TOWN OF SUTTON
Pillsbury Memorial Town Hall
93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH
Sutton Mills, NH 03221
Select Board

September 14, 2020

 

 

The meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. by Robert Wright, Jr., Chair. Selectman Wright read the following announcement into the record: Due to the COVID 19/Coronavirus Pandemic and in accordance with Governor Sununu’s Emergency Order #12, pursuant to Executive Order 2020-04, this Board is authorized to meet electronically. The public has access to contemporaneously listen and participate in this meeting by telephone by calling 978-990-5000 and entering access code 112820.

 

Present at the meeting was Robert Wright, Jr., Chair; William I. Curless, Selectman; Dane Headley, Selectman and Elly Phillips, Town Administrator. Attending via teleconference was Robert DeFelice, Budget Chair and KRSD Municipal Budget Committee Representative.

 

The minutes from August 31, 2020 were approved as written. The Board reviewed and approved the following manifests:

PAYROLL MANIFEST: $10,890.29 9/4/2020 previously approved

VENDOR MANIFEST:  $37,385.84 9/4/2020 previously approved

PAYROLL MANIFEST: $11,708.59 9/11/2020

VENDOR MANIFEST:  $35,345.49 9/11/2020

 

BUILDING PERMITS:

The Board reviewed and approved the following building permits:

Michael Littman & Terry Stoecker, Map 09-633-038, Shaker Street, for a generator.

Victor Delvecchio, 08-193-276, Penacook Road, for a generator.

Solomon Living Trust, 06-594-514, Baker Hill Road, for solar modules.

Betty Ann Giles, Baker Hill Road, Map 06-662-494, for a shed.

 

YIELD TAX ASSESSMENT:

The Board reviewed and approved the following yield tax assessments:

Arnold Scott, Jr., 09-044-366, in the amount of $906.89.

Sharon Kenrick, 02-755-410, in the amount of $1,415.28.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

The Board reviewed an Application for a License to Sell Pistols and Revolvers for Jeffrey Cleveland.   The Board noted that there would be not retail sales or gun range associated with the permit. Selectman Curless moved to approve the application as the use is in conformance with a home occupation under the Sutton Zoning Ordinance.  Selectman Headley seconded the motion. A discussion ensued. Selectman Headley noted that there had been a question regarding whether or not there would be a firing range.   The Board will request written confirmation from Mr. Cleveland that there will not be a retail storefront, and there will not be a firing range for testing on the property. The question was called by the Chair and passed by a unanimous affirmative vote.

 

Selectman Wright will provide evaluation forms for Chief Korbet and Adam Hurst, Road Agent and Phillips will schedule the evaluations.

 

The Board noted that the North Sutton Improvement Society Parking area improvements have been scheduled for September 15, 2020. The parking area will be closed for the improvements. Mr. DeFelice noted that it appeared that there was a lot of late night early morning parking at the lot.   Mr. DeFelice discussed this with Corporal Domey and signs may be erected to limit parking to a certain time period. The Board will follow up with Chief Korbet as to whether a public hearing will be required for enforcement purposes.

 

The Board reviewed the Sutton Septage Permit Modification Application for submission to the Department of Environmental Services.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

The Board reviewed and executed GOFERR Grant Request 3 in the amount of $5,887.85 for COVID-19 related expenditures.

 

The Board issued an appointment form for Lynn Wittman as a Conservation Commission Member for a term until March 2021. Ms. Wittman was appointed to fill the vacancy in office due to the resignation of Amy Highstrom.

The Board received copies of the August 2020 Expenditure Budget for review at next meeting. Phillips noted that the Street Light Replacement Warrant Article went over budget by $332.12 because of the depreciated value of the streetlights owed to Eversource. Phillips advised that the Town will be receiving $5,127 back in revenues from the rebate program. Phillips requested from the Budget Chair that the overage be transferred to the operating budget streetlight budget. It was noted that it could fall under that category and there will be savings achieved in the monthly electric bills for the streetlights should be reduced by approximately 40%. The sense of the Board was to approve the request for the transfer as recommended by the Town Administrator and the Budget Chair.

