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Town of AmherstBoard of SelectmenFebruary 25, 2008
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Chairman Bruce Bowler called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Selectmen present: Reed Panasiti and Thomas Grella. Also present: Town Administrator Gary MacGuire and Executive Assistant Sharon Frydlo.
Arlene Magoon
Ms. Magoon told the Board she had lived in Amherst for 30 years. Currently she is a Federal employee working for FEMA. She briefly worked with the State and prior to that she ran her own business. She was familiar with running a business in Town and thought she could bring this knowledge and organizational skills to the Board of Directors. She also thought she could be helpful to the strategic mission of PMEC and has a passion for the environment.
In answer to Mr. Grella’s question on whether she had any new interest or different approach or expanding a program, she replied PMEC was “an amazing building”, but she had not seen a strategic plan moving forward 20 years and how to get there. She mentioned incorporating Friends of PMEC that could be a revenue generating membership. Mr. Bowler asked if she was still associated with the Red Cross and she assured him she was. With no further questions, Mr. Grella moved that Arlene Magoon be appointed to the PMEC Advisory Board, second by Mr. Panasiti. Vote: Unanimous.
Jan Bunker, 27 Atherton Lane, told the Board she had a chance to review the ballot questions and was seeking some answers to several questions. Mr. MacGuire told her that the DPW Land Purchase had not gone through an appraisal. They utilized MRI, who is the Town’s Assessor, and had their Lead Assessor compared all two-acre building lot assessments on Dodge Road which came to $143,000 and while not an appraisal, it was a good comparison for what other lots in Town have gone for.
He told Ms. Bunker that there was an immediate need for land where the sand hangers were located - they were in danger of tipping over and at the very edge of the property that they were looking to purchase. Purchasing this parcel would give them the immediate ability to expand and support the sand hanger. Regarding long range, they were not in a position to have expansion capabilities. This would give them an additional buffer for the existing residential lot or a future residential lot. This purchase would give the Town additional acreage in the back if and when the time came to also expand the DPW facility.
DPW Director Bruce Berry commented that he was hoping more “when” rather than “if” they expand. They have many vehicles parked out back and ideally they want to keep them undercover. He spoke briefly what he had submitted to the CIP Committee in this regard and mentioned that the original barn was built in the early sixties. He also included the dates and different phases of construction associated with the Town Barn facility.
Ms Bunker asked if there was a policy or should there be a policy that the Town has to go by when they are going to purchase land. Mr. Grella responded that OSAC has an entire checklist that had to be met for a land purchase. Since this land would not be used for Conservation, the checklist would not be followed. OSCA when purchasing land, has to meet a criteria. Mr. Bowler added that what happened on this parcel was DPW Director Berry took a proactive approach with the landowner because of all the Town equipment being stored outside. They did not look at any particular criteria other than the potential for a house lot. The landowner is willing to sell it the way the Town would like with the acreage the same, but the Town would get more land in the back rather than on the road. This keeps a potential house lot from being further developed. Mr. MacGuire added that when talking about criteria, this is an adjacent lot as opposed to a separate 15 acre parcel that, for example, the DPW would want to purchase. The Town actually acquired a small slice of the property in a land swap, because the Department had some storage on that parcel. Ms. Bunker commented that the Board should consider in the future a checklist which would give a little more feeling that a process was followed. Mr. Bowler explained that a checklist would be different from parcel to parcel and they may want to have a different set of criteria. This lot would be more of a storage area and currently they were at the limit in the setbacks from the boundary. Mr. Berry added they were on the edge of the 15’ setback with the sander hanger and office space.
