Town of New Boston
Selectmen's Meeting
July 6, 2009
PRESENT: Rodney 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: None.
C. APPOINTMENTS:
1. 7:00 PM Public Hearing FEMA Ice Storm Funds
A public hearing was held to accept a FEMA grant covering the cost of ice storm brush removal along the public way. A check has been received from FEMA in the amount of $25,612.50. Burton said if the town does nothing to clean up brush the money would go toward revenue. Road Agent John Riendeau was present and said there is a lot of brush to pick up and the Highway Department budget won’t be able to absorb the cost. Therefore the town plans to spend the money to pick up brush and it will go into a separate fund for gifts and grants. John plans to hire John Brown to clean up hangers and large trees by the side of the road. John also said the check represents 75% of the cost FEMA determined the town would spend on brush removal when they recently traveled the town observing storm damage with John. The public hearing was closed at 7:08 PM. Christine moved to accept the ice storm funds from FEMA under RSA 31:95-b. Rodney seconded the motion. All were in favor.
2. 7:05 PM Hoyle, Tanner Lyndeborough Rd. Bridge
Jason Lodge and Matt Low from Hoyle Tanner were present to meet with the Selectmen to update them on progress on the Lyndeborough Road Bridge. Jason said they have completed the preliminary design of the project. The wetlands permit has been sent to NH DES for review. Cultural resources approval and DOT confirmation of plans have been received. They discussed utility relocations and right of way decisions that need to be made. They showed the proposed utility relocation plan. Matt said they have discussed the location with PSNH and Fairpoint. Cranes will be needed at the bridge construction site, which makes it necessary to move the existing lines. It has been decided there is only one location they can go and it will be a permanent move. Vegetation will need to be cleared.
Permission from abutters is needed to do it. It should be done before construction next year and before the bid process. Fairpoint has indicated they would like to do it this summer or fall. The Selectmen asked if underground utilities would be good for this location but Matt said that would cost too much. Fairpoint has pole setting responsibility in New Boston. Easements will need to be extended and they were shown on the easement plan map. These will be permanent easements. Jason and Matt asked for the town’s help in contacting the abutters. Hoyle Tanner will draft the easement deeds then they will be sent to town counsel for review then Hoyle Tanner will coordinate with the landowners to get them signed. They will contact Burton with the steps they wish the town to help them with. Jason said the Municipal Bridge Aid program stayed the same this year. The town will have to hire someone for vegetation clearing
for the new utility location and that is 80/20 reimbursable under bridge aid. Jason said Hoyle Tanner plans to send out for bids in January. Burton would like to do it in December to have the numbers in time for the Deliberative Session in February. This will be considered further before deciding. Buses will need to be rerouted for this project and wetland restrictions are expected.
3. 7:20 PM John Riendeau Highway Department
Road Agent John Riendeau was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss projects the Highway Department is working on.
· Cyndie Wilson and Cindy Stave from Laurel Lane were present to discuss how to handle the beaver pond in the future. Dave recapped what they said at the last Selectmen’s meeting by saying the residents at Laurel Lane would like to keep the pond at a uniformly high level instead of having the water go up and down drastically. John said if it is not maintained the beavers will eventually go down and plug the culvert. The culvert is difficult for the Highway Department to get to and that is why they put the grate in 7-8 years ago to make the culvert maintenance easier. Willard Dodge was present and reviewed the history of the work in the area saying approximately 20 years ago someone from the state came in to the Selectmen and said the town was maintaining a
dam and it had to come out or it would be registered as a dam. It was decided to drain the swamp because the town didn’t have the funds for a dam. Rodney suggested a reasonable water level be chosen and the Highway Department could determine if they can maintain it. Willard also suggested getting the state involved to decide how this should be handled but the Selectmen don’t want to do that. John suggested putting a pipe in that the beavers can’t cover. Willard also suggested a beaver deceiver and John said he could look into that and maybe put it in the budget for another year. Chairman of the Open Space Committee, Ken Lombard, was present and said the state contacted him about two to three years ago and asked him if there is still a pond there. He said there was and they came out to look at it and decided to keep it on the state list of great ponds. Cyndie will meet with John at the pond Thursday at 9:00 AM to view
it and discuss a solution.
