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APPROVED Minutes of 10/31/2011

November 8th, 2011

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
October 31, 2011
APPROVED 11/7/2011
"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, Evan Karpf, Joan Karpf, Frank Maturo, Al Strasser, Mike Gooden, Carmine Fabrizio, Ann Fabrizio, Scott Sonia, Butch Garneau, Marc Brodeur, Mike Rouillard, Leo Charrette, Tadd Bailey, Mike Rouillard, Jr., Jeremy Oleson, Dave Scalley, John Trammell, Bill Smalley, Jeff Duncan, Paul Lemieux, Jack Kulas, George Brodeur

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 of October 3, 2011, as written and Selectman Moroney seconded. The Motion was approved. Chairman Catalano abstained as he was not at the meeting.

Chairman Catalano made a Motion to: Accept the minutes of October 17, 2011 as written. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion was approved. Selectman Dowling abstained as he was not in attendance.

Chairman Catalano brought the Minutes of October 24, forth and said he wanted to change three words on the bottom paragraph on page 2 – there are three places where it says “would” and these should be changed to “could.” Mike Rouillard also spoke about the minutes and said they stated Chairman Catalano was discussing separating the Fire Department and the Ambulance service with Jeff Duncan and they had met several times. Mr. Rouillard said they had only met one time and they had not discussed separating the departments. Chairman Catalano said they had met in Chief Duncan’s office and he had spoken about separating the departments and running the Ambulance as a separate department. Mr. Duncan said they did not discuss breaking them up—they talked about using 100% of the special revenue money and offsetting the budget – but that discussion never took place. Chairman Catalano insisted it had and that obviously they had different opinions. He said they still need to meet to continue the discussion. Mr. Rouillard said that going forward he hoped they would meet with the department heads and that they will have input. Chairman Catalano said he can guarantee that department heads have input. Chairman Catalano declared there are no further changes to the minutes and made a Motion to: Accept the minutes of October 24, with the corrections as stated. Selectman Moroney seconded and the Motion passed. Selectman Dowling abstained as he was not in attendance.

The following items were approved and signed:

Certificate of Occupancy – Nelson
Water Warrant – Brown

Greg Hogan spoke of the Salt Shed Bids and Contract. He gave the Select Board a bid just received from Rubb Building Systems in Maine, and had previously given the Board the bid from Iron Horse Structures in North Conway. Mr. Hogan said he was still awaiting one from FarmTek, the company they bought the first one from, but had been given the price when he spoke on the phone with them and it was the highest of the bids as it would be a custom building. It was his opinion the Iron Horse Structures is the best and he explained he and Scott will install it but it will be signed off by an engineer and will be covered should anything happen to it -- unlike the previous one, that collapsed under the heavy snow load. The prices they have are Iron Horse $28,200, delivered but not installed; and, Rubb, $69,714, also delivered but not installed. Discussion took place about the two structures. Selectman Dowling asked if there are any in the area and Mr. Hogan said they are installing one in Penacook which he plans to go and see. Selectman Moroney asked if there were any that had actually gone through the winter and Mr. Hogan said there were many of them. It was agreed that Mr. Hogan will look at the installations and come back in a week or so with his recommendation.

Mr. Hogan told the Select Board he has to increase the phone line on his budget as he needs to have a cell phone. He is finding that he receives many calls from vendors, etc., and has been using his personal phone. He explained it would be about $200 as he will have a Trac phone and buy minutes, which he has found is the least expensive way to go. Selectman Moroney said he should explain this to the Budget Committee when he goes there.

