Selectboard Minutes
Minutes
Town of Greenfield
Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH
Selectboard’s Minutes
Thursday, October 17, 2019 – 5:30 PM
Selectboard: Chairwoman Margaret Charig Bliss, Selectwoman Karen Day, Selectman Robert Marshall
Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator
Documents for Review/Approval:
- Payroll Check Register – 10/18/2019
- Selectboard Minutes – 10/06/2019
- Welfare Voucher
Items for Discussion in the Public Session:
1. Avitar 5-Year Assessing Agreement
5:30 PM: Public Forum
At 5:30 pm, Chair Charig Bliss opened the meeting. The Selectboard began working through the Consent Agenda items. On a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectman Marshall, the Board voted 3-0 to accept the Consent Agenda. The Chair noted that there were no public present.
5:45 PM: Todd Mason, DPW Roads Manager
At 5:35pm, the Chair recognized Todd Mason, DPW Manager. Mr. Mason asked if the Board would hold a non-public session for a personnel issue. The Chair made a motion to enter into non-public session under RSA 91-A:3 II a, &, b personnel. The motion was seconded by Selectwoman Day. On a roll-call vote the Board voted 3-0 to enter into non-public session.
At 6:20pm, the Board voted 3-0 to enter into public session. While in the public session, the Chair made a motion to seal the minutes pursuant to RSA 91-A:3 III in order to ensure the effectiveness of the communication. It was noted for the minutes that a member of the DPW had provided a resignation to the DPW Manager.
6:30 PM: Selectboard Work Session
At 6:22pm, the Selectboard held a discussion on upcoming Spirit articles. A number of suggested topics were included in the discussion, including the introduction of the new Recycling Center Supervisor and the effect of the 2019 revaluation on the upcoming tax rate.
The Selectboard took up a proposal from Avitar Assessing for a new five year contract, culminating in 2024 with a revaluation, pursuant to RSA 75:8-a. The Selectboard held a wide ranging discussion about the assessing process. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Chair made a motion to accept the five year contract with Avitar Assessing. The motion was seconded by Selectman Marshall. The vote was 0 in favor and 3 against. Next the Selectboard deliberated over whether to award a one year contract to Avitar and to go out to bid for the following years. The Chair made a motion to accept a one year contract with Avitar. The motion was seconded by Selectman Marshall. The Board voted as follows:
Selectwoman Day – NO
Chair Charig-Bliss – YEA
Selectman Marshall - YEA
It was noted that the voted passed 2-1 to award a one year contract for assessing services to Avitar Assessing.
There followed a discussion of the groundskeeper contract for the 2020 budget season. It was noted that the Town of Greenfield Purchasing Policy requires that service contracts over the amount of $15,000 be placed out to bid. While the bid process has been largely unsuccessful over the past several years (fewer than three bids were received in each case), it is important to follow the policy. The current vendor has been working with the town since 2011, but the contract has never renewed in accordance with the current bid package. In order to ensure that the contract is brought up to date, the Board discussed putting the contract out to bid again. The Selectboard voted on a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectman Marshall, 3-0, to place the bid package in the local newspapers and start a bid process as part of the 2020 budget season.
7:30 PM: Katherine Heck, Treasurer
At 7:30pm, Treasurer Heck met with the Board. Mrs. Heck outlined that despite the increase in quarterly fees for the wastewater plant in 2018, the Wastewater Fund is still declining year-over-year. The Treasurer and the Selectboard held a discussion on the previous year’s public hearing, the issues that the wastewater plant faces due to improper disposal of household cleaning products, solid wastes and other solids into the system. Best practices were discussed from a household perspective. The Selectboard deliberated on holding a public hearing in November, and whether to raise the rate another 5%. At the conclusion of the discussion the Selectboard directed that an informational meeting be scheduled that would provide education to users on the system regarding best practices to follow for the wastewater plant’s benefit, followed immediately by a public hearing to discuss raising rates in 2020.
8:45 PM: Selectboard Work Session
The Selectboard took up a discussion regarding the employee recognition efforts for the holiday season. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Board directed the Town Administrator to work with the Chair to compile a list of all the employees and a separate list of all volunteers.
Adjournment
At 9:05 pm The Chair made a motion to adjourn the meeting, the motion was seconded by Selectman Marshall, the motion carried 3-0.