Selectmen’s Minutes
Selectmen’s Meeting
April 6, 2006
Members Present: Frank Dumaine, Larry Rappaport, and Beno Lamontagne.
Others: Donna Caron, Heidi Lawton, Donna Jordan, Clarie Knapper, Kevin McKinnon, Steve Cass, Irene Bean, Mike & Marsha Biron, Betty Frizzell, Tim Frizzell, Mike & Sharon Grandmaison, William Brooks, Terrence Rosi, Parker Hicks, Bill Laramee, David Brooks, Solange Swallow, Wayne & Dawn Hall, George Hebert, James Biron, Kenneth Knapper, and Clifford & Pauline Bernard.
Mr. Rosi: said that the contact person for the Titus Hill people would be Betty Frizzell. He wanted to know how the plans for the Landfill got started without asking the residents.
Mr. Rappaport: explained that he talked to the State, then Rick Barthlemes.
Mrs. Frizzell: explained how horrible the road is now, how Titus Hill went from a residential living area to a commercial living area.
Mr. Rosi: explained that there was an article in the Portland Herald about how Casella was not a very good company. Then he talked about how the amount of loads was going up more and more everyday. Where are we on this? We need some answers.
Mr. McKinnon: Casella owns some of the places that you may be reading about in the newspaper or on the Internet, the Town owns our Landfill.
Mr. Laramee: I counted nine trucks, then called Betty and she counted 15. That is more than they were quoted in August. He expressed that he would like the project over sooner than later.
Mrs. Caron: There are more trucks now that the Landfill in CityplaceBethlehem is closed.
Mr. Rappaport: We have a permit by yardage, not by frequency. When we hit our total yardage, we will be closed.
Mr. McKinnon: When they are done that is it, they cannot open another Landfill in Colebrook.
Mr. Hall: What is it costing the Town?
Mr. McKinnon: The first check that the Town received was for $12,500.00, we will also get $50,000 to monitor the Landfill.
Mrs. Frizzell: How do you monitor the Landfill?
Mr. McKinnon: We built a treatment system and a leech field that helps strip contaminates. I am up there almost everyday and if I am not up there then April or David go up to monitor the process.
Mrs. Frizzell: Is there any asbestos coming in on the loads? How do you know?
Mr. McKinnon: There is not supposed to be any asbestos, if there is any we cannot take it.
Mr. Knapper: What is the contaminated soil being brought in?
Mr. McKinnon: There are oil contaminates in the soil; some is from the floods in Alstead.
Mrs. Caron: It took three years to get the permits to do this project. The water up at the Landfill is not of drinking quality, but it is safe for the environment, non-potable.
Mr. Knapper: How many gallons a day are being pumped into the sewer?
Mr. McKinnon: 800 gallons a day.
Mr. McKinnon: The State has been hounding us for years to close the Landfill. It cost $600,000.00 just to build the water remediation system.
Mr. Hall: With no taxes raised.
Mr. McKinnon: No
Mrs. Biron: Is the water being pumped into the sewer in front of my house contaminated?
Mr. McKinnon: The water that is being pumped in there has already been treated in the treatment center.
Mr. Knapper: Why not put the water in the leechfield?
Mr. McKinnon: The leechfield can only handle 5000 gallons a day. The water is treated, and then Bolens pumps it.
Mrs. Frizzell: How much sewerage can the town sewer take?
Mr. McKinnon: 20,000 gallons a day should be less as time goes on. We will hopefully be able to put a cap on this by this fall or early spring.
Mr. Rosi: Could we shorten the time that the trucks can go on the road so that there are not as many trucks on the road at a time?
Mr. Laramee: When there was snow on the road, two trucks jack-knifed.
Mr. McKinnon: Only one truck jack-knifed.
Mr. Hall: I think the fastest I have seen a truck going is 35mph. I do not think they could go any faster going up the hill. Can we post the Speed Limit to be slower?
Mr. Bernard: I followed one going 50 mph.
Mr. Hall: My concern is for safety, my daughter walks to school in the morning, and she has almost been hit three times. Can trucks not go between school hours 7:30-8:30 and 2:30-3:30? In addition, the trucks have hit concrete blocks and pushed them into my driveway.
