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Minutes of 6/1/2015 DRAFT

June 10th, 2015

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
June 1, 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: David Scalley, Bonnie Moroney, Paul Bussiere

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

Members of the public present: John Warren, Joan Karpf, Steve Lapoint, Terry Lapoint, Chris Pappas, Sue Kraabel, Megan Rouillard, Bobbi Amirault, Greg Hogan, Brian Mycko

Pledge of Allegiance

The meeting was filmed by Joan Karpf.

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

Selectman Moroney made a Motion To: Approve the minutes of 5/18/2015, as written and Selectman Bussiere seconded. The Motion passed unanimously.

Becki Pederson, Tax Collector, presented the Board a Tax Collector’s Deed for land belonging to Stanley Knapp, III, on Woodland Acres. She said the taxes have not been paid for three years and property may be turned over to the town in that event. When asked, Ms. Pederson assured the Board that all notices, documents, etc. required by DRA and the law were mailed and in fact, she said she had also telephoned on several occasions. Selectman Moroney made a Motion To: Sign the document as specified and Selectman Bussiere seconded. The Motion passed unanimously.

Along with the foregoing, Ms. Pederson presented abatement paperwork for the same property for the tax liens and first issue for current year taxes just sent out. Selectman Moroney made a Motion To: Sign the abatement. Selectman Bussiere seconded and it passed unanimously.

The Building Permit process discussion from previous meetings resumed, and it was stated that in 1987 there was an amendment regarding the fees. According to Section 702.8 of the Zoning Ordinance, fees were to be at least $100. However, a discrepancy was discovered as a warrant article in 1987 stated that the fees would be $15. Chairman Scalley read Section 702.8 and the Board agreed that more work/research needed to take place before any decisions might be made regarding the fee schedule.

Selectman Moroney said she didn’t have as much time as she had hoped to work on the Employee Manual, but gave the Board the information she had, regarding Paid Time Off. She said based on 11 holidays a year and vacation time for someone having worked for the Town one year and fewer than five years, this would amount to 168 hours per year. Going further, she said this would break down to 84 hours being available after January 1, and the rest, 84 hours, after July 1 – she had originally said June 1, but was corrected to July 1 if the intention had been six month increments, which she said it was. It was also suggested the 2 days, 16 hours, for personal leave be included in the PTO. When asked, it was clarified that ALL could be used after July 1, if that is preferable. Also discussed as to whether or not it should be included was the time allotted as “sick days” which are earned at 8 hours per month accumulating to a limit of 80 hours. Selectman Bussiere said he would like to consider including regular part time employees in the PTO as well. He thought this might provide incentive for retaining employees.

Also brought up was compensatory time and it was suggested that they craft something which could be presented to the employees. Therefore, each Selectman will put something together which they can share with each other and this will be revisited at the next meeting.

Town Treasurer, Susan K. Kraabel, spoke to the Board about two CD’s, one for Fire/Ambulance and one for Recycling, which are coming due June 16. She said for the last two years these were renewed for only one year each because the interest rates were so low. Each Department also has an account in PDIP (Public Deposit Investment Pool) which Mrs. Kraabel said is “super safe” but hardly pays anything. Chairman Scalley asked about using some of the money to draw down the bond on the Recycling Center. The Secretary was asked to call the bond bank to find out if we can pay down the principal. It was stated as we had refinanced the bond once we could not do it again when we checked into that a year ago so this may not be possible, either. Mrs. Kraabel advised the Board that municipal money must be in a New Hampshire State Bank or PDIP. She also said that we have to be careful to watch for the FDIC limits as we are frequently close and must move money. Mrs. Kraabel was also concerned about tying up money when it may be needed in the next year or two and asked if there were any plans for purchases during that time. The warrant articles that passed this year for the new ambulance, fire hose and air tanks for Fire/Rescue and the garage door at the Recycling Center, as well as the money to offset that budget ($20,000) were noted, with the same or a similar amount to offset for next year were the only ones known at this time.

