MINUTES OF HAVERHILL SELECTBOARD REGULAR
MEETING
Monday, April 27, 2009
Board Members Present: Roderick Ladd,
Peter Conrad, David Joslin, Bob Maccini and Peter Heilemann.
Town Manager: Glenn English
Administrative Assistant/Finance Officer: Jo Lacaillade,
excused
Members of the Public Present: Doug Henson,
Sam Clough, Terry Lorber, Stephen Virgin, Everett Henson, Dr. Edwin Blaisdell,
Shawn Bigelow, Ed Woods, Don Hammond, Annemarie Godston, Joel Godston, and Ed
Ballam from the Journal Opinion.
Call Meeting to Order:
Chairman Ladd called the
meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.
Approval of Agenda:
Bob Maccini made a motion to
approve the agenda as presented; seconded by Dave Joslin and carried
unanimously.
Approval
of Consent Agenda:
Dave
Joslin made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented; seconded by Peter
Conrad and carried unanimously.
Scheduled Public Hearing – Appropriation of Funds made
Available During the Year pursuant to RSA 31:95-b – Haverhill Police Dept. JAG Grant
TM English reported that the
Selectmen have authority, by town meeting, to accept federal, state or private
grants during the year in essence amending the Town budget if those funds
become available. We have applied for a
JAG grant for the Police Department in the amount of $32, 637 to purchase
upgrades to their communications system and in order to accept this grant the
Board needs to hold a public hearing and vote to accept these funds and we
would set up a revenue and expenditure account in this amount. Bob Maccini made a motion to go into public
hearing, seconded by Dave Joslin and all approved. Rick Ladd asked for public input or if
anyone needed further information. Bob
Maccini explained that the purpose of the grant was to purchase and install radio
equipment to cure the dead spots in the Town where the Police Dept can’t get through to Dispatch. This will involve a repeater someplace up
near Swiftwater Road by the Hospital.
There are no strings attached to the grant, it’s a one time purchase. There is no match or future cost to
Town. Don Hammond asked if there are
any yearly expenses to the equipment.
TM English said there are incidental expenses of a telephone charge and there
will be maintenance expenses over time.
Bob Maccini said it’s not like previous LEAA grants where they pay for
this year and in return the recipient has an obligation in future years. Rick Ladd said there will be some minor
expense. He further stated the problem
is dead spots in communication from the hospital and schools and it is
important to correct this. He said there’s
no strings attached. TM English said
the other COPS grant, that we didn’t apply for, pays costs for 3 years,
requires a fourth year of recipient payments and then ends. TM English said this is no different than
the Fire Depts. getting fire trucks or equipment through Homeland Security and
then they own it and have to maintain it. Ed Ballam asked if there would be any
benefit to the fire departments from this new equipment. TM English said there was no direct benefit
mentioned by the Police Department for the fire departments but there would be
the indirect benefit of improved emergency communications which should help
everybody. There was no further input.
Bob Maccini made a motion to
come out of public hearing, seconded by Dave Joslin and all approved. Peter Conrad made a motion to accept the
JAG grant funds and to amend the 2009 town budget by $32,637 pursuant to RSA
31:95-b, seconded by Dave Joslin and all approved.
Scheduled Public Appearances:
Dr. Edwin Blaisdell – Excavation pit restoration
Dr. Blaisdell was in to ask
the Selectboard for permission to restore his excavation to within 20 feet of
the Town property (former Armory). He
said he has written permission from two of his abutters to come within 10 feet
of their boundary and from one other abutter to come within 20 feet. This is allowed by the 155E statute. He said he has seen Sam’s plan for the
eventual Town pit and hopefully the people in Concord will forgive the 10 foot
distance so we won’t have berm between the two pits. He
said Sam’s plans were to stay pretty much at the same depth as his pit so there
will be a pretty level playing field.
He said with any of the 10 foot abutters they have actually stayed more
than 10 feet away. Rick Ladd asked if
this was appropriate to come here or should it go to the Planning Board. TM English said RSA 155E the State statute,
which our regulations are based on, allows agreeing abutters to negotiate these
set- backs. It also allows, as Dr.
Blaisdell said, the Town to open their pit and mine the rest of the remaining
material. It makes no sense to leave a
berm between those two pits which will create drainage problems and waste the material.