· The Highway Department’s new GPS has arrived to replace the broken one.
· The Highway Department’s 10-wheeler Mack truck is in the shop being built. It could be ready by the end of July. Burton said the second payment will be made next week.
· John requested box culvert replacement bids from four companies but only received one from John Brown. John asked for separate bids for each culvert because two separate Warrant Articles will cover it. The town will supply the materials. John estimates each culvert will take one week to complete. John will calculate the figures. The Selectmen decided to hire John Brown for the project.
· The paving budget is 99% spent. If the town wants to do more it will be funded by the block grant which is 0% spent at this time.
· The Highway Department has worked on some shoulders. John’s plan for the year was most of the year would be spent on shoulders and brush clearing. The shoulders on Bedford Road are planned for this year. The gravel is crushed. One issue is he doesn’t have enough help due to Highway Department employees taking vacations at this time of year and he needs a full crew for the shoulders on Bedford Road. He asked Police Chief Chris Krajenka if any police officers would be available to help flag traffic. John will also contact companies that provide flaggers to see if that would be possible for this project.
· The Highway Department has done some brush cutting but there are still some hangers in these areas that will have to be removed.
· George St. John has been working on the Highway shed roof and the first half has been tightened down. All the panels were found to be loose after the roof started leaking.
· Lyndeborough Road Bridge funding was discussed. The price escalated and the town is trying to think of ways to fund it. Block grant money was considered. The block grant money was originally planned for further paving. The Selectmen reviewed a memo from Burton outlining how much the Lyndeborough Road Bridge is expected to cost and how it would be funded. John also asked if the Selectmen would be willing to sell the old CAT grader that is being stored at the Highway shed. John will work with Willard to find out what the grader’s value is. John and Burton will work on project costs further.
4. 7:45 PM Chris Krajenka Police Department
Police Chief Chris Krajenka was present to meet with the Selectmen to discuss issues the Police Department is dealing with.
· An issue of details has become more obvious lately. The chief usually has to make requests for manpower for details outside of town and when he does so the town has to pay four hours minimum. If officers from town are used they are not required to be paid a minimum of four hours. Chris does not expect the officers to be willing to come in for one or two hours of overtime. He has been working with Willard to find a solution. Willard said a lot of town events are privately funded but a lot of funds are needed for police coverage at events. He said most of the time the money raised at events goes back to benefit the town. He suggested the town and the organizations should split the cost of the necessary police details. Burton said the
current detail rate is $47.44 per hour but it will go up due to the state budget to $59.85 per hour for a New Boston officer but it could be even more for an out of town officer. Chris said there are no written criteria for police details yet but he and Willard suggested a committee should be formed to create one. They suggested the committee should consist of Willard, one Selectman (Dave volunteered), a representative from the Police Department, a Finance Committee member such as Kellie Coffey and some town organization representatives. Chris will get information on how much the town and organizations spend on details for the committee. Burton will check with the DRA on if the town is allowed to split the cost of the details with the organizations holding the events. Chris will also check with other towns for the criteria they use when planning details. Chris asked the Selectmen if they would allow police vehicles to go on details out of town.
The Selectmen said if a vehicle is available they are not against sending it. Chris will also check with other police agencies for how much they charge when a car goes on a detail. New Boston currently charges $50 that goes toward the general budget.
· Chris noted the vehicle maintenance line is 60% spent. He still needs to buy winter tires for the vehicles and the chief’s car needs bodywork that has been estimated to cost $960. There is 71,000 miles on the car and he feels it is worth it to repair it now instead of replace it. He noted there are good deals on these cars if the town does decide to replace it. It is on a police vehicle replacement schedule. He expects to be overbudget on the vehicle maintenance line this year.
