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Selectboard Minutes

Meeting date: 
Thursday, April 6, 2023

Town of Greenfield

7 Sawmill Road, Greenfield, NH 03047

Selectboard Minutes

Thursday, April 6, 2023 – 5:30 PM

Slectboard: Chairman Michael Borden, Selectman Tom Bascom, Selectman Mason Parker

Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator-absent; Jim Morris, DPW Director; Jeff LaCourse, Fire Chief; Leah Fiasconaro-Conway, Welfare Director

Public:

Documents for Discussion/Signature

  1. A/P Check Register dated 3/22/2023 in the amount of $319,656.62
  2. A/P Void Check Register 2 – Reissued Check #74322, #74269
  3. Solar Exemption Application – R5-5
  4. Oak Park Soccer Field Rental – ConVal Soccer Club
  5. Oak Park Alcohol Permit
  6. Groundskeeper 2023 Payment Schedule
  7. Purchase Order $51,990.28 – Chip Seal Gould Hill Road and Longwood Road
  8. Purchase Order Tree Health $2,880.00 – Storm Damage
  9. Welfare Voucher - 3
  10. Minutes of 3/23/2023, 3/30/2023

Other letters/ items for Discussion/Signature:

  1. Police Station Electrical Contract – 2/3 completion
  2. Police Station – Master Contract with bond
  3. Paving Quote $212,992.50– 7300’ of New Boston Road – for signature

 

5:30 PM: Public Forum

The Chair opened the meeting at 5:30 pm. No members of the public being present for the open session. The Chair shared that State Senator Ricciardi will meet with the board on May 4th. The Board discussed an Oak Park rental application from the ConVal soccer club (not affiliated with SAU1), The Board approved rental of the soccer fields at the same rate as last year but stated rental could increase after improvements are made.

The Selectboard signed documents.

5:45 PM: Jim Morris, DPW Director

The Chair welcomed welcomed Jim Morris, DPW Director to the meeting. The Board and Director Morris discussed the progress of post-storm wood chipping; the new chipper has been invaluable. As a comparison, a neighboring town is estimating $200,000 in contractor costs. 

Next, the Board and Director Morris discussed clearing the town garden area prior to poison ivy season. DPW will likely hire a “brush hog” for this project.

The Board discussed a variety of projects with Director Morris:

  • DPW doing dirt work for handicap ramp at Emergency Services builidng, and has a quote from JC Foundations for the concrete - approx $3,700.
  • DPW to take down chimney on Emergency Services building.
  • The Board approved a Purchase Order for tree removal at Oak Park
  • DPW is meeting with Emergency Management team & NH Dept. Of Homeland Security Tuesday about storm damage and possible disaster funding
  • The Board and Director Morris, discussed the quote for New Boston Rd. The quote is  $12,000+ over the $200,000 Warrant Article, which will come from “road maintenance” if the actual cost doesn’t come down.
  • Discussed lighting in town offices.
  • Discussed Oak Park:
    • DPW to coordinate loam and irrigation onto soccer field
    • The property line with the state has been found. There is 15 feet or so of brush that could be cleared to make more room for parking. The board agreed to have the brush cleared (consensus).

Director Morris requested a non-public to discuss compensation for an employee that has reached a development milestone.

On a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectman Bascom, the Board voted 3-0 in favor of entering into a non-public session under RSA 91-A:II,a compensation. At 6:30pm, the Board voted on a motion by Selectman Parker and a second by Selectman Bascom to enter into the public session. While in the public session, Selectman Parker made a motion to seal the minutes. The motion was seconded by the Chair, the Board voted 3-0 in favor of sealing the minutes for a personnel matter. The Chair noted for the minutes that the Board has agreed to provide a pay increase for a DPW employee who has graduated from the NH Road Scholar program and reached this agreed upon development milestone.

6:00 PM: Jeff LaCourse, Fire Chief

At 6:35 pm, the Chair welcomed the Fire Chief to the meeting. Chief LaCourse provided a detailed written report of recent FD activity and walked the board through highlights:

  • Catching up on a backlog of missing or incomplete paperwork
  • Ladder truck was invaluable at Gould Hill fire, the dome house roof would not have been reachable by conventional means
  • False alarm ordinance has been through several rounds of department review, is almost ready for approval
  • On that note: there has been an notable reduction in calls from CM, they appear to be taking our concerns seriously and have taken steps to get the situation under control
  • New truck is being outfitted, discussed making sure that we follow the plan for funding

The Board and Chief LaCourse held a discussion on FD future. There are a number of questions to answer: how do we keep the department on a good footing? What does the future (+10 years) look like? The possibility of getting a “round table” together with some other area departments was discussed.

Chief LaCourse stated that support from the auxiliary and the community during the recent Forest Rd fire was superb, we live in a wonderful town!

7:30 PM Leah Fiasconaro-Conway, Welfare Director

At 7:30pm, the Chair welcomed the Welfare Director to the meeting. Director Conway outlined several issues that are impacting the welfare budget in the first quarter. The first is an overall concern about volume of need, which is increased and is impacting the budget. Notable developments that are causing this increase include the fact that COVID funding has ended. This has caused the welfare budget line for Rent to spike to 55% spent (at less than 30% of the year).

Additional concerns include the fact that rental rates have skyrocketed. The town policy on rental amounts is seriously outdated, the department document hasn’t been updated since 2007 and inflation has caused a rapid disparity in the last year. After discussion it was agreed that Director Conway will review policy and bring suggested revisions to the board later this month

8:00 PM: Selectboard Work Session

At 8:00pm, the Board discussed a number of items including:

A letter of support for FGCMH on the Meeting House restoration, the Board reached a consensus to approve, the Chair will sign. The Board received an update on progress of NH CDFA grant.

The Board received an update on Saturday’s FGCMH lunch meeting with the architects for the Meeting House restoration project. 60 people attended and provided public input, excellent feedback

  • Discussion regarding front platform on the 2nd floor and maybe something smaller
  • Discussion of pews and the desire to keep them as the upper floor is most often used for 1) church services, 2) weddings, 3) funerals

The Board discussed a Brantwood Camp PILOT – their director was going to meet with their board and get back to us, Greenfield hasn’t heard anything

The Board discussed property owned by CM Foundation; they still own property on the lake, is it taxed? Should it be? Or should there be a PILOT? If they are renting it to Seven Hills (as they formerly did with Gersh) then it seems like there should be either tax or a PILOT.

Lastly, ConCom requests that DPW pick up loam for a pollinator garden, letter from the ConComm Chair about plantings by the blacksmith shop, the project was approved by consensus.

The consent agenda was approved on a motion by Selectman Borden, and a second by Selectman Bascom, all in favor.

There being no further business, the Board voted to adjourn.

Adjournment

At 8:35 pm, The Chair made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by the Selectman Bascom. The motion carried 3-0.