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Minutes of 01/22/2007

January 27th, 2007

Carroll Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
January 22, 2007
"These minutes of the Town of Carroll Select Board have been recorded by its Secretary. Though believed to be accurate and correct they are subject to additions, deletions and corrections by the Select Board at its next meeting when the Board votes its final approval of the minutes. They are being made available at this time to conform to the requirements of New Hampshire RSA 91-A:2."

Minutes recorded by Susan Kraabel, Secretary.

Board members present: Bill Wright, Allen Strasser, Bonnie Moroney

The meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM.

Members of the public present: Roberta McGee, Eleanor Brauns, Evan Karpf, Doug Bews, Billy Rines, Mike Gooden, John Trammell, Kelly Trammell, Dale Shakespeare, Tom Gately, Tadd Bailey, John Burt, Margrit Groffen, Mike Matz, Donna Matz, John Staples, Jeff Duncan

The board announced the approval of bills and signing of checks.

Selectman Moroney moved to approve the minutes of 01/08/2007. Selectman Strasser seconded, and the motion was passed unanimously.

The weekly report from Stan Borkowski has been posted on the bulletin board.

Selectman Moroney suggested that a committee be established to investigate benefits and costs of extending the water line along Lennon Road and Route 115. Mike Gooden, Billy Rines, Selectman Moroney volunteered to be on the committee, Selectman Moroney will contact John Gardiner, and they will try to come up with another Lennon Road resident to participate. The first meeting will be Thursday, February 8 at 7 PM. Questions came up about how much of Rte. 115 will be done, and it was suggested that the committee examine the issue. Selectman Strasser said if we increase hydrant fees based on the current number of hydrants, we should be able to get funding for the expansion.

The following documents were approved and signed.

Northern NH Fire Mutual Aid Pact (covers towns almost to the Canadian border)
Town Hall Use Permit for the Chamber of Commerce Summer Concert Series
Thank you letter to Attleboro Ski Club for Thanksgiving and Christmas donations to town residents.
Thank you letter to the Chamber of Commerce for decorating the kitchen.

The Coos County Ambulance agreement for 2007 was discussed. This agreement calls for a $125 per month payment to the town so the town will provide 24-hour ambulance service to unincorporated areas in the county. Selectman Strasser said he’d written a letter to the county asking for an increase from $1,500/yr. to $5,000/yr, and he’d spoken to Sue Collins earlier in the day. She’s written a response the Selectman Strasser’s letter with questions that need to be answered. Thus Selectman Strasser moved to table signing the agreement for now. Chairman Wright seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously. Jeff Duncan then asked if he could speak on the subject. The town made only 7 calls in 2006 and that was higher than normal. These calls generated $4200 in ambulance billing and $2500 for fire calls with a total cost to the town of approximately $500. Chief Duncan recommended signing the agreement, as we get far more back than we spend for these calls. Selectman Strasser said he’ll try to get some capital cost money from the county, and then moved to sign the 2007 agreement as is. Chairman Wright seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously. Selectman Strasser passed a copy of the county’s letter to John Trammell for him to review the police services portion.

Selectman Strasser made a motion to send letters of commendation to Maryclare Quigley and Becki Pederson for the long days they worked to complete the 2005-2006 sales analysis.

Selectman Moroney handed copies of a letter and questionnaire to members of the public. She then spoke about the Annual Report of the Selectmen for 2006. She asked Chairman Wright if this wasn’t supposed to be written by the chairman. When he said it was a combined effort of the selectmen, Selectman Moroney said she was not asked to contribute, and objected to parts of the report as written. She felt details given about procedures manuals were unnecessary, that the opinion expressed about hiring part time versus full time employees was not shared by her, and that there was too much emphasis placed on the new ownership of the Bretton Woods Resort. She requested that most of the middle section of the report be removed.

Selectman Moroney then addressed the questionnaire and letter that had been passed out. The questions were part of a meeting held during the day in the town hall with the 3 selectmen and 3 employees of the highway/water department. It was set up by Selectman Strasser and Chairman Wright and was posted as a working session to discuss the procedures manual. According to Selectman Moroney, the questions had little to do with a procedures manual, and was a waste of 4 hours for the 3 employees at taxpayers’ expense, and her time away from work. Selectman Moroney asked Chairman Wright how many times in his 30 years as a selectman he’d been asked to leave work to meet with employees, and he replied none. Selectman Moroney then dealt with the letter, signed by Selectman Strasser and Chairman Wright, that was given to Billy Rines the following day. She stated she had Mr. Rines’ permission to bring this letter to the public, and that she felt the public had a right to know what was going on in town. The letter stated that Mr. Rines had not complied with requests for reports, and set out a schedule for reports they wanted from him. Selectman Moroney said she’d checked meeting minutes and emails and could not verify most of these requests. Mr. Rines is updating the town office with department activity so a monthly report can be produced. Much of the information about water meter progress is available from the town clerk, and road and equipment inventory is in the town office. Mr. Rines has advised Selectman Strasser of the availability of information in the offices. Selectman Moroney also stated that Mr. Rines has no authority in the activities of the Rosebrook Water Company, and that the meeting he could not attend with their representatives had been set up by Selectman Strasser without first seeing if Mr. Rines could attend. He is not required to attend every selectmen’s meeting, and had a previous commitment.

