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Meeting Minutes 06-11-2007
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN COMMITTEE
Public Meeting Minutes
June 11, 2007
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The inaugural meeting of the Capital Improvement Committee was convened at 6:30 PM in the
New Durham Town Hall located off Main Street.

Present:
Christopher Lapierre, Appointed Member at-large
David Curry, Appointed by Budget Committee
Padraic McHale, Appointed Member at-large
David Bickford, Selectmen’s Representative
(Planning Board Member representative ~ still to be determined)

Others Present:
Cathy Orlowicz, Chair of New Durham Planning Board
George Gale, Alternate to New Durham Planning Board (arrived at 7:02 PM)
April Whittaker, Town Administrator and Recorder
Skip Fadden, Videotographer (arrived at 7:00 PM)

1. The committee members determined that the first order of business would be to elect
a Chairman and Vice Chair.

Motion Curry, second Lapierre to appoint Padraic McHale as Chair for fiscal 2007;

Discussion: David Bickford raised objections following the motion with respect that the
Planning Board Chair, namely, Cathy Orlowicz was at the meeting and should be allowed to
represent or fulfill the role of the Planning Board representative to the CIP. He was advised by
the Town Administrator that, according to the tape recording of the Tuesday night Planning
Board meeting, there was no consensus, vote or question posed before the membership with
respect to Mrs. Orlowicz’s representation on the CIP, further noting that the Chairman does not
assume the mantle of representation unless so directed by the majority of his or her board. Mr.
Bickford pressed forward his premise that Mrs. Orlowicz was present with no other candidates in
attendance, therefore she should be allowed to sit in on the CIP discussions. He was advised that
given the flurry of weekend e-mails on the matter, it would be foolish to assume that this
representation would not come without objection by fellow planners. And further, a candidate
had come forward who was an alternate. However, given the current stalemate over the question
of appointing the alternate in question to full planning board member status, the Chair had
determined that an alternate could not represent the Planning Board on the CIP committee so
there had been no consensus as to representation.

David Curry raised his personal objections regarding having the Chair of the Planning Board
being on the CIP committee especially if said Chair was to become a contender for chair of the
CIP or even vice chair, noting the difficulties in the event of a tie vote on the planning board with
respect to CIP issues. Chris Lapierre concurred and raised the specter of conflict of interest. It
was further noted that Mrs. Orlowicz serves on the Budget Committee also, thereby giving the
appearance of “stacking the deck.”

Paddy McHale opined that he too did not feel comfortable with Mrs. Orlowicz’s representation
without specific agreement by the Planning Board as a whole. He took a few moments outside of
the CIP chair vote to state that he hoped for the good of the community that the Planning Board
Chair would put aside the current stalemate, and rally the group to get on with the job that they
were voted to accomplish ~ he felt it very important that the citizens had faith in an efficient
planning process given the workloads before the planners.

Mr. Bickford asked Mr. McHale if he felt he would be objective, and not misuse his power as
chairman. Mr. McHale stated he would perform a good job.

Mrs. Orlowicz requested to speak and concurred for the record that she had not received a
consensus from her planners to be the representative, therefore she wished to advise that she was
respectful for the concerns as expressed and did not wish the discussion to continue regarding
her participation in the meeting.

There being no further discussion Mr. McHale noted the motion on the table and called for the
vote; vote 4 – 0 to appoint Paddy McHale as Chairman for fiscal 2007.

Mr. Lapierre moved to appoint David Curry as Vice Chair, second Paddy McHale;

Discussion: None

Vote; 4 – 0 to appoint David Curry as Vice Chair for fiscal 2007.

2. Quorum Discussion
Paddy McHale suggested that 3 members count as a quorum or 60%, which was a super majority.

Motion David Curry to adopt a voting quorum requirement of 3 members for the conduct of
official business, second Lapierre, vote 4 – 0.

3. Goal Date ~ Presentation to Planning Board
Mrs. Whittaker outlined to the Committee timelines from the perspective of the budget process
and the ideal presentation and adoption of the CIP for budgetary use. Following discussion,
there was a consensus of the committee to set a goal date for presentation to the planners of
September 18th, 2007.

