Selectboard Meeting Minutes

Minutes of 08/24/2021

August 24th, 2021

Select Board Meeting Minutes
Meeting Minutes
August 24, 2021
7:00 PM
“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: Judy Ramsdell
Board Members in Attendance: Chair David Scalley, Ken Mills, and Rob Gauthier
Other in Attendance: Elke Tonnesen, Administrative Assistant; Greg Hogan arrived at 7:07 p.m.
Chairperson Scalley called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Chairperson Scalley confirmed that the manifest was signed.
Selectperson Mills made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 17, 2021 Selectmen’s Meeting. Selectperson Gauthier seconded the motion. All in favor, 3-0. Motion passes.
Selectperson Mills made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 3, 2021 Selectmen’s Meeting. Selectperson Gauthier seconded the motion. All in favor, 3-0. Motion passes.
Water Warrant – Marquis – Chairperson Scalley said that this is for a $2,000 hook-up fee for town water. Selectperson Mills made a motion to approve the Water Warrant for Marquis. Selectperson Gauthier seconded the motion. All in favor, 3-0. Motion passes.
Discussion of Allocation of Fire Station Sale Proceeds – When the funds come in, where do we want to allocate the funds? Ken was here today with Kelly and Maggie from Cohos Advisors, and they quickly walked him through the forms that we have to submit for the tax rate setting process and discussed some thoughts on this discussion tonight. Ken said his understanding is that we will have to put in some allocation, and he is not a fan of putting $0. Ken thought we should be conservative. Dave said that we want to be lower than higher, $100,000 to $150,000. We don’t want to be higher then if we don’t get that higher amount, it will be a problem. We can allocate an amount for it—it is a budgetary accounting item. If it sells for more, it won’t be figured in our allocation of our tax rate. Rob mentioned $150,000. Dave asked if we have any idea what we are into for? Ken said the appraisal came in at $176,500, and $1,500 for the closing. Ken said he thought $190,000, considering the town costs. Ken said we need to clean out the building and decide what items have to stay and where does it go. No one wants to bring any more stuff into our new fire station. Ken said he spoke with Renell, our bond counsel, today regarding the paying down of the debt. Ken said he also spoke with Bambi at Bank of NH, who put our loan together, and she said there is no problem doing that. We can re-amortize, have it mature early, or whatever we want to do. Renell not so quick. She needs more data. She needs to know what we are going to do and then she can tell us. She said if we want to re-amortize it, we need to take a look at the state laws regarding early re-payment. It may not be any big deal. No balloon payments. What are the overall interest payments going to cost? How much are we going to save on that? They are not going to change the rate. Highly recommended town counsel involved with any decision. Dave said that there will be costs to pay down the loan because we are going to re-amortize it and the bank will have to refigure it. Dave said what he remembers from when we put the loan together, if we do choose to pay down the debt they can’t guarantee the rate will be the same we got previously. Ken said that Bambi told him she would not even touch the rate. The two scenarios that were discussed was put it against the loan and the maturity date moves forward or re-amortize it which brings the monthly payment down. It would save more interest on it, if that is what the board decided to do.
There was no talk of more interest or fees. Dave and Rob said there would be some fees. Ken said there will be loan origination fees of some sort. Rob said that they may not be that much. Ken said it was not brought up in the discussion. Rob said we need to determine how many months sooners do we pay the loan off and how much do we save. Dave said that we would have to be careful on origination fees if they charge 1% or ½%, that could be a lot of money on $4 million. Rob said Bambi was pretty clear as far as the bank side, that there would not be fees or costs. She said the rate would stay the same and we would just re-amortize it. Ken will verify this information and ask Bambi to put her response in writing in an email. Dave would like to see what it will save us if we put $100,000 down what would it save us in interest. Renell told Ken today that she needs to know what we are doing. If we put $100,000 down on our loan or $200,000, what are we going to save? Bambi can get us that information.
Where is the board now on a decision of where we are going to put the funds or do we want to wait till we hear back from Bambi. Kelly needs a decision for tomorrow so that is what we need to decide tonight. Kelly needs a number on what we are going to allocate for the sale of the fire station. Ken was thinking $50,000 to $75,000. Rob thought $150,000. He doesn’t want to sell it that low. Dave thought $100,000.
