SEL20070626

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING

MINUTES

June 26, 2007=

APPROVED – July 10, 2007

CALL = TO ORDER

PLEDG= E OF ALLEGIANCE

PRESENT:

Mr. Edmund Gleason, Mr.= Victor Danevich, Mr. Harold Lynde, Mr. Robert Haverty,

Mr. Douglas Viger, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos

Also present:

ABSENT:

Members of the press and general public.

None.

MINUTES REVIEW<= /p>

June 12, 2007

MOTION:<= o:p>

(Danevich/.Lynde) To approve the June 12, 2007 meeting minut= es as amended.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carri= ed.

The amendments to the min= utes were as follows: page 2 – the word ‘said’ was inserted in= to ‘Mr. Gleason said the assessment would…’; page 4, 2^n=
d paragraph – ‘…a significant bleed (cross-training) between…’; page 5, paragraph 3 – 3^rdand 5^th sentences= read ‘Mr. Gaydos answered yes.’ and were amended to read ‘Mr. Gaydos confirmed the fact.’; same paragraph – the sentence ‘Mr. Danevich confirmed that the RFP…’ was amended to read ‘Mr. Danevich asked that the RFP..’; page 6, under TA’s report, last sentence that read ‘He said the Selectmen would only be responsible to vote their own agency in; after that, all expenses and actio= ns would be their responsibility’ was amended to read ‘He said the Selectmen would be responsible for holding the first meeting to allow their= vote and then after that, all expenses would be the responsibility of the Water District.’; there were also minor grammatical corrections.

OPEN FORUM

Mr. Paul McDonagh, 7 Mamm= oth Road, came forward and thanked Mr. Gaydos and the Selectmen for the thank y= ou card he was sent in recognition of help he had given. The Selectmen thanked Mr. McDonagh= again for coming forward.

APPOINTMENTS

Introduction of new Fire Department employees:

Full Time: Troy Babb, Bruce Hallowell, Scott Sullivan, Dan Rooney

Part Time: Richard Cabral, Paul Ciampa, Michael Davanzo, Jr., Paul Fisher, Timothy Monette, Jeremy Ryan, Michael Slattery, Patrick Sweene= y, John White

Fire Chief Michael Walker= began by introducing the new Full Time Fire Department employees. Mr. Hallowell was in New York City finishing up his paramedic training and Mr. Dan Rooney who was already on shift, was called out. The new employees were welcomed by= the Selectmen.

Chief Walker then introdu= ced the Part Time Fire Department employees. He discussed the training the men would go through over the next two years. The new employees were welcomed by the Selectmen.

Eagle Scout Projects: Eagle Scout Ryan Pitts- New Project/First Report ; Eagle Scout Tom Glen – Final Report

Eagle= Scout Ryan Pitts was not present.

Eagle Scout Tom Glen from= Troop 610 said he introduced his project at Muldoon Park. The project was started in June an= d had been completed a week ago. He= gave a brief summary of the project. He said the project cost was $391.22; he was able to raise $391.71 from a gara= ge sale, the remaining $.49 was donated to Pelham Parks & Recreation Campership Fund. Eagle Scout = Glen gave recognition to those who had donated items and services. He provided the Selectmen with photographs of the project.

The S= electmen thanked Eagle Scout Glen for doing an excellent job.

National Grid Update: John Upham

Mr. John Upham from Natio= nal Grid and Joan Callahan Program Manager of the Hazard Tree Mitigation Program met with the Selectmen. Mr. Upham= said it had been approximately one year since he met with the Selectmen to expla= in their plans for the Town. He = said after reviewing the minutes from that meeting he was happy to report that t= hey had done what they said the would. Mr. Upham discussed what they had done over the past year to provide back up service for parts of Pelham. He showed the areas where pole-top re-closures had been added and th= at they acted as a circuit breaker to protect the line from trees falling on t= hem. He said over the next year they we= re planning to spend approximately $750,000.&= nbsp; They would be installing additional pole-top re-closures on Bridge Street and Mammoth Road.

Mr. Gleason asked if ther= e had been any statistical improvement of the number of outages since the incorporation of the pole-top re-closures.= Mr. Upham said he didn’t have the statistics, but he hadn̵= 7;t received as many phone calls. Mr. Gleason asked if by installing additional re-closures the departmental serv= ice would be better. Mr. Upham an= swered yes. He said he could provide= Mr. Gaydos with additional information for the Selectmen. He went on to discuss what other measures (i.e. additional ties from Massachusetts to feed troublesome areas) would be taken in Town to prevent additional ser= vice interruptions. He said they w= ere looking at March, 2008 to complete the projects discussed.

