Town of Carroll, New Hampshire

• Town Services
• Town Meeting Minutes
• Planning Board/ZBA
• Applications & Forms
• Town Clerk/Tax Collector
• Map
• Home

Minutes of Town Board Meetings

• Planning Board
• Board of Adjustment
• Select Board
• Budget Committee
• Building Committee
• Energy Commission

Minutes of 7/28/2014 DRAFT

August 5th, 2014

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
July 28, 2014

DRAFT

“These minutes of the Town of Carroll Select board have been recorded by its Secretary. Though believed to be accurate and correct they are subject to additions, deletions and corrections by the Select Board at its next meeting when the Board votes its final approval of the minutes. They are being made available at this time to conform to the requirements of New Hampshire RSA 91-A:2.”

Minutes recorded by Maryclare Quigley, Secretary

Board members present: Bonnie Moroney, David Scalley. Paul Bussiere was excused.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Moroney.

Members of the public present: Leslie Bergum, Eric Bergum, John Warren, Richard Gould, Jane Ikasalo, Nancy Mitiguy, Mike Gooden, Greg Hogan, Roberta McGee Judy Cookson, Debbie Szauter, Imre Szauter, Scott Sonia, Jeanne Stapleton, Lyn Acquard, Michael Hogan, Dianne Hogan, Robert O’Leary, Donna Matz, Mike Matz, Terri LaPoint. Steven LaPoint, Rob Gauthier, Donna Foster, Evan Karpf, Kathy Saffian

Pledge of Allegiance

The meeting was filmed by Jane Ikasalo.

The Board announced the approval of bills and signing of manifests.

Selectman Scalley made a Motion to accept the minutes of 7/14/2014 as written and Chairman Moroney seconded. The Motion passed unanimously.

Selectman Scalley made a Motion to accept the minutes of 7/24/2014 as written and Chairman Moroney seconded. The Motion passed unanimously.

Chairman Moroney read a letter of resignation from his job at the Transfer Station from Eric Schloss. Mr. Schloss gave two weeks’ notice so his last day will be August 9; and he also made the offer to assist anyone with any of his knowledge to help through the transition. The Selectmen decided that an ad should be placed in the Democrat and the Courier for the part time position at 29 hours and the ad will run for two weeks.

Chairman Moroney said as stated at the previous meeting, she had the schedule for budget presentations for department heads and committees. She explained these will be through August and September so the Board can have their budget ready to present to the Budget Committee at their meeting around October 15. She said she will have the letters ready during the next few days to put in their boxes so everyone should be looking for them. Michael Hogan said it would be appreciated by the Budget Committee if she could add that they would like a 10-year projection with a 5-year plan such as for purchases i.e. vehicles and equipment, and making improvements, etc.

Chairman Moroney thanked Dianne Hogan and Eric Schloss for all their work over the years. She went on to say with Ms. Hogan getting done in the Office they had advertised for the position and received three applications and conducted two interviews. (The third applicant did not respond to numerous communications for an interview.) The Board voted to hire Kelly Trammell for the Financial Assistant position. As Ms. Trammell is currently employed part time as Deputy Town Clerk/Tax Collector and part time Water Clerical, the Board also decided to combine all to make one full time position. Ms. Trammell is very familiar with the entire office i.e. computer programs and software, equipment and machines, procedure, etc. and this is a definite plus. Chairman Moroney noted that before the Board could advise of their decision, the other candidate withdrew her application. Chairman Moroney also stated that there would be no conflict regarding duties as most of the financial reports are exported directly to the Administrative Assistant. The software company is working with the Town Office for exporting any remaining reports.

Chairman Moroney also spoke of their last meeting when as Board of Commissioners they reviewed water rates, expenditures and revenues. When they verified the department was still running at a loss, it was apparent that they needed to raise the quarterly rates as follows: Base Rate, $33.00; Use Rate, $6.96 per thousand; Fixed Rate remains the same at $6.25. It was noted that they had omitted the Base V (Base Vacant) Rate and they tabled this until another meeting after they have had a chance to go over it. They will review everything again in a year so they can see how the department is doing.

Greg Hogan, Road Agent, spoke to the Board about Little River Road and the estimate he has received to repair it. He said the road is exceptionally bad and he has had to put cones out which reduces travel to one lane. He said he cannot put cold patch on it anymore as they lose it within days. The estimate is from Central Asphalt Paving, Co, for trucking, material, tack coat, machines and labor to install 50 ton of shim for $7,500. Selectman Scalley said he feels this should be done as they cannot give it a “band aid fix” any longer. He went on to say he feels they should do the entire road but knows we cannot afford it. Selectman Scalley made a Motion to: Approve this estimate and work for Little River Road. Chairman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

The following items were approved and signed:

Certificates of Occupancy – Dianne and Michael Hogan, Audesse
Application for Reimbursement for Taxable Federal and State Land – DRA
Application for FY 2015 Payment of State Grant – NH DES
Water Warrant – Hunt Properties; Federal Nat’l. Mortg. Assoc.
Town Hall Use Permit Application – R. McGee/Brownell


Other:

Evan Karpf said he had brought up the RSA’s at the last meeting and that the Selectmen had said they had some attorneys tell them they are suggestions rather than law. He said he took it upon himself to contact NH Municipal Association and the attorney there said they are law. He proceeded to read the response he received which verified this. The Secretary asked for a copy of his email which he gave to her.

