Selectboard Meeting Minutes

Minutes of 1/18/2022

January 25th, 2022

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
January 18, 2022

“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 Heather Brown, Secretary
Board Members: David Scalley, Ken Mills, and Robert Gauthier

Members of the Public: Tadd Bailey, Imre Szauter, Greg Hogan, Ben Jellison, Chris Pappas, Josh Robertson, Rebecca Pederson

The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Chairperson Scalley.

Pledge of Allegiance.

APPROVAL of 1/11/2022 SELECT BOARD MINUTES – Selectperson Mills motioned to approve the 1/11/2022 Select Board minutes as written; Selectperson Gauthier seconded. Discussion-none. Gauthier-AYE, Mills-AYE, Scalley-AYE.

APPROVAL of 1/11/2022 PUBLIC BOND HEARING MINUTES – Selectperson Mills motioned to approve the 1/11/2022 public bond hearing minutes as written; Selectperson Gauthier seconded. Discussion-none. Gauthier-AYE, Mills-AYE, Scalley-AYE.

APPROVAL of 1/11/2022 PUBLIC BUDGET HEARING MINUTES – Selectperson Mills motioned to approve the 1/11/2022 public budget hearing minutes as written; Selectperson Gauthier seconded. Discussion-none. Gauthier-AYE, Mills-AYE, Scalley-AYE.

APPROVAL of 1/14/2022 CONTINUED PUBLIC BUDGET HEARING MINUTES – Selectperson Mills motioned to approve the 1/14/2022 continued public budget hearing minutes as written; Selectperson Gauthier seconded. Discussion-none. Gauthier-AYE, Mills-AYE, Scalley-AYE.

APPROVAL of 1/14/2022 SELECT BOARD MINUTES – Selectperson Mills motioned to approve the 1/14/2022 Select Board minutes as written; Selectperson Gauthier seconded. Discussion-none. Gauthier-AYE, Mills-AYE, Scalley-AYE.

APPROVAL & SIGNING OF MANIFESTS – Chairperson Scalley and Selectperson Mils confirmed they had signed. Selectperson Gauthier stated that he would be signing after the meeting.

PT OFFICER PAY RATE INCREASE POLICY – Chairperson Scalley explained that the Board had approved the increase at a previous meeting, and this was a formality to be put in the policy book for future reference. The Board reviewed the policy for part-time officers increasing from $20/hr. to $25/hr. Selectperson Mills motioned to sign the PT officer pay rate increase policy. Selectperson Gauthier seconded. Discussion.

The Board indicated that the names listed on the policy presented were current part-time officers and would like to add “any and all future part-time officers” to the policy to include new hires.
The Board voted on the motion to sign the PT officer pay rate increase policy the the inclusion of “any and all future part-time officers”: Gauthier-AYE, Mills-AYE, Scalley-AYE.

NORTHPOINT ENGINEERING LANDFILL MONITORING AGREEMENT – The Board reviewed the agreement. Selectperson Mills motioned to approve and sign the Northpoint Engineering landfill monitoring agreement; Selectperson Gauthier seconded. Discussion-none.

WATER WARRANT (BAYS) – The Board reviewed the water warrant for Bays. Selectperson Mills motioned to approve and sign the water warrant for Bays; Selectperson Gauthier seconded. Discussion-none. Gauthier-AYE, Mills-AYE, Scalley-AYE.

2022 COOS COUNTY AMBULANCE AGREEMENT – The Board reviewed the agreement, noting there was no change from the previous year. Selectperson Mills motioned to approve and sign the 2022 Coos County ambulance agreement; Selectperson Gauthier seconded. Discussion-none. Gauthier-AYE, Mills-AYE, Scalley-AYE.

2022 COOS COUNTY PUBLIC SAFETY AGREEMENT – The Board reviewed the agreement, noting there was no change from the previous year. Selectperson Mills motioned to approve and sign the 2022 Coos County public safety agreement; Selectperson Gauthier seconded. Discussion-none. Gauthier-AYE, Mills-AYE, Scalley-AYE.

FOLLOW UP:
TAX DEEDED PROPERTIES: 422 ROUTE 3N & 97 LITTLE RIVER RD – Selectperson Mills stated that the signs are up at both properties.

SCHOOL WITHDRAWAL – The Board thanked Ben Jellison for going to the meeting in Concord last week to represent the Town. Ben Jellison updated the Board on the meeting, highlighting that the school presented their case as to why the minority report did not fulfill the obligation that it needed to and after significant discussion the state board upheld their motion from November which was to move forward with the warrant article on the school district ballot to see if the district will allow Carroll to withdraw. Which now means the the five towns in the district are going to vote on it.