Mr. Gleason asked if Pelh= am was self-sufficient. Mr. Upham sa= id they now have two alternatives; over-feed from Salem<= /st1:City>, NH or bring service up from Mass.= Mr. Gleason asked if the Burns Road area was still the center spot in Town for problems. Mr. Upham said Mammoth Road was one of the more serious areas. He said he would like Ms. Callahan to discuss the Hazard Tree Mitigation progr= am.

Ms. Callahan discussed wh= at area and the type of tree that would be reviewed. She said they would have Arborist = review the line and the trees and mark those (with a color coded ribbon) that need= ed something done. The property = owners with hazardous trees on their property would be given a handout explaining = what would be done and asked for their permission to remedy such either by trimm= ing or cutting the tree. Everyone= would be asked permission to let them know what was proposed to be done. They would also discuss the projec= t with the Town (DPW or Tree Warden). After this process a tree crew (that specialized in tree removal) wo= uld come in to complete the project. Ms. Callahan said people had the option to keep the wood or have it removed.

Mr. Haverty questioned wh= at happened if a resident didn’t give permission to remove a tree. Ms. Callahan said a no, is a no; b= ut they may have someone from the Town DPW speak to them, or they may be talked into having the tree trimmed. Mr. Haverty asked if the tree cutting crew was National Grid or contractors. Ms. Callahan said they were contractors. Mr. Haverty aske= d how they were selected. Ms. Calla= han said the crews had been used for a couple years; they specialized in tree removal. They had worked in o= ver thirty towns. Mr. Haverty ask= ed if an arborist worked with the crews. Ms. Callahan said the arborists chose the trees and checked on the c= rews regularly. Mr. Haverty asked = if someone would be present to address issues where an invasive species may be= cut that may be able to spread during the chipping process. In doing research, he said he found instances where National Grid specifically had done some chipping and had r= un into an invasive species that actually spread as a result of the cutting and chipping. He wanted to know if someone would be present to address the issue to prevent that type of insta= nce from happening in Pelham. A m= ember of the project, Mr. Ken Finch (who was seated in the public) came forward informed that a certified arborist was on staff and would follow the project all the way through. Mr. Have= rty confirmed that there would be oversight in clean up. Ms. Callahan said that was correct= . A letter would be sent to residents explaining the process so they would have an idea of what would happen.

Mr. Gleason asked if the = crews were certified/bonded and had background checks. He asked if they would deal with p= eople at all. Ms. Callahan said the people that went to resident’s doors were certified arborists. Mr. Gleason read that residents we= re offered the wood; he noticed that stumps would be left for the residents to take care of. He wanted to kn= ow if residents would be informed of such. Ms. Callahan said the form residents were given explained that Natio= nal Grid wouldn’t remove stumps. She said when trees were cut they tried to cut as close to the groun= d as they could get. If there was a stone wall they would cut to the top of a stone wall. Mr. Gleason asked if National Grid= would be responsible for any damage that resulted from any work done. Ms. Callahan answered yes. Mr. Gleason asked if there was an indication of how many households would be affected. Ms. Callahan said they would know = once the arborist reviewed. They h= ad 5.03 miles they were reviewing; there’s an average of 25 trees per mile.

Mr. Lynde asked how soon,= once the arborist came through, that the crew would come in. Ms. Callahan said it could take up= to three months, depending on how long it takes to obtain permission from residents.

There was a brief discuss= ion regarding the pole top re-closures and how they would benefit the Town thro= ugh fewer outages. Mr. Gleason as= ked if once the analysis was done they planned to come back and advise the Town of= the overall plan so the Town could minimize traffic interruptions. Ms. Callahan and Mr. Upham said th= ey would schedule a time to come back with additional information.

