Members Present: Bruce Van Derven (BVD), Joe Denning (JD), Paul Fraser (PF)

Steve Favorite (SF), Town Manager Elizabeth Corrow

Rick Alpers arrived at 7:45pm

Selectman Paul Fraser called the public hearing meeting to order at 7:00pm.

Mr. Paul Fraser asked the public to give input on the venue for town meeting.

Ms. Barbara Greenwood felt the accessibility of town meeting is very poor. There is a high amount of traffic on Summer Street, the lack of parking is an issue and it is very hard for the elderly to attend due to the parking and the steep hill into town hall. She felt the Newfound Memorial Middle School is much more accessible because there is plenty of parking and the entry way is easier for the elderly to use.

Mr. Mike Bannon agreed with Ms. Greenwood’s statement even though the town had previously spent some money to fix the town hall up, he still felt it was to dangerous and not accessible.

Ms. Lewis felt the elderly may come to town meeting if the venue was in a place more accessible. She had concern with the ice on the steep hill and felt a flatter entry way may make it easier for everyone.

Mr. Walenda also agreed with the poor accessibility and agreed more handicap and elderly citizens may attend if it were easier. He also stated the need to advertise to ensure a large turn out.

Mr. Bruce Van Derven stated he had spoke with the Superintendent of the school’s previously about this and she did not seem to have any concern. He also questioned the citizens whether they felt people were not attending solely because of the location and accessibility. Mr. Van Derven suggested other community events and activities could be held at town hall so there would be some use for the building.

Mr. Steve Favorite agreed it was dangerous and the Middle school would be central and easily accessible. He also agreed with Mr. Walenda for the need to advertise if there is a change of venue.

Mr. Paul Fraser asked all the citizens to email kalpers@townofbristolnh.org with any questions or concerns pertaining to the venue for town meeting. He stated the board would make a decision in the next meeting and would leave the public hearing open until 8:00 for any other input.

Ms. Elizabeth Corrow explained the request to close a section of North Main Street to allow delivery of a modular home. She stated the request was originally 4 hours but discussed this with the owner and agreed to close from 7:00am to 7:30am on February 1, 2007.

Mr. Bannon noticed this item on the agenda and expressed his concern with some of the offices being closed during lunch. He feels the office staff is here to service the community and the offices should not be closed at all during the day.

Town Manager Corrow agreed with Mr. Bannon and explained the staff tries very hard to alternate their lunch breaks to ensue the office is open all day. However, once a month the office does close down for an hour to have an office staff meeting which Ms. Corrow feels very beneficial. She also stated we have had a member of our staff out for a period of time, but we are still trying to work together to keep all the offices open. Mr. Paul Fraser suggested any closure of the office should be posted on the website prior to this closure.

Multi-Use Path:

Town Manager Corrow explained the board had made a motion to allow snowmobiles on the Multi-use path contingent upon the warranty by the construction company. She discussed the warranty with the construction company and they stated the warranty did not allow motorized vehicles on the path. Mr. Fraser stated in order to have the snowmobiles on the path; it would need to be budgeted for maintenance and repairs on a yearly basis. However, maintenance was not budgeted for this year. He also suggested the snowmobile club may have suggestions on how to minimize damage on the path and they might help with the maintenance in the future, should snowmobiles be allowed. Mr. Boake Morrison stated pavement is not rock solid and the spikes on the snowmobiles would ruin the pavement. Ms. Janice Dellacroce questioned the enforcement of banning snowmobiles and Ms. Corrow stated signs would be posted and the gates would be locked. Mr. Van Derven believes the path should be protected by the snow since the path would not be open with less then eight inches of snow which is the rule put forth by the snowmobile club. Mr. Denning stated the original motion clearly stated snowmobiles would be allowed on the path contingent of the warranty. Therefore, since the warranty would be affected snowmobiles should not be allowed on the Multi-use path. Town Manager Corrow stated there may be a solution that could be looked into for the future to allow snowmobiles on the path.