Selectperson Gauthier made a motion to allocate $100,000 for unanticipated revenue regarding the old fire station sale. Selectperson Mills seconded the motion. All in favor, 3-0. Motion passes.
Echo Lake – Dave said he has a letter for the bond that he has discussed with Town Attorney, Bob Carey. The planning board put in front of Echo Lake that they wanted to do a bank security note. This is the letter we came up with to send to the Echo lake attorney: “ Dear Attorney Sullivan – Re: Echo Lake Investments, LLC/Solar Spring Subdivision – At your request, the Town is writing to confirm that a performance bond in the amount of $250,000 is required for the infrastructure improvements at the 10 lot subdivision known as the Echo Lake Investments, LLC/Solar Spring subdivision in Carroll, New Hampshire. The full amount of the bond must be maintained until the improvements are completed and meet inspection. The improvements are listed in the attached table prepared by Horizons Engineering. See Exhibit A. Sincerely, Town of Carroll, Select Board.
We need all three signatures on the letter and initials on page two, which breaks down the estimates Horizons Engineering came up with. Bob Carey worked on this with Dave.
Selectperson Mills made a motion to approve and sign the letter for Echo Lake. Selectperson Gauthier seconded the motion. All in favor, 3-0. Motion passes.
FOLLOW UP
Driveway Permit – Dave will get this to Attorney Carey this week for his review.
Accessing American Rescue Plan Act Funds – Dave said we were accepted and got confirmation in an email. We will get half of it in a couple of weeks. We have the public hearing all set up for September 7th. It has been posted in the newspaper, posted on the website, and posted here at the town hall.
Tax Deed Property – Route 3 North – Dave said he followed up with Attorney Carey in an email on this property. It is going to be a teardown, and Dave said if he remembers correctly the state is going to be 70% and the town 30%. Dave’s question is – will the state be willing to give us 70% of the costs to tear it down? We are not going to be able to sell it as it is. If not, was as a board will have to decide what we want to do with tearing it down. It will have to wait until next year as we are on the default budget. Dave will follow-up with Attorney Carey.
School Withdrawal – Rob said there is nothing new on school withdrawal.
Certified Computers/Upgrade - Waiting until October to see where we are with the budget.
Health Trust Surplus – Waiting for a final number in early October.
September 7th at 7:00 pm is the Public Hearing for the ARPA funds. Dave said that per the RSA, we are having a hearing on accepting the funds and how we going to spend it.
Ken shared the initial list of what the auctioneer needs from us:
--A list of restrictions that the town wants placed on the property.
--Access to the property.
--A list of abutters and other interested parties that have expressed an interest in the property.
--We need to talk about the deposit & number of days to close (St. Jean suggests $10,000/30 or 45 days.
--A copy of the Agreement and Deposit Receipt (Purchase & Sale Agreement) created by the town attorney.
--Once these items are received, we will need to agree on a mutually acceptable auction date and time.
Rob said he will share this list with Meredith when he meets with her on Thursday.
Rob said he wanted to welcome Elke our new administrative assistant, and Dave thanked her for becoming part of the team.
Dave said no one is here from Little River Road or Woodcrest, but he wants to thank our entire team of Twin Mountain, Greg Hogan and his whole crew for working with Central Paving, and to thank Central Paving for all they did. They did a great job on the road. People should be very happy with the progress. Rob said it looks great. Ken said the police posted signs to try to slow the speed downs. They took the initiative, and Ken wants to acknowledge their effort as well.
Next meeting is 8/31 at 7:00 pm
Public Hearing is September 7th at 7:00 p.m.
Selectperson Scalley made a motion to go into non-public session at 7:27 p.m. per RSA 91-A:3, Legal and Personnel. The motion was seconded by Selectperson Gauthier. All in favor, 3-0. Motion passes.
Selectperson Gauthier made a motion to return to public session at 10:06 p.m. and seal the minutes of the non-public session. The motion was seconded by Selectperson Mills. All in favor, 3-0. Motion passes.
Selectperson Gauthier made a motion to authorize Selectperson Scalley to purchase a file cabinet for an amount up to $599, if the one for $499 is unavailable. Selectperson Mills seconded the motion. All in favor, 3-0. Motion passes.
At 10:07 p.m. Selectperson Gauthier made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:07. The motion was seconded by Selectperson Mills. All in favor, 3-0. Motion passes.