Discussion Village Districts RSA 5= 2:1 with Attorney David Groff

Attorney David Groff said= he was asked to meet with the Selectmen regarding the proposed Village District. He explained that for a number of = years there had been discussions about extending water, sewer, gas etc. down the business section in Town. At = this point he said there were some (water) problems with residences along the Ro= ute 38 corridor between Rite Aid and Highland Avenue. He said at this point his client, the owner of the apartments (on Highland Avenue), had a couple options such as to add a filtration system or to try to get the public water supply extended from the Fire Station up to the apartments. Attorney Groff said he proposed th= e idea to Bernie Luce at the Department of Environmental Services who was an advoc= ate of extending public water systems because there were other people/business owners (in Town) interested in doing the same thing. He said Mr. Gaydos had hosted a co= uple meetings for those interested. At the last meeting, Mr. Dan Weare of Pennichuck came down and explained what needed to be done. He said Mr. Weare recommended getting as much state funding/grant money/state aid to pay for the extension which was estimated to cost $750,000-$800,000; none of wh= ich was expected to come from the Town. He said they weren’t approaching the Town for funding. He said they wanted to get as much= state funding as possible and there were various mechanisms to get it, one of whi= ch was to have a Village District (similar to a mini town government). He said Mr. Weare made an applicat= ion to the state on behalf of the theoretical village district, but it was rejected because there wasn’t any village district. He said there were certain timelin= es/deadlines for making applications that had to be met each year, otherwise it went into the next year’s funding. He said when he found out the application couldn’t be made; he had to ma= ke the application to form one; he said the village district would go from Cit= izen’s Bank/Rite Aid and coming up to Highland Avenue/Willow Street. He explained that the Village Dist= rict would be controlled by the voters that lived in the district (not the prope= rty owners). He understood that i= t was necessary to form the district to be able to get certain funds from the sta= te; this was the reason for trying to form a district.

Mr. Gleason understood th= at it would be the residents of the Town within the district that would form the = district, not the owners. He wanted to = know if the owners were happy about it. Attorney Groff said he asked them all about it before he started. He said the people he spoke to were interested in hooking up if public water was available. He said if the state funding applications didn’t go through in enough time (by July) to get state funding, it probably wouldn’t work.&= nbsp; Mr. Gaydos believed it was doable.&= nbsp; He said the Selectmen would need to authorize him to post a meeting = (for the Selectmen) of the legal voters residing in the proposed district bounda= ries to see if they want to vote to establish a district. He explained what powers the distr= ict would have. He noted upon dissolution of the district, the municipality was not obligated to accept t= he layout or maintain any road established by such district. He said the Town was not obligated= to maintain it. Mr. Gaydos said = being a district would allow them to apply for grants and loans (the Town would n= ot be responsible for that) it was like a betterment, directly onto their property. He said Pennichuck = had people on board who were willing to put the applications together. Attorney Groff said they had the application, but needed the district to be able to accept the monies if they were awarded. Mr. Gaydos beli= eved the district would score well and have a good chance of passing based on th= ose that would be part of it. Att= orney Groff said the Selectmen didn’t have to do anything except to post th= e notice of the meeting. He said if established, they would notify the Selectmen.

Mr. Viger wanted to know = who would check the eligibility of the voters within the district. Attorney Groff said he would check= to see who was a registered voter within the district. Mr. Gleason asked if there was a petition that had been verified by the Town Clerk. Mr. Gaydos said there was a petiti= on and it had been verified. He said= the intent was to authorize Mr. Gaydos to post a meeting so the people could vo= te to see if they wanted to establish a district. If the voters said yes, the Select= men would be notified. Attorney G= roff said at that point the Town would notify the state and the applications wou= ld be sent forward to the state.

Mr. Gleason was concerned= with the district needing additional money to raise taxes because it would have = the same review practice to have it placed on the ballot for next March. Mr. Gaydos said their ballot was different than the Town’s. Mr. Gleason said any monies that had to be raised would have to be included in the Town’s budget and would go back to them once the money was collected. Attorney Groff believed the Village District set their own budget and would levy the taxes. Mr. Gaydos said they w= ould appear before the Town’s Budget Committee. Mr. Gleason read information regar= ding how the district would raise money through the Town’s taxes. Attorney Groff said the people in = the district would hold a meeting to decide if they were going to assess taxes = for the purpose of extending the water line.&n= bsp; He said if they decided to do so they would vote, the Selectmen would put it on the ballot, the money would be collected by the Tax Collector as a line item to those people that live or have property in the district.

Mr. Gaydos said they would organize and in October they would find out how much funding was available; they would then set up their own budget and appear before the Budget Commit= tee with any financial needs/money they want to raise; they would have their annual meeting to approve their budget and commit, to the Town Clerk, the amount of money that needs to be raised. Mr. Danevich said it was very similar to a betterment. Mr. Gaydos said the Muni-Smart com= puter system had the ability to create a line item for a Village District.

Mr. Haverty asked where t= he district would begin. Attorney Groff said the district would begin at Citizen’s Bank/Rite Aid and wo= uld run up to Willow Street and the Highland Apartments. = He said it would be one district. Mr. Haverty asked if the district would be responsible for construction both in= and out of the district. Attorney= Groff answered yes. He said the dis= trict would need the Town’s permission to dig up next to any Town roads and= the state’s permission to dig up next to Route 38. The district would incur the cost.= Mr. Haverty asked if the district = would have the ability to expand. A= ttorney Groff said it was possible to expand as well as to allow non-district peopl= e to connect to the lines going past their house; they would have to pay for the connection charge.

