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Minutes of 3/30/2015 DRAFT

April 8th, 2015

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
March 30, 2015

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 at 7 p.m.by Chairman Scalley.

Members of the public present: Richard Krapf, Bryan Mycko, Donna Foster, Jane Ikasalo, Ann Fabrizio, Mike Gooden, Joan Karpf, Terry Lapoint, Debbie Szauter, Steve Lapoint, Imre Szauter, Dianne Hogan, Michael Hogan, Jeremy Oleson, Kelly Trammell, Rena Vecchio, Lori Hogan, Greg Hogan

Pledge of Allegiance

The meeting was filmed by Jane Ikasalo.

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

Selectman Moroney made a Motion To: Approve the minutes of 3/16/2015, as written and Selectman Bussiere seconded. The Motion passed unanimously.

Selectman Moroney made a Motion To: Approve the minutes of 3/23/2015, as written and Selectman Bussiere seconded. The Motion passed unanimously.

First was a correction regarding the warrant articles which had been reviewed at a previous meeting and stated as having passed. It subsequently was discovered that Warrant Article 6, concerning expanding the New Land and Buildings Capital Reserve Fund actually did not pass as it required a 2/3 majority vote. The total number of votes cast was 195 with 118 Yes and 77 No. 2/3 of 195 equal 130, and because the total Yes votes was less at 118, the article failed.

The next item was the Building Permit Process which Chairman Scalley tabled as they are awaiting information.

The Board had received information from the Planning Board regarding a contract agreement for cell tower construction. Chairman Scalley asked how many towns in the area have a contract with this company and Richard Krapf answered there weren’t any. When Chairman Scalley asked why the Town should hire them, Richard said the group is number 15 in the industry according to their website. Plus they will give us five hours free and we will get a good, strong cell tower ordinance. Also, if anyone proposes a cell tower in town, they will help with the negotiations. It was noted the applicant pays all fees. Discussion came up about our current ordinance which is based on Federal and other regulations in the country. It was stated that we cannot stop a cell tower and there are time limits, however, there are exceptions such as location that we could have authority over. Richard said this will help us to have a good, safe, reliable situation if an application comes in. He went on further to say this would be someone behind the Board working for the Town, not the cell tower. Donna Foster, Chair of the Planning Board, said this is for protecting the Town’s interest.

The agreement has been reviewed by the Town’s attorney who requested a number of changes. Chairman Scalley asked if these had been made yet and Richard Krapf said he had not seen the new document yet, so he was not sure. Discussion ensued on fees and while there is a per-hour rate as well as a travel rate, Richard said much has been done by email. Donna said the attorney had questioned the town right to locate tower on our own property. She said this company will negotiate the entire project—if it were to come to it – and then charge a fee for it. Richard said, when asked that he believes this would be only on the initial negotiation, not on any monthly fees. Mrs. Foster said there have been two inquires to date, but there are no applications. The Chairman asked how much time the Board has to review the information and Mrs. Foster asked that it not be too long as it would be very good to get something in place. It was stated we currently have an ordinance, but Mrs. Foster said though it is fairly extensive no one is sure if it is in compliance. She went on to say that the Planning Board has limited powers regarding cell towers and this will act as a third party review. Richard Krapf reiterated that if there is interest in locating a tower on town property, we should have someone negotiate for us. He also recommended that the Board discuss it and if they have questions to call Mr. Comi directly. The Chairman said he would like to give the Board time to review and discuss it. Terry Lapoint said it sounds like new cell towers go through the Planning Board and asked about meeting date, time, etc. Donna Foster confirmed that they can’t deny an application but they can deny a particular location. She reviewed the process for an application and said a public hearing is held for which abutters receive notices and that anyone may attend.

The lease renewal for the Police Department was next. Lori Hogan said it includes a note that they and the town jointly replace carpeting in the front, but they will try to extend to the rear area where the concrete floor is. She said they understand about the coldness and feel that carpet under their feet would be more comfortable. She said they will be painting the building this summer. They used the renewal fee last year to purchase the paint but ran out of time. She pointed out that there is no renewal fee this year. A brief discussion ensued and it was noted the Department has been there since 2007. Chairman Scalley said they will review this. Joan Karpf questioned the maintenance arrangement and it was stated this is a commercial lease which is very different from residential leases.

Greg Hogan, Public Works Director and Road Agent, updated the Board about a frozen water main on Birch Road. He explained because the main froze under the road, the Town bore the cost of thawing it by the welding company. It was reiterated several times that because it was such a hard, cold winter, places that had never frozen before, froze this year.

