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Minutes of 1/13/2020
January 21st, 2020
Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
January 13, 2020
“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
Board Members present: Bonnie Moroney, David A. Scalley, Robert Gauthier Jr.
Members of the Public present: Greg Hogan, Bill Emerson, Rena Vecchio, Mike Gooden, Wendy Roberts, Allan Clark, Vern Amirault, Bobbi Amirault, Dianne Hogan, Mike Hogan, Imre Szauter, Chris Pappas, Jeremy Oleson, Tadd Bailey, Jay Ennis
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chairwoman Moroney.
Pledge of Allegiance.
Chairwoman Moroney announced the approval of bills and signing of manifests.
Selectman Scalley made a motion to approve the minutes of 1/6/2020. Selectman Gauthier seconded and the motion passed.
Chairwoman Moroney announced the public hearing for budgets. Copies of the proposed budget and warrant articles were made available to the public. The budget was reviewed in its entirety and the public was advised to ask questions at any time. The Board offered comments to any big changes:
Elections – Increase in total budget due to an increase in the number of elections.
Financial Administration – With Sara Marvin being the Land Use Secretary as well as working in the office, her total salary line will be reflected here and removed from the Planning/Zoning section. There is also an increase in the office supply line as almost all departments have been combined under this one line and removed from their individual departments.
Property Assessing – This amount looks like an increase however, in years prior we have had a warrant article to put money into a Capital Reserve fund and then we take the money right back out to pay the bill. This year, there will be no warrant article, it is being placed in the budget.
Planning Board & Board of Adjustment – Reduction in the total due to the above-mentioned change in the Secretary’s salary and combining office supplies.
General Government Buildings – There is a new line this year for asbestos removal and demolition of the current Town Hall building.
Ambulance & Fire Department – This year both department budgets have been combined and will be under the Fire Department heading. The Board felt that when the departments were previously separated it didn’t create a true accounting because the bills were split in half between the departments. The Board felt combining them again will save administrative time.
Property Inspections – There will be a warrant article to fund the full amount of the Property Inspector from the Special Revenue Fund and not come from taxation. Money in this fund comes from permit fees.
Emergency Management – The line for grants was increased as John Gardiner has put in a grant for Hazard Mitigation which is required in certain time frames. The Town pays for part and then will be reimbursed a percentage through the grant. Chairwoman Moroney encouraged participation from anyone who would like to attend when work begins on the projects as the Town gets credit for people participating.
Highway Dept. – Greg Hogan spoke to the Part-Time Labor line and said that in a previous meeting the Board had decided to reduce the line to $5,000 from the $10,000 that was shown. The Board agreed to make the correction. There is also an increase of $80,000 under the Highway Maintenance line. There is a plan to resurface several roads this year.
Parks & Recreation – A new line has been added to the budget for the 250th Anniversary Celebration. Rena Vecchio addressed that specific line saying it is budgeted for $8,000 and she thought the Selectmen had said $10,000. There was a brief discussion and the Selectmen agreed to the $10,000.
Water – Greg Hogan advised the Board he needed to make a change to the Water budget. A pump for the well failed and had to be replaced. The cost was over $12,000. The Board agreed to increase the water equipment line by $12,000
Mike Hogan addressed the Board with regards to the Patriotic Purpose budget. He thought the Selectmen were going to budget for flag poles for the new buildings. There was discussion that someone has agreed to donate a flag pole for the Public Safety building and a flag pole for the Town Hall. Selectman Scalley said he’d like to go forward with just the two poles for now and make provisions for more flag poles in the future. The Board agreed.
The Board discussed the total budget of $2,297,619. Selectman Gauthier said he disagreed with two lines. The first is 01-4220.10-105 (FF/EMT Per Diem) which Gauthier said he mentioned before and still doesn’t understand the need for a $10,000 increase.
Fire Chief Oleson said it would be used to have extended hours and more coverage using part-time personnel. They would also cover time off for the full-time employees. Selectman Gauthier stated if coverage was in issue, he would expect to have seen a spike in overtime and he doesn’t see that in the last budget. Chief Oleson said he has been taking care to not crash out the budget. He said he has been making sure he is available on off hours waiting for calls that may or not come in at the expense of his family time. Chairwoman Moroney asked if the increase would result in overnight coverage. Chief Oleson said that is a possibility during busy holiday times but not all the time. Selectman Scalley said the Fire Department continues to come in under budget and he’s confident that if given the $10,000 increase, if it’s not needed, Oleson won’t use it. Scalley said all budgets are being used wisely.