Selectman Moroney said she has heard various comments and is somewhat confused about the Cable TV Committee. She said previously there had been one representative from the Town and people wanted a committee so they set it up. Basically this was set up to get the best cable price for the town and businesses. From what she’s heard, they have gone way beyond the original intent as she said she’s been hearing they want to set up their own television channel and that is not what it was set up for. Chairman Catalano said he is the Selectmen’s rep on the Committee and explained there is one public access channel and all the towns are supposed to be able to use it. They decided to form their own because the apparent support is virtually non-existent. He said the Committee had come back to the Select Board and said they are wasting their time with Channel 2, the consortium and the people. Selectman Moroney said the basis for the Committee was to meet and help people get the best price with Time Warner when the contract expires. Chairman Catalano said he had spent weeks trying to get responses from the people in Littleton and said they had serious problems getting their films on TV. He believes we could do much better going on our own and not with the consortium. They want to negotiate a deal with Time Warner that includes our own point of origin. Selectman Moroney reiterated the Board has had no feedback from the Committee regarding the cost to customers and that was the main reason for getting the group together. Selectman Dowling said the previous rep only wanted to get his own cost down. Chairman Catalano said the Committee brought up that they see no value at all at staying with the consortium. They had weeks of meetings and discussion with Time Warner and Littleton and got nowhere. They’ve had no response from other towns and he said there have been no meetings in the last four years. He said it’s a dysfunctional group and is really only 1 or 2 people in Littleton. He also said he found out that the consortium does not have the legal right to negotiate for the towns. He went on to say they are working up pricing for putting in their own point of origin.

Selectman Dowling said the Cable Committee is down one person and Jane Ikasalo sent in a note to be on it. They said it is a committee of five as Chairman Catalano is a non-voting member. Chairman Catalano said he wanted to table discussion and take it up later.

Jeff Duncan told the Board there was an incident with the ambulance on Saturday night. It went on a call and did not come home. In the words of the people in it, it “kind of blew up.” It is presently at North Country Ford and he had hoped to have information for tonight’s meeting, but is now hoping to have it tomorrow. Chief Duncan said it’s a motor issue and isn’t good. When asked, he said it was the newer ambulance.

Chief Duncan then said there was a question at a previous meeting of how the ambulance got put on the ballot. He was unable to attend that one, but wanted to explain. In 1999 they came up with a replacement schedule that identified when vehicles should be replaced. When the time comes, the officers discuss and vote on it and depending on the vote, it then goes to the full membership. At that point, it comes to the Select Board and the Budget Committee before going to the Town on the ballot. This one was on schedule and the thought was to replace it while it still had value in it and not run into the ground. Chief Duncan wanted to clarify that there is input from everybody and it’s not just his decision. Chairman Catalano said all understood it was from the Ambulance Committee.

Chief Duncan went on to say there may be a difference of opinion as far as the discussion, but he is not against using the money from the special revenue account. However, he is strongly against separating. He said essentially there are two departments he just makes the presentations because he is the one who comes to the meetings. He reemphasized he would never choose to separate, but he would entertain different ways of funding, as they have discussed. Chairman Catalano said in trying to keep with transparency, they can have different opinions. When he spoke of the funds being dedicated to the Ambulance Service, that’s what he meant. They continued discussion about their meeting and trying to get together again, which hadn’t happened but will. Chairman Catalano said we found out the budget can continue to be worked on until the Budget Committee finalizes it, so they still have time. They will continue to try reducing the cost to the taxpayer and make it more cost effective and set a meeting for Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. Al Strasser said there is a lot of omission about costs. He said not all costs for the Police and Fire Departments are there as they are hidden in the general fund. He also said they hire people on grants for six months and then have to pick them up and the Town has to pay them. He made comparisons about other towns and the nearest one being at least $100,000 less. He further stated they think the money is theirs and that it is a misconception that they are making a profit as they are not and we are paying everyone. He went on to say all money should be spent wisely and the fire engine, that we did not need, should be paid off so it won’t be in the budget next year. He said we should bring it back to a volunteer department.

Marc Brodeur said since the special revenue fund was started they have purchased two ambulances and one fire engine among other things. He said if this had not been started, we would be way behind as the Town is not putting away enough money to purchase them. Mr. Brodeur went on to say the special revenue fund has saved the taxpayers a lot of money in not having to borrow money. Chairman Catalano said he never once suggested the money go anywhere that it’s not supposed to go, but said tough decisions have to be made in this economy if we are to keep the same level of service without having funding problems. We have to try to keep it at the lowest possible cost.

Mike Rouillard brought up when they talked about separating the departments and rotating money. Chairman Catalano said this is why the CIP is important as it has a rotation schedule on cycling out pieces of equipment and the Capital Reserve Funds come into action. Mr. Rouillard said he believes a rotation schedule is already in place. But Chairman Catalano said once the CIP is in place, it is his understanding it does not have to go back to the Town, the department head can just purchase the new equipment.

