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Minutes of 10/15/2007

October 19th, 2007

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
October 15, 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 7:01 PM.

Members of the public present: John Trammell, Kelly Trammell, Kathy Barnes, Ray Dubreil, Annette Dubreil, Ron Cote, Bill Dowling, Linda Dowling, Bill Rines, Chris Hancock, John Burt, Bruce Seymourian, Leo Lavelle, Leslie Bergum, Daniel Daine, Roberta McGee, Eleanor Brauns, Sully Lane, Evan Karpf

Pledge of Allegiance

The board tabled the approval of bills and signing of checks until later in the meeting.

Chairman Moroney moved to accept the minutes of October 8, 2007, as written. Selectman Strasser seconded, and the motion passed.

Stan Borkowski’s report is posted on the bulletin board.

Ron Cote from NH Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) came to talk about the Assessment Review scheduled for 2008. He handed out a sheet listing the guidelines and spoke about the importance of the Equalization Ratio and Coefficient of Dispersion. During the review they will look at these plus the assessing practices, exemptions and credits, data accuracy, and proportionality. Mr. Cote said that as we are doing a revaluation in 2007, we will have the best chance of meeting the DRA standards if we were to move the Assessment Review up to be done this year. Chairman Moroney moved to send a letter to DRA asking to move the Review to 2007. Selectman Strasser seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously. Mr. Cote also asked that the selectmen not accept the values from Commerford Nieder Perkins as final until he has a chance to do a random check of properties. This will take approximately two weeks. When Leo Lavelle asked when the new values take effect, Mr. Cote explained that the values are assigned as of April 1, 2007, and the final tax bill will show the new values. Anything paid on the 1st issue bills will be deducted from the bill for the full assessment value.

Bruce Seymourian came to talk about two issues. He first said that he’d made a mistake last year when he wasn’t plowing the roads in his subdivision. He said he apologized and will be plowing the roads in the future. He than brought up the culvert on Ariana Lane. His contractor, Ray Dubreil, installed a plastic culvert and Billy Rines wants him to put in a metal culvert instead. Mr. Dubreil said he checked with 3 suppliers and they said it was installed properly. Mr. Rines said the state insists on a metal culvert with casing spacers, and the town is asking to meet the same standard. He said the subdivision plans were okayed with a culvert, and Mr. Seymourian changed them to put in a bridge, and the bridge is on top of the water line. This will be a problem if repairs have to be made – the bridge will have to be taken apart. Mr. Seymourian said the state made him put in the bridge. Mr. Dubriel, when asked, said one can drive over the water line if using the edge of the road. Evan Karpf said, as part of a major subdivision, this change should have gone back to the Planning Board for amendment approval, and they would have called in Provan & Lorber (engineers) to review the changes. Selectman Strasser suggested that he, Mr. Rines, and Mr. Dubreil meet on Tuesday at noon to look at the site, and he would call Tim Grant from Provan & Lorber to ask that he meet them there too.

Mr. Seymourian said he felt he had not been treated well by Mr. Rines, that he has unnecessarily found fault with Mr. Dubreil’s work, and was constantly checking up on him, sometimes with a contractor who had bid on the job and not gotten it. Mr. Rines said he and Butch Garneau at times worked together, and he didn’t feel that was a problem. Mr. Rines said they had problems with Mr. Dubreil covering work that hadn’t been inspected, and delays in putting in pipe for a hookup. Selectman Strasser said again they would meet on Tuesday and get Mr. Grant’s opinion.

John D’Urso sent the selectmen a letter which was not read. Chairman Moroney said his 15 days were up to take action on the trailer issue, and moved to send all the paperwork to our attorney. Selectman Vecchio seconded, and the motion was passed unanimously.

The Cartographics contract for 2008 has been amended to include 5 copies of the dispatch map. Chairman Moroney moved to sign the contract, Selectman Vecchio seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.

Since the state will be taking over maintenance of the 911 data base from Verizon, they’ve sent us an appointment form for the town’s liaison personnel. Bill Smalley is the primary liaison, and Jeff Duncan is the secondary. Chairman Moroney moved to sign the form, Selectman Strasser seconded, and the motion was passed unanimously.

The secretary said Connecticut River Bank has sent a proposal to the town that includes accounts like those we currently have. Their sweep account interest on the date of the proposal was 4.38%. There would be no charges for the business checking account and a $75 fee per month for the sweep account. It was decided to delay a decision on a bank switch until after the second issue tax bills go out and the county is paid in December.

Selectman Strasser mentioned that he’d received a letter from Hoyle & Tanner about the bridge replacement, and their estimates have gone up to include Construction Engineering of $60,000 and actual bridge construction of $750,000. He also said the county has added 1.4 million dollars to their budget.

Nancy Mitiguy has volunteered to call some of the towns around us about their income and asset levels for property tax exemptions. She will do a spreadsheet for us when she’s heard from everyone.

