March 28, 2022 | Town Admin TOWN OF SUTTON Pillsbury Memorial Town Hall 93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH Sutton Mills, NH 03221 Select Board March 28, 2022 @ 5:00 p.m. Dane Headley, Selectman, opened the meeting at 5:00 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Present at the meeting were: Dane Headley, Chair; Walter Baker, Jr., Selectman; Michael McManus, Selectman; Adam Hurst, Road Agent; Chuck Bolduc, Conservation Commission Member, Robert Wright, Jr., and Elly Phillips, Town Administrator. APPOINTMENTS: At 5:00 p.m. Robert Wright, Jr., met with the Board to share his views on various matters including the Code of Conduct. Mr. Wright provided a summary of his credentials serving on various Town Boards. Mr. Wright began by stating that he did not think it was appropriate for the Select Board to authorize the purchase of a leaf blower because the Warrant Article was voted down in 2021. Mr. Wright was under the impression that the acquisition was included in the budget without consultation from the Budget Committee or the voters. Mr. Wright was advised that the equipment was purchased through the American Recovery Plan Act. In addition, the Select Board had authority to authorize the expenditure. Mr. Wright said that “although the Board may have that right, he did not think it should be exercised.” Mr. Wright did not like the fact that the Select Board had changed the time of their meeting, advising the Board that “it is not about you and that if you have trouble with that, you will have trouble with me, as I am going to be on the Budget Committee.” The Budget Committee meets Mondays at 6:00 p.m. at the fire station. Mr. Wright went on to say that for “30 years the Select Board has met at 4:00, and all of a sudden it was changed because of a whim, nobody was notified. The Budget Committee was not asked.” Mr. Wright recollected that the Budget Committee was advised that the Pillsbury Memorial Hall would not be available for their Monday night at 6:00 p.m. meetings, because of the indeterminate length of Select Board meetings ” There was a bit of back and forth regarding Select Board Meeting times. Phillips advised that when she started working for the Town (23 years ago) they met at 7:00. The Board has also started their meetings at 4:00, 4:30 and 5:00 p.m. The Board decides when they want to meet on Monday evenings. Mr. Wright said “that’s if it doesn’t affect other Boards or Committees.” Phillips recalled that the Budget Committee used to meet on Thursdays and stopped when they were doing joint meetings with the Select Board. Selectman McManus said that the meeting time was changed to 5:00 p.m. based on his request, because of his work schedule. Selectman Baker observed that the Budget Committee is the only committee that meets on the same night as another Board. Mr. Wright emphasized the Budget Committee was an elected committee. Mr. Wright thanked the Board for allowing the Budget Chair to come and ask questions and that he knows more about the Budget process than anybody. Selectman Headley said that the Budget Chair was never excluded. Mr. Wright acknowledged that he was welcome to attend but not welcome to speak. Phillips said that public input was scheduled for the end of the meeting. Mr. Wright said the Budget Committee chair would ask questions that we would not think of asking, and he would go back and prepare the Department Heads for the Budget Committee. Mr. Wright asserted that the Budget Committee was going to meet at 6:00. If the Chair is at the Select Board meeting, the vice chair will probably be conducting the meeting. Selectman Headley asked whether or not the ex-officio Select Board member can make the Budget Committee meeting doesn’t matter to you? Mr. Wright responded, “No it does not. Nobody put a gun to your head, any of you, to run for this office.” Selectman Baker observed that “nobody put a gun to your head either.” Selectman McManus asked whether the Budget Chair was going to poll the Committee regarding their willingness to change their meeting time. Mr. Wright responded, probably, he would as a courtesy. Selectman Headley said that we should wait for a decision. Selectman McManus said that if he were to serve on the Budget Committee, he would speak to the Committee and that he would hope that it would be a progressive committee that recognized that we are not all retired, and we do have to work. We can’t always be at the time of the old. We need to move forward. There was a lengthy discussion about the role of the Selectman liaison and a plethora of other matters including wages. The discussion turned to the Code of Conduct policy and running meetings. Selectman McManus said that he appreciated Mr. Wright sharing his views and that he hopes that he understands that we are trying to move forward here. Selectman Headley observed that “an important part of working together is accommodation. We all need to work together, and do our best to accommodate each other. ” Selectman Headley thanked Mr. Wright for coming in. Phillips requested that Mr. Wright take a minute to review her written comments and reminded Mr. Wright that he was the first one to say “a future Board cannot be held hostage by what a past board has done.” Phillips