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Minutes of 04-13-2009

April 22nd, 2009

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
April 13, 2009

"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 Maryclare Quigley, Secretary

Board members present: Christopher Hancock, Bonnie Moroney, Ken Mills

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM.

Members of the public present: Roberta McGee, Carmine Fabrizio, Ann Fabrizio, Mike Gooden, Tom Gately, Kelly Trammell, Jeff Duncan, Jeremy Oleson, Sue Kraabel, Billy Rines, John Trammell, Troy and Bill Smalley

Pledge of Allegiance

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

Chairman Hancock made a Motion to: Accept the minutes for April 6, 2009 as written. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion was passed unanimously.

Stan Borkowski’s report was not received.

The following items were approved and signed:

Abatement Denials –Cedrone
Property Tax Abatements – Kenney, Mosedale, Pike, Macritchie (Wolf)
Water Abatements – Robichaud, Roy
Excavation Tax Warrant – Rines, Mason, Twin Mountain Baptist Church

It was noted that the Cedrone abatement denial had come before the Board at the meeting on April 6, but the address was incorrect, so the Selectmen wanted to verify and correct it.

Chairman Hancock stated that it appears there is substantial work being done on the Macritchie house on Lennon Road and asked if a Building Permit had been approved. The Secretary said she didn’t recall one having been, but would check. If not, Mr. Hancock requested that Stan be advised of the same.

Treasurer Susan K. Kraabel spoke to the Board about the Town’s bank account which had been moved from Laconia Savings Bank to Connecticut River Bank in March, 2008. We have since learned the sweep options don’t suit the Town. $75,000 is left in the account at all times, with anything above that amount being swept into funds that will earn interest. The State has strict rules about these funds and does not allow town funds to be in one of the two offered by CRB, as the funds are not secured. The other is T Bills, but the current interest rate is .01%. As the Bank keeps the first ¼% the sweep fund earns, the Town is not earning any interest. In trying to correct this, they came up with a money market, but with the amount being beyond FDIC limits, it required collateralization. The agreement was sent to former town counsel, Bernie Waugh, who said it did not meet the State’s criteria. Sometime later, Mrs. Kraabel sent new material to the Town’s new counsel who did not know anything about collateral agreements and the Town would have had to pay for them to research these agreements and then that particular to our situation. According to State rule, municipal money must remain in a New Hampshire bank, and the only other option at Connecticut River Bank could not guarantee that. With interest rates having dropped so dramatically, the last two months earning no interest at all, the Treasurer put a large amount into a PDIP account. As a result, Mrs. Kraabel met with officials at Laconia Savings Bank where she said they can sweep the funds into a repurchase account and the money will not be comingled with anyone else’s. Mrs. Kraabel said as she has custody of the funds and is responsible for the Town’s money, she proposes moving the operating fund by taking the money from the PDIP account and going back to Laconia Savings Bank. She will also move the Recycling account because money is frequently moved from it to the General Fund due to a warrant article and having the two accounts in the same bank makes the most sense. The other accounts will remain where they are in Connecticut River Bank. The amount of money in the recycling account was briefly discussed. It was suggested that perhaps this money could be used for more than just the fees for removal of bulky waste. Mrs. Kraabel said she didn’t know, but thought it could be looked into. She hopes the Board will approve the bank change. There was a brief discussion of electronic banking and fees charged, though there are also credits which offset the latter. Chairman Hancock made a Motion to: Change banks and go with Laconia Savings Bank. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Mrs. Kraabel will go to the bank this week and set up accounts for the Operating and Recycling accounts. Chairman Hancock thanked Mrs. Kraabel.

Discussion of the agenda policy followed. It was stated that it doesn’t work at any meeting to drop information and try to have some sort of resolution. The Select Board is moving to change to be more in line with the Planning Board and the ZBA who require information ten days ahead. The Selectmen feel the Monday prior to their meeting will allow them the time they need to be able to work with the information reasonably. They agreed exceptions will be made if things come up that cannot necessarily be planned on. It was noted that people may bring information, but this is not really a venue for people to come and vent as there can be no resolution when the Board members do not know about it before hand.

Roberta McGee said the three Selectmen represent the Town – if there is a problem, how does one address it. It was stated that if necessary, it can be brought up and discussed, and further that the new policy refers mostly to information packets such as what has been brought to recent meetings without giving the Selectmen time to read the material much less to understand it. The Board is not discouraging people from speaking, it is for discussions that serve no purpose – questions are still fine.

The Board proceeded to recognize Warrant Articles and determine what action should be done on those that passed:

