Town of Colebrook
Selectmen’s Meeting
August 8, 2007 – 4:00 pm
Members Present: Larry Rappaport. Frank Dumaine and Beno Lamontagne.
Others: Donna Caron, Gail Purrington, Chief Stephen Cass, Kevin McKinnon.
Meeting called to order by Chairman Larry Rappaport.
Selectmen signed all vouchers and manifests.
The Board signed the following documents that were requested including abatements, Intents to Cut, Current Use Abatements, Yield Tax Warrants, Doomage letters, and the Water and Sewer warrants.
Resident Tax Abatements: Colletti, Smith, Stevens, Brooks, Tillotson, and Desrousieux.
Intents to Cut: Zavala
Intent to Excavate: Chase
Current Use Abatements: Thatcher
Mrs. Caron swore in Thomas Yorke as the new part time Lieutenant/Prosecutor for the Town of Colebrook Police Department. Mrs. Linda Yorke was present to witness the swearing in of her husband. The Selectmen welcomed Mr. Yorke and told him they were pleased that he has joined the Police Department.
Chief Cass presented to the Board his quarterly report in regard to the cost savings taking place in the Police Department. He also discussed his plans for the future in utilizing his officers to the best of their abilities. He told the Selectmen that he has been working with Larry Blaisdell from the State Prison in Berlin in obtaining prison work crews to help out on projects in and around Colebrook. Mrs. Caron would like to get a prison work crew to paint the Town Hall, especially the parking lot side. Mr. McKinnon commented that the work crew from the prison had done a great job earlier this year cleaning up the landfill site. He would also like to get a crew to clean along Titus Hill Road. Chief Cass discussed placing Dave Radun as a Corporal and the Board wanted to know if the Police had a pay and
grade schedule for any new classifications that the Police Department chose to set up. He said that they did not. Mr. Dumaine suggested that should be something that is done before setting up the officers into specific titles. The Board asked if the Town was advertising with the Local Government Center (LGC) for officers. Mrs. Caron said not at this time, but she would do up an advertisement to list with the LGC. The Board suggested that the respective departments that utilize the services of the prison work crews document the savings incurred by not having to hire out for this labor and that this information should be put into the Town Report.
Public Works Director, Kevin McKinnon met with the Board to discuss his quarterly report. Mr. McKinnon reported that the highway crew is on the second round of grading roads and next quarter the crew will be building the pole barn.
Discussion of the personnel policy took place in regard to accumulated sick time at retirement time and paying back to the employee a percentage of that time as a type of longevity bonus. Mrs. Caron said that there is not a policy pertaining to doing something such as this in the Town’s Policy and Procedure book. If the Board decides to vote on putting a plan such as this in place an addendum could be added to the Policy and Procedure Book in regard to a retirement package. The Board was in favor of doing something such as this; however, no vote taken. This will be put on the agenda for the next meeting to be voted on at that time.
The Board gave Donna dates they would be available to meet with Mr. Schwalbe from Casella.
John Falconer and Greg Placy of the Colebrook District School Board met with the Board to discuss the need for a water meter on the piping they are doing at the ball field. It was decided they would not need a meter until such time as they needed to turn on the sprinkler system.
Mr. Lamontagne informed the Board that at a meeting he attended with the DRED resource people he met Christopher Way who works in the procurement technical assistance center helping companies get Federal assistance. Mr. Lamontagne said Mr. Way told him that he has had a lot of experience working with Casella and was willing to work with the Town should they need his services in any dealings with Casella.
Mr. Raymond Riendeau met with the Board to discuss his current use penalty bill. He felt that it was too high. Based on the findings of the Town’s assessors (Avitar), who justified their assessment with comparable property sales, the Board chose to deny abating a portion of the current use penalty bill.
Mrs. Caron reported to the Board that only one bid was received on the pickup truck and Mrs. Caron recommended not going with it. Mr. Dumaine suggested contacting the automotive center at the Technical College in Berlin to see if they would like the truck to work on and then it could be sold and the School and the Town could share any profits from the sale.
A reception for Senator Sununu as a thank you for the assistance to the Town in obtaining a grant to repair the wall on the Mohawk River on Academy Street was discussed. It was determined that if he were able to come to Colebrook during the Moose Festival there would be a lot of residents of Colebrook who would be around to meet him. The Board thought they could take him over to Academy Street to view the wall and also take him down to the Industrial Park. Mr. Lamontagne will contact his office to see if the Senator will be available to visit Colebrook at that time.
Al and Joyce Griffin residents on Fish Hatchery Road met with the Board to discuss their concerns with the poor conditions of the property located across the street from their home. The Board was considerate of the Griffin’s issues but said that there was not much that could be done on their part. Mrs. Caron will contact Dr. Soucy to go out to that property and check on the conditions.
Mark Popham and an energy company would like to meet with the Selectmen. Mr. Lamontagne said that Friday was his best day to meet, but could meet during the week at 5:00 pm if necessary. Mrs. Caron will set up a meeting time with Mr. Popham.
Mrs. Caron informed the Board that she and Recreation Director, Melissa Shaw will present their quarterly reports at the next scheduled Selectmen’s meeting.
Mrs. Caron discussed with the Board the after school program that Plus-Time New Hampshire would like to start in Colebrook. The Colebrook School would be agreeable to holding the program at the school if Melissa Shaw was running the program. Mrs. Caron and the Board had concerns that running the recreation program, as well as the after-school program would be too much for Melissa. Different ways to run the program as well as other towns who have after-school programs were discussed, as well. Mrs. Caron will keep the Board informed on the progress of getting the after-school program going.
Mr. Dumaine asked Mr. McKinnon when the SolarBee project would be getting under way. Mr. McKinnon said that the timetable, at this time, the schedule was still fairly loose, but he expected that by the fall the project would start.
Mr. McKinnon informed the Board that the new truck is ready and will be picked up tomorrow.
Meeting adjourned at 7:05 pm on a motion by Mr. Dumaine and seconded by Mr. Lamontagne. All approved 3-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail A. Purrington
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