SELECTMEN’S MEETING MINUTES
February 4, 2008
Call to Order
Chairman Ulcickas called the meeting to order at 6PM. Present were Chairman John P. Ulcickas, Selectman Robert S. Donovan, Jr., Selectman Trisha J. McCarthy, Town Administrator Nancy J. Wrigley and Office Manager Mary B. Winglass. Minutes were transcribed and typed by Office Manager Mary Winglass.
Introduction of Guests
· 6pm - Safety Complex Building Committee
Chairman Ulcickas stated that the reason why the Board invited the Safety Complex Building Committee to this meeting is to discuss the reason for the “disconnect” on why there is no safety complex warrant article on the 2008 Town Warrant. Chairman Ulcickas added that on January 10, 2008 a preliminary budget was dropped off at the Selectmen’s Office from Hampshire Development Corp. for a Safety Complex with no supporting documentation. Prior to January 10th there has been no information from the committee regarding the submission of a warrant article in order to move forward.
Chairman Ulcickas stated that last year the committee came to the Board at the beginning of December to start the process of putting everything in place to present a safety complex building warrant article to the voters and yet this year the Board submits a preliminary budget with no other correspondence on January 10th just four days before the Public Hearing. Chairman Ulcickas then addressed an email sent out by the committee to its members which pointed to the Selectmen as the responsible party for not including a safety complex building warrant article this year. Chairman Ulcickas added that the Selectmen were surprised that the committee did not come forward with a warrant article this year.
Safety Complex Building Committee Chairman Robert Bartlett responded that this year he was unable to hold a meeting for he was unable to attain a quorum and the committee received no feedback from the Selectmen. Mr. Bartlett added that at the last Safety Complex Building Committee meeting, the committee agreed to go with the original plan. Then at the beginning of January, Town Administrator Nancy Wrigley contacted Mr. Bartlett to find out the status of a proposed warrant article and that was when Mr. Bartlett contacted the engineer to get an updated budget for the project.
Chairman Ulcickas discussed the time needed to research and to retain Bond Counsel services as part of the bonding process as this is an intricate part of the project. Mr. Bartlett responded that a year ago when the committee submitted a warrant article to the Selectmen for the safety complex building, the article was rewritten so they thought if they give the Board the numbers this year they would prepare the warrant article and bonding for the project.
It was discussed that there has been a breakdown of communication between the committee and the Board of Selectmen. Town Administrator Nancy Wrigley asked if the landowner Chet Bearce is willing to offer the same proposal to the town as presented last year; Mr. Bartlett responded that Chet is willing to continue to work with the Town for another year and as long as he lives on the land.
· 6:30pm - Resident Wayne Paul Re: Resident Sticker Policy
Residents Mr. Wayne Paul and Mrs. Carol Paul asked to meet with the Board of Selectmen to help resolve a resident sticker conflict. Mr. Paul stated that he left his resident sticker on his car when he sold it and the dealer has already detailed the car; therefore the sticker is gone. Since then Mr. Paul went to the Town Hall to get another sticker and had to purchase one for $25 in order to get the rubbish out of his truck. Mr. Paul stated that he returned the “yellow” sticker as the policy states that “all or the majority of the resident sticker is provided at the time of the replacement request”. Mr. Paul stated that the policy does not refer to the color of the resident sticker.
Mr. Paul asked to return the green resident sticker that he purchased for $25 for he has another one that he plans on switching between both of his vehicles, per the resident sticker policy. Chairman Ulcickas responded that there is no return policy and the original green resident sticker must be brought in for a refund to be issued. Mr. Paul responded that this is not fair or right, it is a dump sticker and he pays a lot of taxes to the town and he does not need this dump sticker. Mr. Paul then stated that the policy states that when requesting a replacement, “if all or the majority of the resident sticker …” it does not state the color green, he returned a resident sticker per the policy.
