MINUTES OF HAVERHILL SELECTBOARD REGULAR MEETING

Monday, March 1, 2010

Draft Subject to Review, Correction and Approval at Following Meeting

 

Board Members Present: Roderick Ladd, David Joslin, Lynn Wheeler and Peter Heilemann.

 

Town Manager:  Glenn English                                                                   

 

Administrative Assistant/Finance Officer:  Jo Lacaillade

 

Members of the Public Present: Joel Godston, Annemarie Godston, Howard Hatch, Harold Brown, Chief Cecil Smith, Road Agent Sam Clough, Telisa Stewart, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and Maryanne Aldrich, Cottage Hospital.

 

Call Meeting to Order:

 

Chairman Ladd called the meeting to order at 6:00.

 

Approval of Agenda: 

 

Lynn Wheeler made a motion to approve the agenda as presented; seconded by Peter Heilemann and carried unanimously.

 

Approval of Consent Agenda:

 

David Joslin made a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented; seconded by Peter Heilemann and carried unanimously.

 

Town Manager’s Report:

 

TM English stated that as of that morning the PSNH bulletin still had 47 residents in the Town of Haverhill without power. Estimates of damage and costs of cleanup are being provided and at some point counties that reach certain thresholds will be named as FEMA disasters. If that happens, the Town will apply to recoup costs associated with the storm.

 

Pending (Old) Business:

 

Talisa Stewart hadn’t arrived so the Board moved on to old business.

 

Ř  Agriculture Commission: TM English provided what information he had obtained regarding Towns that have already established an Agricultural Commission; none are currently in place in Grafton or Coos County Towns. He was unable to find anything that gives the Selectboard the authority to establish this commission without it being approved at Town Meeting. Lynn Wheeler said that she had talked with Attorney Wood and he suggested that if the Town was interested in pursuing this that perhaps they could establish an ad hoc committee to do some of the research to be ready to make a presentation to the voters at Town Meeting. TM English was asked to contact some of the Towns that currently have an Agriculture Commission to see what process they used to establish this commission.

 

Scheduled Public Appearance(s)

 

Ř  Telisa Stewart-Norris Cotton Cancer Center: Telisa and Maryanne Aldrich spoke about a community action program being co-sponsored by the Norris Cotton Cancer Center and Cottage Hospital to promote community awareness of cancer prevention including using sun block, tobacco ceasation, fitness and nutrition and cancer screenings. The Haverhill/Woodsville area is the first one selected to start this program and it will be very visible at most large events to help get the message out. There was a brief discussion regarding what programs will be utilized and Telisa said they will only address areas that the public wants to take part in, they are not here to push a program on people that do not want them. This is not part of a research program; they need to do rural community outreach and this is part of that. Cottage Hospital joined in this effort to promote community awareness and by teaming with Norris Cotton Cancer Center it provides the funding that will help get the word out.

 

 

Public Hearings:  None

 

Pending (Old) Business:

Ř  Annual Town Manager Review: Tabled until later in the meeting.

 

New Business: 

 

Ř  Center Haverhill Armory-Land Clearing: TM English reviewed the bids that were received this clearing project. The low bidder was Chief Logging and they are also a member of the Lower Cohase Chamber of Commerce which gives them the local advantage also.  The amount of the low bid for the project is $6,750. Sam gave an overview of what the project will entail and buffer zones that will be left and the berm; he is planning on planting a row of trees and put a gate in on the top side at some point. There was a brief discussion regarding the intent to cut that is required and the timber tax that will have to be determined at the end of the project. The bid procedures were reviewed with the Board and the Town Manager has the authority to award this bid under that policy.

 

Road Agent Clough said that the Town roads would be posted tomorrow.

 

Ř  Armory Considerations: (Interim Revenue options): Gary Scruton had contacted TM English with a possible lease of the Woodsville Armory for a private dinner and dance. After further discussion it was decided that the Town Manager will draft a policy for introduction at the next Selectboard meeting with action on that policy being the last meeting in March. That time line will probably not work for this potential rental but it was thought that the policy needs to be carefully considered and adopted using the normal process. TM English was asked to provide Attorney Wood a copy of the policy for his input also. Chairman Ladd spoke of First Student being done at the end of the school year and he asked Howard Hatch if the next bus company was going to rent from him because it had been mentioned to Chairman Ladd that perhaps the armory could be leased to them. It was felt that there would not be enough room. There was discussion again that the policy would not be in place in time for the request that was pending.

