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Selectboard Minutes

Meeting date: 
Thursday, January 5, 2023

Town of Greenfield

7 Sawmill Road, Greenfield, NH 03047

Selectboard’s Minutes

Tuesday, January 05, 2023 – 5:30 PM

Selectboard: Chairman Mason Parker, Selectman Michael Borden, Selectman Bascom

Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator;

Public:

Documents for Discussion/Signature

  1. Payroll Check Register dated 1/06/2023 in the amount of $36,496.09
  2. A/P Check Register dated 1/05/2023 NH Bond Bank Payment
  3. Transmittal Letter – NH PDIP-ARPA to General Fund
  4. Transmittal Letter – General Fund to Oak Park Fund
  5. Transmittal Letter – General Fund to Recreation Revolving Fund
  6. Abatement – R1-22 Tax Collector request
  7. Welfare Voucher
  8. Minutes of 12/29/2022

Other letters/ items for Discussion/Signature:

  1. Constellation NewEnergy – Electricity Supply Contract
  2. Standard Power – Service Reimbursement Agreement
  3. Fire Chief Resignation Letter
  4. Masiello Group Flyer

5:30 PM: Kayla Kokal, Recreation Director

The Chair opened the meeting and took up the Consent Agenda for review. The Selectboard reviewed the Consent Agenda items and signed documents.

At 5:35pm, the Chair recognized Kayla Kokal, Volunteer Recreation Director and thanked her for attending the meeting. The Chair explained that the Selectboard is interested in expanding the recreation department activities in 2023 and have allocated funding in the budget, which will go to Town Meeting. The Selectboard’s vision is to have a Part-Time Recreation Director and the Board is interested to know if Ms. Kokal would be interested in such a position. Ms. Kokal stated that she is interested in the position and has found that the position requires between 5-10 hours a week. A discussion on recreation activities followed. The Board and Ms. Kokal discussed the 2023 Lifeguard program. The cost for certification is now $450 for the lifeguard course and there continues to be a shortage of lifeguards. Selectman Borden outlined his conversations with the new owners of Crotched Mountain School who have said that they are interested in restarting the lifeguard training program at the pool, however this is unlikely in the near term, given that Seven Hills is still in the process of completing the acquisition of the property. Ms. Kokal is also interested in hosting a family and kids dance on Valentine’s day, a collaborative softball program with Francestown, Soccer, another Cardboard Regatta, Blood Drives, and smaller events such as Pop-Up Playdates, Trivia, Cribbage, and Bingo. Some of the programs would be for children and some for adults. The Chair indicated that between January and Town Meeting (March 18), the recreation department will remain volunteer and then depending on the results of Town Meeting, if the funding passes the Selectboard anticipates posting and hiring for a Part-Time Recreation Director.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Board discussed Consent Agenda items.

The Board noted that the electricity contracts with Standard Power and Constellation NewEnergy could be signed by the Town Administrator. On a motion by Selectman Bascom, and a second by Selectman Borden, the Board voted 3-0 in favor of authorizing the Town Administrator to enter into agreement with the Monadnock Consortium and sign the two electric agreements.

The Chair made a motion to accept the items on the Consent Agenda. The motion was seconded by Selectman Borden. The Board voted 3-0 to accept the Consent Agenda items as presented.

6:00 PM: Budget Advisory Committee

At 6:00 pm, the Selectboard welcomed the members of the Budget Advisory Committee (BAC): Janice Pack, Kathleen Seigars, Shannon Billodeau, and Sean Sylvester. The Selectboard and the BAC discussed the annual budget hearing, which they agreed will be scheduled for February 9th at 6pm. After some discussion the group decided that the hearing would be held at the Greenfield Meeting House.

BAC Chair Janice Pack, opened the meeting with questions about two Part-Time positions that appear to be funded in the 2023 budget. The Selectboard explained that they have included funds to hire a PT Recreation Director, and hire a PT administrative person to work in the Town Office to help with recreation scheduling, town office functions, and possibly planning and zoning functions, but primarily to help people who visit the Town Office. The Budget Advisory Committee indicates that they support these positions. BAC Chair Pack stated that the BAC was concerned that the Library should have the same COLA as the employees in town (which is the case), and that aside from DPW, the town departments need to revisit their budgets to control costs. The Board discussed budget issues, including high inflation, and its impact on costs for everything from drainage pipe to cost for services. For example, in the recycling center budget, the town concluded a 5-year contract with Monadnock Disposal Services (MDS). The costs are increasing now that the contract has ended. MDS has raised its rates by 50% and cannot provide more than a one-year service agreement. Another example, is the warrant article for paving, which has increased significantly. Heating oil is also up significantly. Electricity is up 30% and may increase again. All of these costs are outside of the town’s control. The town has responded where it can: it has moved to the State-bid for heating oil and is part of a 30-town consortium for electricity rates. The DPW saved a tremendous amount of money on diesel fuel this past year by taking advantage of the State highway garage across the street. The Town paid $2.20 for diesel fuel through November instead of five and six dollars for diesel during the summer. Unfortunately, the town cannot control or mitigate every cost and the cumulative effect is an overall increase to the budget.

