SUNAPEE BOARD OF SELECTMEN
7:00 PM Town Office Meeting Room
Monday, November 15, 2010
Present: Fred Gallup Chairman, William Roach Vice Chairman, Charlotte Brown, Emma Smith, Stephen White, Donna Nashawaty, Town Manager
Also Present: See Sign-in Sheet
Chairman Gallup opened the meeting at 7:00PM
Dana Ramspott, Chairman Old Town Hall Committee
•Dana Ramspott asked the Board if the Old Town Hall Committee could change their name to the Harbor House Livery Committee. Motion to allow the Old Town Hall Committee to change its name to the Harbor House Livery Committee by Selectman White, seconded by Selectman Roach. All in Favor.
•Dana Ramspott, on behalf of the Harbor House Livery Committee would like the Board of Selectmen to consider securing the property adjacent to the Harbor House Livery building, which is the Riverway property, for 5 years to allow the committee to pursue grants to develop plans for the use of the building. Chairman Gallup asked the Town Manager to set-up a meeting with the Riverway to discuss this purchase. Selectman White asked if the committee would like the Board of Selectmen to continue the existing lease on the property. The committee would like the Board of Selectmen to consider securing the right to purchase for 5 years. Selectman White asked if the committee would like the Board of Selectmen to extend the existing agreement or enter into a new agreement with the Riverway, which Dana Ramspott replied correct.
Donna Nashawaty reminded the Board of Selectmen that the old agreement does not have the provisions to extend in that manner. Selectman White asked if the committee voted in favor of this request and Dana Ramspott said it was a unanimous decision with the committee and they are already applying for a grant to fix the foundation and to remove the asbestos siding. Selectman Brown asked if the committee wanted a lease with an option to purchase at the end of 5 years. Chairman Gallup asked if the committee wanted the property either way, which Dana Ramspott replied correct. Chairman Gallup asked if the committee had any other options besides what you have proposed. Dana Ramspott wanted the Board of Selectmen to explore the opportunity of paying on this piece of property. Mike Durfor, also a member of the committee explained the grant that the committee was applying for to do the building renovations. The committee would like to have the time to pursue monies and restore the building.
Chairman Gallup asked the Town Manager to set-up a meeting with the Riverway Directors in regarding to the Harbor House lot. Peter Urbach asked where that left the status of the existing lease, which the Board needed to take action on before the end of the month. Chairman Gallup stated that under Selectmen’s action on the agenda is a letter that the Board will be signing to terminate the lease.
Donna Nashawaty reviewed the committee openings before the next appointment.
Jim Marshall, DOT
Jim Marshall explained the proposed culvert rehabilitation project that the DOT will be doing next August. The project would last approximately 6 weeks. The project will be a 96 inch metal pipe that proposes to shorten the length of the culvert: install a culvert lining, headwalls and stone protection at the inlet and outlet 200 feet west of the intersection of Holmes Lane and NH Route 11. Jim Marshall left a municipal work zone agreement, which conveys to municipalities that the DOT will have the authority to control traffic through the work zone for the duration of the project, for the Board to review and sign. Donna Nashawaty expressed a concern regarding the lane closures and summer traffic. Jim Marshall said some adjustment could be made the hours the work and lane closures would be done or maybe not working after
noon on Friday to accommodate the weekend traffic.
Public Comments
•Peter Urbach asked what the status of the Riverway stock that the Town received. Donna Nashawaty did acknowledge that people have transferred ownership of their Riverway stock to the Town, there has been some discussion to determine what happens and under what circumstances the people gave the stock to the Town and what they expect back. Selectman Brown and White suggested that the Board talk to the Riverway since they’re the ones who made the offer. Chairman Gallup stated that the Board will have to look at all avenues, there may be people who donated the stock for the library and this needs to be looked at carefully.