The Board agreed to reimburse $25 to Mr. Paul for he did provide a resident sticker when requesting a replacement green resident sticker. The Board told Mr. Paul that the office will issue him a replacement sticker for the one he wanted to return for since it had been scraped off his windshield and would no longer adhere to the vehicle. Mr. and Mrs. Paul thanked the Selectmen for hearing their concerns and resolving the issue.
ACTION ITEM - The Board asked for the Resident Sticker Policy to be updated, for #9 should read “... if all or the majority of the resident sticker currently in effect ….” We need to look at the entire policy and the guidelines to make sure we make this change wherever it applies.
Transfer Station Manager Andrew Morse stated that he has witnessed many new registrations, as of January 2008, that do not have the resident sticker number written on it, therefore he requested that we be more diligent about transferring the resident sticker number onto all renewal registrations.
ACTION ITEM – talk to the Town Clerk/Tax Collector’s Office about transferring the sticker number onto new registrations.
· 7pm - Planning Board
Present were Planning Board members James Doggett and Kimberly Vaillant as well as the Planning Board Administrative Assistant Lisa Babcock.
Chairman Ulcickas opened the discussion by stating that the reason the Planning Board was asked to attend is due to the Planning Board’s decision not to approve work completed by the town’s IT Consultant. Kim Vaillant stated that she has worked in the computer field and the Planning Board questioned some of the charges especially for unpacking, repacking and returning the new computer and the Planning Board needs to be more informed about IT costs over and above the cost of equipment. Another issue is the VISTA software for the new computer and why we are using it when it is known to have many problems.
Town Administrator Nancy Wrigley responded that we have had many Planning Board computer issues this past year such as software being erased from a computer purchased by a prior Planning Board, other issues that cannot be discussed in public for it relates to a personnel issue. Planning Board Chairman Kim Pettit was involved with all the decisions surrounding the purchase of the new computer, receiving a defective computer from DELL which required time to figure that a problem existed, contact DELL and follow through on the return of the computer.
Planning Board member Kim Vaillant responded that no company sends out a defective computer. Selectman Donovan responded that he recently purchased a new computer and had to return it three times for it was defective.
Chairman Ulcickas asked if the Planning Board contacted the IT Consultant to question the bill. Planning Board members stated that they were not aware of the issues surrounding the reasoning for purchasing a new computer or that the IT Consultant was authorized to do the work.
Chairman Ulcickas stated that it is important for all Town Hall computers to work off the town’s server and therefore monitored by the IT Consultant to make sure we are up to date with anti-virus protection. From the information that we have, Kim Pettit was in contact with the IT Consultant and it was not the IT Consultants fault that the computer was defective. Kim Vaillant added that someone other than the taxpayer should have to pay for the IT Consultants time dealing with the defective computer.
A discussion ensued with the possibility of going out to bid for the town’s IT Consultant. Town Administrator Nancy Wrigley responded that our IT Consultant has been with the town for 25 years, working part time and is always available when needed. Planning Board member Kim Vaillant added that she feels the town should go out to bid just as we recently did for the town’s engineering service.
Chairman Ulcickas added that moving forward we need to bill differently for this bill is for services conducted starting in April 2007 through September 2007. The date of the invoice is October 26, 2007 and received by the Planning Board on October 29, 2007; it is now 2008 and this bill should have been paid out of last year’s budget. The Planning Board has authorized to pay $580 out of the $800 billed for services rendered. Chairman Ulcickas questioned if the Board of Selectmen pay the balance due of $220 and we can then work on this in the future.
Selectman McCarthy added that she feels that unpacking and testing a new computer, working with DELL to figure out the problem and then repacking it and sending it out is part of the Consultants job as someone has got to do it. We cannot rely on volunteers to do the job especially since we now have a server that all the computers are hooked up too. The computer came in damaged, it was defective, anything can happen and someone has to get paid to fix the mistake. Selectman McCarthy stated that she feels that this is a Planning Board bill not the Board of Selectmen. We can look at sending this position out to bid but it is imperative that the integrity of the Planning Board computer is consistent with the other town’s computers.
