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Minutes of 07/17/2006

July 21st, 2006

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
July 17, 2006



Board members present: Bill Wright, Allen Strasser, Bonnie Moroney

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

Members of the public present: Roberta McGee, Eleanor Brauns, Doug Bews, Jeff Duncan, Ken Mills, Melissa Clark, Paul Bussiere, John Goodney, Ron Turcotte, Karen Moran, Billy Rines, Mark Clark, Tom Gately, Ann Fabrizio, Carmine Fabrizio, Evan Karpf, John Burt, Edith Tucker, Brooks Bartlett, Kathy Saffian, Ben Jellison, Eddy Moore

Eddy Moore, representative from Littleton of the Profile Cable Consortium, came before the board to ask for participation in the consortium by the Town of Carroll. The town signed an agreement that includes Littleton, Lisbon, Bethlehem, Franconia, Monroe, Sugar Hill and Carroll in 2002, the purpose being to negotiate as a group with Adelphia Cable. Since Time Warner is taking over the system after Adelphia bankruptcy proceedings, the consortium is looking to have each town appoint a representative to be active in any discussions relating to the cable service. Selectman Strasser made a motion to look for a Carroll resident to volunteer, Selectman Moroney seconded, and the motion was passed unanimously.

Chairman Wright said the board had already approved bills and signed the checks.

Selectman Strasser made a motion to approve the minutes from 07/03/2006. The motion was seconded by Selectman Moroney and passed unanimously.

Brooks Bartlett of the Mount Washington Resort came before the board to discuss the selling of beverages on the Mt. Washington Golf Courses. They have been circulating a cart in years past, and have all the necessary licenses and state approvals, but the new owners as a courtesy would like the town to approve. Selectman Strasser moved to approve this activity, Selectman Moroney seconded, and the motion was passed unanimously.

Mark Clark was here to respond to the minutes of the July 3rd meeting. He first asked Chairman Wright if he had testified that he thought it was okay for Louise Staples to keep the fees she’d collected after being put on salary in 2000. When Chairman Wright said he had, Mr. Clark read the appropriate RSA stating the town retained rights to the fees. He further stated that he felt Chairman Wright had not upheld his oath of office when he made that statement. He stated that in spite of what had been said at the last meeting, the selectmen did conduct an investigation in 2004 which precipitated the involvement of the Attorney General’s office. It began in March 2004 when a refund of over $500 was made to a resident from year old overpayment made on his motor vehicle registration. As Ms. Staples said she never made a bank deposit until she balanced, the selectmen wondered where the $500 went. In May, when the town bank balance was very low, they began looking at bank statements, and realized there might be a problem. That’s when Chief Gardiner contacted the AG’s office. As to last week’s comments about where the money went, Mr. Clark stated that they did know that over the course of three years Ms. Staples lost $40,000 in Connecticut and Las Vegas. A VIP card tracked everything she won and lost. Mr. Clark stated that he felt the town should ask for restitution and interest as well. He feels Ms. Staples betrayed the town and the people who voted for her.

Roberta McGee stated that the money Ms. Staples used for gambling came from an inheritance from her husband’s relative and a disability settlement, and that the forensic auditor she hired stated there was no money missing from the town. She also stated that she was in the town hall when the resident came in to talk about the $500 error from the year before. She said Louise hadn’t actually done the transaction, but figured out the error and promised a refund. The man seemed okay with that and then went to Chief Gardiner …amp;quot; he had a receipt for $500 less than he wrote his check for. Karen Moran asked why we were discussing this, as the court had found Ms. Staples guilty. Ms. McGee said yes she was found guilty, but she said the state did not use all their potential witnesses because there was nothing wrong in their cases, and that the jurors did not understand everything they heard. She repeated that Ms. Staples had been offered a plea bargain and turned it down to clear her name.

Mr. Clark recommended to the Budget Committee and the Board of Selectmen that they put forth a warrant article to fund a fraud audit done every five years. Ms. Moran suggested they don’t necessarily need a fraud audit, but that when any audit is done and recommendations come in, they should be acted on. If this had taken place in the past, the trouble we’ve had could probably have been prevented. Further discussion took place and Chairman Wright moved to create a warrant article on a fraud audit done every 5 years. Selectman Strasser seconded, and the motion was passed unanimously.

Members of the Budget Committee were represented by Tom Gately. He talked about 4 items discussed at the last Budget Committee meeting.

There have been 54 false alarms at the Bretton Woods complex in the last year, and suggest we charge a fee for false alarms.