The following items were approved and signed:

Property Tax Lien Abatement (Lien in Error) – Dionne/Harrison
Water Warrant – Luba
Water Warrant – First Quarter Billing
Town Hall Use Permit Application – Gardiner, Gauthier
Elderly Exemption – McGee
Rescinding of Current Use Application – Crowley
Oath of Office – Megan Rouillard, Parks & Rec Commission

Items tabled were:
Certificate of Occupancy – Spencer -- The building needs to be inspected again as there were
things not completed. The Selectmen will require a new CO be filled out and brought to
the Selectmen’s Office if it’s done before the next meeting. Chairman Scalley made a
motion to have the Selectmen sign it as long as the job is completed and there are no
conditions on it. Selectman Bussiere seconded and it passed unanimously.
Parks and Recreation Commission – Nomination of Replacement Counselor
Notices of Intent to Excavate – Pike Industries, Inc. Paul Bussiere, speaking as ZBA member,
asked about date when Special Exception was granted. He said this is not a permitted use
anywhere in Town and would have required a Special Exception which must be renewed
every ten years according to RSA 610. The Secretary was asked to call and request more
information or paperwork.

The Secretary advised the funds from the Library and Capital Reserve Accounts, including the Water CRF appropriations would be released next week. She also advised the cost of living raises for fulltime and regular part time employee would go into effect with the first paychecks after April 1, 2015.

Other:

Selectman Moroney said she had written to the Coalition Committee regarding school funding because now it has been proposed to put an extra tax on properties valued at $250,000 and higher. She said she wrote to express opposition and also noted that we had previously been a donor town. She went on to say that years ago the State Supreme Court had required that they define the cost to educate the children and this has yet to be done. In her letter, Selectman Moroney also spoke about the Lottery which was originally supposed to be for money for education and that perhaps they should review it as it’s not doing what it was meant to do.

Selectman Moroney said she had sent this to members of the Committee. Apparently there is a new Legislator who responded that the only people he will represent are those in the area who voted for him. Thus, she advised the Board that she had written to Governor Hassan about this person as she felt it was a very poor response.

Selectman Bussiere reminded all that the Town runs on only about 25% of what is paid for taxes; that 755 goes to the state and education.

Donna Foster said because tourism is our major industry, she thought the Town should know that they had been notified by White Mountains Attractions that the State is trying to reduce their tourism budget by 75%, which will once again reduce the amount of Rooms & Meals tax money distributed. Joan Karpf said we might want to write to our legislators about the amount of money we get because so much is paid from our area. Lori Hogan said there is a meeting on Thursday night at the AMC regarding this. It was noted this is from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Selectman Moroney read from an email she had received that they are considering a 3.7 million dollar cut in the tourism budget.

Terry Lapoint asked to return to the Police Department lease and questioned the maintenance requirement, as she said if she leases an apartment all the maintenance is done by the landlord. Selectman Moroney explained the history and reason for the need in the first place, when there were major water and other issues and including the ceiling tile that fell just missed hitting a person. Because of all the problems, the PD had to move rather quickly and there were not many choices/options. We were lucky to find this. She also explained and it was concurred by Chairman Scalley, that this is a commercial lease rather than a residential lease, and they are very different from one another. Mrs. Hogan noted the original lease also included a letter of returning the property in the same condition, i.e. that the jail cell built into it would be removed. Mrs. Lapoint thanked all for the explanations.

Michael Hogan said he questions that Certificates of Occupancy are signed by the Select Board as they are under the authority of the Building Inspector and Fire Chief according to RSA. The Board agreed this should be researched.

Greg Hogan said Memorial Day will be here before we know it and last year it was talked about forming a committee to get more people involved. He said Bonnie (Selectman Moroney) had done a lot over the years and Andy Martel has worked on it since he moved to town, but the thought was that if more people helped, it would be easier. He asked for volunteers and people can contact him.

Donna Foster advised that someone had come to their store regarding their lighting and costs. She said they can have the entire store retrofitted from fluorescent to LED’s and get about half the cost rebated. She thought it might be something in which the town would be interested. Michael Hogan said he would advocate this as the street lights alone are over $20,000. He said this should be seriously looked at even if it costs $40,000 to change as we’d get our money back in two years.

As there was no further business, the Board was polled to go into non-public session, per RSA 91-A-3 for personnel at 8:16 p.m. Selectman Bussiere, yes; Chairman Scalley, yes; Selectman Moroney, yes.

At the close of non-public session at 9:09 p.m., Selectman Bussiere moved to return to public session and seal the minutes from non-public session. Chairman Scalley seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Selectman Bussiere made a Motion to adjourn the meeting and Chairman Scalley seconded. The Motion passed unanimously. Chairman Scalley declared the meeting ended at 9:10 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Monday, April 13, 2015.