Minutes
Selectmen’s Meeting
July 10, 2006
6:30 PM Chair Bonser opened the meeting and asked all those present to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Members: Mary Bonser, Peter Bock, Bill Netishen, and Heidi Seaverns.
Guests: Walter & Sharon Bockus, Dave Smith, Tom Sweeney, Michelle Beauchamp, Michelle Carvalho, Hal Rafter, Amy Plante, Judy McGann, Terry Bonser, and Joan Breault.
Ms. Bonser recognized Mr. Bockus, who was present to address the Board about the condition of Cove Road. Ms. Bonser asked that in the future Mr. Bockus make an appointment prior to the meeting so the Board members can be better prepared to answer his questions. Mr. Bockus reported that he is a year round resident of Cove Road and the Town has not done any maintenance on a portion of Cove Road for a number of years. He stated that many people travel this portion of the road to launch their boats with no regard for the road. Mr. Netishen stated that the property used as the boat launch is owned by the Cahill’s and that they have given the Town permission to launch emergency vehicles from this spot if needed. Mr. Netishen asked if the general public was using the launch. Mr. Bockus replied that all the people using the
launch are guests of the neighborhood residents and they park their vehicles at the resident’s homes once the boats are launched. Mr. Bockus would like the stretch of road (hill leading down to the boat launch) filled and graded. Ms. Bonser stated they would look into the situation and respond to him by letter. Mr. & Mrs. Bockus thanked the board and left at 6:40pm.
Regarding the outstanding minutes of June 26, 2006, Mr. Bock inquired as to the scenic road status of Priest Road. Ms. Seaverns stated that Priest Road is designated as a scenic road and that there is a public hearing requirement if trees over a certain diameter are going to be removed.
Motion: Netishen, second Bock to accept as printed the minutes of June 26, 2006.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
The Board reviewed the signature file.
The Board reviewed the salary requests from the Recreation Director for additional Recreation staff and initialed the histories. Ms. Seaverns reported to the Board that Ms. Horvath had indicated that she may have to hire an additional person since attendance at camp was significantly higher that in past years.
Motion: Netishen, second Bock to approve Verizon/PSNH pole license on Plan #9AA0JZ.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Ms. Seaverns reported to the Board that the office had received notification as per NH RSA 482:13 from the Nottingham Lake dam owner in regard to work that is being done on the dam. This notice requires that the Board hold a Public Informational meeting and one has been scheduled for the Board’s next meeting on July 24, 2006 at 7:30pm.
The Board next considered a request from the Planning Board for the reduction of a bond from Route 4 Realty Trust that was approved at the Planning Board meeting on July 5, 2006.
Motion: Netishen, second Bock to approve the reduction of the Bond for Route 4 Realty Trust-The Highlands from $ 108,934.74 to zero.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Next item on the agenda was Aflac benefit proposal. Ms. Seaverns explained that this was on the agenda so the Board would be aware that Mr. Brown had received some information from the Aflac representative and wanted the Board’s okay to distribute the information to the full time employees to gauge the interest of the dental program offered by Aflac. Ms. Seaverns also informed the Board that Mr. Brown had made an inquiry to Health Trust to find out about the dental plan offered through them as well. The Board okayed the release of the information to the full time employees.
Jon Caron made an inquiry to see if the Board would entertain entering into a lot line agreement with him. He is in the process of subdividing a lot from his property and the Old North Cemetery bounds the property on one side. The cemetery has no physical bounds other than the fence and in order for the Carons to subdivide the lot, the bounds of the cemetery need to be established. Peter Landry has been doing the work for the Carons. The Board had no problem with the concept of the lot line agreement.
The next item on the agenda was outstanding enforcement issues. The Board discussed waiting until Mr. Brown was back and agreed that it would be best to wait until the next meeting. Ms. Seaverns reminded the members that if they had questions about any of the issues to get them to Mr. Brown prior to the meeting. Mr. Bock asked that if Mr. Sweet sent his letter before the next meeting that a copy is given to the board members.
Mr. Bock reminded the other members that he had volunteered them to work on Nottingham Day, which is being held on September 16th. At this time, the static display area will need to be manned and that is where the Board may end up.
