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Minutes of 05/09/2011

May 19th, 2011

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
May 9, 2011

"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: Mark Catalano, Bonnie Moroney, Bill Dowling

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Catalano

Members of the public present: Greg Hogan, Roberta McGee, Ike Ikasalo, Frank Maturo, Jim Covey, Lisa Covey, Ben Jellison, Mary Devine, Mike Gooden, Donna Foster, Scott Sonia, Butch Garneau, Jeff Duncan, Marc Brodeur, Jeremy Oleson, Tadd Bailey, Dan Walker, Bill Smalley, Lori Hogan

Pledge of Allegiance

Chairman Catalano made a Motion To: Accept the minutes of April 25, 2011. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Selectman Moroney reminded the Board copies of the three bids for an ambulance as discussed at the previous meeting, had been left in their boxes for review and said the Committee was asking to move forward to order an ambulance. Ben Jellison said they were told there would be a decision tonight. Chairman Catalano said he didn’t remember saying there would be a vote at this time, and he said where he stands is until they have a consultant go over the finances and get expert advice on spending, he doesn’t want to spend any money unless it is absolutely mandatory to keep the town running. He said he was hoping to have a quote by now, but will try to have it by the next meeting. Selectman Moroney reminded that the voters voted for purchasing the new ambulance and no money was to come from new taxation and will have no impact on the taxes. Chairman Catalano said he understands this but a freeze was put on any spending not mandatory and reiterated that until they have a better view of town finances and what the effect on the tax rate will be, no money will be spent that does not have to be. He further stated that the Select Board has the authority on what gets spent and when it gets spent. He said he also understands from legal counsel that the Selectmen are the spending agents for the town. Discussion of who has authority/spending jurisdiction over this special revenue account and Ben Jellison stated it is the DRA who should be guiding the Select Board, not town counsel. When asked by Chairman Catalano with whom he had communicated at DRA, Mr. Jellison said it was Jamie Dow and Chairman Catalano said he would contact her.

Mr. Jellison expressed concern if they had to wait another two weeks or so that the quotes will no longer be valid. Chairman Catalano said he believes they will be extended and Mr. Jellison asked if he had spoken with the vendors, which he said he had not. Butch Garneau stated the article was for a new ambulance and cannot be used for anything else. Chairman Catalano agreed that the article was for an ambulance but said it can be spent on other things to do with the Fire Department, such as labor, overtime, equipment, etc. He said there are other possibilities if the money is not spent by the end of the year, but he said he has already made a commitment to Jeff that as soon as the financial review is done, they can move to encumber the money if they get too close to the end of the year, though going that long is not is intention. He reiterated that he feels it is important to see where we stand and where we think we’ll be in the next year or two. He said he believes we are looking at possibly a $6 per thousand or more tax increase. Mr. Garneau said this money is being held up in anticipation of future spending and that it may not even be able to be used. Chairman Catalano said the money may be re-appropriated though it may take a special meeting, but it does not necessarily have to be spent on a new ambulance. Ben Jellison stated that he is willing to override the two hundred-odd voters who voted to pass the article to which Chairman Catalano responded that he is absolutely willing to take a stance and is not going to act until the financial review is done. Mr. Jellison asked for a motion and a vote on the ambulance so they have if officially. He said he would entertain motions. Selectman Moroney made a Motion to: Put the ambulance through and let them purchase it – that’s what the voters voted on. There was no second to the Motion. Chairman Catalano said it is not the blocking the ambulance from being bought, it is money that shouldn’t be spent until we know where we are. Jim Covey applauded Chairman Catalano for his efforts as he said the economy is crashing all around us and people are living in the Twin Mountain bubble not to see it. Further discussion ensued regarding the Room and Meals Tax which revenue was stated to have gone up, but Mr. Covey said it was because the tax was raised by 1%, so it really didn’t go up. He proceeded to explain it is disbursed to towns based on population rather than how much was raised in a particular town. Population was brought up again and though it was believed it had increased, though it may have in the last ten years, it actually went down from last year. Jeremy Oleson pointed out there is a difference between housing units versus numbers of people. Chairman Catalano said he is trying to instill some kind of planning in town besides “checkbook” accounting and there are various things affecting town value with prices going up and house values going down. Mr. Oleson said it’s a dynamic situation and there is more than just a spotlight on some numbers to finding out what is best for the town in general and how it can work. Chairman Catalano said he makes a commitment to all that his interests are not personal or biased and that he wants to do what he thinks he is supposed to do, the two most important things for Selectmen, which are to protect the people of the town and the property of the town. He hopes to have information for the next meeting in two weeks. He said the consultant knows a bit about the town as she has worked for the town in the past. Once that is at hand, then it’ll be up to the townspeople.