He suggested that the Board enter into
an agreement with Dr. Blaisdell granting his request and commiting him, as an
approving abutter, to allowing the Town, when our pit begins operation, to take
the rest of the material along the boundary between the two pits. That is the way Sam designed the Town
pit. He referred to the diagram of the
two pits. Bob Maccini said as he reads
155E:10, b-2 “…the excavation shall not
be within 50 feet of the boundary of a disapproving abutter, or within 10 feet
of the boundary of an approving abutter, unless requested by said approving
abutter”. So that says you can be closer
than 10 feet if requested by an approving abutter, even nothing. So if we entered into that kind of agreement
with Dr. Blaisdell we could eliminate restoring a buffer in between the pits. TM
English said as a result all the material would be mined and Dr. Blaisdell
would be able to mine additional material and the Town will be able to mine
additional material which will help the taxpayers. The Town does not have to get a Gravel
Permit from the Planning Board, however the Town is required to abide by the
operational requirements and the restoration requirements of the State law. So we will go to the Planning Board with
this restoration plan and operating plan which is what we did for the pit down
in Haverhill on the Underhill property.
He said it would be appropriate to enter into an agreement with Dr.
Blaisdell prior to going to the Planning Board. Bob Maccini re-stated that in order for Dr.
Blaisdell to come closer than 50 feet from the Town property we need to enter
into a documented agreement that we don’t object and on our side, if Dr. Blaisdell agrees that we can come closer
than 10 feet, it would seem appropriate to have all these agreements in place
before Dr. Blaisdell or the Town goes back to the Planning Board. Rick Ladd also asked if the Town also wanted
access to our pit through the Blaisdell property. TM English said yes. Sam Clough agreed. Pete Conrad asked if this was all subject
to approval of the Planning Board? TM
English said no. It meets the State
law. The Town pit will not be a
commercial pit, it is a “Highway Excavation”.
Peter Conrad said he was concerned that we were altering some lines and
that would be a Planning Board issue.
TM English said we are not altering any boundary lines, we are making an
adjustment to the set-backs. Bob
Maccini asked if the Planning Board would have to agree to an alteration in Dr.
Blaisdell’s restoration plan. TM
English said he didn’t think so because he has an approving abutter and that is
what the state law and our regulations say.
Bob Maccini said 155E was fairly clear to him. Dr. Blaisdell invited the Selectboard
members to come out at any time and see his gravel pit. He
said that the lower pit was grandfathered but the Planning Board controls the
upper pit. The Board members all felt
that this approach was good if we follow proper procedure. Bob Maccini said he didn’t see any
negatives in this approach. TM English
said Sam will go to the Planning Board and present the operational and
reclamation plan and this agreement for informational purposes. Sam said he has some prep work to do before
we can take material out. He needs to
go the Planning Board, set up his boundaries, get the land cleared and
grubbed. There will be a vegetative
buffer of at least 100 feet between the Town pit and the other abutters. There was further discussion of the
proposed Town pit. Dr. Blaisdell
expressed some drainage concerns. He
has blocked run-off from his pit to the Connecticut River and wanted to make
sure the Town will as well. Sam Clough
agreed. There was discussion that the
ground water depth averages about 50 feet below the floor of the pit. The State requirement is four feet above
groundwater and Dr. Blasdell said he is going to stay at least 30 feet above
the Aquifer. There is a monitoring well
there. Doug Henson asked about truck
traffic to and from the pit. Sam Clough
said the primary entrance and exit will be off of Rt. 116 but they would be
bringing winter sand back to the Town Garage as they are doing now on Airport
Road. Bob Maccini made a motion for the
Town Manager and Road Agent to finalize the proposed agreement between the Town
and Dr. Blaisdell as to reducing the buffer zones pursuant to 155E: 10,
seconded by Dave Joslin and all approved.
Town Manager’s Report:
TM English reported that the
towns of Haverhill and Bath have won an award from Plan NH for the Covered Bridge
Project. He also noted that Peter
Kimball had given the Town a beautifully
framed photo of the Covered Bridge and
it is now hanging on the meeting room wall.
He has drafted a letter of thanks to Peter from the Board. The North Country Council would like to
hold an electronics recycling day here on Saturday, June 6th. For a $5.00 fee folks can drop off any
quantity of electronic equipment. No
cost to the Town. TM English reported
that the Swine Flu Risk is very low in New Hampshire at the moment. Emergency Management Director Robbins and
Cottage Hospital staff were up to speed on the
Issue. The Hospital is a good
source of information for the public. We’ve
also got some advisories from the State.
There have been no cases reported in New Hampshire yet. TM English asked the Chair to sign the Sewer
Hook up agreement for White Mountains Biodiesel which has been signed by the
Woodsville Fire District and had been previously approved by the Selectboard..
Dave Joslin made a motion to thank
Peter Kimball for the photograph, seconded by
Peter Heilemann and all
approved. Peter Heilemann noted that he
had recently had eye surgery and that’s why he was wearing the patch on his
glasses.