Mr. Knapper: There is also an issue with the convoy of trucks; they are nose to tail 13 at a time, sometimes 15.
Mr. Laramee: They are not going the speed limit.
Mr. Rosi: At the top of the hill, could we clean up the boulders?
Mr. McKinnon: Sure, that would not be a problem.
Mr. Hall: The trucks are going too fast.
Mr. Knapper: There is not enough room for two trucks going up and down the hill. The road is not big enough. I almost was run over by a truck.
Mr. Laramee: Clark Jeffers and Buddy Boudle use the road as well.
Mrs. Frizzell: Can we put up speed limit signs to lower the speed limit?
Mr. Rosi: Can we put up a blind drive sign?
Mr. Bill Brooks: When I came to a Selectmen’s meeting before, I was not allowed to put up any signs.
Mrs. Caron: You can have speed limit signs up, but Bill was denied a blind drive sign.
Mr. Grandmaison: Can’t you find a place up on addressStreetSkyline Drive for the trucks to park?
Mr. Laramee: Some people have gotten broken windows from the trucks going by their houses.
Mr. Hebert: Have you seen the trucks parked on addressStreetMain Street?
Mr. Rappaport: We have discussed the trucks parking on addressStreetMain Street; we are trying to see if they could park at Blue Mountain Variety.
Mr. Knapper: Has Casella come up with anything for them?
Mr. McKinnon: Phil Lambert’s land is a possibility, but could not be used in the winter.
Mr. Knapper: Has Casella even given them any consideration, they are working hard.
Mr. James Biron: Why do the trucks come the night before?
Mr. McKinnon: Because if they can get up here early they can make an extra trip. They are being stopped everyday three or more times a day for fines. You do not want them up there at night.
Mr. Rosi: How about them coming on Saturdays? Why do we have to put up with that?
Mr. McKinnon: They are only supposed to be hauling until noon.
Mr. Rappaport: If they did not haul on Saturdays, then the project would go on for longer, do you want that to happen?
Mr. Rosi: We will discuss that as a group.
Mr. Laramee: One day you said that 39 trucks were going up there, how did you know that?
Mrs. Caron: Mr. McKinnon reported that information to me. However, we do not know if that many can park at Blue Mountain Variety. We have also discussed talking to Renaud Grandmaison.
Mrs. Frizzell: Where are the trucks coming from?
Mr. McKinnon: StateMassachusetts, StateMaine, StateNew Hampshire, and StateplaceNew York.
Mr. Grandmaison: Shouldn’t the waste be mostly from StateplaceNew Hampshire?
Mr. McKinnon: There is not enough waste in just StateplaceNew Hampshire alone.
Mr. Knapper: Will the Town monitor the Leachfield?
Mr. McKinnon: Yes
Mr. Grandmaison: I have a shallow well should I be concerned.
Mr. McKinnon: The run-off is going towards Lyme Pond and that is the stuff that we are treating.
Mr. Hall: Is it at the end yet?
Mrs. Caron: No, it is about half way down.
Mrs. Frizzell: There are also two big dips in the road now.
Mr. McKinnon: We will fix the road in the summer.
Mr. Rosi: The whole road is ruined.
Mrs. Caron: We are getting money to re-pave the road.
Mrs. Frizzell: Can you explain the rebates to us?
Mr. Rappaport: Avitar has set up a system where it goes from the footage to the addressStreetMain Road, if you enter your property from Titus Hill or not, and other criteria.
Mrs. Frizzell: I really do not think that we should have to pay any taxes at all.
Mr. Hall: I am pleased with the job that Kevin and Donna have done, but I cannot open my windows on a nice day or anything, I feel like a prisoner in my own home.
Mrs. Caron: You will get a third off on last year’s taxes and a decrease in your property taxes on your June bill for this year. I could have Connie Jackson come in to meet with you, if you would like.
Mr. Hall: I have had a problem at the bank with re-mortgaging because of the truck traffic.