Donna Foster said she understands the concern with the taxes and property values, but the reason people voted for the ambulance is money is not coming from the General Fund – it’s coming from a Special Fund and will not affect taxes. She reiterated we cannot use this money to offset taxes without a special vote of the people. She said the majority of the people voted for this and she has had a number of people say to her, why did they vote when the Selectmen are going to ignore it and do what they want anyway. She agreed there may only be 50,000 miles on the ambulance but there are probably 150,000 miles on the engine as they cannot turn it off when they are on calls, which is as important as basic miles. Mr. Garneau said everything he has said about finances, etc., is true, but that is why these funds were started in the first place – to avoid issues like this and not hit people up when they are making a big purchase. He said a lot of people are upset and that’s why people are here talking about it. Chairman Catalano said it could have an effect on taxes because the money could be spent on something else. He went on to say that a number of people voted for it but some didn’t and they have to look as though they are taking into consideration all factors when they move forward and they had to put a freeze on spending because the people in this town need to know they take their spending seriously and find out ways to save money. Selectman Moroney asked if we could cancel the glass crusher, Chairman Catalano said he didn’t know. Mr. Garneau said he seems to think the people there don’t have a concern about how much money is spent or where it is coming from, but he said they all pay taxes also. But when it comes to something like this, they more than gladly pay their taxes and put the money in the fund so it’s available. The Chairman said he didn’t mean to imply the people here don’t care, but there are people in the world who just want to spend it and don’t care where the money comes from – that is someone else’s problem to figure out where it comes from which will end up on someone else’s desk – in this case, the Selectmen’s. He reiterated it’s not just the ambulance it’s any non-mandatory spending anywhere that they can hold off until they have a better assessment of where we are and it is not months and months away. Jeff Duncan said he understands about going above and looking forward and all, but he wanted to know what the benchmark will be – what is that he is looking for in the report – what will tell him that it’s okay to go ahead and spend money that has been allocated or it’s telling us what we already knew and we better not do this. He asked what in the report will be the line that says it’s all right to go back and spend the money. Chairman Catalano said he doesn’t know where the line will be – he said this budget is the highest budget in the history of the town and he believes people don’t realize that. He said he is not going to be the one to make the decision. Mr. Duncan asked what the process will be. The Chairman said it will be that they sit down and look at the information that has been blessed by someone who knows what they’re doing. He wants someone besides himself because if it says that we’ve got real problems then we’ll have to do two things, dramatically curb our spending and dramatically increase our tax rate. If he were asked what he thinks will happen, he think it will be a combination of the two. He wants someone else doing that because he doesn’t want to be accused of “fudging the number” which is what he said he knows will happen as soon as it comes out, because people will say he has a personal agenda. Mr. Duncan said if they get the quote in two weeks and then the report in four weeks, then the three of them will get together and do what? He said he guesses he’s wondering how much they expect to gain from the report – he’s not sure that they’ll see things like tax rates or anything at that point. He thinks it’ll probably be basic information. Chairman Catalano said one thing he’ll be looking for is if spending stays flat what the increase in the tax rate have to be based on all of the other factors that are coming in to them, or if spending came down by 10 or 20 %, what the impact on the tax rate would be. He feels it would be nice to go back to the taxpayers and tell them what the tax rate will be if spending stays the same or what it’ll be if spending goes down. This will be better than last year, sitting in a room deciding what the budget should be this year, the same, 5% more, 10% less. Mr. Duncan asked if this was the municipal portion he’s looking at this from or the county and school as well. He just wanted to clarify that he is not looking to offset all on the town budget. Chairman Catalano said most people understand that we do not have the control over the other aspects as we do over the town portion and he said when this is done, he would like to ask the Board members if they don’t mind if he turns his attention to the school side and see what can be done. He said many have tried and many have failed, but he wants to try. Mrs. Foster said he keeps saying he doesn’t want the Select Board to be responsible completely for deciding what to do with the information and asked if they will set up a committee of representatives from the Board as well as the departments, the businesses, the public to discuss this. Chairman Catalano agreed this would be an option for people to work together to solve some of these problems. Selectman Moroney said this is a function of the CIP which is basically up and running, but Chairman Catalano said while this is for planning and level taxes, he said it was not necessarily a function for spending, etc.