Pending (Old) Business:
Ø Agreement re: Life Safety Code/Fire Code 3rd Party Inspections
TM English reported
that the Woodsville Fire District Commissioners and Fire Chief have not yet signed
the agreement due to concerns about the 4 year term. TM English reiterated that the reasons for
the 4 year term is that it is such a big change to the current system why would
you do it for one or two years and also could we attract a qualified inspector
for a short term commitment. Chairman
Ladd said of all the Districts, Woodsville stands to gain the most from this
new system. Bob Maccini agreed. The
Board directed TM English to invite the Woodsville Fire District Commissioners
to the next Board meeting to discuss this.
Ø
Town By-laws,
Ordinances
Bob Maccini made a motion to table this issue until next meeting,
seconded by Dave Joslin and all approved.
New Business:
Ø
Discussion of
Business Park Water Pressure Issues – North Haverhill Water & Light
Commissioners
North Haverhill Water and Light Commissioners Shawn Bigelow and Ed Woods
were present along with their engineers Terry Lorber and Steve Virgin. Chairman Ladd thanked the commissioners for
coming and asked for an update on the water pressure issue with White Mountain
Biodiesel and the Business Park. Shawn
Bigelow said originally they were going to do a big upgrade, over $500,000, to
change pipe on Cold Spring Drive. That
was through stimulus money and they were so low on the approval list that they
decided not to pursue that issue. By
request of their taxpayers at their annual meeting they got a second opinion
from a lawyer on the agreement with the Town who says they are fine in terms of
meeting the terms agreement. That said,
what they’ve done is look into it a little further with their engineers and
they’ve come back with a revised plan to tie Airport Road into the Business
Park 12 inch line and shut the valve off at the Rt. 116 end to give the Park
adequate pressure and in the future they may have to do something on Rt. 116 and
in the Business Park to provide extra fire flow. The pressures shown on the model will give
the Park ample pressure and ample flow.
He introduced Terry Lorber and Steve Virgin. Bob Maccini wanted to know if there was adequate pressure on the Rt. 116
line and the Business park line feeds from there why is the pressure in the
Park inadequate? Shawn Bigelow said the
pressure is not there on the Rt. 116 main and Upper Valley Press has a pump to
increase pressure for more than domestic use.
He said they knew eventually that
Airport Road was going to be tied into the Business Park but they didn’t know
how. Terry Lorber said they have remodeled
everything. The Business Park is on
the low pressure zone with the old tank.
The flow is there but there is inadequate pressure. In connecting to the Airport Road line the
pressure and flow will increase. The
only way to tell for sure is to make the connection. There was discussion of the types of
businesses going into the Park. TM
English said that the issue is that sprinkler systems are mandated by the fire
and life safety codes and they have to have adequate pressure to do that. Don Hammond said that the municipality is
not required to give adequate pressure.
TM English said what he was saying was does the municipality require
sprinkers in any building in that Park.
Shawn Bigelow said those are State Fire codes. So the people have to do it. Pressure requirements were discussed. Don Hammond said the height of Presby’s
building is the problem, it’s as high as the reservoir. Rick Ladd asked if there was enough flow to
fill the 12 inch line up? Don Hammond
said they flowed over a thousand gallons a minute out of one of those hydrants
in the Park. They can get all the fire
water they want. Rick Ladd asked how
the shut off of the valve at the Rt. 116 side would affect houses down the
road. There is no affect. He asked how much pipe would be required to
tie-in to Airport Rd. Shawn Bigelow
estimated less than 200 feet. Bob
Maccini thought more like 100 feet.
Doug Henson asked if the people on Airport Road would need pressure
reduction valves. No one thought
so. Don Hammond asked if there could
be an automatic valve on the Benton Rd. side so the Fire Department could get
the flow they need to fight a fire in the Park. Steve Virgin said the pressure and flow
should be adequate from the Airport Road end.
Don Hammond disagreed citing the six inch main on Cold Spring Dr. Steve Virgin said the modeling was done
assuming a six inch main on Cold Spring Drive. Bob Maccini said that you couldn’t hold 75
pounds of pressure in the Park for sprinklers if the valve at the Rt.116 end
was opened. Steve Virgin asked if the
valve should be filled with concrete.
Bob Maccini felt the most cost-effective solution would be put a post
indicator on the valve with a padlock and give the fire department the
key. Don Hammond said the best thing
would be for Presby to put a pump in.