Mrs. Caron: I did not know there would be that many trucks and we were trying to save the taxpayers money.
Mr. Hall: Could we get more of an abatement?
Mr. Knapper: Would that be all properties owned by an individual or just households?
Mrs. Caron: Everything, even a vacant lot.
Mr. Knapper: Because it does bother land only as well.
Mr. James Biron: Do you know how much sand is plowed onto land and lawns?
Mr. Laramee: Will the number of trucks increase this summer?
Mr. McKinnon: I do not know. They do about 1000 tons a day, about 20 ton a load so it could go up to 50 trucks a day.
Mr. Hall: Will they haul on Sundays or Christmas? Is this a four-year project?
Mr. McKinnon: They will definitely not haul on Sundays, I do not know about holidays.
Mrs. Caron: The project was originally for three years. When it is done, everything will be closed.
Mrs. Biron: A friend of mine overheard people in the Restaurant talking. Truckers saying they will be dripping and smelling up the town this summer.
Mr. Rappaport: We definitely do not want any dripping.
Mr. McKinnon: There will be some amount of dripping, it is inevitable.
Mr. Knapper: You will have mice and maggots coming off a truck parked overnight. Why were the truckers allowed to park in the AB lot?
Mr. McKinnon: They were not given permission, they just did it.
Mrs. Grandmaison: Biggest thing is safety.
Mrs. Frizzell: We would like more communication with the Selectmen, maybe meet with them once a month.
Mr. McKinnon: I would be happy to give you all a tour of the Landfill.
Mr. Hall: Can we all go up to see it together?
Mr. McKinnon: I will bring all of you up to see it.
Mr. Hicks: My driveway is very dangerous and I am scared to back out because of the trucks. Can we have 25mph speed limit signs put up?
Mr. McKinnon: Any Class 5 road is supposed to be 35 mph.
Mr. Hicks: Can we also fill up the ditches so that someone does not fall in them?
Mr. McKinnon: We cannot fill them up because we need water run-off.
Mr. Knapper: There is no base to hold the tar.
Mr. Hicks: The trucks go up the hill at like 30 or 40, 50 at the most; going down the hill is where there is a problem. Bolens is also going up and down the hill, gravel trucks, and more. How many come up Route 26?
Mr. McKinnon: Not many.
Mrs. Frizzell: Will you be putting up signs?
Mr. Rappaport, Mr. Lamontagne, and Mr. Dumaine: Yes
Mrs. Frizzell: I also feel that we need more police presence.
Mr. Knapper: The stop sign at the end of the hill is more like a yield sign.
Mr. Rosi: What about addressStreetBlind Drive signs?
Mr. Hall: The police could sit in my driveway and radar them.
Mr. Bill Brooks: Cops could park right on my property also.
Mr. Rosi: They could also sit in my driveway anytime.
Mr. Bill Brooks: It is not just a problem with trucks, it is cars too.
Mr. Hall: Could we change the speed limit to 20 mph?
Mr. Rosi: I think we would like to meet in a month, just contact Betty Frizzell.
Mrs. Frizzell: I feel that our lifestyles have changed, there is much more stress and anxiety.
Mr. Hicks: We are concerned with the safety factor.
Mr. Bill Brooks: I am concerned with the speed limit.
Mr. Lamontagne made a motion to drop the speed limit to 25 mph, Larry seconded the motion, Frank agreed, motion passed.
Mr. Rosi: How fast can you process the trucks?
Mr. McKinnon: It takes longer in the winter, about an hour to process.
Mr. Rappaport: We have signed a contract the hours now are (7:00-4:00), the maximum time that they could be open would be (6:00-5:00).
Mr. McKinnon: There are people up there at 6:00am shoveling snow and getting everything ready.
Mr. Knapper: So in summer they could be there at 6:00am.
Mr. McKinnon: They can operate between 6:00 & 6:00.
Mr. Rappaport: Casella is trying to impress the Towns in StateNew Hampshire right now; there are 27 towns in StateplaceNew Hampshire with a Landfill problem. If the Town wanted to restrict their hours, we could.
