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Minutes of 03/13/2006
March 13th, 2006
Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
March 13, 2006
Board members present: William Wright, Allen Strasser
The meeting was called to order at 7:02 PM.
Members of the public present: Roberta McGee, Eleanor Brauns, Doug Bews, Billy Rines, Tom Gately, Evan Karpf, Joan Karpf, Jack Catalano, Bill Dowling, John Goodney, Warren Walsh, Pam Walsh, Mollie White, Dale Shakespeare, Mike Gooden, Jane Jones, Kathy Saffian
The board began with the approval of bills and signing of checks.
Selectman Wright made a motion to approve the minutes from 03/06/2006. The motion was seconded by Selectman Strasser and passed unanimously.
The application for a Permit to Use Town Facilities that was approved by the board last week was lacking in one signature. Selectman Strasser completed the document with his signature.
Bill Dowling came before the board to present a quote for the purchase of a new sweeper for the front of the Bobcat he has at the recycling center. It is 6 ft wide, comes with a container for the material picked up in the sweeping. The cost of the sweeper is $3,872, and a separate trailer for the Bobcat and sweeper is $5,500. Nothing can be done until after the election, but he wanted to present the information. He also stated that New Hampshire the Beautiful had approved a grant for storage trailers in the amount of $1,500, but he plans to call them, as the amount should have been $3,700.
A discussion of the day’s Safety Inspection by the NH Dept. of Labor began with Selectman Strasser stating that we would be receiving a report and then have 30 days to get into compliance. John Goodney stated that one of the problems is that we have overhead storage areas that do not have railings. Billy Rines said he received information from Inspector Roy as to code specifications, and they need to be followed in any of the compliance projects. John Goodney voiced concerns about how the safety committee is to function, that some lines of authority need to be set up so that the committee can mandate changes. In the past, audit reports have been done and presented to the selectmen, and in some cases no action has taken place. Discussion between Mr. Goodney and Selectman Strasser centered on bringing the current safety committee together with the selectmen to establish lines of authority, having a safety program written up, and addressing issues when we receive the report from the state. Selectman Strasser reiterated that these matters, such as purchasing a trench box, must be done …amp;quot; there are fines involved for complaints of non-compliance. Joan Karpf asked if we had an estimated cost for repairs and purchases, and if any of these items were in the 2006 budget. Three years ago when Mr. Rines asked for a trench box there was no money in the budget, and last year he thought something was going to work out with Jerry Warren to get one. We won’t know costs until the report comes, and we’ll have to find money in the budget somewhere. There will be a follow up visit by the state. We have a trench box on order, and will contact an electrician to update electrical wiring in the kitchen area. Roberta McGee asked if John Herwerth mentioned problems with the kitchen wiring when he was here last year. Apparently he didn’t but codes mandate changes be made. Doug Bews and John Goodney brought up the subject of grants for reimbursement of costs, and Mr. Goodney mentioned he is going to pursue some suggestions Inspector Roy had for getting work done at no cost. He will also work on a procedure for the safety committee to follow when safety issues come up in the future. Bill Dowling said the items likely to be on the list for the recycling center are already scheduled for April completion.
The two selectmen looked at the application for an Occupancy Certificate from Jack Catalono’s Quizno addition. Selectman Wright made a motion to approve subject to Stan Borkowski’s conditions, Selectman Strasser seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Selectman Strasser asked if any of the Article 15 committee members present has copies of the meeting minutes. The Superintendent of the school district has requested copies of minutes for 2005 and 2006. Joan Karpf has copies from August to the present time and will get copies to Selectman Strasser.
An application for abatement from the MWH Preservation Ltd. Partnership was read. It is for a 2005 property tax abatement on 45 hotel properties.
Evan Karpf spoke to the group regarding the Aquifer Ordinance that is on the ballot tomorrow. He mentioned a letter about the aquifer in this week’s Democrat that referenced a number of RSA’s. Mr. Karpf said none of them had anything to do with an aquifer zone, but brought copies to leave in the town hall for anyone to read
Joan Karpf brought forth Article 15 minutes from January 7, 2006, a January 9 letter to Rich Larcomb, principal of Profile, a January 23 letter and letter of commitment to the Profile School Board, and a March 7 letter from Bill Brown, Chair of the Profile School Board. (Copies of all attached.) All deal with sending our students to Profile School at some point. Ms. Karpf stated she could find nothing in the selectmen’s minutes to indicate approval of writing a letter to the School Board. She asked if it had been discussed in a public meeting or in executive session. Selectman Strasser said the letters had not been discussed in a public forum. Ms. Karpf cited RSA’s that stated that openness in the conduct of public business is essential in a democratic society. Ms. Karpf asked Selectman Strasser if he has the authority to work outside the public forum, and he replied as a selectman he is authorized to work out problems in negotiations, and that Article 15 had been discussed in selectmen’s executive session several times. Doug Bews stated that Selectman Strasser is within his limits to discuss legal matters in executive session. Mr. Catalano said the spirit of the RSA is that the public has a right to have input for decisions but there is a right to lay groundwork. Ms. Karpf made statements to the effect that the selectmen are acting without public input, and Selectman Strasser answered that no commitments can be made without more than one public vote.
