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Town of AmherstBoard of SelectmenMarch 20, 2006
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Vice Chairman Bruce Bowler called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Selectmen present: George Infanti, Jay Dinkel, Tom Grella and Reed Panasiti. Also present Acting Town Administrator Gary MacGuire and Executive Assistant Sharon Frydlo.
Mr. Bowler welcomed newly elected Selectman Reed Panasiti to the Board.
Liz Overholt, Boston Post Road, presented the Board with election results she had prepared based on the number of votes cast for each Town and School warrant articles as it related to the number of people who cast their votes. She commented that she had seen the spreadsheet from Mr. Kallendorfer, but she had looked at her analysis a bit differently.
Mr. Infanti nominated Mr. Bowler as Chairman, second by Mr. Dinkel. Vote: Unanimous.
Mr. Infanti moved to nominate Mr. Dinkel as Vice Chairman, second by Mr. Grella. Vote: Unanimous.
Ann Logan, Anne Krantz and Kay May were present. Mrs. Logan presented the Board with a copy of the Co-Director Job Descriptions for Programs & Administration and Education. She had assumed the Board had copies because nothing had changed since it was presented previously. The budget for next year had two administrators working between 100 hours. One would be in charge of administration, the other in charge of programs. They would like to seek an Administrator Director now and see who is out there. They would advertise at UNH, Antioch and local newspapers and asked for suggestions on where else to go. Someone had responded to an ad they placed in the Telegraph and they would like to have someone who had experience in both avenues.
It was mentioned that a meeting was held with the Curriculum Head of the Schools on where their programs were heading with them. The discussion included the curriculum with the State as well as finances and where they would be getting their money. It would come from the schools and the Abby Boutelle program with Mont Vernon providing a Title V Grant.
Mr. MacGuire advised he had read through the descriptions and he was looking for a format that matched the other Town descriptions. He had no problem with the actual content. Mrs. Logan indicated they will put the job descriptions in the same format as requested. Mr. Infanti asked about the “Experience & Knowledge” language in the descriptions as it related to a financial background. Mrs. May indicated there were two descriptions contained in the backup. Mrs. Logan added that these two positions will be very involved and they will count on extra volunteers during the summer.
Mr. Grella questioned the number of hours for each person. Mrs. Logan advised it would be 100 hours per month for each person beginning in July - $25,000 for each person with no benefits. They had the money available for the Administrative person available to start at the beginning of May.
Mr. Dinkel asked that in light of the vote turning down the building project, how did this change their view of staffing over the next 12 months? Mrs. Logan commented that they were paying Sussy Rose Shields $25,000 plus extra hours now. There were still things not being done with much of it being volunteer work and there is a need for structure in this regard. Relative to fundraising, hopefully they would have almost $200,000 if they receive the Bertha Rogers’ Grant and what they could do with this and how much more they can raise.
Mrs. Logan commented that with the building they could have programs year round. Currently their biggest income is the Hartshorn Program. However, the Town subsidizes them, but the major funding comes from the revolving account. PMEC had difficulty in the winter because there was no snow and, therefore, they did not have a snowshoeing program.
Mr. Panasiti spoke about his problem with co-chairmen and asked if they thought about hiring one person, combining both jobs with a bit more money and benefits – they may be able to find someone to fill that entire need. Mrs. Logan advised the person doing the programs wants to do it part time, insofar as the administrative work the Advisory Board did not feel they need a full time person until they had a building. Mrs. May indicated the Board shared his concern and was an ideal situation, but this worked for the moment. Mrs. Logan added that this would be a possibility in a few years. She invited Mr. Panasiti to visit the Peabody Mill Environmental Center as it currently exists.
Mr. Infanti moved to accept the job description of the Co-Directors of the PMEC as written, second by Mr. Grella. Vote: Unanimous.
Mrs. Krantz mentioned the Count Basie concert on May 11. On another note, Mr. Grella mentioned that Mrs. Krantz sponsored a talk by a stonewall lecturer at the Congregational Church which raised a little money for the Heritage Commission.
DPW Road Surface Management Plan
DPW Director Bruce Berry advised that Lee Mayhew, former Town Administrator of Milford, gave him Milford’s plan that he used as a guide only while preparing Amherst’s plan. Part of his Management Plan contains a RSMS report and the first time it has been generated. He had been asked how much it would take to put their roads back into shape – his comment was that “it is not going to be cured overnight”. During the past 45 years, the Town has accepted 54 roads. The road specifications that the newer roads were based on had been adopted in 1971 and have not been updated since.