Mr. Lynde asked if the di= strict would run on its own once it was established. He also wanted to know if the moderators/officers within the district would be residents of the district = in order to qualify to serve in that capacity. Attorney Groff said that was correct. As an example, he sa= id he was a resident further down Route 38 and would not be eligible to vote. Mr. Lynde was concerned with takin= g an existing water system and allowing it to be extended without knowing the po= tential impact on the current users. Attorney Groff said the answer they got from Don Weare of Pennichuck= was that they had a capacity of an extra 100,000 gallons of water per day (in t= he Presidential Estates tank). H= e said the district would use a little less than half the amount per day. He said there was plenty of supply available and if there was additional supply necessary in the future it wou= ld be Pennichuck’s job to develop additional supplies to meet the demand=

Mr. Gleason asked if the = money ($750,000-$800,000) would take care of the work to extend the line. There was confirmation of where the water line would be run. Mr. Gleason asked if the district would assume responsibility for the transmiss= ion of the water. Attorney Groff = said it would come all the way at the expense of the district; they weren’t a= sking the Town for any money.

MOTION:<= o:p>

(Danevich/Haverty) To authorize Tom Gaydos to post a meeting in two places within the boundaries of the district.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carri= ed.

Attor= ney Groff asked that Mr. Gaydos continue working with him to form the district.=

Fire Chief Michael Walker – Communications Update / Fire Station Update / Fire Station= Rules & Regulations

Fire Chief Michael Walker= and Lieutenant James Midgley met with the Selectmen to discuss the Communicatio= ns project. Chief Walker provide= d the Selectmen with a summary of what had occurred. He said they had done their resear= ch and Lt. Midgley had applied for a federal grant for radio infrastructure. They had identified through Verizo= n and other assets where they would locate their radio antennas and receivers. At that time, they were told by Ve= rizon that they could run a radio telephone line to Dracut water tower where they would have their repeater. Months were s= pent going back and forth with Verizon; finally they met with Mr. Gaydos and had= a conference call with a government liaison and found out they could do it at= a greatly inflated price. Essen= tially, the original conditions of the program were not met. Lt. Midgley said they were 80% com= plete on the infrastructure installation; there was a receiver site at the Pentecostal Church and a transmitter/receiver site at Jeremy Hill (original site) there is a third site (used as a back up) at the Police Station. He said part of the project was to= put a transmitter/receiver site at the Dracut water tower that would allow them to pick up low output signals from their portables on the back side of the Currier hill area. He said the original quote was $31= 8 with a $400 installation charge; however after chasing them and requesting a contract they came back and said the cost would be $566 with a $1000-$2000 installation charge. He said = he went back to the communications company to have another alternative. The company came back with an opti= on of a microwave link. Lt. Midgley= said if the project was done right it could enhance the Police Department’= s communications. There were two quotes: 1) $22,821 – Fire Department communications only; 2) $24,512 – Fire Depart= ment communications and bring the Police Department on line. Lt. Midgley said the tower at the = Police Station had the capability to be raised (for approximately $10,000-$15,000)= and eliminate the phone line at Jeremy Hill; there would be a direct beam and t= here would be no infrastructure problems and the Police would be brought on-line= at no cost to them.

Mr. Gleason said the prob= lem was there was no money in the budget. Lt. Midgley said this was an unforeseen cost. Mr. Haverty asked if this would ad= dress a current deficiency and questioned how they worked with it presently. Lt. Midgley said they run to their trucks to get transmissions out.

Mr. Gaydos asked if the t= wo quotes were mutually exclusive. Chief Walker answered yes. Lt. Midg= ley explained how the connections could be made. Mr. Gleason asked what impact there would be if the project was delayed. Lt. Midgley said they wouldn’t have communications in the south end. Chief Walker said he pre= sented the infrastructure last year; it was in the budget and they were able to get the grant. He said they had t= he quotes and were blindsided by Verizon and who left them in a lurch.

Mr. Danevich discussed the options; he felt something should be done for the south end of Town and take advantage of the equipment and the grants.

