Selectboard Meeting Minutes

Town of Greenfield

7 Sawmill Road, Greenfield, NH 03047

Selectboard Minutes

Saturday, November 15, 2025 9:00 AM

Selectboard: Chairman Tom Bascom, Selectman Michael Borden, Selectman George Rainier

Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; Janice Pack, Budget Advisory Committee Chair; Gill Morris, Budget Advisory Member; Susan Stockwell, Budget Advisory Member

Public: Mason Parker

9:00 AM: Selectboard Budget Summit

The Chair opened the meeting at 9:00am and announced to those present that the Selectboard will meet with the Fire Chief, then the DPW Director, the Police Chief, and finally the Recycling Center. The Board will go over the 2026 budget requests for the respective departments and will receive an update on progress for the year-to-date. At the conclusion of each meeting, the Chair will provide for the public to ask questions. Seeing no questions regarding the agenda, the Chair signaled the start of the 2026 Budget Summit.

The Chair welcomed Fire Chief Chaz Babb to the 2026 Budget Summit. Chief Babb provided an overview of Fire Department’s budget, noting this is his first year working with the budget. He outlined his goals for the department, which include maintaining training opportunities, and ensuring that turnout gear and radios are available to new members. Due to the high number of new volunteers, a discussion regarding the turn-out gear was held. Chief Babb has looked at and recommends the use of non-interior turn-out gear for those firefighters that are not interior fire fighters. This will reduce the cost of the line item for turn-out gear.  An extensive discussion on the use of the Fire Department’s Capital Reserve funds was held with particular focus on the Non-Apparatus Capital Reserve Fund. Next, the Budget Advisory Committee questioned the postage line and indicated that it should be increased.  The Board and Chief Babb discussed the training budget line and compared the number of 2025 trainings and reimbursements to the projected 2026 training needs. Chief Babb stated that the department does not expect to have as many reimbursements for medical and fire training certifications because the roster is nearly full and the department does not anticipate the same number of volunteers in 2026 coming on board as they did in 2024 and 2025. Overall, however, the budget is up from $174,561 to $180,911. The Board reviewed the line items and discussed the Gasoline & Diesel line, adding $200; the Heating Fuel-Oil line, reducing $2,500; and the Vehicle Repair/Maintenance line, adding $5000. The total, including the Board’s requested changes, is $184,285. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Chair thanked Chief Babb for his hard work and his vision for the department.

The Chair welcomed Department of Public Works Director, Jim Morris to the 2026 Budget Summit. Director Morris provided an overview of the department’s budget, stating that he has been looking to bring the budget down. The department’s operating budget for 2025 is $688,031 and the request for 2026 is $649,191.  Director Morris stated that the department has been catching up on the significant back-log of road maintenance, ditching, and brush cutting that resulted from years of being understaffed. As a result of being fully staffed in the last year, the department is about 25% through the backlog of ditching and brush cutting town-wide. The equipment rental line is lower as the department anticipates renting an excavator for one month in 2026 rather than for two months as was done in previous years. For 2026, the addition of the grader payment will increase the warrant article at Town Meeting, even though the core budget request is lower. This is due to the equipment leases being added to the core operating budget per the State of New Hampshire Department of Revenue’s requirements for warrant articles.

The Selectboard and Director Morris discussed the gravel road plan and the paved road plan for 2026. A discussion followed on whether a Capital Reserve Fund (CRF) for roads, bridges, and culverts would allow DPW to accumulate funds in order to pave a longer road (such as East Road or Mountain Road) all at once, rather than as multi-year projects, and set aside monies for matching funds for grant opportunities. There are price tiers for larger projects, which could also reduce the cost of materials for larger paving projects. Director Morris stated he could postpone paving for a year in order to facilitate a CRF. The Board will take this up at a later meeting. Mason Parker suggested that the Board include “municipal infrastructure” in the description of purpose for the capital reserve fund so that the fund could cover sidewalks and parking lots. Next the Board discussed contract services and subcontractor services, which were separated in 2024. A discussion on contract services followed. The Selectboard discussed the Groundskeeper’s increase in 2026 from $66,740 to $71,745.50, an increase of 7.5%. The Board is interested in looking at bringing this role in-house because the difference between the cost of an employee versus the seasonal contract for service is negligible and greatly outweighed by the productivity that would come from having a full-time employee. A discussion followed about the materials that the department purchases or contracts to make. Next the Board and Director Morris discussed the delivery date for the 2014 MACK ten-wheeler replacement. The town has contracted for a new International ten-wheel truck, but the truck has not been built or delivered. Director Morris believes it will be ready in early 2026. The Board reviewed the budget line by line and increased the Meeting House Building Maintenance line from $3,500 to $5,000 to cover expenses associated with opening the building to the public once the CCIP grant funded construction is completed. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Board thanked Director Morris for his hard work.