The Road Surface Management Plan contained an Executive Summary; Background History; Basics of a Good Road covers: Parts of a Road, Factors Affecting Pavement Performance, Gravel Roads, Scenic Road Requirements and Funding; Program covers: Condition Survey, Decision Tree, Frequently Asked Questions, Pavement Costs, Quality Condition of the Network, Pavement Functions, Contract Specifications and Permitting; Introduction covers: Repair Strategies, Types of Surface Treatments, Life Expectancy, Crack Filling, Pothole Patching, Surface Overlays, Reconstruction/Reclamation; Conclusions; Master Street List covers: Arterial Roads, Feeder Roads, Industrial Roads, Local Roads and Gravel Roads; Definitions and References.
Mr. Berry spoke briefly about new roads under consideration, roads that were broken down in sections and that sections of roads were evaluated separately. He spoke about the RSMS evaluation sheets filled out by two interns [with engineering majors with computer training in the UNH Technology Transfer Center (T-2) Road Surface Maintenance System (RSMS)]. The information gathered by them generated the computer information in the Report. He spoke about a series of photos in the Report and what they pertained to.
After several questions from the Board, Mr. Panasiti commented that once they got into the Report, “he was not sure if this is the correct forum to do this”. Mr. Dinkel asked W&M Chairman Linda Kaiser if her Committee has seen this? She replied they had not and would be interested in seeing it. Mr. Berry advised that he felt it was his responsibility first to the Selectmen and then be directed where it should go next. Mr. Bowler agreed there should be a working session.
In response to Mr. MacGuire’s questions, Mr. Berry talked about the evaluation and that there are roads worthy of crack sealing and others not – the same with overlays. He briefly talked about roads that would need an overlay and some that need less and others more. He spoke about culverts as well as areas of asphalt removal and then built up and repaved. He said it was mentioned that money was being taken and used for other things such as the New Boston Road Bridge. This money will be reimbursed to the Town from the State sometime in the future. He commented on the salt and sand line items that had not been increased. The proposition talked about in the CIP would be either adding more funding to the budget or bonding. He was not in favor of bonding and doing a massive renovation because they did not have the staff to do this. He was in favor of a systematic approach and adding money to the budget and doing this over several years. Mr. Berry spoke of what former DPW Director Richard Crocker use to respond to. The practice they have been following has been very involved over the past few years and maybe more than what they should have been concentrating on. He is hoping to get into more managing of crack sealing and overlays.
Mr. Panasiti suggested a letter be sent to the interns recognizing all they had done. He then asked about Block Grant Funding. Mr. Berry explained what this funding consisted of and is received by the State. He spoke of the information he received from the State four days prior to finalization of the budget and an increase in the Highway Block Grant which does not reflect in the budget. Mr. Panasiti asked how he would go about classifying what roads got prioritized over another based on how bad the roads are? Mr. Berry advised this was driven by the budget – he recommended the increase be in conjunction with the Block Grant which gives the Town somewhat over $600,000 in repair funding. He would probably do roads in sections and did not know which one would be first. A biddable document would have to be put together first, do test borings, and have his Department oversee and inspect the project. His fear, he said was that there will be some compromises made and they will be in the same situation 10-12 years from now. They needed to build in safe guards and this was not in the funds before them.
Mr. Panasiti asked if there were funds available this year to do road repair? Mr. Berry advised there was approximately $220,000 available to work on some overlay and drainage on Horace Greeley as well as the Lake Road starting at the Merrimack line working backwards. Mr. Panasiti said he had been asked when this was going to be fixed and while putting him on the spot, he asked if this was going to happen? Mr. Berry replied “yes”. Mr. Panasiti next commented on people by-passing Boston Post Road because of the “dip”. Mr. Berry remarked that this was also because of the morning traffic and has approximately 6,000 cars per day. Mr. Panasiti asked about painting lines and was this in the budget? Mr. Berry explained that for four years they had done this in the fall and it was done just before they began salting and sanding in the winter. He told the Selectmen they needed to do this in the spring – this item is not totally funded this year, but he will move approximately $17,000 from other lines. Also funded was money for a portable line striper where its use will be in-house.
Mr. Dinkel indicated this was a “great document to allow us to now get our teeth into one of the biggest issues – the financing comes last”. He mentioned that Mr. Berry said that the interns made the data collections and recommendations. Mr. Berry clarified that by their programming, this has given him recommendations. Mr. Dinkel felt that based on this information, they should have a working session so that W&M and the CIP Committees listens to this. He had given them this Report at a good time of year so that they can begin working on this during the spring and summer. “We need to do our best to bring them back to where we want them to be”, he said. Mr. Grella felt this was a very complete Report and easy to understand. When Mr. Berry was talking about either bonding or budget amounts, it looked like it would be $600,000 per year and may take six years. He asked about bonding half the amount and doubling his budget so that he may get this done in two to four years. Mr. Berry advised this may be difficult with the number of his people who are available 24/7 during the winter. During the spring, summer and fall they take vacations and also during the summer they have part time help. He could not give him a “yes” answer and could only speculate on the past. They need to do a better job with drainage and ditching. He spoke about isolated pockets of what might need to be done on various roads relative to water, drainage, culverts to correct issues on those roads. All of what they want to do takes time and wants to make sure the Town gets the “best bang for the buck”.
