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Minutes of 07/16/2007

July 21st, 2007


Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
July 16, 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: Bonnie Moroney, Allen Strasser, Rena Vecchio

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 PM.

Members of the public present: Roberta McGee, Eleanor Brauns, Carmine Fabrizio, Ann Fabrizio, Doug Bews, John Burt, Bill Dowling, Linda Dowling, Billy Rines, Mike Gooden

Pledge of Allegiance

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

Chairman Moroney moved to accept the minutes of the July 9, 2007 meeting as written. Selectman Vecchio seconded. Bill Dowling said he had a correction to the minutes having to do with the costs he quoted last week for the scales. It was decided to table the vote until next week, then later in the meeting Mr. Dowling said the Fairbanks quote should be $2,366 rather than the $2,000 shown in the minutes. At that point Selectman Strasser moved to accept the minutes as corrected, Chairman Moroney seconded and the motion was passed unanimously.

Stan Borkowski’s report will be posted on the bulletin board later in the week.

The secretary reported she’d spoken to Jay Ouellette about the Carroll Economic Development Corp., and he did not plan to attend a Board of Selectmen meeting to report on the CEDC activity. He said that a survey of the industrial park land had been done, including taking out the 15 acres for the transfer station. He said he’d been in touch with the Coos County CEDC and that there is a company possibly interested in locating in our industrial area. He suggested the selectmen call Ken Russell about drawing up a deed for the land, and the CEDC would pay. Questions arose about whether the corporation was still valid after so many years, if they’d had all the necessary meetings, and who actually owned the land since no deed had been recorded. It was suggested that if a warrant article is not enacted in one year, it is null and void. Town Counsel will be consulted.

The Paquette Circle property was discussed, and we will try to get information on the bank which now owns the property to notify them of the need to clean up the house and lot.

A Water Warrant for Talbot was approved and signed.

Selectman Strasser brought up the need for a water commissioners’ meeting. He said preliminary numbers for the water system as of 12/31/06, owed the general fund $170,600, and the water savings account had a balance of $110,500 at year end, giving the water department a shortfall of $60,093 at the end of 2006. In addition there is a budgeted $28,000 shortfall from hydrant fees eliminated this year which would bring the shortfall to $88,693. Also the Fieldstone Lane project will take us over budget this year. Therefore Selectman Strasser said we need a special assessment on a per owner basis now for the $88,000 shortfall. He proposed a second billing in December after the tax bills go out. He said taxes for some owners will go down 20-40%, and thus the timing of water bills after that would be good. He said we need to get some money in now, to eliminate any cash flow problems. Next year he thinks the water bills will go down, and a first billing would include fixed costs such as bonding, CIP, and repairs. The second billing would include variable costs such as electricity and chemicals. One of our problems is we have no money going into a capital construction fund, and we have some areas such as Fieldstone Lane that have to be done. Another line to be redone is on School Street where a 4” line is feeding into an 8” line – pressure problems as a result. August 13 was set for the water commissioners’ meeting, and Karen Carew, Billy Rines, and Becki Pederson will be asked to join the selectmen for the meeting. Selectman Strasser mentioned that in future years, the 1st water bill could cover fixed costs from the budget, then the meter readings would be done for the second bill.

Doug Bews brought up the economic situation for both residents and businesses in town and asked that the selectmen take that into consideration when dealing with money issues – taxes and water bills. He reminded them that many are on fixed incomes, and business in town in general is down.

Selectman Strasser reported that he’d just found out that the Mt. Washington Resort has decided not to expand the ski area, but will put some of the 960 residential units from the BW Master Plan on that land. Many of those slopeside units will be in Bethlehem rather than Carroll.

When Mr. Bews said he thought the selectmen were not reaching out to sustain and stabilize the community, he was asked what he would do. He replied he’d open the industrial park, and attempt to level out the highs and lows of the economy. John Burt asked if the town can do special assessments, and Selectman Strasser said as water commissioners they could – to cover expenses only. Mr. Burt asked if they would divide the shortfall assessment over a couple years rather than all at once, that people were going to be coming to the selectmen with lots of questions. Selectman Strasser stated they’ve always worked with people who can’t pay their water bills.

Mr. Bews said that certain groups in town are not working for the existing businesses. He cited the architectural review regulation, and said the way it was written will not benefit businesses who are trying to sell. Roberta McGee spoke in support of strict zoning.

When discussing level tax rates, Linda Dowling said that in the first year of the current budget committee, they had huge gaps in the numbers they received, but at the end of the second year, things are coming together. She also said we need to have an updated Master Plan and then a Capital Improvement Plan, which will help level the tax rate from year to year. Mr. Dowling said the town of Windham added $2 per thousand to their tax rate to use for capital reserve purposes. Chairman Moroney said there is a meeting scheduled in August with North Country Council and the Planning Board to discuss a CIP for the town. There is grant money available to cover the cost of a CIP. Selectman Strasser suggested that we’re budgeting revenue too aggressively, that we should hold back on estimating revenue after a property revaluation.