Mr. Gaydos said a couple = years ago when the Town received FEMA money they were informed by the state that = it could be treated as a grant, which could be accepted and expended by the Selectmen. He said there was = a pool of money that was received and never expended from the FEMA grants. He asked if the cost of the teleph= one line had already been incurred. Lt. Midgley said he put it into the budget in anticipation of the microwave lin= e; they would have the money to fund the phone line (for 6 months) and then pu= t it into the budget next year. Mr. Gaydos discussed the tower at the Police Station and questioned if the engineering costs had been anticipated.&nb= sp; Lt. Midgley said he spoke to one of the installers who said the tower could be raised another 50ft. Chief Walker said he had done this before and getting a commitment from an engine= er was important. Mr. Gaydos sai= d the Town had in excess of $80,000 in the fund and reiterated that State Representative Lynn Ober told the Selectmen that it could be treated as a grant, instead of a revenue. = Mr. Gleason said the Highway Department and the Fire Department had to expend m= oney out of their budget to cope with the emergency and questioned if some of the money had to go back into their budget to reimburse them. Mr. Gaydos answered no; he said it= was incurred in the prior year. M= r. Gleason asked what happened during last May. Chief Walker said they submitted an application for funds last week; the money hadn’t been received.

The Selectmen reviewed th= e costs again which were either: 1) 24,512 which included bringing the Police on li= ne; or 2) $22,821. Both figures excluded the warranty= ; Lt. Midgley was unhappy with the proposed warranty. He explained that the equipment ca= me with a one-year warranty and that could be extended prior to it expiring.

Mr. Danevich saw the opti= ons as either taking the $24,000 out of the existing budget or from the FEMA grant= . He supported expending $24,000 to support both the Police and Fire out of the grant money.

Mr. Viger asked if there = was analog reception in the southern part of Town prior to upgrading to digital. Lt. Midgley said the= y had minimal reception. He said th= ey were not digital, they were analog.

Mr. Haverty asked what FEMA’s requirements were. Mr. Gaydos said it was a grant to the Town and could be spent on anything the Selectmen chose. He said he w= ould provide a copy of the Selectmen minutes as well as a letter indicating what could be done with the money. Mr. Haverty said it was an unfortunate situation with tight budgets; he felt us= ing FEMA was the way to go because it addressed an important life safety issue.

Mr. Lynde wanted to know = what percent of the Town would be covered if the link was installed. Lt. Midgley said it varied from mo= bile to portable; mobiles would have 100%, and portables would have 95%. Mr. Lynde said there was FEMA mone= y and the remaining had no identified use. Mr. Gleason said there were air packs that had to be funded. Chief Walker said they would have = an emergency purchase ($12,000) for the air packs (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) if their budget went over at the end of year. He said they absorbed $5000 for an aerial ladder considering it still sat outside. He said he ‘triaged’ h= is budget and felt the breathing apparatus was more important.

Mr. Gleason said he wante= d to understand the entire picture. He said a memo was sent indicating that there would be a cut-back on personnel because of budget overruns. H= e said he wanted to understand the budget before cutting back on personnel when a = plea was made last year to have them. He said there was an increase in calls. Chief Walker said there was a 21% increase in calls. Mr. Gleason said he wanted to unde= rstand the budgetary issues.

Mr. Gaydos said he spoke = to the Chief and tasked him with how the budget (within the current line items) co= uld be reconfigured and make it through the year with the current compliment. He said he would like to come back= to the Board with information regarding what the grant could be used for. Mr. Gleason said he wanted somethi= ng in writing indicating the Selectmen had the authority to spend the money. Mr. Gaydos said he had that letter= and would provide it to the Selectmen. <= /span>Mr. Gleason echoed Mr. Danevich’s concern with the safety and necessity to provide service for certain sections of Town. He said if the FEMA money was ther= e, it may be a viable solution.

Chief Walker clarified th= at he wasn’t in crisis now, but saw the potential for a problem. He said he was alerting the Select= men early and providing alternatives. He went on to discuss his budget and the fact that they had an overage in disability. He said he would = be coming in with an increase in the budget because they had historical data to support such. He said they ha= d a 21% increase in call volume which caused overtime hours to increase. He continued to review other budget items that had ‘knocked’ his budget. Chief Walker said a gentleman had = come in to test the air packs and found that five of which were non-compliant; t= hey are not certified for structural fire fighting. He said he approached Mr. Gaydos a= nd discussed how to absorb the cost; one way was out of the aerial ladder equipment fund. He said they tightened up to carry the budget to the end of the year and would see what would happen. He continued to review items in his budget and wanted the Selectmen to know the difficulty = they were facing due to disability and mechanical failures. He said he had enacted a purchasing freeze; they were only purchasing medical supplies and a bunk bed for the n= ew fire fighters. Mr. Gaydos dis= cussed how the workman’s compensation process worked.