Selectman Gauthier said he also disagrees with line -1-4220.10-100 (Fulltime Fire Chief.) Gauthier said it’s not personal but he doesn’t believe in the 7% raise increase. Selectman Scalley advised the public that the Board had decided to give employees a 3% raise with the exception of the Fire Chief who would get 7%. Scalley said the salary was compared to the position in the area and felt that is where he belonged.
Selectman Scalley made a motion to approve the budget for $2,297,619. Chairwoman Moroney seconded. The budget was passed 2 - 1 with Selectman Gauthier voting no for his reasons stated.
Proposed warrant articles were reviewed next. Chairwoman Moroney stated there will be a Planning Board warrant article this year. It was discovered that the previous changes created a problem with the RES 2 zoning. This warrant article will fix that.
Michael Hogan questioned the increase to the warrant article in the amount of money to be added Road Improvement Capital Reserve Fund. He asked if there is $80,000 in the budget and $200,000+ in capital reserve then why are we increasing the contribution? Chairwoman Moroney advised that the $80,000 in the budget is to fix or maintain roads that the Board felt could still be saved. The idea is to build up the capital reserve fund and use that to repair roads that are very bad. Selectman Gauthier pointed out that the Board had decided that with the money saved from the Property Inspection budget, the Highway Budget was increased by that amount so some roads could be taken care of now.
The Select Board went through each warrant article and voted on each separately. All warrant articles were recommended with a vote of 3 to 0.
Wendy Roberts and Jay Ennis addressed the Board on behalf of the Mount Washington Regional Airport. They requested the Board support a proposed warrant article as follows “To see if the Town of Carroll will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to enter into an Inter-Municipal Agreement for the purpose of operating the Mount Washington Regional Airport in Whitefield; and further to raise and appropriate the sum of $835.00 as the total per capita ($1.094) to pay the Town of Carroll share of the Operating Budget of the Mount Washington Airport; and to direct the Board of Selectmen to include hereafter, an appropriation for the airport in its annual budget until such time as the Town of Carroll elects to withdraw from the Agreement.”
Wendy Roberts gave a presentation on the airport. Roberts said the airport in Twin is closed and is in rough shape. She said the benefit for Carroll is that people fly into the Regional Airport and mostly stay at the Mount Washington Hotel. During their stay they are travelling and supporting businesses in the area. She said revenue comes into the airport from landing fees charged and fuel sales. Dianne Hogan questioned if there are high dollar clients coming into the airport, why not charge them fees? Roberts said per aviation standards, private jets do not pay landing fees. They are already being taxed through fuel. If they tried charging additional fees, they would price themselves out of use. Michael Hogan questioned what the budget was and said he would have liked to see a budget print-out.
Selectman Gauthier made a motion to include and recommend the warrant article. Selectman Scalley seconded. The motion passed and the warrant will appear with a recommendation of 3 to 0.
The Board reviewed a petition warrant article. Selectman Gauthier said that while Selectman Scalley was reviewing he’d like to re-iterate to Chief Oleson that the disagreement with the 7% raise was not specific to him. His argument was that all should get 3% or all should get 7%.
The Chair read the petition article aloud. “To see if the Town of Carroll will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) to save the Town gymnasium to be used as the Twin Mountain-Bretton Woods Historical Museum. This will be a non-lapsing appropriation, per RSA 32:7 VI, and will not lapse until the Museum is ready to open or June 30, 2022, whichever is sooner.”
Allan Clark presented his quarterly report on the building project. He said at this point he is slightly over budget by $1,800.00 but it will work itself out and the project will come in under budget. Some of it comes from unforeseen issues with site work that has been addressed. Clark said the site work is behind and both buildings are ahead of schedule. Both are weather-tight, electric and plumbing are roughed in, heat is completed and duct work is underway. The Police Department has dry wall and it will be started at Town Hall next. 75% of the siding is complete at Town Hall and some is started on the Fire Department. Clark said concrete would be poured in the apparatus bay at the Fire Department the following Tuesday and on Friday the overhead doors are scheduled to go in.
Clark stated he expects the Town Hall to be complete mid-March and a move-in date at the end of the Month. Following that would be the demolition of the current Town Hall and finishing off the site work. Completion would be expected around May 15th.
