MINUTES OF HAVERHILL SELECTBOARD REGULAR MEETING

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Draft Subject to Review, Correction and Approval at Following Meeting

Board Members Present: David Joslin, Peter Heilemann, Robert Maccini and Lynn Wheeler. Roderick Ladd was excused.

Town Manager: Glenn English

Administrative Assistant/Finance Officer: Jo Lacaillade

Members of the Public Present: Howard Hatch, Annemarie Godston, Barb Dutile, Wayne Fortier, Harold Brown, Mike King and Ed Ballam from the Journal Opinion.

Call Meeting to Order:

Vice Chairman Joslin called the meeting to order at 6:01.

Approval of Agenda:

Bob Maccini made a motion to approve the agenda with the following addition under New Business: Budget Presentation; the motion was seconded by Lynn Wheeler and carried unanimously.

Approval of Consent Agenda:

Bob Maccini made a motion to approve the consent agenda; seconded by Lynn Wheeler and carried unanimously.

Scheduled Public Appearance(s) None

Town Manager’s Report:

TM English gave an overview of the grant application through the OEP being submitted for the electrical retrofitting of the Woodsville Armory. The next review will be of the heating system and windows for retrofitting and cost savings estimates. All three areas will be included in the grant application. The other concern with the armory in an environmental assessment; he has asked the DES to do at least a level one, and hopefully a level 2 environment assessment of the property. That should have been done before the building was conveyed; there is a difference of opinion between Town Counsel and the Adjutant Generals Office as to whether that conveyance has occurred.

Public Hearings: None

Pending (Old) Business:

Ø Policy for Acceptance of roads from private to public: This item was tabled until the next meeting.

Ø Building Permit Application Revisions: This item was tabled until the next meeting.

New Business:

Ø Resignation from Recreation Commission: Lynn Wheeler made a motion to accept, with regret, the resignation of Denise Reardon from the Recreation Commission. The motion was seconded by Bob Maccini and carried unanimously. Lynn Wheeler wanted to thank all of the volunteers, including Denise, for all the hard work they do for the Recreation Commission.

Ø Letter of Interest to be appointed as a ZBA alternate: Robert Roudebush has submitted a letter of interest to be appointed to the ZBA as an alternate member. The Board asked that he be asked to come to the next meeting for an interview and possible appointment.

Ø Advisory Budget Committee Budget Presentation: There were several members of the budget committee in attendance. TM English reviewed the only major change made to the Town Manager’s proposed budget and that was to the Business Park Paving line which was increased at the advisory budget committee level to allow for a thicker pavement to be laid down. The advisory budget committee members in attendance felt that the committee was pretty much in agreement, as a whole, on the budget presented to the Selectboard. Wayne Fortier said that it was discussed at many of the advisory committee meetings that a person should be hired jointly by the Town and the Schools assigned to overseeing all of the buildings owned by the Haverhill taxpayers; perhaps it could save extensive repair bills down the road if more attention to issues were paid when they first occur. He would like the Selectboard to consider meeting with the School Board to see if they could work jointly to resolve this issue and also work on ways to save money by combining other resources such as plowing. David Joslin felt that it was a school issue and a Town taxpayer issue but Wayne felt it was both. There are a lot of Town buildings that need overseeing. Bob Maccini felt that the thought that Wayne has is okay but he felt that Glenn and Sam watch out for the Town owned buildings and the superintendent watches over the school buildings and a conversation such as this would need to start with the Town Manager and the Superintendent. David Joslin felt that the Town buildings are pretty well maintained except for possibly the Center Haverhill Armory because the Town hasn’t owned it long enough to deal with it. The school system has their own maintenance department and they should be the ones taking care of their own buildings. He doesn’t disagree with the concept but doesn’t feel the Town Selectboard should be telling the school how to maintain their buildings. It they don’t have enough money in their budget for building maintenance they need to address that; if they have the money but aren’t doing it then the voters need to speak up. Wayne Fortier said that the practical matter is that it hasn’t been getting done for years. TM English said that the first thing that gets cut in a school budget is deferred building maintenance budgets; he doesn’t think that is the problem. He felt that there is so little discretionary cutting other than dealing with employees in the school system that the first thing that is cut is athletics, music or building maintenance. Building needs keep getting deferred; he understands what Wayne is saying but it will end up costing the Town government money that they shouldn’t have to spend. It is important that the taxes are apportioned properly. There was a brief discussion as to whether either Board has the authority to enter any joint agreements, the actual number of buildings that are owned by the different entities, and the maintenance done on those buildings. Howard Hatch felt that most people in the community did not feel that they could go to a school meeting and be heard but perhaps the Selectboard would be heard as a group. It would not cost the Selectboard a dollar to try to open up a dialog on the subject. David Joslin said that they have the option to talk to them as a Selectboard but that would be all. TM English said that the public can go to school board meetings and they can go to the school budget hearing and be heard; the problem is people don’t go and then bring these issues to the Town just as Harold (Brown) did last year with regards to the County budget; there are separation in Government and it was designed that way by the legislature. For people to say there is nothing they can do about the school budget is a bigger problem and if they are feeling disenfranchised, that has to be dealt with. The school should be held accountable for their own buildings and if they don’t take care of them the voters should get involved. David Joslin felt that if the Selectboard went to the School Board about their buildings it might be perceived that they were interfering and it might cause a bigger division than there already is. Bob Maccini stated that neither Board has authority over the other. David Joslin said that as a concerned citizen he could go to the School Board meeting but as a Selectboard member he did not feel it would be right. No decision was made regarding a meeting of the two Boards. The Selectboard is scheduled to review the budget at their February 1, 2010 meeting with the Public Hearing on the budget to follow on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 7 pm. This item was not on tonight’s agenda due to the need to have a shorter meeting so that some members of the Selectboard and the Town Manager can attend the Planning Board meeting scheduled at 7 pm to discuss the Town gravel pit at the Center Haverhill Armory property.

Commission/Committee Reports:

Ø WAASC: Lynn Wheeler presented a binder with the work product of the Committees meetings. It includes all of the meeting minutes; the sketches of the facility; and all ideas that were sorted through to develop a final recommendation for the building; grant possibilities; what other communities are doing with Armories they have acquired, etc. A final report with recommendations was provided that includes maintenance that will be needed. She thanked all members of the committee for many dedicated hours of hard work and felt that the process had been successful. Mike King and Howard Hatch who was in attendance and members of the WAASC felt that Lynn Wheeler had done a very good job chairing this committee and getting the project done.

Correspondence: None

Comments of the Public: Barb Dutile stated that usually the Selectboard accepts the Advisory Budget Committees budget for review at their first meeting after the Advisory Budget Committee completes their meetings. AA Lacaillade said that she believed the reason it was not on tonight’s agenda was because of the time line of having to end this meeting in time for the Planning Board meeting.

Comments of the Town Manager/Administrative Assistant-Finance Officer: AA Lacaillade gave the Board a brief overview of the status of the conversion from the old Briteside assessing software to the Avitar software recently acquired. It will be a long process with many hours spent converting information that did not convert and is not expected to be completed until towards the end of 2011.

Comments of Selectboard Members: Bob Maccini stated that he is not running for Selectboard this year and his term is up. The filing period to sign up to run begins January 20^th and goes through the 29^th. He hopes an interested member of the community will step forward. There were many words of appreciation for his years served and the knowledge he shared with other members.

Adjourn Meeting: Lynn Wheeler made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Bob Maccini and carried unanimously. Vice Chairman Joslin adjourned the meeting at 6:47 pm.

Minutes transcribed by Jo Lacaillade