Mr. Viger asked if one recommendation was to reduce second shift down by one fire fighter. He asked how much money would be s= aved over the next months. Chief W= alker said it would save $11,476 (average overtime). Mr. Viger asked if $11,000 would g= et the department out of the crunch. Chief Walker said it would start. M= r. Viger said the Town was sold on the two in/two out and it should be looked = at long and hard before reducing the shift.&n= bsp; Chief Walker said he didn’t want to.

Mr. Lynde reviewed the bu= dget and asked for balances in certain accounts.&nb= sp; The Selectmen continued their discussion regarding the Chief’s request and would wait for Mr. Gaydos to provide the memo regarding the FEMA funds. Mr. Danevich suggesting having Chief Walker and Mr. Gaydos work together to create a plan. Mr. Gleason felt the remaining fun= ds should be reviewed and determine if the department could live within it. He said if they couldn’t, the magnitude of the problem would need to be quantified. He said the second thing to review= is the infrastructure for communications.&nbs= p; Chief Walker said some of the call volume couldn’t be quantifi= ed; it may go up or down. He said= he would work with Mr. Gaydos. H= e said his goal was to inform the Selectmen that there was an issue.

Mr. Viger suggested that = the Selectmen consider creating a Town wide disability fund where the money was pooled for all departments for disability and didn’t come out of their budgets on a yearly basis and then went back to the General Fund.

Mr. G= leason thanked Chief Walker for identifying the problem and meeting with the Selectmen.

Rules and Regulations<= /p>

Chief Michael Walker said= he wanted to bring the Fire Department up to date and therefore drafted Rules = and Regulations for the department. He said he corroborated with the Union; the attorney said it was well written. <= /span>He said the rules were compared against the Town Policies and the (union) contract.

Mr. Gleason asked if the = rules were reviewed by the IFF (Fire Union).&nbs= p; Chief Walker said they met with the union and worked well with them. Mr. Gaydos said the rul= es improved the situation. The Selectmen felt the document was well written.

MOTION:<= o:p>

(Danevich/Haverty) To adopt the Rules and Regulation= s for the Fire Department as agreed upon by the Union and the Fire Chief.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carri= ed.

Fire Station Update

Chief Michael Walker said= there would be a meeting June 27, 2007. He said he = met with another architect and toured Nashua&#= 8217;s Station 4 on East Hollis which was approximately 25,000SF. He sa= id they would meet with Trident Corp. to get the process going. Mr. Haverty was happy with the way things were proceeding forward.

Mr. Gaydos said a meeting= was set and Trident would have all the requested data and review such. Mr. Haverty expected to have the r= esults from the validity study of the architecture plan and a better figure. He hoped the information would inc= lude the review of the architect. Chief Walker said he spoke with Trident who made interesting observations on the plans and suggestions to make a better use of space.

Mr. Gleason said he would= like to work toward the objective of having the fire station built and determine ra= pidly if it would be feasible. He t= old the Chief the Selectmen appreciated the work he was doing.

There was a brief discuss= ion regarding covering the shifts. The Selectmen concurred with not cutting back on personnel at this time. It was noted that the call volume = was up 21%. Mr. Lynde asked if there= was a way to make projections. Chief Walker said overall, to date, they were up 21% equally between ambulance and fire calls.

Planning Department Discussion: Jeff Gowan - Economic Development /= Vision for Department / Engineering Review: Value in choice?

Economic Development -

Planning Director Jeff Go= wan met with the Selectmen to discuss a few topics. He began by reviewing Economic Development and summarized the recently approved projects and those that we= re expected to come forward in the near future. He said the Town needed to recogni= ze and seize opportunities when reviewing new development. He said that he had come into cont= act with Don Zizzi he knew from years ago who = had been a former NRPC Executive Director and = had helped the Planning Board in the past.&nbs= p; Through this conversation he learned about the Economic Development program. Information regardin= g the program was given to the Selectmen. Mr. Gowan then discussed Pelham’s CTAP program and the fact th= at there was a $15,000 discretionary account fund managed through NRPC and that the = Town could use the funds. He said = CTAP had met and felt that they should embrace the Economic Development program = hold public meetings and develop a plan for the Town that could be funded through NRPC. He said there was an application for CTAP that required the Selectmen’s and his signature = so CTAP could move forward and approve the application. The plan would take time to develo= p over a few months and would be brought back to the Selectmen for approval. Mr. Gowan asked the Selectmen to consider the proposed plan. <= /p>

Mr. Gleason asked if the = plan would provide a guide/roadmap (after all the residential lots were develope= d) of how to reduce the burden on the taxpayer by shifting to commercial/industri= al. Mr. Gowan said the plan would incl= ude three points: 1) assessments; 2) public meetings; and 3) develop a strategic plan for presentation to the Selectmen and Town. He suggested creating an Economic = Development committee which may be a natural evolution of the CTAP Subcommittee. He noted that the funds were non-lapsing, but felt it was important to move forward with a plan. Mr. Gleason asked if there were any obligations beyond creating a plan such as executing any part of it, if the forms were accepted and the plan commissioned. Mr. Gowan said it would only be th= e time of the committee and his time to manage the process internally.

