Town of Bristol
Board of Selectmen
Minutes of 03-23-06
Present: Rick Alpers (RA), Bruce Van Derven (BVD), Joe Denning (JD), Steve Favorite (SF), Paul Fraser (PF), Town Administrator Bob Veloski and the administrative secretary.
Acting chairman Alpers called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.
Scheduled meetings:
None scheduled for this evening.
Reorganization of the Board:
Motion by BVD to nominate Rick Alpers as BOS chair and Joe Denning as Vice-chair; second by Joe Denning.
Discussion: BVD – nominating the best person for the job to represent the residents of Bristol rather than "customary practice" of person with most seniority on the Board.
Vote was called by RA – passed unanimously.
BOS reps to various Committees, Boards, Commissions:
Secretary to email list of meeting times/dates to BOS. Mr. Tom Shea was in the audience and stated that he was representing the Planning Board, who would like the BOS to consider electing Steve Favorite as the Planning Board rep. It was the consensus of the Board to have Mr. Favorite as PB rep. Brief discussion on ZBA rep and if it were truly needed. No other decisions made at this point in time – hold until next week.
Public Input:
Mr. Richard Walenda voiced his concerns with junk cars at a property on Worfield Circle. The BOS asked that the Code Enforcement Officer check on the situation and act accordingly.
Mr. Mike Bannan (Public Works Commissioner) informed the BOS that the Public Works Commissioners have decided to give out cash awards to 4 employees at the sewer plant for their hard work and innovative ideas which has saved considerable time and money. JD suggested that the BOS also send a "thank you" letter to those employees.
Mr. Tom Shea addressed the BOS with his concerns over events occurring during the recent Town Meeting. He stated that comments made by a Budget Committee member had been made on a ‘personal’ level, but also stated that there had been inappropriate comments and cat-calling from the Fire Department seated behind him. The BOS suggested that he place his concerns/suggestions in writing and forward them to the Town Moderator.
Mr. Shea also inquired about the construction project for Rt. 104 (State project). Mr. Mike Bannan stated that he believes it has been postponed until 2009 due to lack of money for the State road projects.
Selectboard Items:
Rick Alpers – Discussion among Board members on the town-manager form of government and getting together a time line and action plan for the transition.
Bruce Van Derven – shorter, more condensed minutes from Board meetings rather than lengthy details. Consensus of the Board to approve this format.
Joe Denning – Bird collection currently housed at the Minot-Sleeper Library. The Board agreed to authorize the Library Trustees to locate a suitable new housing arrangement for the collection; they must work with the Town Administrator on this project and have BOS approval prior to being moved to a new location.
Paul Fraser – Would like to see the BOS/Town move expeditiously on the new Police Station. Would like to see it made a priority. The BOS agreed that they would be meeting next week with the Police Chief and Commissioners next week on both this topic and the request to lower the speed limit to 25 mph on North Main St.
Vadar software – still working out bugs. BOS agreed to pay them the 57% and 50% as requested by the software company.
Bruce Van Derven – suggested starting meeting at 6:303pm to do the administrative paperwork and then open the public portion up at 7:00pm. He also suggested the BOS meet 3 times per month, with 2 regular sessions and 1 work session. The administrative secretary will forward a potential schedule for the BOS to consider for next meeting.
Joe Denning – feels the BOS has several legal issues that need to be addressed. He also stated he would like the Board to set some goals for the upcoming year and future years. Board agreed to discuss this further at a future meeting, but agreed that it needs to be done.
Rick Alpers – Discussion took place over coordinating efforts with the Superintendent’s (school) office on budgets. The Board agreed that maintaining communications and a working relationship was important. Discussion also took place over Bristol paying 1/3 of the school monies, but only having one vote equal to the other Towns in the district. No formal Board action taken on this issue.
Bruce Van Derven – asked the BOS if they thought it would be possible to meet earlier in the week (suggested Monday or Tuesday). Several Board members stated that they could not as they had prior commitments.
Bruce Van Derven – Suggested moving the meetings to the Old Town Hall on Summer St where the Town meetings and voting are held. After considerable discussion on parking, location, difficulty for seniors to climb hill, etc – BVD stated that one of the reasons he had suggested it was to bring to light the fact that a lot of people don’t attend due to these difficulties and perhaps it is time to move the voting to another location. However, the Board did agree that they would try it and hold some meetings there to see how it worked out.
