Alexandria Board of Selectmen

October 4, 2007

Work Session:                        Selectmen met with Supervisors of the Checklist, Health Officer and Emergency Management Director to review their 2008 budget requests.  They were also scheduled to meet with the treasurer.  She came in, found that they were running late and due to family needs, asked that they contact her with any questions.  The selectmen made some preliminary
changes on the budgets, but did not vote on any. 

Deliberative Session:

The meeting came to order at 6:10 p.m. with Cindy Williams and Don Gangemi present at members of the board.

Pledge of Allegiance:             Led by Larry Stickney

Distribution of Minutes:        None

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of August 16, September 13 and September 20 were
                                                approved by Selectman Williams and Selectman Gangemi

Department Heads

Jeff Cantara:  The highway department has begun its fall grading cycle.  Anticipates being under on his overall budget, but will be over on some individual lines.  A roller was renting to go behind the grader. They are also completing some ditching work.  Mowing has been completed.  Don Gangemi asked how the town pays for hydro seeding; by gallon, by load, by square foot.  Jeff said the company he used does it be the load.  In front of the cemetery will be a special seed mixture.  Don said there was a lot of spray on the telephone poles and rocks, but he realizes it is not easy to turn that on and off.  Don asked Jeff, for budget time, to compose a report showing how much he has saved by reusing culvert and bits of material. 

Kate Barrett:  The conservation commission has a new chairman, Don Gagnon.  The members have been attending the Law Lecture Series and have found it quite interesting.  The committee should have their by-laws completed by the end of the month.  Kate apologized to Don for the mix-up in last week’s meeting.  Kate asked that anyone who received a survey from the watershed committee please fill it out and return it.  Kate asked if the power plant is being started up.  Christie said the town has not received any copies of a permit application.  Christie also said that DES has not replied to the request from the town to review DeRoma’s project on Town Pound Road.  Kate said because the town has not completed it natural resources inventory, they cannot make a determination of what may be “prime wetlands”.  There will be a need to have a hydrologist delineate prime wetlands.  Don suggested that the Grafton County Soils Survey goes into tremendous detail and may be of some help.

Items Requiring Signature:

A purchase order for Gould Equipment in the amount of $7,479.05 for the fuel tank was approved.  Don had a question regarding whether the price included a containment system.  Jeff explained that these tanks are self-contained; you can see the ones in Bridgewater.  A concrete pad will have to be poured for the tank to sit on.  Cindy said there was also a question as to whether a bigger tank was needed over the 1,000 gallon one proposed. Jeff said that is what they have now, and it works.  Christie explained that the warrant article did not contain enough money for a larger tank.

            A check in the amount of $1,000 for Gould equipment was signed.  This is a deposit on the item
            as the town is a new customer.

Purchase orders for BH Hydro seeding, Northeast Tire (1440), Carl Matthews Equipment (2700)
and Southworth Milton (1200) were approved. Don pointed out that the way that Jeff did the
Southworth Milton purchase order was good; it had the competing prices listed on the order. Jeff
stated that he is planning on doing blanket purchase orders after doing his research on pricing in the spring.

The audit requirement acknowledgement for the 2006 flood was signed.  This states that the town will keep all records available for review should the state of federal government feel the need to see them.

            A building permit was signed for Jason Cazeault on McMurphy Road.

            Veteran’s credits were signed for William Lorden and George Morrison.

            An intent to cut for Robert Paine on North Road was signed.

Old Business:

Gove Electric is supposed to come to the town hall next week to look at the timers for the outside lights and to repair a bathroom fan.  The town is also waiting for information on the
combination heat/smoke detectors.  

Cole Hill Road-The highway department is scheduling pipe work on the Class V section
this fall.  At some point in time, Jeff will draw a map to show where he feels water turns should
be.   Leave this project on list.

            Karl Gordon Road Culvert can be taken off the list. Jeff’s crew will hopefully be working on
            that next week. 

Eastman Hill can be taken off the list; we are now waiting for the planning board to inform the selectmen that conditions have been met and building permits can be issues as long as building ordinance items are met.  Certain lots will be eligible for building permits once the road, as per the agreement with the planning board, is improved.  Remaining lots will require further road upgrades in order to be considered for building permits.

Transfer Station Land:  reminder for Cindy to be working on that project.  Jeff stated that should the time come when the towns owns that property, the lower level should house the containers and the upper level be used for vehicles to drive up and drop their items over a guardrail or other type of fencing down into the containers.

Building Issues:  need diverter over police entry.  Christie said she has not heard from ADA; is
she supposed to call them.  She was encouraged to confirm receipt of the e-mail. 

Prestige Development:  There is an amount due of some $5,227, which represents the principal  

Prestige Development is most likely responsible for; however, Prestige Development is
defunct.  The association is offering the town $2,500 in full settlement of this issue.  The attorney states that the town needs to look at cost versus benefit.  Cindy said that the town cannot go to tax deed as they have been billing the wrong person. 

Reclamation Bid:  Jeff will provide Christie with a list of local contractors to send the specifications to.

Fuel Tank Project:  Plans have been received from the engineer.  One has been sent to the state, one to the Fire Marshall’s Office and one to keep in the office.