Mr. McKinnon: Winter is not an ideal time, summer is ideal. They are taking garbage from surrounding states; they cannot get garbage from any more states. (Ie. StateFlorida, country-regionplaceGeorgia).
Mr. Rappaport: We did this because the State was going to go after us if we did not do this. We would have had to raise taxes for everyone if we did not do it this way. You should think about shortening the hours of hauling, because then the project would go longer.
Mr. Rosi: How can you insure that it is all household trash? How can you guarantee it?
Mr. McKinnon: I am not 100% certain but I watch it everyday and things have been pulled out if they are not supposed to be in there.
Mr. David Brooks: The trucks will not be able to see the sign coming off Route 3, but if you put it up by Kenny Knapper’s they might.
Mrs. Frizzell: What time do you want to meet for a tour of the Landfill?
Mr. Rosi: How about Saturday morning at 9:00am, if there is a problem call Betty Frizzell at 237-4960.
Mr. Dumaine, Mr. Rappaport, Mr. Lamontagne, Mrs. Caron, and Mr. McKinnon thanked everybody for coming in and said to call anytime if they have any more concerns.
Don Butson came in from Cartographic to talk with the Selectmen about the tax maps.
Mrs. Caron said that she appropriated $30,000 last year and $30,000 this year for updating the tax maps. This amount is in a capital reserve account and there was no warrant article to withdraw money from the account for 2006.
Mr. Butson said that he has charged $80,000 in the past; in 2001, it was $67,000. He said that in April of 2004, he could do aerial photographs and ground control targets on the road, then in December of 2004, he quoted $10,982.00. In January $73,870.00. Cartographics could piggyback the project with some other towns like CityLittleton, Gilmanton, and CityplaceLincoln. The price last fall was $12,000.00 now there is a new price of $8,000.00.
Mr. Butson said that as long as the plane was in the area he could supply the fly over for $5,000.00 with $1,500.00 paid now and the balance after January 1, 2007.
He could have the photography and targets done on Specs as long as a contract was signed. If the town waits to approve the project until 2007 Town Meeting, then the town will not get the maps until 2008. Mrs. Caron will call the other companies that have shown an interest in this to let them bid. Mrs. Caron will call Mr. Butson on Monday.
When the maps are up to date, they will come in and do a Public Hearing. It will cost $69,500 with $1,500 down and the maps will be delivered in 2007. The maps are guaranteed for a year.
The Selectmen decided to make their meetings the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month.
The Selectmen discussed the Water RFP’s and discussed having a meeting on May 11, 2006 at 4:00pm to score the companies and to choose which companies would give a presentation.
Mr. Rappaport brought up having a meeting with Fire, Ambulance, and Police personnel as well as the Ambulance Board and Bud Hulse to discuss the ambulance building.
Mrs. Caron was asked to call Attorney Bernie Waugh on a addressStreetBlind Drive sign issue.
Mr. Rappaport made a motion to go into Executive Session on a personnel issue, Mr. Lamontagne seconded the motion, motion passed.
Mr. Rappaport made a motion to come out of Executive Session on a personnel issue, with no decision made, Mr. Lamontagne seconded the motion, motion passed.
The Selectmen asked Mrs. Caron to call Phil Arel for an update on the Court finding a building to lease and to invite him to the next Selectmen’s Meeting.
The Selectmen asked Mrs. Caron to make up a list of the good and bad things about the Landfill Project.
The Selectmen discussed who would insulate the water lines at the Landfill, the Town of CityplaceColebrook or GeoInsight. The Selectmen decided that it would not be the Town of CityplaceColebrook. Mrs. Caron will call Rick Barthelmes and Mark Popham in the morning.
The Selectmen discussed White Mountain Cable, the local cable company. They were talking about how other cable companies have a channel where you can watch local sporting events such as basketball games, baseball games, and other school activities over cable. The Selectmen would really like to see this happen in Colebrook.
The Selectmen discussed that the Town Hall will need a handicapped ramp if the Court decides to stay in this building.
Mr. Rappaport made a motion to adjourn, Mr. Lamontagne seconded the motion, motion passed meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Heidi Lawton
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