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November 30, 2009 Board of Selectmen Minutes
SELECTMEN’S PUBLIC MEETING

November 30, 2009


  • Call to Order
Chairman McCarthy called the meeting to order at 5:08pm.  In attendance were Chairman Trisha J. McCarthy, Selectman Raymond D. Thayer, Town Administrator Nancy J. Wrigley and Board of Selectmen Office Manager Mary B. Winglass.  Minutes were transcribed and typed by Office Manager Winglass.

Selectman Robert S. Donovan, Jr. was not in attendance.

  • Introduction of Guests
  • Old Business
        A.  Bookkeeper/Payroll Administrator Kim Hughes Re: Concerns with monthly and year-end reconciliations

Present were Bookkeeper/Payroll Administrator Kim Hughes, Treasurer Jennifer Gaines and Deputy Treasurer Brenda Fiers

Kim Hughes discussed that it has been just over a month since the Board met with the Town Auditor David Clukay and she wanted to bring the Board up to date on the current status of David’s recommendations.

Hughes addressed the monthly reconciliations in that it is not happening and felt that she needed to make the Board aware of the situation.  Hughes added that her data is up to date as of the end of October but she has not received anything from the Treasurer.  Treasurer Jennifer Gaines responded that she is still playing catch up with her records.  Gaines added that she has turned over the reconciliations to Deputy Treasurer Brenda Fiers and she will be the check and balance on the accounts.  Fiers stated that she was just given the figure today of the December 31, 2008 ending balance for the general fund and now needs to back track and work with Kim on the reconciliations.  
  
Town Administrator Nancy Wrigley added that she has a concern for the Treasurer is being paid her salary of $300 per month but the Deputy Treasurer is the one doing all the work and that may not be fair.  Deputy Treasurer Fiers added that she is feeling used and picking up the pieces once again.  Gaines added that she has been dealing with some personal issues and that is the reason for asking Fiers to help during this time.  

Chairman McCarthy addressed the deposits for the Town Clerk/Tax Collector in that this issue should have been addressed by now.  Gaines informed the Board that she drafted a memo with written instructions per RSA 41:29 VI and is looking or the Board to approve the procedure tonight but as of this date the Treasurer continues to process the Town Clerk/Tax Collector’s deposits.  Hughes addressed the fact that we need some type of schedule for the process is lacking and we need to fix it.  Chairman McCarthy talked about communications and the need for Gaines to handle this in a more timely fashion by contacting the Deputy Treasurer to step in and help.

Town Administrator Wrigley added that at this time, Fiers is taking care of the financial statements and deposits yet the responsibility of these duties are the Treasurer’s, the work is not getting done and we only have a month left.

Chairman McCarthy then called Town Clerk/Tax Collector Mary Jo McCullough to read to her the written procedures for handling the tax deposits written by Treasurer Jennifer Gaines.  McCullough had no problem with the wording; Hughes added that the Bookkeeper must receive the original remittal slip from McCullough.  Minor changes were made to the written procedures and Gaines asked for the Board to approve it tonight so we can start the transition as we always have the option to amend it as we move forward.

Selectman Thayer motioned to accept the memo dated November 30, 2009 from the Treasurer to delegate the duties to the Town Clerk/Tax Collector and/or Deputy Town Clerk/Tax Collector for the handling of their daily deposits.  Second by Chairman McCarthy.  Vote: Unanimous.

Hughes addressed again the need for a schedule; if it is not working for whomever and you are unable to stick to the schedule you need to email the office.

Town Administrator Wrigley informed the Board that she spoke with an Attorney at the Local Government Center regarding this situation and he offered a suggestion of checking with another town Finance Director to help prepare the reconciliations.  The Board discussed the funding needed for this and would rather compensate our Deputy for the work.  Wrigley added that if Gaines is having personal issues and is not doing the job then Fiers should be compensated for the work.

Deputy Treasurer Brenda Fiers left at 5:38pm

Chairman McCarthy stated that the discussion is becoming personal in nature therefore we must go into nonpublic session.

Chairman McCarthy motioned to go into nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3 II (c) – Personal Matter with the Treasurer and RSA 91-A:3 II (a) - Transfer Station and Police Department.  Second by Selectman Thayer.  Roll Call Vote: Chairman McCarthy – aye, Selectman Thayer – aye.  Motion passed.

Chairman McCarthy motioned to close the nonpublic session at 6:50pm.  Per unanimous roll call vote, the minutes of the meeting will remain confidential until in the opinion of the majority of the members, the circumstances no longer apply except to announce the following;

  • The Board motioned to take under the recommendation of the Treasurer that compensation for the Deputy Treasurer for assuming additional duties will be increased by an amount agreed upon by both the Treasurer and Deputy for the next six months effective December 1, 2009.  The extra compensation to the Deputy is coming from the Treasurer’s salary line item and the Deputy will continue to receive her quarterly compensation.
  • The Board motioned to accept per Police Chief Streeter’s recommendation the proposed merit adjustments, as presented and amended with an effective date of December 6, 2009.  
B.  Transfer Station Recycling Policy and Resident Sticker Policy

Resident Sticker Policy

The Board reviewed options for a new resident stickers with Transfer Station Manager Kevin Jolicouer to include size, color and whether the Board is going to require residents to put the sticker on their windshields.  After a discussion on how to fund this change, the Board recommended for Jolicouer to review the options with Selectman Donovan at his upcoming evaluation.  We also need to check with Town Clerk/Tax Collector Mary Jo McCullough about the best way to implement this change.  