The School Board members stepped forward to address the Board. Amy Plante, on behalf of the School Board, started by thanking the Board of Selectmen for allowing them time to come in to the meeting. It is the hope of the School Board that this meeting will increase communication between the Boards. She outlined the 3 areas that the Board wanted to discuss: 1) Election procedures, 2) Growth in Town and 3) Communication between the Boards. Mr. Bock introduced Tom Sweeney, Building Committee Chairman, and asked that he be allowed to present some information before the Boards got into their discussion. Mr. Sweeney distributed copies of the proposed site plan for the new firehouse. He explained that Appledore Engineering had just dropped of f the plans earlier in the day, and that he wanted to take this opportunity to share
the information with both boards. He stated that the boundary lines have not been finalized but that the amount of land for the site would be 3 acres+/- that had been discussed. He gave a quick overview of the site; main entrance off Route 152, secondary entrance off Priest Road, the vernal pool which will be untouched, wetland impact of less than 3000 square feet, proposed leach field location, woodland to be maintained for vernal pool support with exception of driveway location. He informed the Boards that the Route 152 entrance will have signs in both directions alerting travelers to the station and that the Priest Road entrance will be limited to vehicles other than fire apparatus due to the size of the culvert that is there. He stated that there may be a minimal impact to the nature trail in the area of the site but it would be rerouted and restored at the time of construction of the building. The actual site should be finalized shortly. If anyone has wetlands questions, Mr.
Sweeney asked that they be directed to either him or Mark West. Mr. Bock thanked Mr. Sweeney for the presentation and stressed that the Building Committee will continue to communicate to both the Board of Selectmen & the School Board throughout this process.
Ms. Plante then began discussion about election procedures. Ms. Bonser read a list of concerns about the election that had been prepared by Hal Rafter-
-Little or no notification regarding new voting procedures (machines)
-No consultation with School Board to get input or answers
-Inconsistent or no instruction to voters on how to vote-for example type of pen to use, how to fill
in spaces, etc.
-Security of ballots removed from machine
-Temporary booths were not private enough
-Not private enough when ballots put into machine
-Need hand count of a sample of ballots to confirm count.
In regard to the notice of using the voting machine, Ms. Bonser stated that the Selectmen’s meetings are televised. Mr. Netishen stated that the Selectmen had not formally notified the School Board and apologized for that to the School Board. Much discussion followed about how to make the voting process easier. The Town moderator, Mr. Bonser stated that he was going to build a booth or something like that to be placed around the machine to allow for more privacy. The ballots at issue for privacy were printed on two-sides, the ballots with printing on 1 side were put into the machine face down. There were manila folders available for people to use to shield their ballots and in most cases people didn’t want to use them, some times it was difficult to feed the ballots with them. Ms. Bonser went on to state the
Selectmen had made a herculean effort to instruct everyone that came to vote on how to vote. The only ones that didn’t receive instruction were those that declined it. She also stated that if people did not want to use the temporary booths they could wait for a regular booth. More discussion followed about privacy issues and who should instruct the voters on voting procedure. It was suggested that once voting instructions were in writing, that the information be put in the newsletter. Ms. McGann suggested that if the Selectmen get the info to the School they would also put it in their newsletter that goes home with the children. The recount was next to be discussed. Ms. Breault suggested that traffic around those people directly involved in the recount be restricted. The issue of some school district ballots in the Town ballot box came up. Mr. Bonser stated that the school ballots in the Town box were copies that had been made since the originals had run out. The machine
should have rejected the copies but it did not. Overall, the accuracy of the voting machine was proven by the recount. Mr. Bonser stated that there will be more ballots printed in the future so we do not have to make copies.
Next to be discussed were the hours that the polls are open. Ms. Plante stated that a number of people had come to the School board indicating it would be easier for them to vote if the polls opened at 7:00AM instead of 8:00AM. Ms. Plante went on to explain that many people commute and cannot get to the polls in the evening in time to vote. The earlier opening would allow them to vote before they went to work. Ms. Bonser presented the other side of the dilemma in that if the polls opened at 7:00AM, election workers, Town Clerk, Moderator & all others involved with the election would have to be there at 6:00AM, which would make it a 12-13 hour day for a lot of people. Mr. Bonser reminded everyone that absentee ballots are available if you are unable to get to the polls. It was suggested that instructions about how to
obtain an absentee ballot be put in the newsletter as well. Mr. Netishen asked the School board to revisit the issue of hours that the polls are open at their next meeting and report to the Selectmen the outcome of their vote. Ms. Seaverns stated that the September election hours have already been posted, so the November election would be the earliest that the hours could be changed. Mr. Rafter stated that the School Board had already voted to endorse earlier opening of the polls. After much discussion, the Selectmen will try to have the polls open at 7:00AM for the November election. The issue will be revisited after that election to evaluate the turnout.
