MINUTES OF HAVERHILL SELECTBOARD REGULAR MEETING

Monday, March 2, 2009

 

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

 

Town Manager:  Glenn English                                                        

 

Administrative Assistant/Finance Officer:  Jo Lacaillade, excused

 

Members of the Public Present:  Joel Godston, Annemarie Godston,  Raymond S. Burton.

 

Call Meeting to Order:

 

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

 

Approval of Agenda: 

 

Dave Joslin made a motion to approve the agenda as presented; seconded by Bob Maccini and carried unanimously.

 

Approval of Consent Agenda:

 

Dave Joslin made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented; seconded by Bob Maccini and carried unanimously.

 

Scheduled Public Appearances:   Raymond S. Burton,  Grafton County Commissioner

Ray Burton was present to speak about County Government.   He makes a report to the towns every two years.   Mr. Burton referred to the annual report of the County and left copies for the Board.    The front burner issues were discussed including the down sizing of the Grafton County Jail, project from 206 to 162 beds.    The Commissioners have asked their consulting firm for a cost estimate for a 162 bed facility.   Other issues are the County departmental budget requests, it is the feeling of the Commissioners that there will be no new positions this year and they are looking at, as a result of a study done by an energy committee, building a biomass plant on the campus to develop steam throughout the campus.    The consultant estimates a cost of $4.2 million for two boilers.     The estimate in fuel cost each year is $500,000.    Commissioner Burton expected that this will be in the new budget with bonding recommended over a number of years.    They are also looking at geo-thermal energy from groundwater as a source of heat.    They are still trying to come to conclusion on the water tank with the Woodsville Water & Light Department.     His guess is that the County will own it and operate it to provide the necessary water to fight fires on the campus.   Mr. Burton refereed to a fire several years ago where there was a lack of water.   The fire departments encouraged this process.   There is no agreement in writing with the Woodsville Water & Light District and should have been but negotiations continue.    The County may end up in the water business.    The Nursing Home continues to receive awards and remains deficiency free.   This is a high moment in County Government.   The Home is full most of the time and there is a waiting list because of the high quality of care.   The Farm continues to operate but the Farm manager would like to sell some of the herd to get it to manageable size and help the revenue budget.   The Farm lost $28,000 last year.   The Commissioners don’t feel that this is a major budget problem and theysupport the use of inmate labor in the Farm.   The County houses UNH Cooperative Extension, a very active group.   They recently hired a new County Forester.   Mr. Burton spoke about the Drug Court.   This is an alternative supervision program in lieu of incarceration.    He said the program has been successful.   If there are problems the individuals are put back into incarceration.   He said that approximately 90% of the participants are successful.   He feels this is a positive part of corrections and a good alternative to incarceration.    The new state prison in Berlin will be full and the county jails have high populations.   The county association, all ten counties,  lost in Supreme Court challenging the Medicaid reimbursement deficiencies from the State as an unfunded mandate.    Mr. Burton said he expected more pass down of costs from the State to the counties.    He asked for any questions.

 

