SEL20091103

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF SE= LECTMEN MEETING

MINUTES

November 3, 2009

APPROVED &#= 8211; November 17, 2009

CALL TO ORDER – 6:30pm

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

PRESENT:

Mr. Robert Haverty, Mr.= Douglas Viger, Mr. Edmund Gleason, Mr. William McDevitt, Mr. Harold Lynde, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos

ABSENT:

None.

Before beginning the meet= ing, Mr. Haverty stated that Pelham had experienced two significant tragedies. The first was the passing of Chris= tian Gualtieri who passed unexpectedly during a tragic accident on Halloween evening. The second was the passing of Robe= rt H. Blinn who passed away after a brief and tragic illness. Thoughts and prayers are with the families.

MINUTES REVIEW

Octobe= r 20, 2009

MOTION:

(Gleason/Lynde= ) To approve the O= ctober 20, 2009 meeting minutes as amended.

VOTE:

(4-0-1) The mo= tion carried. Mr. Viger abstaine= d.

OPEN FORUM

Mr. Paul McDonough, 29 Mammoth Road came forward and thanked the Selectmen for addressing the tax issue in Concord. He then commented about items he r= ead in a local newspaper regarding Police activity. He also discussed an incident he witnessed and commended the Officers for the way they handle their job.

In reference to the meeti= ng in Concord regarding = the tax rate, Mr. Lynde stated that the tax rate went up by 12%, property values we= nt down by 9%, so the net effect was approximately 3%. The estimated cost to a homeowner = would be $182.

APPOINTMENTS

Forestry Committee, Deb Waters – Warrant Article Discussio= n

Forestry Committee member= s Deb Waters, Gayle Plouffe and Paul Gagnon came forward to present their warrant article= for consideration. They were aski= ng for a draw of $45,000 from the Forest Maintenance Fund. Ms. Waters noted that the Forest Maintenance Fund had been established and was overseen by the Trustees of t= he Trust Funds. In that fund was= the revenue money from timber harvesting on Town property. A packet of information had been provided to the Selectmen which showed the proposed 2010 budget, a summary = of the income and expenses as well as a copy of the 10-year fiscal management plan.

Mr. Gagnon provided a sum= mary of the Forestry Committee projects and activities done during the past year. Ms. Waters said the committee want= ed to focus on Raymond Park during the upcoming year and outlined that they hoped= to accomplish.

Mr. Viger noted that the = Budget Committee would be reviewing warrant articles on November 19, 2009.

Mr. Gleason asked where m= oney was put when harvesting was done at Raymond Park. Ms. Waters said they had a schedul= e of what they thought the revenue and expenses would be. She said because Raymond Park was different because of unique deed restrictions, they were asking that the mo= ney they took from the Forest Maintenance Fund (to be expended at Raymond) be p= ut back into that fund. Anything= that exceeded the amount (taken out), the Forestry Committee would not lay claim to. Ms. Waters doubted that t= he expenses would match the revenue and believed there would be extra (funds) remaining to be put into the Raymond Park Forestry Fund.

The Selectmen thanked the committee for their hard work.

Senior Cente= r Director, Sue Hovling – Department Update

Ms. Sue Hovling came forw= ard and provided the Selectmen with a department update. She said they had been focusing on= fund raising and had raised approximately $40,000. She outlined the various programs = and services provided by the = Senior Center. Ms. Hovling said they would be submitting a warrant article for an expansion of the Senior Center.

Mr. Gleason discussed the importance of the warrant article based on the fact that the Senior Center did not have the facilities for the expanding dietary program as well as ot= her programs. Ms. Hovling comment= ed that they used every inch of the current facility. Mr. Gleason felt it was imperative= that people be educated on the nature of the activities at the Senior Center and the need to expand to be able to continue with the current programs. Ms. Hovling commented that it was difficult to find an area within the center to have privacy. Just this past week she had to mee= t a person at McDonalds to help him plan a funeral because it was more private = than the senior center. Mr. Havert= y told Ms. Hovling that meetings such as that could be arranged for the Town Hall conference room. He wanted he= r to know that facilities were available to her.

