Town of Bristol
Board of Selectmen
Minutes of 11-08-07
Members Present: Rick Alpers (RA), Paul Fraser (PF), Steve Favorite (SF), Bruce Van Derven (BVD), Town Manager Elizabeth Corrow
Members Absent: Joe Denning (JD)
Chairman Rick Alpers called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.
Amendment to 10-18-07 Meeting Minutes
Town Manager Corrow stated Mr. Denning would like to make an amendment to the 10-18-07 Meeting Minutes. Ms. Corrow explained Mr. Denning is unable to attend tonight and asked that I pass along his request to put the dollar amount in the minutes. The minutes should state the dollar amount of $4,286,054.00 for the Central Street Bridge replacement. The Board agreed to the amendment. Mr. Van Derven stated it is the largest single span bridge in New Hampshire.
Historic District Commission
Chairman Alpers stated they have been meeting with the various boards and committees to see what they need, get a better understating of what they do and to know the work load of each board or committee. Mr. Dingman introduced himself and the other members. He stated the Committee has been around for 2 ½ years. He explained they crafted an ordinance and sought out members over the first year and a half. The last few months they have been working on infrastructure, creating forms and a website. Mr. Dingman stated for the short term they will continue to work on the infrastructure and the long term goal is to improve the downtown. The vision is to rehabilitate the downtown and the commission would like to work with the businesses to do this. Mr. Dingman stated he hopes the businesses become a fixture within the town and the board would like to act as a guide for advice for the businesses and not just a board they need to come before if they want a new sign. Mr. Dingman stated there are very few towns in the state that meet the requirements for certified local government. Once Bristol becomes a member, it will be eligible for funds to rehabilitate municipal and historical structures. Mr. Dingman stated they do need help with enforcement of signage. He stated there are a lot downtown that have not been approved. They need more alternates, possibly someone with architectural design or municipal experience. Mr. Dingman also stated having a liaison between the board and the citizen is very important as many citizens come to the board unprepared. Many citizens get frustrated with the board because they get the application and do not complete it correctly. Mr. Fraser stated they need to have people understand the vision for the downtown and then the business owners will not think they are being picked on. Mr. Dingman stated it was very helpful to have the Land Use Enforcement Officer and hopes to have a permanent person in this position soon as Mr. Nebesnik did a great job. This will help by getting the people set before they get to the board. Mr. Alpers questioned what the boundaries are for the Historic District. Mr. Dingman sated it consists of Central Square and the immediate properties surrounding the square. Mr. Dingman suggested signage stating “Entering or Exiting the Historic District” which will allow for a definite boundary. Mr. Van Derven questioned how many people are on the Historic District Commission. Mr. Dingman stated there are 5 members and 5 alternates and the Commission is basically a step child of the Planning Board not the Historical Society. They do not preserve history. Mr. Van Derven questioned who to contact if one wants a better understanding of the Historic District Commission. Mr. Dingman stated one should start by reading the information on the website, contact Jan at 744-3354 or email hdc@townofbristolnh.org. Mr. Alpers suggested creating a packet for education purposes that can be distributed to the property owners in the downtown. Mr. Dingman stated he would like people to view the Historic District Commission as trying to preserve the life of the town. He stated they are currently trying to revamp the website. Mr. Van Derven questioned the time commitment for an alternate. Mr. Dingman stated a couple hours a month for the meetings or more if the individual would like to get more involved. Ms. Corrow stated if they would like to work with Krystal to do a promotional package to give citizens a better understating that would be fine. Mr. Dingman thinks the packet is a good idea and could include a guide on the process so citizens are prepared.
