Minutes
Selectmen’s Meeting
April 9, 2007
6:30 PM Chair Bock opened the meeting and asked all those present to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Members Present: Peter Bock, Mary Bonser and Town Administrator Charles Brown.
Member absent: Bill Netishen.
Also present: Heidi Seaverns
Guests: Gary Stenhouse from Primex ³, Joe Welch & Police Chief Phil English.
Mr. Brown proceeded to give the Board a brief department overview. He reported that the Police Chief would be in attendance this evening to talk about Nottingham Day and the memo he had given the Board about last week’s storm. The Fire Chief had reported that things had gone fairly smoothly throughout the storm. The department had 1 structure fire as well as a couple CO2 alarm activations that resulted from improper use of generators. The department is going to try to put together some type of generator education information for people in town to avoid these types of calls in the future. Mr. Brown reported that the Highway Department is still cleaning up from the storm. Mr. Bock stated that all emergency services worked extremely well with each other throughout the storm.
Mr. Bock then recognized Gary Stenhouse from Primex³. Mr. Brown informed the Board that Mr. Stenhouse has an extensive background in municipal government. Mr. Stenhouse gave each board member a packet of information on the services Primex³ offers to towns. Primex³ offers a health plan, which is underwritten by Primex³ with the carrier being Harvard Pilgrim health, a workmen’s compensation pool, property liability coverage and an unemployment compensation pool as well. Towns may participate in any combination of plans. The Town of Nottingham participates in the Workmen’s compensation pool and has since 1983. The pool was created in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s as a result of the insurance companies walking away from covering municipalities. The members of the pool share the
benefits, the risks and the cost of coverage. There are approximately 250 members in the pool, which is made up of municipalities, school districts, village districts, counties and a couple water precincts. The participant’s contribution to the fund is based on their experience modifier, which is a statistical measure of how they perform in the pool. Industry standard is 1.00 and modifier for the total Primex³ pool is .88. This means that the pool typically performs 12-13% better than the industry. The Town of Nottingham’s experience modifier is .82, which is even better than the pool’s performance. Mr. Bock asked what the range of modifiers was within the pool participants. Mr. Stenhouse stated that one large municipality has a modifier of .59, there are several participants with a modifier of over 2.0 and a number of them in the 1.4-1.6 range. The bottom line is that increased performance equals reduced cost. Mr. Stenhouse explained that Primex³ runs
many training programs throughout the year and they can craft one to a Town’s specific need if one arises. The Town has only had one catastrophic claim in the last 20 years. Since 1983, Nottingham has contributed $ 602,000 to the pool. Primex³ has paid out $ 508,000 in claims and returned $ 239,00 to the Town resulting in a net cost to the Town of ($ 145,000). Mr. Bock asked Mr. Stenhouse if he had any suggestions to improve the Town’s performance. Mr. Stenhouse just reminded the Board to get an update on risk management issues a couple of times a year and maintain the positive risk management culture. Mr. Bock indicated that the Board intended to look at health benefits this year and they would be contacting Primex³ for information about the health plans they offer. Mr. Stenhouse explained that one difference between the Primex³ program and the current one the Town has is that both Primex³ & Harvard Pilgrim are non-profit whereas the current
plan, Anthem, is not. Mr. Stenhouse reiterated that Primex³ was just a phone call away and thanked the Board for their time. The Board thanked Mr. Stenhouse and he left at 6:57PM.
Joe Welch & Chief English stepped forward to address the Board about Nottingham Day. Mr. Welch then gave an overview of the celebration, which will be held on September 15th with a rain date of September 16th. The event will run from 10:00AM-4:00PM with a chicken barbeque running from 4:00-6:00PM. The event will be similar to last year’s event. Much discussion followed. The Nottingham Day Committee would like the Board’s approval to have the celebration here for 2007. The outside power & the stage are already in place here as well as the fact that the back soccer field at the school may be undergoing renovations and may not be available. The committee is also smaller than last year and they feel that it would take a lot of additional effort to move the celebration this year. The
committee is committed to move the celebration elsewhere in 2008 and will be forming a sub committee this summer to that end. They are aware of the safety concerns but they believe the plan they have worked out with the Police Chief addresses the concerns. Chief English then informed the Board that he would be asking DOT to move the no parking signs from the eastbound side of Rt. 152 to the westbound side, which would improve the site lines for vehicles exiting the parking lot. The Police department would be helping with pedestrian traffic and the Chief is also going to request the use of DOT signboards to warn traffic in advance that there is an event going on ahead. The Chief is also recommending that the vendor set up & take down times are strictly enforced. A brief discussion followed about the improvements (outside power & a stage) that would be needed if the event were to be held at the school in the future & how to fund those improvements. The Board may discuss
this subject briefly at their upcoming meeting with the School Board. Both Board members present had no issue with the event being held here at the Community Center in 2007. Mr. Welch informed the Board that the committee is meeting on the 3rd Monday of the month now, as the event approaches; the number of meetings will increase. Mr. Welch made a request for volunteers, both for planning the event as well as people wiling to work the day of the event. Mr. Bock thanked Mr. Welch for his detailed presentation and Mr. Welch left at 7:30PM.