Transfer Station Recycling Policy

The Board reviewed a proposed final Recycling Policy; Town Administrator Nancy Wrigley questioned if the Board agreed to allow residents into the swap area once or twice per day.  Wrigley’s recollection of the past discussion on November 2, 2009 was that the proposed change to the policy was to allow residents to the swap area only once per day but after discussing it was decided to change it to twice per day.  The Board agreed with Wrigley that they decided to allow residents into the swap area twice per day.  The minutes will need to be revised to reflect the decision of the Board.

Chairman McCarthy motioned to accept the Transfer Station Recycling Policy as amended with the additional terminology in item 8 and 9 effective March 1, 2010.  Second by Selectman Thayer.  Vote: Unanimous.

        C.  Review of the Bulky Item Fee Schedule to include letter of recommendation
        from Resident Mike Fortin

Transfer Station Manager Kevin Jolicouer discussed the bulky item fee schedule by informing the Board that the town is charging a fee for some metal items that are put in the metal pile; the town is paid for them at the going market rate.  The Board reviewed a letter from resident Mike Fortin notifying the Board that he spoke with Mr. Adam Clark of Northern Recycling who confirmed that the town is not charged for recycling of washers, dryers, water heaters and kitchen ranges.  Mr. Fortin asked for the Board to waive the fees for these items since the town is not charged to recycle them but on the contrary is paid to recycle them.  Kevin Jolicouer added that he checked with the metal recycling company and they do not foresee any future changes to the cost for hauling metal.

The Board discussed that with the “no fee” for accepting these items the town may bring in more which will increase the metal fees paid to the town.  The Board discussed keeping the fee for Kingston, East Kingston and South Hampton at a nominal fee of $5 each to help offset the cost of running the Transfer Station.

Chairman McCarthy motioned to accept the Transfer Station bulk item fee schedule as amended for Newton and East Kingston, Kingston and South Hampton effective November 30, 2009.  Second by Selectman Thayer.  Vote: Unanimous.

        D.  Cont discussion of the bids for the 2010 Statistical Update

Town Administrator Nancy Wrigley discussed the revised bids from the three final companies selected by the Board of Selectmen for the 2010 Statistical Update.  Selectman Thayer stated that he felt most comfortable with hiring Andrea Lewy for she has the background with the town.

Chairman McCarthy recommended that we wait to review this again at the next meeting to allow Selectman Robert Donovan input with this decision.

        E.  Letter from Town Attorney Sumner Kalman Re: Cell Tower Lease

The Board reviewed a letter of interpretation from Attorney Sumner Kalman regarding the proposed warrant article from Tower Resource Management - Municipal Site Tower on Town property.  The gist of the letter is not to recommend the language proposed for the warrant article for a long term lease agreement.

Chairman McCarthy suggested and the Board agreed for Town Administrator Wrigley to check with Tower Resource Management regarding a long term lease agreement and to contact Town Counsel for his recommendation of the wording for the warrant article.

       New Business
        1.  Police Department 2010 Budget

Police Chief Lawrence Streeter handed out his 2010 proposed budget to include a proposed default budget.  Chief Streeter talked about two matching grants that he has applied for and will check on the status of the grants; Town Administrator Wrigley will check on placing the match in the default budget.

        2.  Per RSA 31:95-b to accept and expend unanticipated money in the amount of
        $130.00 from Mike Ducharme

Chairman McCarthy motioned per RSA 31:95-b to accept and expend the unanticipated donation as stipulated by Mike Ducharme of $130; 25% school, 25% library, 25% police and 25% fire.  Second by Selectman Thayer.  Vote: Unanimous.



        3.  Recommendation of a new Recreation Commission member, Michele Shepherd

The Board decided to hold off from making a decision tonight until Selectman Donovan is present for he is the liaison to the Recreation Commission.

        4.  Town Hall Holiday schedule

At this time, Selectman Donovan called into the office and was placed on speaker phone for the remainder of the meeting.

Chairman McCarthy read a memo from Town Clerk/Tax Collector Mary Jo McCullough with her recommendation for the Holiday schedule for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.  Her recommendation is to hold office hours on Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24th from 8am to 12noon, New Year’s Eve, Thursday, December 31st from 8am to 2pm.