· Chris said the radio grant is now complete and he has noticed reception is greatly improved. The antenna installation company made some other suggestions to improve reception and Chris will bring those before the Selectmen at a later time.
· The Selectmen asked if there were any issues at the town Fourth of July celebration. Chris said there were some complaints about parking and he will get more details on this to help plan for next year.
· Chris will be on vacation from July 16-23.
Move to enter Non-Public Session: Christine made a motion to go into Non-Public session per RSA 91-A:3II(a) at 9:44 PM. Rodney seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Move to exit Non-Public Session: David made a motion to exit Non-Public Session at 9:50 PM. Christine seconded the motion. All were in favor.
5. 8:15 PM Ken Lombard Land For Town Use (non-public)
Move to enter Non-Public Session: Christine made a motion to go into Non-Public session per RSA 91-A:3II(d) at 9:52 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 10:15 PM. Rodney seconded the motion. All were in favor.
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. Minutes of June 15, 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 June 15, 2009 - The Selectmen reviewed both sets of 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 Planning Board worked on multi-family housing, overlays and is planning to look at other towns’ information to try to get ideas for New Boston and trying to form a committee to study it.
· Commercial committee guidelines were not worked on at the last meeting.
· Byam Road wetland crossing application was withdrawn until further notice. They are trying to get permits from the state. They will have to restore some of the property that was disturbed.
· Clark Hill Trust applicant came in with the same plan but planned to make some changes. They will try to get their plan changed before the next meeting.
· Tucker Mill Road lot line adjustment to put a septic system in. The application was accepted as complete and approved.
· Cell towers-Planning Coordinator Nic Strong researched and found the towers have to be built and accepted as complete within nine months. These towers are not expected to be done in this time frame. The Planning Board will write to the cell tower applicant about this.
· The one-way traffic sign by the pizza shop and hair salon will be removed on the map.
· A Byam Road applicant requested a second driveway permit and it was approved.
2. Survey-A Department Manager meeting following up the Primex meeting regarding roles needs to be scheduled. The Selectmen are available July 21 or 28 from 3:00-4:30 PM. The Selectmen reviewed a list of topics to be discussed at the meeting.
3. Administrative Assistant Replacement-The ad will go out next week for posting in town departments for five days after which the position will be advertised to the public if no internal candidate is chosen. The Selectmen reviewed the job description and interview questions. Pay scales have been researched. Burton, one Selectmen and Kim Burkhamer are planned to be on the interview panel.
F. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Selectmen Goals Update-The Selectmen reviewed their progress on the yearly goals.
2. Mid Year Budget Review-The budget was reviewed and it was noted expenditures are looking good and revenues are not as high as expected.
3. Street Name Consultant-Rodney will take over as the street name consultant.
4. Terms For Committee Alternates-The typical term for a regular committee member is three years. The town will use that for alternate appointments as well unless there are a lot that join in the same year, then they will be staggered somewhat. Burton will review the committee book to see if that is an issue for many committees.
G. OTHER:
1. Dave will prepare a letter on behalf of the Selectmen in reply to the letter from the Parkers.
2. The Selectmen’s letter to the Fire Wards regarding land purchase will be sent.
3. A memo has been prepared formalizing the discussion of Police Chief Chris Krajenka’s evaluation.
4. Burton’s evaluation is not yet complete. The Selectmen will meet at another time to work on it.
5. The Selectmen reviewed a letter dated June 19, 2009 from Daniel Donovan II. Dave will prepare a letter on behalf of the Selectmen in reply.
H. PUBLIC COMMENT:
Willard Dodge was approached by a gentleman on Saunders Hill Road who was asking if it would be possible for him to purchase the town owned land adjacent to his land and put it in conservation easement. Dave answered that might be possible if the town was presented with a proper plan for it but the town is not very interested in that option at this time.
I. ADJOURNMENT: Christine made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 11:17 PM. Rodney seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Prepared by Maralyn Segien
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