MINUTES OF HAVERHILL SELECTBOARD REGULAR MEETING

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

 

Board Members Present: Roderick Ladd, David Joslin, and Peter Conrad. Bob Maccini and Peter Heilemann excused.

 

Town Manager: Glenn English

 

Administrative Assistant/Finance Officer:  Jo Lacaillade

 

Members of the Public Present: Sandy Schmid, Joel Godston, Winston Currier, Raymond Haynes, Tom Friel, Dick Guy, Harold Haskins, Robert Clifford, Sam Clough, Harold Brown, Gary Fournier and Paul Forcier.

 

Call Meeting to Order:

 

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

 

Approval of Agenda: 

 

David Joslin made a motion to amend the agenda to add Woodsville Road funding under old business; seconded by Peter Conrad and carried unanimously. David Joslin made a motion to approve the agenda as amended; seconded by Peter Conrad and carried unanimously.

 

Approval of Consent Agenda:

 

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

 

Public Appearances:

¯    Raymond Haynes was in attendance as well as Gary Fournier, assessor for Purvis and Associates. At a previous meeting Mary Pinkham-Langer, Gravel Tax Appraiser for the DRA had briefed the Board regarding Current Use Penalties and the circumstances that make this excavation subject to those penalties. The Board had asked for the assessor to come to a meeting to explain how the value per acre was determined. Gary Fournier stated that he had valued this property like all other excavation sites in the area and gave an example of another excavation in Town this year that had received a current use penalty at the same value per acre. Mr. Haynes stated that the product was being used on a State road project and that he had received services not money for the product. Merrill Construction is leveling a pasture for him with the removal of the product. AA Lacaillade reminded the Board that at the previous meeting Ms. Pinkham-Langer had explained that in order to get an exception from taxation for this that Mr. Haynes would have had to apply and get approval for the project before any excavation took place; he did not do so. She also said that the law clearly states that an exchange of services equals a value for the product. Mr. Haynes stated that he did not feel this excavation should be treated like a gravel pit because there is no face; the material is not going to be used year in and year out. This is just a clearing and leveling project. TM English felt it was important to remember that this is considered an excavation which does not necessarily mean gravel pit. Chairman Ladd asked if there was still material leaving the site to which Mr. Haynes said yes. Chairman Ladd stated that there is another issue with this in that Mr. Haynes does not have the permitting required to operate the excavations and that is an issue the Planning Board needs to address. Chairman Ladd advised Mr. Haynes that he needs to get his paperwork in order with the Planning Board if he intends to keep removing product from either area of excavation on his property. Peter Conrad made a motion to deny the application for abatement and support the assessorÕs penalty for removing it from current use; seconded by David Joslin and carried unanimously.

¯    Tom Friel-Page Road Pole License: Tom Friel voiced a concern about a pole license that is before the Selectboard tonight. He wanted to be certain that the poles are being placed in the right of way and not on his property. He and Road Agent Sam Clough have reviewed the survey of the property and the proposed placement of the poles and it appears that they will be in the right of way. Peter Conrad made a motion to grant the pole licenses as requested by New Hampshire Public Service with the condition that the poles are placed within the Town right of way; David Joslin seconded the motion which carried unanimously.

 

Town ManagerÕs Report:

 

         TM English reviewed the status of the park grant with the Board. His last     communication from the NHDOT is that this is going to have to be a TE project that            will require engineering and there might have to be a site assessment. He has had            many   conversations with the State regarding these changes but their hands are tied by Federal             Highway. He had redone the scope of services and there is some money that has been         appropriated by Town Meeting that could be pulled from the grant    match and used now         to get some of the projects done. The Heritage Commission is paying for the kiosk with      their own money and they want to reserve the money in the grant that was to be for the          kiosk to use in refurbishing a caboose that they have purchased that will go onsite at the      park. He gave an overview of what some of those projects could be. Chairman Ladd      asked why the Town is being asked to do all of these steps when the grant was approved    several years ago. TM English stated that the grant request was originally submitted to             the OEP and they were the State Agency that was administering the scenic byway grants     at that time. Since then, the Federal Highway intervened; had some issues with all of the            StateÕs scenic byway projects, froze all the projects and the State made the decision to          take all of the projects away from the OEP and give them to the DOT. The Town money        has been appropriated as a non lapsing appropriation so it will still be there when the new    grant is approved but it will take some time. The recreation commission will be asked to       determine what playground equipment they are looking for and a cost for that           equipment.

 

            TM English stated that he has been approached several times in the past couple of    weeks regarding the middle school issue. He feels there is a lot of confusion in the             mind of the public as to what is going on and who is responsible. It needs to be made          clear to all that the Town Government, the Town Manager and the Selectmen are             not       drivers of this bus and even though the Town assesses the property and sends out the tax    bills for the schools, county and Town we are not the decision makers in this instance.    People need to focus on the school board and the superintendent of schools if they have      questions, concerns and issues.

 

            TM English said that the Town had received a nice letter from Glenn Libby from     the       Grafton Department of Corrections thanking the Town for the use of the facility for their           training for new Correction Officers and being able to hold their graduation ceremony         here. He thanked Robert Clifford for all of his assistance.

 

Pending (Old) Business:

¯    Airport Commission-NPIAS: The Airport Commission provided the Selectboard with information in response to their concerns about the NPIAS program. Information provided include changes that are being made to the Airport Master Plan; information received from other Towns that are already in the NPIAS that indicates their experiences thus far; and responses to the Selectboard directives from the August 18, 2008 meeting. A brief discussion ensued about the property owned by the HensonÕs and the status of the clearing project that needs to be done for safety issues. There was also discussion about the rerouting of Airport Road and how that might be done and where the funds would come from to do so. It was explained that a project such as that could be done through the NPIAS program. Peter Conrad asked that the item be tabled until the next meeting when there is a full board in attendance before a vote is taken.

