Official Town Meeting Minutes
March 8, 2005
Colebrook, New Hampshire
Moderator Jon Frizzell declared the Annual Town Meeting opened at 7 p.m. All in attendance stood to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Article 1
To bring in your ballots for the selection of Town Officers to be elected by ballot for the Town of Colebrook for the ensuing year.
Article 2
Greg Placy made a motion to raise and appropriate the sum of $1,544,394.00 for General Government, as follows.
Executive $74,051.00
Election, Registration and Vital Statistics $38,349.00
Financial/Assessing/Tax Collection/Treasurer $111,518.00
Legal and Data Processing $42,400.00
Planning & Zoning $14,077.00
General Buildings $45,837.00
Advertising & Regional Association $1,917.00
Police/Fire/Ambulance/Emergency Management $337,873.00
Highways & Streets $497,502.00
Sanitation & Recycling $216,592.00
Health Agencies/Animal Boarding $31,425.00
General Assistance $7,750.00
Recreation/Patriotic $68,233.00
Economic Development $11,820.00
Debt Service $45,050.00
Frank Dumaine seconded the motion and it passed with a voice vote.
Article 3
Kevin McKinnon made a motion to authorize the selectmen to enter into a five-year lease agreement for $45,000.00 for the purpose of leasing a Plow Truck for the Highway Department, and to raise and appropriate the sum of $9,000.00 for the first year’s payment for that purpose, and to sell the Chevrolet one-ton pickup to the highest bidder. The lease agreement contains an escape clause. Frank Dumaine seconded the motion and it passed with a voice vote.
Article 4
Larry Rappaport made a motion, seconded by Greg Placy, to raise and appropriate the sum of $35,000.00 to purchase a new Police Cruiser and to authorize the withdrawal of the said $35,000.00 from the Capital Reserve Fund created for this purpose, and to sell the 2000 Ford Crown Vic to the highest bidder. It was noted that this would not affect the tax rate. The motion passed with a voice vote.
Article 5
Greg Placy made a motion to raise and appropriate the sum of $168,640.00 for the Capital Reserve Funds, as follows.
Equipment Purchase $30,000.00
Police Cruiser $15,000.00
Digital Mapping $30,000.00
Bridge Fund $20,000.00
Revaluation Monies $13,640.00
Main Street Reconstruction Expend. Trust $50,000.00
Communication Enhancements $10,000.00
Frank Dumaine seconded and the motion passed with a voice vote.
Article 6
Frank Dumaine made a motion to raise and appropriate the sum of $ 777,390.00 for the Colebrook Water Works and the Colebrook Sewer Facilities, as follows. It was noted that the $500,000 grant for the water wells was included in this article.
Water Department $580,932.00
Sewer Department $196,458.00
Larry Rappaport seconded the motion and it passed with a voice vote.
Article 7
Greg Placy made a motion to raise and appropriate the sum of $102,348.00 for the support of the Colebrook Public Library, $81,668.00 of which to be raised through taxation and $20,680.00 of which is to come from other Library revenues such as book sales, donations, trust funds, non-resident fees, other communities, over due fines, book resale’s, copying fees etc., such funds to be expended under the direction of the Board of Library Trustees. Larry Rappaport seconded and the motion passed with a voice vote.
Article 8
Greg Placy made a motion, seconded by Larry Rappaport, to raise and appropriate the sum of $70,012.00 for the operation and maintenance of the Colebrook Cemeteries, the sum of $60,012.00 to be raised through taxation and $10,000.00 to be raised from burials, cemetery trust funds and other Colebrook Cemetery revenues. After discussion regarding the purchase of a copier, Granvyl Hulse made a motion, seconded by Sandra Riendeau, to amend the article, decreasing the amount to be raised and appropriated to $69,012. The amendment passed with a voice vote. The article as amended, to raise
and appropriate the sum of $69,012.00 for the operation and maintenance of the Colebrook Cemeteries passed with a voice vote.
Article 9
Frank Dumaine made a motion to create an Expendable Cemetery Trust Fund under the provisions of RSA 31:19-a, to be known as the Colebrook Cemetery Grounds Maintenance and Reclamation Fund, for the purpose of reclamation of back land and equipment for grounds maintenance and to raise and appropriate the sum of $10,000.00 towards this purpose. Said funds to come from December 31, 2004 Cemetery Unreserved Fund Balance. (Representing excess 2004 cemetery appropriations.) Further to name, the Cemetery Trustees as Agents to expend from this trust fund. Larry Rappaport seconded the motion and it passed with a
voice vote.
Article 10
Larry Rappaport made a motion, seconded by Frank Dumaine, to raise and appropriate the sum of $158,312.00 for the Colebrook Dispatch Center, of which $ 104,118.49 will be raised through taxation and the remainder to be offset by revenues raised from the participating towns. The motion passed with a voice vote.
Article 11
Frank Dumaine made a motion to authorize the Town Clerk wages to be paid through the Town’s weekly payroll system instead of through fees (per RSA 41:25). All fees will be turned over to the Town to offset the expenditure. It was noted the amount of compensation for the Town Clerk in the amount of $15,759.00 was included in the operating budget. Larry Rappaport seconded the motion and it passed with a voice vote.
Article 12
Greg Placy made a motion, seconded by Frank Dumaine, to establish a Recreation Revolving Fund as authorized by RSA 35-B: 2 II. All revenue above the estimated budget revenue received by the town from fees and charges for recreation and park services and facilities may be deposited into this fund. The money in the fund shall be allowed to accumulate from year to year, and shall not be considered part of the Town’s general surplus. The fund shall be held in the custody of the Town Treasurer, who shall pay out amounts from the funds as ordered by the Board of Selectmen and the Recreation Advisory Board for the provisions of recreation services (no further Town Meeting approval required). These funds may be expended only for recreation purposes as stated in RSA 35-B, and no expenditure shall be made in such a
way as to require the expenditure of other town funds which have not been appropriated for that purpose. The motion passed with a voice vote.
Article 13
Greg Placy made a motion to authorize the Selectmen on behalf of the Colebrook School District to convey a conservation easement on thirty (30) acres of Town-owned land held by the Colebrook Water Works (Map R-5, Lot 39.) The purpose of this easement is to provide State-required mitigation for the approximately three (3) acres of wetland being disturbed at the Colebrook School Ball Fields. Frank Dumaine seconded the motion and it passed with a voice vote.
Article 14
Larry Rappaport made a motion, seconded by Frank Dumaine, to accept, ratify and confirm the reports of the Agents, Selectmen, Auditors and all other Town Officers.
Article 15
To transact any other business that may legally come before this meeting.
Earlier in the evening, Library Trustee Rosalie Smith thanked Pam Bunnell for her twenty
years of service as a Library Trustee. Moderator Jon Frizzell recognized Mrs. Bunnell once again.
Bruce Katz asked the Selectmen to consider placing the list of tax abatements in future town reports.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:07 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Sheila M. Beauchemin
Town Clerk
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