Selectboard Minutes
Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Minutes
Thursday, October 25, 2018 – 5:30 PM
Selectboard: Chair Robert Marshall, Selectwoman Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectwoman Karen Day
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; David Hall, Fire Chief; Keith Hickey, Budget Advisory Committee
Public: Ken Paulsen, Adele Hale, Paul Branscombe Town Administrator – Wilton, Steve Desrosiers Ambulance Chief – Wilton, Nick Corrigliano Wilton Ambulance
Documents for Review/Approval:
- A/P Check Registers dated 10/18
- Payroll Check Register dated 10/19
- Selectboard Minutes – 10/11/2018
- Welfare Letters (3)
5:30 PM: Public Forum
At 5:30 pm Chairman Marshall opened the meeting. The Chair recognized Adele Hale in the public forum. Ms. Hale expressed an interest in forming a committee to research solar power use by the Town. After some discussion, the Chair suggested that to maximize the quality of meeting time with the Selectboard that such a group could research ideas and bring them forward as a committee to discuss with the Selectboard. Next, Ms. Hale discussed the Meeting House sign, which she feels needs some attention. The Chair stated that the sign was going to come up in discussion with LCHIP grant for the historic preservation of the Meeting House, which the Board would be attending later in the evening and that he would prefer to include the sign in with the larger conversation about the preservation of the building. Lastly, Ms. Hale advised the Board that the Keith Sullivan Foundation is a possible grant source for repairs to the tennis courts. The grant deadline is October 31. The Board thanked Ms. Hale for her questions and input.
Ken Paulsen asked to speak as a member of the public. He stated that there is a blue trailer at Oak Park that has been left by the Mountaineers. He asked if the Selectboard could look into having the trailer removed. Chairman Marshall stated that he has been in contact with the most recent president of the organization and that the Mountaineers are defunct. He stated that he would reach out again to push them to collect the trailer.
The Selectboard voted 3-0 on a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectwoman Charig Bliss to accept the Consent Agenda.
5:45 PM: Wilton Ambulance
The Selectboard welcomed Wilton Ambulance. Wilton Town Administrator, Paul Branscombe provided introductory remarks regarding the inter-municipal agreement between Wilton, Lyndeborough and Temple. He outlined how the current members of the inter-municipal ambulance agreement communicate in quarterly meetings. He stated that the current agreement is transitioning from a population basis to a call volume basis. Mr. Branscombe introduced the members of the Wilton Ambulance to the Greenfield Selectboard. Steve Desrosiers, Wilton Ambulance Chief presented background on the Wilton Ambulance program. He outlined the programs staffing, vehicles, and service quality. Mr. Desrosiers explained that the quality of care is the foremost issue to him when it comes to providing service to the communities.
A discussion with the Selectboard followed and a number of questions were answered. These included questions about the ambulance calls and what happens when the service receives more than one call at a time. Mr. Desrosiers explained the ambulance program’s rapid response policy. There followed a discussion on billing, staffing, and a cost proposal for Greenfield. Mr. Desrosiers explained the breakdown of costs to the current members without Greenfield, and with Greenfield; he noted that by adding Greenfield to the equation the cost is lower for Lyndeborough and Temple. He also noted that Greenfield and Lyndeborough are similar in population and call volumes. Lastly, Chief Desrosiers noted that the difference between Peterborough and Wilton in terms of the trip time is negligible as Wilton ambulance building, located in Lyndeborough, is almost the same distance from Greenfield center.
There followed a discussion with Chief Hall of Greenfield. One of the suggestions from a previous Selectboard meeting was to look at whether Wilton Ambulance could host an ambulance in the Greenfield fire station. Chief Desrosiers explained that this had been tried many years ago in Temple and the results were not as beneficial as imagined. He said that if a call goes out from Wilton, he would be sending the ambulance in Greenfield to cover in Wilton. Staffing is also an issue. At this time the benefits would not be sufficient to consider such an arrangement, however in certain instances of severe inclement weather he would absolutely look at placing a vehicle in Greenfield. There followed a discussion on whether Greenfield EMTs could work as per-diems in Wilton and Chief Desrosiers said that Greenfield EMTs could apply to be a part of the service.