Pam Walsh read the portion of the 2005 Article 15 report on pp. 44-45 of the Town of Carroll Annual Report. The report indicates that a non-binding agreement has been signed by the selectmen and the Profile School Board. She read a letter from Bill Brown, Chair, that states that the School Board has not entered into negotiations with the Town of Carroll regarding acceptance of students. Ms. Walsh said this letter made the annual report a lie, and what were the selectmen going to do to inform the town about this lie. Selectman Strasser said he had made an error and had already written a letter to Mr. Brown apologizing for the error in his report. He would also amend the report, and copies would be put in the town hall and placed inside the remaining annual reports to be distributed.
Mollie White questioned the fact that Selectman Strasser was acting outside the direction of the committee, and feels that his actions have damaged our reputation and credibility with the Profile School Board and the WMRSD. She said his attacks on WMRSD are hurting our chances to negotiate. Ms. White suggested that Selectman Strasser resign from the Article 15 Committee and have Bill Wright and Bonnie Moroney appoint someone else.
Doug Bews stated that we are being held hostage to a monopoly. We should consider taking the AMC Highland Center by eminent domain and use it as a school. He also mentioned the possibility of negotiating with the AMC for the use of their educational facilities for a local school. They don’t want to pay real estate taxes, and we need a school. This could be a bargaining chip with the WMRSD …amp;quot; we would have a place to go if we left the district. Mr. Bews maintains that we should be able to get out of our contract with the district, that it is a quasi contract with no termination date.
Mr. Catalano stated that at the last meeting of the Article 15 Committee, they voted to recommend to the selectmen that they disband the committee, and that a new committee be formed to look at viable options for the school tax problem. Its recommendation would be that a selectman be part of the committee, but be a non-voting member. Tom Gately suggested waiting until the new selectman was on board and deal with any new committee then.
Further discussion regarding the town report took place. Ms. Karpf said she thought there should be a notice put into the paper to get the proper information to the residents of the town. She also asked Selectman Wright if he was aware that there was no agreement with Profile. He stated there was no agreement. Again, Selectman Strasser mentioned disbanding the Article 15 Committee, and Ms. Karpf said the committee wanted to wait until after the Bethlehem vote on Profile. There are still options available if Profile rebuilds.
More discussion took place regarding the school tax options. Selectman Strasser talked about the difficulty attorneys have had trying to cancel regional school contracts, Mr. Bews mentioned having our own school using previously owned temporary modular units.
Mollie White spoke to Selectman Strasser about how they are alike in some ways. They both analyze things, have strong personalities and leadership qualities, sometimes bowl people over with their opinions, lead them the way they want, and sometimes go their own way rather than act as part of a team. She said she’s learned this is not a good approach. Ms. White stated that over the course of time working with Selectman Strasser, she’s learned that many people listen and believe him because he has so much information to impart. However, she feels that he sometimes give half truths, and has no documentation to back up his research.
There was more discussion regarding per pupil cost, tax rates for each town, and the trend toward lower school population. The possibility of towns being more amenable to a new formula in a future year was mentioned. There was general discussion of splitting the towns, and Selectman Strasser mentioned a book in the library about the secession of Sugar Hill from Lisbon. Ms. Karpf cited statistics from two other secession attempts, stating that only those people that wanted to secede had a right to vote on the issue. Evan Karpf said he thought it would be devastating to the town if Bretton Woods and Twin Mountain separated. Selectman Strasser felt with the problems dealing with Avitar gone, people in Bretton Woods would have no desire to split.
At 9:24 PM, as there was no additional business, Selectman Wright made a motion to go into executive session regarding personnel matters. This was seconded by Selectman Strasser. The motion passed unanimously.
At the close of executive session, Selectman Wright made a motion to return to public session and seal the minutes from executive session; Selectman Strasser seconded and the motion passed unanimously. At 9:40 PM a motion was made to adjourn for the evening, which was seconded, and passed unanimously.
NOTICE: HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION DAY
Saturday, June 24, 2006
9 AM - 1 PM at the
LITTLETON FIRE STATION