BOS Minutes 08-16-2005

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF S= ELECTMEN MEETING

MINUTES

July 19, 2005

APPROVED – August 2, 2005

CALL TO ORDER

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

PRESENT:

Mr. Victor Danevich, Mr. Harold Lynde, Mr. Jean-Guy Bergeron, Mr. Edmund Gleason, Mr. Tom Domenico, Mr. Tom Gaydos, Town Administrator

Also present:

ABSENT:

Members of the press and general public.

None

MINUTES R= EVIEW

July 5, 2005<= /p>

MOTION:=

(Domenico/Bergeron) To approve the July 5, 2005 meeting minu= tes with the suggested amendments. <= /span>

= ;

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carr= ied.

The amendments to the minutes were as follows: page 1= , under open forum, sentence 5 – add ‘Mooskian’ after the word ‘Commander’; page 2, paragraph 2, item 2 wh= ich read ‘notify by insurance…’ shall read ‘provided notification by the insuranc= e…’; same paragraph, the word ‘were’ amended to read ‘was’;= paragraph 8 – the sentence reading ‘…was not regularly (by the local post) used in a three…’= ; was amended to read ‘…was not regularly used by the local post in a three…’; same paragraph the words ‘it was’ were ad= ded to ‘…property and it w= as typical for..’; paragraph 10 – the word ‘National’= was inserted to ‘…further discussions with the National VFW…’; paragraph 11 – the following sentence was add= ed ‘It was agreed that Selectmen Danevich and Gleason, along with Tom Gaydos would meet with Mr. Mooskian e= arly next week toward reaching agreement.’; page 3, under Police budg= et update – the sentence reading ‘He said motivators to officers = were accomplishment….’ was amended to read ‘He said motivations for officers were feelings of accomplishment…’; page 4 – roll call vote Mr. Gleason vo= ted no; page 5, 1^st paragraph – the sentence reading ‘…made who to formally interview.’ was amended to read ‘…made as to who would be&nbs= p; formally interviewed.’

MANIFEST = REVIEW

Payroll - $75,410.73

Payables - $644,134.08

This week’s Payroll - 76,142.00

Payables - $26,691.00

OPEN FORU= M

None.

APPOINTME= NTS

VFW Deed = to Old Town Hall

Mr. Danevich understood that the Town had come to an agreement with the VFW; everything is in order. Mr. Gleason said on July 12, 2005 there was a = meeting with the VFW. He was pleased= to indicate that an agreement was reached with the VFW. Minor modifications were made to = the Old Town Hall deed, which were accepted. He said Pappathan Insurance had a= binder in place (with Cooperative Insurance of Vermont) covering the Town in compliance with the deed; a copy of such would be obtained. In Mr. Gleason’s opinion th= e Town had no further obstacles for signing the deed with the VFW. Mr. Gaydos indicated that the deed needed to be signed in front of a notary; he left the room to get the Town Clerk Staffer (who was a Notary Public).&= nbsp;

Mr. Danevich asked Commander Charlie Mooskian of the = John H. Hargreaves Post 10722 to step forward.&nb= sp; He asked if the VFW had the opportunity to review the final deed an= d if it was accepted. Commander Mooskian, who was seated in the public said that the VFW had the chance to= read the deed and they accepted it. He thanked the Selectmen for taking the time to review the deed with the VFW.=

MOTION:=

(Gleason/Domenico) To sign the deed, transferring t= he old Town Hall to the VFW John H. Hargreaves Memorial Post 10722 Veterans of Foreign Wars.

= ;

ROLL CALL = VOTE:

Mr. Danevich-Yes; Mr. Lynde-Abstained; Mr. Bergeron-Yes; Mr. Domenico-Yes; Mr. Gleason-Yes

The Selectmen who voted in the affirmative signed the= deed and presented a copy to the VFW John H. Hargreaves Memorial Post 10722.

