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Minutes of 12/1/2014 APPROVED

December 17th, 2014

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
December 1, 2014

APPROVED

“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 and David Scalley.

The meeting was called to order at 7 p.m.by Chairman Moroney.

Members of the public present: Greg Hogan, Mike Gooden, Joan Karpf, Nancy Mitiguy, Kelly Trammell, Jeremy Oleson, Donna Foster, Lynn Acquard, Imre Szauter, Debbie Szauter, Michael Hogan, Scott Sonia, Rob Gauthier

Pledge of Allegiance

The meeting was filmed by Nancy Mitiguy.

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

Selectman Bussiere made a Motion To: Approve the minutes of 11/17/2014 as written. Selectman Scalley seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Chairman Moroney spoke of the Bid Policy and said a warrant article voted on in 2009 failed and another submitted in 2010 was amended to “To See.” She said her colleagues adopted a policy in 2011, and she wanted the Board to consider getting rid of it. She said the public obviously didn’t see the need for it and that it’s pretty stringent. She also said the department heads watch their budgets closely and are always careful to get comparison prices.

Discussion lead to the water leak on Route 302 West. Scott Sonia said they could be losing 100 gallons per minute. This is a very deep line at about 30 feet, which they believe could have happened because of the major construction on the road in the 1970’s. They have had inspection and review done for repairing and it is felt the best way is to bore under the road and bypass this with a new line, as they show it to be about dead center of the road. Scott said he believes this is the fastest and most cost effective solution to a major problem. Discussion took place regarding shut off valves, locations, schedules, etc. The Fire Chief is aware of the situation. They hope it will be only one day that the main will have to be off, and they will deliver notices to all residents of Route 302 West. They have met with the State and any others necessary regarding areas in which they will be digging. It was stated that they really have no choice but to fix this now. Discussion of payment also took place and Chairman Moroney made a Motion to: Find out if we can pay this from our Unassigned Fund Balance. Selectman Bussiere seconded and it passed unanimously. Chairman Moroney asked the Secretary to make inquiry of the DRA.

Greg Hogan wanted to point out that people had been asking why the sidewalks were not done the week before when they were in the middle of finding and repairing another leak. He said they need the loader for sand but could not remove it from the site at the time.

The Selectmen reviewed the quote from DBU which was the same company used several months ago when a major leak on Route 3 South was repaired by boring under the road. Chairman Moroney made a Motion to: Approve DBU at $12,750 for their part of the project. Selectman Scalley seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. It was pointed out that this covers only DBU and any excavation, materials, supplies, other labor, etc. are not included.

Michael Hogan asked if water lines had been assessed when we experienced the break last winter on Route 3 North, so we could have work to replace them through the years. He said now we're just chasing our tails trying to replace old broken pipes without any sort of plan. A water capital improvement fund was brought up and it was noted substantial money must be put into it for it to be of any use.

Building permit process and fee structure was brought up and the Secretary stated Kelly Trammell had made many calls and done much research. She made a summary of the responses received and this was given to the Selectmen. They will continue discussion at another meeting after they have time to review the information, so they tabled the item.

Quotes from Certified Computer Solutions for replacing the server versus being on "the cloud" or remote hosting were reviewed. Selectman Bussiere had spoken with a CCS representative and they feel that the Time Warner band width is a problem. He hopes to have more information at the next meeting.

The sign permit for the Cog Railroad was then brought up. Discussion regarding State permit and Town permit took place, as well as which law should be followed as there seems to be a bit of contradiction. Selectman Bussiere said he visited the site and spoke with Charlie Kenison and it is to be in the same location, but larger. It was decided to table this again and request a copy of their State approval. They reiterated they are not against advertising but want to be sure they are not setting a precedent, and also want to be sure they are being fair to all.

