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Minutes of 11/6/2017
November 9th, 2017
Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
November 6, 2017
“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 Kelly Trammell, Secretary Pro Tem
Board members present: Brian Mycko, Paul Bussiere, David Scalley.
Members of the public present: Joe Trainor, Evan Karpf, Jason Sullivan, Mary Sullivan, John Greer, Anita Greer, Lisa Trainor, Tom Gately, Tess Gately, Sherry Wareing, Ron Wareing, Michael Hogan, Dianne Hogan, Deb Szauter, Imre Szauter, Rena Vecchio, Jeremy Oleson
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairman Mycko.
Pledge of Allegiance
The Chair announced the approval and signing of the manifests.
Selectman Bussiere made a motion to approve the minutes of Oct. 2, 2017. It was seconded by Chairman Mycko and the motion passed.
Selectman Bussiere made a motion to approve the minutes of Oct. 16, 2017. It was seconded by Selectman Scalley and the motion passed.
Selectman Bussiere made a motion to approve the minutes of Oct. 23, 2017. It was seconded by Selectman Scalley and the motion passed.
Letters – Trainor/Hampe – The Chair advised that letters had been received but no discussion or action would be taken at this point as the Town is currently still in litigation.
Dave Scalley presented the 2018 budget on behalf of Parks & Rec. He said they don’t anticipate having summer camp this year and considered it a rebuilding year. The Board would like to reduce the Counselor line from $20,000 to $15,000 in case the camp program can happen. They would know by April whether or not there would be camp. There is an increase from $1,000 to $2,000 in the Director line. Scalley said the hope was to attract an ambitious person that would rebuild the programs. The only other increase was a $500 increase in bussing for the ski program as the price as gone up. The proposed 2018 budget is as follows:
Counselors $15,000.00
Director $2,000.00
Telephone $400.00
Equip. & Supplies $1.00
Parties $1.00
Ski Program $1,500.00
Field/Court Repair $1.00
Bldg Repair $1.00
Transportation $1.00
Staff Training $300.00
Town Entertainment $2,000.00
Advertising $1.00
Grants $1.00
Total $21,207.00
Dave Scalley also presented the proposed 2018 budget for the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The Board proposes a $2000 increase in the Secretary salary line. There is a slight increase in the postage, office supplies and advertising lines as they have already over expended in 2017. The biggest increase is changing the legal line. As of 2017, ZBA has spent $17,753.22 in legal fees. Therefore, the legal line is being brought to $20,000. The proposed ZBA budget is as follows:
Secretary $8,000.00
Board Salaries $300.00
Postage $100.00
Office Supplies $200.00
Advertisements $100.00
Legal Expenses $20,000.00
Engineering $1.00
Miscellaneous $200.00
Training & Travel $500.00
Software, Maps, GIS $800.00
Total $30,201.00
Dave Scalley also proposed changes for the 2018 Building Inspector’s budget. He is proposing $25/hour for the building inspector set at 20 hours/week and would be $26,000/year. He anticipates a warrant article for $16,000 to be paid for out of the Special Revenue Fund. The Planning Board has also put money in their line to fund the position. The proposed 2018 budget is as follows:
Salary $7,500.00 (remainder from above mentioned accounts)
Training $500.00
Travel/Mileage $1,500.00
Selectman Bussiere asked what the hourly rate is based on. He said it seems to be the highest price position. Scalley said two applicants had come in before the Board and both had wanted $25/hour. He was referred to and spoke with Charlie Smart, a building inspector, and in his area they get $30 - $40/hr. Scalley said he also saw emails from a municipal Google Group that showed many rates most being $25+/hr and this seemed the most reasonable. Scalley said you won’t find someone for the job for less money. He said he didn’t realize how much was really going with condos, the Hotel and several new homes until he started doing the job in the interim.
Planning Board budget was tabled until the next meeting as there were some questions to the accuracy of the numbers presented. The Chair was not available at that time.
Ron Wareing asked about the legal line for the ZBA budget. He wanted to know if the legal line was going to carry $17,000 from this point forward. Selectman Scalley advised him that amount was the amount spent to date and the ZBA had only been engaged in legal fees for about 3 months. Scalley said ZBA is still engaged in litigation now. Selectman Bussiere said it’s better to have it and if the money is not spent, it will come back to the public. If we go over our lines by a certain percent, we have to explain to the State as to why.
The following were approved and signed:
Land Use Change Tax & Warrant – Messina
Water Abatement – Wareing
Settlement Agreement & Release – Wareing
Water Warrant – Various
Wetlands Permit Application for Seager was reviewed.
Imre Szauter presented a report on behalf of the Building Committee. The Committee met on Oct. 26th to continue discussion on the information brochure and its mailing to all registered voters. He announced the 4th informational session will be held January 18, 2018 7:00 p.m. at the town hall. The anticipated focus will be on project cost and tax implication. On Oct. 17th Szauter and Fire Chief Oleson met with the Chamber of Commerce to introduce the project. They’ve been invited back for Nov. 14th to provide more details and answer questions.
The Building Committee meeting scheduled for Nov. 9th has been postponed to Nov. 16th due to the recent storm. Many members who participate are responders for storm events and have been tied up with such and haven’t been able to focus on the Committee.
Szauter stated current budget and warrant article lines both show 59% of budgeted amount remaining.