 

Mr. DeFelice noted that the Library Trustees will be voting on whether or not they wished to manage oversight of their operating budget autonomously or whether they wished to have the Select Board office continue to process their payments. Mr. DeFelice noted that the library may wish to account for their expenditures and have the town office continue to process their payroll.

 

Mr. DeFelice will notify Phillips when to fund the capital reserves. At this time, he felt that would be at the beginning of October.

 

SELECTMEN’S COMMENTS:

On behalf of the Planning Board, Selectman Headley conveyed a question from Planning Board Chair Roger Wells asking whether signage could be erected identifying the beginning and endings of Class VI roads. The Board will check with the Road Agent regarding signage. Peter Stanley, Planning and Zoning Administrator, will also be following up with the road agent on behalf of the Planning Board.

 

Selectman Headley advised that Cedar House is available to schedule the installation of the sound system. Boards will need to designate a member to be trained on running the system.

 

Selectman Headley said that he was present for the memorial service for Donnie Davis which was well attended and a moving tribute.

 

Selectman Curless reported on the September 8, 2020 primary election. Selectman Curless said the outside portion went very smoothly and that there were only three occasions where people had to wait. The Board discussed locations for people campaigning and social distancing constraints. The sense of the Board was to recommend to the Moderator that campaigners be stationed across the street on the Grist Mill property.

 

Selectman Wright discussed the counting process, noting that addition counting was a little slow largely due to write-in votes and increased absentee voting.

 

Selectman Wright reported that approximately 1/3 of the total votes were absentee ballots, and it took approximately three hours to get through them. He since there will probably be double that number of absentee voters for the presidential election, it is likely that the moderator will begin processing absentee ballots earlier in the day with a final tally later in the day. In that way, the absentee ballots will be processed more efficiently.

 

Mr. DeFelice asked about feedback regarding the parking area and recommended that election workers should park on the far side to make space available for voters in the front area and better define the boundaries of the parking area.

 

Mr. DeFelice asked whether there was any feedback on the 26 Grist Mill Street Demolition project. Selectman Headley responded that the feedback he received was largely positive, although some citizens still really missed seeing the house.

 

Selectman Curless reported on a negative response he had received regarding the poor layout of the parking lot. Selectman Curless advised that was not the final layout of the parking area. The current parking area is the outline of the house and barn which were removed.

 

Selectman Wright reported on items of interest from the most recent edition of Town and City magazine. An item of notable concern for budget purposes is that the NH Retirement System has revised their assumptions on their assumed rate of return. As a result, the FY 22-23 employer contribution rates are expected to increase. Selectman Wright also discussed broadband in rural areas. It was noted that Sutton has outstanding broadband coverage. Selectman Wright discussed the Governor’s authority for Emergency Orders and Zoom Meetings and requirements for noticing. Selectman Wright also reviewed local authority for facemasks requirements.

 

PUBLIC INPUT:

Mr. DeFelice reported on the recent School Board Meeting and thanked Selectman Headley for his attendance.   Mr. DeFelice stated that under public comments he clarified Sutton’s position regarding the potential financial impact of COVID on District towns. Although collections were stable for first issue, the Town remains concerned regarding second issue (December) tax collections and the 2021 budget.   Mr. DeFelice said that citizens are suffering in the current economic climate. Mr. Cancio-Bello, KRSD School Representative has been scheduled for a meeting in September. Selectman Headley said that he was somewhat taken aback by the District’s approach of seeing how collections were going as a benchmark for establishing their upcoming budget. Selectman Headley went on to say that it was akin to them seeing how much the towns had to give and basing their budget on that. Mr. DeFelice agreed that a budget should be based on needs not revenues. Mr. DeFelice reported that the District was adding 4-5 propane budgets to their fleet noting that the MBC supported that appropriation. However, the District voted against funding a pumping station for the propane which will mean that drivers will have to go to Warner in order to fill the buses.   Mr. DeFelice felt that the extra travel would negate the potential cost savings associated with propane buses. The MBC was largely in favor of the pumping station. It was noted that two members of the MBC were on the transportation committee. One of those members was invited to attend the presentation on the propane buses. The Board will follow up with KRSD School Board Representative at a future meeting.   Mr. DeFelice reported on a proposed project regarding fire escapes at the Simonds School which has been deferred at this time.

 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:54 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Elly Phillips

Town Administrator