Selectboard Minutes
Town of Greenfield
7 Sawmill Road, Greenfield, NH 03047
Selectboard’s Minutes
Thursday, November 2, 2023 – 5:30 PM
Selectboard: Chairman Michael Borden, Selectman Tom Bascom, Selectman Mason Parker
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; Vicki Norris, Trustee of Trust Funds Chair; Adele Hale, Trustee of Trust Funds
Public:
Documents for Review / Approval
- A/P Register dated 11/01/2023 in the amount of $335,012.69
- 2023 2nd half Property Tax Levy
- 2023 DRA Assessment to Sales Ratio – Pink Sheet
- Welfare Voucher (2)
- Selectboard Minutes of 10/26/2023. 10/28/2023 Budget Summit
Other letters/ items for Review/Discussion/Signature:
- Brantwood Camp Letter
5:30 PM: Public Forum
The Chair opened the meeting at 5:30 pm. The Board began signing documents on the Consent Agenda. The Chair welcomed Vicki Norris and Adele Hale, the Trustees of Trust Funds.
The Board discussed the selectboard meeting schedule for November 30th. The ConVal Selectmen’s Advisory Committee is moving its meeting due to the Thanksgiving holiday and will meet on the 30th. As a result this meeting will end at 6:45PM.
The Chair requested a motion to accept the Consent Agenda. On a motion by Selectman Bascom and a second from Selectman Parker, the Board voted 3-0 in favor of the motion.
5:45 PM: Trustees of Trust Funds
At 5:45, the Chair opened a meeting with Vicki Norris and Adele Hale, the Trustees of Trust Funds. The Board and the Trustees discussed communication with respect to the use of Capital Reserve Funds. Trustee Norris indicated that having sufficient notice of the use of funds is helpful given that funds have to be freed up from different investment instruments such as CDs. The Trustees reported that the relationship with Bar Harbor Trust is working well and the town is earning a significant amount of interest on the Trust and Capital accounts. Ms. Norris explained that the Trustees need at least three months advance notice for large purchases. Large purchases are Twenty Five Thousand dollars and up. Very large purchases need more time otherwise the town could incur fees or penalties for withdrawing the funds. The Board outlined that they recently re-adopted the investment policy. The Board and the Trustees agreed that they should sit down and discuss the policy and determine if any edits or changes to the policy are warranted prior to re-adoption next year. Currently the policy is based on the prudent person rule as required by the State of New Hampshire. At the conclusion of the meeting, the two Board agreed to meet again before the end of the year.
6:15 PM: Misiaszek Turpin PLLC, Architects
At 6:15pm, architects Sonya Misiaszek and Jared Guilmett joined the meeting via Zoom. Sheldon Pennoyer, from the Friends of the Greenfield Community Meeting House, also joined by Zoom. A discussion about the Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA) grant application for the Greenfield Community Center took place. The architects, the Selectboard, and Mr. Pennoyer discussed various aspects of the proposed CDFA grant application as it relates to the Community Center’s building deficiencies. The team touched briefly on the entryway, sillwork, foundation waterproofing, tying into the sewer, handicapped bathrooms, ADA accessibility, and stabilizing the building envelope in order to promote the use of the Community Center. There followed a break-down of the potential costs for the project, and a discussion on which costs were vital to the project and should be included in the CDFA grant application. Misiaszek Turpin will provide cost estimates for the Community Center application. The Board discussed using Capital Reserve Funds from the Greenfield Meeting House CRF as a match to the Community Development Finance Authority’s grant funding. The group discussed whether the town should reduce its overall request. Sheldon will be joining a call with CDFA on Friday the 10th and anticipates that CDFA will be able to provide guidance on the best way forward. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Board thanked the Architects and Mr. Pennoyer for joining them in the meeting.
7:15 PM: Selectboard Work Session
The Selectboard engaged in a review of the town’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Selectman Parker explained that he has been involved in the CIP planning for the past six years. There is a great deal of conceptual information to digest with respect to the town’s needs especially when reviewing the needs in light of the amount of funding that the town (or past Selectboards) has been willing to put into savings in the past. The Board discussed the savings plan for Police Vehicles, Fire Rescue Apparatus, Buildings and Grounds Maintenance, DPW equipment, and the smaller Capital Reserve Funds (CRF). Selectman Parker explained that when Ken Paulsen was working on the CIP, he had recommended significant increases in the savings rate, which never materialized. That was pre-COVID guidance. Selectman Parkers stated that today, in the post-COVID economy, the town should be savings significantly more as a result of inflation being so much higher than when Mr. Paulsen was Chair of the CIP program. The Selectboard discussed the current rate of savings. The town is saving $50,000 annually for the DPW Equipment CRF, the Fire Apparatus CRF, and the Meeting House CRF. When Mr. Paulsen was working on the CIP, he had suggested that the town save $70,000 annually for these funds. Mr. Parker indicated that inflation has pushed the projections to over $90,000 a year in order to plan for large equipment expenditures. The Selectboard discussed these conceptual numbers in light of the significantly increased costs for equipment and vehicles. The Board will revisit these figures when they work on the budget.
Adjournment
At 8:23 pm, Selectman Bascom made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by the Chair. The motion carried 3-0.