Town Administrator Items:
Rt. 104 Corridor Study sponsored by the LRPC (Lakes Region Planning Commission) for the portion of Rt. 104 from Meredith through New Hampton to the Bristol town line. Bob Veloski stated that he does not mind going to these meetings, but wanted to know if someone from the Board or other committee would rather go as they may have a vested interest in the project. (Would have impact on flow of traffic to Bristol, especially the downtown area.) The topic was briefly discussed as well as who would like to attend or possible representatives, but no decisions were made. The Town Administrator is to find out when the meetings will be held and report back to the Board.
2006 budget amount – Administrator Veloski stated that there had been a mathematical error made on the bottom line of the Fire Department budget figure which made a $2,500 difference in the total approved vs. the correct amount requested. Discussion took place over where the money should be placed within the town budget. Opinions were divided on whether the $2,500 should go to the Fire Department budget or to another line within the overall budget. Motion by BVD to keep the $2,500 excess (due to mathematical error) within the Fire Department budget and to let them use their discretion on which line to use it (to work with the Town Administrator); motion was seconded by Joe Denning. Vote was 4-1 with SF opposing.
Emails/regular mail/extraneous information – the Board agreed that the Town Administrator should weed thru the glut of information and pass along only what is important to the BOS. All agreed that they did not need to look at the day to day junk mail or copies of copies of information already discussed.
Limit spending – The Town Administrator reported that he will be asking the department heads to limit their spending to only necessary purchases until after the tax bills go out and money starts coming back in.
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Chief Skantze request for authorization of a PO for new EMS pagers. Motion by SF to approve PO#2588 in the amount of $1,400 to Lily Pond Communications; seconded by BVD; vote was 5-0. (Three quotes were attached.)New electronic dumpsters are at the Transfer Station.
Dump truck has been repaired and is back in service (had been in accident).
State is renting street sweeper for a couple of weeks this spring.
PT assessing person will be starting next week (approved in budget).
Status of Revenues – Peggy, Kathleen and Raymah are working on this with Bob Veloski.
Code Enforcement Officer will be out on vacation 4/4 – 4/13. Will be out of the office on those days. BOS ok’d no substitute COE during those 4 days he would normally work.
Contract with Underwood Engineers Inc in the amount of $39,300 for the 25-year study. The Public Works Commission would like the ok from the BOS to have Commissioner Burt Williams sign (as in previous years). Motion by JD to continue the practice of the Water/Sewer Commission Chairman signing necessary contracts; seconded by BVD: vote was 5-0.
Windridge Street Lights – Motion by BVD to accept the street lights on Windridge Road as per the usual practice of such when accepting the roads; seconded by JD; vote 5-0.
Newfound Marathon Sign -- discussed, no action needed.
Ambulance collection letters – OK’d by BOS to have the Town Administrator sign on behalf of the BOS. Also discussed was hardship request for write-offs. Motion by BVD to authorize the Town Administrator to sign on behalf of the BOS in regards to hardship request for write-offs for ambulance billings when they meet the income criteria; seconded by JD: vote was unanimous to approve.
Personnel Policy Changes – Hold until next week.
Employee evaluations – brief discussion of how merit-based raises/COLA have been implemented and progress being made. Mr. Walenda stated that he doesn’t think it is fair for part time employees to not receive Holiday pay, vacation or sick time. RA agreed with him and said that it was something that the BOS intends to work on in the upcoming year.
Upcoming Issues:
Public Hearing on traffic pattern in downtown area – request to reduce speed limit to 25 mph on North Main Street.
DRA representative here next week to discuss assessing audit.
Municipal Law Update (annual event) by Bernie Waugh – TA to schedule
Masonic Lodge tax-exempt status/BTLA hearing.
Other Business:
Manifests were reviewed and signed by the Board; assessing items reviewed/signed; the Town Administrator stated he had an item for non-public session (personnel evaluations).
Motion by BVD to enter non-public session according to RSA 91-A:3 II (c); seconded by RA. Roll call vote polled by the secretary resulted in all five members voting "aye" to enter non-public session. The Board entered non-public session at 9:27 pm.
The Board returned to regular session at 10:03pm.
Motion to adjourn was made by Bruce Van Derven; seconded by Rick Alpers; vote was unanimous.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:04 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Angela Mahoney
Administrative Secretary
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Richard Alpers, Chair
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Joe Denning, Vice Chair
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Bruce Van Derven
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Steve Favorite
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Paul Fraser
Selectboard for the Town of Bristol