Town of Milton Board of Selectmen Regular Meeting

9.3.13 BOS Reg. Mtg.

Town of Milton Board of Selectmen Regular Meeting Tuesday, September 3, 2013 Milton Town Hall 6:00 PM

Members in attendance: Chairman Tom Gray, Bob Bridges, Mike Beaulieu, Town Administrator Elizabeth Dionne and Recording Clerk Kimberly Ladisheff.

Others in attendance: Pat Smith, David Levin, Richard Lover, Cynthia Wyatt, Charlie Karcher, Bob Carrier, Mike McDonnell, Emery Booska, Virginia Long, Steven Panish, Anne Nute, Jonathan Nute, John Mullen, Richard Krauss, Nick Marique, Larry Brown.

Chairman Gray called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Chairman Gray acknowledged the employees that have birthdays in September. They were Allison Lawrence, Andy Lucier, Carol Martin and Patrick Smith. Tom thanked them for their service to the Town.

Paul Gauthier, not present, had requested a refund for vehicle registration. He registered in June and found out in July the vehicle was inoperable. He had received a refund from the State and the Town has typically followed suit with the State on refunds.

MOTION: Bob motioned to authorize refund of $75.00 to Paul Gauthier. Mike seconded. Motion passed 3-0.

Motion: Bob motioned for Chairman Gray to sign check request. Mike seconded. Motion passed 3-0.

Pat Smith wanted to bring to the Board’s attention the condition of the foundation at the Town Hall. This summer some water got in downstairs. Pat has patched it and put seal coat on it but stated it is probably something they are going to want to think about. He thinks the blocks are 60 years old and they are very soft. He had made recommendations when Tony was TA. Pat recently spoke with Dave Paey who suggested they build it up along the foundation to stop the water for now. Tom asked if it will need to be replaced. Pat said yes but it is going to be very expensive. Mike Beaulieu would like to be involved and get some suggestions on how to approach it rather than getting prices yet.

Discussion on delivery of donated wood to the Fire Department raffle. Nick Marique stated the Highway Department was generous enough to donate 3 pallets of wood to the raffle which was very successful. They brought in about $5000.00. He is looking for permission for Pat to deliver those pallets. Two are in Milton and one is just over the Rochester town line. The Board was fine with that.

The Conservation Commission was before the Board to discuss a conservation easement that Jonathan and Anne Nute would like to donate to the Town. Bob Bridges wanted the Board to know that the Nute’s are his brother and sister in law. He stated he has no financial gain in this. Charlie Karcher spoke for the Commission. He explained this is a piece of land with frontage on Governors Rd and Hare Rd. There are 2 contiguous parcels with 1 ¼ acres from one parcel and 5 acres from the other that will stay out of conservation. The total easement area is 37.4 acres. Cynthia Wyatt introduced the Nute’s and stated they are donating this land which is a very generous donation because they are giving up the development rights which is the highest and best use of the land. Cynthia stated that Moose Mountains Regional Greenways is going through the process of becoming a Land Trust and they told them about this project. MMRG voted to support the project and donated $2500 for Keith Fletcher’s time. Keith is the director of Land Conservation and he has customized the easement to the Nute’s desires. She stated Keith has drafted up a conservation easement document that has gone to a professional law firm that specializes in land law and also the Town’s attorney has looked it over. She stated now they are here to present it to the Board for their support. Cynthia then introduced Virginia Long who is the executive director with MMRG. Virginia discussed the process they are going through on becoming a Land Trust. She explained that they will be the second easement holder. Cynthia stated it is in good hands and they are taking all steps to make sure it’s being done correctly and will be conditional on the outcome of the public hearing.

MOTION: Mike motioned to support conservation’s effort in moving forward with the easement contingent on the public hearings. Bob seconded. Motion passed 3-0.

Cynthia stated there are 2 more hurdles to get through. They need to get a surveyor to mark and monument and record that plan and also a baseline documentation. She is hoping the public hearing can be held as soon as possible. Liz will talk to Jim Sessler for legal wording. John Nute stated there was a time frame and they had requested from the Conservation Commission that this all be done by December 31st.

Second project Cynthia wanted to talk about was a 73 acre parcel on Casey Road they would like for a TownForest. Charlie stated he walked it with forester, Andy Fast and Andy had a lot of comments about the diversity. Charlie stated that is what they are looking for if they go forward to turn it into a town forest and that they would want it managed so it can return some money. Cynthia read the letter from Andy Fast. The summary paragraph stated the Town owned property as a town forest can be beneficial for many reasons. It can serve as a recreational resource, safeguard water quality, provide habitat, generate income and function as an educational resource. It was suggested the commission apply for a Moose Plate grant and have a management plan in place if they decide to have a town forest.

