see if he has any suggestions as the school has also dealt with this problem. Burton will find out what the blower test involves before deciding how to deal with the asbestos.  The Jordan Institute also offered to assess other town buildings if desired.  This was discussed in the fall and it was decided to assess the Town Hall only.  Rodney pointed out that the Jordan Institute made some suggestions during their presentation on how the town could save electricity such as turning off the copiers, computers and monitors at night and on weekends.  The Town Hall departments will be asked if it would make sense for them to start doing some of these things.  Floor insulation was also suggested.  Infrared testing was also suggested and the Selectmen wondered if the Fire Department had the capability of doing that.  Chairman of the Climate and Energy Committee Susan Carr was present and said that test was suggested in conjunction with the blower door test and the infrared has to be done by a certified professional.  She and Lyn Lombard said they have spoken to Linda from the Boston EPA office who has told them New Boston could be eligible for some grant money that will become available this summer.  Susan and Lyn asked the Selectmen to become “shovel-ready” for the insulation project and combine with the school for a grant for insulation at the school and town hall.  Linda has offered to help the committee write the grant.  The Committee has spoken to Rick and School Board Chair Marti Wolf about the grant.  Dave suggested someone at the SAU should get the grant ready and the Selectmen would then endorse the application.  The Committee will get the information for the grant ready targeting the insulation piece. 

5.  Group Purchasing-SNHP Meeting-Road Agent John Riendeau and Burton attended a Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission meeting as they are trying to coordinate group buying.  Burton is not sure this idea will be successful.  Regarding salt, SNHPC is waiting to hear how the state will work it out but Burton expects to hear of the salt bids they receive.  Signs:  The prison makes signs and it was suggested they could be used for that if needed.  Large equipment and machinery:  It was suggested towns could rent equipment from Manchester occasionally.  Vehicle and equipment repairs:  SNHPC is trying to find a way to have regionally located repairmen trained for towns to send equipment to for repairs or the repairmen could travel to the towns that need repairs.  Cutting edges vendors and tire vendors will be researched.  Goffstown and Manchester will do price comparisons for construction materials.

F.  NEW BUSINESS:

1.    Post Office Traffic Flow-See above.

2.    Barbara Thompson:  Conservation Commission Appointment-Barbara Thompson sent in her application for reappointment to the Conservation Commission.  Christine moved to accept Barbara Thompson for a three-year regular member position on the Conservation Commission.  Rodney seconded the motion.  All were in favor.

G. OTHER: 

1.  The Selectmen will meet to work on Burton’s evaluation.

2.  The Lyndeborough Road Bridge was not selected to receive federal stimulus money.

3.  Burton will be on vacation next week. He is trying to finish up the spring reviews this week.  He is also getting insurance information and salary study information to the Local Government Center this week then he should be caught up.  He will go to court with Town Attorney Bill Drescher Wednesday.  Dave will also attend.

4.  Christine will be unavailable for the next three weeks due to jury duty.

H.  PUBLIC COMMENT: 

·         Corporal Rick Widener was present and asked the Selectmen to sign the Highway Safety Grant application.  Burton and Dave signed the grant application.

·         Willard Dodge was present and said the Road Committee had a preliminary meeting tonight.  He asked if the Recreation van would be available to the group to drive everyone out to view a road together.  The Selectmen said anyone who uses the van with permission of the owner is covered under the insurance policy.  The Selectmen agreed the van could be used for this purpose.  The Road Committee will ask Recreation Director Mike Sindoni if they can use the van next Tuesday evening.  Willard also asked if he would need authorization from the Selectmen to attend a Road Management Workshop listed in the Town and City magazine.  The Selectmen said he is authorized to attend that workshop as a member of the Road Committee and suggested he meet with Kim Burkhamer to register him on-line.  The town is willing to pay the $15 registration fee.


I.  ADJOURNMENT:    Rodney made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 PM.   Christine seconded the motion.  All were in favor.

 Prepared by Maralyn Segien