NEWBURY BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MINUTES OF MARCH 26, 2007 MEETING
Selectmen: Richard, Wright, Gary Budd
Town Personnel: Dennis Pavlicek, Town Administrator; Shelly Candidus, Admin. Assistant; Cal Prussman, Highway Admin.
Public: Paul Groulx, Deane Geddes, Charlie Hirshberg, Steve Russell, Dick Dietrich, Bill Daigle
Pavlicek convened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. He asked for nominations for Chairman of the Selectboard. Wright nominated Powell; Budd seconded. Powell was elected Chair. The InterTown-Record was named paper of record.
APPOINTMENTS:
Cal Prussman came before the Board to present several purchase orders for discussion and approval:
1. Rental of mower from Tenco for $5,750. Approved.
2. Contract for road sweeping from Mike Rabbit up to $5,500. Approved.
3. Roadbed stone for Rollins Road and Stoney Brook Road from Henniker Sand & Gravel at a cost of $2,888.32. Approved.
4. Purchase of a one-ton 2007 Chevy truck with accessories from Dartmouth Motors for $20,100 (includes trade-in allowance of $12,500 for 2001 Chevy). Approved.
5. Purchase of sander, plows, and hardware for new truck from E.W. Sleeper for $11,391. Approved.
Paul Groulx appeared before the Board to present the town Emergency Management
Directory/Operations Plan Manual. He explained that this manual nullifies all previous emergency management manuals and was a joint effort involving Highway, Police, Fire and Town Administrator input. It will be updated annually. The Board of Selectmen signed the manual. Copies will be available at the Safety Services building, Town Office and on CD Rom.
REGULAR BUSINESS:
PAYROLL & ACCOUNTS PAYABLE: Week ending March 24, 2007 approved.
MINUTES: Minutes of March 12, 2007 approved to file.
ABATEMENTS/REFUNDS/EXEMPTIONS: As part of an update of all Veterans’
Exemptions issued by the town, 5 were approved and an additional 5 will be submitted to the
Board after review by the assessor.
OLD BUSINESS:
Pavlicek reported that an appeal of assessment of town property heard in Superior Court
ended with a decision from the judge that no disproportionality had been shown and the town’s
assessment was upheld.
Regarding the position of supervisor at the Transfer Station, the Board advised Pavlicek
to advertise the job in the Kearsarge Shopper and the InterTown-Record as soon as possible.
The Board deferred discussion of a Selectmen’s project until the next meeting when all
the Board members will be present.
Wright reported that he will talk to contractors regarding the access road and field layout
at Fishersfield. He expressed concern that since all the estimates that are in hand are three years
old, funds may be insufficient at this time to do the work.
Pavlicek reported that state grant aid is in place for replacement of two bridges
with funds to be available in 2012 or 2013.
NEW BUSINESS:
The Board signed a Purchase Order for a traffic control sign from VerMac Worksafe Traffic Control for $14,700, to be partially offset by Highway Safety Grant funds, as approved at Town Meeting.
The Board signed two Current Use applications.
The Board signed a one-year renewable lease agreement with a town property owner allowing him to access his boathouse by crossing over town property.
Pavlicek presented information from PSNH “New Hampshire Saves” describing various types of energy-saving lighting for office and outdoor use. The Board agreed that he should look into these options and follow up.
The Board noted a letter and annual report from Lake Sunapee VNA thanking the town for financial support for 2007.
The Board moved to adopt the Welfare Guidelines amended as of March 26, 2007. The motion passed. The Board also approved the 2007 Welfare Assistance Guidelines submitted by the Family Services Director.
The Board approved a 2.3 percent cost-of-living increase for all eligible part-time and full-time employees as of April 2, 2007.
APPOINTMENT:
Charlie Hirshberg, Steve Russell, Dietrich and Bill Daigle appeared before the Board to discuss a grant for erosion control work at Chalk Pond. The DES has provided $14,500 in funds for the first year, requiring a 40 percent town match which is being met by time expended by town officials and others involved in the project. Hirshberg explained that the goal is to develop a storm management plan as an overlay district for the Chalk Pond area. This, in turn, could lead to formulating an ordinance for the whole town to be developed from the measures taken to control the local problem at Chalk Pond. Hirshberg and the Sunapee Hill Association are working to get a draft overlay plan in place to be presented at next year’s town meeting. The data they are gathering for
the Chalk Pond project can be used later by the Planning Board.
The Chalk Pond project will involve looking at stabilizing every building site in the Chalk Pond area to reduce the impact of run-off. There are 77 such lots involved, not all necessarily in the steep slopes area. After site stabilizations have been defined, they will need to be enforced. Hirshberg recommended that the town Code Enforcement Officer should be involved in the enforcement process.
Hirshberg said a guideline manual will be produced to deal with storm water and erosion problems and corrective measures. He provided the Board with a “Scope of Services” list of tasks and related costs for their review. DES will provide funding as the tasks are completed and will require quarterly reports. Pavlicek noted that engineering costs will be reimbursed by the grant and the town will provide 40 percent of matching funds, which will easily be met by man-hours of town personnel and volunteers billed at $18 per hours.
Dietrich noted that the DES is looking to encourage such overlays all over the state, using the Lake Sunapee area as a model. The plan is to develop a watershed comprised of all the communities around the lake, and to involve SAWC (Sunapee Area Watershed Coalition). The Sunapee Hills Association is forming a committee to include Chalk Pond residents, Bill Weiler, Deane Geddes, and others as liaisons to their group. They will e-mail meeting minutes to Pavlicek, who will send them to the selectmen.
Daigle mentioned that specific run-off issues have arisen on Crest Road which impact Skytop Road and eventually the pond. He asked if water could be diverted from Crest Road by using a larger or an additional culvert across Skytop. Wright said that might be possible, but salt and contamination would have to be considered. He asked if there was any land at Crest Road to make a retention pond. Hirshberg said not enough flat area was available. Daigle said perhaps the salt run-off could be contained along the side of Crest Road itself.
Hirshberg noted that the project is about to start and signatures will be forthcoming.
On another note, Hirshberg discussed a run-off and drainage problem at the Highway Garage with the Board. He noted that there continues to be infiltration of water onto the adjoining property belonging to Willow Pond. Plans presented to the property owner last year to divert the water were not acted on. Wright suggested that the town dig into the rock line in the wet area, add a liner, and pump it if necessary. The water should be diverted to the front wetlands and a fence would be put in place. This would be the least costly and easiest fix. Hirshberg will talk to Prussman about digging out the area.
NON-PUBLIC SESSION:
The Board voted to go into non-public session under RSA 91-A:3, II, a-e at 8:20 to discuss possible candidates for the Transfer Station supervisor’s job. No decisions were reached. The Board came out of non-public session at 8:25 p.m.
MEETING ADJOURNED at 8:30 p.m.
NEXT REGULAR MEETING: Monday, April 9, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Office.
_______________________ _____________________ _______________________
James M. Powell Richard Wright Gary Budd
sc/Mar26//07 NEWBURY BOARD OF SELECTMEN
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