¯      Revised Personnel Policy Manual: The Board reviewed the changes made to the Personnel Policy requested at the previous meeting. TM English felt that one area that needed further consideration was under the sexual harassment section where it states that Board members will be advised in all situations. Because they would be the appeal Board for someone that felt they hadnÕt been treated fairly. TM English stated that he should not advise the Board of specifics of an ongoing investigation. A recommended wording change will be made that clarifies what notification the Board will receive and will be incorporated for the next meeting. The other area that TM English felt they needed to give more thought to was the weapons section. He has done a lot of research on that and has talked to an attorney at LGC about Constitutional issues. There is no Constitutional problem with prohibiting weapons on Town property or in Town buildings. This issue was tabled until the next meeting when the full board will review it and consider it for adoption.

¯      Use of Gym Application: David Joslin made a motion to approve the Gym use application from the Haverhill Cooperative Middle School for basketball practice at no fee with proof of insurance submitted. The motion was seconded by Peter Conrad and carried unanimously.

 

New Business:

 

¯    Land Bid Openings: The bids received were opened and recorded as follows: Map 208 Lot 061 on Court Street in Haverhill Corner: Albert & Kathleen Chase $5,000 with a payment plan, Paul Thomas $1,067, Gary Nadeau $2,275, Robert Borkowski $2,300, and Robert McHugh $1,000; Map 411 Lot 040 Paul Thomas $4,667, Jim Elliott $4,000, Gary Nadeau $4,628, Robert Borkowski $2,300 and Robert McHugh $1,000. The Board discussed the payment plan method proposed by one of the bidders and it was the opinion of the Board that they did not want to get involved in the mortgage business. Chairman Ladd stated that there is some question as to whether the lot in Haverhill Corner is a build able lot due to the zoning in that area. David Joslin made a motion to reject all bids on both lots, seconded by Peter Conrad and carried unanimously. TM English was requested to find out if the properties could be listed with a realtor instead of the auction process and if the Town canÕt list the property put it back up for bid.

¯    Building Permit Resolution and Fee Schedule: This item was tabled until the next meeting.

¯    Authority to Sign Homeland Security Grants: David Joslin made a motion to allow the Town Manager to sign Homeland Security Grants, seconded by Peter Conrad and carried unanimously.

¯    Woodsville Road Funding: Chairman Ladd reported that the Selectboard had met with the Woodsville Precinct Commissioners to discuss the reallocation of funds paid to Woodsville for maintenance of their roads. A brief discussion ensued as to information already gathered to help determine the amount that needs to be allocated from the Highway Block Grant funds to the Woodsville Precinct but there is more information needed to finalize that formula. The percentage of the highway budget paid to Woodsville is set by Statute and a change to that has been submitted to Senator Reynolds for sponsorship at the next session. This change would allow the percentage paid to Woodsville to be determined by the MS1 report of total assessed value for the Town as compared to the percentage of assessed value in the MS1 for the Woodsville Precinct. This item was tabled until the next Selectboard meeting.

 

Commission/Committee Reports: None

 

Correspondence:

 

Chairman Ladd referred to a letter received from North Country Council regarding the Regional Coordinated Transit Plan and whether it was of any value to this Town. TM English stated that it is a requirement that this plan has to be updated each year. There is a meeting on a Regional Transit System on November 5th at Cottage Hospital that the Board was encouraged to attend. There is also a November 5th Cohase Chamber of Commerce Regional Meeting.

 

Comments of the Public:

 

Harold Brown commented on the Airport issue by saying ŌKeep the planes high, donÕt cut the treesĶ. He also wanted to comment on the gun issue because people may go hunting in the morning and come to work with the gun in their car. He believes the Board should leave this issue alone. He said that the jail also has transportation issues with work release for inmates and counseling, there is no transportation for them.

 

Paul Forcier asked if the policy that they are considering bans firearms from the property or just the buildings. TM English said that what he is researching is whether an owner of a property can prohibit firearms from the property and the answer he got was yes. Paul asked if the person has permission to carry a firearm and have it in their car how would they be able to come onto the property with this policy. TM English said that it is being considered for the building, not property. Chairman Ladd said that they had reviewed this issue at the previous meeting and the Board had felt that it needed to be removed from the policy manual. TM English wanted to make the Board aware that it is a liability issue; if someone comes in and shoots an employee it is a WorkerÕs Comp issue, if an employee shoots someone on Town property it is a liability issue. 

 

Comments of the Town Manager/Admin. Assistant-Finance Officer:

 

TM English said that his only comment is that the Town has an obligation to protect its employees.

 

Chairman Ladd asked what the status of the generator project is. TM English said that all infrastructure is in and we are awaiting the delivery of the generator. When that installation is

completed it will just be a matter of the fencing. It should be within 2 weeks and he wanted the Board to know that the grant money for the project has been received.

 

 

Comments of Selectboard Members: None

 

Other Business: None

 

Sign Manifest and Other Warrants: Done

 

Adjourn Meeting:  Peter Conrad made a motion to adjourn, seconded by David Joslin and carried unanimously.  Chairman Ladd adjourned the meeting at 8:00 pm.

 

Minutes transcribed by Jo A. Lacaillade

 

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