Minutes
Selectmen’s Meeting
February 7, 2005
6:30 PM Chair Caron opened the meeting and asked all those present to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Members: Jon Caron, Bill Netishen, Mary Bonser and Heidi Seaverns acting secretary.
Guests: Paul Colby
The meeting began with a request from the Building Inspector, Paul Colby, for vacation time. Mr. Colby asked for 5 days vacation time from March 31 through April 6. He will return to work on April 7, 2005. Ms. Bonser mentioned that this was discussed during his interview process.
Motion: Netishen, second Bonser to approve Mr. Colby’s request for vacation.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Mr. Colby then gave the Board a list of possible outstanding issues from previous Board of Selectmen meeting minutes for the Board to review.
The Board then began to review the minutes of the January 24, 2005 for approval. Ms. Bonser said she would like time to review them. These minutes will be discussed at the next meeting.
The Board was presented with three Land Use Change Tax documents for
Map 18 Lot 3-6 Map 18 Lot 3-7 and for Map 25 Lot 1-8.
The Board signed all three LUCT documents.
The Board then considered three reductions and one release in the amounts of letters of credit that had been approved by the Planning Board at their February 2, 2005 meeting.
Berry Road Realty Trust requested a bond release for Dunbarton Estates for $14,700 for reclamation.
Route 4 Realty Trust requested two bond reductions. The first is 65% reclamation bond reduction to $14,875.00 for the Brooks Crossing Subdivision. The second is to reduce the bond originally set at $ 1,520,899.19 down to $940,472.19.
Biltmore Newmarket, LLC requested the $20,000 monumentation and erosion control bond be released.
Motion: Bonser, second Netishen to endorse all four of these requests.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Mr. Caron said that the start time for Town Meeting on March 12, 2005 is changed from 10 am to 9 am at the Elementary School. The earlier start time will help accommodate an event at the school that evening. The first 7 articles will be acted on March 8, 2005. The polls will be open from 8am – 7pm at the Community Center.
Motion: Netishen, second Caron to accept warrant articles #1 - #24.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
The Board then signed 4 copies of the 2005 Town Warrant.
The Board then went through the warrant articles and determined who would move and second each article. Mr. Netishen said warrant articles #12 and #15 (Capital Reserve Funds for the highway and fire departments) were not recommended by the Budget Committee. Ms. Bonser said the Capital Improvement Committee had recommended a higher amount for contribution to the Capital Reserve Funds (CRF) since the dollar doesn’t buy as much as it used to. Mr. Netishen said Chet Batchelder on the Budget Committee mentioned that with the interest rates so low, it doesn’t make much sense to have monies sitting in CRF’s. Ms. Bonser said it costs very little money for us to borrow money compared to the interest in the CRF. Once the Capital Improvement Plan is in place, it will be a significant
budgeting tool. Discussion then followed about amending those 2 articles down on the floor at Town Meeting. Mr. Caron said he could understand the Budget Committee’s reasoning in balancing saving for future purchases versus critical need. After discussion, it was decided that Article #12 would be amended down to
$ 30,000 (Highway CRF) and Article # 15 would be amended down to $20,000 (Fire CRF).
The Board reviewed the Budget Committee’s cuts in the operating budget at the hearing on Friday, February 4, 2005.
$1000 from Town Clerk’s budget-restoration of records
$100 from Planning & Zoning budget- printing
$500 from General Government Buildings budget-CC maintenance salary line
$1000 from Police budget– cruiser maintenance
$1500 from Highway budget- $500 from mowing & $1000 from hired equipment- plowing
Next, the Board discussed the petitions submitted for road acceptance for Francesca Way, Tayla Way and a portion of Patriots Lane. The Budget Committee had suggested that the Board make a recommendation about these articles. There are two parts of concern for the town. The budgetary concern of taking on more roadways is the focus of the Board of Selectmen. The Planning Board is focused on the physical aspect of the road and the state of construction of the roads in question. There was no clear delineation-note on the plans- in these subdivisions of when roads would be accepted as Town roads. For the Gatchell subdivision, there will be a stipulation in the agreement that a specific portion of the road will never be accepted and that approval of the plan does not constitute a basis for acceptance. It
was suggested that the petition articles should be amended on the floor at Town Meeting that the roads would be accepted as Town Roads once the topcoat is in place. Discussion continued about the timing of acceptance of roads. Premature acceptance is a concern. Private roads are prevalent throughout Nottingham and half if not more of the private roads are not built to town standards.