Rick Ladd asked about, in terms of Mr. Burton’s executive council position,  the House Bill HB 644 dealing with the state gas tax.   The proposal is to go up on the tax in 5 cent increments over the next 3 years from 18, to 23 to 28 cents.   Rick said he got a report from the Republican Party saying they cannot support this bill.    He said he is having a difficult time with it.   As he reads the bill 12% of the increase is to come back to the towns as part of the Highway Block Grant.    This would be a gain for us.  Rick asked for input on this bill from TM English.   TM English stated that Ray Burton has been out in front on this issue and has supported the need for a gas tax increase as have the regional planning commission, the regional transportation advisory committee, the NH State Association of Regional Planning Commissions,  and economic development groups.   Something must be done to raise revenues to repair the State’s roads which are in terrible condition.   He said that if you look at the cost to individual drivers for auto and truck repairs, alignments, blown tires, broken springs etc. from driving on these crummy roads that is a significant cost.  He said the Town has invested significant dollars in our own roads and some of them are better than the State roads.   The roads are getting beat up by the heavy truck traffic.   Rick Ladd said the projection is that for the average driver, who drives 10,000 miles per year the gas tax increase would be about $25 per year.   TM English said the latest “scam” at both the federal and state level is to put the gas tax increase on hold because of alternative fuels and that we need to go to a mileage tax.    He said that the alternative fuel impacts are years down the road and we need to address the gas tax now.   It’s another stalling technique to put off the problem.   TM English said he didn’t like tax increases but as a driver he didn’t mind paying a gas tax increase because he uses the roads and should pay for the cost of upkeep.  Bob Maccini was concerned that any increases go into the Highway Trust fund and not be diverted to other state departments as is currently occurring.   Rick Ladd said the bill as currently crafted limits the increased funding to highway and bridge improvements only.   Ray Burton confirmed that.   Mr. Burton stated that the State has over 4,000 miles of roads and under the current budget we are planning on doing 211 miles of paving this year.    In previous years 400 or 500 miles have been paved.    It would take 30 years to pave the whole State secondary road system at 211 miles per year.   Mr. Burton said that he had heard that the Republican leadership were taking no position on this bill.   It came out of the Committee 13-3 to support this.   The sponsors have done good work building coalitions on this as has the Municipal Association.   The idea is getting good traction.   The NH Motor Transport Association is opposing this bill.    Their plan is an annual 2 cent increase for the next 10 years.   It’s now in the Legislature’s hands.   Mr. Burton urged the bills passage because the roads are becoming unsafe for travel.   There was a compromise in the Committee on the diesel fuel tax that doesn’t kick in till the 2nd or 3rd year.    Peter Conrad asked whether the County Home was providing laundry and food service for the jail?   Mr. Burton said yes they were.  Peter asked if that was to continue in the new jail    instead of setting up a new facility within and duplicating cost?   Mr. Burton said that assuming the new jail facility is built it does include a laundry and full dietary department for corrections use only.   They have had internal discussions with the Nursing Home administrator about this issue.   He believes strongly that inmate labor, under supervision,  should be used but that has created some problems in the Nursing Home with inappropriate relationships between inmates and employees.   They’ve dealt with that but it goes with running a jail.   The Nursing Home union contract raises questions about Nursing Home employees supervising inmates.   Mr. Burton said inmate labor will be used in the new jail and we will be using home grown vegetables, whenever possible, in the new jail and nursing home.  Mr. Burton said they have considered consolidation but it is the view of the commissioners that the new county jail should have its own kitchen and laundry.   Mr. Conrad asked if this would be an extra cost.   Mr. Burton said additional inmate labor will be used in the new jail.   Mr. Joslin asked if the nursing home dietary or laundry staff would be downsized accordingly?   Mr. Burton said yes it certainly will and that job reductions could occur.   Mr. Conrad said it sounds logical not to duplicate facilities.   He complemented the use of second story space in the jail to reduce the footprint.      Mr. Burton said when the consultant report comes in on the cost of the downsized jail that the figure will be made public since the County is a transparent government and all information will be made public and through the web site.   Mr. Conrad asked for clarification on the cost of the new boilers and the fuel costs.  Mr. Burton clarified that they would save $500,000 a year in full costs.   This comes from a certified study.   Mr. Conrad said this was a good idea.   Mr. Burton said the wood needed would come from within a two mile radius of the site.  Bob Maccini asked if the Farm loosing the money could be attributed to more restrictions on inmate labor?   Mr. Burton said no, it’s the price of milk going down from a high of $21 per hundred-weight and it is now down to $14-15.   