PUBLIC HE= ARING CONTINUATION – Discretionary Easement Law & Luce Historic Barn Easement Applications

Mr. Gaydos provided the Selectmen with an update rega= rding the two applications. He sai= d both, as submitted, needed some minor modifications to meet the qualifications o= f the program. He reviewed what modifications needed to be made. He said the concern at this time was how the barns were being assessed. He said the barns (considered as = out buildings) were being assessed at $10 per square foot (before depreciation= ), but after correcting the codes and making some adjustments, the barns were= now being assessed between $13 - $17 per square foot (before depreciation). Mr. Gaydos said there were two determinations to be made, 1) take value and apply some depreciation; and = 2) make a determination regarding what discount (between 25%-75%) would be gr= anted to the assessed value. He no= ted that the law stated, once the easement agreement was entered into, it coul= d not be changed for the life of the easement agreement. If the Town goes through a revalu= ation, the values could not be adjusted later. The public good for providing the easement must be balanced with the cost to the public. Mr. Gaydos said he could see recommending such once the revaluation was completed. Mr. Danevich confirmed that Mr. G= aydos, the Assessing Firm and the Assessing Technician didn’t believe it wa= s in the best public interest, at this time, to evaluate but rather to wait unt= il the revaluation was completed. Mr. Gaydos answered yes.

Mr. Lynde questioned if there was any requirement on = the Town to act on the applications because they were requested. Mr. Gaydos answered yes; the Town= was required to hold a public hearing and make a decision. He said the public hearing had be= en held.

Mr. Gleason felt it was prudent to defer any further activity on the easements until such time that the revaluation was complet= ed in order to have an accurate assessment of the property.

Mr. Bergeron said he was in favor of the discretionary easements, but would prefer to wait until the revaluation was done.

Mr. Domenico felt that the Selectmen should hold off = making a decision until after the revaluation was completed.

Mr. Danevich supported the easements, but agreed that= the revaluation should be done prior making a decision.

Mr. Gleason made a motion to defer activity on the ea= sements until such time as the Town revaluation was completed and the property cou= ld properly be assessed. Mr. Be= rgeron seconded the motion. Mr. Gay= dos believed that the Selectmen had to either accept, or reject the applications. Mr. Danevich a= sked if the applicant would have the right to reapply. Mr. Gaydos answered yes.

MOTION:=

(Gleason/Bergeron) To reject the applications at th= is time for further consideration after the revaluation.

= ;

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carr= ied.

Mr. Gaydos wanted it on the record that the reasoning= for the rejection was that the balance between the public good, and the public cost, could not be justified because of the state of their valuation.

PUBLIC HE= ARING – Naming Rights Guidelines (Possible Vote to Adopt)

Mr. Danevich asked if the Selectmen had any modificat= ions, or changes to the Naming Rights document.= Mr. Domenico had a minor typographical correction. (the word scrubs was amended to r= ead shrubs)

There was no member of the public that offered commen= t.

MOTION:=

(Gleason/Lynde) The Board of Selectmen shall adopt = the Town of Pelham Naming Rights Guidelines as proposed by the Naming Rights Committee. Said document w= ill provide guidance to the Board of Selectmen when naming public property.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

= ;

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carr= ied.

Mr. Danevich said the Selectmen had officially adopte= d the document effective July 19, 2005.

Roland So= ucy – Code Enforcement Officer / Code Enforcement Issues<= /b>

Mr. Danevich said the Selectmen’s discussion wo= uld not be regarding any specific case, but rather with regard to process and procedure.

Code Enforcement Officer Roland Soucy met with the Selectmen. He discussed how = he kept track of enforcement actions and what follow up process was in place. He explained that the Planning Di= rector and a planning assistant tracked the actions and follow ups. A file is kept for every complaint received. He said the manage= ment for the number of complaints was a losing battle due to the volume and the= fact that he was working on a part time basis.= Mr. Soucy said there was a problem with the current system which al= lowed for anonymous complaints. He= felt that the system was being abused and homeowners were being aggravated. He said another difficult thing w= as to write out reports every time he visited somebody because personally discus= sing problems seemed to work well in the past.= He said it was also difficult to have the Planning Director making = the final decisions regarding situations when he wasn’t the person out i= n the field.

