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

Board of Selectman
Meeting Minutes of January 30, 2017

The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m.   Present at the meeting was Walter Baker, Jr., Chair; Robert Wright, Jr., Selectman; William I. Curless, Selectman, Stephen Bagley, Road Agent; Linda Ford, Town Clerk/Tax Collector; Heidi Thoma, Librarian; Ed Canane Land Use Coordinator; Jonathan Korbet Police Chief; Robert DeFelice and Tom Schamburg, and Elly Phillips, Recording Secretary.

APPOINTMENTS:

At 4:00 p.m. the Board met with Stephen Bagley, Road Agent to review the highway department’s 2017 proposed budget.

Mr. Bagley first provided an update on the Hominy Pot Bridge Project.    The last wing wall is being completed.  The water has been diverted from the old culverts and is going through the new ones.  The temporary pipes will be removed after other work is done. Mr. Bagley projected that the project will be completed by week’s end.  Some delays were experienced due to winter weather which was provided for in the contract document.  There are two remaining payments, one of which will be withheld until final work is done in the Spring – a 10% payment (grading, seeding etc.)  Mr. DeFelice inquired about a matter that involved snowmobile access in the blocked off work area, and asked to be notified if there were any damages to be assessed as the snowmobile club was concerned.

Mr. Bagley proceed to review the budget on a line item basis excluding wages and health insurance.  Heating and building expenses including the water conditioner were reviewed.  Mr. Bagley noted that heavy equipment rental was up in 2016 due to the dry summer, the crew was able to get some additional mowing done.  Mr. Bagley noted that fuel costs were down due to lower fuel prices as well as a mild winter.  There was a lengthy discussion regarding the costs of heavy equipment and truck tires, and the merits as to increasing the operating line item vs an expendable capital reserve for truck tires were discussed for budgeting beginning in 2018.  Additional funds for tires need to be budgeted in 2018.    Mr. Bagley also discussed the optimum time for trade-in and replacement of equipment.  The equipment should be replaced when it still has good trade-in value and before it starts costing a lot of money for repairs.  Mr. Bagley also discussed the expense associated with having to rent heavy equipment.    Sand and Salt acquisition was reviewed.   Selectman Baker described the merit of pre-buying sand and salt late in the year, if funds and storage space are available, as prices are generally increased in January.  The Board was pleased with the additional storage capacity of the new sand/salt shed.  Mr. Bagley is researching cost/savings associated with acquiring a crack/chip sealer.  The preservation work on pavement done this year worked out well, but it is $3,600/day to have a crew come in and do crack seal work.  A chip sealer costs about $36,000 to purchase.  There are still some supplies that need to be acquired, but a project savings benefit is quite probable.  You can gain 6-7 years of road life with preservation.  The discussion of the highway department line items was completed.  Selectman Baker made a motion to approve the Highway Department budget exclusive of salary and health insurance, as presented.  Selectman Wright seconded the motion which passed by a unanimous affirmative vote.

Linda Ford, Certified Town Clerk Tax Collector, met with Board.    Selectman Baker requested that Ms. Ford go line by line through the Financial Administration/Election Registration operating budget exclusive of wages and insurance.  Selectman Curless asked about the supply line item, noting that a large supply order had been purchased at the end of 2016, and wondered whether the supply line could be adjusted accordingly.   Selectman Wright made a motion to accept the operating budget of the Town Clerk/Tax Collector, exclusive of salary line items, as presented.  Selectman Baker seconded the motion which passed by a unanimous affirmative vote.

Heidi Thoma, Librarian, met with the Board to review the library operating budget.   Ms. Thoma presented the budget exclusive of the salary on a line-by-line basis.  Ms. Thoma advised that custodial work is now being done by a subcontractor resulting in a change in that line item which was offset by savings in fuel costs.  Ms. Thoma provided a handout of proposed warrant article wording for the three library warrant article items.  There will be an article in the amount of $20,000 on the 2017 warrant for a ramp.    Selectman Curless cautioned that final plans be in place prior to submitting an article on the warrant.  Selectman Baker indicated that plans should be drafted and that he was prepared to make a model.  Other accessibility matters were discussed as well as future capital planning.  Selectman Wright moved to accept the library budget and warrant articles as presented.  Selectman Curless seconded the motion which passed by a unanimous affirmative vote.

Ed Canane, Land Use Coordinator, met with the Board to discuss the Planning and Zoning operating budget on a line by line basis exclusive of salary issues.  Mr. Canane discussed fixed costs for the planning and zoning boards as opposed to variable costs that are driven by the number of hearings etc.  Mr. Canane also advised that many of the costs have an offsetting revenue line that are paid by applicants but expenses and revenues have to be presented separately.  Mr. Canane stated that he endeavors to keep costs down and in order to return money to the general funds.  Selectman Wright recommended that the land use operating budget, exclusive of wages, be approved as written.