Documents from the State were distributed to the Board in the preliminary process of setting the tax rate. Discussion was held with regards to how much of the fund balance to use to off-set the tax rate while still being cautious to leave some for overages or to apply to tax rate next year.
Ron Wareing asked if this was just the Town portion. The Board advised him this was a total number and included County, School and Town with the Town being the smallest portion.
Selectman Bussiere made a motion to choose the $19.68 rate. Selectman Scalley seconded and the Motion passed.
Follow up items:
Building Permit Application and Fees – Dave Scalley said we should revamp our fees as it doesn’t make sense for small items. He would like $50 flat fee residential and $100 flat fee commercial for up to $5,000 project cost. After that should be fair rate per thousand and go with IBC rate. Paul asked if we’re saying again that everything needs a permit? Dave said right now our zoning ordinance says what you need a permit for and what doesn’t need a permit. He said until the zoning ordinance gets changed, this is what we have. Dave said right now the Selectmen can change the fees and reduce some of the price. The zoning ordinance can’t be changed without a warrant article. Chairman Mycko said adjusting the fees is a bandaid on a much bigger problem. Selectman Scalley said that someone should come up with a warrant article for March then.
Rules for Use of Community Room – Imre Szauter said a lot of feedback he gets about a new proposed Town Hall is how the community room would be an asset. Imre provided the Board with a draft proposal of rules for the Board to look at to get discussion going. Imre said he feels that something should be put together before Deliberative Session so if people have questions, it can be addressed.
Water Asset Management - tabled
North Country Council Contract – The Board was advised that contact was made with North Country Council and they provided us with an executed copy of the Planning & Technical Services Contract. The Planning Board Secretary, Rena Vecchio, spoke to James Steele from NCC and he advised that if the Town wants to cancel the contract, the Town needs to send a letter stating such and termination would take place after 30 days. Rena advised the Selectboard that the Planning Board is trying to proceed with getting the site plan and subdivision regulations rewritten. Rena said that Tara Bamford has sent a resume and proposal that she would do the work for $3,000 instead of the $5,000 that NCC was charging. She could start working on the project on November 16, 2017.
Selectmen Bussiere stated he wants to know how much we owe NCC first before signing another contract. Michael Hogan said if you keep pushing this 30 days waiting for the cancellation, even if we have small fees, we are still saving $2,000 in going with Tara.
Selectman Bussiere asked if there is any documentation that shows if we cancel the contract and pay for any work that has been accomplished, will we get it? Rena had a copy of the contract that showed under the termination clause that all work completed would be the Town’s property. Selectman Bussiere said that satisfied his question and made a motion to cancel the contract. Chairman Mycko seconded and the Motion passed. Selectman Scalley made a motion for a letter to be drawn up and a Selectman to come in to sign the letter. Chairman Mycko seconded and the Motion passed.
Rena asked once again about signing a contract with Tara Bamford. There was no paperwork present that night to sign. Selectman Scalley stated he believed the Town can’t sign a contract with a new vendor while we have a contract still in place. Selectman Bussiere said without the paperwork from Tara, there was nothing that could be done tonight. Rena will make sure the paperwork is in for the next meeting.
Other:
Selectman Scalley wanted to say “thank you” to everyone in the Town, all departments, department heads and everyone who helped out and did a fantastic job handling the storm events. Selectman Bussiere said for anyone that didn’t know, the Emergency Operations Center had been activated and several people did have to be rescued.
Tom Gately came forward because he heard of the overbilling on Ron Wareing’s water meter. Tom and Tess are the prior owners. He said he questioned his bill several times and had the crew out to check for leaks. He is aware just now that the wrong meter head was on the meter and he was requesting if they could be compensated due to the billing errors and overcharging. Selectman Scalley advised that the meter head and multiplier was wrong. He said we are putting the numbers together. There were several different rates during that period and to please give the Board another week and they will come up with a refund.
Sherry Wareing asked if there were any other meters out there like this? The Board advised that Greg and Scott went out and checked meters that concerned them and it was all set. Tom Gately said there was a company that installed the meters around 1992 and they made quite the mess when they installed them. He wanted people to know that this incident is no fault of the Town Employees.
Dianne Hogan wanted to say “thank you” to the Fire Aux. for the spaghetti dinner fundraiser that was hosted. The Fire Chief said there is a $2000 grant from the state for this project. It’s an $8,000 - $9,000 skid unit and with $2,800 raised by the spaghetti dinner plus money from the yard sale and pancake breakfasts it should pay for the unit.
The next meeting will be November 13, 2017 at 7 p.m.
There being no further business, the Board was polled at 8:37 p.m. to go into non-public session, per RSA 91-A-3 for town aid: Chairman Mycko, yes; Selectman Bussiere, yes; Selectman Scalley, yes.
At the close of non-public session at 8:40 p.m., Selectman Bussiere moved to return to public session and seal the minutes from non-public session. Selectman Scalley seconded and the Motion passed.
Selectman Bussiere made a motion to reimburse Tom and Tess Gately $6,384.85 in overpaid water fees from 2010 – Aug 2015. Chairman Mycko seconded and the motion passed.
There being no further discussion, Selectman Scalley made a Motion to adjourn the meeting. Selectman Bussiere seconded and the Motion passed. Chairman Mycko declared the meeting ended at 8:43 p.m.