General discussion ensued regarding the meeting format and it was agreed for the time being to
stick to bi-monthly meetings; setting the next meeting date as June 25th, 2007, again at 6:30 PM.
Mr. Curry noted for the record that he will be absent for this meeting due to a vacation in Ireland,
and Mr. Bickford expressed his concern of attendance due to haying.

4. Review of Warrant Article and Supporting legislation RSA 674: 5 - 8
The committee reviewed the wording of the warrant article to ensure that compliance with
voter’s wishes was in effect and duly noted the statutory authority vested to the committee. The
committee also noted the close relationship that the CIP document should partner with the
Master Plan.
David Curry concluded that the committee was in conformance with the exception of a planning
board member; all agreed.

5. Process
The committee felt that the process as outlined by the State of NH Capital Improvements
Programming booklet provided good guidance, and noted the following mandatory
requirements: ~

hollowsquarebullet.jpg Review the Master Plan (Copies to be mailed)
hollowsquarebullet.jpg Communicate with Departments
hollowsquarebullet.jpg Review Proposed Capital Projects
hollowsquarebullet.jpg Prepare a Project schedule with a minimum six years timeline

Discussion ensued re dollar baselines for what would constitute a capital project into the CIP.
David Curry noted that last year’s document defined a capital item with a baseline of $5,000, and
he further opined that he questioned whether labor costs, which he noted were considerable,
should be included as a capital item.

All concurred that capital projects would include equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure.
Discussion again came back to the labor question, and when noted that the Town Administrator
used it for percentile trending at estimating future tax rates, and also that New Durham had
historically voted any additional fulltime employees in a stand alone warrant article, the
committee determined to retain the same with the notation that the CIP document note that labor
costs pertain to “permanent, fulltime employees.”

The group also recommended that dollar baselines for the CIP be raised to a $10,000 and above
threshold.

The committee reviewed historical trends from 1999 to 2006 as exhibited in the spreadsheets for
expenditures, revenues and assessed valuation. Mrs. Whittaker noted that the trending pattern
for expenditures had been approximately 8% annually since 1999, but that revenues were more
difficult to define, approximately 4% to 5% although trending indicated declines in revenues.
She recommended conservatism with any final revenue trending decision. Finally she addressed
the assessed valuation table noting that the valuation excluding the revaluation years of 2004 and
2005 had an average trending of 2.75% annual growth, but again, opined caution as the valuation
trending in 2007 probably would drop given the building permit activity. Mr. Curry requested
the three tables be electronically sent.

The Committee was informed that the historical tables were used for the purpose of projecting
future tax rate impacts and capital tax rate impacts.

6. Departmental Interviews
In light of Mr. Curry’s absence, and Mr. Bickford’s potential haying, Mrs. Whittaker suggested
that the Committee interview the Police Department’s proposal and the Solid Waste’s proposal
for the June 25th, 2007 meeting. She opined that they are relatively straightforward in their capital
requests ~ all concurred.

She advised setting aside one meeting solely to deal with the Fire Department and Highway
Department which represented the lions share of the intended capital planning.

7. Any Other Business
Mrs. Whittaker advised that she had received a public request from Mr. Goyette to consider the
construction of a boat wash to protect Merrymeeting Lake from potential milfoil infestation, and
that the Meetinghouse Committee would like to have a non public session regarding the
acquisition of real estate.
George Gale emphasized to the committee the importance of attending Mr. Mayberry’s
discussions at the Planning Board regarding impact fee implementation and the importance of
the CIP approved document. The CIP committee felt this to be a good suggestion and requested
to be informed of the consultant’s meeting with the Planners.

8. Adjournment
Motion Curry, second Lapierre, to adjourn, vote 4 – 0.

The meeting adjourned at 8:00 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
April Whittaker, Town Administrator & Recorder

Next Meeting Date: June 25th, 2007 6:30 PM Town Hall


A video recording of this meeting is on file with the Office of Town Clerk, is available for public
viewing during normal business hours, and will be retained in accordance with the New
Hampshire Municipal Records Board rules established under RSA 33-A:4, or for a minimum of 24