Suggest a warrant article for a capital reserve fund for the Highway Block Grant rather than putting the money in the General Fund. These funds would then be used for highway expense only.

If there is a new road built near Foster’s to replace the use of the Town Bridge, they would like to see cost estimates and a snowmobile impact study before abandoning the idea of replacing the bridge.

Regarding pay for Safety Committee members, it’s been determined that they must be paid at their regular rate of pay whether meeting during the day or outside normal work hours. Perhaps we need a line item on the budget for safety committee dollars, and is DRA approval necessary for this?

Jeff Duncan talked about the number of false alarms and proposed that a fee be imposed after 3 false alarms in one year, that the approximate cost to the town per call is $300. This idea has been presented before and rejected by past selectmen. Selectman Strasser asked who we should charge, and Ms. Moran suggested the property owner be the one, that even if it’s a renter when the alarm goes off, the property owner is responsible for correcting any alarm problems. Selectman Strasser suggested the Mr. Duncan bring in a written proposal for Selectmen approval.

Selectman Strasser said he doesn’t have a problem with setting aside highway block grant funds, as our road maintenance has been let go too long. We need to evaluate both our roads and our buildings.

John Goodney reported lots of progress on the safety manual. He and Billy Rines have gotten documentation in place, and are following the red book given to us by Inspector Roy of the Labor Department. Mr. Goodney will meet with Selectman Strasser on Friday at 10 am.

We have received the Bridge Estimate from the State DOT, and they’re estimating the cost of a new bridge to be $770,000 in 2006 dollars, the town’s share being $154,000. Selectman Strasser has spoken to Bill Jannell and Kit Morgan about getting a Right of Way from the state for the road leading from Foster’s. They believe the state will save enough money to get a Governor’s Council Resolution. Mr. Rines said we’re losing part of the road to water and we’ll need riprap to protect the road, so that should be included in the cost. A public hearing will be scheduled for the 3rd Monday in August regarding the Emergency Lane Declaration. It was also suggested that we look into the historic value of our bridge before we get too far in the process of building a road.

Selectman Moroney gave the prices she’d received for fuel oil for the coming winter, and it was determined that we’d pre-buy 4800 gallons of oil at $2.499 per gallon from Stiles Fuel.

The following documents were approved and signed:

Abatement denial: Patrick and Kathryn Bogan
Sign Permit: Colaluca Management
Certificate of Occupancy: Jeff Rogers
Certification of Yield Taxes Assessed: Sharon Pronovost

A letter from Nixon Peabody LLP regarding the Bretton Woods Cable Franchise Agreement was read, approved, and signed. The only change from what had been proposed by the selectmen was they would not guarantee WMUR being available. They will provide PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX, and try to provide WMUR. This agreement extension runs through March 13, 2019.

Paul Bussiere came as Chairman of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, and said he is getting questions about permit issuing disparities, as in the Palmer Group got Planning Board approval for condominiums with getting a ZBA special exception approval. He suggested all the boards …amp;quot; Planning, Zoning, and Selectmen get together to discuss procedures. Mr. Rines said he’s received several calls recently from the state DOT regarding driveway permits, that people are given building permits before they have DOT approval. Selectman Moroney suggested perhaps we could hire a full-time town manager whose duties would include building inspector and health officer.

Selectman Moroney distributed some information from Jim Covey about rooms/meals tax that she wanted everyone to read. Mr. Covey would like to see the method of distribution to towns changed, as the Town of Carroll contributes far more than what its return share is. Selectman
Moroney asked if there was money in the budget for two items related to Buildings committee needs. They would like $2,000 for a topographic map to determine how much dirt we need to move so we can build on the School Street property. Also there is still the need of a CIP and if we can come up with $3,500, there is matching grant money available to do the study. She was told perhaps funds would be available in the fall.

Mr. Goodney, as Emergency Management Director, asked for and received permission to contact an electrician to quote putting in a generator in the town hall. This should be the town’s primary location as a shelter. Mr. Rines reminded the selectmen he’d be on vacation next week. Mr. Karpf asked the status of water sale to Bethlehem, and was told Town Counsel was looking into it.

At 8:35 PM, as there was no additional business, Chairman Wright declared the meeting ended and moved to go into executive session regarding personnel matters, the AMC negotiations, and town aid. This was seconded by Selectman Moroney. The board was polled, and went into executive session.

At the close of executive session, Chairman Wright made a motion to return to public session and seal the minutes from executive session; Selectman Moroney seconded and the motion passed unanimously.