Talk about the CEDC began with Selectman Strasser saying he’d talked to Pat Corso at the Mt. Washington Resort, and that Mr. Corso said they would offer their land planning services to assist in laying out the future Town Safety Complex and various units if asked; however, he stressed that they wanted to assist and not run any of the town's projects. They would probably also do the layout/land planning work for the BW fire station property. Dr. Karpf said he’d like to see us use part of the industrial park land for affordable housing, perhaps as incentive for young people to stay in town. He said he thought there would be state money available. Chris Hancock asked how they could keep the value of such housing low – if there’s a cap on it so it does not become too high. It was brought up that the area is not close enough to town for the elderly – no transportation. If part of the land were to be used for affordable housing a warrant article would be necessary to alter previous plans. It was suggested a committee be formed to look at options prior to writing any warrant article that would specify industrial or housing use. Roberta McGee said that people had voted in the past to disallow low-income housing, but it was thought that opinions may have changed.

John Burt reported that someone has purchased the Paquette Circle house for $80,000.

The secretary will check with the treasurer to see if a bank account has been set up for the Conservation Commission.

The letter of credit for Ken Elworthy has been released.

Mr. Rines is talking to Jeff Duncan about radios for the highway department.

A supplementary water warrant for Mr. Armstrong was approved and signed.

Chairman Moroney read a letter from Pat Martin saying effective immediately she would be resigning from her positions of Cemetery Trustee and Supervisor of the Checklist.

Dr. Karpf said the CIP committee would be meeting with William Rose of North Country Council on Wednesday, November 21, at 7 pm. He said it was important for all department heads to be on the committee, as their needs will be incorporated into any plan.

Mr. Lavelle asked about the $100 increase in his water bill and Chairman Moroney explained that every water bill was increased the same amount and it would cover about 1/3 of the deficit built up by the water department. Mr. Lavelle asked why the town is doing nothing about the school tax, that we’re paying $36,000 per student, and Lancaster is paying only $500 per student plus getting money from the state. Selectman Vecchio said the state is responsible for the allocation of school costs, and there’s nothing the school district can do. Chairman Moroney said she’d gone to a recent Coalition meeting, and if they can’t solve the education problem, the state may go back to donor towns.

Mr. Rines said they have an electrical problem with the 1 ton truck and it needs an overhaul before winter. It also needs tires even though there are only 27,000 miles on the current tires. Chairman Moroney moved to approve the work and tires. Selectman Strasser seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.

Leslie Bergum came to the board on behalf of the Conservation Commission. She spoke of the Wetlands Dredge & Fill Permit application filed for the Dartmouth Brook Subdivision in Bretton Woods. There are documents in the town hall, and Ms. Bergum urged the selectmen and all citizens to examine them. Dartmouth Brook is the largest single subdivision ever proposed in the Town of Carroll, and it will have a regional impact as provided for in RSA 36:55. Dr. Karpf pointed out that the developers have already modified their plans to accommodate the wetlands and wildlife in the area. It was noted that there will be 4 meetings here in the town hall for the resort owners to inform the public of the vision for the future of the resort development. People will be invited to comment. The meetings will be October 23, November 6, November 27 and December 11. There will be an economic impact study done by UNH.

Ms. Bergum talked about regional conservation proposals, and a vegetative study being done to see if lynx could survive in the area. Scientists have been hired by Bretton Woods – the Normandeau Assn. is working on this. Dr. Karpf mentioned that the 1000 units in the Bretton Woods Master plan will still be built – just in locations different from original plans. Dartmouth Brook has been reduced from the original 300+ units to 199, but they will put the 100+ units elsewhere.

Chairman Moroney made a motion to thank Bill Dowling and John McGee for the new bulletin board in the town hall. Selectman Vecchio seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.
They also approved a motion to send a thank you letter to Pat Martin for her years of service to the town.

Daniel Daine reported that he’d finished working with Mr. Rines on 10 water meters. It took a total of 31 hours for those locations. Most of the remaining meters that need work are for seasonal buildings, and getting people to schedule appointments is a problem. Chairman Moroney moved to have Mr. Daine continue working till the meters are all finished. Selectman Vecchio seconded, and the motion was passed unanimously. Mr. Daine and Mr. Rines will work with the secretary and the town clerk to schedule appointments and set deadlines for these appointments.

Kathy Barnes asked about the random checks Mr. Cote would be doing, and Chairman Moroney told her that he’s making sure the assessments have been done properly – that all structures have been picked up and that the values seem reasonable. Ms. Barnes said she removed a cottage and mobile home from her property in June, and wondered how the town would adjust the value. It was explained that her building permit and demolition permit have been sent to the assessors, and they would make the corrections for next year.

The noon meeting on Tuesday at Mr. Seymourian’s property was mentioned again.

John Trammell noted that Tadd Bailey and Jeff Duncan were in New Mexico this week for specialized training provided by Homeland Security.

At 9:12 PM, as there was no additional business, Chairman Moroney declared the meeting ended, and moved to go into executive session regarding personnel, legal matters, and town aid. 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:

Response letter to Bretton Woods land offer
Property tax exemptions – increase limits
Industrial Park land use - CEDC
Term Limits for Planning & Zoning
Chamberlain property
Paquette Circle house
Website
Local ordinances
LUCA Program
Tax Anticipation Note
Conservation funds
Highway Radios – Compatibility w/Police
Bank change/PDIP