Selectboard Minutes
Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Minutes
Rescheduled from Thursday January 4th due to Winter Storm
Friday, January 5, 2018 – 2:00 PM
Selectboard: Chair Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectman Stephen Atherton, Selectman Robert Marshall
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; David Hall, Fire Chief
Public: Ken Paulsen, Myron Steere
Documents for Review/Approval
- A/P Check Register
- Assessor Contract
- City of Keene, Household Hazardous Waste Agreement
- Selectboard Minutes
- Welfare
Other Items:
1. CMRC letter regarding the 2018 PILOT
2:00 PM: Public Forum
At 2:00 pm Chairwoman Charig Bliss opened the meeting. The Chair noted that there was no public at the public forum session.
The Selectboard began working through the Consent Agenda.
2:15 PM: David Hall, Fire Chief
At 2:15 pm, the Selectboard welcomed Fire Chief David Hall to the meeting. Chief Hall presented a proposed 2018 Fire Department budget. The 2018 budget is up from the previous year 7.2% and includes requests for increases to line items, new line items, and re-allocation of funds among the line items to better reflect actual spending. The new lines include a line for Background Checks in order to remove this expense from the General Supplies line, which the Chief stated he felt was better utilized to reflect spending on paper, post-it notes, trash bags, etc. and not for background checks. A second new line is for Construction and Props. Chief Hall noted that Props are training devises that are built for a specific training exercise. Selectman Marshall said that he considered the obstacle course at the Fire Department Open House, which included structure for the children to crawl through as examples of ‘props’. Chief Hall said that was a good example and that obstacle course are used in training exercises for firefighters so that they get used to this type of movement with their gear on. Selectman Marshall asked if this line item would be used to allocate the fees to build a ‘burn building’ (live burn training center)? Chief Hall answered that this line was not necessarily meant for that as it was originally intended that much of the funding for the burn building would come from donations, but he would look to the Selectboard for guidance on whether this line could be used for that purpose. The Selectboard asked if the Fire Department had considered cost sharing with other Fire Departments, as there are other departments that could make use of the training center. A discussion followed.
Next the Fire Chief outlined a change to the ‘Equipment” lines. In the past there have been “Equipment” and “Equipment Replacement” line items. Chief Hall is proposing that there be a line for Equipment, which covers new, used, and replacement equipment; and a line for Equipment Testing. Equipment Testing is a necessary aspect of ensuring the equipment is sound, however, many departments have not done any equipment testing at all. Chief Hall stated that this is changing as there is a need to test ladders, hoses, and fire apparatus on an annual basis. Greenfield should be testing its equipment every year to ensure it is operational.
A discussion about the Volunteer On-Call Stipend followed. Chief Hall is asking for additional funds for the volunteer stipend pool. The Chief is also asking for additional funds in the Chief’s Wages line item. There followed a lengthy discussion about the need to provide better stipends for the volunteers. The volunteer stipend is based on a point system that covers events, meetings, and trainings. Twice a year the Chief runs a report that incorporates attendance in these categories and stipends are paid according to the amount of funding available in this line item. A larger amount of stipend funds will provide the volunteers with a larger stipend based on their attendance. This will help with retention.
The Chief outlined the need for more funds in the mileage line item. Training in Concord for firefighters, and trips to other departments and to meet with vendors was cited as the reason that this line was not sufficient.
‘Physicals and Inoculations’ was discussed. This line is reduced as many of the younger firefighters have had inoculations, because they are now provided at birth. The older firefighters have to stay up to date with their shots. Overall the cost is not as great as originally thought.
There followed a discussion on the Ambulance fee from Peterborough. The Chair wanted to know if the Town of Greenfield was any closer to manning its own Ambulance program. The Chief stated that the cost to run a town-wide ambulance service is still outside the scope of the department, and, the town’s ability to fund such an endeavor. The Selectboard explored the question of whether it is possible to establish regionalization of an ambulance service with other towns. Chief Hall stated that Peterborough continue to provide very good service. There followed a discussion about whether the town of Greenfield could share a service with another town, where the service is housed as a satellite in the Fire Department. Chief Hall stated that this might be a plan that Greenfield could look at with the Town of Antrim.
There followed a discussion on Fire Department policies and the Chief outlined that there is currently underway a volunteer effort to review and update the policies for the department.
Selectman Marshall asked several questions about the Emergency Management Department under the Fire Department. Specific questions were asked about whether the Fire Department had any plans to open a warming center. Selectman Marshall asked if the Emergency Management Director had discussed any plans for such an event with the Fire Chief. Selectman Marshall went on to say that the Emergency Management Director had just completed an update of the Greenfield Emergency Management Plan (Local Emergency Operations Plan, or, LEOP). He said that he understood that to open an Emergency Shelter requires that there be a stated emergency in town for the EMD to act on. However, Selectman Marshall stated that there are many instances where an interim step such as a warming center to residents that lose power, or have loss of heat is beneficial for the community. Selectman Marshall asked if there were any plans to address these lower threshold events that may be impactful to a smaller group of people, but are no less real than a widespread emergency. Chief Hall stated that this was a conversation that he would have with the Emergency Management Director.
Next, Chief Hall stated that he would like to have a conversation with the Board, another time, about a Fire Department Tanker that he has found that is being made at a price point where the Town could consider purchasing new as the MSRP is well below some of the quotes discussed in previous meetings (which were in the vicinity of $400,000). The Selectboard agreed to meet on January 16th at 5:45 pm. The Selectboard thanked the Chief for his time.
4:30 PM: Selectboard Work Session
The Selectboard Chair opened a work session to discuss the 2018 budget and other business items. The Chair noted that Myron Steere, Chair of the School Board and Greenfield’s School Board representative, was present. Mr. Steere asked if he could make a short presentation about the upcoming 2018 ConVal School District budget. He explained that the Selectboard’s Tuesday meetings are difficult for him to attend because that is when the School Board meets.
Mr. Steere explained that the School Board had recently agreed to a small increase in the ConVal District budget, which was outlined in recent news articles in the Ledger Transcript. He stated that the ConVal District budget is going up just .62% (less than 1%) but what was not reported was that this increase would translate into an overall increase to taxpayers of 5.53% over 2017’s budget due to the reduction in adequacy grant monies received. Mr. Steere went on to explain that this is just the basic budget and does not include a teacher’s contract, which is in works. If the contract is approved by the School Board then the overall increase to taxpayers would be 8-8.5% in the 2018/2019 school year. The Selectboard thanked Mr. Steere for the presentation and advance notice on the District’s budget impact.
Next the Board took up a conversation about the 2018 budget overall. The Chair and Selectboard Marshall discussed the budget overall and requested that the Town Administrator update the budget with the Fire Department’s requested changes, along with several additional changes; including to the Recycling Center, Police, and Executive budgets.
Adjournment
The time being 6:30 pm, The Chair moved to adjourn. Selectman Marshall seconded. All were in favor, and the motion carried 2-0. The meeting adjourned at 6:30 PM.
The minutes are final when approved and signed by the Selectboard. A signed copy is on file in the Selectboard’s office.