The Board discussed that they have no authority over the Town Clerk/Tax Collector to regulate her office hours but do control the Selectmen’s staff office hours.  Selectman Donovan asked that we check with the Town Clerk/Tax Collector to see if she would agree to stay open on New Year’s Eve until 4pm due to the fact that it is the last day of the month for vehicle registrations.  The Board agreed to discuss this again at the next meeting.

        5.  Review of proposed 2010 budgets

Town Administrator Nancy Wrigley asked the Board to review the 2010 Medical Insurance rates from the Local Government Center.  The rate increase is 16.3% if the town decides to stay with the same medical plan.  After reviewing the plan options with the Local Government Center, Office Manager Winglass and Police Department staff Linda Meissner and Rebecca Gagnon, the recommendation is to change from our current two tier plan to a three tier plan which will decrease the percent increase to approximately 11% over the 2009 rates.

The Board decided to review this further at their next meeting.

     V.        Announcements
  • All Town Departments, please notify the Board of Selectmen Office Manager of any changes to your scheduled office hours or if there any plans to close the office during the holiday season.  This notice will allow the information to be placed on the town’s official website.
VI.     Accept Minutes of Selectmen Meetings
  • Selectmen’s Public Meeting minutes of October 26, 2009
  • Selectmen’s Nonpublic Meeting minutes of October 26, 2009
VII.           Reports from Department Heads
  • Cont discussion with Building Department Re: Permit Fees
Present was Chief Building Official Ron LeMere

Since this discussion happened earlier in the meeting, Selectman Donovan was not part of this discussion.

LeMere asked if the Board had an opportunity to examine the documents that were given to them at the last meeting and if they had anything they wanted to change, add or remove.  Selectman Thayer questioned if someone takes out a permit how long is the permit good for; LeMere responded one year then the permit would be voided and a new permit would have to be reissued.  LeMere added that the Building Department works with the homeowner for if they are having a hard time, the department will help by charging only an application fee to help move the process along for we always need to have the option to work with the individual.

A discussion ensued regarding a permit for re-roofing and re-siding; LeMere responded that only an application fee would be charged.

Selectman Thayer asked about a permit denial fee.  LeMere explained that when the department issues a denial they spend time determining the reason for the denial and give them a copy of the ordinance and explains the options to the homeowner.

Chairman McCarthy added that she spoke with Selectman Donovan before the meeting and he told her that he was good with the proposal.

Selectman Thayer motioned to accept the amended permit fee schedule as proposed by Ron Lemere, Chief Building Official as of December 1, 2009.  Second by Chairman McCarthy.  Vote: Unanimous.

LeMere will make sure the companies that frequently pull permits with the town will be notified of the amended fee schedule.

Chairman McCarthy asked to speak about another issue that has been discussed at the State level which is ways to keep track of the properties in town that are being foreclosed and vacated to let the Police Department know they are vacant.  Vandalism and removing pipes are happening and Chairman McCarthy talked about putting a process in place that once the town is notified of a foreclosure this information needs to be shared with the Building Department and Police Department.  Chairman McCarthy offered to help start the list of the properties in town that are in bank foreclosure.  Town Administrator Wrigley added that the Town Clerk/Tax Collector is the office notified of foreclosures.   LeMere replied that he is willing to work on this issue and the issue with vacant rental units and how they are reviewed for safety issues.  LeMere will check with other towns to find out if there are any model procedures to try to introduce something in Newton.  LeMere added that once the bank take over the property it is important to make sure they are following the proper procedures when doing alterations to the property.  The discussion continued with the need to start to keep a data base so as thing progress into the selling stage we are able to work with the prospective homeowner.

Police Chief Lawrence Streeter joined the discussion and added that the Police do not know who has lawful access to the property which has caused some problems.

2010 proposed Building Department budget

LeMere handed out his proposed budget which is a decrease of 5.5% compared to the 2009 default budget.  A discussion took place on hiring a permit clerk and the need to have a system in place to handle the paperwork, how the department usually floats in the red for the first three months of the year until the spring when permits start coming in and LeMere informed the Board that the department is now part of the Seacoast Building Officials and will need to pay dues and subscriptions.
Selectman Thayer motioned to accept the 2010 budget for the Department of Building Safety which is a drop of 5.5% for a total of $93,952.00.  Second by Chairman McCarthy.  Vote: Unanimous.

VIII.         Other Business

Chairman McCarthy discussed a new Trails Committee that came from out of the PlanNH as a subcommittee under the Recreation Commission, Planning Board and the Conservation Commission.  McCarthy talked about how she is in favor of the subcommittee and the Selectmen will be the one to approve the tasks of this committee.  In her opinion, approving the tasks of the committee needs to be put in place before the committee is formed so there is a clear understanding of the tasks.  Chairman McCarthy asked for a memo to go out to the Conservation Commission, Recreation Commission and Planning Board for a list of tasks that they would like this subcommittee to handle.  

IX.         Adjourn


Chairman McCarthy motioned to adjourn at 9:29pm.  Second by Selectman Thayer.  Vote: Unanimous.

                                                                Respectfully Submitted,


                                                                Mary B. Winglass, Office Manager