Planning Board: Maggie asked for whatever all other employees are getting for COLA to be given
to Melanie. Maggie anticipates needing an assistant clerk in the event that Melanie is not available.
Maggie would like to be put on the list of those authorized to purchase items at the White Farm in Concord. The planning board would like some furniture for their new office. They will also need a laptop computer and a flat file. The legislature recommends at least six hours of training for all members each year.

Town Clerk/Tax Collector: The TC/TX would like her assistant in more hours per week, but that does not compute into more open hours for the office. Cindy Williams said she would prefer more open hours that allow people who work during the day to access the office.

Letter to Ernie Parmenter advising of release of duty as chief effective October 14. Bob thanked
Ernie for his time. Carol Panaggio asked who is on the force right now. Right now the department has four part-time officers; Ernie Parmenter, Skip Reilly, Bob Bacon and Andrew Williamson. Erik Wheeler is also still on the roster, but it is not known whether he is in the area now or not. Maggie asked if the new chief is going to be able to decide who he keeps, who he hires, etc. Bob said part-time officers work at the pleasure of the selectmen, not the pleasure of the police chief.

A junkyard license was signed for Boake Morrison.

A pole license for Knowles Hill Road was signed.

A complaint was received that there is a cable across Knowles Hill Road, preventing access.
Christie was directed to let Ernie know about the situation.

Bog Road: Drainage Easement has been drawn up; however Mr. Kahler only wants to grant
a 20’ easement. Jeff told Christie that is sufficient for his purposes. Bob said he wants to talk with Jeff about that before the selectmen agree to it.

Maggie would like the letter to the planning board to be on the list of old business until it has actually
been issued to them.

Town Pound and Berry Road Bridges: The inspector from the state said there probably should have been more input and a final inspection by the town. There is essentially nothing wrong with the design, it doesn’t work in this situation. It was suggested to raise the outlet pipe and the grates. Jeff is doing to do that. The other alternative is to redirect the outlet pipe which would entail obtaining an easement from one of the landowners in the area as well as the additional piping, etc. The Berry Road Bridge has some settling, which is normal. It can be routed out and filled with cold patch that will ease the elevation difference. Contact R.M. Piper to see if they will do this for the town. Cindy expressed disappointment that the state did not do anything about the outlet pipe during the project time. Paul Desmarteau, who was in the audience, said that in the minutes of one of the meetings on the Town Pound project he asked why the grade was not above the road level. Bob said if Jeff’s attempts to alleviate the problem do not work and it is going to cost the town a significant amount of money, the town will have to consider going back on the contractor or engineer.

Police Coverage: Bob asked Christie to call LGC to find out what liability issues the town is faced with until the new police chief is certified. The present chief said that dispatch should be notified of the effective dates of the change in status and should be directed to put state police on call. LGC said they will not back the town until the state determines that he has met their conditional qualifications. Until that time, the new chief will have to have a certified officer with him. When he goes to academy in January, some courses may be waived due to experience in another state. He will need to take the NH Law Package at the very least and pass the physical test. The new chief has a law degree as well as 20+ years of police experience.

Peg said that an anonymous complaint was received regarding possible neglected animals. The state
was called in and the claim was found to have no merit. The state normally does not respond to anonymous complaints, but came at the request of the town.

Cindy said that the highway committee met last night and had a very productive meeting. The next meeting will include work on an updated road ordinance and what will be required in order to build on a Class VI road. Cindy asked if there has to be a public hearing on a highway ordinance and, if so, what is the timetable in order to get information to the selectmen in time to be on the warrant.

Christie said the water at the highway garage is going to be tested once again because it is smelly once again. She will pick them up bottled water for drinking purposes. It was suggested to have George take the water sample down to the state the same day it is drawn. Bob asked Christie to look at the contract to see if the contractor could be held liable for the water not being potable if that is what the water test shows. The one ton is having electrical problems. Bailey Road is holding fine and the drainage system is working in spite of the recent rain. The remaining roads were fine in the rain as well. Washburn Road is fine for regular traffic. Highway and other heavy trucks are the problem. Jeff is for looking into a Bailey Bridge for Washburn Road for the time being. Bob said post it immediately and wait to talk about the bridge on the 26th. A help wanted ad will be placed for the highway department as one person has left. Paul Desmarteau said that a steel plate would work on Washburn Road.

Maggie asked that the office contact the town’s attorney regarding a bond question on the Shackett
issue. Christie will do so. It was voted by the planning board that all mylars will be submitted to the planning board for recording purposes. All fees relating to the recording will be passed along to the property owner. A 3x5 index card will accompanying each plan and shall be filled out at the registry with the plan number, etc. This information will be passed along to the planning board files and the selectmen’s office. Any person who has gone through the subdivision process but has not recorded their plan, now has a void subdivision. These people will be contacted to record their plans.

Kate Rohlfs from the conservation commission asked the process for removing someone from the commission due to non attendance at the meetings. Christie will look into the matter with LGC. There is a need for some additional members due to resignations. The commission has changed to once a month meetings on the 4th Wednesday of each month.

Martha Richards introduced herself to the audience as a candidate for the county commissioner seat now held by Bill Gabler. She gave some statistics about county government and asked if anyone had questions. One question was why isn’t Grafton County Registry on line? Another was why don’t counties cooperate with each other? Bob explained there are two county jails within 20 miles of Alexandria, yet because there is no cooperation, arrestees must be taken to Haverhill, a trip of over an hour.