The Chair welcomed Police Chief Frank Shea to the 2026 Budget Summit at 11:20 AM. The Chair invited Chief Shea to provide an overview of the year to date. Chief Shea outlined the need for increased Part-Time (PT) wages and Over-Time (OT) wages in 2026 citing the department’s ability to attract and retain full-time officers and part-time officers. The department is close to being fully staffed, which is not the case in many of the surrounding towns. As a result, the PT and OT wage lines have been increased. An increase in the Prosecutor line is due to the retirement of Chief Giammarino. The department has retained a prosecutor from July through the end of 2025 with the hope of engaging with a regional prosecutor program with several towns (Jaffrey, Dublin, New Ipswich, Hancock, Fitzwilliam). Chief Giammarino used to prosecute cases for the town, but with the increased complexity it has become necessary to transition to a prosecutor with a law degree. The Chair recognized Chief Shea’s hard work in bringing in new employees and retaining current employees in a very challenging hiring environment for law enforcement agencies.

Next the Selectboard and Chief Shea discussed the vehicle replacement schedule. The Dodge Charger with the law enforcement package is no longer being made. The difference in cost for the replacements, which are SUVs, is significant. A conversation about the cost of law enforcement grade SUVs was undertaken. The Capital Reserve savings amount that the town has earmarked in previous years will not cover a new SUV police cruiser. One option is to increase the Capital Reserve Fund (CRF) savings that the town votes on every year. After some deliberation the Board agreed to increase the CRF funding from $15,000 to $35,000 in the Capital Reserve Fund savings for Police Vehicles. Next the Selectboard and Chief Shea discussed the propane line. For 2024, this line was a combination of Heat and Electricity from previous years. As the 2025 year concludes, the amount of funding for propane can be reduced to $600 from $1200. The Board increased the Telephone line to $3,000 from $2,000 citing the amount spent in 2025 to date ($5,363). The Board also increased the Vehicle Repair/Maintenance line from $4000 to $6000. This brings the Chief’s budget, with corrections to the wages line, to $403,266 and with the Board’s requested changes to $403,320. Capital Reserve Funds are updated separately. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Chair thanked Chief Shea for his hard work.

At 12:20 pm, the Chair welcomed CJ Hall, Recycling Center Supervisor to the meeting. The Board reviewed the 2026 budget request from the Recycling Center. The recycling center budget request is $610 higher than the 2025 budget that was approved at Town Meeting. The Selectboard discussed and accepted the changes. A discussion on the Capital Reserve Savings amount ($1,000 annually) was taken up. The cost of the equipment in the building is such that if a baler or the center’s Bobcat were to fail, the Center’s CRF funds would not cover a replacement. As such the Board contemplated and agreed to increase the Recycling Center’s Capital Reserve Fund savings from $1,000 to $5,000. This line is outside of the Center’s operating budget and will appear as part of the Capital Reserve Funds savings warrant article at Town Meeting. At the conclusion of the conversation, the Chair thanked Supervisor Hall for his hard work at the Recycling Center. The conversation with CJ ended at 1:03pm.

The Selectboard held a brief conversation with the Budget Advisory Committee and thanked the members for attending and for working closely with the town’s Department Heads.

At 1:20pm, the Chair closed the Selectboard’s 2025 Budget Summit and thanked members of the public and the Budget Advisory Committee Chair for attending.

Adjournment

At 1:20 pm, the Chair made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by the Selectman Borden. The motion carried 3-0.