ACTION ITEM - Planning Board members James Doggett and Kim Vaillant responded that they were unaware that Planning Board Chairman Kim Pettit was talking to the IT Consultant and they will discuss this issue at the next Planning Board meeting scheduled for February 12, 2008.
Old Business
· Outstanding Action Items
1. Police Detail Cruiser fee and use of employee vehicle
Police Chief Lawrence Streeter handed out a memo outlining the fiscal year 2007 detail fees to include the current fees and the purpose of these fees are to offset the police department’s budget. Chief Streeter added that it is just a matter of accounting but these fees have always been an offset the police department’s expenditures.
The Board reviewed Bookkeeper/Payroll Administrator Kim Hughes memo regarding the “Police Detail Special Revolving Account” in that a quarterly invoicing/payment schedule has been implemented to reimburse the town operating account for the Officer’s payroll and the associated payroll related costs. Kim stated in her memo that should the town wish to amend the schedule and/or the reimbursed expenses to please contact her.
The Board discussed the accounting procedure for the funds collected which needs to be done in a fair and appropriate manner and that the taxpayers should not be paying for the gasoline associated with a detail. It was discussed that the reason for setting up the revolving account was due to the fact that the town was required to gross appropriate for the Police Detail fees collected, which is an estimate only. By using the revolving account, the town was able to reduce this budget substantially this year. Chairman Ulcickas discussed the need to meet with the bookkeeper to explain the best option and guidance for the handling of these funds.
The Board discussed the option of increasing the Police detail cruiser fee from $8 to $10 per hour per the recommendation of Police Chief Streeter.
Chairman Ulcickas motioned to increase the cruiser special detail fee from $8 to $10 per hour effective date February 19, 2008. Second by Selectman Donovan. Vote: Unanimous.
2. Town Hall Office hours – leave it on the action item list
3. Updated Personnel Policies and Procedures
The Board reviewed the amended Town of Newton Personnel Policies and Procedures with the change to the last page, signature page stating that the employee has read the policy and agree to abide by the policies contained herein as amended from time to time. Town Administrator Wrigley stated that if the Board approves of the wording then they need to sign the front page so we can hand out the amended policies to the employees.
Chairman Ulcickas motioned to accept the Town of Newton Personnel Policies and Procedures as amended as of February 4, 2008. Second by Selectman McCarthy. Vote: Unanimous.
4. Transfer Station site walk - grill to protect window and electrical pole
The Board discussed that they held a site walk at the Transfer Station on Sunday, January 27th and they determined the place to put the electrical pole, therefore we need to move forward and prepay Unitil for the installation. As far as the broken window, we are still waiting for the replacement and the plan is to install a “grill” over the window.
ACTION ITEM - Send in the payment for the installation of a new electrical pole at the Transfer Station.
5. Employee Performance Evaluation Form – no update
6. Update on cable equipment to fix the audio/video on channel 20 –
Cable Committee Chairman Andrew Morse informed the Board that he is working on a purchase price to purchase new cameras for the cameras we have are 15 years old and outdated. Andrew added that for the Deliberative Session he has a Comcast Technician on call and he also informed Andrew that Comcast changed some of the lines which could be the reason why we are having such problems. Andrew stated that he will address this with the Technician after the Deliberative Session but for now the audio has improved. Chairman Ulcickas asked if the office received any feedback from the residents; the office received no calls regarding the audio/video problems with channel 20.
ACTION ITEM – Andrew will get prices on new cameras and will come back with requisitions.
7. Balance of the Safety Complex Fund – the Board requested that this item to be removed
8. Employment restrictions for employees under the age of eighteen – the Board reviewed the regulations and guidelines from the Department of Labor which allows for the Town to hire a sixteen or seventeen year old minor for the position of cable operator for they are allowed to work after 9pm. Chairman Ulcickas stated that the reason we wanted this information is in order to contact the school to see if anyone is interested. Town Administrator Wrigley asked who will train them; Chairman Ulcickas responded that Andy will train them by observing during a meeting.