Ms. Dowling asked about fixing the letters on the town hall, and was told that was being worked on. Art Savona submitted a quote of $2,375 for the removal of old shutters and replacement with 16 pairs of new vinyl shutters. Selectman Strasser moved to accept the quote, Chairman Moroney seconded and the motion was passed unanimously.

Chairman Moroney asked Mr. Rines if the electrician had removed the 220 plug for the gymnasium stage. (We need the lights for the Follies.) He wasn’t aware of it, but will check on it. Chairman Moroney moved to have 220 installed if necessary, Selectman Vecchio seconded, and the motion was passed unanimously.

Chairman Moroney received an email from Veronica Francis regarding renewing our website contract for another year. The fee will remain $700. She asked if we were still interested in creating a website for “Carroll”, and recommended we look at www.townoflittleton.org as an example of one they’d just done for $3,000. Mr. Bews suggested that we purchase the domain name(s) townofcarroll.org or townofcarroll.net from an entity called Network Solutions.

The secretary presented a form regarding the PA-28 state form that can be used to obtain property information for tax assessment purposes. We currently do not use this form, but the AMC has sent one to us in the past. We are required to tell the state whether we will use form PA-28 in 2008, and the selectmen must sign for the decision. Town Counsel will be contacted to see if we want to require the AMC to submit this form each year.

Mr. Rines inquired about the receipt of FEMA funds recently, and whether they go into the general fund or against his expense. He was told the $6,479.66 received would go into the general fund. The Acceptance of Audit Requirements for receipt of these funds was signed by the selectmen.

Ms. Dowling, as a Trustee of the Trust Funds, told the selectmen that they would soon receive a letter from the Department of Justice. This letter would let the selectmen know they must have an investment policy. Ms. Dowling said the trustees will still use their own investment policy regardless of what policy the selectmen devise.

Mr. Dowling presented a letter to the selectmen which Chairman Moroney read. In it he stated that the selectmen had requested his presence in executive session regarding a personnel matter. He stated that it was his right to have the discussion take place in public session, and it was his choice to have this take place in public session. Chairman Moroney started by saying that the selectmen realize Mr. Dowling works very hard and has done wonderful things up at the transfer station. She then said it had been brought to their attention that there’ve been a couple of instances where there’s been a little bit of gruffness that needs to be toned down. An incident had taken place regarding delivery of an oil filter crusher. Mr. Dowling stated he’d ordered this $4,533 piece of equipment and had a verbal agreement with NAPA that this would include delivery to the transfer station. Mr. Rines’ delivery in the town truck was not acceptable to him, and he refused delivery, so the oil filter crusher is currently at the highway garage. Mr. Dowling felt that if it would not fit on one of their trucks, NAPA should have made other arrangements so they could make the delivery. He stated that he wanted their man at the transfer station when the item was delivered so that it could be inspected for damage at the time. Chairman Moroney asked if they would have taken it back if damaged, and was told no, but they would pay for it. When Chairman Moroney asked what we were going to do about this, Mr. Dowling said he’d go to the highway garage and look at it. If it is not damaged, he will either let Mr. Rines deliver it or stop payment on it and let NAPA come get it. He will do this on Tuesday, and if Mr. Rines delivers it, he will ask NAPA for money off the price. Chairman Moroney then asked Mr. Dowling about his policy of not taking debris left on one of the state highways. Recently he’d refused to take a chair Mr. Rines picked up that the state had let lie for several days. Mr. Dowling said the state should be responsible, and the cost of getting rid of the chair would have come out of his special revenue fund. When Selectman Strasser suggested we don’t want things lying around for extended periods of time, Mr. Dowling said the state has a phone number, and if they don’t come in a reasonable time, we could call the governor. There is currently a tire cap on the state road that has been there for 3 days, and Mr. Dowling does not want it brought to the transfer station either. Selectman Vecchio suggested we could take it to the state highway lot on Rte. 302, and it could go in their dumpster. Mr. Dowling brought up the fact that for 20 years, we paid the tipping fees for their dumpsters, and they pay no taxes to the town. And until the selectmen voted to stop, we also took trash from the Cog Railway and the National Forest. Mr. Dowling could not provide costs for these three, but said he could figure it out. The tire in question is a large tire, which he does not accept. He will call for a price on the tire cap. The selectmen voted to have Mr. Dowling, if after things sit on a state road, and Mr. Rines brings them to the transfer station, put the disposal expense against his budget and let the selectmen know about it.

At 8:40 PM, as there was no additional business, Chairman Moroney declared the meeting ended, and moved to go into executive session regarding personnel matters. This was seconded by Selectman Vecchio. The board was polled, and went into executive session.

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



Action Items:

NIMS Training Progress
Response letter to Bretton Woods land offer
Public Hearing to spend unanticipated revenue
Property tax exemptions – increase limits
Industrial Park land use
Term Limits for Planning & Zoning
Fix sign on town hall
D’Urso trailers letter to atty.
Chamberlain property
NCC/Planning Board meeting - CIP
Water Commission meeting
Protected sign for Building Permit Posting
Paquette Circle property
Website