SUMMER TOWN MEETING
7:00PM Town Office Meeting Room
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Present: Fred Gallup Chairman, Emma Smith Vice Chairman, Shane Hastings, Joshua Trow, Suzanne Gottling and Donna Nashawaty, Town Manager
Also Present: See attached sign-in sheet
Chairman Gallup opened the meeting at 7:00pm. Chairman Gallup welcomed everyone and introduced the Board, Town Manager and Administrative Assistant.
Donna Nashawaty-Town Manager
Continuing on the schedule to be the first Tuesday of August and guarantee less than 2 hours. The departments will report what has gone on in their departments since last summer town meeting. You, the Public, need to communicate to the BOS if you want other information and which departments you want to hear from or to substitute. It’s a battle trying to get the meeting under 2 hours in prior years 3 to 3 ¼ hours long. Following up on information on the town….please call town offices, Barb Vaughn is available to direct you to the appropriate department. Our doors open 8-5 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 8-1 on Wed…telephone response will be forthcoming if you leave a message. Sign up for News and Announcements on our web site. If you need help with this call
Barb and she will help you thru it.
• The tax bill is broken down in 4 sections: town government, school-2 parts state education and local property tax and the County tax. Tax rate times the assessed value per thousand is amount due. First issue is value of record at the time of first bill and multiplied by ½ tax rate from previous year or ½ of $14.14 for 2011’s rate (7.07). Second bill is total assessed value for April 1 of the current tax year (should be now at 100%) x calculated tax rate total due for year less actual $ paid at first billing, net amount
due Dec 1. The towns’ portion of the tax rate is the only portion that the Selectmen/Manager/Department Heads prepare. Town tried very hard to maintain the amount raised by taxation to the previous year….2011 tax rate towns raised $3,261,993 Just as a note the town portion in 2010 was $3,300,980. This is lower than the previous year by $38,987. This is including all the warrant articles that town passed for March 2011 meeting, Loss of some revenues….for 2011 still missing the Shared Revenues $18,000 ….additionally increase amount of employer contribution for NH retirement. As we entered 2012 tax year the message was “hold the line”. The departments under the oversight of the Board of Selectmen and Budget Advisory Committee looked at all of
the expenditures made and for business reasons held the line wherever possible.
•Joint Assessing Department: in 2011 National recognition: At Harvard/ Kennedy School of Government awarded the innovative municipal program of Tri Town assessing, “Ash Center Bright Idea”. Kris who is our interim Chief assessor will talk about more of the specifics of what has happened and what is coming up.
•Annual Report is online again this year. We have saved significant funds by not mailing to all addresses on file and only when requested. Copies are available on the table by the door if you prefer the hard copy.
New project for interactive GIS maps, many more layers including zoning and soils maps, it all links to assessing data base. A copy of actual property card is now available.
Audits for the town are up to date…..Fund balance under GFOA standards is to between 8-17% of ours is 1.1 million and is within recommended ranges although the lower end at 8%…..
•Transfer station machine continues to be a success. Take this opportunity if you need transfer station dollars to pay for open top items machine to pay is working well.
•Covered Bridge: The Board accepted a donation last week from Project Sunapee to order the pedestrian bridge over the river behind the Harbor House Livery, purpose of providing parking for any future use of this building. You can see the abutments currently and if on schedule, bridge to be installed in October.
•Committee Openings- Searching for 3 open positions on the Budget Advisory Committee, 3 alternates on Planning Board and 1 alternate on Zoning Board , Recreation and Harbor House Livery committee.
•Zoning Administrator Report Mid-Term Report
2011 2012
Building Permits 48 71
New Homes 07 6
New Multi Family 00 1
Comm.6000 Sq. Ft. (Nutting Rd.) 01 1
Driveway Permits 06 8
Demo Permits 03 2
Sign Permits 11 10
Tree Cutting 13 18
Septic Approvals 06 5
Cases Reviewed by ZBA 13 15
I respect and applaud all of the staff throughout the town. Complaints are handled promptly and usually surround a sequence of events not actions of town employees. Programs and Services offered here in the town are impressive,…..From the hours to get services from all of town offices including town clerk/tax collection and water sewer, and open hours of the transfer station to the recreation and library programs …we compare with very few other towns for the services we provide with the limited staff we have.
Our professional Police Department and the dedication of the Fire Department, as a volunteer Fire Department in this day and economic age. Rain/snow/sleet/dark of night applies better to highway personnel keeping the roads in Sunapee clear for travel. Also, the many volunteers, who support the previously mentioned departments. Without all of you, as the town manager, I couldn’t even begin to do my job. Thank you for another successful year and having confidence in me for the upcoming one.
John Walden-Library
John Walden made three points of why the community’s support of the library makes Sunapee a stronger community;
- Your support of the library provides equal access to materials to all residents
- Your support of reading helps improve lives at the library
- Your support gives the community a sense of belonging.
Terri White, Chairman of the Abbott Library Trustees gave a new library update.