Mr. Domenico questioned what percentage of the compla= ints was handled by Mr. Soucy versus by the Fire Department. Mr. Soucy said he didn’t kn= ow because the complaints initially came into the Planning Department and in = turn were forwarded to the appropriate person.= Mr. Domenico asked if a full time Code Enforcement Officer was warr= anted based upon the volume of work. Mr. Soucy didn’t feel a full time person was needed unless the system continued requiring all the documentation and if the Town continuously wen= t after anonymous complaints. He didn’t want his first communication with someone to be through the m= ail, he preferred to speak with people directly. He felt this way because there we= re plenty of calls where people weren’t in violation.

Mr. Danevich believed that documentation was importan= t; the Selectmen felt they needed to continue the current system. Mr. Soucy said with the current s= ystem the Town would need more people for enforcement. Mr. Danevich asked how many hours= per week were spent doing code enforcement.&n= bsp; Mr. Soucy said he would have to review his logs; there were some da= ys were he could spend three hours. Mr. Danevich questioned how many cases could be reviewed in a month. Mr. Soucy said it dep= ended on how complicated the case was.

Mr. Gleason asked if the frequency and complexity of = the complaints were increasing as the Town grew. Mr. Soucy felt the growth and the complexity was an internal problem. He felt a lot of the cases were clear, based upon zoning, if they w= ere, or weren’t in violation; he and the Planning Director often disagreed.

Mr. Danevich felt any action should have a file and s= ome form of documentation that went along with it. Mr. Soucy said in the past, when = he went to court for the Town, his log book seemed to work fine as documentation.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Danevich also believed that e= very resident had the right to complain and seek resolve through code enforcement/Planning Department. He felt one way to correct situations was to increase the amount of documenta= tion because most resolutions occurred through conversations. There was a brief discussion rega= rding the past and current situation with car sales and signs. Mr. Danevich questioned if there = was sufficient back up files, data or conversations from over the past six yea= rs to document habitual problems that needed correction. Mr. Soucy believed he had such documentation in log books. = Mr. Danevich asked if the logs were Town property. Mr. Soucy said they were Town pro= perty, available to the Town anytime. He discussed the type of documentation he did. He believed he understood the typ= e of documentation that the Selectmen were requesting; however certain cases ne= eded more information than others.

Mr. Danevich questioned how the Town knew a complaint= would be fixed within specified timelines. Mr. Soucy said letters were generated within the Planning Departmen= t; either himself, or the Planning Director would review at the end of the specified time. At that point either another letter would be generated from the Planning Department, or = the Planning Director would deal with the Town attorney and collectively gener= ate a letter. Mr. Danevich questio= ned how the Selectmen could ensure when a time line was provided that it was enfor= ced. Mr. Soucy said the Planning Direc= tor managed the files.

There was further discussion regarding the fact that = zoning issues were recurring problems. Mr. Soucy said violations were determined by visiting the site. He said he had many discussions a= nd differences of opinion with the Planning Director, but respected the fact = that the Planning Director had the final decision. Mr. Lynde questioned if Mr. Soucy= had access to the staff in the Planning Office for assistance with letters and updating files. Mr. Soucy an= swered yes.

Mr. Soucy went on to discuss the actions being taken = in connection with signs. He sa= id the actions along Mammoth Roa= d were not going as well as the action along Route 38. Mr. Danevich questioned how the T= own got to the point of having so many signs on Route 38 with no enforcement action. Mr. Soucy explained = when he took over zoning enforcement the deal was he would only deal with complain= ts that were submitted in writing. He said now he deals with whatever the Planning Director handed him. Mr. Danevich reiterated that he didn’t care where a complaint came in from; if it had substance, the= Town needed to follow through.