Mr. Lynde asked if the To= wn was allocated up to $15,000. Mr. = Gowan said the Town was allocated up to $15,000 in year one; year two of the program wasn’t officially established, but it looked like there would be a similarly amount of discretionary funds for that year. The twenty-six communities identif= ied as being impacted by the I93 widening project were eligible for the funding. Mr. Gowan said with an economic development plan, the Town would be able to pursue opportunities that other= wise may not come.

Mr. Gleason wanted to kno= w how the developments could be communicated to the community. Mr. Gowan said he could provide a quarterly overview. He said t= here was a public relations component that may be able to be part of the process. There was further discussion regarding the possible Town development and how the I93 project = may affect it.

Vision for Department –

Mr. Gowan provided the Se= lectmen with an overall vision for the Planning Department. He said when/if the developments i= n Town happened, changes would need to be made in his department. The changes were outlined in the p= acket given to the Selectmen. He sa= id the document was a draft and appreciated any feedback.

Engineering Review –

Mr. Gowan said there had = been some allegations that Stantec’s (Planning Board’s plan review engineer) billing was rather aggressive for work that may/may not have been performed. He said over the c= ourse of the last two years the process had been recreated with him and the Plann= ing Board. He said a system of ch= ecks and balances had been put into place. Another aspect that was put into place was having either plan compli= ance or construction monitoring. M= r. Gowan went into detail regarding the overview process that was now in place. He said the most impor= tant change that was made was consistency with Planning Directors and review firms. He was concerned with = having several different review firms and noted the Town was currently in court du= e to past inconsistency with engineering review firms. He encouraged having the engineeri= ng firm come in to meet semi-annually to address any problems. He strongly encouraged staying wit= h one firm. He then discussed the importance of having a conservative surety in place to protect the Town.

Mr. Gleason understood th= at some of the developers were unhappy and felt they were held captive by Stantec.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He said providing three sources wo= uld give them some options. He questioned how the Town ascertained that the pricing from Stantec was competitive. Mr. Gowan said a comparison could be done. He believed the issue was not the hourly rate, but rather the number of hours = that were estimated. His perceptio= n was to not ‘fix’ something that wasn’t broken. He said the process was working be= tter than it ever was. He encourag= ed the Selectmen to speak with the Planning Board Chairman (who was present in the audience).

Mr. Danevich was concerne= d due to the problems in the past with escrows; he said the Selectmen provided clear direction for multiple engineering firms.&= nbsp; He said one of the recommendations from that project was to competitively bid. He was also concerned with not following the Town’s procedure of competitively bidding. He didn’t see a reason to provide an exception. He agreed that the extra burden on the staff that should be weighed into accou= nt regarding the cons and benefits. Mr. Gowan said the difference was that the bills were paid by the developers, n= ot the taxpayers. Mr. Danevich s= aid when something went to court, it was paid by the taxpayers. He said the taxpayers also establi= shed a set of policies that provided guidance for this type of operation.

Mr. Lynde wasn’t su= re if there was a violation of a Town Policy.&nb= sp; He said Planning had a group of engineering firms make a presentatio= n to the Planning Board and went through a selection process. He said the understanding was to h= ave different engineering firms with varied expertise (ie traffic, wetlands). He said the key thing was to make = sure the Planning Board had someone that would protect the Town, which was the k= ey point. He said as far as the escrow, it was a matter of getting the system working in the Planning Department to track items. Mr. Gowan said the system was in place and working well. Mr. Lynde said he wanted the Town protected, not to have less cost to the developer.

Mr. Gaydos said he was in= the middle of the escrow account problem. He said every contractor that was involved felt the Town did a good = job setting standards, but didn’t know why the Town couldn’t choose= one or two companies that could sit down with a plan and provide a cost. He felt competition was good. He said one telling factor was the= Town had not written an escrow check back. Mr. Gowan said a number of escrow checks had been written back; typically the money got rolled over into the next phase of the project. Mr. Gaydos said the recommendation= that came out of the entire process (from Counsel) was contractors saying they f= elt that they were ‘over a barrel’. Mr. Lynde asked what the recommend= ation was. Mr. Gaydos said the recommendation was for the Town to have more than one engineering company s= o a contractor could choose who they wanted to work with. He said the companies would be app= roved by the Town.