Ř  Set date for Update on 3rd party life safety/fire inspector process/activity: Chairman Ladd felt that they needed to be brought up to date regarding the progress of building inspections and the process, what is working and what isn’t. The item will be placed on  the agenda for the next meeting.

Ř  Land Bid Acceptance: AA Lacaillade reviewed the two bids that were received for the property located on Court Street in Haverhill: Albert & Kathleen Chase $3,750; Earl Aremburg $3,501. Lynn Wheeler made a motion to accept the bid from Albert & Kathleen Chase in the amount of $3,750 with the condition that the sale is finalized within 60 days of written notification; if this condition is not met the property will be offered to Earl Aremburg. The motion was seconded by Peter Heilemann and carried unanimously. 

Commission/Committee Reports:

 

Lynn Wheeler stated that she was invited to attend a meeting with the downtown Woodsville business people to hold a brainstorming session as to what could be done. Everyone has been assigned tasks and they will be meeting again this week to see what they might do. She was not specifically asked as a Selectboard member but as a member of the community and someone who had worked on the downtown project before when she was with HECC. TM English said that Joel Godston had reached out to Ruth Taylor who is the Main Street director in Lisbon and did so previously for Littleton; she has offered to come to the meeting on the 29th to talk about what is left of that program. The State has pulled out of it but the Federal government is still involved and there is grant money available. Gary Scruton and that business group have also been invited to that meeting. Joel Godston said that he went on to the web and the Main Street program has a good list of things that they do and it is easy to follow. There was some discussion as to the amount of money that is needed to participate and the amount of money that the Town currently invests in Economic Development and the type of commitment that will be needed to pursue this.

 

Correspondence:  

 

Chairman Ladd said that he has been approached by Senator Reynolds regarding a company called Segtel. They are a company that lays fiber optics and their intentions are to initiate fiber here in North Haverhill to Woodsville and then over to Wells River. They also plan on going out Benton Road to the Middle School. There will be other areas of coverage but he has no further information at this time.

 

Comments of the Public:  

 

Joel Godston said that the 14th annual Airport Awareness Day is scheduled for June 5th.

 

Howard Hatch said that he understands why there is a non public session scheduled for the Town Manager review because that is a personnel issue but he was not sure why the other two issues were going to be dealt with in non public sessions. There was discussion as to how long before those minutes would have to be made public and the Board stated that if they vote to seal those minutes that is not the case. Chairman Ladd reviewed the RSA 91:A 3 (c) and (d) and when non public session is allowed for those. It was also confirmed that any action taken would have to be done in public session that the public can attend.

 

Comments of the Town Manager/Administrative Assistant-Finance Officer:   

 

AA Lacaillade updated the Board on the assessing conversion and progress being made. She reiterated that it will be an extensive project that will take up to 18 months to complete. She will make periodic reports to the Board so that they are aware of the status. There was a brief discussion as to reassignment of duties so that AA Lacaillade is freed up from some duties to dedicate more time to this process.

 

Comments of Selectboard Members:  None

 

Non Public Session pursuant to RSA 91:A:3 (d) –SAU 23 Lease Response Report: Lynn Wheeler made a motion to go into non public session to discuss a property lease; the motion was seconded by David Joslin and carried unanimously. Chairman Ladd polled the Board and all agreed to enter non public session. The Board entered non public session at 7:20 pm. Peter Heilemann made a motion to come out of non public session at 8:09. No motions were made, no actions were taken and the minutes are to be sealed; the motion was seconded by Lynn Wheeler and carried unanimously.

 

Non Public Session pursuant to RSA 91:A:3 (c) –Business Park Listing Contract: Lynn Wheeler made a motion to go into non public session to discuss the Business Park Listing Contract; the motion was seconded by David Joslin and carried unanimously. Chairman Ladd polled the Board and all agreed to enter non public session. The Board entered non public session at 8:10 pm. Lynn Wheeler made a motion to come out of non public session at 8:22; the motion was seconded by Peter Heilemann and carried unanimously. No motions were made, no actions were taken and the minutes are to be sealed.

 

Annual Town Manager Review: This item was tabled until the March 15, 2010 meeting.

 

Adjourn Meeting:  Peter Heilemann made a motion to adjourn, seconded by David Joslin and carried unanimously. Chairman Ladd adjourned the meeting at 8:26 pm.

 

Minutes transcribed by Jo Lacaillade