And the price of grain is up.   They try to keep a very healthy herd to keep the vet bills low.    They have had to cut back somewhat on the quality of the grain.   Mr. Conrad said he strongly supports the Farm.   Mr. Burton said the State Director of Corrections would like to put more minimum security inmates out on electronic surveillance saving $30,000 per year in housing cost and reducing it to $8,000 which can be charged to the inmate.   This will end up being decided by the General Court in this session.   If more inmates are put out there will be more probation and parole people at the local level.   The County is a landlord for  probation and parole officers, the Superior Court, and a small office for the Dept. of Motor Vehicles in the Grafton County Court House.   Mr. Conrad commended the County for the inmate work programs which really have helped the community.   TM English noted that in NJ county jails have been forced to house state prisoners as the state prisons became overcrowded and the reimbursement did not cover the cost to the counties.   He warned Mr. Burton to be on the lookout for this downshifting which could happen here as well.    Mr. Burton encouraged the Board to request projects from Glen Libby the Head of Corrections.   Rick Ladd said he had heard the geo-thermal and biomass presentation and it was outstanding.    He asked if when the downsizing of the jail was discussed was the use of these new technologies included?   Mr. Burton said yes that was one of the reasons the whole study was done.   He said the report will be back soon on the new downsized jail.   When they get a figure they will come back to the Delegation for a decision.   Mr. Ladd said he was asked by a person about when the School District meeting was scheduled because people were upset about the tremendous increase in salaries. He asked if the County Commissioners are directing the executive director and the department heads to take a close look at salaries in the next budget cycle.   Mr. Burton said yes but most of the employees are on a schedule andt he didn’t see any major increases in salaries for the coming year.   The Commissioners will come to the Delegation with a very limited budget increase given the economic times.   They deal with one union.   There used to be three but two voted to disband because they felt the employees were being treated well.   One was in the County Jail.    There is still an active union in the nursing home.   Mr. Joslin asked if the Register of Deeds was required to work a certain number of hours.   Mr. Burton said no.   The Register and the other elected officials do not have set hours.   Mr. Maccini noted that they do have to competently perform their jobs.    If they are not doing their jobs can something be done?  Mr. Burton said yes through the budget process the Commissioners and Delegation can exert some pressure.   Peter Conrad said it might be better for some of these jobs to be appointed rather than elected.   Mr. Burton said this has been discussed but County Government political roots are deep and State law governs all of this.   Mr. Joslin asked if there would be a drop in staffing cost with a downsized jail.   Mr. Burton said yes but he didn’t have the numbers yet.   Rick Ladd said O & M costs were a concern.   Mr. Joslin asked if there were plans to use the current jail building for something else, if the new jail is built.  Mr. Burton said it was discussed.   One option is to demolish it.   He said the Haverhill Heritage Commission asked about using it.   Another proposal was to turn it into a poultry farm to sell eggs.   Mr. Burton said these vacant buildings are a concern and he was in favor of finding another use or demolishing them.   TM English suggested using the newer section of the present jail as a juvenile detention facility.   Now all juveniles must be transported to Concord to be housed and this is a high cost to the towns and County for transportation.    There would be an increased cost to the County for staffing, etc. but he thought a regional facility would be good for the North Country.   Mr. Burton stated that the County had looked at a shared facility with Coos,  Belknap  and Carroll County to establish a regional site for juvenile detention.   Now they go to Concord to the Colby House which is proposed to be closed and move these people to the Sununu Youth Center which has a very low population right now.   This is in Manchester.   TM English said that a more local facility would save the police departments and the Grafton County Sheriff’s Department and other sheriff’s departments the high cost of transport to Concord or Manchester.   Rick Ladd asked if there was enough ground water in the aquifer at the County to supply the complex.  Bob Maccini said he didn’t know but it would have to be a bedrock well since the area across Rt. 10 was not aquifer type soils.   There may be enough water from a drilled well to keep the tank system filled.   There was further discussion on the water system issue.   Mr. Burton said if the Board would like to see any particular department head they didn’t have to go through him just feel free to invite them.   Mr. Godston asked about the County Farm herd size.  Mr. Burton said County Government Week will be the first week in May.   There will be an open house on May 11th.    Mr. Burton said if anyone was interested in County pigs or hogs, contact the Farm Manager or Administration.   Mr. Burton left some County literature with the Board and they thanked him for his presentation.