Mr. Grella asked about hiring a working engineer vs. staffing. Mr. Berry advised what they would be looking at was $80-110 per hour and briefly spoke about the engineering fees he has been faced with recently in various forms. Mr. Infanti echoed what everyone else had said about the Report and the highlights. The Board, as a whole, recognizes a number of roads are in bad shape and as they work this out they may want to consider outside hiring to get something done. The reality is that it is expensive to fix the roads and they have to sell it. He felt crack sealing was a band aid. While he was in Milford, if someone wanted to put in a road, the developer had to pay to put it in and the engineer was always there checking. Every time they accept a road, they own it. Someone needs to do due diligence so that the Town doesn’t have these problems 6-10 years down the road. They need to sell this project to the taxpayers and why it needs to be done and they need to get it done. The Town is at an important time where a Committee is forming to renew the Master Plan and all of these things should be looked at. They cannot depend on the DPW Director to do all of these things. If people want to come into Amherst and sell “things”, they need to know if the roads are being built to the Town specifications so that the Town does not have these problems. He thought this an excellent start and gave them a “game plan” that addresses all of the roads.
Mr. MacGuire commented that knowing he had a son that was an intern and what Mr. Berry has available to him makes a major difference. The sheet Mr. Berry handed out was a science and a fact along with the numbers put together in what needs to be done. He indicated he has done a great job. Mr. Bowler mentioned that going with a bond would be substantially higher as determined by the Road Commission. In his recent visits to the Transfer Station, he determined that the number one area of concern was the dip on Boston Post Road, it seemed to get worse and an area that needed to be looked at. This was an area brought to his, Addie Hutchison, and Mr. Panasiti’s attention while campaigning at the dump.
Mr. Bowler spoke about the Lake Road and the difference between the ground portion and the unground side. Mr. Berry commented on the number of issues associated with this and thought many could be taken care of. Mr. Bowler asked if they could get an estimate per mile if they needed grinding? Mr. Berry advised it was $85.00 per linear foot according to RSMS.
Mrs. Kaiser remarked that Conservation made a request approximately two to three months ago to ask the Planning Board to direct Developers to pay for inspections. Charlie Tiedemann advised he didn’t have any time to do this. She spoke about the Commission’s concern regarding slashing of trees, but was now thinking they had not been thinking about the roads. They need to inspect the roads as well and really need an inspector. She found enormous support on the part of two Planning Board members having an inspector. Help them and talk to the Planning Board – water and trees were issues as well as roads. Other towns were doing this routinely and having the Developer pay for it.
Mr. Bowler asked Mr. Berry if he could also get copies of the Road Surface Maintenance Plan to the CIP Committee and Ways & Means. They would be looking to have a working session on this in April. Mr. Dinkel added they should also be looking to upgrade the Town’s specifications that all future roads would adhere to. He asked if this was something Mr. Berry would coordinate? Mr. Berry advised he would work with the Road Commission and it would be something that the Planning Board would adopt. He said he had a strong interest in moving this forward and was disappointed on where they stood on road specifications.
Mr. Bowler advised that Mr. Berry’s term on the SRLD was up and he recommended to the Board that they reappoint Bruce Berry to the SRLD for a three year term. Mr. Infanti so moved, second by Mr. Grella. Vote: Unanimous. Mr. Bowler reported he has been doing an outstanding job and a great asset to the District and Town.
Mr. MacGuire reported that the process started back in September and lagged a bit, but in the last month or so Michele Crowley had been working with Vision and MRI along with coordinating issues with Town Counsel. A work session had been held two weeks ago with all parties – the Town, Vision, MRI and DRA and they now have an agreement and Town Counsel has recommended that the Selectmen sign the document and send it onto Vision. The only requirement from DRA is that they obtain a copy of the signed agreement. Mr. Dinkel questioned the finances for the revaluation and asked if it was covered in the Capital Reserves? He said he would hate to sign a contract without knowing the financial ramifications. Mr. MacGuire was unsure of the status of the Capital Reserves, but would look into it further.
Mr. Dinkel moved to approve the contract subject to Mr. MacGuire reviewing the financial obligations, second by Mr. Infanti. Vote: Unanimous.
Mr. MacGuire spoke briefly of his investigation into this chartable request associated with the Chamber and Colebrook Bank with the Attorney General’s office. She was aware of the process and the organization which would benefit from the raffle and it was determined this was a Selectmen’s issue and not a State one. Mr. Dinkel moved to approve the raffle, second by Mr. Infanti. Vote: Unanimous.
