Alexandria Board of Selectmen
September 11, 2008
Members Present: Cindy Williams, Don Gangemi and Tom McGowan
The meeting came to order at 6:00 p.m. with all members present. The Pledge of Allegiance was given.
Distribution of Minutes: August 28, 2008
Approval of Minutes: Minutes of June 19, July 3 and July 17 were approved. Cindy
needs a copy of the August 14 minutes before she can vote on them.
Don Sullivan: Chief Sullivan came in to talk with the selectmen regarding the budget that he has inherited for the remainder of the year. He has said that there are lines within the budget that will definitely go over and some that will be under. There is a possibility that the bottom line will be exceeded. Officer Lyford may have to leave as her unit might be activated. Don will need a new vest in January as the model he wears is due for replacement. The selectmen asked Don to be aware of the expenditures that he makes and to keep in touch with them as to the needs of the department. A reporter from the Record Enterprise came to the meeting to do an intro article on Don and took a photograph of Don and the selectmen. The selectmen announced that there will be an open house from 1-3 on September 28 in order for the public to meet the new chief. Cindy asked how long it takes Don to get from his house to the town hall. She said he should try using Smith River Road in Bristol to see if it saves him any time. It takes her six minutes from the end of Murray Hill Road to Pattee Hill Road, where she lives, using Smith River Road. After Don left, Cindy said that she is concerned about the part-time salaries.
Items Requiring Signature:
The selectmen signed a contract with the Alexandria Volunteer Fire Department; Fire Chief, Dennis Manchester, had asked for an updated version. The selectmen voted to sign the contract by a vote of 3-0.
With the assistance of Attorney Chris Boldt, Christie developed a lease agreement with the Alexandria Recreational Advisory Committee in order for them to use the Alexandria Village School. Lorraine Jones of the committee has signed on behalf of ARAC. The selectmen voted to sign the contract by a vote of 3-0. Lorraine told Christie that the group is a corporation and will supply that paperwork to the office, along with the certificate of insurance. Successful passage of a background check is required for any person who will work with the children at AVS.
Old Business:
Cindy asked Christie to check with Don Sullivan to see if he has any maintenance/mileage forms that he has used in the past.
Sand policy should be discussed soon.
Cindy had a couple of questions about the budget; one was the survey of town lines. Christie will contact Colin to see where we are with that matter.
Transfer Station
Bonnie Poire asked about the dump hours. Christie explained that Don Gangemi had asked for this issue to be kept on the agenda. There have been several requests for the dump to be open on Sunday. Much discussion ensued about the pros and cons of Sunday hours, including the need for more personnel. Christie said that there is money in the budget and a qualified Level 3 Transfer Station Operator living in town that is looking for work. Also, if the town puts in a co-mingled container, there would be less trash going into the compactor which may allow it to make it through another day before having to be emptied. People coming in from other towns who are not open on Sunday has sometimes been an issue according to Doug Paterson. Christie said that there is a list of property owners at the transfer station for someone to check in order to make sure they are supposed to be there disposing of trash. Bonnie suggested that stickers and ownership should be checked before people are let through the gate. A co-mingled container would take tin/steel cans, glass and most types of plastics except children’s toys/furniture and plastic bags. Bonnie said that Adam from NRRA is meeting with them next week and will formulate a proposal. Cindy thanked those on the recycling committee for all the cleaning they have been doing at the transfer station. Don Gangemi asked which of the surrounding towns are open on Sunday; he believed someone was given the task to find that out. Christie will work on this. The board previously voted not to accept waste oil at the transfer station. Doug needs to be advised of this. The board also agreed that they would not make suggestions of where people could dispose of the oil, due to environmental issues.
New Business
Threshold for Warrant Articles: It was agreed that if a department is buying a whole new piece of equipment, a warrant article is in order. The anticipated plow and wing for the loader should be put under equipment purchases in their department’s operating budget. Selectman Williams had some reservations about this because of the cost. Selectman Gangemi pointed out that this is the way the State of NH does it, so it should be an appropriate way for Alexandria to do it.
Highway Budget: Christie and Jeff have been working on trimming down the highway department budget’s anticipated overage from 20,000 to 11,000. Don Gangemi suggested they keep working on it. Christie stated that no unnecessary purchases would be made; the projection includes costs that are anticipated based on last year’s winter. Winter sand will start being delivered next week; the first load of salt is already in the shed. Motion detector lights will be installed in the salt shed to provide light for the workers. Right now the light in the garage is burned out, expensive to replace and requires the driver to get out of the truck in order to turn it on or off. Signage will be ordered for the garage area that indicates anything after the bridge is not open to the public. The budget does not allow for the automatic gates to be put in this year, but the police department will be checking on the traffic in and out of that area. The highway garage gate will be locked during non-working hours.
