Members Present: Rick Alpers (RA), Paul Fraser (PF), Steve Favorite (SF), Joe Denning (JD), Bruce Van Derven (BVD), Town Manager Elizabeth Corrow

Chair Selectman Rick Alpers called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.

Chairman Rick Alpers went over the calendar and stated the Multi-use Path Ribbon cutting would be held on May 26^th at 11:00 at the beginning of the Bridge. He stated this would be the official ceremony to open the path.

Town Manager Elizabeth Corrow stated the police building committee would like to hire Paul Mirksi for design services for the Police Building Project. She would like the firm to look into converting the current Town Office Building into the Police station and look for a different site for the Town Office Building. Mr. Bruce Van Derven questioned whether the funds for this are coming from the original warrant article for the police building study. Town manager confirmed and stated this will allow a design to be done with a breakdown of costs. Motion by JD to approve purchase order; seconded by PF; vote was 5-0.

Ms. Corrow stated Betty Seeler had suggested someone she knew, Beth Guyer, who is a CPA and she would be willing to join. She stated Ms. Guyer would be attending the next Board meeting to introduce herself and be appointed if the board so desires. She stated she will try to get in contact with George Tsioporas as requested. Mr. Alpers stated Mr. Chris Dolloff is interested in filing in for the interim only if it would not be a conflict of interest since he is on the Fire Department. Mr. Bruce Van Derven also suggested Monique Abear as she received write in votes at elections.

Mr. Alpers stated the Amendment at Town Meeting was illegal. Mr. Denning stated as a Selectman you are supposed to uphold the law and if the Board decides to form the CIP Committee as the amendment states, they would be doing something illegal. Planning Board Chair, Dan Paradis stated either the planning board or the Selectboard are very capable of overseeing the CIP Committee. Town Manager Corrow stated the attorney explained two options. Either the Planning board members are the CIP Committee or the Legislative body authorizes the BOS to appoint members to the committee. She stated the Planning Board does not have authority to appoint a CIP committee. Mr. Paradis stated the Planning Board did the Master plan and felt they could appoint members. Mr. Denning questioned whether other committees or boards are authorized to appoint members to committees. He stated the Planning Board would be the members of the CIP committee. Mr. Van Derven stated this has nothing to do with power and authority and town council notified the Board of this article being illegal. He explained the Planning Board Chair stated they would like the Selectboard to oversee this committee at Town Meeting; this is what the warrant article stated and does not think the Board of Selectmen should implement a motion that was illegal. He stated the intent of the amendment is excellent and the CIP Committee is something everyone wants to have happen. Mr. Fraser stated it is important for this committee to begin working soon, as we have now lost time and budget season is approaching fast. Mr. Van Derven questioned if the Planning Board is legally obligated to form a CIP Committee and stated the CIP creates an advisory report for implementation of the various improvements and the Budget Committee and the Selectmen implement. Town Manager Corrow stated the two options the Selectmen have is to decide whether the Planning Board will be the CIP Committee or the Selectmen appoint a committee who will report to the planning board but if authorized by town meeting to do so Mr. Denning stated the Committee is an advisory committee that continually looks into future projects. Mr. Denning felt the Selectboard needs to appoint a Committee. Mr. Paradis suggested the Board make a decision of whether the committee is under the Planning Board or the Selectboard. Mr. Alpers stated since town counsel advised the amendment was illegal it reverts back to the planning board. The board will give a list of suggested members to the Planning Board and the Planning Board would appoint and over see the CIP Committee.

The board reviewed the 3 TAN bids and recommended TD Banknorth which the Town already has accounts with. Town Manager Corrow stated this is something that needs to be done now since the cash is low and tax bills have not yet gone out. This will allow it to be in place should there be a need to borrow. Mr. Alpers asked why there was no quote from Northway. Town Manager Corrow stated she did not receive one from Northway. Mr. Alpers stated the terms with TD Banknorth would need to be addressed and referenced the June date listed on their quote. Motion by JD to accept the TAN bid from TD Banknorth; seconded by PF; vote was 5-0.

Town Manager Corrow took the current policy in place for vacation and holiday benefits and added a clause pertaining to part-time employees. She stated the Holiday and Vacation days would be prorated according the number of hours they work on a regular basis. She stated that she felt the part-time employees deserve the Holiday and Vacation days as well as this would be a definite moral booster. Motion by JD to add the Part-time, prorated vacation and holiday pay clause to the current policy; seconded by PF; vote was 5-0.

