Alexandria Board of Selectmen
April 10, 2008
Work session held at 5:35 p.m. with Jeff Cantara. Jeff gave the selectmen a base schedule of his work for this year. It is subject to change due to weather, priorities, budget constraints, etc. Don asked about the floor project. Jeff said that the existing floor has been removed. 2” of material has been scraped off in order to allow the installation of Styrofoam. The piping and grease trap for the holding tank will be installed tomorrow. The heat piping will be stapled to the Styrofoam once the fine grading has been completed. Jeff is using Squam Lakes Plumbing & Heating for the pipe installation. His price is some $2700 less than the next closest bid. Ron has been out grading roads. With regard to the new truck, Jeff is looking at McDevitt as the vendor. Their price appears to be much less ($12,000+-) than other vendors. He also has two prices on setup once the chassis has been received. Jeff said he would like to use Tenco for that portion of the work. Don Gangemi said that during the highway committee meeting, he told Jeff that putting all the work he has to do in the operating budget does not give them an opportunity to vote on individual items. He suggested that several projects be placed in warrant articles each year to let the town meeting decide what should be funded. Cindy stated that she felt that deciding what projects should be presented is a matter for the highway committee. She was concerned that town meeting would be extremely long if you put too many articles on the warrant. The cemetery department came to Jeff and asked about the old pickup. They would like to pay the highway crew to fix it. A transfer of the costs would be done from the highway to the cemetery budget. Jeff said they could use it as a rainy day project. The selectmen said that as long as Jeff is comfortable with it, they are in favor of the project.
The cemetery department put money in their budget for equipment maintenance. The Expedition, Jeff said, should still be fixed. Cindy felt the police department should be responsible for the cost of repairing the wiring. She also said that she thinks it is worth fixing. Tom and Don agreed. Cindy said she got a call from Keith Braley on Kirk Pasture Road. The owners on the road are having disputes about the road. Cindy suggested that letters be sent explaining that no work on the road should be done without prior authorization from the road agent. Jeff said there is one area that is very muddy that some people are trying to work on.
The meeting came to order at 6:05 p.m. with all members present.
The Pledge of Allegiance was given.
Distribution of Minutes: The minutes of April 3 were distributed for review
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of March 27 were approved by a vote of 3-0.
Department Heads:
Christie Phelps: Bill Grout called today and wanted to let people know that in 2007 there were 1993 adult visitors to the park and 401 children. This year the price to go into the park is $4 for adults and $2 for children. The town’s pass remains the same price as last year. The selectmen will need to look at increasing the rate for the pass issued by the town in order to keep up with the fee that is charged to the town. Last year the rate paid to the state was $2500, and the town collected $2514. This year the fee to the state is $2700. One building permit was renewed for Skip Reilly; one access permit was issued on the Class VI section of Gale Road and does require a road waiver agreement. There were no purchase orders issued. There was only one qualified sale in March. It was for a piece of property on Eastman Hill Road. The assessment was $15,600; the sale price was $18,000. Todd Westfall sent an e-mail with a form asking for signatures on a petition to require the school district the use a bid process for the computer upgrades.
Barbara Emery:
Barbara was unable to attend tonight, but gave Christie some information to
report. Her former assistant, Britta Brown passed away unexpectedly at age 40.
The outstanding receivable total $613,183.94. The certified lien notices went
out today; the lien date is May 15. Christie and Barbara have balanced month
and year to date on town clerk and tax collector. Melanie and Christie have
also balanced.
Cindy asked if the final audit has been received. Christie said it is still out
on third party review.
Items Requiring Signature: All were signed
Junkyard license renewal for Boake Morrison; personnel action request that was asked for by George Whittaker; personnel action request from Frank Hinkle; elderly credit for Shirley Gallagher on Rhude Road; and, disabled credit for Glen Davis on Mt. Cardigan Road.
Old Business:
The proposed ethics policy
was signed and will be distributed to each department.
Cindy asked Christie to check with the generator salesman to see if they can
hook up the pump to the new building so the old one does not have to be relied
on.
Cindy read a letter that was addressed to Frank Hinkle, Police Chief for Alexandria. It stated that due to the chief’s inability to become full-time certified within two years from the date of his employment, the selectmen have reviewed his position. Beginning next week, the chief will be a part-time interim chief (20 hours/week). The town will begin a search for a new full-time chief. The selectmen have requested part-time certification from NHPSTC for Frank based on prior experience and training.
Christie told the selectmen that a change had been made in the cleaning arrangements at the highway garage. Jeff’s wife, Lisa, has volunteered to clean the garage at no cost to the town. She has signed the volunteer approval letter, and it is on file. Merry Ruggirello felt that the selectmen owed Ann Hall, the former cleaning person, an apology as no one contacted her about the change. She simply received a letter from the town. Ann said she had no problem with the change, she just felt the selectmen should be informed of it. The selectmen stated that they are the ones who hire and/or fire anyone in the town and apologized for the way this situation happened. Christie pointed out that the last time Ann was paid for cleaning was in January and Lisa would not be doing any until the floor project is complete at the garage.
New Business:
Christie was approached by a person in town who expressed an interest in starting up a trash route. He was concerned, however, that he would be required to pay a cubic yard fee to get rid of the trash when the locals would not be if they were to bring the same trash on their own. In order to be able to offer a price that would encourage people to use the service, and cut down on the traffic at the station, he requested that the selectmen waive that cubic yard fee and increase the commercial hauler annual fee to $100. The selectmen asked her to check to see what other towns do and to check with Doug Paterson to see how he feels.
Mileage and maintenance forms were looked at and will be voted on at a future meeting.
ADA items on the building: The memo that Christie received from Keith McBey today indicated that the automatic door openers will work from both sides. $3973 is the price, to be divided three ways. Don asked Christie to make sure that both door work in conjunction with each other. The cost estimate of the new unit is the holding cell is $5540. Is that authorized? Cindy asked if that includes installation; Christie said yes. Don asked if the holding cell item should be tabled until a new chief comes on board. Everyone agreed it needs to be done now. BPS (Bonnette, Page and Stone) will adjust the closing force of the doors, they are going to take a three foot section of the public counter in the selectmen’s office and lower it to accommodate a wheelchair, they are going to change the tank handle on the toilet in the public bathroom. A price was not given on the changing of the doors in the police office as that was not an ADA item and Keith was still a little unclear as to what was wanted, needed, etc. there. Cindy said the wall still needs to be done to separate the booking area from the reception area. Charles Gove Electrical had given the town a price on adding heat and smoke detectors. Cindy said each unit already installed needs to be checked to see if it isn’t already a dual unit. Then a decision can be made as to how many to add/replace.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Christie Phelps, Town Administrator