Minutes
Selectmen’s Meeting
September 4, 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, Bill Netishen, Mary Bonser and Town Administrator Charles Brown.
Others: Heidi Seaverns.
Regarding department business,
The Board was given a memo from the Building Inspector who is looking into ID cards for the employees. Mr. Brown informed the Board that the Recreation Department is busy with Nottingham Day preparations. The Deerfield Road/Flutter Street rebuilding projects are going well and progressing. The anticipated paving date for the projects is early October at this point. The Board next reviewed a letter from the Fire Chief outlining a number of items need to be addressed prior to the Fire Department relocating to their new facility. The Department is requesting that any remaining contingency funds be used for these items in the prioritized order provided by the Chief in his letter. The items are as follows in priority order-radio communication system hardware/installation, gear washer/extractor, kitchen appliances, shelving
& free standing counters, lighted sign on Stage Road, white boards for offices & conference room & projector screen for training room. It is unknown at this time if there will be any contingency funds left after the project is completed. The Board will have Mr. Brown do some further research before they give an answer to the Chief. Mr. Brown reported that the Fire/Rescue department had reviewed the by-laws but they are not ready for the Board’s approval as yet. Mr. Bock asked Mr. Netishen to give an update on the fire station construction project. Mr. Netishen informed the Board that the paving is scheduled for this week and most of the work being done is inside. The heating system is almost completed as well. The fence between the school lot & the fire station lot will be installed in the next couple weeks.
Regarding outstanding minutes,
Motion: Bonser, second Netishen to accept as written the minutes of August 20, 2007.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Motion: Bonser, second Netishen to accept as amended the minutes of August 21, 2007.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Motion: Netishen, second Bonser to accept as written the minutes of August 23, 2007.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
The Board then reviewed bills and the mail. Mr. Brown brought to the attention of the Board a letter from Comcast documenting the commencement of the cable franchise renewal process.
Mr. Brown reported to the Board that additional requests for funding for 2008 have been received from several social service agencies. Mr. Brown gave each Board member a copy of the draft audit (MS-5) & management discussion for their review. The Board then discussed a recommendation from the Planning Board in regard to calling the letters of credit for Gerrior Lane Trust. The Planning Board requested someone from the development come in to speak with the board but they received no response. The letters of credit will expire on September 15, 2007.
Motion: Bock, second Netishen to call the letters of credit held by the Town of Nottingham for Gerrior Lane Trust based on the recommendation of the Planning Board and to authorize the Board of Selectmen representative to the planning Board to sign the corresponding documents.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
The Board next discussed the draft Budget Guidelines for 2008 that Mr. Brown had revised based on the Board’s recommendations. Discussion followed about how salaries should be determined-COLA vs. merit increase. Energy conservation goals were also discussed. The Board felt it would be hard to impose a percentage reduction given the increased costs of fuel & increased usage of buildings and vehicles. The Board approved the Budget Guidelines with the minor changes they discussed. Mr. Brown will distribute to the department heads the budget process for next year. Budgets will be due by October 1, 2007.
Mr. Brown informed the Board that NH DES had sent information packets to individuals around Nottingham Lake that had indicated they were having problems with their wells. This information deals with grant money available through US Department of Agriculture.
Next item to be discussed was the memo from the Town Clerk in regard to delinquent dog registrations. She asked if the Board wanted either the Animal Control Officer and/or the Police Department to try to collect the outstanding fees. After some discussion, the Board agreed it would not be cost effective to try to collect the fees. The Board will suggest to the Town Clerk to mention the outstanding fees when the individuals come in to register their vehicles.
The last item on the agenda to be discussed was the MS-1, which is the summary inventory of valuation for the Town. Mr. Bock explained that the Board had decided to look at updating Pawtuckaway waterfront/water access values as sales indicate that they are markedly lower than the remaining assessed values in Town. Avitar did a sales analysis of these properties that the Board has reviewed. Both Ms. Bonser & Mr. Bock stated that the Board is hesitant to update these values but in fairness to the rest of the community, the values need to be updated to insure everyone is paying their fair share of the tax burden. Mr. Netishen offered an alternative approach and stated he thought the building value played a bigger part in the values than was accounted for in the sales analysis. Much discussion followed.
Motion: Bonser, second Bock to update the Pawtuckaway waterfront & water access values using the base figure of $ 270,000 based on the recommendation from Avitar.
Vote: 2 (Bock, Bonser) in favor-1 (Netishen) against. Motion passes.
Mr. Bock reminded all that Nottingham Day was rapidly approaching-September 15, 2007.
Mr. Netishen reminded the Board that they need to include a figure for the POD (pandemic event) in the budget, most likely in the Emergency Management portion of the budget. If there is no money appropriated, and a situation arises, no funds can be expended. On a related topic, discussion turned to spraying for Triple E in the case of an infected person.
Having no further business,
7:56 PM Motion: Netishen, second Bonser to adjourn.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Heidi Seaverns
Approved as amended
9/17/07
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