TOWN OF TUFTONBORO

MEETING OF THE SELECTMEN

Monday February 12, 2007

 

*Accepted* 2/20/07

 

Selectmen present: Chip Albee, Susan Weeks and Bill Stockman.

 

Selectmen reviewed mail, which included:  Letter from Melvin Village Marina re: boat registrations; Letter from NHDES re: Delinquent Expansion of Landfill Groundwater Management Zone; HEB Engineers Client Service Evaluation; Property Transfers from Kenneth & Mary Craigue to Jacqueline & Daniel Williams, Anthony Lyon to Larry & Sharon Blake; Approval for Operation for J. Willard Marriott Jr., Dianne McKenzie, Cecile/William Law; Approval for Construction for Kenneth/Mary Craigue; Standard Dredge & Fill for Joanne Green; Copy of response from Trustee David Haeger to NHDRA re: closed funds; Coalition Communities; Courtesy Notice of Hearing from Planning Board re: CJ Winny; Fuel usage for Code Officer, Fire and Police; 2007 Warrant for review; Copy of Police Dept. Town Report; Primex Awareness in Action; Business Review; Legislative Bulletin #7.

 

Items for Signature: 

 

 

At approximately 8:30 Selectman Weeks made a motion to go into non-public session pursuant to RSA 91-A: 3 II (c) to discuss a personnel issue. Selectman Stockman seconded the motion. Roll call: Chairman Albee – yes, Selectman Weeks – yes, Selectman Stockman – yes.

 

Waste Management Contract.

 

At 9:13 am Chairman Albee called the meeting to order, with the first order of business a review of the 2/5/07 minutes. Selectman Weeks made a correction and made a motion to accept the minutes as corrected. Seconded by Selectman Stockman, with all in favor. The minutes of Non-Public session #1 were approved as written. Selectman Weeks made a motion to seal the minutes indefinitely. Seconded by Chairman Albee with all in favor. Selectman Weeks made a motion to accept Non-Public session #2 as written. Seconded by Chairman Albee with all in favor.

 

At approximately 9:15 Selectmen met with Transfer Station Supervisor Fred Sargent and Attendant Scott Greenwood. Mr. Greenwood reported that the septic system had frozen up again as it had done 2 years ago. DJ’s Septic was in over the weekend, pumped it out and said it should be okay until it thaws. Mr. Greenwood advised that he had started looking into the fees charged by other towns for the disposal of electronics. He also advised that NRRA is compiling information about all facilities in NH. The Selectmen said that the idea is to encourage recycling.  The composting bins will be offered for sale and a sample would be displayed at the Transfer Station.

 

At approximately 9:20 Selectmen met with Code Officer Jack Parsons. Mr. Parsons reported that he has completed 52 inspections so far this year, there have been 2 new house permits and there are 8 permits in total. Mr. Parsons will be on vacation at the end of the month and has contacted Lane Evans to have him check for phone messages. There should not be any problem as he has been advising contractors all along.

 

The Town Administrator asked if the selectmen would be scheduling a meeting for 2/20 as Monday the 19th is a holiday. Selectman Weeks said that the meeting had already been scheduled for 3:30 with the bond hearing to follow at 6 pm. The weather conditions for the 2/14 open house was discussed. The selectmen decided that the snow date would coincide with the open house at the fire stations on 2/24.

 

The Town Administrator reported the following:

  • Two help wanted advertisements were drafted with input from the police chief and administrative assistant and will be placed in the Granite State News and Laconia Citizen.
  • There are 3 proposals for website maintenance:
    1. Cloud9 Design – least expensive
    2. Virtual Town Hall
    3. Village Web Design – most expensive

 

Ms Forrester favored the Virtual Town Hall except that it would cost $3000 to design a new website and $1900 a year in maintenance. Village Web would cost $8000 and Cloud9 was a $75 per hour fee for a short term contract with the possibility of renegotiating to create a long term contract. Joe Kowalski asked who would own the website if Virtual Town Hall creates a new one for the town. Ms. Forrester will check into that question. After some discussion the selectmen thought that they would hire Cloud9 until they make a decision for the future. Chairman Albee made a motion to accept Cloud9 Design’s proposal for website maintenance for the short term. Seconded by Selectman Stockman with all in favor.

 

  • Carol Woods of the NH Electric Coop will be calling this week to schedule the energy audit.
  • An updated calendar and pending item list was given to the selectmen
  • Investigated several grant opportunities – Hamburger Helper to help pay for recycling, swing set, etc. and the EPA to help with planning policies.
  • Received updated information from bond counsel. Spoke to counsel to inquire about coming to the hearing. NH Municipal Bond Bank was also contacted and would be available at the beginning of the meeting to explain the process. The Selectmen did not feel it was necessary to have bond counsel attend the hearing.
  • Will take care of arrangements for the open house.

 

Mr. Kowalski reported on the Transportation Committee meeting he attended last week. The committee has hired a consultant on how to proceed with the project. About 40 people attended. A major focus is transportation for seniors. There is another meeting scheduled for next month.

 

At approximately 9:50 Selectmen met with David Hynes from the Department of Revenue Administration. Mr. Hynes advised that his review and the review of the Board of Tax and Land Appeals showed no issues or concerns with the 2005 revaluation of the town. Mr. Hynes said his main reason to meet with the selectmen was to inform them of new legislation (RSA 11J:14b), which states that the town must comply with Uniform Standard #6 effective 4/1/07in which it states that the report of the reval must be complete, cognitive and transparent. The report must explain the reval to the community so that the average person can understand it. The DRA has prepared an assessing manual for the towns; the first version is on the DRA website. Mr. Hynes also informed the selectmen that any assessing contracts must be forwarded to DRA for review before being signed and that multi-year contracts are not allowed. Any contract that has been signed is null and void. MRI will be contacted to prepare a new contract. Mr. Hynes addressed the assessment review report and the deficiencies with the credits and exemptions that need to be corrected this year. DRA has templates that can be used to send to residents to reapply for their exemptions and credits. There is also an issue with current use, with many properties not having a map delineating the current use and not in current use areas.

Selectman Stockman questioned proposed legislation increasing the gravel tax from $.02 to $.50 with the state getting some of the revenue. Mr. Hynes said that this is still pending.

 

Chairman Albee will compose a letter to be sent our representatives in the state legislature regarding the new boat registration procedures.

 

Selectman Weeks will do the first draft of a selectmen’s report for the Town Report.

 

Selectman Weeks said she was not happy with the editorial in the GSN last week regarding the cell tower application that is coming before the Planning Board at their regularly scheduled meeting on 2/15. She stated that all involved parties followed proper procedure and the meetings were noticed as required by law. There was no attempt to keep the application from residents.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 am.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Carolyn Sundquist

Administrative Assistant