Alexandria Board of Selectmen
February 7, 2008
Approved: March 6, 2008
Members Present: Cindy Williams and Tom McGowan
The meeting came to order at 6:00 p.m. with two members present. Selectman Gangemi remains on medical leave.
Pledge of Allegiance led by Frank Hinkle
Distribution of Minutes: None
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of January 24 were approved by a vote of 2-0.
It is noted that the selectmen met with a representative from Power Generators at 5:30 to review a proposal that was submitted. An additional proposal will be given to the selectmen, making an adjustment to reflect not using the air conditioning units in a power outage situation. Christie was asked to check with Ken Braley to see if any additional conduit was laid between the two buildings when the new hall was built. Dave Eggleton from the generator company will need to know how many of the fluorescent light fixtures there are in the building. Christie will count them and get back to him.
Department Heads:
Christie Phelps: There
is an additional check to be signed this week that was left off
the original list. It is for the NH Retirement System and is due soon. The
selectmen signed
the check. In the review folder, there is a copy of the letter that Brackley
sent to Cheryl Killam.
There is a copy of the letter the chief received from Police Standards and
Training regarding
approval of his use of the bike. There is a copy of the permitting for Indeck
Energy. Pat Moore
would like permission from the selectmen to sell raffle tickets at the Taste of
Chocolate fundraiser. Permission was given. Frank has given notice that he
will be out of town on a certain date. An article on the Alexandria Village
School was in the Concord Monitor today.
A response was received from the attorney, poking holes in the sand policy.
That will need
to be looked at some time in the future. No building permits, no access permits
and purchase
orders were signed this week; the departments are waiting for funding. The
office will be closed tomorrow morning as Christie will be delivering as much of
the town report as possible to the printers. The rest will go over next week
and the report will be ready the last week of February.
Jeff Cantara: NHDOT has claimed all of the salt from the town’s vendor, so Jeff has had to seek an alternative supplier. Circle 3 Sand & Gravel has agreed to travel to Portsmouth, pick up and deliver salt to the town for $63.00/ton. Jeff’s price is $64.52 if he sends a truck from the town. The trucks are hanging on; Jeff has ordered steel in order to fabricate some repair pieces. The plows are old and tired. Jeff recommended that the sand issue be left alone for the remainder of the winter and dealt with in the summer through a public hearing process. Bill Hall made the suggestion to use cameras at the highway garage. Christie suggested remote controls for the gate. Jeff said that at the present time he is approximately $25,000 ahead of expenditures for the same time period last year. Coupled with the budget committee’s recommendations of $40,000 less for the highway department budget, he sees problems with the budget. Jeff is requesting that the police department be on duty during bad weather to respond to highway issues.
Old Business: Cole Hill Road
New Business:
Retired office Ernie Parmenter was presented
with a plaque bearing his badge. Chief Hinkle
thanked Ernie for all of his assistance during Frank’s early months
and for his service to the
Town of Alexandria.
Public Input:
Cindy asked Christie to put the ethics and investment policies on the agenda as a reminder.
Christie stated that the auditors have completed their review of the records for the town. They have a few suggestions that will be outlined in their report.
Kate Barrett asked about the conservation budget; she stated that it is incorrect as shown. She was told that it would have to be changed by the budget committee or at town meeting at this point. Kate made some comments about the new correctional facility. Tom explained that he had gone to a meeting on the facility and they want to have it known as a correctional facility rather than a jail because they are trying not to just incarcerate people, but rehabilitate them.
Bonnie Poire said that the budget
public hearing is on Monday night and everybody should be there. She said that
the highway department is doing a heck of a job and people should be at the
meeting to support them.
Jeff said that he does not want to take sand away from the public, but he wants
the public involved in how the situation is going to be handled. Jeff also
spoke about an article on the warrant that would do away with the municipal
budget committee and put it back to an advisory budget committee.
Ann Hall asked if the selectmen were going to be involved in the retirement system review. Cindy said if paperwork is received asking the town to participate, they will.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned by a vote of 2-0 at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Christie Phelps, TA