The following items were approved and signed:

Water Warrant – Various
Town Hall Use Permit Application -- Rouillard
2014 Property Tax Abatement -- Allard
2014 Property Tax Abatement -- Hogan (Police Station); Brooks
Yield Tax Warrant -- Timberwolf Logging, LLC




Other:

The Secretary said the Annual Monitoring Inspection Report for 2014 was meant to be on the agenda but was omitted. This is actually the inspection by the Conservation Commission for the land conservation program and is known as "the flats" located on Route 3 North. This has been sent to the Office of Energy and Planning and a copy of the report will be on file in the office.

Late this afternoon an email was received from a Selectman in Webster, NH, regarding an article he would like considered for the warrant this year. This is regarding State funding for education and will ask the Governor and State legislators "to reform state funding for education with that reform to be directed to significant reduction of property taxes." . . . . Chairman Moroney read the email and said her concern if this is done, is where the extra money will come from and if donor towns will be put back in. Selectman Bussiere said he feels the meaning is for the Governor to stop spending money, but he knows that won't happen. Chairman Moroney gave a bit of the history of the funding problem which eventually went through the courts, and that they were finally able to end the donor town aspect.

Selectman Scalley asked about having a review with new employees and specified Karl Comeau, the newest Fireman, and Justin Washburn, the last policeman to be hired late last year. It was agreed they could speak with them and Chairman Moroney mentioned that Karl had completed his EMT course and passed the test, so his hourly rate should be increased. It was noted this had happened.

Chairman Moroney said she had put together a warrant article but needs more information for it such as concept drawings, etc., for the Police and Fire Safety Complex. She requested that the Secretary look into how the building capital reserve fund was written.

Chairman Moroney also said there was a fire the week before and it was necessary to remove the family at that time. The town called Four Seasons and Lee Hallquist put them up at no charge to the town. She asked that a thank you note be written.

Michael Hogan asked that the Webster, NH, email be forwarded to the Budget Committee. Chairman Moroney said it would be.

Mr. Hogan said in regard to the warrant article for the safety complex, he would like to see one which include the town hall. He said he knows there is a lot of emotion attached to the Town Hall but he feels the cost is very high to keep it open. It was stated it would be looked at to see if something might be done.

Rob Gauther inquired about decorating the train and it was suggested that he see the Chamber as they tend to be the ones who do it. It was noted the Chamber had done some decorating earlier in the day.


Joan Karpf said at the last meeting there had been some discussion about permit schedule, etc., and asked if we are progressing or what. Chairman Moroney said we are researching and trying to find out if the public voted for the building permit. We haven't been able to find anything yet and it is appearing as if they didn't, but we're continuing to look.

Mrs. Karpf also asked how we determine which road to resurface. Greg Hogan said they are looking into the cost of doing all the roads and may put a warrant article in for all. He said they are developing a new schedule now but don't have a completed one so far. She said Riverside Drive was done and wondered how that happened. She said her road hasn't been done since she came here. Greg said it was simply that it cost too much money to keep patching and making repairs which were not holding up, so rather than do a band aid job, they chose to do a better job. This will be less costly in the long run. Selectman Bussiere asked how long Airport Road is and apparently there is a gate on it, so he asked how long to that point and no one was quite sure. He said as a town we should have a schedule of maintenance, etc. Greg Hogan said he has been trying to get this going but it all comes down to money. It was stated that buildings, roads, water lines; there is a lot on our plate because nothing has been done for many years. Rob Gauthier said at some point, some generation is going to have to foot this bill. It was noted that for years people fought to keep taxes low and if we don't do it now, they will be in the same situation as we are. Something has to be done.

As there was no further business, the Board was polled again to go into non-public session, per RSA 91-A-3 for personnel at 8:22 p.m. Chairman Moroney, yes; Selectman Scalley, yes; Selectman Bussiere, yes.

At the close of non-public session at 10:30 p.m., Chairman Moroney moved to return to public session and seal the minutes from non-public session. Selectman Bussiere seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Selectman Bussiere made a Motion to adjourn the meeting. Selectman Scalley seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Chairman Moroney declared the meeting ended at 10:33 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, December 15, 2014.

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