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Minutes of 9/22/2014 DRAFT

September 29th, 2014

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
September 22, 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, Paul Bussiere, David Scalley.

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Moroney.

Members of the public present: John Gardiner, Debbie Szauter, Imre Szauter, Joan Karpf, Steve Lapoint, Terry Lapoint, Greg Hogan

Pledge of Allegiance

The meeting was filmed by Joan Karpf.

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

John Gardiner, newly appointed Emergency Management Director, presented the budget for Emergency Management. He said the last Emergency Operations Plan was adopted in 2008 and numerous personnel changes have been made since then, both on the Select Board and staff. He said among his first duties will be to meet with all department heads to determine levels of expertise, training, strengths and weaknesses. Once informed, he feels he can begin a training program that will meet our needs.

Equipping an Emergency Operations Center is necessary and important as it is essential for implementation of any emergency plan – for meeting and coordinating their response to an emergency or event. Identifying potential shelters and beginning to stockpile equipment and supplies is necessary; as is identifying all local and regional resources that would be available in a crisis. It is also a necessity to review our Emergency Operations Plan and adjust for all the changes which have occurred in the last six years. Mr. Gardiner said “a successful response to a disaster or critical incident depends on whether we are prepared and ready to respond, in a coordinated and effective manner.”

A brief discussion followed regarding work to be done and how this can and will happen. He said there are many things to look at which will take time and he doesn’t expect to get to do it all right away, but it has to be started. Part of this will be to find out what the State expects from us.
During discussion on Emergency Operations Center line and the amount that should be in it, Chairman Moroney stated that work has been ongoing to get the Town Hall up to be used as a shelter with bathrooms being done over as a start. Selectman Scalley suggested meeting with the department heads to determine what we have and don’t have and coming back to the Board.

The Board thanked Mr. Gardiner.

Greg Hogan, Public Works Manager and Road Agent, presented the budget for General Government Buildings. The Janitor line has increased slightly and the Town Buildings Labor line has decreased due to work which has already been done. He has kept the Water line the same but stated it will change because of the rate increases. He is waiting for this billing cycle to update it. He said he is holding the oil line at $50,000 as last year. Repairs line has been decreased, again due to work already done. Rentals and Leases line is increased because of the Police station. The Alarms line is also increased to include the Fire Station which it should have been right along and to make repairs on the system at the Transfer Station as that has not been working for years. Once all are back and in working order, in a year or so, this should be reduced. Regarding the alarm repairs at the Transfer Station, Selectman Bussiere asked if that would include moving the oil fill and Greg said they will take care of that themselves.

Mr. Hogan continued with the Highway Department budget and explained the Road Agent salary line takes into consideration allocations to the Transfer Station salary line of $10,000 and to the Water Department line of $5,000. He said most lines will remain the same except Telephone & Computer because of price increases; Shop Expenses and (related) Tools and regular Tools for replacements as things break and many that they have are quite old; and Roadside Mowing will include the three roads approved as town roads this year. Equipment Repair line is down $2,500 due to the two new trucks—one last year and one this year—even though we overspent this year because the GMC, which is being replaced, cost a lot in repairs. However, it remains at $7,500 because of the CAT. Mr. Hogan said it is a 1996 and he is still trying to determine what the best thing to do would be whether to refurbish, lease, etc. Salt has also been reduced by $2,000 as they are using less because of the shed. The Sidewalk Repair line is reduced by $4,000. He went on to say they chose not to do the work this year because of all the added expenses with the water line freeze ups. Mr. Hogan said the yearly bid from the State for gasoline hasn’t been received yet, so that line may change.

Mr. Hogan then started the Transfer Station budget by thanking the Selectmen for helping out with it and noted that due to the changes there, we are on a learning curve, and asked all to bear with him. He said line 100, Department Manager at $10,000 may need to be tweaked after a year as with the other two salary lines. He also said the lines for MSW Haul, Bulky Waste Haul, Tires, C&D Trucking, Tipping Fees, Equipment Purchase, Equipment Repairs & Maintenance, Supplies and Miscellaneous have all had money put in them to more clearly reflect the actual cost of running the department. It was explained that we will still move money from the Special Revenue Account to reduce the amount needed to be raised by taxes, but doing so just once or twice a year will be much more efficient than moving it every time money is spent. The clothing line was reduced as he said they didn’t need that much money every year however, during the discussion, it was decided not to reduce it as significantly as Mr. Hogan spoke of a few different items of clothing i.e. shirts, tee shirts, etc. that he would like to have for employees in all three departments.

The Board thanked Mr. Hogan for all of his hard work and preparing the budgets.

The following items were approved and signed:

Water Policy Amendment – Updated Rates
Oaths of Office – John Trammell, Deputy Director Emergency Management; Richard Krapf,
Planning Board, Expires March, 2015; John Gardiner, Director Emergency Management
DRA MS-1 Form – Town valuation

Other:

Chairman Moroney said as they are getting to the end of the budget schedule, they should plan to decide at the next meeting on September 29, whether they will do Cost of Living or raises based on evaluations. She said they don’t need to decide about medical insurance yet as we don’t have prices, but they do need to start thinking about it. She said the Select Board presents their budget to the Budget Committee on October 15. Selectman Bussiere said he felt all employees should get the Cost of Living Allowance and then merit performance increases based on evaluations as may be warranted. He reiterated that this is his position. Chairman Moroney said they can put COLA’s in with the budgets and go back to the Budget Committee to increase any lines after evaluations if they wish. Because they weren’t sure what it is, we will get the real number for inflation for COLA and the Board will vote on it at the next meeting.

Greg Hogan said he had a quote for the entrance area at Foster’s. This is $3,500 to shim what the Town owns to meet up with Foster’s parking lot. When asked, Mr. Hogan said the Fosters will repair their part. John Gardiner asked for clarification as he thought the town had sold the old Route 3 that went through their property, and he was told they only sold part of it, though they were willing and wanted to buy it all. Mr. Hogan said he was planning to pay for this with his capital reserve fund, though he also plans to look at his budget to see if he can do it from there. The Secretary asked him to check with her, as we need to be watching the bottom line of the entire budget because of the water emergencies this year.

There being no further discussion, Chairman Moroney made a Motion to adjourn the meeting. Selectman Bussiere seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Chairman Moroney declared the meeting ended at 7:55 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, September 29, 2014.