Butch Garneau referred to the tax rate that we don’t have control over all aspects. But he said two years in a row the budgets have been cut so we must be on an even plain or downhill and the Chairman said no that that is the problem. Selectman Moroney said he is adding in the warrant articles that passed but the budget is the operating budget and he is basically saying two different things. If nothing had passed like last year, it would be lower. The budget itself came down and is lower. It is two separate issues, and yes it does impact the tax rate, but it is the way people voted and it’s their choice. Chairman Catalano said it’s the money coming out of people’s pockets and how much is coming from people’s pockets and going into the budget. He said the reason he ran and is there is because in four years his tax rate went up substantially and something’s wrong, he has an issue with that. Mr. Garneau questioned that no one else’s taxes went up and the Chairman said a lot of others did and repeated that something’s wrong. Marc Brodeur said he understands that looking at the future is necessary, etc., but wondered if they realized how much equipment has been bought that has not cost the people anything. He said if they decide to use the money on other things, then they better be planning to put money away to buy equipment as it’s very expensive. He said 50,000 miles is not like the same on their vehicles at home, these are hard miles and with good maintenance have lasted well and cost little but they need to be replaced. Jim Covey stated that he couldn’t see why it is so critical to buy a vehicle now and that they can’t wait for two more months. Mr. Duncan and Mr. Jellison both stated that not only have the Selectmen not said it will be only two more months but they haven’t set a deadline. Ben Jellison read the Warrant Article and said it does not say pending a study or anything else and he also said it was recommended by both the Select Board and the Budget Committee. He asked what has changed since the deliberative session when they were for it. Chairman Catalano said things have happened that indicate there will be major changes, such as cuts in state funding, etc. Mr. Jellison said people voted to do this and they’re blocking it – they’re standing in the way of doing this. He further stated he hopes the warrant articles for the Transfer Station are also on hold. Chairman Catalano said questions hopefully will be answered at the next meeting in two weeks.

The following items were approved and signed:

Property Tax Abatements – Johnson
Property Tax Abatement Denials – Mueller, Mueller
Town Hall Use Permit Application – Chamber of Commerce, Jim Covey (Summer Music Series)
Water Warrant – Pike Industries, Simmons, Stone

The policy for non-public session sealed minutes was tabled at the last meeting to have time to check with town counsel. It was concluded that it is all right as long as they are looked at in non-public session to determine that they may be unsealed. Chairman Catalano said he cannot remember any non-public sessions since he’s been on the Board that should be opened, but putting a policy in place shows that the Board is adhering to the RSA’s. Selectman Dowling made a Motion To: Adopt the policy as written with the addition that the minutes will be looked at only in non-public session. Chairman Catalano seconded. Further discussion ensued and Selectman Moroney said that opinions of what should be released or not can vary and that’s her only concern. With the Motion made and seconded, the Chairman called for a vote and it passed unanimously.

Chairman Catalano said he would forego any further financial update as it was already part of the previous discussion on the ambulance.

Scott Sonia said he had spoken to Jeff Duncan about using the Fire Station for a rabies shots clinic for cats and dogs. Mr. Sonia said Chief Duncan had no problem with it as long as it was all right with the Select Board. After brief discussion, Chairman Catalano made a Motion To: Allow the rabies clinic with the help of Scott and Jeff. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Greg Hogan told the Board it was suggested he get quotes from outside companies for mowing only using their own equipment. He received three and said all were higher than he thought they might be at: $495, $875, and $1,500 per time and each had a monthly fee of $100, $75 and $150 for the embankment by the Town Hall. Mr. Hogan said what he really needs is a person who will also be able to help do other jobs as well as the mowing. He said he was figuring 14 weeks for about $3,600. The person would operate our equipment. Selectman Dowling made a Motion To: Allow Greg to put an ad in the paper for position. Chairman Catalano seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

