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Minutes of 01/29/2007

February 2nd, 2007

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
January 29, 2007
"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 Susan Kraabel, Secretary.

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

The meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM.

Members of the public present: Roberta McGee, Eleanor Brauns, Evan Karpf, Doug Bews, Billy Rines, Mike Gooden, John Trammell, Kelly Trammell, Dale Shakespeare, Tom Gately, John Burt, John Staples, Mac McQueeney, Ann Fabrizio, Carmine Fabrizio, Leo Lavallee, Scott Sonia, Jim Covey, Lisa Covey, Sabrina Rines

The board announced the approval of bills and signing of checks.

Selectman Moroney moved to approve the minutes of 01/22/2007. Selectman Strasser seconded, and the motion was passed unanimously.

The weekly report from Stan Borkowski had not been received by meeting time.

The situation with the trailer on Jim Herbert’s Rte. 3 North property was discussed. Mr. Borkowski has met several times with Mr. Herbert going over documentation related to the property. The town has been taxing the property as one lot, and Mr. Herbert maintains that his original two lots have never been merged. Mr. Borkowski said the deed and other paperwork indicate that there are two lots, and the town has been unable to come up with proof of merger. Mr. Herbert wants to resolve the matter, and Mr. Borkowski asked for direction from the selectmen. Selectman Strasser moved to proceed with the matter on the premise that the Herbert/Lavin property is two lots. Selectman Moroney seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously. It was stated that Mr. Borkowski could now deal with the fact that the trailer was placed on the property with no building permit, the septic can be determined to be sufficient or not for the two residences it serves, and the tax rolls adjusted to reflect two lots.

The following documents were approved and signed.

Current Use Tax documents for the registry from September 2006 – Stone (207-020.032.024), Michaels (207-020.033.023)
Property Tax Abatements – Karpf (206-38), Thompson (407-23)
Thank you letter to the Twin Mountain Snowmobile Club for the new stove
Thank you letters to Maryclare Quigley and Becki Pederson for their extra work in completing the 2005-2006 Sales Analysis

A new Building Permit application was presented. It is based on a template received from the Town of Bethlehem, and the selectmen will review and discuss again next week. Selectman Strasser then brought up the subject of the permit fees, and that with the resort about to do major work on the Mt. Washington Hotel, if we charge the normal fee of 1/10% of the value, the fees will be too high. These fees are currently segregated into the Planning Special Revenue Fund meant to support the functions of those boards and departments that are related to the building process, and we can’t charge more than those costs. Selectman Strasser suggested that for permits with value over either one or two million dollars, we cut the fee in half. Selectman Moroney asked if we couldn’t change the purpose of the fund to include capital costs related to the new building being investigated by the Building and Infrastructure Committee. The secretary will call Town Counsel to see if we can change Article 25 at the deliberative session.

Warrant article 25 deals with change of purpose of the Planning Special Revenue Account. It was written to earmark leftover funds at the end of the year to waterline expansion, and Bernie Waugh advised that the article is legally questionable. Selectman Strasser moved to eliminate the section that names waterline expansion as a purpose. Chairman Wright seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.

Warrant article 26 was written to authorize selectmen to sign a lease longer than one year on town property for the purpose of erecting a cell tower owned by Verizon Wireless. Atty. Waugh questioned the validity of the article because no specific property is mentioned. Selectman Strasser moved to change the article to reference Map 206 Lot17 and/or Map 206 Lot 18. Chairman Wright seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.

Selectman Strasser said that before the Budget Committee approved the warrant articles, he and Chairman Wright changed their minds about approving the article for the dump truck, and they will vote to change the selectman recommendation at the deliberative session next week. He then moved to approve the Town Warrant for 2007. Chairman Wright seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.

Selectman Strasser said that pay slips are not being filled out according to the law and what we agreed to with the Labor Board. They need to have all hours worked including times in and times out recorded. The police department, fire department and library are not doing this. He said he’d spoken to 3 different labor departments, state and federal, and that in order to get paid, employees must show the hours they worked including times in and out. The secretary said the state labor board had received copies of our timesheets and were satisfied. When asked about police exemption from this policy, John Trammell said he’d never heard of signing in and out. Selectman Strasser made a motion to send a notice to each employee telling them how to fill out the timesheets. It was not seconded. Selectman Moroney stated that the policemen were exempt from showing times in and out, and that our policy manual shows that.

Doug Bews stated he had read the proposed ordinances and wondered who wrote them. Selectman Strasser said the selectmen have nothing to do with them; they come from the Planning Board. Mr. Bews said he has in the past requested free and independent boards in this town, and one of the articles refers to the Planning Board possibly seeking the advice of the Zoning Board and the Conservation Commission. Mr. Bews said he had concerns about this, as Evan Karpf is on the Planning Board, Mrs. Karpf is chairman of the Zoning Board and the Conservation Commission. He also stated that a year ago Dr. Karpf vowed to work four times harder to make Mr. Bews’ life difficult, that he had made the statement as a member of the Planning Board in a Selectman’s meeting. He again stated the need for independent boards in the town, and felt it was time for the selectmen to take a position on the issue. Selectman Strasser said he’d raised this question with town counsel, and was told that husband and wife cannot be prohibited from serving on town boards at the same time. As far as any board matters involving Mr. Bews, the Karpf’s would have to stand down on discussion and vote.

Billy Rines brought up the water line break on Route 115 last Friday night. He said it was a long cold night, and he’d like to put an ad in the paper thanking the neighbors and townspeople for their help and hot coffee. Selectman Moroney moved to do just that, Chairman Wright seconded, and the motion was passed unanimously.

Leo Lavallee brought recent newspaper articles with him related to the rising costs of educating our students in the White Mountain Regional School District. He cited current per pupil costs for each town in the district: Carroll - $30,000, Jefferson - $11,000, Dalton - $7,000, Whitefield - $7,000, and Lancaster - $4,500. He suggested that the town write a letter to the school district explaining that the businesses in town are not doing well, and that it would help if the district held the line on their budget. He feels the Town of Carroll is paying more than our fair share, and that something needs to be done. The school in Dalton has only 8 students, and Mr. Lavallee feels it should be closed. He mentioned the work done by the Article 15 committee, and said he thought we should have sued. Selectman Strasser explained the process the town went through, and the fact that a special attorney had advised a court process would take 6-7 years with the outcome doubtful. He also said that with the school population shrinking, perhaps other towns in the district will vote to change the formula. He said that they did hold the line on budget some last year and the year before. But this year they’ve added some positions again. Mr. Lavallee repeated that he thinks the town should send a letter reminding them that it’s a tough time for the local businesses, and we need their help in holding down taxes. He said he’d bring an outline for a letter to Selectman Strasser. Mr. Bews said he’d heard lots of complaints from parents about the waste of taxpayer money for the kids doing the school play Wizard of Oz. There were too many hours taken from classroom time, and too many hours of practice each evening.

Selectman Strasser gave Chief Trammell a letter from NH Highway & Safety in Concord, outlining aid programs available.

At 7:40 PM, as there was no additional business, Chairman Wright declared the meeting ended, and moved to go into executive session regarding legal matters and town aid. This was seconded by Selectman Moroney. The board was polled, and went into executive session.

At the close of executive session for legal matters, 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. Chairman Wright moved to go into executive session regarding town aid. This was seconded by Selectman Moroney. The board was polled, and went into executive session. At the close of executive session for town aid, 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.

At 8:15 PM, as there was no additional business, Chairman Wright declared the meeting ended.

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