Wolf Refuge:  Christie sent an e-mail from the attorney citing several statutes.  Jeff looked at the road and the bridge.  He said it is up to the selectmen what they want the improvements to be.  The ordinance covers the road itself.  The bridge needs redecking; the fire department will not allow any apparatus over the bridge.  Cindy asked if the state would look at it and make any recommendations.  Jeff said he would call Nancy Mayville to find out, but he cannot expend money on a Class VI road.  Don said he has done a lot of research since last week on dog rescues and requirements.  Larry’s points last week about taking things slow and with baby steps was very well stated.  The town needs to know what is going to happen with a well for the animals and any residents.  Septic is an issue; how the pens are going to be constructed and other items need to be determined.   Personally, Don does not see how all of this work can be done by the owner’s date of November 1.  The owner said that they came to the town in February to ask what restrictions were in place that would prohibit them from doing this.  Cindy said that you need a septic system if there are going to be year round residents.  She also said that she did not realize when they came in February that there was a bridge involved.  The owner said they plan to redeck the bridge.  They are working on the refuge on weekends.  Don said he thought that the owners would have been working on this property ever since February in order to get it ready for November.  The reply was that the closing on the property just took place a couple of weeks ago.  Don said the web page for the site has been long stating that the move to Alexandria would be happening, and they have been soliciting funds for the move. His concern is that the town is going to need to see some written plans on the bridge, size of the pack, size of pens, how many are going to be built.  The owner replied that there are no statutes in place that require this information.  Carol Panaggio said that the state oversees the operation.  The general consensus is that the owner should have done more planning, but the town has no regulations against the refuge or building permit requirements for other than the residential building.  The owner is working on a right of way to access the property and said they would be using ATVs to get up there for the time being until the road is improved.  Bill Hall suggested that the town let the abutting property owners know about the refuge.  Don suggested that next week’s meeting be devoted to the wolf dog topic and that he bring in people that are very familiar with this type of operation to do a presentation.  Cindy said as long as they abide by the law, she doesn’t see what regulation the town has over them other than proper access, septic system, etc.  The owner said that Fish & Game does not get involved in the process because the animals are considered domestic.  Larry Stickney asked about a wetlands permit for the bridge; the owner indicated he had talked with DES and found out that he can redeck the bridge without a permit.  He can also replace a culvert with one of the same size without a permit.  Jeff said that if the owner redecks the bridge, there will have to be an engineer’s letter that states what the load limit is for the bridge.  Neither the town nor the road agent can do that.  Don Gangemi asked the owner what happens if November 1 comes and these things have not been done.  The reply was that they would live up on the property in tents, if necessary.  The animals will be up there and they will use ATVs to haul supplies.  They will haul septage off-site.  Don said that there were some issues with these particular owners in Massachusetts when they were in charge of another facility, and he also cited that they have had problems in Lempster.  There has been more than the one escape that was told to the selectmen.  Carol Panaggio stated that there is no zoning in Alexandria, so these people can have their facility.  Jeff’s concern is the ability for the town to respond to emergencies that may occur.  Carol said if he signs the waiver, there should not be any problem.  Chet Caron pointed out that outhouses are still legal in this state, so the septic issue can be easily solved for now. 

New Business

Light Duty Policy:      The selectmen decided to go with the longer version of a light duty policy.
                                    Christie will prep it for signature.

Contract with Dubois & King:           Send to town counsel for review

Waste Management Contract:                      Selectmen and transfer station operator to review

Report of Receivables:          Total receivables are $630,986.18, including penalties and interest.  Of that amount $330,659.00 is from 2004 and before.

Propane Repair:         Jeff had noticed a gas smell near the propane tanks at the highway garage. 
                                    Christie called Dead River and they came and made a repair.

Maggie Memo:          Don did not agree to release Frank’s response to the Maggie memos until he and Cindy have had a chance to review it.

Cindy:                         Reminded George that the selectmen need to see the grant application for hazard
                                    mitigation funds in order to review and sign the documents.

Public Input:

            George said that DES has passed new shoreline protection legislation.  Kate Barrett said that
            it goes into effect on April 1, 2008. 

Don Gangemi:              Don said he has public input on his own, not as a selectman.  After last week when Larry made some excellent points about going slow with the wolf refuge, he looked into it really closely.  He pointed out that he is not against the refuge.  There are two really good wolf dogs refuges that have been around for a long time; one in North Conway and one in Connecticut. Don talked with both of them and was told that exactly what has happened was going to happen.  The guy in North Conway has tried to mentor the owners moving into Alexandria and tell them the right way to do things. They have refused to listen.  Don asked them point blank last week how many breakouts they have had and was told one.  There have been at least two, maybe more.  They told the town last week that they are going to use 12’ fence of a certain gauge with an overhang and a ground guard.  They haven’t used this in any of the other refuges they have built.  Don said he understands that with no zoning the town will not be able to stop it; he wouldn’t want to stop it.  At the same time, he is concerned about the animals up there.  One lady told Don that there was a female that had surgery that was put into a cage with an aggressive male before she was sufficiently healed.  The female was torn apart by the male.  Don does not want to see Alexandria in the same position as some other towns where the police have had to go in and find deficient kennels, etc.  He doesn’t want the bad press.  If the zoning that was proposed last year hadn’t been thirty some odd pages; if it had been a few pages that covered certain things and was added to each year, he believes it would have gone through.  Cindy said you can’t just have a couple of pages.  The law requires that you cover certain items.  Don said that’s all he wanted to say.   Carol Panaggio said that no one is going to give money to a facility that doesn’t take care of it animals.  Don said that may be true, but they had to leave Massachusetts and they have to leave the town they are in now because they didn’t do it right.  Skip Reilly said that zoning is not going to address safety issues.  The problem, as he sees it, is first the bridge.  The selectmen have control over all Class VI and private roads so they can and should decide what improvements need to be made. Larry Stickney said he has no objection to what these people are trying to do, but they are trying to get the selectmen’s permission to do it.  Ann Gangemi said that these people are poor planning on purpose in an attempt to force the town to give them waivers of the requirements. 

Motion made by Cindy to adjourn meeting at 8:35 p.m.  Motion seconded by Don Gangemi and passed by a vote of 2-0.

Respectfully submitted,

Christie Phelps, AA

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