Alexandria Selectmen’s Meeting
July 19, 2007
Members Present: Peg Reilly and Cindy Williams
Members Absent: Don Gangemi
Others Present: George Whittaker, Bill Hall, Frank Hinkle and Christie Phelps
Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Frank Hinkle
Frank: Project 54 gave the police department the wrong console pieces; the correct ones are being ordered. Frank said there have been some rumors about the police department being in the towing business because they have a tow package and winch on the new cruiser. Rest assured they are not. Cindy said she heard it was in a newspaper article. Peg urged Frank to tout the department’s statistics in the newspaper. Frank said he would invite the media to a meeting soon as he wants to do another commendation presentation. Peg let Frank know that the selectmen met with the auditor and he explained that all grants must have the signature of the selectmen and the selectmen’s office must have copies of the applications and any other paperwork. Peg said that the selectmen will be writing a policy on this subject that will cover all departments in the town. With regard to the dog warrant, Frank said that Lynn is working on culling down the list as she is pretty familiar with animals in town. Once this has happened, Frank, Cat and Lynn will make reminder phone calls rather than sending letters. Frank let the selectmen know that if a call comes in that is a Fish and Game problem, Grafton County Dispatch automatically directs the call the Fish and Game. They do not contact an Alexandria Police Officer. Animal control calls are directed to Lynn Kenney. If the matter poses an immediate threat, Frank is to be called so an officer can accompany Lynn.
George: The town is now officially in the National Flood Insurance Program. There is an amendment to Section 3 that will need to be presented to the voters at town meeting.
Signature Items:
A settlement agreement was signed for Ed &
Barbara Skroback. As agreed, the town is
going to refund the application fee they paid to BTLA.
A memo to the tax collector was signed
indicating that for security reasons, she will not
be given access to change addresses in the assessing software.
A letter to Mr. Fredericks was signed in regard to Washburn Road
A Personnel Action Request was signed
A building permit was signed for David Smith
Intents to Cut were signed for Glen Copatch and Dillon Investments.
Follow-ups:
Building: Still waiting for installation of bunk
Flood Insurance Program: Town has been approved; paperwork will be forthcoming.
Old Business:
Grants: Need policy regarding applying for grants.
New Business:
Sye Ali Road: A reestablishment of the
road was plotted by Colin Brown of Central
Land Surveying. The selectmen asked Christie to research the
correct procedure for
approving the layout and notifying the abutters.
Cindy asked that a particular property on
Smith River Road be visited to see how many
residences are there. Also, she requested that Christie send a
letter requesting copies of the
septic plans for the lot and how many units are being lived in.
Peg said that the board needs to take a formal
vote on the awarding of the Washburn Road
Bridge contract to Dubois and King. Cindy made a motion to award
the contract to Dubois
& King; Peg seconded the motion and it was passed by a vote of 2-0.
Peg also asked where the gravel pit information
had come from; Christie said that Cindy just
brought it in this evening. Cindy would like Peg and Don to review
her notes from a meeting
with Mary Pinkham Langer.
Christie read a note from Maggie that stated
there will be a Community Day Meeting on July
30 at 6:00 p.m. in the old town hall.
On September 18 at 10:00 a.m. the Grafton County Commissioners; Martha Richards, Michael Cryons, Ray Burton and Mark Scalano of Economic Development and perhaps some other members of state and local government will be arriving for a tour of Alexandria. They expect and hope to meet as many town officials as possible. They would specifically like a walking tour of the town, including historical society building. Martha will be in touch later with a better idea on the number of people and they would like to be able to provide a light lunch or refreshments following the tour.
A check was received today
for $59.46 for the last load of paper that went out. A
reimbursement was received from the state for the forest fire training
that was attended by some members of the
department.
A letter was received from Avitar outlining four land use change tax bills that need to be prepped. Christie will have these ready for next week’s meeting.
Christie received a visit from
Jason, the town’s new account representative from Waste Mgt.