Jon Korbet, Police Chief, met with the Board to review the Police Department operating budget on a line item basis exclusive of wages and insurance.  Chief Korbet advised that the department takes an active role in prosecution which helps to mitigate the prosecutorial expenses.  Robert DeFelice asked whether there was an impact from prosecution at the school.   Chief Korbet replies that it does, but that the Department attempts to work with the juvenile cases to help mitigate expenses.      Chief Korbet noted that there are trainings that officers participate in that are reimbursable from the state.  Chief Korbet advised that there were tasers that needed to be replaced for the Department in 2017.  Originally, the replacement was planned for 2016.  However, he had held off due to other anticipated expenses such as the generator and air condition replacement that occurred in 2016.  Chief Korbet indicated that mileage went over this year as the Department was down one cruiser for a time this year.  The mileage expense is used when officers use their personal vehicles to attend trainings etc.  Chief Korbet stated that the cruiser fuel line had been reduced by $1,000 due to reduction in fuel costs.  Selectman Curless asked about part-time staffing, and whether there was an opportunity to recruit if the wages were re-evaluated to make it more attractive to candidates, and perhaps have one part-timer instead of two.  Chief Korbet indicated that it was difficult to find candidates who wanted to work the evening and weekend shifts which were currently not covered by full-time personnel.  The department could use part-time coverage for about 1000 hours a year and part-time police officers can only work a maximum of 1300 hours a year as stipulated by the New Hampshire Retirement System.  Input was also sought for future budgetary items.   Chief Korbet indicated that because a computer capital reserve was established last year, at this time, he did not foresee any major future items that the Board should be aware of.  Chief Korbet expressed some concern over the over-time line item due to the Sargent’s new rate but felt it would be offset from part-time.  Chief Korbet advised that there were possible candidates for the resource officer position.  The Board discussed budgeting for the resource officer for half a year.  Robert DeFelice verified that if a candidate was found, the district would find the money.    Chief Korbet advised that training would be necessary for the candidate.  The Board discussed the budgetary impact.  Last year the projected revenue from the district was $64,000.  Selectman Wright suggested a warrant article and felt it would be supported by the public.  Mr. DeFelice felt that a Warrant Article might be confusing to the public.  The Board agreed that wages should be set at $143,831 for wages and for insurance $106,782.  Selectman Wright made a motion to increase 101 wages to $143,831 and increase health insurance $106,782.  Selectman Curless seconded the motion which passed by a unanimous affirmative vote.  Selectman Wright moved to approve the police department budget, absent wages and benefits, as presented.  Selectman Baker seconded the motion which passed by a unanimous affirmative vote.

Selectman Curless made a motion to add $2,500 to the executive budget in the financial management line item for consulting.  Selectman Wright seconded the motion which passed by a unanimous vote.

The minutes from January 23, 2017, Public and Non Public, were approved as written.  The non public minutes were sealed.  The Board reviewed the following manifests:

PAYROLL MANIFEST:       $  14,959.80

VENDOR MANIFEST:        $348,063.64

BUILDING PERMITS:

The Board approved a building permit for Eric Chinberg, 08-591-235, Kings Hill Road, for a dwelling with access off a Class VI road.  The Agreement and Notification of Liability was reviewed and approved by the Road Agent and was executed by the Board.  A letter was received from Mr. Chinberg requesting to perform work on a Class VI section of Kings Hill Road was read.  The Board agreed to issue a written letter formally approving the specified roadwork.  All work is to be inspected and approved by the Road Agent.

A building permit for Wade and Debra Walker, Map 07-533-593, for an Accessory Dwelling (ADU) was approved.  The Special Exception with conditions for the ADU was granted by the Zoning Board of Adjustment on July 16, 2014.

A building permit for Gillian Martlew, 06-446-174, Newbury Road, for a solar rooftop array was approved.

INTENT TO CUTS:

The Board signed an intent to cut for Stephen Bobella, 08-574-166, Poor Farm Road, 25 acres out of 35.6

NEW BUSINESS:

The Board issued a certification of payment for the state of New Hampshire for the Fire Warden telephone line.

The Board issued an Abatement for Map 05-622-555, for Mark Brown, in the amount of $539.60 for application of a tax credit.

The Board reviewed and approved a request for hire for a deputy Town Clerk/Tax Collector from Linda Ford, Town Clerk/Tax Collector,

The Board reviewed and approved as written the Draft Round Room Report for the 2016 Annual Report.  Selectman Wright made a motion to dedicate the 2016 Round Room Report to Lynn King.  The motion was seconded by Selectman Baker and passed by a unanimous affirmative vote.

Robert DeFelice asked the process for providing corrections or reported discrepancies of street address and was advised to notify the Selectmen’s office regarding these matters (preferably in writing).

SELECTMEN’S COMMENTS:

Selectman Wright provided a status report on the perambulations.  The narrative has been written, and Selectman Wright has a call in for the GPS coordinates and photographs.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:02 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Elly Phillips

Recording Secretary