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Minutes of 2/13/2012 APPROVED

March 7th, 2012

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
February 13, 2012
APPROVED 2/27/2012
"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, Jane Ikasalo, Ike Ikasalo, Ann Fabrizio, Carmine Fabrizio, Mike Gooden, Rick Brown, Scott Sonia, Dan Walker, Tadd Bailey, Michael Rouillard, Chris Pappas, Evan Karpf

Pledge of Allegiance

The meeting was filmed by Jane Ikasalo.

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

Chairman Catalano made a Motion to: Accept the minutes of January 30, 2012, as written.

Selectman Dowling seconded and the Motion passed unanimously.

Det. Rick Brown spoke about the Town Ordinances and the Police Department enforcement ability. They had been done many years ago over a period of time and needed to be updated both in content and regarding amounts of fines. He spoke of the various ones and said the Department had added one regarding ATV’s and open containers as the Town did not previously have these and therefore, there was nothing they could do about them. Det. Brown said he had to cancel attending the meeting several times as he had been awaiting a response from Town Counsel. He went on to say that the Select Board has the authority to enact all ordinances on his list except for number 6 which is a noise ordinance and must have a town vote. He said they kept the fines comparable to the State laws and that basically the only difference with having the Town Ordinance is that if a ticket is written under the State law, the State gets the money from the fine, whereas if a ticket is under a Town Ordinance, the money comes to the Town. Selectman Dowling noted that number 8, which refers to construction noise, etc., also has to go for a town vote as it is a noise ordinance. Det. Brown apologized for his oversight in leaving that one out when he spoke of those over which the Board has authority. There was a brief discussion if these had already been before the Town and it was noted the previous ordinances were deemed illegal and they considered they could not be upheld in court. Detective Brown said basically the only thing changed was the amount for fines. He also reiterated that the Select Board has authority to approve any ordinance that does not have to do with noise. Number 11, regarding proper containment of refuse so wildlife cannot get into it and feeding wildlife was discussed as legal counsel’s opinion was that the Town doesn’t need one because there are Federal and State laws which they have the ability to enact. Det. Brown said the Town can establish more stringent ones, which they want as it is borne from frustration. They’re trying to regulate people, not wildlife and it’s only an attempt to codify and give the ability to enforce. It was noted on ordinances 6 and 8 they have to wait but they can borrow from State statutes for disorderly or reckless conduct if need be on noise issues. Det. Brown went on to say the ordinances mirror those from other towns and there’s never been an issue defending them. It was decided to table the item until the next meeting so the Selectmen have time to review everything. In the meantime, it will also be checked to find out if anything has previously been voted on by Town meeting. Det. Brown apologized for the fact that the document had a previous Selectman’s name on it from when the updating of the ordinances began, and not Selectman Dowling’s. The Board thanked Det. Brown for all of his work.

Selectman Moroney brought up the Water Department debt to the town and said it had been brought up over the years. She said a Selectman in 2005 or 2006 said the Bond should be paid by the Department which they did for two years and because they did not have enough revenue, the General Fund covered their shortages. Karen Carew, the Town auditor at the time, said this was not correct and it went back to the General Fund for payment. When she checked with the Treasurer, the current debt was in the vicinity of $37,000 and Selectman Moroney said she would like to make a motion to forgive this debt. It was stated that Scott Sonia has been working hard on maintenance of the system and they need to start building funds as they will have to work on the infrastructure at some point. She thought it would be good if the Department could start 2012 with a clean slate and not have this debt hanging over them.

Chairman Catalano said he had been to several meetings in the past to go over the water issue and they talked about the two years that Water paid the bond, which was about $45,000 each year, and that this should be paid back from the General Fund. He said perhaps this could be a way or the way to get that in process. Selectman Moroney said she is not sure the General Fund still owes that full amount as other amounts of money have been forgiven and she feels they must be close to the $90,000. Chairman Catalano said the debt amount may complete the repayment. This will be looked at before the next Selectmen’s meeting. Ike Ikasalo asked if the tax rate will be increased if the debt is forgiven and Selectman Moroney said it will not impact the tax rate.

Dan Walker, Emergency Management Director for the Town, said the Hazardous Mitigation Plan needs to be updated and they want to go through June Garneau’s company, Mapping and Planning Solutions. He explained Mrs. Garneau worked for North Country Council five years ago when it was originally written and it was very well done, and she is very familiar with it. He also said the Town was automatically included in the Grant proposal for North Country Council and he had called and had it removed. However, this will be done with a grant, just to another company, and there are letters to be signed saying the work will be done by MAPS rather than NCC. There is also an agreement to be signed. The Selectmen tabled this for the next meeting so they can review the agreement. Selectman Moroney said we were one of the first towns in the State to complete this and it was very interesting along with being very well done. When asked, Mr. Walker said the delay would not pose any problems.

The following items were approved and signed:

Melanson Heath & Company Letter of Engagement for the 2011 audit
Ambulance Agreement with Coos County for the unincorporated places

Other:

The Secretary advised that Scott Sonia had received his Water re-certifications through 2013.

Selectman Dowling said there had been a review of the energy audits done on the Town Hall, Fire Department, Highway Department and Pump House on February 3. He said they were done thoroughly and there were a lot of good things from them. Bill Vecchio, who set up the audits and the review meeting, is looking into grants and funding, etc.

It was noted the ad for the janitor ran on February 8.

Evan Karpf said since the Selectmen are meeting every other week, the Chamber of Commerce has scheduled their “meet the candidates” night for March 5. He said they will also discuss the warrant articles and plan to ask the Select Board and the Budget Committee to be present so they can ask them why they supported or did not support the warrant articles. Chairman Catalano and Selectman Dowling said they would attend. Chairman Catalano reminded him to fill out the Town Hall Use Permit Application.

As there was no further business, the Board was polled and went into non-public session for personnel matters at 8:00 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 9:16 p.m. The next meeting will be on Monday, February 27, 2012.

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