The next issue discussed was illegal apartments and t= he time for resolve. Mr. Soucy said = when the Town was informed of an illegal apartment, a letter is sent. He said people waited until the e= nd of the time limit and wanted to either apply for an appeal, or go before the = Board of Adjustment. He said event= ually the Town got the owners to take the unit out, or they went before a judge.= He said there were certain situat= ions where an owner was asked to take an illegal apartment out and after a coup= le months, or a year the apartments are put back in. He said he discussed the situatio= n with the Planning Director. Mr. D= anevich believed the starting point was to keep excellent documentation (i.e. phot= os, complaints, resolve). Mr. Ga= ydos reviewed the status/update list of complaints being followed, which he felt appeared to be a full time job. There was further discussion regarding the actions taken to have il= legal apartments removed. Mr. Gayd= os believed the remedy was to have a fee/cost penalty for being in violation.=

Mr. Danevich asked what Mr. Soucy needed for code enforcement to be successful and meet the Selectmen’s expectations.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Soucy said he could not do it= on a part-time basis. He said in = the past he was able to manage the job, but now with the level of documentatio= n the Town wanted, it was too much to do. Mr. Danevich said the Selectmen were looking firmness, fairness, complete documentation and resolve. Mr. Soucy said he couldn’t put anymore hours into the job. Mr. Danevich asked if given the $= 600 stipend and the amount of time he was working for if Mr. Soucy had adequate time and resources to handle the current case load. Mr. Soucy answered no. Mr. Danevich asked Mr. Soucy how = he prioritized what he did. Mr.= Soucy said he responded to as many as he could as quickly as he could, depending= on the type of call. Mr. Danevi= ch asked if it was fair to say that there wasn’t enough time. Mr. Soucy answered no, based on t= he amount of cases the Town was working on.

OTHER BUS= INESS

Town Buil= ding Discussion

Mr. Gaydos asked for this agenda item to bring to lig= ht that there were issues that needed to be dealt with. He noted that the furnace at the = Annex became inoperable. Due to it= s age, the furnace was removed and disposed of.&= nbsp; Mr. Gaydos pointed out that Pelham Television (‘PTV’) u= sed the downstairs portion of the Annex and the upstairs was used by the Citiz= en Emergency Response Team (‘CERT’). He noted that there was a problem= at the back of the building; after rain, water went into the basement. He asked if the Selectmen wanted = to expend funds to repair the Annex so it could continue to be used, or if th= ey wanted to spend the same funds somewhere else and keep the Annex as cold storage. Mr. Gaydos said the= re had been some discussion about moving the programs into the Municipal Building= ; however, the available areas within the building were not currently up to code. He asked that the Sele= ctmen discuss the topic in the near future.&nbs= p;

Mr. Danevich asked if the Town knew the estimated cos= t for replacing the furnace. Mr. G= aydos said he had some prices, but believed all the work to be done at the build= ing would cost approximately $6000 - $7000.&n= bsp;

Mr. Bergeron believed the quicker fix solution would = be to do the repairs at the Annex for the minimal amount of money. Mr. Gaydos noted with CERT staying upstairs at the Annex, they would be making any repairs at their cost, thr= ough their grant program. Mr. Ber= geron agreed that the people should be located in the Municipal Building= , however the fast timeframe and unknown costs (for the Municipal Building= ), he didn’t feel there was much choice, but to spend the money on the Annex.

Mr. Domenico disagreed. He didn’t want the timeframe to affect the decision. He believed the correct decision = was to make an effort to consolidate all Town offices to the Municipal Building= . He said it would be interesting t= o find out the specific deficiencies in all the classrooms and the potential cost= s for resolving them in one classroom. Mr. Gaydos didn’t feel it was economically viable to just tak= e one classroom and make it code efficient; consideration had to be given to the hallway, wiring etc. as well. Mr. Domenico said he would like Code Officer Roland Soucy review and provide a= list of costs. He wouldn’t = support spending anything on the Annex facility at this point.

There was a brief discussion regarding what items may= need to be upgraded.

Mr. Gleason believed all viable options should be investigated. He was relucta= nt to start spending money on the Annex building. He said the VFW indicated that th= ey could take CERT back into their building.= He still believed the renovation costs to the classrooms and the lo= ng term plans have to be definitized. He was concerned about the safety factors with individuals working = in the environment at the Annex. Mr. Gaydos said $6000 - $7000 would fix the problems at the Annex. He noted that the PTV employee wa= s only in the Annex to set tapes and leave. Mr. Gleason reiterated that he wanted to investigate every opportun= ity in the Municipal Building.

