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Minutes of 06/29/2009

July 7th, 2009

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
June 29, 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: Chris Hancock, Bonnie Moroney, Ken Mills.

The meeting was called to order at 7:03 PM by Chairman Hancock.

Members of the public present: Roberta McGee, June Garneau, Billy Rines, Mike Gooden, Ann Fabrizio, Tadd Bailey, Jeremy Oleson, Bill Smalley, Carmine Fabrizio, Jenn Hancock, Nancy Mitiguy, Mrs. Ikasalo, Jo Cabral, Guy Jubinville, Joan Karpf, Evan Karpf, John Trammell, Kelly Trammell, Dan Walker, Chuck Jellison, Tom Gately, Derek Patterson, Robin Selensky, Lori Hogan

Pledge of Allegiance

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

Chairman Hancock made a Motion to: Accept the minutes for June 15, 2009 as written. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Stan Borkowski’s report was received and posted.

The first item was a public hearing on the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, which June Garneau had worked on with us through North Country Council. Mrs. Garneau said the committee had been working on this for the past year. It should be reviewed each year for five years and in five years, it will need to be redone. She has provided the Selectmen with a form to sign to formally approve. Mrs. Garneau said in addition, this covers a lot on wildfires. Therefore, this would comply with the DRED Community Wildfire Protection Plan and may be used for that. She also said this will open the door for funding that may be available and appropriate. Selectman Mills thanked Mrs. Garneau and the NCC for all the work they did on behalf of the Town. Selectman Hancock made a Motion to: Sign the document for approval. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

The following items were approved and signed prior to the meeting:

Yield Tax Warrant – A. Pike
Property Tax Abatement – Catalano; Robinson

The following items were approved and signed:

Water Warrant – Raynes; Roesbery; Birchwood Commons, LLC
Property Tax Abatements – Mosedale; Perlmutter
Supplementary Property Tax Warrant – Lewis
Oath of Office, Part Time Police – Leo C. Jellison
Thank you letter – Marc Tardiff, White Mt. Distributors, Food Pantry donation

Selectman Moroney said Claire Gritzer had called her looking for a key to the Library. As she is a Library Trustee, she said she should have one. At this point, all of the Library keys are out and we cannot have more made. Selectman Moroney said the concept of re-keying the building a year ago in April, was to control the number of keys being given out. Prior to this, so many people had keys that the number of keys and who had them was unknown. A brief discussion ensued and Selectman Mills made a Motion to: Table the matter until there is additional information. Chairman Hancock seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Ann Fabrizio asked the status of Eleanor Mason and it was stated that Mrs. Mason is the Librarian and Mrs. Philbin is the interim.

Nancy Mitiguy spoke of the target practice by the Town Police that took place on the State property off Route 302 on Saturday, June 13. Mrs. Mitiguy had sent a letter via email to the Selectmen (copy available in the office) regarding this, but asked that it be discussed when she would be available on the 29th. Mrs. Mitiguy said that it took place over five hours and was very loud and disturbing and Twin View Drive neighbors, Mrs. Cabral and Mrs. Ikasalo supported her comments. Mrs. Mitiguy asked that the Police are requested to limit shooting to two hours a day, three days a week, and not after 8 p.m. She also asked that the abutters be notified in advance when practice is going to take place. Mrs. Mitiguy said she had also been in contact with Greg Placey, District Engineer, District One, NH DOT, and requested that the Selectmen write a letter to Mr. Placey. She would like the Town to request the state ask that other entities using the practice range limit their shooting as well. Mrs. Mitiguy said she is aware of RSA 159B which basically says there are no ordinances limiting these ranges. However, she would like to see limits put on in deference to residents of the area. It was noted that this shooting range has been in use since at least 1989, and several departments from several towns use it. Discussion ensued as to options of other locations, the cost of having all the town police doing their qualifying rounds together versus doing the set-up and removal of the area for shorter durations, (which would increase the cost substantially), or going elsewhere which could require joining a club and adding transportation costs. Chief Trammell, Sgt. Smalley (who is the instructor) and Selectman Mills all spoke to the issue of the necessity for the police to qualify – which not only is a testament to their ability, but also works to remove liability from the Town. And because incidents can happen at any time of the day or night, they are also required to qualify for low light. Selectman Mills said he felt it needed to be researched further. He also stated that it was made clear at voting time that people didn’t want money spent. Mrs. Mitiguy reiterated her request to write to the State and also to speak with the Town police about trying to reduce their time at the range to two hours a day, with no more than three days a week. Chairman Hancock said the Board can talk with our police, but other towns and departments (i.e. Fish and Game) are under no obligation to any request made by us. During further discussion of alternate locations for the Town police, it was stated that it seemed shots were made in the direction of Blueberry Hill Road. Since Chuck Jellison was at the meeting and in his former capacity as a State Trooper he would have used the shooting range, Selectman Moroney asked for his comments. Mr. Jellison affirmed that Blueberry Hill Road is south and on the range shooting is due west into a berm approved by DOT. He explained that Route 302 curves around rather substantially, thus separating Blueberry Hill Road from the range so it’s in another direction completely. Mr. Jellison said this was a consideration when it the range was built.