The Board of Selectmen discussed various dates to hold Summer Town Meeting. They decided to hold Summer Town Meeting on July 28^th from 10am - 12pm. Selectman Fraser suggested we find the banner from last year to display the date and time.

Town Manager explained New Hampton agrees with the amendment to the Central Street Bridge project contract with SEA engineers with one exception. New Hampton believes the engineer construction services should be a separate contract. Ms. Corrow stated she agreed with their recommendation. Ms. Corrow stated SEA is still working on the design phase due to a few items needing to be addressed and it is premature to award construction services. Mr. Fraser stated this is a project that needs to be looked at thoroughly. Ms. Corrow agreed and stated the DOT has a few safety issues that need to be addressed still in the design of the bridge. The Board agreed with New Hampton’s recommendation to take construction services out of the amendment and urge SEA to address the design issues cited by NHDOT.

Chairman Alpers stated Ms. Debbie Mancuso would like to provide outside seating. He stated after research he believes the town owns the sidewalk due to prescription. He explained Mr. Dan Paradis, the Planning Board Chairman has attended tonight’s meeting to explain his view. He stated if the Board has taken the sidewalk over by prescription then the Selectmen either need to grant permission to use the sidewalk for outside seating or deny it. He stated she will still need to go to the Planning Board if they grant permission and they may also set conditions for use. He also suggested a possible charge for the use of Town property. Town Manager Corrow stated the sidewalk has been there for a long time and she believes the Town has taken it over by prescription, therefore, the Board of Selectmen needs to decide whether they want to grant permission or not. Mr. Fraser questioned whether Ms. Mancuso is aware that because it is Town property, one could sit and use the table without purchasing an item. Mr. Denning questioned whether Ms. Mancuso had permission from the owner to be pursuing this request and questioned whether she would be allowed to serve alcohol. Mr. Paradis stated in the Master Plan there are pictures of tables in front of this store. Mr. Fraser questioned whether she should have to go to the Historic District Commission to ensure the umbrellas, chairs and tables are appropriate for the Downtown. Mr. Alpers suggested granting a five month trial period with the following conditions: the tenant/owner would be responsible for any damage that is done to the sidewalk, a letter from the owner granting permission for Ms. Mancuso to proceed with this request, a statement to Ms. Mancuso stating it is a public right away and alcohol would not be allowed. Ms. Corrow stated the Liquor Commission does want a decision from the Board regarding the alcohol use for the outside seating. Mr. Van Derven stated granting this request may incur other request for the various uses of town property such as other outside seating or private businesses on town property such as yoga class on the beach. He also felt the use of alcohol should not be allowed due to liability since it will be served on town property. Mr. Denning felt with reasonable control, he did not see an issue with the use of alcohol. Mr. Paradis questioned whether the board would charge for the use of the sidewalk. Town Manager Corrow stated the board should consider restricting logos or advertising and bright colored umbrellas. She also stated the board should consider any future requests be case by case as each request may be different. Mr. Alpers would like to add no bolting anything into the pavement or permanent structures and questioned whether the board should request Ms. Mancuso to go to the Historic District Commission for the umbrellas and tables. Mr. Paradis stated she has been to the Zoning and Planning Boards and that request might be overboard. Mr. Bruce Van Derven questioned whether the Taste of Italy would need to name the Town of Bristol on their insurance. He also suggested the planning board could request the design and color of the outside seating arrangements and felt a lease should be written to allow the Taste of Italy to use Town property if the local government center felt it would protect the town further from liability. Motion by JD to approve the use of the sidewalk for outside seating with the conditions that have been stated; seconded by PF; vote was 5-0

Ms. Corrow stated they currently have a contract for the fireworks on July 7^th and the board needs to decide on a location. Mr. Denning stated he held a meeting to choose a date for the fireworks and stated July 7^th worked best even though it will conflict with the Dance being put on by the downtown group. He stated Holiday Hills would be the location even though it is not the best and spoke with Mr. Charlie St.Claire who said he could do a nice display for $8,000.00. Mr. Fraser would like to meet with Fire Chief Skantze before they finalize the location. He stated they did a good job with Fire and Safety last year and would like to confirm this location is still fine. Mr. Favorite agreed. Mr. Alpers stated maybe they should not have them since there is not a good location and instead try and find a better location for the future. Mr. Bruce Van felt the Board should vote on the site tonight since the plan will be the same as last year. Mr. Van Derven does not support the site due to damages that occurred in the past. He stated Friends of the 4^th paid for the damages. He stated Atlas stated in their contract that they are not responsible for liability of an unsafe site. In the past the General Manager stated the Holiday Hills site is unsafe and they would not shoot from there in the future. He stated we have a good partnership with Atlas and they do not feel comfortable shooting from Holiday Hills. He thinks the fireworks should be shot from Town Property. Mr. Denning stated they have a good safety plan and the state agreed the site was safe and therefore should shoot them from Holiday Hills. Mr. Fraser stated the board is aware of the problem and tried to pass a Warrant article that would fix the issue, but it did not pass. Mr. Denning stated there was not a need for Friends of the 4^th to be responsible for the previous claims and stated the members of Holiday Hills were unanimous in allowing the fireworks for this year. The High School was suggested as a possible site, but they are not allowed due to the track. Ms. Corrow stated many residents would be upset if they were not on the lake. No Decision was made. Chief Skantze will attend the next Board meeting.