Jellison explained the importance of getting the correct information out to inform the public to educate and ease any scare tactics. Jellison further stated that if Carroll were to withdraw, it would a $3M dollar deficit the SAU would have to make up.

Jellison confirmed that the vote would be on the ballot for this March (2022). If it were to pass it would not go into effect until July 2023, noting it would take a whole year of preparation.

Discussion regarding advertising, which was previously discussed and accounted for in the budget, specifically for the school withdrawal. The Board fully agreed to Selectperson Gauthier moving forward with research to educate the public with advertising and get out prior to March.

Jellison suggested that after last weeks meeting, the withdrawal committee should be getting back together to do some work and get information/facts out.

Discussion regarding questionnaire that was previously sent out by the school and noting some of the responses from Carroll residents, indicating the possibility of being misinformed by the way the questions were posed.

Discussion regarding a recent article in the Democrat newspaper and if there was an article in the Caledonian after the meeting on the 13th. Gauthier and Jellison both noted that the reporter for the Caledonian (Hayes) has been fair and open minded with his articles and presents both sides of the case. Gauthier further noted the reporter for the Democrat is also a school board member and finds it hard for them to report both sides fairly.

Jellison suggested discussing it in public at the deliberative session on Tuesday, February 8th, noting the school’s deliberative session is on Monday, February 7th. Jellison further explained that because it is mandated by the state, no one can amend the language of it at deliberative session, but feels it is important that more than a couple people speak to it at deliberative session, as opposed to an article in the newspaper. Jellison is in support of it, but would like to see other people speaking on behalf of it.

Discussion regarding a rough number in the event the withdrawal does go through and based on the SAU’s figures, it would save the town approximately ½ million dollars, which wouldn’t happen until July 2023.

The Board also presented a letter to Jellison thanking him for all his hard work with the withdrawal committee, noting all his time spent.

OTHER:

Selectperson Mills made the Board aware that if there was a meeting on February 1st, he would be late.

Selectperson Mills made the Board aware of the ZBA’s request at their last meeting, noting they wanted to contact Town counsel regarding the use of checklists. Mills expressed that he believes that this has been addressed in the past and they should only be used internally and not part of the application process to the public. Discussion regarding the purpose of having a Selectmen’s Representative on the boards, noting reasons like this and if any legal questions do arise the representative can address it. Mills acknowledged and indicated that he will follow up with the question and go back to the ZBA Chair with the answer, as the Selectmen’s Representative for to the ZBA.

Selectperson Mills asked about the unanticipated revenue from the sale of the old fire station, noting that it would be brought up at deliberative session, in regards to how it would be used and would like to just bring it up.

Greg Hogan explained that in past, the Town used to TAC-2 for radios/communications, however over the past couple years the Town has not been using them. Hogan is requesting to go back to using them, because they are local, knowledgeable, their prices are fair, and he has had not problems with them. Hogan also indicated that he had spoken with Chief Bailey, who also feels the same way. The Board indicated that they would get back to Hogan.

Chris Pappas asked how the default budget is calculated. The secretary briefly explained that it’s based on the prior year’s budget plus/minus any required appropriations.

Imre Szauter presented his street lighting analysis, noting that it was for the past 6 years. He also wanted to note that the streetlights are on tariffed program and not metered. Discussion regarding the lights in town, noting the bulbs, some out of service, some lights added and/or removed and the current savings.

The next Select Board meeting will be Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 starting at 5:00 p.m.

At 5:38 p.m., Chairperson Scalley made a motion to go into non-public session per RSA 91-A:3 II
legal and personnel. The motion was seconded by Selectperson Mills and polled; Mills-AYE,
Gauthier-AYE, Scalley-AYE.

At 6:19 p.m. Chairperson Scalley made a motion to return to public session and seal the minutes.
Selectperson Mills seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

The Board asked the Town Clerk (Pederson) about working on Friday’s when the Deputy Clerk is on vacation or out. Pederson assured the Board that she would work on Friday’s if she knew in advance.

The Board asked the Town Clerk to provide the amount of back taxes to the properties up for auction, including the cost of the maintaining the houses. Pederson indicated she would work on that and get the information from Greg and Scott in regards to the maintenance. The Board reiterated that they needed the process, tax, time and interest included.

At 6:29 p.m., Chairperson Scalley made a motion to go into non-public session per RSA 91-A:3 II
legal and personnel. The motion was seconded by Selectperson Mills and polled; Mills-AYE,
Gauthier-AYE, Scalley-AYE.

At 7:38 p.m. Chairperson Scalley made a motion to return to public session and seal the minutes.
Selectperson Mills seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Chairperson Scalley made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Selectperson Gauthier seconded. Mills-AYE, Gauthier-AYE, Scalley-AYE; and the motion passed unanimously. Chairperson Scalley declared the meeting ended at 7:38 p.m.