Mr. Lynde said the space needs would have to be deter= mined for both PTV and CERT. He sa= id if CERT money was going to be used, he would like it used to upgrade a Town building. Mr. Danevich said = that Mr. Jim Greenwood (PTV) and CERT had previously submitted the space requirement.

Mr. Gaydos said he believed an overall plan for the <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Municipal Building should be done, prior to= the use of the individual spaces. He understood the concept of not spending any money at the Annex, but noted a decision should be made quickly. He said there were a lot of issues/requirements that needed to be examined and was unsure if it could be done at no cost.

Mr. Danevich asked Mr. Gaydos to present (at the next meeting) an outlined plan that documented PTV and CERT requirements as wel= l as recommendations.

Mr. Bergeron reiterated his feeling that it wasn̵= 7;t his first choice, but under the circumstances, was the best choice to spend the $6000-$7000 at the Annex to provide the time to wisely spend the money at = the Municipal Building.

Mr. Domenico said as part of the plan a meeting space= needed to be incorporated for Town Government meetings because the room currently being used was not up to code. He also wanted Mr. Gaydos to identify where the $6000-$7000 to be spent at the Annex would come from. Mr. G= aydos said the Town had an emergency fund that was established by Town Meeting t= wo years ago and supplemented last year.&nbs= p; He felt the failures at the Annex constituted an unforeseen event.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He said it would be his recommend= ation to take the money from that if the Board so decided; he would then schedul= e a public hearing.

Mr. Gaydos said he would identify the key features of= the Annex as well as identify the key features of renovating the space in the = Municipal Building, which would provide a ‘handle’ on what was being reviewed. Mr. Danevich also wanted to know = what type of notification would be needed to move PTV.

Planning = Director Search Update

Mr. Danevich said the Planning Director position woul= d be vacated early August. He sai= d the first round of interviews (with a dozen candidates) had occurred. He said the process was well under way. The second round of int= erviews was in the process, and hoped to make a decision in the next couple weeks = so there could be a transition period with the current Planning Director.

Highway T= ruck Viewing Location for Voters

Mr. Danevich said there had been a lot of questions/feedback/input regarding the Special Meeting Ballot. One request was to have the disabled truck available for viewing, so voters could better understand what they were being asked for.= Mr. Danevich said a truck had been located between the Town Hall and the Fire Department so any resident could view the truck and see its current condition. Mr. Gaydos discussed the reason f= or the recommendation to replace the truck and the options that had been reviewed. He said the biggest concern was repairing the truck and having it break down prior to the first storm. He said it was not a reliable vehicle.

Special M= eeting Communications Update

Mr. Domenico said when the communications website was originally developed, it had a revaluation focus; however the focus will n= ow be shifted, the website with be over-hauled to focus more on the Special Town Meeting. These changes will = be done in the next few days.

Mr. Danevich asked if there would be any other type of communication, other than the website and message board. Mr. Domenico said Mr. Gaydos was = working on a brochure that would contain information primarily about the revaluation. Mr. Gaydos said= they would fit as much information as possible.

Mr. Domenico said he was continuing work on the Town communication plan. He said = he had completed the internal communication portion and would now begin to work o= n the external communication portion; the third portion would be metrics development.

Tree &= ; Brush Removal from Town Property

Mr. Gaydos said it was realized a couple months ago t= hat there was a drainage problem at the new skate park; water was ponding and = not draining off as quickly as it needed to.&= nbsp; He said it was also realized that some of the trees surrounding the= area were a problem (with needles and branches). He said the Highway Department wa= s asked to review and indicated they could do some trimming, but it wouldn’t= fix the whole problem. Mr. Gaydo= s said a local contractor having work done in the area (Mr. J.R. Gauthier) offere= d to volunteer to reshape the area around the skate park (for adequate drainage= ) and pay the difference for a logger to take the wood. He said not a lot of trees would = be removed, but the area would be opened up.=

Mr. Danevich said the other area with potential tree = removal was at the Senior Center. Mr. Gaydos said he spoke with Mr. Gauthier, who would be interested in making the same donation at the Senior Center while the tree people were present. Mr. Danevich said there were two things trying to be accomplished a= t the Senior Center, 1) extend parking, and 2) greenhouse. He felt introducing a greenhouse = would enable the seniors to provide the Council on Aging to generate more funds = and do projects themselves.

