Town of Sutton Selectmen Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF SUTTON
Pillsbury Memorial Town Hall
93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH
Sutton Mills, NH 03221
Board of Selectman
October 1, 2018 @ 4:00 p.m.

 

The meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. by William I. Curless, Chair.  Present at the meeting were:  William I. Curless, Chair; Dane Headley, Selectman; Robert Wright, Jr., Selectman; Robert DeFelice, Budget Committee Chair; Gail Guertin, Budget Committee, David Hill and Elly Phillips Town Administrator.

 

APPOINTMENTS:

Robert DeFelice, Budget Committee Chair met with the Board to continue a discussion from the previous week regarding Capital Reserve Funds.  Mr. DeFelice addressed the various capital funds that were established to meet emergency/maintenance needs:  Highway Emergency, Fire Department Maintenance, Library Maintenance, Cemetery Maintenance and Pillsbury Memorial CRF.  It was noted that the Pillsbury Memorial Hall CRF needs to be repurposed from its original intent to replace the furnace.  Mr. DeFelice observed that there was a substantial amount of money in the various funds that were intended for emergencies.  Mr. DeFelice suggested that one emergency maintenance fund to address the town’s building and grounds needs would be more appropriate and useful.  Mr. DeFelice further indicated that the General Building and Grounds Expendable Maintenance fund should have a cap.  There was a general discussion as to how to accomplish this.  The consensus was that each of the reserves with principal and income would need to be discontinued individually with the proceeds going to the general fund.  The Pillsbury Memorial fund should be repurposed as a General Building and Grounds Expendable Maintenance Fund and the proceeds from the discontinued funds would then be raised and appropriated to fund the General Building and Grounds Expendable Maintenance Fund.  Thus, a fund with sufficient money would be available to meet emergency needs as they arise.  There would be a cap on the amount put into the emergency fund.  The consolidation might reduce the amount of the annual appropriation being requested.  Strategies for replenishing the Building and Grounds Expendable Maintenance funds were briefly discussed.   There was also a discussion regarding consolidating mapping needs with the revaluation warrant article.  It was noted that repurposing the capital reserve may be required. DeFelice will work with Phillips on the drafting of warrant articles for the capital reserves.   Mr. DeFelice will review capital planning with the library.

 

The minutes from September 24, 2018 public and non-public were approved as written.  The non-public minutes were not sealed.

 

REVIEW OF MANIFESTS:

The Board reviewed and approved the following manifests:

PAYROLL MANIFEST:   $  15,118.03

VENDOR MANIFEST:     $427,882.62

 

BUILDING PERMIT:

The Board approved a building permit for John & Betsy Chadwick, 08-878-169, Baker Hill Road, for a shed/garage.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

Selectman Wright made a motion to appoint Jennifer Call, Deputy Treasurer, to the office of Treasurer to fill the vacancy left through the passing of Martin Carrier.  Selectman Headley seconded the motion which passed by a unanimous affirmative vote.

 

The Board received notification from Carol Merullo, Town Clerk/Tax Collector, that there were three properties slated for Tax Deed October 29, 2018.  The Board noted that the deeding time was 2:00 p.m. on October 29, 2018 and that there would be no payments accepted after 2:00 p.m. at which time the deeds will be provided to the Selectmen’s Office for execution with no exceptions.

 

The Board noted that a public hearing regarding the acceptance of funds will be held on October 15, 2018 beginning at 5:30 p.m. to see if there is occasion to accept $11,414.59 from the federal government for FEMA 4355 DR and $570.73 from NH-DOS which represents eligible reimbursement for storm damage cleanup from the October 29, 2017 weather event.

 

The Board was advised that a meeting with Sam Greene, NH DRA Real Estate Appraiser Supervisor, has been scheduled for October 15, 2018 to discuss revaluation methodologies in preparation for the 2020 town-wide revaluation.

 

The Board issued a request from the trustees of the trust funds for disbursement from the capital reserves as follows:  $150,000 from the Highway Equipment (Trucks) Capital Reserve and $13,451.80 from the Police Department Computer Expendable Capital Reserve Fund.   The Board is deferring action on requesting disbursement from the Fire Department Addition Capital Reserve until year end in order to compensate for actual costs for engineering, architectural studies, project management etc.  The reason for this is for transparency of project costs.  It is anticipated at this time that there will be a warrant article in 2019 to request additional funding through the issuance of notes or bonds pursuant to the Municipal Finance Act (RSA 33) in order to go forward with this project.  The purpose of the studies that will be funded through the Capital Reserve is to determine the amount of additional borrowing that will be required.

 

The Board received and reviewed September 2018 expenditure reports.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

The Board received notification from NRRA that there are not going to be any changes to Glass Recycling procedures at the Sutton Solid Waste Facility for the time being.  The Town will continue to accept glass jars and containers as well as porcelain and ceramics.   The Town will need to execute

 

REVIEW OF CORRESPONDENCE:

The Board noted correspondence regarding New Hampshire Lottery regarding KENO.

 

SELECTMEN’S COMMENTS:

Selectman Curless recommended that the Board consider installing an audio/visual surveillance system to enhance security for the Town Clerk’s Office.  After a lengthy discussion regarding types of and costs of various surveillance systems, the Board instructed Phillips to seek recommendations regarding surveillance systems from Chief Korbet.  Selectman Wright suggested that the Board perform a study and install a surveillance system at the Pillsbury Memorial Hall.

 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Elly Phillips