After brief further discussion, Selectman Moroney made a Motion To: roll the two CD’s for Ambulance and Recycling. Selectman Bussiere seconded and it passed unanimously. A further Motion was made by Selectman Moroney To: Allow the Treasurer to move the money from the PDIP accounts and an amount from each special revenue account to new accounts after she completes her survey and research regarding rates, etc. Selectman Bussiere seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Discussion turned to the Highway Bock Grant Special Revenue and the Water Fund accounts.
Mrs. Kraabel was again concerned about the FDIC limits as well as the fact that the money is earning so little interest. Selectman Moroney made a Motion to: allow the Treasurer to move Highway and Water money to suitable locations when she has completed her survey of banks and rates for CD’s, etc. Selectman Bussiere seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Mrs. Kraabel also reminded the Board that the Unreserved Fund Balance does not mean that we have that much money in the bank – as it also includes other assets. The current bank balance is around $200,000. They said they understood that. She also said we much watch the balance unless we want to borrow a TAN (Tax Anticipation Note) and pay interest on it.

The following items were approved and signed:

Property Tax Warrant, First Issue
Water Warrants – Various Late Penalties and Various
Intents to Cut – Pensco Trust for Richard N. Gould; Gould; Ravinski
Property Tax Lien Costs Abatement – Various (Charged as Extra When Should Be Absorbed
into Procedure)
Thank You Letter – WMRHS JROTC (for participating in the Memorial Day Parade)

Other:

Selectman Bussiere asked Greg Hogan about the water crossing and he said the boring company should be back later in the week, most likely Wednesday, June 3. He said this time should go better as they now know where old underground water lines and the bridge abutment are.

Megan Rouillard and Bobbi Amirault, from Parks and Recreation Commission came in to discuss the summer program. They spoke of the need for space for the summer camp program as well as for storage. A brief discussion of numbers of children attending and cost also took place. It was noted they had two sign-up sessions with 41 children being signed up and a possibility of five additional sign-ups. Payment for each four-session, of which there are two, is required prior to the session, and the cost for residents is $150 per child. For non-residents the cost is $200 per child. The breakdown is 19 Residents and 22 Non-Residents.

Chairman Scalley asked if they had camp priced accordingly. Ms. Rouillard said they were comparable to Lancaster and that Whitefield is charging $72 per child, not including field trips. When asked, they responded that the tax burden to the town is strictly the budget. Chairman Scalley pointed out that there is no cost for the building as there has been a lot of volunteer time from the Rouillard family and others. He noted that for the new building they are proposing, half the area would be the building and half would just be covered. Mrs. Amirault said the non-resident children would have no impact on maintaining the building as it needs maintenance anyway. Ms. Rouillard said they have fund raising events scheduled. When asked, she said flyers will be out and they will put their sign out by the train as they usually do. Discussion about putting their sign in that location ensued and when asked why they didn’t use the town sign, Ms. Rouillard said Rec had been told at least three times by the Chamber that they would not post events which they had requested. The Selectmen said it was fine to put the sign there. John Warren also suggested putting a sign or flyer at the Transfer Station as most everyone goes there at some point.

The Selectmen asked Greg Hogan if anyone would be going to Concord the next day and he said they didn’t have plans to go due to resuming work on the river crossing.

Joan Karpf clarified that the statement made by Sue Kraabel regarding the Fund Balance assets does not necessarily mean cash and she was told that is correct.

Megan Rouillard said NH law had changed regarding counselor to children ratio and it went from 10 to 1 to 8 to 1, so they will need to hire one more counselor. She said if they go over budget, they will reimburse the town. She confirmed there will be fireworks with Joel White on Friday, July 3, and the band will be “Still Kickin.” They have added a penny sale to go along with all the other activities for their Independence Day Celebration. This is happening on Friday because Joel is not available to do fireworks on Saturday.

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

At the close of non-public session at 9:48 p.m., Selectman Bussiere moved to return to public session and seal the minutes from non-public session. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Chairman Scalley made a Motion to adjourn the meeting and Selectman Bussiere seconded. The Motion passed unanimously. Chairman Scalley declared the meeting ended at 9:49 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, June 15, 2015.

Town of Carroll, New Hampshire ®2024