Chuck Jellison asked about the gravel excavation taking place behind his house. He referred to a letter he had written in March asking when the project is going to end. Discussion took place regarding the history of the excavation: that it initially was a temporary one for an individual construction company doing jobs for the State, and subsequently amended because those jobs had not required the amount of material expected. The amount was also tied in with that estimated to accomplish removing and leveling the hill behind the Rines house. It was noted that DES had visited the site to evaluate the material left. The plan had not shown that there would be stockpiles and they requested it be updated to show them. Mr. Rines said the plan has been revised and DES should be sending notification to the town soon. Research has been done on the property, and it was discovered that there had been a previous variance given. When Mr. Rines purchased the property, the name did not get changed at DES and this is now in the process of being amended. Mr. Rines stated that this has become a huge financial burden on his family and he’s just trying to complete the project. He wants to follow the guidelines and believes he is, but he said he also has to be able to complete it. Joan Karpf explained his variance had been granted with conditions and that he is no longer working within the parameters, as it has expired. Chairman Hancock read a response from Town Counsel to several questions the Selectmen had. Further discussion took place about what has been done and what is hoped to be done. It was discovered that the property in question is actually two lots so there was some confusion as to which lot has the stockpiles on it, etc., which turned out to be Lot 10. Mr. Rines said Lot 20 has not been disturbed other than stumps from trees that had been removed earlier, and it is Lot 20 where he wants to do more. As Selectman Mills summarized, he has dirt that he is trying to remove and looking for help to get it done legally and quickly. Mrs. Karpf said her concern is legal and she’s stating facts. It was noted the Town should mitigate any issues and if a new variance is needed, Mr. Rines should apply for one. Mr. Rines said he was told by DES because of the previous variance on Lot 10, he did not have to get another one. Mrs. Karpf explained a variance is needed because excavation is not normally allowed in the zone where Mr. Rines’ property is. Mr. Jellison said he didn’t mean to start such uproar, he was just looking for a realistic timeframe. Mrs. Karpf said the process is two months, the first month to file an application and the second month for the public hearing and approval or denial. Mr. Rines said the project will be done this year if the State takes what they say they will, and he said he should know soon if he gets the job. After further discussion, Mr. Rines was asked to get a copy of the variance previously granted for Lot 10 and to apply for a new variance for Lot 20, if that was what he needed. When asked where he stood on removing material, Mr. Rines was told he could remove it if he has the variance for Lot 10, and was asked to bring it to the office, otherwise, he cannot move the piles.

Next was the water emergency from June 22, to June 24. The well had gone dry and it took many hours to finally discover the problem, as it turned out there were multiple failures which helped to mask each other. Fortunately, it was the most inexpensive solution that it could have been, as it was a valve that failed in the closed position, thus restricting the flow of water. Chairman Hancock spent most of the day with the Crew and explained how the water system worked. He said for a long time they did not know what their option would be, including having to drill a new well. During the search, they discovered that the two wells the Town has are only about 20 feet apart – therefore, rendering the “back up” well useless, because any major work on the main well would affect it. The average cost of drilling for our needs, is $100,000 and this does not include anything else: plumbing, pump, electric, etc. Chairman Hancock thanked everyone for their help, stating that all resources available were here and used. He stated that a lot was learned from this including water usage, costs of various repairs or replacements, and trucking water had it been necessary, would have been a major hurdle. Evan Karpf asked if there is a contingency plan for another well in case of future issues. Selectman Moroney said the Building Committee deemed it much more important to focus on the water system than buildings, so they will do that for the remainder of this year. When asked, it was noted that no water comes from the river. Dan Walker, EMD, explained to find an adequate is incredible with costs to match. It was noted that the situation is stabilized, the resolving it would be a new well. Dr. Karpf said he would like this information for the CIP. Mr. Walker said that the State was very concerned about the situation and he believes we dodged a major bullet.

In other business, Dr. Karpf said he and Mrs. Karpf had a lot of sports equipment; bats, balls, gloves, from the Funtown building they purchased, and they would like to donate it to the Town Recreation Department and hoped they could accept it. The Selectmen thanked the Karpfs very much.

Selectman Moroney told of trying to apply for a grant for a generator and electrical service and must send a letter of intent by August 3, through the hazardous mitigation assistance program. Selectman Moroney made a Motion to: Send the letter of intent. Chairman Hancock seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Jeremy Oleson said the Mount Washington Hotel was looking for an Assembly Permit and approval by the Town to expand their liquor license over the Fourth of July to serve liquor in front of the hotel. Mr. Oleson asked if there was any information about not serving there or any reason that this should not be granted. It was pointed out that it may not even be needed as with the weather the way it’s been, they may move everything inside anyway. The Selectmen knew of no reason to deny it, so Mr. Oleson will follow up on it.

Lori Hogan, Chairman of the Recreation Committee, said Home Depot had talked with her about using the Rec area as they did two years ago for their employee party. Mrs. Hogan wanted the Board to know this application for permit would be in process and they will be using the previous permit as the format for any conditions, etc. She said it would be coming to them at the next meeting.

As there was no further business, Chairman Hancock declared the meeting ended at 9:03 p.m. and moved to go into Non-Public Session for personnel, legal and town aid. The Board was polled and went into Non-Public Session.

At the close of Non-Public Session, Chairman Hancock moved to return to public session Selectman Mills seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Selectman Mills mad a Motion to: Seal the minutes from Non-Public Session. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

There being no further discussion, Chairman Hancock made a Motion to: adjourn the meeting. Selectman Mills seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Chairman Hancock declared the meeting ended at 10:43 p.m.

Town of Carroll, New Hampshire ®2024