 

Public Hearing(s):  None

 

 

 

Town Manager’s Report:   TM English reported that Jo Lacaillade had surgery last week and she was home and doing well.   She communicates by e-mail on a daily basis.   He expected her to be out the balance of this week and into next week.     Mr. Ladd asked if she could be asked about the annual report being put on the web.

 

Pending (Old) Business:  

 

Ø     ZBA Member Re-appoinments:   TM English reported that Mr. Dannehy and Mr. Guy have been contacted and wished to be re-appointed.   Selectboard representative  Dave Joslin said they both have done a good job and he supported their re-appointments.   TM English reported that Jim Graham, the ZBA Chair, also supported their re-appointments.     Bob Maccini made a motion to re-appointment Richard Guy and Mike Dannehy to the ZBA, seconded by Peter Conrad and all approved.

 

Ø     Agreement re:  Life Safety Code/Fire Code 3rd  Party Inspections:   Rick Ladd noted that at the last meeting the Town Manager was instructed to meet with Town Attorney to review the agreement that the fire chiefs, commissioners and Board would sign for the 3rd party inspector.    TM English reported that he and Town Attorney went through the questions which Chairman Ladd had put together and made an attempt to answer them.  Then they put together a proposed revised agreement which incorporates some of the ideas of the precinct we heard from, which was North Haverhill, and this was all sent to Selectboard members via e-mail and copies placed in the folders.   The main points of contention seemed to be control, liability and hiring of the individual, who the individual reports to.  Both Town Attorney and TM English feel strongly that if the individual is a Town employee or contractor he has to be completely responsible to the Town Manager per the statute and not to the fire chiefs; although the fire chiefs’ input would be valuable to put together a job description or maybe interviewing an initial list of candidates, but the final decision on hiring should be the Town’s.   The other issue is the inspections themselves.   The fire chiefs wish to reserve the right to supersede the Town fire inspector on certain inspections.   This should not be agreed to by the Board.    The Board members reviewed the material provided.   Rick Ladd said it was good that the fire chiefs could work with the Town Manager to develop the qualifications of the job and participate in the interview process.    He said number 3 where the Town fire inspector is empowered and encouraged to consult with the district fire chiefs and number 5 where the Town fire inspector will provide reports of each inspection to the district fire chief are a direct result of feedback from the fire chiefs which is positive.   Rick Ladd asked about the four year term of the agreement.   TM English stated that he felt that it would be a waste to go to a completely new system for 2 years only.   We should specify a little longer term to give it a chance to succeed.   Also we may not be able to hire a qualified inspector for a short two-year term of service;  it’s not much of a commitment to your potential employee or contractor.  He said he would prefer an even longer term for the agreement but in an attempt to compromise he set it at 4 years.     Peter Heilemann agreed that a four year agreement should expand the pool of candidates for the job.    Bob Maccini said it would give the program a chance to be refined and smoothed out over time.   Rick Ladd said we really tried to work with these commissioners.   This agreement is good for them and good for the Town.    TM English said yes but they have to be willing to give up some control and his caution is that the same thing could happen to this that happened with the current inspection system.   The current system was set up to be uniformly administered Town-wide and it wasn’t because the local chiefs had control to change the inspection fees and make other changes.   There are different needs and wants in the different districts and their tendency is to operate the way they’ve always operated.   And this is a major change to go from a parochial, district approach to a Town-wide approach.   Rick Ladd said this proposal is a good attempt , with three separate fire departments, to do something in common.   TM English said yes but the price they pay for that is control.  He said the precinct commissioners will want to exercise input and again he would caution against any input by the precinct commissioners into this system because it will only create problems.    They certainly have a right to see the results of the inspections and be apprised of what the inspector is doing, but they cannot control the specific actions of the Town inspector.    Bob Maccini said he disagreed somewhat.  He said he valued the input of the commissioners on anything at any time but agreed they can’t have say over a specific inspection.   TM English agreed.   Rick Ladd agreed.    TM English said we’ve set up an appeal process from our inspector to the State Fire Marshal.   The appeal process is not from our inspector to the Town Manager or to the Selectboard or to the precinct commissioners.   That is not the appeal process on a specific inspection.   We can all of course have input on the program.    But if the Town inspector is going to have interference on the actual inspections he doesn’t want to do this at all.   Rick Ladd said he thought that was how the process works at the precinct level.   TM English said he wasn’t really sure how it really works.    Rick Ladd said that at the precinct level it goes from the fire chief to the State Fire Marshal and back to the fire chief for his opinion and back to the State Fire Marshal for a decision.   This agreement takes this stuff out of the equation.  TM English said it does and it doesn’t.   The State Fire Marshal may still go back to the local chief on an appeal on something the Town Inspector did.   There is always the potential for politics in this.   There is no such thing as a pure system but what the Town is trying to do, Town Counsel and himself, is to insulate the Town from as much liability as possible for stuff that we can’t control.   Bob Maccini said yes and at the same time have a program that has some consistency and is a little bit arms length.   Rick Ladd said the proposed compromise agreement is appropriate and fair and it meets the intent and incorporates many of the concerns of the fire chiefs.    The communication process is there.   He said he hopes the commissioners will see it that way and the process can be expedited.   TM English asked how the Board would like the agreement presented.   Rick Ladd said to hand deliver the agreement to the commissioners and they need to meet with their chiefs and get all the signatures and submit it back via the commissioners to the Board.   Bob Maccini agreed.  He stated that some minor changes within our intent could be entertained but if the precincts wanted the Town to pick up the ball they need to let us call the shots.   Rick Ladd said he’s not willing to spend any money in the budget for this unless we have the concurrence of all three precincts.   Bob Maccini moved that the Town Manger proceed with transmitting the new draft agreement to the precinct commissioners for their acceptance and the concurrence of their fire chiefs and that it would need to be returned by all 3 fire districts with all commissioners and fire chiefs signing the agreement .  Rick added for a hand delivery to each Commission Chair, seconded by Peter Heilemann and all approved.  