Ms. Corrow has posted the advertisement for the Police Chief on various websites and in the newspaper. The deadline for resume submission is February 16^th, 2007. She also explained how she would like a quick and thorough process. She will create a committee to do the beginning stages of the interview process. The members of this committee would include members chose by the select board, community members and policing professionals. The final candidates would then go through an executive interview with the Town Manager for the final decision. Ms. Corrow noted that she is still working to finalize this process.

Mr. Wade Brown stated they are in the preliminary design stage. They are currently about 50% through the preliminary design and will address a few concerns that were brought up at the meeting earlier that day. They will be doing an Archeology survey and if there is anything found there may be a short delay. He also stated the bridge is being marketed right now. He gave an overview of the current status of the construction, explained the various players and what each are doing to move forward. However, there is concern with the height of the bridge. They will be raising the bridge by 9 feet which still leaves the possibility of flooding when the Army Corps let the damn out. The reason they are not planning to go higher is due to the cost and the impact on the surrounding properties. There was an analysis done weighting the options of cost vs. height vs. structure and it was determined the 9 foot height increase would be the best. They are also determining whether to use granite of concrete curbing. The concrete lasts longer, will hold better and is less expensive. The bridge is planned to have a 6 foot shoulder to allow snowmobiles, however, the construction company may not warranty it if snowmobiles are allowed. Ms. Corrow stated there are ways to work around that by adding an extra lawyer of tar or planking. Ms. Corrow also explained the easement process is going relatively smooth. There is one citizen that has concern and is looking to be greatly compensated. She explained the compensation should be very minimal considering it would only be a temporary easement and the piece needed is relatively small. Mr. Brown stated they are looking into it a little further and may not even need to bother with the temporary easement since it is only for the workers to be on if necessary while they construct the bridge.

Ms. Corrow gave an overview to the board of items that were discussed in the budget meeting. One item the budget committee did question was the Avery-Crouse Beach budget. They requested specifics for the funding that would be allocated in the budget. Town Manager Corrow stated she would like to keep the $3000.00 in the budget for improvements but not for anything specific. Mr. Bruce Van Derven has concern with the budget committee requesting detailed plans for every line item. He feels it is not necessary. He does not think one should go through the effort of an extensive detailed outline of how the funding will be used if the budget has not been approved. He felt the role of the budget committee is to look at the whole picture and determine whether the proposed item is beneficial and in the best interest for the town and the citizens. He also referenced the proposed dock at Cummings Beach and questioned whether the budget committee did not support it due to the lack of a detailed breakdown.

Another budgeted item that was in question is the Police Cruiser. The budget committee only supported one and Mr. Rick Alpers questioned their decision. He was concerned with having an almost full fleet of officers and not enough police cruisers for them to do their job efficiently. He does not think the expense is very much for a cruiser and the cruisers we are currently using have a lot of miles to run for another year. He explained how most towns and the state take their cruisers out of service after 70,000 to 80,000 miles and our cruisers currently have about 100,000 miles. He stated the people voted to increase the personnel and now we need to give them the tools to work effectively.

The police committee has narrowed the site selection down to two places. One is a land only site which would allow a new building, however, it is costly and it is on the outskirts of Bristol. The other site currently has a building on the site but could easily be renovated and expanded. This site is also in a better location. Ms. Corrow explained the trouble they are having with locking in a price for one of the sites. She would like to have a price locked in by town meeting. Mr. Van Derven suggested they budget the appraised value plus 10% to give an estimate for the cost if needed due to the time frame.

Rick Alpers:

Mr. Alpers wanted to ensure we did not loose site of the issues with the damn and Freudenberg.

Paul Fraser:

Mr. Fraser questioned the holiday policy for the transfer station. Ms. Corrow stated they will follow the same holidays all the other town employees have. If the holiday lands on a day they should be open, they will be closed and will open the following day for business.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:10pm

Respectfully submitted,

Krystal Alpers

Administrative Secretary