Kathy Saffian said she felt Eric’s resignation was a great loss to the town and that she felt he was not treated well by the Select Board. She said she felt she has the sentiment of the town by a petition they have been circulating for about a month. Therefore, she wanted to present this to the Board as it is how people feel about the Transfer Station. Mrs. Saffian said there are rumors going around about different things happening there because of the lack of anything happening. She said she had 254 signatures and read the petition. She continued, saying with all due respect, she felt it had not been handled very well.

Michael Hogan said he felt the survey was kind of one-sided, it didn’t tell anyone numbers and there were no comparisons on what we’re saving. He went on to say it took two years to get enough plastic, so there are storage fees, payroll, etc. to consider. He also said there are more factors not presented to say how efficient or not efficient things are and that we need a study to see the best way to handle it. He said they are doing a great job at the Transfer Station, and referring to the various pieces of equipment there, he said that anyone who knows equipment actually finds it less complicated than those who don’t. He further stated we bought a glass crusher that isn’t used and can’t get rid of the glass – it can’t be used on roads as once thought and towns can’t sell it. Mr. Hogan again spoke of efficiency and how long we have to hold onto things to collect enough to sell them. He said it may be a combination of options that we find is best. When asked, it was stated that the loan payment for the Station comes out of the operating budget though one year it was paid out of the Recycling Special Revenue Fund. Mrs. Saffian said this happened even though the people voted against it.

Mrs. Saffian said it was a petition, not a survey as it had been called, and she said it did what it was intended to do. It shows the people say no to changes at the Transfer Station. Numbers came up again and Nancy Mitiguy asked about the process on the spreadsheet and when it would be ready. It was stated they hope to have it in two weeks.

Chairman Moroney repeated that the Board is basically looking for a clear picture of sizeable savings. If they do not find this, they will not be looking at any changes. She noted that Eric himself had said that going from 80 (paid employee) hours to 50 (paid employee) hours was working just fine – and that is what they are doing, gathering information that will help with making decisions.

Richard Gould said Mrs. Saffian did a great job with the petition. He reiterated the whole process was to get people’s feelings on the Transfer Station and also stated he feels we don’t have good numbers to make comparisons. Mike Matz asked if the Board had any plans for the next two weeks and Chairman Moroney said they don’t as they only got the letter today. Mr. Gould said he feels the Board should give much thought to hours and wages for a new person as the wages that Eric made were so low that no one should be expected to live on them.

Rob Gauthier said he had not been able to get to all the meetings so he was not sure of all the discussions, etc., but he said he’s not sure the Board of Selectmen have been treated very well and felt the characterization of the Board is unfair.

Donna Foster said she feels the Board of Selectmen are doing the job they’re supposed to do by looking at all options. She also said she’s sure they appreciate all the input.

Dianne Hogan said she wanted to remind everyone that the supervisor came in and quit and no one said anything about the way that took place. The Board gave Eric an opportunity and he resigned, he chose not to accept it but everyone is upset with the Board.

Terry Lapointe said they had just moved here fulltime so she really couldn’t voice an opinion, but felt Kathy Saffian did a good job presenting the petition. She said it gave a starting point for discussion. She also agrees with making recycling more efficient and that pay-per-bag is a good thing to encourage recycling.

Selectman Scalley thanked Mrs. Hogan for calling attention to the fact that Bill left – we didn’t
“lose” Bill. He said Bill left Eric in a bad position as he did not come to the Board to say Eric was ready to take over or anything. He also addressed the comment on pay and said it was a part time job, and asked if they paid $20, what then? He said if they pay what people deserve everyone would have to “pony up” and pay taxes. Selectman Scalley pointed out the Transfer Station budget is $80,000, with $20,000 from the Special Revenue Fund, so we’re really looking at a budget of $100,000. Mrs. Hogan said over a year ago Bill was asked when Eric would be trained and he gave a date, but then he did not follow through with it. Thus the Board did not get told that Eric was ready to do the job.

Chairman Moroney reiterated they’re only trying to get a firm understanding of all the numbers and to figure it all out. If there is not a big amount of savings, they’re not considering changing anyway.

As there was no further business, the Board was polled and went into non-public session, per RSA 91-A-3 for legal, town aid and personnel matters at 8:05 pm.

At the close of non-public session at 9:02 p.m., Chairman Moroney moved to return to public session and seal the minutes from non-public session. Selectman Scalley seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

There being no further discussion, Chairman Moroney made a Motion to adjourn the meeting. Selectman Scalley seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Chairman Moroney declared the meeting ended at 9:03 pm. The next meeting will be Monday, August 11, 2014.

Town of Carroll, New Hampshire ®2024