Forest Fire Pay: Christie was asked by the forest fire warden whether or not the highway department members that are firefighters are getting paid twice when they respond to a forest fire. Christie has done research and found that the highway workers left to help with a fire that had rekindled this week and were gone for approximately forty minutes. It was pointed out that it is unfair to the forest firefighters that do not get paid by the employers, or are self-employed, to lose pay when the highway workers are getting extra pay.
Election Pay: Cindy asked Christie to put the subject on the agenda. She feels the selectmen need to visit how the supervisors of the checklist are paid in comparison to other towns. Ballot clerks, counters and the moderator are paid a set fee for their attendance at elections; the selectmen attend as part of their duties at no additional pay. The supervisors get paid $10/hour to set up and attend elections. They have been setting up the booths since the offices were moved to the municipal building. Tom asked how many hours they are there on Election Day; the answer was 13 ½. Christie said they are not budgeting correctly because their budget is over every year. Christie was asked to research what the supervisors are required to do on Election Day. Don asked if it is legal to set a maximum per election for the pay. Christie said she does not know. Tom asked what the specific concern is; Cindy said it is the amount of hours that it takes the supervisors to update checklists, etc. There has to be a way to keep it from going over. Tom suggested bringing the supervisors in and talking with them. Cindy feels they should be paid for the job and not for the time; a specific amount for each election. Christie asked if the time spent before an election and the updates after would still be paid by the hour. Cindy said no; each election stipend would include any time related to that election. Don Gangemi questioned the control that the selectmen have over the type of pay. He said that what is needed is a job description according to what is needed for a local election versus a national election. Cindy said she wants consistency in the election worker’s pay.
There is a meeting regarding the ambulance contract on September 15 at 9:00 a.m. at the Bristol Fire Station.
Eastman Hill Road: Give to Jeff to see what he can do to resolve issue between Troncone and
Reed. Also, he can give cursory looks at the upgrades to the subdivision road but cannot expend funds on a daily basis on a private road.
George Whittaker: George has been told that he can go back to work four hours per day, five days per week. The selectmen need to decide whether or not they will allow him back to work. The selectmen decided that if the medical review for the company that pays worker’s compensation agrees with George’s doctor on the four hours per day, then he should be allowed to work the four hours per day.
NANA: NANA would like to offer a flu clinic during the November 4 election. It was decided they could use the municipal building for this, but not the old town hall because there is no extra room for that to happen with the elections going on.
Scenic Roads: Christie gave the selectmen the statutes regarding scenic roads. There may be an article on the warrant to make Wadhams Road a scenic road.
Gale Road: Christie asked the selectmen why her office was requested to do research on Gale Road when the selectmen voted last fall not to discuss the matter any more as it is a Class VI road and the property owners were told to bring a plan to the town if they wish to do work on the road. Don Gangemi agreed that last year the selectmen did say they would not discuss the road, unfortunately sitting here in front of townspeople, we expect ourselves to make decisions on the spot. What has to happen is that the answer should be…..we will research that and get back to you. In the case of Gale Road, there is no research available to look at to know what has happened before. Supposedly there was an agreement somewhere back in 1946, perhaps, that said that certain people were allowed by the selectmen to maintain Gale Road. They did it for years and years. Some of those people then died off. An agreement was then made by the planning board that the water bars and something else were agreed to and there are planning board records clearly indicate what should be there and what should be happening. Those particular records happen to be missing while all other records are there. It is going to turn into an ugly situation. Don said he would like to know the facts. Christie said she has looked for those records. Cindy said there should be a big folder she kept on Gale Road in the old building. Christie will look through the boxes that remain in the old building in order to determine if the file is there. Cindy said the last time the board talked with Merry, she was told to provide the board with all the documents she was talking about. Don asked who is responsible for the maintenance of municipal records. Cindy said the town clerk is. Don said if it can be proven that municipal records are missing, the town could be held responsible. He would like to know the real story. Cindy said everybody that builds on a Class VI road signs an agreement that they take responsibility for the maintenance. Don said the water bars that were on the road before are missing. Christie explained that any person who owns property on that road, or travels on that road, who feels that they have been aggrieved by the removal of the water bars has a civil issue with whoever took out the water bars. Cindy said she thought at the time of the removal, it was a family issue because there was only family up there.
Don Gangemi: There are three street lights out in town that need to be replaced. Christie was directed to call Public Service of NH to get them repairs.
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 7:41 p.m. It was seconded and voted on in the affirmative 3-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Christie Phelps
Town Administrator