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Selectboard Minutes

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Meeting date: 
Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Minutes

Town of Greenfield

Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH

Selectboard’s Minutes

Tuesday, March 20, 2018 – 5:30 PM

Selectboard: Chair Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectman Robert Marshall, Selectwoman Karen Day

Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; Brian Giammarino, Police Chief

Public:

Documents for Review/Approval

  1. A/P Check Register(s) – 3/14, 3/15, 3/21
  2. Payroll Register – 3/23/2018
  3. 2018 Wage/Salary Worksheet
  4. New Hire Wage Worksheet – Deputy Town Clerk
  5. Change of Wage/Salary Worksheet- DPW Manager
  6. Intent to Cut - R10-7, R4-47, R3-30
  7. Timber Tax Levy – R8-6, R8-19 & R8-6-1
  8. Minutes of Selectboard Meeting – 3/6/2018
  9. Meeting House Rental – 3/20/2018
  10. Meeting House Rental – 3/24/2018
  11. Welfare

Other Business:

  • Road Name – Request letter to E911
  • Request to unmerge – R9-36
  • Mileage request – Mileage Policy review

5:30 PM: Public Forum

At 5:30 pm, Chairwoman Charig Bliss opened the meeting. It was noted that there were no public present. Chair Charig Bliss welcomed newly re-elected Selectwoman Karen Day.

At 5:35pm, the Selectboard began working through the Consent Agenda. The Consent Agenda contains items from the previous week as well as the week of March 6th.

At 5:50pm, the Selectboard discussed the question of the Chairmanship. Chair Charig Bliss stated that the Greenfield Selectboard rotates the position each year. Charig Bliss stated that Selectman Marshall had been on the Board for two years. Charig Bliss nominated Selectman Marshall to the position as Chair of the Board. Selectwoman Day seconded the motion. The motion passed 3-0.

At 5:55pm, Selectman Marshall took up the position as the Chair of the 2018 selectboard.

6:00 PM: Police Chief Brian Giammarino

At 6:00 pm Chairman Marshall noted that Police Chief Brian Giammarino was present. After a brief welcome, with acknowledgement of Selectwoman Karen Day by the Chief, the Board reviewed a request by Chief Giammarino for a non-public session under 91-A:3 II c Reputation.

The Chair made a motion under RSA 91-A:3 II c, to enter closed session. On a roll call vote the Selectboard voted 3-0 to enter non-public session. At 6:10pm Chief Giammarino left the meeting.

At 6:50 pm Selectboard voted 3-0 to enter public session. In public session Selectwoman Charig Bliss motioned to seal the minutes, the vote was seconded by Selectwoman Day, and the vote passed 3-0. It was noted that the Selectboard had heard a request from the Police Chief to schedule a hearing under RSA 41:48 for one of the officers in the police department.

7:00 PM: Selectboard Work Session

The Selectboard discussed the meeting night schedule. Selectwoman Day stated that she was unable to meet on Tuesday nights and asked if the Board could schedule meetings on a different night of the week. There was a discussion on the meeting night schedule. Selectwoman Day suggested that the meetings could be held during the daytime and the public forum pushed to the end of the meeting. Selectwoman Charig Bliss explained that the public forum was an important element of the Selectboard meeting and she expressed caution over not having the forum, or, making changes to the time when people could make use of the forum. After a brief discussion, the Board determined that the preference is to have meetings when working people can be part of the schedule. After additional discussion the Board agreed to move the meeting night to Thursdays, starting on March 29th. A motion by Selectwoman Charig Bliss was made to hold the meeting on Thursday nights, with a public forum at the opening of the meeting. The motion was seconded by Selectwoman Karen Day. Chairman Marshall called the vote and it passed 3-0 in favor. The meetings will therefore be held on Thursday nights at the usual time of 5:30pm and will open with a public forum for fifteen minutes.

At 7:35pm former selectman Stephen Atherton Jr. came before the Board and asked if he could say a few words about his tenure as a selectboard member. Addressing the Board, Mr. Atherton stated that it meant a lot to him to work with the people of Greenfield as a selectman. He stated that the experience had been rewarding and he thanked the Selectboard, saying that he “never thought he would get to the point where he felt sentimental” over the position but he was “here to say Thank-You”. The Selectboard members talked with Mr. Atherton and encouraged him to stay involved in the Town. At 7:48pm Mr. Atherton left the meeting.