The Police Chief then addressed the Board about the memo he had given the Board in regard to the storm last week. The fact that the phone lines were not working during the storm was an additional complication. A discussion followed about purchasing a generator that could run heat & power in this building in case of an extended power outage of more than 24 hours. The base station for the radios does not function without power, so the cell phones are used a lot more and then they need to be charged as well as the portable radios and the flashlight. The storm and the associated issues will be the topic of discussion at the Department Head meeting on Monday April 16th. The Chief also informed the Board he had received a request for signage at the end of Round Pond Road from a resident of the road. He let the
resident know they needed to contact the Board of Selectmen with the request. He reminded the Board that 5th grade DARE Culmination was scheduled for Wednesday night April 11th at 6:30PM at the Elementary School. He also informed the Board that he has received several calls from Grappone Ford indicating the cruiser was in and ready for delivery. He would wait for the approval from the Board before accepting delivery. Chief English left at 7:40PM.
Next item on the agenda was a request from the Elementary School to use the field here at the Community Center for baseball/softball games this season.
Motion: Bonser, second Bock to allow Nottingham School to use the Community Center fields for the 2007 baseball/softball season.
Vote: 2-0 in favor.
Mr. Brown reviewed the draft Operation and Maintenance Plan for the Nottingham Lake Dam. There are several areas of concern within the plan. After some discussion, it was decided that Mr. Brown would send a letter to the Dam Bureau outlining the Town’s concerns with a copy to be sent to the dam owner.
The Board will act on the outstanding minutes at their next meeting.
There was a brief discussion about the topics that will be covered at the next meeting with the School Board on Monday night. The School Board has not yet forwarded a list of topics to Mr. Brown. Ms. Bonser indicated she would like to see high school graduates listed in the Town Report.
The Board next addressed the signature file;
First to be discussed were the commitment letters from Northway Bank for financing the Mulligan easement and the new Fire Station. Northway Bank is offering to finance both projects for an interest rate that is at least ½% less than the Bond Bank and there are no additional fees associated with the transactions. These two factors result in a large savings to the Town over the life of the loans. Mr. Brown has spoken with Mr. Netishen over the phone in regard to this financing and he is very happy with this arrangement. Mr. Brown would like to contact the Society for the Protection of NH Forests to see how close a closing date is. These commitment letters are good for 30 days. If funds are not needed that quickly, it may behoove the Town to wait until the closing date is closer to obtain the funds for the easement.
After some discussion,
Motion: Bonser, second Bock to obtain financing through Northway Bank for the Mulligan easement in the amount of $ 850,000 for 20 years at an interest rate of 4.44%.
Vote: 2-0 in favor.
Motion: Bock, second Bonser to obtain financing through Northway Bank for the new Fire Station in the amount of $ 800,000 for 20 years at an interest rate of 4.44%.
Vote: 2-0 in favor.
The Board signed the commitment letters for Northway Bank for both projects.
The Board signed an intent to excavate for 2007 for Map 10 Lot 8 and for Map 10 Lot 12. The Board signed an intent to cut for 2007 for Map 19 Lot 1. Taxes were current on all properties.
The Board then signed salary history sheets for all employees reflecting the wages for 2007 that were approved at Town Meeting. Next to be discussed was the agreement with the State for Police details at the State Park for 2007.
Motion: Bonser, second Bock to authorize Charles Brown on behalf of the Board of Selectmen to sign the agreements for Police Detail at Pawtuckaway State Park for 2007.
Vote:2-0 in favor.
The Board then signed the MS 2 form, report of Appropriations actually voted, for submittal to the Department of Revenue.
Mr. Brown informed to the Board that Cynthia Copeland from Strafford Regional Planning Commission will be at the meeting on May 14th to discuss the letter in regard to the proposed realignment of the Seacoast MPO.
Mr. Brown reported to the Board that the Fire Department had done an inspection of the Community Center and had found a couple of emergency lights that were not working as well as a couple exit signs that were not working as well as an additional exit sign that was needed. Mr. Brown will be contacting someone to fix these issues, which should be corrected within 30 days.
Mr. Bock gave a quick recap of the meetings scheduled for the upcoming week: Building Committee Meeting at 7PM on Tuesday, DARE culmination Wednesday at 6:30PM and the Budget Committee at 7PM on Thursday.
Mr. Bock, on behalf of the Board of Selectmen, thanked the community for supporting the new Fire Station as well as all the community members involved in getting the project together for presentation.
8:16 PM Having no further business before the Board,
Motion: Bonser, second Bock to adjourn.
Vote: 2-0 in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Heidi Seaverns
Approved as printed
4/30/07
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