Emery said he has a meeting with Andy Fast this week to further explore all the aspects. Cynthia stated they will work with Liz on warrant articles and come back to the Board. Tom stated he does support the concept of a town forest. Bob Bridges and Mike Beaulieu also said they support it.

David Levin, Treasurer of the MCC, stated the BOS should recall back in February they all agreed that the funds outstanding from the Town to the Conservation Commission was $124,618.51. At that time a motion was made and passed to make a partial payment of $24,619.00 to the MCC and to come back in August to see about a partial payment of the outstanding balance of $100,000. David stated they were here this evening to find out if that is possible or not.

Liz stated there is no line item in the budget with $100.000 so it will have to come from other funds. Tom asked if it would be feasible to pay $50,000 now and visit this after elections in March. Bob stated he would like to see them pay the $50,000 now and have the MCC come back in December. Liz stated when she spoke with Attorney Sessler about this issue he had told her if they do a contract during this calendar year for the remaining $50,000 and put it into the budget, if the budget fails the contract legally allows that $50,000 to be included in the default budget.

MOTION: Bob Bridges motioned to pay $50,000 now out of the general fund and address the remaining $50,000 again at the first meeting in December. Mike seconded. Motion passed 3-0.

Discussion on George Szirbik’s letter of credit. The Planning Board renewed an existing excavation permit for Mr. Szirbik. One of the conditions was a 6 year bond or escrow account in the amount of $22,500. A check was received and deposited into an escrow account in that amount therefore Mr. Szirbik was requesting his Irrevocable Letter of Credit No. 103 with Profile Bank be released at this time.

MOTION: Bob motioned that they release the Irrevocable Letter of Credit No. 103. Mike seconded. Motion passed 3-0.

Minutes of previous meeting

MOTION: Bob motioned to accept the nonpublic minutes of August 15 with the correction of changing authorize to advertise. Mike seconded. Motion passed 3-0.

MOTION: Bob motioned to accept regular meeting minutes of August 19 as written. Mike seconded. Motion passed 3-0.

MOTION: Bob motioned to approve the nonpublic minutes of the August 19 meeting as written. Mike seconded. Motion passed 3-0.

MOTION: Bob motioned to accept and sign the manifest. Mike seconded. Motion passed 3-0.

Liz mentioned for the Boards information that Article 522 had passed and that had to do with signing the manifest. She stated it does not have to be done at a meeting but the Board can come in at their leisure to sign.

Expenditure reports

Liz stated on an average they are on target but as months go by and the unanticipated bills come up it’s going to be tight. She said the postage line and supply lines in the TA’s budget are going to go way over due to the Town Clerk/Tax Collectors mailing. She has asked the Town Clerk to create her own postage and supply line for the new budget. She stated that office does 12 certified mailings a year and with some of these new state computers and printers the ink cartridge for the Town Clerk alone is over $400. She also said the property and liability deductions had been budgeted for 2 claims but just since she has been here there have been 5 and it is hard to plan for some of these things.

TA comments

Liz handed out a draft code of conduct policy. She stated Attorney Sessler had looked it over and said it is fine. She told the Board if they have changes now is the time to change or they could approve it.

MOTION: Bob motioned to adopt the code of conduct policy for the Town of Milton. Mike seconded. Motion passed 3-0.

Liz talked about the wage scale amendment. She stated the Board had asked for some variations of percentages on the steps. Since then she has been doing some research and she doesn’t want the Board to consider the one she had prepared. She will do another one that will not have steps but a minimum and a maximum for all the positions.

Liz explained they received a check for a little over $1800 from Health Trust which is the dental insurance surplus refund. This was for calendar year 2010.

Liz then discussed the Contribution Assurance Program for the property & liability program. She stated this is a good thing and highly recommends the Board approve and sign the contract for caps on increases. This is a 3 yr contract that can’t be increased more than 7% each year. To give an example of why it should be signed Liz stated that this current year compared to last year the increase was 19.4%.

MOTION: Bob motioned that Tom sign contract for the cap with Primex. Mike seconded. Motion passed 3-0.

Next was a brief discussion on the computer contract with PC Doctor. DJ Grieb had sent back a combined proposal versus the 3 separate ones from the last meeting. Liz said this is approximately $1000 less expensive than the current company they are using although they have not signed a new contract. Tom asked if they found out if they can just cancel with the old company and Liz stated she asked Attorney Sessler and he said they can. Mike questioned the payment and limit of liability portion on the contract. The Board would like to clarify the language on that.