The board agreed to wait until next week to go over the goals. Town Manager Corrow stated a lot of the goals have already been touched upon and are beginning to move forward.

Mr. Favorite asked Mr. Bucklin to work on a layout for a recycling center at the current Transfer Station and passed the proposal out to the Board. Mr. Alpers stated something really needs to be done. The current Transfer Station is not very accessible, and is continually backed up. Mr. Fraser would like to see it expanded into a Recycling Center. Town Manager Corrow was unaware of this request by Selectman Favorite. She stated the Transfer Station does need some improvements and there have been a few residents willing to help if a committee was formed for recycling. She questioned how the Board would like to begin this process. She stated it could be done at the Board level or form a committee.

Mr. Alpers stated he had discussed with Terry Murphy, Bridgewater Selectmen, the concerns with the Grafton County Budget. Mr. Alpers stated there was a 20% increase which is quite significant. He suggested getting the local Selectboards together to discuss this increase and meet with the Grafton County Commissioners. He felt the Selectmen work very hard to level fund the Town’s budget and the Commissioners should as well. Mr. Denning felt this increase was bound to happen as the Jail is very expensive.

Mr. Alpers also questioned when the Tax Collector would be back. Ms. Corrow stated Raymah was back at her home in Bristol and we have been taking things to her to sign. She stated we are very low on cash and we may need to go through with the TAN. Phil Bodwell is almost done with the data entry for the pickups and we hope to have the Tax Bills out by the end of May. Patty Woolsey will have to come in to help run the data to get the Bills out.

Town Manager Corrow stated the Pay Classification Study would begin next Thursday with a meeting with the Local Government Center, and currently Krystal is compiling all the Job Descriptions and having the Department Heads make necessary changes to them.

Mr. Fraser stated the Ribbon Cutting would be on May 26^th and hopes that people will attend. He suggested Mr. Denning cut the ribbon.

Town Manager Corrow stated she met with people that were on the Beach Committee in the past. She stated they discussed the various issues with the Beaches. She would like to use the money in the Beach line to hire a firm to draft a plan for improvements which will also provide a breakdown of costs. She would like to get a small shed for the Beach for the tools and trash. She explained we have the same Beach Attendants as last year, but they will be doing more maintenance then in the past. She also suggested working on the Beach Ordinance in the future that would include a no smoking policy and a limit on the number of beach permits issued. This is something that could be discussed at summer town meeting. Mr. Van Derven questioned how much was in the Beach line. Ms. Corrow stated $3000.00 and then they would ask for increases in the amount each year to coincide with the suggested plan for improvements. She stated she did not have a plan in place for the Beach at the time of the budget process; therefore, she kept it the same as last year. The goal is to have the engineer prepare a preliminary plan and break down costs and permits needed. The current landscape plan prepared a few years ago will also be provided to the engineer as a starting point along with the items discussed at the recent beach meeting.

Ms. Corrow also met with the Downtown Revitalization Committee. She explained to the group the importance of promoting businesses in the Downtown to help them be successful. She explained that is not just infrastructure improvements that need attention. Having nice sidewalks and pretty lights won’t work to revitalize the downtown if businesses don’t have the customers to support them. With the businesses involved in the process through a program like the Main Street program they will be more apt to get involved with improvements to the Downtown. She challenged the Downtown revitalization group to come up with a fund raiser for half the money to hire a part time Executive Director for a Main Street program. She would then request the other half be funded by the town through the budget process. In response to a question by Mr. Favorite she stated that yes a main street program would work hand in hand with the CIP Committee to coordinate needed improvements but they also work to promote the area businesses and help with design (using things like design charrettes) and overall economic restoration. The Director would coordinate efforts and focus on downtown initiatives and hopefully raise funds to sustain the program over time.

There was no public comment.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 pm

Respectfully submitted,

Krystal Alpers

Administrative Secretary