Betty Ramspott-Town Clerk/Tax Collector
Betty Ramspott recapped numbers in her office;
Between taxes, autos, boats 20 million dollars collected.
Auto registrations are up by 5%
Boat registrations are up over 11%
96% of first issue taxes are collected.
New Voter ID Law that will take effect at the September 2012 election.
Hours of Office
David Bailey-Water & Sewer Dept.
David Bailey recapped some of the happenings in his department;
Work has begun on upgrading the wastewater treatment
Water Intake Pipe needs to be replaced
Water Retention Tank has been replaced
New water hydrant installed on River Road
David Bailey reminded residents not to put grease down their drain, which will end up in the sewer system or septic system.
Tony Bergeron-Garage, Roads & Recycling
Tony Bergeron recapped the mild winter, the early and shortest mud season, which caused terrible expenses for stone and gravel. Because of the mild winter a lot of projects were accelerated that are usually done in the spring. The roads were swept and catch basins were cleaned by the end of April. Harding Hill Road was reclaimed and turned back into a gravel road. In Tony Bergeron’s opinion, changing roads back to gravel is a step backwards. One reason why Tony Bergeron had to take this step backwards is to try to keep the budget expense for asphalt the same amount of dollars annually as in the past. Unfortunately, the amount for asphalt has increased dramatically. Some asphalt was placed on Sargent Road and Avery Road. There are two (2) roads that will be resurfaced; Seven Heaths Lane, which the pavement was
distressed because of the construction at the school. The school will be paying for that overlay. The other road that will be resurfaced is School Street towards the elementary school. The sidewalk on School Street is also being reconstructed. Tony Bergeron had one other project that was put on hold last year and Tony Bergeron still hopes to be able to get to it this year, which is the reconstruction of the intersection at Route 103B and High Street. The transfer station is running very well; essentially the only modification to the recycling program is the plastic bottles. Anything with a screw on top or lid is now a recyclable product. The recycling rate in Sunapee is forty percent (40%) and Tony Bergeron appreciates the support from the residents in making this voluntary program a success.
Scott Blewitt-Recreation
Scott Blewitt stated that the Town of Sunapee is an extremely generous and wonderfully community to be associated with and gives the Recreation Committee a lot of credit for being pro-active to new ideas and improving the facilities. Some of the improvements that have been done; the new bathroom and deck at Dewey Beach, the skate park and the dugouts. Scott Blewitt is trying to keep up with current trends and can do that thanks to his budget, fundraisers and generous donations.
Kris McAllister-Tri-Town Assessor
Kris McAllister works between the three (3) towns watching the sales activity and the market. Currently the tax rate is at about 96.5 percent and Kris McAllister thinks that come October it will be close to 100 percent from current sales activity. The grand list, which is the overall assessments, seems to be somewhat flat from last year to this year, but it won’t be known until the building permits have been done, but looks as if it will remain the same. Kris McAllister said there is a new GIS system, which is on the town website. Every year Kris McAllister tries to do 20 percent of the properties to verify the data to make sure what you’re being assessed on is accurate. People should feel free to call Melissa Pollari, the assessing clerk to make an appointment if they have any questions or issues.
Chief Dan Ruggles-Fire Dept.
Chief Ruggles stated the department is running about average (200 calls) for the amount of calls received and addressed. Chief Ruggles invited people to come and see the new fire truck purchased last year, which was displayed in the parking lot before the meeting.
Chief Ruggles mentioned the new fireworks ordinance that became effective in June and the details of the fireworks permit. Chief Ruggles also mentioned the warning received from the State Fire Marshal’s office regarding the yellow coated gas line piping, which should be checked by Chief Ruggles to determine if system is properly bonded.
Chief David Cahill-Police Dept.
Chief Cahill reported that there have been 3,100 calls for service so far this year, which is up from last year. Chief Cahill said that there are five (5) full-time and five (5) part-time officers. The department purchased eight (8) potables radios with the help of donations and a federal grant resulting in a cost of only $2,000 to his department budget. Chief Cahill stated the town, along with other areas towns have been experiencing burglaries probably due to the economy. The investigations are still ongoing.
Douglas Sartwell asked what the status was of a petition that was dropped off to the Town Manager regarding repaving Burkehaven Hill. Donna Nashawaty stated that the Board asked that Tony Bergeron assess the road and report back at the August 13th meeting.
Some residents had questions regarding the covered bridge. Chairman Gallup stated that the Board has had several public hearings, which were published in the Intertown Record, for public input and when accepting donations from Project Sunapee.
Matt Perry had a question regarding the easements for Perkins Pond sewer project. The Board worked with Bruce Jennings on the easements.
Meeting Adjourned at 9:40PM
Barbara Vaughn
Administrative Assistant
Approved:_____________
____________________ ______________________
Frederick Gallup, Chairman Emma Smith, Vice Chairman
_________________________ _____________________________
Shane Hastings Suzanne H. Gottling
Joshua Trow
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