The Board explained that the board members also agree that it’s important to bring the true cost of public service to Town Meeting. This is required in order to inform voters on the actual costs for their services and activities. From more paving to increased recreation activities at the park, townspeople have asked the Board for more traction with projects and services. Past Selectboards have been more focused on the tax-rate, and as a result there is deferred maintenance and savings accounts that have been underfunded. The Chair outlined, that the Capital Improvements Plan has called for increased savings to the Capital Reserve Funds to keep up with inflation for several years. This year the town was not able to purchase a police cruiser with the funds in the CRF account alone, which in the past was the goal of the account. As a result, the Board is advocating for increased Capital Reserve Fund savings, which amounts to $50,000 additional dollars across several CRF funds (the allocations have been spelled out in previous minutes). These increases are necessary if the town expects to purchase replacement vehicles and equipment in the future. Again, these are based on increased costs that are outside of the control of the Selectboard. At the conclusion of the discussion, the BAC made several suggestions to the Board about the presentation of the information at Town Meeting and it was acknowledged that the increases were going to result in a higher tax again this year. The Board and the BAC have no insight at this time what the school district budget will be this year.

7:30 PM: Sheldon Pennoyer, Friends of the Greenfield Community Meeting House

The Chair welcomed Sheldon Pennoyer to the meeting. The Chair opened the conversation by indicating that the Board is very interested in a progress report on the Meeting House restoration project and then will have some questions. Mr. Pennoyer stated that the Friends have met with the architects and started the process of looking at different options at the Meeting House. The meetings are in the initial stages but in a few weeks, the Friends will have enough information to start discussing some recommendations with the Board. One area of interest for the Board was whether the town should move forward with an application to LCHIP. Mr. Pennoyer stated that he has worked on other LCHIP projects and was surprised that LCHIP was not willing to let the committee make alternate arrangements to deal with the stained-glass windows on the second floor. Because of the cost to restore the windows, Mr. Pennoyer isn’t sure if it makes sense to include LCHIP in the project financing. Mr. Pennoyer said that he spoke to historic preservation staff about taking the stained-glass windows out and putting in new windows that would match the ones directly below on the main floor. He envisions putting the stained-glass windows on a track that can be slid in front of more efficient thermal windows, which LCHIP has said would not conform with their standards for historic preservation and would invalidate a grant application. The Selectboard members were each initially interested in this proposal due to the energy efficiency, however LCHIP has been a significant funding resource and why the town paid for the historic inventory study. The Chair suggested that the town’s people should have public input on this kind of decision. He suggested holding a public hearing to get a sense from the property owners on whether to restore the stained glass or to make alternate arrangements. One issue with not following LCHIP guidelines is that the building will not be eligible for future historic preservation grants if the work does not follow the guidelines that the Secretary of the Interior (of the United States) has provided for restoring historic buildings.

Next, the Selectboard and Mr. Pennoyer discussed the possibility of restoring the building in phases rather than bonding for the entire project all at once. With the increase in construction material costs, and the increase costs for labor, the original plan to address the entire project in one phase is looking cost prohibitive. Mr. Pennoyer and the Board discussed a phased approach using cash-on-hand from Capital Reserve Funds and donations received to address the foundation issues and potentially fix the sills behind the concrete handicap stairwell. Mr. Pennoyer agreed that proceeding in this manner may hold some advantages for the town, but the first step is for the architects to complete the construction drawings so that a plan can be developed and then the Board can review the plan and its associated costs. The Board thanked Mr. Pennoyer for the update.

8:00 PM: Selectboard Work Session, Non-Public Session

At 8:05pm, the Chair indicated that the Board should enter into non-public session under RSA 91-A:3 II, c, to discuss a recent letter from an official. The Chair made a motion to enter into non-public session and Selectman Bascom seconded the motion. The Board voted 3-0 in favor of the motion. At 8:05 the Board entered into non-public session.

At 8:45pm, the Board voted on a motion from Selectman Borden and a second from Selectman Bascom to enter into the public session, 3-0 in favor of the motion. While in the public session, the Chair made a motion to seal the minutes according to RSA 91-A:3 III, to preserve the privacy of an individual. The motion was seconded by Selectman Bascom. On a vote of 3-0 the Board voted to seal the minutes.

It was noted for the record that the Board has accepted a resignation from Fire Chief Rick McQuade.

Next, the Selectboard agreed to invite State representatives and senators to the meeting. The first meeting will be arranged with Representative Molly Howard. The Chair will provide meeting times on either the 19th or the 26th and then provide the schedule to the Board.

There being no further business the Board voted to adjourn.

Adjournment

At 8:47 pm, Selectman Borden made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by the Chair. The motion carried 3-0.