It was asked what towns were compared to as this town is unique with everything we have and the people, etc.--if comparisons are to be made they must go “apples for apples” and the feeling is that is not the case. Chairman Catalano said he doesn’t believe we should be compared to other towns, that we should do what’s best for this town. He said we should look at best practices and maybe draw parallels. Dave Scalley said if we are treating this town as a business, department heads should go to the Board rather than wasting time meeting separately. He doesn’t understand why department heads have to meet individually with Selectmen – there is much better communication as a team to meet together and there is no conflict. Selectman Dowling said what the Chairman is doing is the ground work to get the kinks worked out and save time. He said if they manage now, there is no crying later and stated further that they can’t manage for today as it must be done for tomorrow.

Jeff Duncan said he would like to clarify two points by Al Strasser. One was funding positions by grants and then picking up the employee. Mr. Duncan said that is not true – the Fire Department has never done that and he does not want that impression to be out there. The second is that they feel the ambulance money is theirs. He said no way is that the case, the fund was set up so the town would have to vote on it for spending. Joan Karpf said Selectman Moroney one time had expressed concern about a possible heart attack and the time it took for the ambulance to arrive because of the lack of people. She asked if the police are supplied with an Automated External Defibrillator and if they can use them. Chief Trammell said they do have them and if they are certified they may use them, but not everyone is certified.

Under Other:

The Police cruiser was brought up as it had been tabled the week before because Selectman Dowling was absent. Discussion was held regarding the Crown Victoria that Sgt. Smalley located at the same dealership where they purchased the most recent cruiser. The cost for this is $23,445, or lease to own at $8,462.65 a year for three years or $6,551.19 for four years. With the insurance of $12,175 ($11,175 already received and our deductible of $1,000 forthcoming) and using money from the vehicle repair line, it was felt two years of the lease could be paid up front, leaving only one year to put in the budget. Selectman Dowling made the suggestion that the Selectmen can take the balance from the Capital Reserve Fund and it would be purchased outright. Selectman Moroney agreed with the idea but said she believed a warrant article would have to be run to be voted on by the people. Selectman Dowling said he believes the Board are the spending agents and have the authority to withdraw the money so he will look into that. If that is the case they won’t have to run the warrant article. The question was asked who pays maintenance expenses, etc., if it is a leased vehicle and the response was these are the Town’s responsibilities. Sgt. Smalley was asked if he had a price on the equipment that was destroyed and he said he is waiting for it in writing. So far, the light bar and the laptop appear to be the only things not useable, but all equipment will be covered by insurance. Selectman Moroney made a Motion to: Move forward with the rental, lease or purchase of the Ford Crown Victoria. Selectman Dowling seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Sgt. Smalley asked, for verification, if he can call the car company to order the car and he was told yes, to start the process tomorrow.

Joan Karpf asked the Board about the warrant article she had submitted for the Conservation Commission to retain any unexpended funds in their budget. They said they had and Selectman Dowling recommended they accept it. It was decided they could vote on it now, so Selectman Dowling made a Motion to: Accept it as written for the Warrant. Chairman Catalano seconded and it passed unanimously.

Selectman Dowling had a motion to accept the anonymous donation for the Town of an HP Compaq Tablet PC to be used by the Town’s PEG access channel. Selectman Moroney said she thought we should look into the legality of accepting this since a television channel is not set up yet. After some discussion, it was decided to send it to legal counsel for an opinion. Selectman Dowling was asked the value of it and he said approximately $2,500 but there was no amount on it.

Selectman Dowling also brought up that laws have been updated this year and he said we have the authority to accept those as of January 1, 2011. The particular ones he is concerned with is RSA 31:104, 105 and 106 having to do with liability for Health Officers and Welfare Officers. The Secretary said she believed these had been voted on several years ago and Selectman Dowling said it is because of the update that he suggested the vote. It was decided to send these to Town Counsel so they can be adopted at the next meeting. Jeff Duncan asked if the Town should adopt all of them. Selectman Dowling said the Fire Academy should have those pertaining to his department.

As there was no further business, the Board was polled and went into non-public session for town aid and personnel matters at 8:35 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 Moroney seconded and the Motion passed unanimously. Chairman Catalano declared the meeting ended at 9:34 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, November 7, 2011.

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