They have discovered that Alexandria does not have a contract and has not had an
increase in disposal costs since 2000. Therefore, as of August 1, the haul
charge will go from $115 to $199; the disposal cost per ton will go from $62 to
$75 per ton. Christie has calculated that disposal for the remainder of the
year will cost an additional $7100. There is sufficient room within the
transfer station budget to absorb this increase. So far this year 45.25 tons of
paper has been disposed of that would otherwise have been placed in the
compactor. Christie noted, however, that the cost of disposal of the regular
trash in the compactor is still at the same level as last year, indicating that
trash is increasing in volume. Doug had suggested that Bestway and Casella be
contacted to see if they would like to give the town a price on trash disposal
at the same time that Waste is developing a contract. Christie put a note in
the budget book stating that Doug feels the town may have to purchase another
compactor in 2008.
The volunteer policy is still being worked on.
Christie asked if the draft reply
to the state regarding assessing practices is acceptable. It will
be put in final form for signature next week. Peg stated that she was pleased
to see that the state had few comments to make regarding the towns assessing
practices. Cindy said the town has worked hard on the project.
Christie said that Jeff Cantara will not be in tonight but he wanted her to ask the selectmen to trust his judgment with regard to the decision he needs to make on purchasing gravel. It will be in the town’s best interests over the long haul, not just the short one.
Peg said that last week the selectmen were informed that the state will pay the 12.5% portion of last year’s flood. Peg asked how much that amounts to and what happens to the money. Christie said any excess over the actual cost of the flood will go to the unreserved fund balance. The amount should be approximately $16,500.
Peg asked that a mowing bid be issued so there is a budget figure for next year.
Peg asked how many people responded to the assessor’s letter. Christie said there were approximately 86, but the assessor has been checking messages even this week, so the number may be higher.
Cindy asked about perambulations. Christie said that the abutting towns are willing to share the cost of the project if Colin will give us an estimate. Cindy suggested that Grafton be done this coming year. Christie will get in touch with Colin and inform Grafton.
There has been no letter sent to Dean Benton. Christie said that she knows that Jeff has been working with him on the guardrail issue.
Cindy asked to borrow the copy of the town’s emergency management plan to review.
Cindy told Christie that Maggie wanted to come to the current use workshop that Alexandria is hosting. Christie explained it is mostly for assessors, selectmen and others who work with current use on a regular basis; it is not geared for the property owner who has current use assessment on their land.
Cindy asked if Doug Paterson had tried to get the Waste Management guy to not increase the rates for the town until next year. Christie said she did not know what Doug discussed with him, but she knew that the town could absorb the increased cost. Cindy asked about the electronics disposal and the cost of having that for the remainder of the year. Christie said that the cost will be minimal as there is a company that supplies the container for no cost. The only cost is hauling and disposing. It takes about 3-4 months for the container to fill up. It was determined that additional recycling needs to be researched. More recycling also means that additional personnel would be needed at the station.
George said that the agenda notes hazard mitigation meets on the 4th Wednesday of the month; it is actually the 4th Friday. George said NH the Beautiful has grants for equipment to be used for baling, shredding, etc. Christie explained that she has called NH the Beautiful and they have grants for equipment used to collect and dispose of used oil. They also have signs that can be obtained through no or low cost.
Cindy asked if the Avitar person that is in town can provide an assessment for a property. Christie explained that he is only a lister/measurer. Cindy would like a market value of the transfer station property, less the equipment that already belongs to the town. Cindy is working on trying to be able to have the town purchase the two acres they are using. Bill Hall asked if any of the land that can be taken for taxes next year could be used. Christie explained that any land taken should be kept for three years because the former owner has that amount of time in which to come to the town and say they want their land back.
Cindy asked if the town can require the mortgage company to remove a mobile home they have a lien on. Peg said the mortgage company has a lien on both the land and building. Christie said that no one has yet filed as fiduciary agent on that particular estate.
Cindy asked Christie to follow up with Chris Boldt on Prestige Development.
Adjournment:
Cindy made a motion to adjourn the meeting
at 7:20 p.m.; the motion was seconded by
Peg and passed by a vote of 2-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Christie Phelps,
Admin. Assistant