Town growth was the next item to be discussed. Mr. Rafter handed out enrollment figures for grades K-8 for the last 5 years as well as kindergarten enrollment data from 2000-2005 (actual) to the projected enrollment for the 06-07 school year as of this time. Mr. Smith asked what date these numbers reflect. Ms. McGann replied that they were October 1st numbers. The School Board would like to be pro-active in planning for growth within the school system. Discussion followed about a census and how the information could be obtained and utilized. Ms. Bonser had a profile of Nottingham’s population from the NH employment security website. She said she would fax it to Ms. McGann in the morning. Ms. Beauchamp stated that the state OEP website has projected population figures on it.
Communication was the last item on the list to be discussed. Both boards want to work to open communication between each other. It was decided that the next joint meeting should be in 3 months.
Mr. Netishen again thanked the School Board for their support and donation of the land for the new firehouse. Mr. Bock reported that he has been discussing the school’s Nottingham Day participation with Ms. Carvalho, principal of the Nottingham School. Ms. Carvalho stated that the school would be participating, be it an art exhibit or auction or something else. The details are being worked on; the difficulty is that school will only have been in session for a couple of weeks before Nottingham Day. The discussion then moved on to the POD-point of distribution for vaccine in case of a health emergency. The Selectmen briefly explained that Nottingham has been paired with Raymond in the event of a health emergency and that the elementary school is being considered for the staging area. Ms. McGann stated that this was
the first she had heard of this. Ms. Carvalho stated she would inform Chief English, chairman of the Emergency Management Committee based at the school. Mr. Netishen stated that someone would be contacting the SAU as there needs to be a signed agreement in place so the school can be used in the event of an emergency. The School Board members, Ms. McGann, and Ms. Carvalho left at 8:05PM.
Dave Smith, Planning Board Chairman & Michelle Beauchamp, SRPC stepped forward to discuss the Homestead subdivision/Gerrior Drive. Ms. Bonser stated that she had asked Mr. Smith & Ms. Beauchamp to come in to update the board on the status of the subdivision and problems associated with it. Mr. Smith stated that this subdivision has 2 lots with frontage on Route 4, which allows the developer to build at least 2 homes and they would share a driveway (Gerrior Drive). One house has been built on the lot on the right and has been given a certificate of occupancy. This house is being used as the model home for the subdivision. There have been numerous problems with the road construction. At this point, the developer has an outstanding balance with RCCD for engineering services, and money has been requested for an escrow
account so inspections can continue. The power poles are in the middle of the road, the developer has said that he is waiting for Verizon to come to remove the poles so the utilities can go underground. There was much discussion about the subdivision in general. Ms. Beauchamp stated she had reviewed the bond in place at the request of the Planning Board and she feels that it is inadequate. The bond names both towns and she stated there should be one bond for Nottingham and one for Barrington. It is her recommendation as well as Cynthia Copeland’s (Executive Director SRPC) that a joint meeting be held between the Barrington & Nottingham Planning Boards, the Nottingham Building Inspector, the developer, & a representative from Rockingham County Conservation District. Much discussion followed in regard to correspondence sent to the developer, who is the enforcing authority, and what should be the course of action if the developer does not follow through. Before the joint
meeting, the Planning Board needs to ask RCCD for an updated estimate for road construction so the bond can be updated. The bond expires in a few months (October of 2006) and as previously discussed, it should be separated to 2 different bonds, one for Nottingham & one for Barrington. It was determined that the Planning Board should send the developer a letter, certified & return receipt, that gives the developer a date certain by which he must settle the outstanding balance with RCCD and provide to the Town a check for the escrow account. If nothing has been resolved by the next Planning Board meeting, July 19th, the Selectmen may take action at their July 24th meeting. Mr. Smith & Ms. Beauchamp left at 8:45PM.
Having no further business before the Board,
8:45 PM Motion: Bock, second Netishen to adjourn.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Heidi Seaverns
Approved as corrected
7/24/06
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