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Minutes of 7/25/2011

August 2nd, 2011

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
July 25, 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: Roberta McGee, Frank Maturo, Mike Gooden, Carmine Fabrizio, Ann Fabrizio, Kelly Trammell, Rena Vecchio, Bill Vecchio, Jeff Duncan, Jim Covey, Lisa Covey, Tadd Bailey, Jeremy Oleson, Scott Sonia, John Trammell, Ben Jellison, Greg Hogan, Dan Walker, Joan Karpf, Evan Karpf

Pledge of Allegiance

Frank Maturo filmed the meeting.

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

Selectman Dowling made a Motion To: Accept the minutes as written. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Chairman Catalano announced the financial review had been received today but neither he nor the other Selectmen had been able to look at it. Selectman Dowling made a Motion To: defer the financial review to the next meeting so they could all have a chance to read it and Chairman Catalano seconded. The Motion passed unanimously.

The following items were approved and signed:

Certification for State/Federal Forestland Reimbursement – DRA This is a form for the Town
to certify the number of acres in the Town of Carroll for a payment in lieu of taxes.
Water Warrant – Elmer Bragg Family Trust

Chairman Catalano said the Board had received an email from George Brodeur, Sr. several weeks ago and that he had said he would draft a response, which he was unable to bring in for the past couple of meetings. He announced at this meeting that he has decided he will not send an email and if George is interested in his or the Board’s response he may look at the minutes of all the meetings as the subject of the ambulance has been discussed at many of them. He also said he had recently been made aware that even a draft is subject to the public right-to-know law once a quorum has seen it, and he is not comfortable bringing a draft for the Board to look over before it is sent. Ben Jellison asked if this is a new policy that the Board will not respond to written questions and Chairman Catalano said they have already responded to the question probably 15 times since March. Mr. Jellison asked if this had been addressed to the Board or to Chairman Catalano personally and the Chairman responded that it had been to the Board. Rena Vecchio said she felt it was a Board decision whether to write a letter or not and therefore it was a Board decision whether to sign it. She also asked if it is legal for one Selectman to write a letter and send it without the Board agreeing. Chairman Catalano reiterated his discomfort about the draft status once a quorum has seen it. Evan Karpf said he was here when the letter was read and he felt a question had not been asked –that it was only a statement of opinion and therefore, no response was needed.

Chairman Catalano moved to the beautification committee and said there was no progress on this yet. Jim Covey said he had not made any either, only that he noticed more proliferation of signs. He stated that all signs in the State right-of-way are illegal and that he had spoken with someone from the State DOT who told him if they had enough manpower, they would remove all of these signs. Unfortunately, with the budget cuts, they no longer have enough people that they can do this. He went on to say the town ordinance should be enforced as it is strong enough to control the situation. It was asked about getting Stan to do a review of all signage on Route 3 and Route 302. The suggestion was also made to get the police involved if necessary and when Chief Trammell was asked if they could remove any illegal signs, he said they can do anything allowed by RSA. Discussion went to what the next step should or would be if Stan were to find someone in violation. Chairman Catalano said there are provisions in the ordinance but hopefully it will not get to that point. Rena Vecchio asked who is on the beautification committee and Chairman Catalano said only himself at the moment but he was hoping Jim Covey would volunteer since he brought it up. Mrs. Vecchio said she would be happy to help and the Chairman thanked her. He then asked if they could get together after the meeting to speak briefly about it such as ideas about what the committee will do. He said they still need to define what it will be about. Jim Covey said he wanted to thank Greg Hogan and crew and Mike Rouillard who replaced the welcome banners from the intersection that had been blown away and found. Only one has not been recovered, which Mr. Covey said will be replaced, and also said it was much easier to replace one than seven!