A water abatement request by Ms. Reels was discussed. Apparently her property on Woodcrest Lane is not used much, but had a very high water usage. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the outside spigot was on and water was pouring out of it. Though they could see that snow and ice had fallen off the roof above it, it is not known what caused the valve to open. Brief discussion followed and it was felt that due to the lack of using the house during the winter, the water should have been turned off. Selectman Dowling made a Motion To: Send the bill and deny the request for an abatement. Chairman Catalano seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Selectman Dowling brought a form that could be used for questions or complaints in the Selectmen’s Office. He thought it would be helpful to have a form and would also offer consistency in the way they are handled and resolved. It was suggested there should be three copies: one for the person with the question/complaint, one for the town and one to give to the department or person to whom it is directed. It was also suggested to put on the form that it may be anonymous and to add a section for the initials of the person receiving it, as well as the date and time of its receipt. Selectman Dowling will bring the revised form to the next meeting.

Under Other

Selectman Moroney said there was a rumor that no one has completed the classes offered to newly elected Selectmen which consist of four Saturdays during the year. She just wanted to verify for all that she HAD completed them and brought her certificate to prove it.

Selectman Moroney also wanted to address a correction with Sergeant Smalley – it was stated at several meetings that the police had not gotten any state bids and she wanted to point out that they had received three bids, ALL of which were state bids and that they had been shown to the Select Board.

The Secretary brought up that invitation cards had been left at the Town Hall for a memorial service for Mr. Carl Carlson on Sunday, May 15, at 1:30 p. m.

Butch Garneau said he had seen stakes and was wondering about the train to be placed by the gazebo. Jim Covey said he and Scott had put in the stakes, but they will be moved slightly to give more of an incline, as with the real Cog Railroad. This will be placed by the Cog and the Chamber and it is a gift to the town, so there is no cost. When asked about the status with the state on the land, Mr. Covey said they are waiting for the updated final position before it is finalized. When asked, Mr. Covey said there will not be a fence around it per the state as well as the Cog Railroad. He reiterated that they will do everything possible to minimize liability. The maintenance will be shared by the Cog and the Chamber. Mr. Covey said they believe the positives about the project will outweigh any negatives and they are hopeful that it will encourage people to stop in town rather than just drive through.

Mr. Covey asked if the Selectmen could ask John D’Urso to either remove or add letters to improve the sign or cover up the letters on the side of his red building on Route 3 South. He said it is not very appealing to see it as it is. The Board asked the Secretary to call Mr. D’Urso.

This brought discussion about the condition of buildings in town – houses that are not complete, etc. It was stated that zoning should handle this type of thing and people shouldn’t have to file complaints.

Jeff Duncan said at the last meeting he had sought direction about what to do with the old forestry truck. He said it might be useable with substantial work. Various ideas were mentioned, but it was decided the best thing was to put an ad in the paper and try to get a bid for it. It was noted the bids should be sealed.

Chief Duncan also reminded the Selectmen of their discussion in non-public session after the previous meeting and that they were to vote on the allocation at this meeting. Chairman Catalano explained they decided on the allocation of the increased funds for the Fire Department approved at Town Meeting. Therefore, Chairman Catalano made a Motion To: Put the funds as follows: $1,000 to Fuel, $5,300 to Comstar billing, and $7,200 to Overtime. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously,.

Lori Hogan asked if the Recreation Committee could have a car wash at the Fire Station on May 30. It was noted that they would be using municipal water but as they are also a town group, this should not be a problem. They were asked to be sure to check with Chief Duncan and with Selectman Moroney to be sure it doesn’t interfere with the Memorial Day Parade. Selectman Dowling made a Motion To: Approve the car wash. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Roberta McGee announced that Oscar Beaulieu would be buried at New Straw Cemetery on Tuesday, May 10, at 2 p.m. She noted that he had grown up here in Twin Mountain.

As there was no further business, the Board was polled and went into non-public session for personnel, legal and town aid matters at 8:50 p.m.

At the close of Non-Public Session, Chairman Catalano 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, Chairman Catalano made a Motion to: adjourn the meeting. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Chairman Catalano declared the meeting ended at 10:02 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, May 23, 2011.

Town of Carroll, New Hampshire ®2024