The Selectboard held a discussion on the vote at Town Meeting regarding the Fire Department tanker warrant article (Article #2). The Selectboard discussed next steps and provided interpretations of the meeting’s intent. Chairman Marshall stated that he felt that the vote at town meeting was clearly an indication that the residents voted for the new tanker. Selectwoman Day agreed and said that this is a safety issue and must be addressed as soon as possible. Selectwoman Charig Bliss said that Article #2’s defeat indicated that the voters were not in favor of long-term debt. She stated that the fact that the voters added enough to the Capital Reserve Fund (Warrant Article #8) to provide the Selectboard with the insurance of being able to purchase a new tanker if the fire department was unable to locate a suitable used tanker, spoke to the voters intent that the Selectboard purchase a tanker this year. Selectwoman Charig Bliss stated that it was of note that the amendment to the capital reserve fund was exactly the amount needed to purchase the Midwest Tanker outlined in Article #2, and even included the interest, which was not necessary in a straight purchase, and this was very significant because it showed the meeting’s intent to ensure that the Selectboard have every capability to purchase a tanker for the fire department. The other Selectboard members concurred with this interpretation of the legislative body’s intent. Selectwoman Day stated that the Board and the Fire Department should look at the used tankers that are available to ensure that there is sufficient due diligence in place before looking at purchasing a new truck. Selectwoman Day stated that she would not consider a truck that was 15 yrs old or more because the tanker is the first line of defense at a fire and must be reliable. Town Administrator Patt suggested that a conversation with ConVal about the payment schedule to the school district may provide a pathway forward with regards to cash-flow, given that the funds for the capital reserve fund will not be collected until December. The Selectboard agreed that ConVal should be contacted and a discussion held with their business administrator.

Next the Selectboard took up a conversation of the mileage policy recently adopted by the Selectboard. Chairman Marshall noted that the policy is still pending review of the department-head job descriptions in order to determine if there are any exceptions necessary. Chairman Marshall and Selectwoman Charig Bliss helped provide background and history to Selectwoman Day on the need to expand the employee personnel policy’s section on reimbursement. Currently the town uses the federal mileage reimbursement rate published each year by the IRS for employee reimbursement of business mileage; however the previous reimbursement policy was lacking sufficient guidelines for both the Board and the employees. It was noted that the guidance for the new mileage policy came from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), including the IRS publication “Issues for Firefighters”. In the publication Issues for Firefighters, the IRS outlines two types of mileage accounting. The first is the Accountable Plan where employees are reimbursed for documented business miles incurred on behalf of the town, and the second is an allowance plan in which an allowance for expenses does not require documentation, but which is taxed as income. The Selectboard discussed the fact that certain job descriptions require local travel in town. The question of whether the Board could provide reimbursement for business mileage and an allowance for local travel was held. A discussion on the Town of Greenfield’s use of stipends was held. The discussion touched on the recent vote at Town Meeting to change the wording of the fire department line item from ‘Chief’s Salary’ to ‘Chief’s Stipend’ for future Town Reports and budget documents. The discussion covered the requirement of the Building Inspector to travel to different properties to inspect construction projects and installations; the need for the Buildings and Grounds Manager to respond to emergencies off hours, and drive from building to building; the need of the DPW Road Manager to travel to the DPW shed and then use the town truck to travel roads in advance of winter storms; and the need for the Town Administrator and Treasurer to travel to the bank to make deposits.

At 10:15 Chairman Marshall outlined a draft list of 2018 Selectboard Goals, and an annual schedule of important dates for the Selectboard to adopt so that employee reviews, for example, are scheduled and completed in time for budget season.

 

Adjournment

The time being 10:20 pm, Selectman Marshall moved to adjourn.  Selectwoman Charig Bliss seconded. All were in favor, and the motion carried 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 10:20 PM.

The minutes are final when approved and signed by the Selectboard. A signed copy is on file in the Selectboard’s office.

 

________________________       _______________________             _______________________                                           

Chairman, Robert Marshall   Selectwoman, Margaret Charig Bliss,    Selectwoman, Karen Day