Minutes
Selectmen’s Meeting
October 29, 2007
6:33 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: Phil English, David Hynes (NHDRA), Lionel MacEachern (NHDRA), approximately 80 taxpayers/residents and Heidi Seaverns.
Chief Phil English stepped forward to address the Board. He stated he had submitted to the Board a preliminary operational budget and that he would be providing additional information to the Board as it became available. He informed the Board that he wanted to address salaries this evening. He went on to say that he does not believe a COLA increase across the Board is fair to the employees that do their job well, nor does it provide any incentives for long-term employees. He continued with his reasons that a survey of other towns does not always work. Some of theses reasons are unions skew the system, length and quality of service are not taken into account, ideology of officials and the community make-up differs from town to town. He gave an example of community makeup differences as Newington vs. Nottingham. Newington
has approximately 900 residents but they have a police force of 15 full time officers because of all the commercial/retail development within their town. Nottingham has a population of approximately 4500 and we have 6 full time officers. He went on to say the law enforcement hiring climate has changed and that lateral moves within communities are very common due to different levels of funding within communities. Discussion between the Chief and the Board members followed about the COLA, total cost of benefit packages and employee retention. A brief discussion followed about accreditation of the department. The Chief then gave the Board members a copy of a pay scale based on the State Police pay scale for the Board to consider. The Chief thanked the Board for their time.
Mr. Bock reminded the audience that the Open House for the new Fire Station will be held at the new station on November 4, 2007 from 1:00PM-4:00PM with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 2:00PM. He encouraged everyone to attend.
Mr. Bock then announced a representative from Senator Sununu’s office will be in Town on Wednesday October 31, 2007 at the community center from 1-2 PM to hear resident input on any federal matters.
The Board has not had the opportunity to review the by-laws for the Fire/Rescue Department, so they will consider approval at a future meeting.
Regarding outstanding minutes,
Motion: Bonser, second Netishen to approve the minutes of October 5, 2007 meeting as written.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
The Board will act on the 10/15/07 minutes at their next meeting.
Mr. Bock stated that the answers to the questions posed by taxpayers at the last few meetings were on the table as you came into the room. He went on to say that a copy would also be mailed to all those in attendance as promised. Mr. Bock then recognized Clayton Button who stepped forward to address the Board. He gave the Board a copy of the petition filed earlier in the day for a Special Town Meeting as well as a copy of the letter the Taxpayer Alliance had sent to Barbara Robinson of NHDRA. The letter asked the DRA to delay the tax rate setting for Nottingham until after the Special Town Meeting has been held. Mr. Bock stated that the petition had been given to the Town Clerk for verification of signatures. Once the Clerk verifies the signatures, the Board will then review the petition. Mr. Bock reminded the audience
that the Board had filed for an extension on the MS 1 and it had been granted. Mr. Bock then introduced David Hynes from NH DRA. He is the Eastern District Assessment Representative Supervisor for the Department of Revenue Administration. Mr. Hynes informed the audience that DRA would be reviewing the update to be sure it was done correctly. He explained this process would take about 2 weeks and once the review has been completed, if satisfactory, the Town could file the MS 1 and receive their tax rate. The question was asked why the review had not already started. Mr. Hynes stated that the department was aware of the fact that there were informal hearings held and they waited until the analysis was complete before starting the review. He went on to say that a review of the Town equalized ratio study did reveal a disportionality existed and he stated the Board was right in correcting it. He spoke to the process, in that the update should have been done, not to the values as yet.
Assessing is now more an art and a science as opposed to the days when the Selectmen used to sit around a kitchen table and establish values. The assessors have education requirements once they are certified and towns have to hire certified New Hampshire appraisers (CHNA). He explained the DRA oversees the individuals and the companies that do assessing work in NH. Mr. Hynes then answered general questions about assessing from the audience. The Board thanked Mr. Hynes & Mr. MacEachern for their time.
The Board took a short break at 8:00PM.
The Board reconvened their meeting at 8:15PM.
Mr. Bock stated that the Board would not be signing the MS 1 this evening pending DRA review. At this time, most of the audience left.
The Board reviewed e-mail from the School Board inviting them to a presentation about the enrollment analysis at the next School Board meeting on November 7th. Due to prior commitments, none of the Selectmen will be able to attend. Mr. Brown will let the superintendent know.
Ms. Seaverns asked the Board if they wanted to send list letters to the data verification properties that were not listed this summer. The concern is that there will not be any money left in the assessing budget if list letters are sent. As a result of budgetary concerns,
Motion: Bonser second Netishen to not send list letters to the data verification properties
for 2007.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Having no further business,
8:38 PM Motion: Netishen, second Bonser to adjourn.
Vote: 3-0 in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Heidi Seaverns
Approved as written
11/13/07
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