Liz then brought up the moving of the 2 safes from Townhouse building to the Town Hall. Pat doesn’t have the money in his budget to pay the $1500 to relocate the 2 safes. These safes need to be moved out to start working on the floors. Bob stated if they can’t move them because we don’t have the funding then they will have to wait. Emery Booska stated he is working on a LCHIP grant for the floor and material. He can’t determine yet if they can incorporate this charge in the grant. Tom asked if it can come out of Townhouse budget. Emery will have to raise that with the committee. Emery said he’d rather do something of that nature rather than postpone the work they are doing right now. Tom said to look into if they can borrow from Townhouse fund now and replace it with the grant. Emery said they had a contractor come in today for a quote and seeking another one with the hope of getting it done before the season is over. Emery will move forward with the grant proposal. Bob asked to keep the TA up with what is going on.

Selectmen comments

Bob Bridges said he got an email from Chris Jacobs who had requested from Michelle her proposed budget. Because he is Town Moderator some of his funding comes out of Michelle’s budget. One of the problems is the moderator is paid a stipend per election and everyone under him is paid on an hourly rate. Last year some of his subordinates made as much or more than him so he brought that to our attention. Michelle put in her budget that we increase his pay from $130 to $150. Bob stated he knows they voted for $175 instead of the $150. He hasn’t heard back from Chris but hopefully that will take care of it.

Mike discussed that he had seen a Town committee member down at the hardware store making keys. He stated she is not a department head and we have a key policy that we need to stick to. He would like an email sent to the department heads to reiterate sticking with policies. Mike then asked if there were any updates on code enforcement issues going on. Liz said yes he is continuing to check up on complaints.

Bob stated another thing they should do at a later Selectmen meeting is have Nick or Devon come in and explain the 911 numbering system. He stated a person couldn’t register his vehicle because he didn’t have a house number yet. Bob thought that had been taken care of. He found out the Fire Department did everything they were supposed to but once they mail the paperwork to the State it takes 2 weeks for that number to come back. Liz stated she would see if the 911 coordinator will come to a future meeting and give a brief presentation.

Tom asked where they were at with budgets coming in. Liz stated slow but they are all working on them. She has met with 3 department heads already. She said Mike had mentioned a schedule being set by the Budget Committee in late fall for everyone to go to them. She stated if they want she can start scheduling the department heads she’s met with to go before the BOS. Tom stated they usually wait for everyone to get their budgets together and then schedule. Tom then asked Liz how her budget was coming and she stated what she has found is there is no backup and she will have to create backup for a lot of the lines.

Tom then asked where they were on the bids to remove the pylons. Bob said they put the bid out there but so far they have not gotten any back. He thinks what is scaring them away is the 2 million dollar bond. Bob will follow up on that.

Public comments

Richard Lover stated he is beside himself to have to be here again regarding the sign ordinance. Richard said he has spoken with Chief Krauss on this before and the Chief told him there is a conflict between the Zoning Board, Brian Boyers and the sign ordinance which Richard finds hard to buy. Tom asked what the conflict was. Chief Krauss stated the Zoning Commission adopted a sign ordinance last year. The Chief explained that 84 Bolan Rd. is selling blueberries out of their driveway, which in his mind he doesn’t feel that constitutes a business. Under that he feels that would fall under temporary signs for special sales or events and can go up during the commission of that sale. Since the selling of blueberries is only temporary he doesn’t feel the boards expectations were for the resident who is doing something like that to have to go put the sign out and take the sign in everyday. Mike Beaulieu asked if this was the only incident. The Chief stated the other sign is on Rte. 16, Mackenzie’s Farm. His feeling was it was on private property but said Pat Smith feels it is within the State’s ROW. The Chief stated if that is the case he will find out if Mackenzie’s got from the Zoning Commission the ability to put the sign out and if not he will advise them they are in violation of the ordinance.

Richard Lover then stated his problem with that is it states the purpose of this ordinance is to require the Board of Selectmen’s approval of all signs placed within a Town’s ROW. Richard stated he agrees that blueberries are a seasonal item but the problem is the signs they put up have a white 2x4 post driven into the ground on Town property, not private property and that is where Brian has created a nightmare on this in that it says it is not intended in any way to regulate signs placed on private property and legally approved by the Town under applicable zoning ordinances. Richard stated this does not apply to the zoning ordinance. He asked since when are cider donuts seasonal. He said Mackenzie’s purchased a directional sign from the State and if he wants to advertise donuts, cider and tomatoes he can purchase another sign from the State and to just stick a plywood sign out in the field is exactly what he was against. He stated this is why he came to the Board years ago to get this put in place.