ACTION ITEM – The Board requested that we contact the school before the next meeting to see what kind of response we receive for this position.
9. Parking at Municipal buildings/Snow Parking Ban – the Board reviewed a draft letter to the residents who live on Town Hall Road informing them that due to the limited parking at the Town Hall for the employees, residents conducting business and snow removal; all unauthorized motor vehicles parked both overnight and during normal business hours is a problem. Residents and their visitors must refrain from parking their vehicles on Town property from this point on. Town Administrator Wrigley stated that she had Police Chief Streeter review her letter and he approved; his only comment was to add “cc Police Department”.
10. Resident sticker guidelines – Update as decided by the Board on page 2.
11. Tablecloths for the Deliberative Session – Selectman McCarthy will bring the tablecloths tomorrow night.
New Business
A. 2008 Auto Mileage Reimbursement Rate
Chairman Ulcickas read a memo from Kim Hughes, Bookkeeper/Payroll Administrator informing the Board that the standard auto mileage reimbursement rate for business use is $0.505 per mile from $0.485. This change became effective on January 1, 2008.
ACTION ITEM - The Board tabled this item until the next meeting for they plan to look into it.
B. Letter from Local Government Center (LGC) Re: NH Retirement System Potential Mandate Litigation
The board reviewed a letter from LGC regarding a potential mandate (Article 28-a) Litigation which will require the public employers (taxpayers) to pay $2.7 billion in unfunded accrued actuarial liability (UAAL) over 30 years to shore up the system, a cost that will be added on to the normal contribution rates for employers. The Local Government Center is asking the town’s to get involved with this mandate and to be part of the litigation against additional retirement costs by supporting it with a contribution of $197.45, which is a percent of the total number of Newton employees enrolled into the program.
Town Administrator Wrigley informed the Board that the Local Government Center is holding several informational meetings regarding the pension system changes and Office Manager Winglass and Town Administrator Wrigley will attend a meeting on Tuesday, March 25th. The Board asked for the staff to bring back more information about this before any decision will be made.
ACTION ITEM – The Board will review this issue again at the scheduled April 7, 2008 meeting.
C. Request from the Planning Board Re: Capital Improvement Program
No action was taken.
D. Twombly Drive Re: Status of the road construction
Town Administrator Nancy Wrigley discussed that this road has not been completed nor has any building activity taken place in quite some time. Only one house has been built and she sent a memo to the Planning Board asking for the status of the road and the road bond. Her concern is that with the subdivision incomplete, the road bond can go on forever and the road is not being maintained.
ACTION ITEM – Waiting to hear from the Planning Board on the status of the road.
Announcements
· 1st Session of the Annual Town Meeting (Deliberative Session) is Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at 7pm at the Sanborn Regional Middle School in the Gymnasium. Snow date is Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at the same time and place.
· 2nd Session of the Annual Town Meeting (Voting Day) is Tuesday, March 11, 2008 from 8am to 8pm at the Sanborn Regional Memorial School in the Gymnasium
Accept Minutes of Selectmen Meetings
· Selectmen’s Public Hearing minutes of January 15, 2008
Chairman Ulcickas motioned to accept the Selectmen’s Public Hearing minutes of January 15, 2008 as written. Second by Selectman Donovan. Vote: Unanimous.
· Selectmen’s Public Meeting minutes of January 21, 2008
Chairman Ulcickas motioned to accept the Selectmen’s Public Meeting minutes of January 21, 2008 as written. Second by Selectman McCarthy. Vote: Unanimous.
Reports from Department Heads
Review of Action Items
Adjourn
Chairman Ulcickas motioned to adjourn at 7:49pm. Second by Selectman Donovan. Vote: Unanimous.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mary B. Winglass, Office Manager
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