3, Budget, Passed: Addressed with MS-2 sent to the DRA; have adjusted the budget to
meet the bottom line.
4, Household Hazardous Waste Removal, Passed: We’ll be notified when the day it; will
pay only if used. The host town will bill based on proportion of users. A brief
discussion took place about having a Town truck be available to gather the waste and
therefore, just one trip will be made to the host town. It was noted this was tried a year
or so ago, but they could not do it. This will be checked on for this year.
5, Maintenance of the old landfill: Passed and recognized
6, 2009 Trucking for bulky waste, etc.: Passed and recognized
8, Ground-water monitoring, old landfill: Passed and recognized
15, Salt and Sand Containment, Passed: Bill Rines said he had called, but the salesman
he had originally spoken with about this free-standing canvas building was on
vacation, so he will call back. The Selectmen asked Mr. Rines to stay on it until he
can get it ordered. Selectman Mills stated that it was his understanding this is a DES
requirement, and asked if this will satisfy that, which he was assured it will definitely
meet their criteria. Selectman Mills was also concerned that this Warrant Article
passed by only five votes, which had it not passed, would have resulted in fines for the
Town. Mr. Mills asked if Mr. Rines could find out the cost any fines might have
amounted to.
24, Coalition Communities: Passed and recognized. Sue Kraabel asked if the payments
on the donation articles can be made twice a year as they have been in the past. The
Board agreed that this policy continue.
25, Revolving Fund, public safety service contracted details: Passed and recognized.
Mrs. Kraabel said she had spoken with Barbara Robinson at LGC, and we do not
need to set up a separate account, so she will proceed with the office to set up a new
fund. Mrs. Kraabel noted we’ll go back to January and reallocate any money paid for
details including expenses.
26, Recreation Revolving Fund, Passed and recognized. This Warrant Article also
allows for the removal of $5,700 from the special revenue fund to the revolving fund.
Next year the Recreation Committee will have to put an article in the Warrant to
move the remainder of the money as the whole amount had not been requested
and around $3,300 remained in the account. This money was put into a
CD for a year to earn better interest.
27, Funding for the Recreation program: Passed, but voided due to Article 26 being
passed.
28, Bretton Woods land donation: Passed, but we cannot accept it this year. Part of the
agreement was money would be appropriated for a building on the land, and that did
not happen.
29, To authorize the sale of property on Old Cherry Mountain Road: Passed. Pursuant to
Becki Pederson, Town Clerk/Tax Collector, an individual is interested, but she has
not heard back from him.
31, Driveway access easement on Bretton Woods donated land: Passed. Mr. Messina
will talk with the donors based on the Town vote.
32, $6,500 from Planning Revenue Fund to General Fund: Passed and Done
33, Allow Conservation Commission to retain unexpended funds: Passed and money will
be transferred at the end of 2009 if anything is left.
34, To discontinue the Bridge Capital Reserve Fund: Passed and discontinued.
35-44, Donations to charity funds: Passed and recognized.

Selectman Mills spoke regarding Article 32, transferring money from the Planning Revenue Fund to the General Fund, and wondered what would have happened if this had not passed. It was stated that if this had happened, the expenses would have been funded by the General Fund and the article would be amended the following year to cover the expense.

Evan Karpf, Community Pride Day planner, dropped off flyers for the May 9, roadside trash pickup day. Everyone will congregate in the morning at the Town Hall and there will be a barbecue at the Rec area at the conclusion.

The Selectmen received a letter from the State Department of Safety regarding an application from Bumper to Bumper for permission to perform motorcycle inspections.
The Selectmen agreed this would be appropriate and does not conflict with business already performed at Bumper to Bumper. They agree the permit should be approved.

Ann Fabrizio spoke of the need of the Trustees of the Trust Funds for another member. They meet once a month on Thursday, currently during the day, but Mrs. Fabrizio said they could change that if another time would be more suitable to a new member.

Jeff Duncan had spoken earlier about the possibility of changing telephone service to Time Warner. Mr. Duncan accompanied their representatives when they surveyed the various departments’ phone arrangements and accepted the proposals upon their completion. The representatives also said they will run cable to the Transfer Station at no charge. It was decided the Offices, Fire Department, Highway Department and Transfer Station should be changed. Chairman Hancock made a Motion to: Change telephone service for the four departments discussed from Fairpoint to Time Warner. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Chairman Hancock asked that the Library be asked about changing also.

Mr. Duncan then spoke about information/numbers brought to the Board a week ago by Al Strasser regarding tax costs, town population and budgets. Mr. Duncan and Jeremy Oleson, Fulltime Firefighter II position, researched information for towns similar to the Town of Carroll – resort towns with ski areas, whose populations change substantially at any given time whether it is seasonal or day to day. Most of the information garnered came from their Town Reports. Mr. Duncan presented an analysis comparing these other towns – Bartlett, Franconia, Jackson, Lincoln and Waterville Valley – and pointed out that the Town of Carroll compares very favorably with like-towns, which is the way it should be done – not strictly by population and taking nothing else into consideration. (Chart attached). Mr. Duncan said where there are blank spaces it is either because there is no position in the town or the towns do not publish the numbers. Chairman Hancock made a Motion to: Post the analysis chart on the bulletin board. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed.

Selectman Mills made a comment regarding the right to know and protocol for meetings. He assured that the Selectmen have never had secret meetings and anything they have done is available to the public. Mr. Mills said this is also part of the reason for the adjustment to the agenda and the need to bring information and materials to the Selectmen prior to the meetings. This allows them to at least be familiar with the information so they may have discussions and make decisions at their meetings.

The Selectmen reminded everyone that the new schedule starts next week, so there will not be a meeting. The next meeting will be Monday, April 27. They did note, however, there is a Hazardous Mitigation meeting on the 20th.

As there was no further business, Chairman Hancock declared the meeting ended at 8:47 p.m. and moved to go into Non-Public Session for town aid. The Board was polled and went into Non-Public Session.

At the close of Non-Public session, Chairman Hancock made a Motion to: return to public session and seal the minutes from Non-Public session. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed.

There being no further discussion, Chairman Hancock made a Motion to: adjourn the meeting. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Chairman Hancock declared the meeting ended at 9:25 p.m.

Town of Carroll, New Hampshire ®2024