Public Hearing – Noise Ordinance
Town Manager Corrow stated she has been trying to go through ordinances and policies to prioritize and work on revamping those that haven’t been reviewed in some time. She explained the Noise Ordinance was drafted and adopted in 1968 and then amended at Town Meeting in 1984. She stated the ordinance is somewhat vague and she has drafted a new ordinance from samples in use in other communities. She explained it brings clarity to the types of things that can be enforced. Mr. Fraser questioned if the Fireworks were addressed in this ordinance or if it would be a separate ordinance. Ms. Corrow stated the Fireworks will be addressed in its own ordinance. Mr. Alpers stated the ordinance addresses the time frames when heavy equipment and construction vehicles can be used. Chairman Alpers reviewed the items that are addressed in the ordinance and explained the exemptions. He stated it becomes enforcement based and Ms. Corrow explained it is a judgment call most times a warning is given for the first complaint. Ms. Sandra Heaney questioned how the fines were structured and Mr. Alpers stated their will generally be a warning for the first incident and then one would be fined if there is a second incident or repeat offender. Mr. Dan Paradis found a typo and suggested adding leaf blowers as they are also noisy. Mr. Jon Thouin stated the ordinance should include fixed businesses such are the car wash. He stated it is very noisy all hours of the day and night. Mr. Alpers stated they do need to discuss how to handle 24 hour businesses. Ms. Susan Duncan questioned what the problem is that is trying to be fixed. Mr. Fraser stated noisy trash pickup, construction vehicles starting early, etc are all concerns that have been brought to the board. He explained citizens came to a Selectmen’s meeting regarding some of these issues which made the board realize the ordinance needed to be updated. Ms. Duncan questioned if the street sweeper would also fall under the ordinance. Mr. Favorite questioned how the people at the lake felt as there can be some late evening gatherings during the summer months and sound does travel. He also questioned the yearly social at the social center as the event does go to midnight. A citizen stated she lives near the Cunamara and there is a considerable amount of noise coming from their tent. The citizen also questioned if the Cunamara is paying taxes on this tent. Chief Clark stated the first step of this ordinance is to educate citizens before issuing summons. He explained the fines do come back to the town and encourages people to call immediately so the Police Department can address the quality of life issues. Mr. Van Derven questioned some of the wording and conflicting statements that may need to be addressed. There was discussion regarding the time constraints. Mr. Alpers questioned if the proposed ordinance times are consistent with the other samples. Ms. Corrow confirmed. Mr. Alpers questioned what would happen to those independent contractors that are trying to beat daylight savings time. Mr. Van Derven questioned why someone would be in violation if there is no complaint. Chief Clark stated is there is no complaint then they will not need to do anything. Mr. Waring suggested adding a clause for factory machinery that has been modified such as an exhaust. Ms. DellaCroce questioned if snowmobiles were in the ordinance.
Capital Improvements Plan Presentation
Mr. Alpers stated the CIP Committee is here to present the first CIP and was very proud that the Planning Board was able to put this together. Mr. Alpers asked the CIP Committee to give the board an overview of the CIP. Mr. Campbell stated the Planning Board made a sub Committee that was formed at the end of June and were therefore under severe time constraints. This Committee was formed in an attempt to provide the Planning Board and the Town of Bristol with a road map for future capital spending to avoid wide swings in capital expenses. Mr. Campbell explained the various projects and equipment that need to be addressed and did include recommendations for funding. He explained in the past many capital projects had not been planned for. The CIP Committee tried to find ways to reduce costs to lessen the tax impact. Mr. Campbell reviewed the capital items line by line by each department. He also explained there are forms in town hall and he encourages citizens to submit capital suggestions. He stated the CIP Committee will continue to meet in 2008 and encourages people to attend meetings. Mr. Fraser thanked the Committee for all the work they have done in a short amount of time. The final decision will be at town meeting, but this is a plan to work on capital spending and their needs to be good public relations in order to get the towns people to vote positively. Town Manager Corrow stated the CIP Committee did an amazing job looking at a lot of numbers and a lot of projects in a short period of time. Ms. Corrow stated she is very excited to have a capital plan for the budget process and each year it will be reviewed and updated. Ms. Corrow explained when you know what capital expenditures are coming in the future you can plan ahead and minimize the tax impact. The other benefit is each department is not fighting for resources because they know there is a plan. With the Town Manager form of government, all the department heads work together as a team and know where their projects or equipment fall in the plan. Mr. Van Derven stated this is the first initiative that has been taken since 1987 when the CIP was voted in at Town Meeting. Mr. Paradis stated the work that Ms. Corrow did with the department heads was phenomenal and very helpful. Mr. Douglas was very excited with the outcome of the plan. Mr. Dingman stated there are things at this point that can be done to try and restore the Mica Building. He stated it is comforting to know that the town has taken these financial house keeping steps. Mr. Alpers thanked the Committee and stated they will take this plan and try to implement it the best they can.
Town Manager Corrow announced the hiring of Sheryl Montague as the Land Use Enforcement Officer. Ms. Montague was hired as the part-time Administrative Assistant for the Fire Department. When Mr. Nebesnik left, Ms. Montague filled in for the interim and also applied for the position. She was chosen by the panel unanimously as they interviewed 6 candidates. Mr. Van Derven question who was on the panel and Ms. Corrow stated herself, Chief Clark, Chief Skantze and Mr. Dan Bouchard from the Zoning Board.