Next was the train to be put at the intersection. Jim Covey said he and Charlie Kenison, from the Cog, had placed stakes to show where it would be located. However, Scott Sonia said a rep from Granite State Rural Water Systems was very concerned about the possibility of a major water leak from a ruptured water line that could undermine the train, and wanted to know who would be liable. Chairman Catalano said there are other things that could happen also and went on to say he would like to talk with the company. The question of State approval came up and Mr. Covey they will not approve it until a location is decided and a detailed schematic is given to them. Discussion ensued as to location in the general vicinity of the Information Booth, and it was noted the owner wants it to be seen from the intersection. When the Chairman asked if there was any reason they can’t draw a schematic with measurements, Mr. Covey said yes, as they still have to decide where it will be. It was decided the time has come for this to happen or give it up, as it’s been going on for two and a half years. The Chairman said to get Scott, Charlie, Wayne Presby and whomever else together and lay it out so it can go forward. Scott said it’s not that they have any opinion either way, it’s because there are so many water lines under there and some are still active while others are not. The question of maps for the water lines came up and Scott said he has a very old one which he is working on updating. Chairman Catalano asked if Scott was prepared to say there was nowhere on the hill that he was comfortable with, Scott said that wasn’t the case that actually lower would be all right. Chairman Catalano said he will call Wayne and get the three of them to go out. Bill Vecchio said he didn’t want to muddy the waters further, but said the further up the hill they go, there are power lines, and was wondering if they needed an easement. Mr. Covey said he didn’t think it would be an issue where they were planning to go. Whose liability would it be was brought up and it was reiterated from an earlier meeting and that it would be the Town’s. It had been looked before, and it will be the same as playground equipment.

Bill Vecchio then spoke about an energy efficiency opportunity. He said he had been contacted by someone regarding the Office of Energy and Planning, which will provide audits for three buildings. Mr. Vecchio referenced the North Country Council energy audit brought up at the previous meeting to be sure this would not be duplicating anything, which he was told it would not, and could possibly be done in conjunction with it. He went on to speak of the information that will be provided including that of what kinds of savings there will be over the years. There is also an energy saving program with PSNH “Program SMARTSTART” which provides that PSNH will pay any installation which is repaid through billed savings – and though we will be paying a percentage of the savings we will realize, we will still see actual savings in our billing as well as energy savings. A PSNH rep will meet him here to talk and see if we can continue with the program. Mr. Vecchio said the town needs a point person for this and volunteered to be that person. He also said there is a simple form that must be in by Friday and asked for buildings of which to have the energy audit completed. It was stated since the Town Hall was proposed for the one sponsored by NCC, the Pump House, Highway Garage and Fire Department would be the ones. Selectman Dowling made a Motion To: Appoint Bill Vecchio as point person for this project. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. It was briefly discussed about who did the audits for NCC and OEP. Mr. Vecchio reiterated if we are accepted, there will not be any money up front. Mr. Vecchio asked that a letter written that the Board had appointed him and it will be done in the next day or so. The Board thanked Mr. Vecchio.

Jeff Duncan, Fire Chief, said he had asked to be put on the agenda regarding the employee manual. He said he understands there will be no discussion, but requested that he be allowed to read his comments and that they be put into the minutes. (Copy attached) Chief Duncan also asked if the Budget Committee had been given a copy of the Draft and it was determined they had not.

John Trammell, Police Chief, had also requested to be on the agenda and said as a bit of history, that whenever someone comes into the Police Department, their name gets recorded in the daily log. To that end, when the current manual was being worked on, Bill Dowling’s name is listed for a period of six months for working on it and he knows it inside and out. Chief Trammell went on to say that there has been no discussion nor have the employees had any word in the revision of the manual, and that it states they will. Selectman Dowling said that was why the department heads had been asked to put their concerns on paper. Chairman Catalano said he was confused by the editorializing going on and that never had it been said there won’t be a meeting or discussion with employees. Chief Duncan said he had asked that a meeting be set up and was told it wouldn’t be. He said he has questions that need explanation and he wanted interaction rather than submitting them on paper. Chairman Catalano said reference had been made to illegal things but he didn’t know how that could be as it was the LGC template that had been used and he believed anything in that would be legal.