Mr. Gleason extended an invitation to citizens to go into the Senior Center and review the facilities and the nature of the activities and participants= . He said it might give people a bet= ter understanding why a warrant article should be passed.

Mr. McDevitt asked how ma= ny people ate lunch at the center. Ms. Hovling said the lunch program was currently down; it had been 50-60 people, but now it was between 30-40 people.

Mr. Haverty thanked Ms. H= ovling for providing her department update.

Health Officer Candidate Interview – Kenneth Dunne

Mr. Kenneth Dunne came fo= rward to discuss his application for health officer. He discussed his qualifications and noted that he recently had gone through a certification process for managin= g a restaurant.

Mr. Haverty discussed the= various aspects of the Health Officer position.&nb= sp; He asked Mr. Dunne about his qualifications in terms of emergency preparedness versus the day to day functions of the position. Mr. Dunne said he would coordinate= with the state Health Department in terms of getting services to the Town. He said as it stood now, the Health Officer didn’t have the power to give direction, they could only make recommendations. Mr. Haverty = asked if Mr. Dunne had attained his Service A Food Protection Manager Certificati= on as a matter of course for his profession or done so independently. Mr. Dunne said he had done it independently.

Mr. Haverty noted there w= as one other candidate that applied for the position, but they were having difficu= lty attending a meeting due to a professional obligation. The Selectmen discussed how they w= ould proceed. After a brief discus= sion, the Selectmen decided they would enter into non-public session at the end of the meeting to make a decision and come back to public session to make an announcement.

NRPC, Kerrie Diers and Tim Roache

Ms. Kerrie Diers and Mr. = Tim Roache of Nashua Regional Planning Commission (‘NRPC’) came for= ward to discuss some of the things they had been working on with the Town. Ms. Diers began by discussing econ= omic development and felt the Town was doing a good job and was hopeful for expansion. She said they were= also working with the Conservation Commission to review the open space and come = up with a priority plan. The GIS department was working with Planning Director Jeff Gowan to update the Town maps. They hoped to work with= the Town on an energy plan. Mr. R= oache discussed the transportation planning services they offered. There was further discussion regar= ding the programs NRPC offered and the assistance available to the Town.

The Selectmen thanked Ms.= Diers and Mr. Roache for meeting with them. Ms. Diers stated that they liked the relationship with the Town and = looked forward to working together.

Pelham Historic Society, Bill Scanzani – Discuss Historical Society Building

Pelham Historic Society V= ice President Bill Scanzani came forward to discuss the status of the Historical Society building. He said he = had been asked to get quotes for work needing to be done to the outside of the build= ing. He said they searched, but were unable to find grants to help with the cost= s. He stated that there were a couple= items that were getting critical and hoped that they could fix some of those items using the Emergency Building Repair Fund.&= nbsp; Mr. Scanzani said the two most critical items were: 1) the slate roof (broken slates and metal flashing causing leaks); and 2) window sashes (fal= ling apart, broken windows). There= were other items that needed to be addressed, but they were not critical at this time. The quotes for the roof (depending on having the slates and/or the flashing done) varied between $6000-$15,000. With regard to the windows, Mr. Sc= anzani stated they would like to replace the windows with insulated vinyl and Azek.

Mr. Haverty recalled at o= ne point there was an offer to match $15,000 to improve the building and asked if the offer was ‘still on the table’. Mr. Scanzani said there had never = been any discussion regarding that. He said the long-term plan was for them to look for matching grants and funds.