Selectboard Items
Mr. Paul Fraser stated he has been in contact with a company that is interested in 2 parcels for a cell phone tower. He stated there is a sample lease in the Selectmen’s books and asked the board to read through it to see if there are any issues.
Mr. Favorite stated he spoke with Chief Clark regarding a speed reduction starting before Ayres Island Road instead of in front of RP Williams. He also discussed a crosswalk from Freudenberg to Shop and Save.
Mr. Favorite stated the Christmas tree lighting will be on November 23rd at 5:00. There will be caroling, Santa will be visiting and the lions will be offering hot dogs and hot chocolate.
Mr. Favorite stated there was a great turnout for the Downtown Halloween event. He stated it was safe and fun. Ms. Corrow stated it was the first year they tried to implement the parade and it went well. Mr. Fraser agreed it was a great event. Ms. Corrow stated she would like to recognize the Police Department for their efforts with the Halloween event. The entire Police Department was involved and no overtime was incurred. They put forth a huge effort to ensure the event was safe. She gives them a lot of credit for this fun safe event.
Mr. Alpers stated he would like to really start advertising the current projects as they move forward. He also suggested getting the Historical Society involved with the Police / Town Hall Building project. Ms. Corrow thought that was a great idea and would contact them once the Police Building Committee has finalized the cost estimate from the Construction Manager. Mr. Alpers suggested holding meetings with different groups to get the word out. He also suggested creating a board that could be placed in a public area with the plan and a brief overview of the project. He suggested recording small focus group discussions to get the information out to the public. Mr. Alpers stated there has been a lot of work put into this project over the last two years and would hate to see this project get voted down because they did not advertise enough and inform the residents.
Town Manager Items
Pay Classification Study
Ms. Corrow stated she received a draft of grades as to where all the employees fell according to their job descriptions. She stated she has not received any numbers yet which was good to see where everyone falls solely on their job descriptions. Ms. Corrow gave the Grade Draft to the department heads to review with the employees. She is really pushing to get the numbers as soon as possible as it is holding up her portion of the budget process. Ms. Corrow stated the Local Government Center will be coming up to meet with the employees to explain how they arrived at the grade scale and will allow the employees to ask questions.
Ms. Corrow requested 3 Budget Work sessions and provided possible dates. Mr. Van Derven questioned if the department heads were calculating their budget for a fiscal year as well. Ms. Corrow stated they are doing a 12 month and an 18 month budget.
Town Manager Corrow discussed the Franchise Fee with the Board. She questioned LRPA to see if the town could still contribute to LRPA so viewers can see the other programs on LRPA if we did our own broad casting. LRPA stated they could do either or, not both. LRPA stated they could do live broadcasting but Ms. Corrow feels the timing might be difficult as you do not know how long the meetings will last and they are competing with the other towns for a time slot. Ms. Corrow stated she does need to know the board’s decision by the next meeting because she will need to gross appropriate for this budget season.
Ms. Corrow questioned what the board would like as a message for the Newfound Voice as Ms. Girona has offered the board a page in the paper at a discount rate for a Happy Holidays message. Ms. Corrow stated Neil Martin is writing an article for the paper and she has provided him with some information about town initiatives to include. Mr. Fraser would like the message to be more then just a Happy Holidays if they are using tax payers dollars. The board agreed.
Mr. Alpers questioned what we will be doing for a holiday party for the employees, will it be the same thing at old Town Hall like last year. Ms. Corrow stated that is her goal. She stated there was a questionable health issue as there were bat or squirrel droppings. Ms. Corrow stated she had the health officer follow up with the state and they said it was fine if the grates are closed off where the droppings are. She explained this was a temporary fix and would address the situation more permanently if the building gets renovated next year. She noted when the Water & Sewer and Scott Haskell covered up the grates they found only squirrels droppings and debris.
Mr. Van Derven stated Ms. Corrow is entering into her second year and doing a great job.
Town Manager Corrow stated she would be doing personnel evaluations. Mr. Alpers questioned when the board would like to do Elizabeth’s. He suggested the next meeting in non-public. Mr. Van Derven suggested sending all the items of discussion to him via email and he will compile them in letter form
Mr. Fraser stated the Senior Housing Complex has been approved and is official. Ms. Corrow wanted to make a point of clarification. She stated there is a misconception that the Town of Bristol is funding this project and in actuality there is no cost to the town. All the Town did was send a letter of support, this is a federally funded project.
Motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Paul Fraser; seconded by Mr. Steve Favorite; vote was unanimous.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Krystal Alpers
Administrative Secretary
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Richard Alpers, Chair Steve Favorite
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Joe Denning Paul Fraser
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Bruce Van Derven