Mr. MacGuire requested that the Board postpone this for two weeks - he was expecting to have a signed copy for the Board and did not meet up with their Union Representative that day. Both sides were in agreement. On advice of Counsel and without changing their language they decided to wait until Town approval.
Dennis Olson asked what was the next step, from the Selectmen, in the process of reviewing Article 28? He acknowledged the support of the Selectmen and the people in Town in supporting this article. Mr. Bowler advised it was not on the agenda and there were several things they will look into such as all parties getting together in the near future. He would suspect it would be a public forum unless they had Counsel in attendance. Mr. Infanti felt it was something they would work with the School. Mr. Grella agreed. Mr. Dinkel advised that the article for the Town was to review the legal fees and fines – they would work with the School. Mr. Olson wanted to make sure they knew of his appreciation for the support he got from the Town and various Boards. Mr. Panasiti suggested he touch base with the School Board Chairman.
See the attached list of Board assignments for the year 2006-07. Under Regional/NRPC and Legislative/NHMA Liaison, Mr. Infanti suggested they ask Marilyn Peterman if she was interested in serving. It was mentioned that under Communications revolving Department Heads would be in charge of the Dispatch Center – at this time it will be the EMS Director.
Mr. Grella moved to appoint Bruce Bowler to the SRLD, second by Mr. Infanti. Vote: Unanimous.
The Board briefly discussed the interview process and had no problem with streamlining it to ten minutes for each candidate and/or current member seeking reappointment.
Mr. Bowler indicated the Board would like to meet every other Monday and may go off sequence as follows: April 3 7:00 p.m.; 7:15 p.m. Fire Department recognition of Deputy Chief Steve Bair – BOS meeting to follow; April 10 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Board of Health followed by Board and Commission Interviews; April 24 7:00 p.m.
There will be a conflict on Monday, May 8 and the Board will meet on Tuesday, May 9 instead.
Mr. Dinkel moved to approve the minutes of March 6, 2006, second by Mr. Grella amended as follows: Line 34 – Strike, “etc.” replace with “replacement construction”; Line 50 – Correct typo of “tope” to “top”. Vote: 3-0-2, Mr. Infanti and Mr. Panasiti abstained.
Mr. Infanti had nothing to report. Mr. Grella reported that the Souhegan High School Hockey Team was awarded a championship and asked if the Board could recognize them on a Monday night as soon as this happened and will try to get them to meet on either April 3 or April 24.
Mr. Grella reported that the Heritage Commission has requested a Secretary to take their minutes – he asked if they could use the same person that takes minutes for the Historic District Commission because the Heritage Commission would like to have her. Mr. Bowler asked to see what two and two and a half hours to take and transcribe the minutes would cost. Will Ludt requested to meet with the Selectmen to discuss the traffic improvements in front of Town Hall, he said. Mr. Dinkel commented that they were going to remove the stone in front of Town Hall by the sidewalk in conjunction with the landscaping as well as trees by the transformer. The design was done last fall by the Heritage Commission and the question is where does it go from here – the cost and timeframe. These things would be good to do if economically feasible.
Mr. Grella reported he received a request from a citizen that there was a utility company on their property that is not taking care of their building and is filled with graffiti. To him, it seemed like a civil matter. Mr. Bowler remarked this was something they did not want to get involved in. Mr. MacGuire indicated it didn’t sound like something the Police could get involved in either and without knowing the circumstances he, too, believed it was a civil matter.
Mr. Infanti reported he attended his first Planning Board meeting last Wednesday and Nancy Foster was taking the minutes very professionally and it was an interesting meeting.
The Board briefly discussed attending upcoming seminars being sponsored by both Primex and LGC.
Mr. Bowler reported PMEC was meeting at 5:00 p.m. at the Library the next day. Also Conservation will hold a special meeting on Sunday, March 26 to discuss spraying of the trees at the Lindabury Orchard.
Mr. MacGuire reported he had looked into Mrs. Peterman’s question of Town Hall being open either Monday or Tuesday nights. His approach was to ask the two individuals to work together to come up with a common ground. Gail Stout is willing to change to alternate Tuesday nights mirroring the same time that Nancy Demers is open beginning in June. The change is because of the Monday holidays and there will also be two employees in the building at the same time.
It was announced there will be a recount of Article 3 – Transfer Station Bond at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 21, 2006.
Mr. Bowler advised they needed to think about a date for having the Open House and naming of the conference room. He suggested they may want to combine it when they officially welcome Gary as the Town Administrator – perhaps in early May.
The Board briefly discussed the status of HB 1236 relative to disclosure of public expenditures related to lobbying and electioneering. Mr. Bowler advised that the majority of the Town’s Representatives would be voting against it.
Mr. Infanti moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:28 p.m., second by Mr. Dinkel. Vote: Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon L. Frydlo
Executive Assistant