Chairman Catalano said he wanted to respond to the illegal reference and conflict of interest regarding Selectman Dowling doing the revision. He said the question had been asked of Attorney Waugh, Town Counsel, and he said it is not illegal and there is no conflict of interest. Chairman Catalano said he’d be happy to give anyone a copy of the emails if they want them. Chief Duncan said he did not say there was a conflict of interest, he said it appears to be one and believes most if not all in this room would agree, and went on to say the new manual has an article that says in part “the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

Chairman Catalano questioned Chief Trammell about attacking the Board for trying to ramrod this manual through. He said that the Board will have a meeting with all the employees, but repeated they wanted their questions first so they would be able to answer them when they do meet. Chief Trammell spoke about writing a new one versus revising the current one. He also said Bernie Waugh had approved it if it was made to apply to all employees, despite that the purpose was for the Police Department only, which he had been asked to do at the time. Rena Vecchio said she had questions, but not being a department head wasn’t sure how to go about it. The Chairman stated they should be put on paper and turned in – he commented at this point they had not received any lists or concerns from anyone. Mrs. Vecchio said though she has questions, she would also like a copy of Bernie Waugh’s emails to which the Chairman responded she could have them. It was noted the Board should probably make a motion to that effect and also to waive attorney-client privilege on this set of emails. Chairman Catalano made a Motion To: provide the email requests and responses and make them available to the public. Selectman Dowling seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Mrs. Vecchio asked when concerns should be in and if they should be signed; the Chairman said they did not have to be signed.

Under Other:

A Current Use document for Schaier property was signed at a previous meeting but one page was missed and this was presented for signatures.

A copy of the new Request for Action Form was shown to the Board. This is similar to that which we previously used, but this is in triplicate, whereas the former one was photocopied upon completion. The Chairman pointed out the form is for all departments in town, whether a question about a building project or a complaint about a pothole in the road, etc.

Selectman Moroney said Kelly Trammell had sent an email several weeks about a meeting she had set up with bank and BMSI representatives about using credit cards for payments in the Town Clerk/Tax Collector’s Office. She said she responded she was unable to attend, but asked if either of her two colleagues would be able to, which she thought would be a good idea since they had requested it. Chairman Catalano asked when the meeting is and was told it is tomorrow. Both Chairman Catalano and Selectman Dowling said they would attend, but the Secretary said she didn’t think they could both attend as there wasn’t time to post that two Selectmen would be in attendance. They agreed that Selectman Dowling would attend

Selectman Dowling said he had recently seen the new cruiser up close and saw that there were ashes near the window. He stated that according to RSA there is no indoor smoking in any public building and which applies to municipal vehicles also. He asked Chief Trammell if there are smokers on the Police Force and what he planned to do about it. Chief Trammell responded they have two smokers and they already have a policy that if they are caught there will be a suspension. He said if someone sees them, let him know and they’ll be suspended.

Evan Karpf said people were probably aware the town pool is currently closed and explained it is because when the water was tested, the bacteria levels for E Coli were higher than acceptable. He said the pool has been drained and will be filled and retested. As soon as testing comes back that it is okay, it will be reopened. He also said he had received a posting from the Red Cross about ways to cope with the heat if people are interested.

Joan Karpf asked if town money was used on the Town Newsletter. Selectman Moroney said some is along with money that people pay to have their business cards put in. Evan Karpf said he felt the content was questionable as well as not beneficial. He asked if the other Board members reviewed it before it was put out and said if not, he would request the Board approve it prior to printing. Selectman Moroney explained a town newsletter had been done by various people years ago but had ceased before she came on the Board. When she came on over five years ago, she was asked to take it on, so she did and has done it ever since. Mrs. Vecchio said if they are going to make that policy then they should require all the Board do the newsletter, not just one – make it a Selectman’s letter and all work on it. Discussion ensued about writing the newsletter or designating someone to continue it. The suggestion was also made to just change the name of it if they don’t want it to be construed as a “Town” newsletter. Discussion eventually turned to having it checked by legal and Chairman Catalano thought he might get Town Counsel Waugh to check it without charge. As this was deemed unlikely, it was decided to send it to LGC and finally, Chairman Catalano said he would come to the office in the morning between 10 and 11 a.m. and he and the Secretary would call LGC.