TOWN ADMI= NISTRATOR/SELECTMEN REPORTS

Mr. Danevich said a request had been filed for the la= st and final grant application (for the amount of $17,000) which would include li= ght and an emergency shelter for the Skate Park.

Mr. Gaydos wanted the Selectmen to be aware of the uncertainty of the budget situation. They were in the process of holding payments to various organization that helped the Town listed under Health Services (amount approximately $40,000). He said the Munici= pal Association dues ($8000) and Fire Association Membership ($5000) had also = been held. He said they were tryi= ng to hold those funds as reserve in the event it was needed later. He said his goal was to keep as m= any services running for people.

Mr. Domenico said the CIP was getting close to comple= ting its work for the year, once complete, the document would be submitted to t= he Planning Board and then to the Selectmen.= He wanted the Selectmen to know that one recommendation was the con= cept of bonding multiple municipal projects as one item to control project costs. Mr. Domenico said he = and Mr. Gaydos attended a Sherburne Hall Committee meeting where a development adv= isor discussed options/challenges with working on a municipal project. He said the committee needed a cl= ear course chartered for them and needed the Selectmen’s support/directi= on of where the facility should be.

Mr. Bergeron reported that the Strawberry Festival co= st the Council on Aging $1020.43 to put it on; they took in $1538.90 (profit of $518.47). He then circulated panelist background information from the NRPC Economics Development Forum.= He briefly reviewed what was disc= ussed during the forum. The next m= eeting will be Tuesday= , September 27, 2005.

Mr. Lynde asked if someone would mark which trees wou= ld remain and which would be removed from Town property. Mr. Gaydos said he wouldn’t categorize it as a logging operation, but rather a thinning to pull trees back. Mr. Lynde said he was surprised to hear that payments were being withheld to certain organizatio= ns since the Selectmen had discussed the budget a month ago. He asked if anything had changed = since that discussion which would indicate the Town could not meet its obligations. Mr. Gaydos said= the payments could be made (the bills were received), but he was trying to wat= ch what was being spent. He sai= d even if the Special Meeting passed, the Town would be in trouble in October or November. Mr. Lynde understo= od things were tight, but was under the impression that the Town had enough to cover its needs, however, now it sounds like things are different. Mr. Gaydos said if the Town got t= he funding being requested all the payments should be able to be made and everything will be fine. He = said he was trying to suspend as many payments as he could.

Mr. Lynde informed that the Fire Station Building Com= mittee was continuing to meet and narrow down what they would recommend for build= ing needs. Mr. Lynde commented o= n his reason for abstaining regarding the vote for the VFW deed to the old Town Hall. He said he was concern= ed with the nature of a warrant article which stated that a group could go out, ge= t a petition, get approval from a Town meeting and have Town resources given to them at no compensation to the Town. He found this troubling and was still not convinced that even though Town meeting allowed it, that the Selectmen could do so. He also said the Warrant Article = stated it would be at no cost to the Town, subsequently, the Town was facing a co= st to the Town to find a place for PTV, or repairing a boiler. He said the best place for PTV an= d CERT would have been the old Town Hall. =

Mr. Gleason informed that the Budget Committee met on= July 14, 2005 = and was pleased to report they voted 11-0 on the proposed Warrant Article. He felt it would be important to communicate to the voters that the Budget Committee backed the Selectmen 100%. He said August 11, 2005 (Deliberat= ive Session) would be the next critical milestone.

ADJOURNME= NT

MOTION:=

(Lynde/Bergeron) To adjourn the meeting.

= ;

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carr= ied.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:55 pm.

   &nb= sp;            = ;            &= nbsp;           &nb= sp;            = ;            &= nbsp;           &nb= sp;            Respectfully submitted,

   &nb= sp;            = ;            &= nbsp;           &nb= sp;            = ;            &= nbsp;           &nb= sp;            Charity A. L. Willis

   &nb= sp;            = ;            &= nbsp;           &nb= sp;            = ;            &= nbsp;           &nb= sp;            Recording Secretary