April 26, 2021 | Town Admin TOWN OF SUTTON Pillsbury Memorial Town Hall 93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH Sutton Mills, NH 03221 Select Board April 26, 2021 @ 4:30 p.m. Selectman William I. Curless, Chair, opened the meeting at 4:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Present at the meeting were William Curless, Chair; Dane Headley, Selectman; Jonathan Korbet, Police Chief; Adam Hurst, Road Agent, and Elly Phillips, Town Administrator. APPOINTMENTS: At 4:45 p.m. the Board met with Jonathan Korbet, Police Chief regarding cruiser repairs. The Board complimented Chief Korbet on his presentation at the 4/19/2021 public hearing regarding the parking ordinance. The matter will be an agenda item for deliberation on 5/3/2021. Chief Korbet notified the Board that the 2016 cruiser that is slated for replacement this year has a major repair issue. The replacement cruiser has been ordered, but it could take anywhere from 4-8 months to get the new cruiser. Chief Korbet will know more about the timetable in a month or two. The 2016 cruiser likely needs a new water pump. Chief Korbet advised that part cost is only $436.00. However, the labor cost is substantial due to the location of the part and will likely take 13 hours to replace. Chief Korbet has received estimates for the repair, and the low estimate from Grappone is $2,200. If the town does not repair the vehicle than they will not receive anything for the trade-in. Chief Korbet said if repaired the town could receive up to $4,500 for the trade-in and that amount would be deducted from the purchase price of the new cruiser. Chief Korbet was anticipating the $4,500 to be worked into the replacement cruiser cost. Chief Korbet recommended repairing the 2016 cruiser for the following reasons: There will be $800 in tow fees for getting it to towed to strip the transportable equipment. The cruiser would also have to be towed back to the town and stored. Scheduling of officers would have to be modified. The known costs for not repairing the cruiser would be about $1,300 with tow fees and transportation. Reimbursement for personal vehicles being used to get to trainings would add to the expense. Chief Korbet noted that there are six court appearances pending at Hillsborough and Concord with more coming down the road. In addition, there are CAC interviews (sexual assault interviews) pending in Concord. Chief Korbet felt with the unknown factor of how long it will take to get the replacement cruiser, his recommendation would be to repair the 2016 cruiser. Selectman Curless stated that originally, he felt that it was not worth repairing for $2,200 if the trade in fee was only $4,500. However, when considering that the cost for retiring the vehicle was $1,300, it seemed to be a bit silly not to repair the cruiser. Selectman Headley added that the unknown waiting time for the replacement was an additional area of concern. Selectman Curless recommended repairing the vehicle. Chief Korbet stated that currently he has funds available in his operating budget for the repair. Chief Korbet felt that with a new cruiser additional repair costs would be unlikely. Chief Korbet added that his cruiser, which was under warranty, required a water pump replacement and that it was down for three days. If an unforeseen repair like that was necessary for one of the cruisers, the Department would be down to one cruiser. Chief Korbet felt that funds from the detail fund could also be used for unforeseen repairs. Selectman Headley made a motion to repair the 2016 cruiser. Selectman Curless seconded the motion. The motion passed by a vote of 2-0. The Board thanked Chief Korbet for coming to meet with them on his scheduled day off. Chief Korbet requested that unapproved minutes be forwarded to him prior to posting on the website. Selectman Curless felt that when staff attends a meeting that they should be provided with those minutes ahead of approval. Phillips reminded the Board that the minutes are available on the website stating that she would try. Selectman Curless felt that this would give staff an opportunity to comment on anything that they felt was inaccurate in the minutes. At 5:00 p.m., Adam Hurst, Road Agent, met with the Board regarding their request to remove a hazard tree across from Horse Beach. Mr. Hurst was concerned that the tree was located in the State right-of-way and wanted to verify the procedure. Mr. Hurst was advised that the Select Board have designated the tree as a hazard to be removed for public safety purposes. The tree is located on a scenic road, but a public hearing is not required for hazard trees designated by the Select Board. Mr. Hurst was advised that a contractor could be retained to cut down the tree if the task interfered with the highway department’s scheduled projects. Mr. Hurst reiterated his question regarding the State’s right-of-way. Selectman Curless explained that the tree was on Town (Conservation) property. Mr. Hurst asked, “if there were other hazardous trees on Town property was he supposed to take those down too.” Noting that it seemed to be outside the Highway Department’s scope of work. Mr. Hurst was informed that only trees designated as a hazard by the Select Board are to be removed. Mr. Hurst