TM English said you are killing the marketability of the Business Park
if you insist on those people having to pay for this stuff. What’s it going to cost for each lot,
$40,000 to put in a pumping system? Shawn Bigelow asked if the municipality should
pay the $40,000 cost? TM English said
the District and the Town are getting the tax benefit of these businesses
locating here. Shawn Bigelow said they
have a letter from their lawyer that says they don’t have to do this. TM English said we have an opinion that you
do so do we want to fight in Court?
Rick Ladd asked everyone to calm down.
He asked how large the tank is at Lime Kiln. Don Hammond said 130,000 gal. He said if you hook a fire truck onto that
6 inch line you’re not going to get any water to fight a fire. Bob Maccini said the sprinkler system, which
is going to fight the fire to begin with, is going to be non-functional if the
fire department opens that valve to get their flow. So the most cost effective solution for
everybody is to put a post indicator valve on the Rt. 116 end of the Business Park main and put
a padlock on it and give the key to the fire department. There was further discussion of the
effectiveness of the sprinkler system in case of a fire and sprinkler system
required pressures. Terry Lorber
suggested we proceed to make the connection to Airport Road main and see what
we get for flow and pressure. Bob
Maccini estimated that installing the post indicator and extending the line to
Airport Road shouldn’t be more than $5,000 - 6,000. Shawn Bigelow said they would like to
proceed with the connection to bring everybody’s pressure up. They may have to upgrade Cold Spring Drive’s
main at some point in the future. TM
English said that basically over the years this has been a cobbled system. Shawn Bigelow agreed. Bob Maccini said for domestic water it
wasn’t a problem but now with these sprinkler systems you need more pressure
even though the volume is there for the hydrants. TM English asked if there was a way to test
this with a fire truck. Shawn Bigelow
said the best test right now would be the school which has just tied into the Airport
Rd. system. Their sprinkler system is
running at 50 psi in the school. It
passed the test. He is assuming the
same thing will happen for the Park main when it is tied into the Airport Rd.
main. Presby’s building being a lower
elevation than the school should increase the pressure. Everett Henson asked
what the sprinkler system is for concrete or steel? Don Hammond said to wet down the diesel
fuel. Everett Henson said he was taught
that you never wet down a gas fire with water.
More discussion ensued about codes.
Dave Joslin said he assumed the tanks are enclosed and the sprinkler
system is for anything in the building outside the tanks that would burn. Rick Ladd said this information was helpful. Bob Maccini asked when this construction was
going to happen. Shawn Bigelow said
the engineers have to get them an actual proposal. The commissioners are authorized by their
annual meeting to raise up to $497,000 based
on a loan /grant from the State but that’s not going to happen. Bob Maccini said the cost should not be very
high. Don Hammond said you Selectmen
ought to say it would be to his (Presby’s) advantage to put a pump in and leave
things alone. TM English said that
doesn’t help the other lots if we are going to spend $40,000 per lot times
eight to solve this problem. Bob
Maccini wasn’t sure what that price represents but he thought there might also
be back-power required as well. Rick
Ladd wished the commissioners good luck with the project. He was sorry that the DES funding was not
the answer. TM English said it was
outrageous for the State to take all that stimulus money and then force the individual
applicants to come up with 50% matches. Rick Ladd said he tried to argue the point
with DES. You get a better deal from
Rural Development. A lot of towns are
passing up the stimulus money because of these match requirements. Rick Ladd thanked the Commissioners, fire
chief and engineers for coming with the information.
Commission/Committee Reports: none
Correspondence:
TM
English reported that the Board had received a letter from Dr. Jerry Lyons,
Chair of the Airport Commission, asking for a decision from the Selectboard on
whether the Town wished to join the NPIAS Program. Rick Ladd expressed concerns that if the Town
joins NPIAS there will be strings attached whether we do projects or not. The other Board members agreed. After a long discussion of the NPIAS Program
the Board decided to review the material they had been given and to ask Dr.
Lyons and other Commission members to attend the next meeting and walk the
Board through the newly amended Airport Master Plan.
Comments of the Public:
Everett Henson stated that
people had spoken to him about the Airport and they have concerns about
expansion. He felt that the decision
whether or not to join the NPIAS program was an important one and should not be
made by 5 Selectmen but by town meeting where more people could participate.
Comments of the Town Manager:
TM English reported that
the RFP for recycling services has been advertised in the Bridge Weekly, Union
Leader and Caledonian and bids were due back
by May 22nd. He also
mailed specifications to the two local trash haulers.
Comments of Selectboard Members: None
Adjourn Meeting: Bob Maccini made a motion to adjourn, seconded
by Peter Heilemann and all approved.
The meeting was adjourned by Chairman Ladd at
7:31 pm.
Minutes
transcribed by Glenn English