 

New Business:  

 

Ø     Mildred Page Fund Request:  Haverhill Heritage Inc:  TM English said we have the annual request for ’09 from Haverhill Heritage for Alumni Hall.   The request is for $6,000 but there is only $3,184 balance in the Fund.    There are no other requests pending at this time.    They understand that payment would have to be made in installments.   Rick Ladd asked if the money will be used for operating expenses.   TM English said no,  it is to help pay down the loan they took to finish the reconstruction of the Hall.   HHI took a $40,000 loan and TM English said he thought that the balance was down to about $16,000 at this point.   TM English said he had heard that they had a buyer for the Academy building and that the Haverhill Historical Society has applied for a Scenic By-way Grant toward the Pearson Hall restoration as a museum.   Bob Maccini said they basically are asking for us to commit $6,000 as it becomes available.    TM English said we get about $2,000 per quarter so by the end of the year we’ll be over $6,000.   Peter Conrad made a motion to

approve up to $6,000 for the year 2009, seconded by Bob Maccini.                                                                                           Peter Conrad said he doesn’t understand why we are committing all the      money for the year.   If someone else has a need there would be no money   available.   So there is no emergency money set aside.   He would like to see  some money set aside.    Bob Maccini said he agreed but this is a Town fund  and the library has their own fund and the schools have their own fund.    TM English said it only applies to the public buildings in Haverhill Corner,  the only other eligible buildings would be Ladd Street School and the Pearson   Hall/Academy Buildings.    There was no further discussion and the motion was approved. 

 

Ø     Deputy Fire Warden Appointment:   Bob Maccini made a motion to appoint Mike Bonano as a Deputy Fire Warden, seconded by Dave Joslin and all approved.

  

Ø     Gym Usage Request:  There is a request from East Haverhill Academy to use the gym.  Initially they wanted two nights a week and TM English discussed this with Glenn Hatch and they agreed that one night on Tuesday would be OK.    This is for basketball.   It would start ASAP and run through April.   It was discussed that they have their own gym.   Dave Joslin said there has been discussion about Glenn Hatch taking over the gym scheduling.   TM English agreed and he said he had talked to Glenn Hatch about this and he agreed he could do this.   Rick Ladd expressed concerns about cleaning requirements.  It does take money to keep the building clean.   TM English said a fee could be charged.   Bob Maccini said if management is to be turned over to the Rec Director a fee schedule should be developed by the Board.   TM English said the biggest users of the gym is the school system.   If there is a cost to maintain the gym probably 80% could be attributed to school use.    Most of the rest is our own use for recreation, not outside organizations.   Rick Ladd said that once a fee schedule is developed he thinks administration could be handed over to the Recreation Director and it wouldn’t have to come to the Board.   Peter Conrad said that if they cause a clean-up to be required we should charge for that. Bob Maccini made a motion to approve the request contingent upon Glenn Hatch working out a schedule and that any required custodial services will be charged,   Peter Conrad said it was good that people could use the building and if they don’t mess it up there is no fee and if they do it is charged.   TM English noted that the Academy is a tax-payer in Town.    Peter Heilemann said he agreed with charging a fee, if required for clean up.   Rick Ladd said this a private organization and we need to develop a gym use policy to differentiate between private organizations and public organizations and then hand it to Glenn Hatch to administer.   TM English said we have a policy which he can bring to the Board.   There was further discussion about proper supervision.   TM English said we haven’t had a real problem with the gym for several years.   It’s been managed pretty well.   A lot of these issues are overstated.   The motion was seconded by Peter Helimann and all approved.    The Board decided to review gym use policy at the next meeting before turning over administration of gym usage requests to the Recreation Director.

 

Presentations and Awards: None

 

Commission/Committee Reports:    Joel Godston announced that Airport Awareness Day is June 6th this year, rain date June 7th.

 

Correspondence:   TM English noted that a letter was received from the Grafton County Commissioners in response to the Board’s letter about the Jail project.   Copies of the letter are in the Board’s folders.

 

Comments of the Public: Joel Godston noted that New Hampshire’s fuel tax is lower than any other state in New England so we have a long way to go so we could increase that tax.   Rick Ladd noted that despite the fuel tax being higher in other states they are still lower in total price than New Hampshire gas stations.   They always seem to cover that tax.   All were in agreement that the State gas tax could be raised as long as the money wasn’t diverted to some other purpose which has been done in the past.   TM English said NHDOT Commissioner Campbell has been successful in eliminating some of the diversions.

 

Comments of the Town Manager:   Town meeting is March 10th and this is the last Selectboard meeting prior to town meeting and he suggested that the Board members should be prepared to speak to the warrant articles.   Bob Maccini suggested that everybody study the warrant and the speaking assignments can be made at the town meeting.  

 

Comments of Selectboard Members:   Peter Heilemann apologized for missing  meetings because of his night classes.  He graduates on May 16th. 

 

Adjourn Meeting:   Bob Maccini made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Dave Joslin and all approved.   The meeting was adjourned by Chairman Ladd at

7:39 pm.

 

Minutes transcribed by Glenn English