Selectman Dowling said he had been in contact with Bernie Waugh’s office about the records removed from the Town Clerk’s office and said they are waiting to hear from us. Selectman Dowling made a Motion To: Email Bernie’s office to go forward with getting the documents back. Chairman Catalano seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. They asked the Secretary to send the email.

Fire Chief Duncan said he wasn’t sure of the timeframe, but we’d received a bid on their pick-up truck. He has called the bidder at least four times, and keeps being told he’ll be up but nothing has happened yet. Chief Duncan asked if the Board could call and get a definite answer one way or another. He said he does have another person interested. Chairman Catalano said yes, they could do this.

Ben Jellison said at the meeting on May 9, 2011, there was a discussion about the new ambulance and that Chairman Catalano said again about no spending unless it was mandatory to keep the town running. He also said the Chairman said he wanted to wait to see what the consultant had to say before releasing the funds. Mr. Jellison asked why he would be calling other ambulance services at this time, when it has nothing to do with the spending of the money. The Chairman asked if it stated this was recent as it was actually a while ago and Mr. Jellison said he just asked why the statement was being made now. Chairman Catalano said the opportunity presented because an ambulance crew stopped at his store, so he asked them questions. He said at the previous meeting Selectman Moroney went over the warrant articles to suggest he was trying to stop the purchase of the ambulance and went on to say that people are whining and crying and are not happy because they don’t get the answer they want. He stated he is doing research so he’s not sitting here with opinions but facts. Mr. Jellison said Chairman Catalano is big on perception and the perception in town right now is that he is trying to stop the ambulance. Chairman Catalano said Mr. Jellison as well as anyone else can talk to him anytime, anywhere if they wish, he’d be happy to answer their questions. Mr. Jellison stated he talks with him in meetings because it’s the appropriate place and because he doesn’t trust him. The issue is that taxpayers voted on two articles that he has chosen not to pursue. Kelly Trammell said she is not whining and crying, she is more disappointed that her vote didn’t count. She said she believes they are taking away people’s right to be heard. Chairman Catalano said people need to realize that in the end, the purchase is to be done by the Select Board unless the warrant article is written in such a way as to get around the Board acting as agents. When it was stated that a vote is only a suggestion, Chairman Catalano agreed that is correct. It was noted that big changes were made based merely on the budget committee survey. The Chairman said all decisions made are to try to have no tax impact on the town and this fund could be used for things besides equipment. He does not necessarily want to spend the money if it could be used on other things within the Fire Department that could be used to reduce the budget. He is looking for the best way to go forward and he said he will not vote to spend the money on an ambulance if the facts are what he thinks they will be.

Joan Karpf said this is not the first time a warrant article passed and the money was not spent. Ben Jellison asked for information about it and Mrs. Karpf responded that it was about the excavation project when the Select Board overrode the town ordinance. Mr. Jellison asked about what warrant article that was and Mrs. Karpf said she would get it.

Rena Vecchio said she felt threatened at the deliberative session when money was put back into the budget for police and fire and Chairman Catalano said “you employees better think long and hard before voting for it.” Chairman Catalano said he didn’t mean it like that, his point was that the message would not be a good one after the Select Board and Budget Committee worked hard on the budget, as it would look like the employees are running things. It was stated in 2010 the town portion of taxes was $1.98 and asked how low will be low enough. The Chairman responded that after the review we’ll see how things turn out, but one thing is clear, spending has to be reduced.

Chief Duncan thanked the Board for letting the discussions take place. Mr. Duncan went on to say he had a comment not as a Fire Department member, but as a voting person, that if the voters vote down an article, it is illegal to move forward with it. The prevailing feeling is how they can override the vote when voters approved an article. Chairman Catalano assured him the Board has the legal right to do this. It was reiterated different agents could be designated when writing a warrant article and thus vote to circumvent the Select Board.

As there was no further business, the Board was polled and went into non-public session for town aid and personnel matters at 9:10 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 Dowling seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

There being no further discussion, Chairman Catalano made a Motion to: adjourn the meeting. Selectman Dowling seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Chairman Catalano declared the meeting ended at 10:01 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, August 8, 2011.

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