Ms. Bunker asked about the Recreation Capital Reserves and costs associated with the development of fields. She has heard talk about structures and if they have structures, there will be a cost associated with maintenance and upkeep. She asked what was being added to support them in the ongoing budget process. Mr. Bowler explained that as they develop more fields, the potential cost will be more. The Board will be meeting with the Recreation Commission at the end of March to talk to them about fee structures. The taxpayer should be expected to pay for some of this, but not necessarily all of it. There are other fees in place with non-residents paying more and it varies from sport to sport depending on the field. Mr. MacGuire believed they covered the fact that this is an ongoing discussion and the money they were talking about in the Capital Reserve was different than the LUCT funds and money coming to the Town’s Recreation Commission through an arrangement. Ms. Bunker remarked that if they were going to build something, she would like to see how they were going to maintain it. Mr. Panasiti mentioned that with the increase in field space, there is an increase in teams and for the long range it continues to grow and was a plus to the Town. Ms. Bunker thanked the Board for their time.
EOC Presentation – Fire Chief Rick Todd
Chief Todd brought the Board up to date on a potential EOC activation on February 13. He received a telephone call at approximately 6:00 p.m. indicating that the State Office of Emergency Management wanted to have a conference call between several of the area towns because of the concerns last year with flooding. He called the EOC dispatcher who gave him the authority to call the surrounding towns. Milford and Amherst were the only towns he could contact and they talked and asked questions as to whether there was a potential for flooding and it was determined there was a slight risk with the rivers. After making a few calls to Department Heads, he kept an eye on the river. The next morning he called representatives in Milford, Amherst and Merrimack. The river didn’t rise to flood stage and there is a hope it won’t rise in the spring.
Mr. MacGuire explained there were a number of them who believed they won’t have three 100 year floods in a three year period, but it has gotten them a bit nervous. He thought they were all being proactive and hopefully they will not need it. Mr. Bowler commented that the dams were not open at this time. Chief Todd remarked that the worry was snow melt. Mr. Panasiti asked if they had any plans in place and would probably have a situation with the river. Mr. MacGuire advised that they have the Hazardous Mitigation Plan, but some things won’t happen immediately, such as the bridge over the Souhegan River on Boston Post. What they have been doing all along is trying to get out awareness and they will be using TV20, the web site and have some proactive pieces in place. He felt their plan last year was okay – their weakest link was trying to get the information out.
Mr. Bowler remarked that since last year Channel 9 and the radio stations have been proactive. Mr. MacGuire said their goal, as a group, was to urge people to get low power a.m. transmitters and this is where the weak link was. The situations near the High School and flooding in that area happened very fast. Mr. Panasiti indicated his concern last year was the lower lying areas away from the school – Thornton’s Ferry Road I and Spring Road which washed out culverts. Regarding the low power radios at the EOC, Mr. MacGuire told Mr. Panasiti that they made some early initial grant requests and perhaps between this budget season and next year, they may consider putting a proposal together that wouldn’t be an outrageous amount of money. With the transmitters, it would bring their notification down to a very local level. With planning and execution, it would give them the ability to do this. There is also the need for additional barricades and last year they began using the mapping on the Police Department’s web site.
Police Department Request to Withdraw Funds
From the Town Computer System Capital Reserve
Mr. MacGuire advised that last September the Police Department’s voice mail computer system suffered a catastrophic failure and it needed to be replaced at a cost of $2,395. Chief Lyon thought it an appropriate use for the Capital Reserve Funds and not anything he could have budgeted for. Initially he charged it against his Police computer supplies line. He told the Chief he would bring it to the Board for approval to withdraw from the Capital Reserve Account set up last year the amount of $2,395. He told Mr. Panasiti that the Chief has covered this amount in his computer line, but if something else occurred, he would not have enough left. With luck, the voters will support this Capital Reserve for another $7500.
Mr. Grella moved to transfer $2,395 from the Town Computer System Capital Reserve to the Computer Supply line of the Police Department’s budget, second by Mr. Panasiti. Vote: Unanimous.