Mr. Gleason wanted to kno= w how the Town could ascertain they were getting a fair price if there was only o= nce source and it wasn’t bid out periodically. He said the Town had policies and = if there was a selection it might alleviate the situation. He said there were no assurances t= hat Stantec was giving a fair price and= the Town was locking people in without any indication that it was concerned abo= ut cost. Mr. Lynde said this wasn’t a case where it was costing the Town money; he said this was a request to bid something so it would cost the developer less money. He said as the developer’s c= osts went up it was passed to the people who purchased the homes. He said it was good financial management. Mr. Danevich said currently there was nothing keeping the process competitive. The Selectmen discussed the current process and how the process would be done if there were more than one compa= ny for a developer to choose to work with.&nb= sp; The Town would decide who the qualified engineers would be and the developer would have the opportunity to choose from them. Mr. Gaydos stressed that the devel= opers currently felt like they were in a hostage situation. Mr. Gowan was concerned with going= back to having inconsistencies. Mr. Gaydos discussed the process taken during the time Stantec was selected. Mr. Gowan asked for clarification = from Town Counsel regarding the selection process of engineering firms. Mr. Gaydos said he had the correspondence from Town Counsel that the Board could review.

Mr. Gleason asked that Mr= . Gowan discuss the course of action that would be taken during the time that he comes forw= ard with his budget for review. H= e said at that time the Selectmen should also have the legal definition of what was allowable and what was not. <= /p>

Mr. Gleason asked where t= he Town was with impact fees. Mr. Gow= an said they were still wrestling with the Fire Impact fee adjustment. He was discussing the situation wi= th a professional.

OTHER BUSINESS<= /p>

Infrastructure Program<= /u>

Mr. Danevich said if the = Board didn’t object, he would start to put together a plan that included it= ems that had been discussed and correspondence he received from people. Mr. Gleason said he saw four items= that should be priorities: 1) Fire Station; 2) Cyclical Revaluation – determine model to be used and the cost for this year’s budget; 3) replacement vehicle plan; and 4) overall plan for the next three years.

Mr. Danevich said the Sel= ectmen should discuss the Town building maintenance. He discussed the status of the Pel= ham Veteran’s Memorial Park project.&nbs= p; Mr. Viger agreed that there should be a schedule for planning preventative maintenance.

Mr. Danevich will begin t= o put together a plan for the Town buildings.&nb= sp; Mr. Viger will put together a plan for the Town vehicles. Mr. Gleason will get information regarding the revaluation.

May Financial Review

Mr. G= aydos discussed the status of the b= udget to date.

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> /= SELECTMEN’S REPORTS

Mr. Lynde informed that t= he next concert on the Village Green would be held July 11, 2007 at 6pm with Kevin Farley and Irish music.

Mr. Danevich said the Hig= hway Safety Committee met and was moving forward with the Town center project. He also noted the annual Strawberry Festival was a success.

Mr. Haverty said he would= be attending his first HazMat meeting with Chief Walker; they will be discussi= ng the regional budget. With reg= ard to the Fire Station Committee, the validity study would be received on Wednesday. Mr. Haverty ended = by reporting on the recent Planning Board meeting and what developments were b= eing discussed.

Mr. Viger said he would be attending the CIP meeting Wednesday evening. They were on their way to ranking = the items brought in by the Department heads.&= nbsp;

Mr. Gaydos thanked those = who gave letters of support for his application to Salem. He ended by saying that they chose someone else, but was very happy to be remaining in Town.

Mr. Gleason said he atten= ded the NRPC meeting last week and found out that there was $7000 in the 2008 budge= t to study Pelham’s three water sources.&= nbsp; He said they were pushing hard regarding a commuter rail system from= Lowell ,MA to Manchester, NH with the intent to tie into the airport; there was $1 million dollars for such. He said the first phase= of construction would begin in 2009 with the actual start of service in 2010.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He said there was a new DOT Commissioner, Commissioner O’Leary.&= nbsp; Mr. O’Leary had informed that the state’s 10-year plan w= ould go under harsh review. Mr. Gl= eason ended by informing the Budget Committee would meet Thursday evening to repl= ace Mr. Viger’s position. <= /p>

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:<= o:p>

(Danevich/Lynde) To adjourn the meeting.

=

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carri= ed.

The meeting was adjourne= d at approximately 10:26 pm.

   &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;    Respectfully submitted,

   &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;    Charity A. L. Willis

   &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;    Recording Secretary