Select Board Meeting Minutes - March 12, 2007

Lincoln Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes March 12, 2007 5:03 pm Present: Chairman Deanna Huot, Selectman Patricia McTeague, Selectman Peter Moore, Town Manager Ted Sutton, Recording Secretary Susan Chenard Audience Members: Jay Polimeno, Mike O'Connor, Melissa Sabourn, Virginia Perkins, Jay Nelson and his foreman, Wilfred Bishop, Charlie Cook, Lutz Wallem Approval of public meeting minutes of February 26, 2007: A motion was made by Selectman Moore, seconded by Selectman McTeague, to approve the public meeting minutes of February 26, 2007, as amended. Approval of workshop meeting minutes of March 5, 2007: A motion was made by Selectman Moore, seconded by Selectman Mcteague, to approve the workshop meeting minutes of March 5, 2007. Routine Business ? Day care center funding - Town Manager Sutton gave a brief background of the financial concern the LinWood Child Care Center (LWCCC) has with a shortfall in their budget. Virginia Perkins and Melissa Sabourn, representing LWCCC, explained they had spoken with Julie at NH Community Loan Fund regarding a loan, but that would necessitate the Town of Lincoln being a co-signer for the loan. Chairman Huot had contacted the Department of Revenue Administration (DRA), to see if this could be accomplished at Town Meeting under other business. DRA said this would be disallowed as there could be no spending without appropriation and one couldn't bring up money issues without it being warranted to the public ahead of time. Jay Polimeno mentioned he had spoken with their treasurer, Colette Shamberger, to see if he could help with budgeting and planning, etc. Chairman Huot gave them Grafton County Economic Development Executive Director Mark Scarano's card and Town Manager Sutton pointed out that Lincoln's budget season runs September- January for future planning. ? Pleasant Street Update - Town Manager Sutton and the engineers are planning to have a Pleasant Street property owners' meeting at 6pm on April 10th at the Lincoln Town Hall to review the project, the time line, impact on property, travel, water, sewer, etc. Town Manager Sutton had approached the school superintendent, Mike Cosgriff, regarding an easement, which Mike Conklin is writing. Paul Rand will be on a site visit at the proposed turn-around location this week. ? Bidder Update on Pleasant Street - Town Manager Sutton distributed a copy of the letter that he had sent to Jay Nelson of NCS last week. After thorough review, Town Manager Sutton and Public Works Superintendent Bill Willey decided to go with Lyman Construction instead. Mr. Jay Nelson, of the low bidder, Nelson Communications Services, Inc., was in audience and explained that he and his foreman have been in construction for 25 years, and he feels they have the resources and the manpower to do this job. Chairman Huot then explained that the Town Manager has the authority to award the contract. The Town Manager's letter was the outcome of that decision. The board has supported the Town Manager's decision. ? Notch Plan Emergency Plan - Last week's snow/sleet storm caused two tractor-trailers to tip over in Franconia Notch causing State Police to close the Notch. Town Manager Sutton was listening on his Emergency Management radio, and felt there needs to be better management of this type of emergency in the Notch. Town Manager Sutton became concerned and called Emergency Management Chief Smith to tell Fire Chief Haynes not to deplete all the coverage for the town. The Town of Lincoln should share the responsibility with surrounding communities, not be the lead. Sutton felt that knowledge of the Notch Emergency Plan was very vague. Therefore Smith called a meeting for 5pm on Tuesday, March 20, to review the organization of the Notch Plan. ? Update on warrant articles & town meeting - The North Country Center for the Arts (NCCA) had developed a nice handout regarding the land conveyance, and will do a presentation and display for town meeting as well. Chairman Huot does want it stated that we're looking for input from the voters, as that is not clear in the article. The Board was also concerned that we have a right of way to access the adjacent town-owned property. ? Army Corps of Engineer's latest letter (3/5) - Town Manager Sutton had asked the Army Corps for a list of deficiencies, and then requested quotes from various engineers regarding the repairs needed. One company has already responded with a quote at about $30,000, just to engineer and permit the project. FEMA and the Corps are still planning on coming here for a meeting on March 28th at 11am, and abutters may attend. The Corp's letter was unsympathetic to any issues we presented, and basically said that's the law; fix the dike or it will be decertified. Town Manager Sutton spoke with Harold Parker from Senator Sununu's office, and Parker will continue trying to get the Corps to understand we can't meet their deadline. Other Business SRO Position - Town Manager Sutton sent a letter to the school board regarding the opportunity to put an SRO (school resource officer) in the school. That SRO position would be funded at 100% for three years. The Board wanted to make sure that the SRO officer knew that it is only funded for 3 years and things might change at the end of the funding grant. Annual Audit - The auditors have completed their work and said things were excellent. Our bookkeeper, Helen Jones, deserves a big thank you for a job well done. Mill removal - DES and Dennis Ducharme are tentatively meeting March 19th regarding taking down a portion of the mill, adjacent to the theater. Brownfields will also be involved. Main Street Traffic Plan - Selectman McTeague asked if we were all set with NH DOT regarding the Main Street Traffic Plan. Selectman Moore, as the Select Board's representative on the Planning Board, explained that the plan was approved at the meeting of February 28th. Making the motion at the meeting is difficult, but the plan was voted accepted. He will still write it, as it does have a caveat regarding signals and improvements to the traffic plan. The motion to accept the plan will be re-motioned at the Planning Board meeting on March 14th, to put in concrete language with conditions and stipulations. Mark Scarano - Chairman Huot reiterated that she went to the Grafton County Economic Development meeting here at the Town Hall. Mark Scarano asked to speak to the Board of Selectmen at some point after town meeting. Health officer - Susan Chenard is now the official health officer, as she has received her certificate from the state. She suggested Town Manager Sutton and Public Works Director Bill Willey as deputy health officers. Louise Hannan had suggested this, so Sutton could cover when she is out of town and Willey could handle all sewer type calls. Veteran's exemption - A motion was made by Selectman Moore, seconded by Selectman McTeague, to approve a veteran's exemption for Mr. Bohmbach. Public Participation Wilfred Bishop mentioned that the Governor is asking the public for a climate action plan with DES. He also felt that legal help should be involved in the Notch Plan Emergency Plan organizational meeting. Finally, he mentioned that wildfire workshops are coming to the area this summer from the North Country Council. Charlie Cook felt that maybe the NH DOT should put more turnarounds in Notch. (When a truck smashed one recently, it wasn't fixed immediately, and the rest was blocked. We should invite DOT to the Emergency Plan meeting. Mr. Cook also felt that the NCCA should make it clear up front that the land is for storage/support space, not the actual theater. He is also hoping that we will not pay for the entire amount of the levee repair in one budget year. We will look at bonding if need be, and look for funds from other sources. He then asked if the left turn lane to Recycle Road is on the new traffic plan. Chairman Huot expressed a concern over the design of the existing entrance, closest to the Town's Memorial Park, to the Village Shops parking lot. Lutz Wallem feels there is a dangerous intersection at the Citizens Bank, in the parking lot where it meets the one-way entrance section. The meeting was adjourned at 6:34 pm and Town Manager Sutton left, after being selected to open the polls the next day. The Selectmen then reviewed payroll and accounts payable check registers for the week ending March 11, 2007. Date: _________ Approved By: Chairman Deanna Huot, Selectman Peter Moore, Selectman R. Patricia McTeague