Selectboard Minutes
Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Minutes
Tuesday, August 22, 2017 – 5:30 PM
Selectboard: Chair Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectman Robert Marshall
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; Todd Mason, Interim DPW Manager; David Martin, EMD; David Hall, Fire Chief
Public: Ray Cilley, Paul Renaud
Documents for Review/Approval
- A/P Check Register (4)
- Payroll
- Employee Vacation Request
- Timber Tax Levy
- New Hire Worksheet - DPW
- Minutes of Selectboard Meeting
- Meeting House Rental
- Oak Park Rental
- Welfare (2)
5:30 PM: Public Forum
At 5:36 pm Chairwoman Charig Bliss opened the meeting. Ray Cilley and Paul Renaud joined the Board during the public forum. Mr. Cilley said that he has come before the Selectboard to encourage the Town to consider purchasing/obtaining the old gas station lot in the center of town, which is part of the Rymes property that includes the rental house. Mr. Cilley discussed some of the ways in which the Selectboard and the Legislative Body at Town Meeting could arrange for the town to take ownership of the property. Mr. Renaud, as a member of the Economic Development Committee had some thoughts about the current property and how the town’s current zoning ordinance may affect the property owner if they wanted to subdivide the gas station lot away from the rental property (house). Mr. Cilley suggested that the Board consider appointing a committee to review the options and the zoning in order to make suggestions to the Selectboard about how to move forward.
The Selectboard began working through the Consent Agenda. The Chair motioned to accept the Consent Agenda. Selectman Marshall seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously 2-0.
5:45 PM: David Martin, Emergency Management Director
At 6:00pm the Chair recognized David Martin. Mr. Martin provided a short agenda of three items. The first item was to request that the Selectboard appoint Karen Day and Diane Boilard as Deputy Emergency Management Directors. A discussion followed. At the end of the discussion Selectman Marshall moved that the Selectboard appoint Ms. Day and Ms. Boilard as Deputy Emergency Management Directors for the purpose of providing support to the Emergency Management Department and Director Martin. The Chair seconded the motion and the vote was 2-0 in favor of the motion.
Next Mr. Martin outlined his interest in the State’s Emergency Notification System (ENS). There followed a discussion with the Board in which Mr. Martin explained that while the town continues to look at private companies similar to Code Red, the Statewide ENS system would allow the town to access some emergency notification functionality.
Mr. Martin then requested that the Selectboard provide approval for the Red Cross to evaluate the town’s primary shelter. This would provide the benefit of having the Red Cross understand the town’s capacity and needs should a shelter need to be activated by the Red Cross. After discussion the Chair made a motion to allow the Red Cross to evaluate the town’s primary shelter, the Town Office Building. Selectman Marshall seconded the motion. The vote was held and passed 2-0 in favor of the request.
6:00 PM: Todd Mason, Interim DPW Roads Manager
At 6:25 pm, Todd Mason, Interim DPW Roads Manager came before the Selectboard. Mr. Mason expressed his thanks for the Selectboard naming him as interim manager. Mr. Mason explained that he has a series of updates to the Board based on the first weeks as the Interim DPW Manager. The Chair, noting the time explained that the public hearing to accept grant funds from the State was at 6:30pm and Mr. Mason agreed to wait.
6:30 PM: Public Hearing to Accept DOT Block Grant Funds SB38
At 6:30 pm the Selectboard Chair noted that a public hearing to accept DOT grant funds had been published in the Ledger Transcript and posted at the Town Office and at the Post Office as required by RSA. The Selectboard Chair opened the public hearing. The Chair read a motion to accept SB 38 Department of Transportation (DOT) Highway Block Grant money from the State of New Hampshire pursuant to the provisions of RSA 31:95-b, as authorized by a vote on Article 5 of the 1994 Town Meeting; to accept $65,489.72 as an additional apportionment from the NH Department of Transportation to be used in the same manner as outlined by the DOT Highway Block Grant guidelines. Selectman Marshall seconded the motion. Chair Charig Bliss asked if anyone present wanted to speak during the public hearing regarding these funds. There being no questions or comments from the public, the Chair called the vote, which passed 2-0. The Selectboard closed the public hearing.
6:40 PM: Todd Mason, Interim DPW Roads Manager (contd.)
Mr. Mason outlined the Slip Road paving project to the Board. He noted that the previous Road Agent (DPW Manager) had the paving starting about 100’ from the intersection of Slip and Forest Road to a point past the railroad tracks. He noted that Peter Leishman had called him to say that the tracks would not be replaced during the paving project. When paving starts on Slip Road, Mr. Mason would like them to use any excess paving material to pave the end of New Boston Extension (the apron area). The Board heard the reasons and was agreeable. Any additional cost beyond that of the cost for Slip Road will come from the Road Maintenance line in the DPW budget.
Next Mr. Mason outlined that beaver activity at several locations in town was high this year. DPW has made several trips to a very large beaver dam on Zephyr Lake to take down portions of the dam but the beavers quickly build it back. The consensus after speaking to the State conservation officer was that DPW would need to hire outside help to deal with beavers in this particular area. The beaver activity at the Dunklee Hill Road culvert was creating a lot of issues for the road. DPW installed a beaver pipe in the culvert and that has been letting the water flow through.
