Selectboard Minutes
Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Minutes
Tuesday, May 9, 2017 – 5:30 PM
Selectboard: Chair Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectman Stephen Atherton Jr., Selectman Robert Marshall
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; Katherine Heck Treasurer
Public:
Documents for Review/Approval
- A/P Check Register “ACH” 4/18/2017
- A/P Check Register 4/26/2017
- Employee Vacation Request
- Minutes of Selectboard Meeting
- Oak Park Rental
- Welfare Voucher
5:30 PM: Public Forum
At 5:30 pm Chairwoman Charig Bliss opened the meeting. It was noted that Peter Leishman and a representative from the NH Department of Transportation, Railroad Division had been unable to make the meeting.
The Chair motioned to accept the Consent Agenda. Selectman Marshall seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously 3-0.
5:45 PM: Katherine Heck, Treasurer
At 5:45 pm, Katherine Heck was welcomed by the Board. Originally Mrs. Heck was to provide a brief discussion to update the Board on her conversations with local banks. With the cancellation of the railroad discussion with Peter Leishman, the Chair explained that the meeting could be longer if Mrs. Heck needed time to make a complete presentation.
A discussion followed of Mrs. Heck’s experience and discussion with the current and prospective banking partners. Mrs. Heck expresses some frustration that more material and information wasn’t provided in the time since the last meeting with the Selectboard. A discussion followed in which Mrs. Heck outlined the service offerings from People’s United Bank, Lake Sunapee Bank, and TD Bank. These three banks are local within the region and provide the best opportunity for Greenfield to meet the requirements of the RSAs with regard to its fiduciary and banking responsibilities. These include depositing sums received of $1,500 or more, within a 48 hour period if a community does not a have local bank within its footprint (for those towns with a bank in its footprint, the requirement is daily deposits when receipts reach $1,500). At the end of the discussion it was noted that People’s United had not provided the additional information requested at a face to face meeting held at the bank’s location in Concord, Lake Sunapee is currently in a merger with a much larger bank, and TD Bank provided all of the information about their offering and seemed to have the best customer service component with dedicated government banking specialists (People’s and Lake Sunapee both share government banking as part of their respective commercial lending practices). At the end of the discussion, Selectman Marshall stated that “it sounds like TD Bank has demonstrated a level of competency, competitiveness, and interest in the town’s business”… that the others could not, or were unable to provide. A discussion followed about some of the technical background to the banking relationship, including the best time of year to make a change to a new bank. At the conclusion of the discussion the Selectboard members were satisfied that a move to TD Bank during the month of August would be a prudent change. The factors include the dedicated account team for government banking, the increase in interest paid on the accounts, the quarterly balance requirement vs. the current monthly balance requirement, the collateralization component, and the bond rating of TD bank versus the other banks.
At the conclusion of the discussion Selectman Marshall moved that Greenfield change banks from People’s United Bank to TD Bank, based on the conversations and experience to date, and, with scheduling to be arranged by Treasurer Heck according to the most advantageous time for the town, which is likely to be the middle or toward the end of August 2017. The motion was seconded by the Chair. On a vote of 3-0 the motion passed unanimously.
6:35 PM: Selectboard Work Session
At 6:35 the Chair moved to enter into a Work Session. The Board discussed a number of old business items.
The Selectboard held a discussion regarding the covered trailer at DPW and the Utility truck at the Fire Station. The question of whether to keep the truck and trailer and put them at the disposal of the DPW and Fire Department (swapping the trailer from DPW to the Fire Department and the utility truck from the Fire Department to DPW) was held. Rather than increase the fleet of both departments, and therefore the maintenance and repair, and, the long term replacement costs for both assets, at the end of the discussion the Board stated it was of a consensus to sell both the trailer and truck as part of an asset sale.
There followed a discussion about a recent invitation from Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center (CMRC) from the executive board to the Selectboard offering a tour of the hospital. A comparison of summer schedules followed. It was noted that at any time a quorum of the Board were to meet, the meeting must be posted and the public provided the ability to attend. With the warm weather underway, however, the Selectboard discovered that their schedules did not allow for a tour on an alternate day of the week. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Chair requested that an offer be provided to CMRC to see whether their executive staff could come in to a Selectboard meeting on a regularly scheduled meeting night.
Selectman Marshall reported that he had looked through the past Planning Board files regarding Lee LeBlanc’s request for help with the Southern New Hampshire Services admission policies. He noted that there was no reference in the two paragraphs found in old minutes, when the senior housing facility was discussed with the Planning Board, regarding the provision of a preference to Greenfield residents. A discussion followed and it was determined that there may not be a concrete record of the discussion on file at the town.
There followed a brief discussion regarding Adele Hale’s interest in forming a Farmer’s Market in Greenfield. A number of emails from the Greenfield Community Gardeners had been shared with the Selectboard. The email correspondence from the gardeners appeared uniform that the Greenfield Community Garden site was not the best place for a Farmer’s Market.
A brief discussion followed regarding the renaming of certain roads where the roads were no longer passable end-to-end. It was noted that before a public hearing was held and the residents invited, the Board should determine that the risk is low that the road(s) will be opened back up as a through-lane(s) in the future.
The Board reviewed the request from Janet Renaud to appoint members of the Greenfield Conservation Commission and members from the Greenfield Sportsmen’s Club to a committee overseeing a town forest located within the acreage adjacent to the George Proctor Recreation Area. The vote to establish the committee was held at the 1988 Town Meeting. The Board agreed that prior to appointing the members; the town forest should have a proper name. In discussion following, it was agreed that the committee formed by the 1988 Town Meeting should be called the George Proctor Town Forest Committee, consistent with the language of the warrant article that was amended and then passed, which created the town forest. The Selectboard agreed to make appointments to the George Proctor Town Forest Committee at their next meeting.
Adjournment
The time being 8:15 pm, Selectman Marshall moved to adjourn. The Chair seconded. All were in favor, and the motion carried 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM.
The minutes are final when approved and signed by the Selectboard. A signed copy is on file in the Selectboard’s office.