Mr. Viger said he had wal= ked through the building and agreed that there were some immediate repairs needed. He said the Board had received an e-mail from the president of the organization that stated the m= oney being looked for didn’t necessarily all need to be raised via taxes; there would be some matching funds. He said there was some confusion between what was being presented and what the Board was told from the president of the organization. Mr. Scanzani said if the Board was= to look at the quotes for everything that needed to be done, the (long-term) c= ost for the repairs was approximately $200,000. He said they wouldn’t go to = the Board or the voters and request that sum, there would have to be some match= ing (funds) from a number of sources to get it. He said at this point they were fo= cusing on the immediate needs. He ou= tlined the work that needed to be done on the windows and the associated costs. Mr. Viger said he would like ̵= 6;not to exceed’ numbers that could be presented to the voters. Mr. Scanzani said hopefully the Bo= ard would work with William ‘Spike’ Hayes on the timing and when the work would be done to the outside of the building. He said they would want the work t= o be done to fit in with the building’s image because they were trying to = get onto the National Register of Historic Buildings.

Mr. Gaydos asked for clarification of the amount needed to do the suggested work. Mr. Scanzani said they believed th= ey could do everything for the slate roof (including replacement of the flashi= ng) for $15,000. There was also an estimate of $6800 to just replace the slates. There were two quotes for the wind= ows: 1) vinyl window replacement $2046; 2) wood $2900. The unknown price was for the Azek= . Mr. Scanzani stated they were more inclined to do vinyl rather than wood for the windows. Mr. McDevitt said to the best of h= is recollection, the last time the roof was repaired was in 1975 or 1976.

The Selectmen discussed h= ow they would proceed. They directed = Mr. Scanzani to work with Mr. Gaydos to get bids and present them back to the Board. Mr. Gaydos said they w= ould also work with the Building Inspector Roland Soucy and get prices for the n= ext meeting. Mr. Lynde asked if t= here would be specification that someone would be able to bid to. Mr. Gaydos answered yes.

OTHER BUSINESS

Article K Discussion: Waiver where no improvements exist

Mr. Gaydos stated that th= ere was a precedent setting proposal that was made to the Board of a (less than one-acre) lot that had not been improved.&= nbsp; He said a confidential letter had been received from the Town’s attorney which talks about plain facts such as if the Board were to provide= a waiver they would open the door for anyone else. He believed the recommendation was= to look at changing the ordinance if it was the Board’s choice to allow = for construction of a septic system on a lot that did not have previous improvements made to it. In summary, there were various components and a broad variety of properties th= at could essentially come before the Board.&n= bsp; Mr. Gaydos said the question/discussion for the Selectmen was if they wanted to change the ordinance, or grant the requested waiver.

Mr. Gleason felt the Ordi= nance, as it was, was adequate and the case should be reviewed for its merit and either denied or approved. He stated he would like to go forward and deny it.

Mr. Lynde stated that the attorney’s letter was comprehensive and pointed out that there was nothing in the Article K Ordinance that obligated them to approve the request. He said the request = was inconsistent with the intent of Article K as it was drafted. He said he would make a motion to = deny the waiver request and saw no benefit to the Town.

Mr. Haverty said the item= would be added to the Board of Health’s agenda; the applicant would be invi= ted to hear the conversation.

Warrant Article Discussion Follow-Up

Mr. Haverty stated that t= he Budget Committee would be discussing the warrant articles on November 19, 2009. At present, he wanted to discuss t= he articles and on November 17, 2009 he would like the Selectmen to vote regarding which articles would be put forth. =

In reviewing the warrant articles, Mr. Viger asked if it was the Board’s decision to ask the Budget Committee to put the inspection vehicle and skid steer in the budget. He said under the Bud= get Committee’s by-Laws those two items fell under the guidelines of not needing to be a warrant article. There was a brief discussion and the Selectmen will draft a letter asking that those two items be put into the operating budget.

The Selectmen discussed t= he second egress for Muldoon. Mr. Gaydos didn’t believe the Selectmen would support a warrant article unless there was a large amount of money being donated from the users of the park. Mr. Gleason, who was a = firm advocate of Little League, felt the more pressing issue for the Town was the fire station. The Selectmen a= greed and asked that the article be taken off the list.

Mr. Gleason believed it w= as the Selectmen’s intent to change the purpose of the Raymond Park Trust Fu= nd from a capital reserve (with restrictions of the Boy Scout submitting a maintenance plan) to put together a plan to make it an expendable trust fund. Mr. Lynde suggested tha= t a new (expendable) trust fund be created, with the understanding that the existing trust fund would be discontinued and the funds within it would be transferred into the new fund.

