Town of Carroll, New Hampshire

• Town Services
• Town Meeting Minutes
• Planning Board/ZBA
• Applications & Forms
• Town Clerk/Tax Collector
• Map
• Home

Minutes of Town Board Meetings

• Planning Board
• Board of Adjustment
• Select Board
• Budget Committee
• Building Committee
• Energy Commission

Minutes of 12/14/2009

December 21st, 2009

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
December 14, 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: Bonnie Moroney, Ken Mills. Chris Hancock was excused.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Acting Chairman Mills.

Members of the public present: Roberta McGee, Mike Gooden, Carmine Fabrizio, Ann Fabrizio, Bill Rines, Frank Maturo, Bill Smalley, Scott Sonia, Bill Dowling, Tom Gately, Evan Karpf, John Trammell, Kelly Trammell

Pledge of Allegiance

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

Selectman Mills made a Motion to: Table the minutes for November 30, 2009, as he was not in attendance at that meeting. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously:

The following items were approved and signed:

Water Warrant – Lavallee
Town Hall Use Permit Application – Smalley
Bond Estimate Certificate – Rumford Paper Company
Yield Tax Warrant – Rumford Paper Company
Employee Medical and Dental Insurance Renewal Forms – Healthtrust
Municipal Assessment Form – DRA (Compilation of all property which was transferred in
the Town from October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2009. The equalization rate is
set from this data.)

Selectman Moroney said the Board had hoped Jay Ouellette or Steve Messina would have returned to the Board by now with the additional information they had spoken about regarding the Carroll Economic Development Corporation. Mrs. Moroney said that this has been going on for more than ten years and proceeded to read an email from Town Counsel, Jae Whitelaw, that had actually been read at a previous meeting (copy attached). The email questions if the Town had voted to adopt the provisions of RSA 162-G, which needs to checked into. Therefore, Selectman Mills made a Motion to: Table this item until research on the RSA question can be done and the question answered. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion was approved unanimously. Bill Dowling said he had talked with the State about land that would be required to cap the old landfill as we’d need some at some point and it would be unfortunate if the Town had to buy its own land back. He just wanted to note that not all of the land in that area should be developed for that reason.

Bill Rines returned with information on a diesel-fueled mower at the request of Chairman Hancock. Mr. Rines said most prices were comparable to the John Deere except the Kabota which was in excess of $3,000 higher. The crew compared everything and the Cub Cadet, which is available at a supplier in Bartlett, NH, appears to be a very good machine. They were told it’s a waste of money to purchase an extended warranty as there is no history of any problems and it comes with a two-year warranty anyway. Though it is more expensive than the John Deere, the supplier has a floor model (demo model) which he will sell at the same price and with the two-year warranty. Mr. Rines said they believe this machine is well-built and there are a number of accessories that can go on it if they wish in the future. He also said as the company is in Bartlett, it is near enough for service, etc. The Selectman thanked Mr. Rines for the information and said they will be sure Chairman Hancock receives it. Selectman Mills then made a Motion to: Table this item to the next meeting in Chairman Hancock’s absence. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Kelly Trammell said she had given copies of the water policy she had been working on to the Board, Bill Rines and Scott Sonia for comments, and asked if it could be sent to Legal. Evan Karpf asked if this is to be done for meter reading and billing and asked what it said. Mrs. Trammell said this is one part for getting everything in place for the water system. It does include information about billing and meters along with terms and conditions, specs for town acceptance, and installations to name some of what it covers for people who are on the water system. She said the hope is to have rates and policies and procedures done by January 1. Unfortunately, some people are still not cooperating so the Town can get in houses to make necessary repairs – but the new policy will also address this issue. Selectman Mills noted that it had not yet been formally announced, but the separation of the Highway and Water Departments has been completed and Bill Rines remains as the Road Agent, while Scott Sonia has been named Superintendent of the Water Department. This was deemed necessary with the move to get the water meters on track and all that goes with it as the combined department was just too much. It was noted that these consist of the same three people who will continue to participate with each other as needs are determined. Selectman Moroney made a Motion to: Send the new Water Policy to Legal for corrections, comments, and/or any amending necessary. Selectman Mills seconded and it passed unanimously.

Warrant Articles for Capital Reserve Funds were then discussed as follows:

Municipal Truck Capital Reserve Fund $15,000
Police Cruiser CRF $18,000
Highway Equipment CRF $10,000
Computer Technology CRF $2,000
Library Improvement CRF $2,000
Landfill Closure CRF $10,000
Road Improvements CRF $10,000

It was decided to leave all at the same amounts as the previous year with the exception of the Police Cruiser fund. This was increased by $3,000 to reflect current costs. There was brief discussion about a capital reserve fund for water but more research needs to be done as a fund may already have been established. Selectman Moroney made a Motion to: Accept the Capital Reserve Fund warrant articles as presented with the one change for the Police Cruiser. Selectman Mills seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

The Secretary brought up two articles for the Planning Board. One is to name the Zoning Board as the Regulators. The State Statute says that the Planning Board is the regulator but it can be changed by vote at Town Meeting time. Dr. Karpf said in the past the ZBA has handled all excavation issues and the idea is to let them handle everything from the beginning to the end. He said the Planning Board feels it is a hardship to the applicant to have to go to the two boards to be able to do an excavation. The Zoning Board issues the variance for the Special Exception and the Planning Board is supposed to issue the permit. Dr. Karpf said a precedent was actually set back a number of years ago with the Whitcomb excavation case, which preceded the RSA. The Regulator steps in if any violations occur and this is what will change from the Planning Board to the ZBA. Selectman Mills asked for a broader, more educational explanation in hopes it would help the public be more informed and Dr. Karpf said there will be a public hearing on this as with all warrant articles prior to voting day. It was requested that the article be sent to Town Counsel to be rewritten as it is quite confusing as it is written.

The second article is for floodplain management which the Board actually approved in June for the Hazardous Mitigation Plan. This, also will be part of the public hearing for Planning Board articles.

Chief Trammell spoke about adding several lines to his budget so he would be able to take advantage of money that might become available through grants during the year. He noted the government had released Two Billion Dollars this week. It was suggested a better way to do this is to write a separate warrant article specifically saying that any grant money received will be allowed to be spent or used. This will be worked on. Chief Trammell also said the Department will be putting a warrant article in for a new cruiser, but they are waiting for the state bid price.

As there was no further business, Acting Chairman Mills declared the meeting ended at 8:10 p.m. and moved to go into Non-Public Session for Personnel Matters and a Town Aid request. The Board was polled and went into Non-Public Session.

At the close of Non-Public Session, Acting Chairman Mills moved to return to Public Session and seal the minutes from Non-Public Session. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

There being no further discussion, Acting Chairman Mills made a Motion to: adjourn the meeting. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Acting Chairman Mills declared the meeting ended at 9:47 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, December 21, 2009.

Town of Carroll, New Hampshire ®2024