said that she hoped that Mr. Wright would take the time to look at the Code of Conduct policy. The Select Board is going to complete the policy. They are going to review it with board and committee chairs. It will be the board chairs responsibility to incorporate the code into their meetings, or not. At 5:34 p.m. Chuck Bolduc met with the Select Board on behalf of the Conservation Commission. Mr. Bolduc requested that the Board accept a gift in the amount of $350.00 from the Sutton Ridgerunners. The purpose of the gift was to reimburse for snowmobile signs that the SCC purchased for the King Hill Reservation. The proceeds of the gift to go into the KHR fund. Selectman Headley moved to accept the $350 gift from the Sutton Ridgerunners to go into the KHR fund. Selectman McManus seconded the motion. The motion passed by a unanimous affirmative vote. Mr. Bolduc updated the Board on the Conservation Commissions efforts to accept donations. Mr. Bolduc advised that he has been receiving feedback for a couple of years from people who wanted to make small donations for the use of the trails to help with maintenance. Mr. Bolduc said that the Commission has been exploring that idea for several years. The Board is currently researching the appropriate account to use to accept donations and whether or not the King Hill account can be used for this purpose. Phillips discussed the manner in which the King Hill account was created and felt that further processes might be required. Phillips felt that the best path for the Commission would be to establish a revolving fund which would have to be done at annual meeting. The Board agreed to explore with the auditors whether or not the Select Board could accept the gifts and earmark them for KHR as a short-term solution. Selectman McManus asked about anticipated revenues. Mr. Bolduc provided a rough estimate based on trail usage. Mr. Bolduc said that the revenue would allow the commission to mow more frequently. There was a brief discussion of damage to roads due to increased trail usage. The Town ordinance for use of Class VI roads was discussed. Mr. Bolduc provided the Board with a draft KHR map that he is developing. At 5:49 p.m., Selectman Headley made a motion to go into nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3II(a) setting the compensation of a public employee. Selectman McManus seconded the motion. The Board was polled with Selectmen Headley, Baker and McManus voting in the affirmative. Public session resumed at 5:59 p.m. The non-public minutes regarding highway department parity increases were not sealed. The Board discussed road posting signs. Both Mr. Hurst and Selectman McManus reviewed state regulations. Selectman McManus suggested looking at RSA 231:190 and RSA 231:191. Mr. McManus recommended looking closely at RSA 231:191 which states that it is a misdemeanor and violators are responsible for repairing the roads. Mr. Hurst is researching ordinances from other towns that have a fine structure. Mr. Hurst will meet with the Board at a future date once his research is complete. The minutes form March 21, 2022, public and non-public were approved as written. The non-public minutes pertaining to wages and hiring of personnel were unsealed. The Board reviewed and approved the following manifests. Vendor Manifest: $178,824.08 Payroll Manifest: $ 15,562.99 BUILDING PERMITS: The Board approved a building permit for the Birney Trust, 03-983-475, Poor Farm Road, for a bathroom remodel. VETERANS EXEMPTION: The Board approved a Veterans Tax Credit in the amount of $500 for Lee A. Booker, Map 06-380-154. INTENT TO CUT: The Board approved an intent to cut for Granite Forest Trust, Steve Lord, 02-190-373, for 25 acres out of 167 OLD BUSINESS: The Administration section of the Code of Conduct is being reviewed by Town Counsel. Sanctions/Punishment are undergoing further review. Selectman Headley noted that penalties are imposed on the Town’s harassment policy. NEW BUSINESS: The Board received a copy of the 2022 March Expenditure Report for review at next meeting. The Board discussed disbursement of the library operating budget and financial reporting. The Board will review the library MOU and also schedule a public hearing for the bulletin board. The Board issued the following appointments: Appointment: Walter Baker, Jr., Alternate Conservation Commission Member for a 3-year term. Appointment: Glenn Pogust, Motor Vehicle Agent Appointment: Kristin Angeli, Alternate Planning Board member for a 3-year term. The Board issued a Land Use Change Tax, Chilin Associates, Map 07-030-513 in the amount of $6,000. SELECTMEN COMMENTS: Selectman McManus stopped to look at Corporation Hill where the rocks had fallen off. He discussed the vertical stone wall and noted some problematic areas. He made some common-sense observations about the site. Selectman Baker reviewed some history pertaining to the wall, repairs, and engineering. He also discussed DES requirements for repairs. Selectman Headley reviewed next steps for the Board which will be a bid for the Grist Mill Parking are and for the Corporation Hill site. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:49 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Elly Phillips Town Administrator