There was a brief discuss= ion regarding the proposed fire station. Mr. Gleason believed it was the intent of the Board to have $4.28 million (from 2008) and have Eckhart refine the number based on the current economy and have a number that was less.&n= bsp; Mr. Gaydos said Eckhart had agreed to not charge the Town to do the update; they would try to have the numbers by the end of the month.

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S / SELECTMEN’S RE= PORTS

Mr. Gaydos stated that th= e Town was still working on getting the H1N1 vaccines. He believed Pelham was the only To= wn within the state that had a plan to inoculate all the children in the school.

Mr. Gleason said the Rock= ingham Economic Development Committee held their second meeting which was very informative. He looked forwar= d to working with the group because he felt it would open opportunities up for t= he Town. He stated that he walked through the six classrooms (in the Municipal Building) with Mr. Gaydos and the = School Board. They were interested i= n the six rooms and directed Marinace to put together a proposal for a possible warrant article. Mr. Gleason = said the Superintendent saw the use of the six classrooms a ‘win/win’ situation for the Town; they would re-fabricate the space and at some point= it would be vacated for use by the Town. Mr. Gleason stated that he was working with the Fire and Police Chie= fs on a memorandum of understanding for the Town’s towing.

Mr. Viger reported that t= he Budget Committee had pushed back their warrant article review to November 19, 2009.

Mr. McDevitt reminded peo= ple that Friday was the 40^th Anniversary Dinner of the Pelham Good Neighb= or Fund at Harris’ Inn. He thanked the Selectmen for signi= ng a proclamation that would be presented at the dinner making November 6, 2009 as Pelham Go= od Neighbor Fund Day.

Mr. Lynde commended the p= eople involved with the Horribles Parade. He said it was amazing and a nice experience.

Mr. Lynde commented if th= e school pursued the use of the six classrooms, the Town would need to have a plan f= or where to store the items currently in the space. Mr. Viger felt it was important fo= r the Selectmen to take a stand on which direction they planned on heading; if th= ey didn’t plan on allowing the school’s use of the space, they shouldn’t waste the school’s time. Mr. McDevitt felt it was a good point. There was further disc= ussion regarding the space and the work that would need to be done. Mr. Gleason discussed the growing = needs of the Town and didn’t want those needs to be limited. The Selectmen asked Mr. Gaydos to contact School Superintendent Bass and ask him to meet with the Selectmen on November 17^th to discuss their proposal.

Mr. Haverty reported that= the Planning Board approved a plan for Chunky’s Cinema to improve their septic system; weather permitting, work will begin immediately. He then read aloud a letter from C= omcast that informed the channel line up would be changed to add Shop NBC as of December 1, 2009.

REQUEST FOR NON-PUBLIC SESSION

Mr. Haverty info= rmed that the Selectmen would briefly enter into non-public session and come bac= k to public session to make a recommendation regarding the Health Officer position. Once the recommenda= tion was made publicly regarding the Health Officer, the Selectmen would then re= turn to non-public session to finish their business.

MOTION:

(Viger/Gleason) Request for a non-public session per RSA 91-A:3,II, a & b (personnel; hiring of any person as an employee)

ROLL CALL:

Mr. Haverty-Ye= s; Mr. Viger-Yes; Mr. McDevitt-Yes; Mr. Lynde-Yes; Mr. Gleason-Yes

The Board entere= d into a non-public session at approximately 9:14 pm. The Board ret= urned to public session at 9:22pm= .

MOTION:

(Gleason/Lynde= ) To nominate Dr. Srilatha Kodali as a candidate for Health Officer and request that the state appoint her to that position.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The mo= tion carried.

The Selectmen then returned to non-public session at approximately 9:23 pm.

MOTION:

(Lynde/Gleason= ) To seal the minutes of the non-public session indefinitely.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The mo= tion carried.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Lynde/Gleason= ) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:20 pm.

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

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Charity A. Landry Willis

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