OSAC Land Purchase Note Quotes
Mr. MacGuire reported that at their meeting on February 6, 2008, the Board determined they wanted to pursue a ten year note for a $300,000 OSAC purchase of land off Austin Road. He sent out eight requests with three declining: Sovereign Bank, TD Banknorth and St. Mary’s Bank. He received the following interest quotes: Citizens Bank 4.00%, First Colebrook Bank 4.38%, Lake Sunapee Bank 5.00%, Northway Bank 3.56% and Ocean National Bank 4.94%. All of the terms, with the exception of Lake Sunapee, were the same and he recommended the Board go with Northway Bank at 3.56%. He told Mr. Grella that the last note was for Baboosic Lake Community Septic and was from Northway Bank who was also the lowest. Mr. Grella moved to enter into a ten year note with Northway Bank at 3.56%, second by Mr. Panasiti. Vote: Unanimous.
Baboosic Lake Warrants
The Selectmen signed the following warrants: Baboosic Lake Phase I Quarterly Maintenance Warrant for $5,555.64, Baboosic Lake Phase II First Quarter Maintenance Warrant for $6,115.11, Baboosic Lake Phase II Plumbing & Electrical Hook-Up Warrant for $4,734.10 and Baboosic Lake Phase II Betterment Warrant for $706.21.
Veterans Tax Credits
Upon a motion made by Mr. Grella and duly seconded, the Board approved unanimously the following Veterans Tax Credits as read by Mr. Panasiti: Thomas Donato M/L 2-2-32, Andrew Jordan M/L 4-706-6, Gwendoline Winn M/L 2-166-14 and Arthur Palmer M/L 2-2-72.
Elderly Tax Credits
Upon a motion made by Mr. Grella and duly seconded, the Board approved unanimously the following Elderly Tax Credits as read by Mr. Panasiti: Joan Cornett M/L 8-21 and Gwendoline Winn M/L 2-166-14.
BTLA Settlements
Mr. MacGuire reported that the first BTLA settlement was for Atomic Realty Corp. M/L 2-28-15, 9 Columbia Drive and was negotiated by Joe Lessard, Head Assessor for MRI. The previous assessment was $2,114,000 with a recommended settlement of $1,547,448 and a tax impact of $13,965.51 for tax year 2005. Once the 2005 ratio was factored in, the $1,547,448 figure was a good negotiated number. It also left the 2006 figure as is. Mr. Grella moved to grant a settlement of $556,552, second by Mr. Panasiti. Vote: Unanimous.
Mr. MacGuire reported that second BTLA settlement was for St. Germain & Nykamp and recommended by Joe Lessard for a residential house on 1 Orchard View Dr., M/L 8-89-3. This was a taxpayer issue where a review had been done for typography because the value was not the same as their neighborhood. The previous assessment was $450,400, with a new settlement of $403, 700 for a tax impact of $879.36. It was noted after further review of the memo, that an abatement was also recommended for tax year 2007 in the amount of $909.25. Mr. Panasiti moved that they reduce the assessment to $46,700 in the abatement amount of $879.36 for the tax year 2006 settlement and $909.25 for the 2007 abatement, second by Mr. Grella. Vote: Unanimous.
Minutes
The Selectmen tabled the minutes of February 4 and February 6, 2008 until a full Board was present.
Other Business
Mr. Grella reported he had attended the HDC meeting and discussed the continued request for a ruling on whether they can use the Tree Warden for tree removal in the Village. The Selectmen will discuss this further with a full Board. He also reported the skating rink has been cleaned off and is a very worthwhile place for kids to skate while on vacation this week.
Mr. Panasiti reported that the Recreation Commission was gearing up for their meeting in March with the Selectmen and Conservation had a meeting he missed.
Mr. MacGuire reported the Conservation easement discussed several months ago at the south end of Town is back in the hands of the Conservation Commission.
Mr. Bowler reported the Selectmen’s next meeting will be on March 10, 2008.
Mr. Grella moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:02 p.m., second by Mr. Panasiti. Vote: Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon L. Frydlo
Executive Assistant