6:45 PM: Fire Chief David Hall
At 7:17pm Chief Hall came before the Board to discuss a donation by Peterborough Collision in the amount of $6,828.00 in labor as part of a reconditioning of a 1967 International Brush Truck fire engine. The proprietor of Peterborough Collision provided the donation due to his interest and enthusiasm in the truck. Chief Hall stated that the Fire Department is extremely grateful for the donation, which is the second significant donation that Steve Bourgeois has provided to the Fire Department when working on the town’s vehicles. Chief Hall said that the truck has 15,263 miles and will last a very long time. The town paid a total of $4,000 in parts and labor after receiving the truck in a swap with the town of New Boston. The Fire Department Association donated a $1,000 to the cost of the repairs and painting, and another $800 was donated for the lettering. Chief Hall explained that the cost of the vehicle to the town was the one payment out of capital reserve funds of the $4000. Chief Hall also discussed the 2015 Fire Department planning document that he presented to the Board two years ago, which outlined the need for a brush truck and documented the issues with the tanker, which was the vehicle that was swapped for the International brush truck after the tank ruptured coming back from a mutual aid call. Chief Hall stated that when the informational meeting took place it was clear that many townspeople did not want to pay $14-20,000 that he had originally thought of spending for a newer truck that could be converted to a brush truck. Overall the fire department is pleased at how this truck came about and anticipates sending the old surplus brush truck back to the State.
Next Chief Hall reported that the Fire Department and the Fire Fighter’s Association put in a bid together to purchase a tanker truck from the town of Hillsborough. The department was able to bid the minimum reserve of $5,000 through the combined efforts of both organizations. The bid was due on Monday, August 21st, the day before the Selectboard’s meeting. Hillsborough awarded the bid to a town in Maine that night and Greenfield was not the winning bidder. There followed a discussion on the need to replace the tanker. The tanker outlined in the most recent Capital Improvement Plan as up for replacement in 2018. The Board discussed the use of funds required to bid on equipment. Selectman Marshall expressed some discomfort with replacing significant front-line equipment for such a small bid. He stated that he would like to know what it would cost to replace the tanker with a newer piece of equipment that will last for a defined period of time. Selectman Marshall asked the Chief to look into newer vehicles and establish the cost for a newer used tanker. Selectman Marshall discussed the pros and cons of buying on the used market, especially newer used equipment, which notably requires that the Selectboard have enough time to vote to use capital reserve funds. The Chief agreed that this can be a problem. The Chief noted at the end of the meeting that the old utility truck can now be sold.
8:15 PM – Selectboard Work Session
The Selectboard reviewed several items from the documents list. The first was an invoice from Avitar Associates detailing charges for work on the Public Right of Ways (PRW). The Board discussed this with the Town Administrator and asked that the charges for the PRW be credited back to the town as they represent work that will eventually be applied to all Avitar customers.
Next the Board discussed a recent letter from Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center (CMRC) regarding rental payments on the Old Town Office building. CMRC has been renting the building from the town since 2009. CMRC has not paid any actual rental payments to the town as part of an agreement with the Selectboard to allow improvements to the building be applied against the rental payments. The letter from CMRC indicates that they are interested in paying a rental amount different than what was originally agreed to in the rental agreement. Rent is due in September. The Board discussed the CDBG grant that was applied to the rental agreement (improvements) and requested that the original agreement and the CDBG grant parameters be reviewed prior to replying to CMRC.
The Selectboard discussed the annual reviews and evaluations of employees in advance of the 2018 budget season. After a lengthy discussion the Board was in agreement to have the Town Administrator provide annual evaluations of the department heads and the Fire Chief. After additional discussion about appointed officials, the Chair made a motion to have the Town Administrator provide annual evaluations of Department Heads and the Fire Chief for 2017, and for the Selectboard to review appointed officials, especially those that have not been reviewed annually in the past – specifically the Tax Collector, Treasurer, Building Inspector, and Welfare Director, in 2017; with the Town Administrator to perform the reviews of the appointed officials under the direction of the Selectboard going forward starting in 2018. Selectman Marshall seconded the motion. On a vote of 2-0 the motion passed unanimously.
Finally, the Selectboard reviewed an outstanding vacation question with regards to a DPW employee that was hired and provided with additional vacation time as part of the hiring process. The Selectboard reviewed the original hiring documents and determined that the employee (H.F.) was granted one week additional vacation in the first year (a total of two weeks to start). His second year allows him two weeks plus the one additional week, and an additional roll-over up to 40 hours from the previous year.
Adjournment
The time being 10:02 pm, Selectman Marshall moved to adjourn. The Chair seconded. All were in favor, and the motion carried 2-0. The meeting adjourned at 10:02 PM.
The minutes are final when approved and signed by the Selectboard. A signed copy is on file in the Selectboard’s office.