reminded the Board that he was down a crew member and that street sweeping was going to be occurring over the next couple of days. Mr. Hurst felt that he could take the tree down at the end of the week if weather conditions permit. Mr. Hurst informed the Board that there were delays in acquiring culverts for the Roby Road project. The culverts were ordered a month-and-a-half ago, but it could take another two months for delivery. Mr. Hurst advised that he tried to source the culverts from various vendors, but they all are experiencing the same delays. Mr. Hurst has arranged for the installation to occur when the culverts arrive. The contractor has agreed to be flexible. The minutes from April 19, 2021 were approved as written. The board reviewed and approved the following manifests: Vendor Manifest: $305,462.89 Payroll Manifest: $ 10,724.38 BUILDING PERMITS: The Board reviewed and approved the following building permits: Corbett Cochran and Laurie Cuccinello, 07-109-385, Kearsarge Valley Road, for a breezeway/porch. H9 Enterprises, 07-540-038, Kearsarge Valley Road, for a home. Chilin Associates, 07-030-542, Kearsarge Valley Road, for a home. Henry Marcy, 10-082-200, Winslow Road, for a solar array. Henry Howell, 02-455-206, Blaisdell Hill road, for a solar array. INTENT TO CUT: The Board approved the following intent to cuts: Stefanie Rossman, 01-698-531, Birch Hill Road (Timber Bond required) for 35 acres out of 48. Teloian Family Realty Trust, 08-874-095 and 08-882-178 for 19.5 acres. OLD BUSINESS: Selectman Curless expressed his displeasure at the conduct of the meeting on April 19, 2021. Selectman Curless discussed the rules of procedure, adopted last year, which specified that public input would be taken only at the end of a meeting or at a public hearing/informational meeting. Selectman Curless agreed with that premise then as he does now. Selectman Curless felt that for the Board to take public comment at a whim and then vote, taints the vote because the Board could have had public input on both sides of the issue that potentially could affect that vote. Selectman Curless felt that the vote regarding not closing the septage lagoons was not a just vote, and he hoped and prayed that it did not come back to bite the town in the future. Selectman Curless did not recall requesting public comment, and he will not let that happen again. Selectman Headley agreed that should not have occurred. Selectman Curless emphasized that he was very irritated. Selectman Curless also felt that public hearings should have a set end time. Selectman Curless stated that Chief Korbet did a very good job, but the hearing went on for too long and felt that hearing times should be limited to, perhaps, a half an hour. Selectman Curless felt that if there was a major issue and people wanted to speak, more time could be allotted. Selectman Curless was disappointed that the Board was not able to complete their agenda on the 19th, noting that the meeting schedule was going to be tight in the Fall. Selectman Curless asked that the issue be revisited at a meeting with the full board present. Selectman Curless said that there should have been better preparation prior to the meeting. Selectman Headley felt that if citizens took the time to attend the meeting that they should be heard. The Board reviewed DRA Notification of 2020 Equalization Ratio at 97.1. Phillips reported that the contract is being revised for Grist Mill Parking Area conceptual design and cost estimate based on recommendations from Counsel and Primex. The Board discussed the need to update the Town’s purchasing and personnel policies. Selectman Curless asked whether the personnel policy should be reviewed and ratified on an annual basis. Phillips recommended having counsel review the Town’s policy and provide recommendations. The Board reviewed the original estimate for roof repairs from L&B Roofing. Phillips advised that a down payment of $2,875 for materials was disbursed on 6/21/2019. The Board also reviewed an email from L&B Roofing summarizing the status of the Pillsbury Memorial Hall and the Library roofs. The library has obtained a cost estimate of $5,500 for repairs to their roof. L&B has assured that town that he can complete the repairs by the end of May. The Board discussed the Court Order for clean-up of the Stotler property. The Board discussed the preliminary audit report. The Management Representation letter will be on the agenda for next week’s meeting. The Town will issue a RFQ for relocating the Grist Mill Bridge to a designated location at the Highway Department. NEW BUSINESS: The Board issued a land use change tax for Laylo Enterprises, 04-072-018, Roby Road, in the amount of $4,500. The Board noted receipt of a complaint regarding a zoning violation for Map/Lot 04-352-428. REVIEW OF CORRESPONDENCE: The Board noted the following item of correspondence: DRA Monitoring Inspection Report. SELECTMEN’S COMMENTS: Selectman Headley will report on Planning Board matters at the next regularly scheduled meeting. The Board discussed relocating the hearse on the stage at the Pillsbury Memorial Hall. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:29 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Elly Phillips Town Administrator