Allan Clark said he needs to advise the Select Board that if the petition warrant article passes, he will not be able to complete the project. The State driveway permit and alteration of terrain permits were submitted with the removal of the Town Hall and gym. If the gym remains it is creating an additional impervious surface and will increase run off. The State will pull the permit. The alteration of terrain permit is specific to storm water. It is currently designed for all the water to slope in a certain direction toward the detention pond and slowly release water to drain. He said costs will increase and the job will have to stop.
Allan anticipates a base coat of pavement complete by May 15th and would like to wait until September for a second coat so settlement issues can be addressed. At this time in May, Clark anticipates the police and fire departments would move in. The Selectmen will be presented with interior colors to choose from. Clark said he’s working on security system, appliances and he found out that with the commercial range in the fire department, it does need a hood.
Clark advised he may have a contact to get a good cost on some furniture in Concord. There is an office building where the tenant moved out and left everything. It is quality material and will help with the budget.
Mike Hogan asked if the gym could cost the project $500,000. Allan said he didn’t know. He said it would need rest rooms and questioned where would you put a septic. There would be costs associated with re-applying for an alteration of terrain permit and additional engineering costs. Rena Vecchio said she spoke with the NH Preservation Alliance and they wouldn’t need bathrooms. Allan said there would be a cost of about $12,000 a month in interest if there is a delay. Right now, asbestos abatement starts at the end of the week. There was no asbestos found in the gym.
Selectman Scalley said the drainage that goes across Route 302 cannot handle any more water. If we increase it, we will have to pay to change it. Vecchio said when she was asking for signatures for the warrant article, she wasn’t aware of how mad people were at she and Mike Gooden because they had asked people to vote in favor of the new buildings and told them the current Town Hall would remain for now. Selectman Scalley reminded Vecchio that nobody came to the meetings to discuss what to do with the building. Scalley also asked if they would consider removing the warrant article. He said nobody told Vecchio and Gooden they couldn’t have items in the Town Hall or gym. They were told they had to wait until after it was checked for asbestos.
Allan Clark said he had already spoken with a contractor to possibly take out the basketball flooring and reassemble it on a wall. He mentioned the scoreboard could be saved somewhere. Clark said there is a lot of common area to decorate in the new building that hasn’t been considered.
Selectman Scalley said he suggests Vecchio and Gooden make up a list of what they want out of the building. He said he personally is requesting they withdraw the warrant article if it is legal to do so. Mike Gooden asked the Board for a breakdown of additional costs if the building were to remain so they can go back to the people who signed the petition and explain. Allan Clark said he could work on some numbers. All agreed to meet Friday to view the new building. An inquiry will be made to legal to see if the article can be pulled.
Imre Szauter spoke on behalf of the Building Committee. He asked for volunteers to assist in packing and storing the library collection. If anyone is interested in helping, they should contact him. He announced their next scheduled meeting is Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 9:00 a.m.
Bill Emerson addressed the library’s submission for the Tillotson Grant. He said he spoke with NCIC about using the information that was already obtained for the library’s submission. He found out he can’t really use what they have. He asked the Board if they would be a fiscal sponsor in order to proceed and requested they sign a sponsorship agreement. Selectman Scalley made a motion to sign. Selectman Gauthier seconded. All were in favor.
Follow Up -
Echo Lake – nothing new
Small Version Bldg. Permit – on hold
Razing building - Selectman Scalley asked the Board if they had any issue of starting the project to raze the building on Route 3 now. The Board agreed to proceed. Selectman Scalley said we should notify the abutter to give notice and also contact the Town’s insurance company.
PD SOP Updates – Selectman Scalley still reviewing
Other -
The Board reviewed an email sent from James Phillips about Boulder Motor Court. Selectman Scalley said he was set to speak with Phillips the following day as building inspector and Phillips needs to determine what classification his buildings are going to be. Scalley said he also has a call in to the State Fire Marshall for additional guidance.
Allan Clark said he has scheduled a meeting at 1 p.m. on Friday with Mike Gooden and Rena Vecchio.
Selectman Gauthier asked Chairwoman Moroney if her meeting with Allan Clark today was business or personal. Moroney stated it was personal and that Clark had asked to meet with her to talk about her frustrations with the building project.
Chairwoman Moroney announced the next meeting would be Monday, January 27, 2020.
At 8:12 p.m. Chairwoman Moroney made a motion to go into non-public session per RSA 91-A:3 for any of the legal reasons listed under the statute.
At 8:19 Selectman Scalley made a motion to return to public session. The motion was seconded by Selectman Gauthier and passed unanimously. With no further business, Selectman Scalley made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Selectman Gauthier seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Selectman Scalley declared the meeting ended at 8:20 p.m.