Selectman Strasser responded by saying he’d requested information from Mr. Rines at his meeting in December when Selectman Moroney was not present. His interest in the road inventory is because Mr. Rines wants a new truck with sanding capability, and for a 3rd crew to operate, and Selectman Strasser doesn’t think we need a 3rd crew. He said we need information for budget purposes, thus the February report schedule. As far as the Rosebrook Water Company, Selectman Strasser said we are paying them hydrant fees, and we need to know if they are maintaining their system. Mr. Rines said he’d told Selectman Strasser he couldn’t be at the meeting with Rosebrook, and the meeting was held anyway. He said he had not been asked to send one of the other men in the department. Mr. Rines said again much of the information he’s looking for is in the office, and Selectman Strasser has not chosen to go there. Discussion about the metering process included the fact that we have 48 meters or touchpads with problems. Since there’s been less plowing this winter, they have been out checking and reading meters, and should be done with the audit on Tuesday. Scott Hayes began the project, but is now doing only water treatment. The employees have the time, and we can save the $600 per day cost of having Mr. Hayes do this work. They have set up a route, checked line sizes, meters, backflow preventers, and will make another dry run when repairs are completed. It’s a very time consuming job, and the computer software had none of the information needed for each meter. They are shooting for April 1st as a completion date.

Selectman Strasser said the questions regarding road inventory have to do with funding. He’d spoken to Greg Placey of NH DOT about state standards for equipment necessary to plow roads. Mr. Rines said he’d also spoken to Mr. Placey, and that he’d not said we don’t need another truck. Mr. Rines said you can’t compare the state standards to our roads – we have different a different type of road to plow, and we can’t travel at the speeds the state does. We go 58 miles in plowing, and it takes 4 hours to make the complete circuit. Mr. Rines said again that the numbers Selectman Strasser says he needs were given to the office last year at budget time.

Selectman Strasser went back to the subject of water, and asked if the 3rd man hadn’t been hired for water. Mr. Rines stated all 3 of them had been hired for highway, and he’s been saying they need one man for water. He then invited Selectman Strasser to take a ride in the truck when it snows. Selectman Strasser said he would.

Comments from the public included the fact that another small truck would allow them to park the large truck in the summer and use the more efficient small trucks. Dale Shakespeare stated if he were in Mr. Rines’ position and received the letter and questionnaire, the selectmen would have his resignation. Others nodded in assent.

Selectman Strasser next mentioned salaries in town. He stated that our salaries are higher than other towns our size, and he referenced the LGC Blue Book survey. He stated that because our population fluctuates by season, he was using towns that are between one and three thousand in population, and that he feels our people are paid a fair salary. He said these numbers can be accessed online at www.lgc.org. When asked if they gave job descriptions, he said no. Doug Bews said that in light of the sale of the Mt. Washington Hotel and the end of the PILOT agreement with the AMC, shouldn’t a revaluation this year produce enough revenue to not have to worry about paying employees a living sustainable wage. He feels there are employees, especially the police that deserve an increase in salary. Selectman Strasser said he’d met with Mark Nieder about how they would assess the resort, and suggested they use the sale price, eliminating things like the ski lifts which are not real property. Mr. Bews also asked when the AMC would be coming to a meeting to discuss their charitable works. Selectman Strasser said sometime in April their reports are due. They provided full financial reports last year for 2004-2005.

Selectman Strasser brought forth changes in the personnel policy after they’d been reviewed by Bernie Waugh. One item included that the Dept. of Labor regulations are in force unless there is a major inconsistency with state law. The item included in our policy that met that criteria is that one selectman cannot order an employee to do something by himself. It has to be more than one selectman or it has to be something that has been authorized by more than selectman. Regarding reporting time worked, the federal and state regulations require all employees to report time in and time out.

Mr. Shakespeare asked about the warrant article for a town administrator, and was told that the last time it came up, it had not originally been presented with a proposed dollar amount and was declared an illegal article. This year there is money proposed in the article, and it will be on the warrant with a 2-1 recommendation by the selectmen.

John Staples stated he had some questions for the selectmen in executive session.

Discussion about additional items on the policy update included carryover vacation time, correcting timesheets, and timing of raises. Selectman Moroney moved to table the approval of these changes until they could compare them with the old policy. Chairman Wright seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously. Tom Gately asked if this policy update had been reviewed by the LGC or Bernie Waugh. When told it was Atty. Waugh, he wanted to know why Selectman Strasser had not gone to the LGC first. They provide free legal service, and should be the first ones used in a review process. He would like to see a policy implemented that calls for the LGC being our first source for legal advice.

Chief Duncan asked to clarify something about the Default Budget. If the Operating Budget does not pass in March, the Default Budget can allow for pay increases for employees. Selectman Strasser agreed, saying in the case of employees with a contract, the contractual agreement would be included in the Default Budget, as is the case with Chief Duncan.

Mr. Gately asked if Mr. Staples’ request for executive session was to deal with material qualifying for executive session. The secretary replied yes.

At 8:30 PM, as there was no additional business, Chairman Wright declared the meeting ended, and moved to go into executive session regarding legal matters. This was seconded by Selectman Moroney. The board was polled, and went into executive session.

At the close of executive session, Chairman Wright made a motion to return to public session and seal the minutes from executive session; Selectman Moroney seconded and the motion passed unanimously. At 8:45 PM, as there was no additional business, Chairman Wright declared the meeting ended.

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