•Peter Urbach also wanted to explain the library survey that was sent out and the 4 survey that Selectman Roach received. There were 4 questionnaires aimed at different audience. The first questionnaire was directed at Sunapee voters and the library used the voter checklist and Selectman Roach is a registered voter and received 1 survey as a registered voter. The second questionnaire was made available thru the library website in response from complaints from voters who did not receive a copy of the voter questionnaire. The combination of poor voters addresses on the voter list and the use of bulk mail, which has no forwarding or notification privileges, lead to a number mail pieces being discarded by the post office. The web questionnaire was intended to solicit the opinion of these missed voters. The library
was concerned about multiple responses from a single individual on this web based questionnaire so the respondent was required to submit their name and address, while all the other questionnaires permitted the respondent to remain anonymous. The third questionnaire was aimed at property owners who are not voters; this was an effort to get opinions from seasonal residents. This was not an easy list to get; Sunapee does not maintain a list of seasonal property owners. To develop this list, a property list from the Assessing Department was used, which eliminated all non-residential properties. Both the voter list and assessing property lists were compared to eliminate addresses that appeared on both lists. Selectman Roach owns 3 pieces of residential property, therefore appeared on this list 3 times.
Selectman Roach address was not caught because it didn’t match his address on the voter list. Therefore, Selectman Roach got a voters questionnaire and 3 seasonal property questionnaires. According to Peter Urbach, Selectman Roach was one of few who received more than 1 questionnaire. The fourth questionnaire was aimed at the students and distributed and collected by the teaching staff. There’s no doubt there was some duplication on the lists and some potential recipients were missed, but the survey results are useful for the Library Trustees to decide how to get new library space. Peter Urbach commented the the mocking and laughter from the Selectmen that appears on the audio tape of the October 25th meeting does not represent the kind of leadership for encouragement of volunteer effort that
Sunapee should expect from its governing body. Selectman Roach responded by telling Peter Urbach that he would attend their meeting on Tuesday, November 16th and deliver the 3 excess surveys he received in the mail to show he only used 1 of the 4 given to him.
Selectmen Action
•Motion to sign the letter to the Riverway that will terminate the purchase and sale agreement by Selectman White, seconded by Selectman Smith. All in Favor.
•Motion to schedule a public hearing on Fieldstone Drive and open land on December 13th by Selectman White, seconded by Selectman Roach. All in Favor.
•Motion to accept the reappointment of Roger Whitaker to the Conservation Commission by Selectman White, seconded by Selectman Roach. All in Favor
•Motion to accept the reappointments of Van Webb and Charles Balyeat to the Alternate Waste Committee by Selectman White, seconded by Selectman Roach. All in Favor
•Motion to accept the reappointments of Brian Garland, Craig Heino and Paul Skarin to the Recreation Committee by Selectman White, seconded by Selectman Roach. All in Favor.
•Motion to accept the appointment of Donna Gazelle as an alternate on the Old Town Hall Committee by Selectman White, seconded by Selectman Roach. All in Favor.
•Motion to accept the appointment of Amy Holobowiez from an alternate to full member on the Recreation Committee by Selectman White, seconded by Selectman Roach. All in Favor.
Chairman’s Report
•Selectman White wanted the record to show how pleased he was that the Sunapee Fire Department for welcoming the Newport Football team home after winning the state championship last Saturday.
•Selectman Brown wanted to remind the Board that the SAU and School Board will be having an all day budget workshop on Saturday, December 4th.
•Selectman Roach wanted to know the percentage of the County tax is Sunapee paying under this new tax year? Donna Nashawaty said the Town will not know until March when all the towns have set their tax rate and equalized value.
Town Manager Report
•Donna Nashawaty passed out a packet containing the 2011 Tax Rate Estimated Computation, new expenditures, revenue sheet, corrected warrant articles and the line items that the Board had questions about and needed to be research, investigated or review. The red wording indicated change made to budget; green wording possibilities that need action by Board.
• Selectman Roach wished the Representative of the General Court was here to make sure when they meet with the County that no county money goes towards the volunteer driver program.
•Donna Nashawaty received an update from the Coalition, numbers for 2011 are in and Sunapee is listed as a donor town at 611,000,
Meeting adjourned at 8:39PM
Submitted by,
Barbara Vaughn
Administrative Assistant
Approved:_____________
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Frederick Gallup, Chairman Charlotte Brown
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William Roach, Vice-Chairman Stephen White
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Emma M. Smith
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