The next discussion concerned the posting of the warrant. It will not be posted until February 14th, 2005 to allow Mr. Brown to review the warrant.
Mr. Caron stated that there is a Planning Board meeting regarding USA Springs coming up on February 9th. The Planning Board has recommended investigating an alternative site for the building. USA Springs has requested a continuance for the Planning Board hearing. Once the Planning Board sets a new date, it will be posted. Collis Adams from NHDES has said that NHDES will not reschedule their wetlands permit hearing until they have the most current plan from USA Springs in front of them.
Discussion then turned to an action list from Mr. Brown concerning issues needing attention. Ms. Bonser checked into the references the candidate for the mowing company provided. She made contact with 2 out of 3 of the references given and they both gave an excellent recommendation. Since the Board had voted to award the contract as long as references were favorable, they asked that a letter be sent to the company awarding the contract.
Mr. Netishen had spoken with Wayne Travis from the Nottingham Youth Association and with the Recreation Department concerning the normal use of the ball fields from April-end of June. The NYA and the Recreation Department will work out the schedules for field usage between them as they have in the past. NYA has also made a request to place vending machines outside the concession stand shed. Concerns over vandalism, liability, etc. led the Board not approve of the vending machines as this time. Mr. Netishen will let the NYA know that it is fine to schedule games but to hold off on the vending machines for now.
Mr. Netishen reported he had called Airamac Mechanical 3 times but hasn’t spoken to anyone yet. The Seacoast Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) report has a fairly short list of impacted projects in Nottingham. Ms. Bonser stated it was important to weigh in on these projects, as DOT in the past has taken no input to mean approval for projects. Ms. Seaverns will work on the report.
Ms. Seaverns reported that she had spoken with Gretchen Rich, SRF Program Manager, and Ms. Rich would be preparing the paperwork for the repayment of the SRF loan on a level principal basis with the construction interest added to the principal as outlined in her letter of December 22, 2004.
Ms. Seaverns then updated the Board on the progress of the valuation update contract with Avitar. She had forwarded the contract to DRA who gave their approval. She expressed her concerns about the due date given to the Board. After much discussion, it was decided Mr. Brown would contact Avitar regarding the due date of the contract and possibly extending the number of days that taxpayers could call to make hearing appointments.
Ms. Bonser reported to the Board that she had had a request from SOG that the USA Springs file be indexed chronologically. This prompted a long discussion of how the Town should handle documents coming in to the offices. Mr. Caron stated he would discuss this issue with the Planning Board at a future meeting.
7:51PM Motion: Caron, second Bonser to enter non-public session per RSA 91-A:3II (c).
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
8:05PM Motion: Bonser, second Netishen to come out of non-public session.
Vote: 3-0 in favor
8:05PM Motion: Bonser, second Netishen to keep all discussion in non-public session non-public.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Mr. Caron reported that he had spoken with Attorney Teague in regards to the Helton property. Attorney Teague thought the Board was correct in stating that if Mr. Helton met the conditions outlined by the Board, he would not have to go to the ZBA since the use of the property was legal in 1964 when the house was built.
Mr. Caron reported to the Board that anyone with digital cable service from Comcast would not be able to watch Channel 22 due to the age of the character generator. He indicated he would be speaking with Comcast to see if they would consider providing the Town with an upgraded character generator.
Having no other business before the Board,
Motion: Bonser, second Netishen to adjourn at 8:07PM.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Heidi Seaverns
Approved as written
2/28/05
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