Next Chief Hall discussed the bunk-in program in Greenfield. The program was discussed in-depth and Chief Desrosiers explained that Ambulance programs are not the same as Fire Departments in the State of New Hampshire. As a result there is no flexibility to use volunteers in the ambulance program. Greenfield Budget Advisory Committee member, Keith Hickey raised the point that Wilton has the ultimate say over the program’s budget because their Selectmen will be the one to approve the budget. Mr. Hickey explained that this was an important point when contemplating how much say Greenfield would have in the relationship. The Selectboard requested that their Town Administrator provide the contract with Peterborough so that they can review the parameters in a future meeting. Chief Desrosiers acknowledged that Mr. Hickey’s point was real, but he also stated that he takes very seriously the input from the member towns. Chairman Marshall asked a question about the Wilton Ambulance building. He stated that he was under the impression that the building was an issue. A discussion followed on the original Wilton Ambulance Association and the current building’s mortgage.
At the conclusion of the discussions the Selectboard asked Mr. Branscombe how he envisioned Wilton providing the service if Greenfield decided to move in that direction. There followed a conversation about what would work best for Wilton. In the near term he said he would appreciate knowing of the Selectboard’s intentions by November 15th.
At 7:17pm the discussion with Wilton Ambulance ended. The Selectboard thanked Wilton Ambulance for their presentation and their time.
Following the discussions with Wilton, the Selectboard held a brief conversation with Chief Hall. Chief Hall outlined several areas of interest in Wilton’s presentation. There followed a discussion on comparisons between Peterborough’s Ambulance Service and the Wilton Ambulance Service. At the conclusion of the conversation the Selectboard asked Chief Hall if he could recommend the Wilton Ambulance. Chief Hall stated that the cost of the Peterborough service has gone up astronomically in just the four years that he has been Chief. As a result of the cost increases, and based on the strength of Chief Desrosiers presentation, Chief Hall said that he would recommend Greenfield change service providers.
8:00 PM: Selectboard Work Session
The Selectboard took up a discussion regarding the 2018 tax rate setting process. The DRA will be setting the tax rate and will need to know how much fund balance the Selectboard will be applying to the rate. Town Administrator Patt explained that the Selectboard went to Town Meeting in March with a budget that was $14,175 more than the previous year. This is a .006% increase. The Selectboard used $200,000 of fund balance in 2017 to offset the library foundation project. Using a significant amount of fund balance in 2017 required that the Selectboard use less this year, in order to manage fund balance levels year-over-year according to the Selectboard’s fund balance policy recommendations. The combination of $14,175 in increased taxation and a decrease of fund balance to $150,000 would mean a .46 increase to taxes on a flat budget, which was the Selectboard’s target going into the meeting. Subsequently, at the meeting $3,250 was added to the Town Clerk’s budget to help cover the unexpected absence of the clerk. This brought the increase to $17,325 or .007% over 2017. Then, following a long discussion, Town Meeting voters added an additional $54,000 to the Fire Rescue Apparatus capital reserve warrant article, bringing the operating budget increase to 3%.
After discussion by the Selectboard, with input from Mr. Hickey and Town Administrator Patt, the Selectboard voted to use $156,000 of fund balance against the tax rate. On a motion by Selectwoman Charig Bliss and a second by Selectwoman Day, the Selectboard voted 3-0 to use $156,000 against the tax rate.
Next the Selectboard discussed a contract between the Town and S.R. Jones. After discussion, the Board was of a consensus to have the Chair sign the contract and to forward it to the contractor for review.
At 9:00 the Chair made a motion to enter into non-public session under RSA 91-A:II c. The motion was seconded by Selectwoman Charig Bliss. On a roll call vote the Board voted 3-0 to enter non-public session. At 9:19 pm the Selectboard voted 3-0 to exit non-public session and enter the public meeting.
While in the public session, Selectwoman Charig Bliss made a motion to seal the minutes according to RSA 91-A:III in order to maintain the effectiveness of the non-public session and any discussions held in the non-public session. The motion was seconded by the Chair and passed on a vote of 3-0. For the public minutes it was noted that Town Clerk had replied to a letter from the Selectboard and had provided status for the Board to consider.
Adjournment
At 9:20 pm Selectwoman Charig Bliss made a motion to adjourn the meeting, the motion was seconded by Selectwoman Day, the motion carried 3-0.