Select Board Meeting Minutes - May 29, 2007

Lincoln Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes May 29, 2007 5:00 pm Present: Chair Deanna Huot, Selectman Peter Moore, Selectman Patricia McTeague, Town Manager Ted Sutton, Recording Secretary Susan Chenard Audience members: Wilfred Bishop, later Rick Kelley and Dennis Ducharme Approval of public meeting minutes of May 14, 2007: A motion was made by Selectman Moore, seconded by Selectman McTeague, to approve the public meeting minutes of May 14, 2007, as amended. Selectmen Moore and McTeague approved, while Chair Huot abstained as she had not been present. Routine Business As Rick Kelley and Dennis Ducharme weren't expected till 6pm, the first and third agenda items were moved to the end of the agenda. ? Grafton County Budget review - Town Manager Sutton, Selectman Moore and Selectman McTeague attended the meeting last week in Haverhill. Grafton County is proposing a 22% increase in budget, with pay increases of 8.09% on average and $1 million being spent for a study to build a $50 million prison, which will cost $5 million per year to bond, resulting in a potential 25% increase next year. Part of the increase was for a new Drug Court, which Selectman Moore was in favor of, but he reminded the Board that the prisoners can only stay for up to a year, have 45% recidivism and over 90% are there for drug problems. Town Manager Sutton was particularly upset about the lack of input allowed by the Towns that fund the county budget. He had asked if they had a CIP and they do not. If the Towns have to plan and stay within budget, the county should as well. Chair Huot suggested writing a letter to our representatives, all Grafton County Boards of Selectmen and to the public via an op/ed piece in the local papers. ? Properties to Deed - All taxes for properties going to deed have been paid. ? Ball Field - The Ballfield is now in use. Town Manager Sutton attend the first game on May 21st and was touched by the amount of hard work done last minute by the Public Works Department in helping the Recreation Department to have everything ready. Chairman Huot also commented it was good to have both the school and the Recreation Department have games the same day on that field. ? Pleasant Street - This project is going quite well. Cliff Dauphine is acting as a secondary Clerk of the Works and has been much involved in helping Lyman Brothers find pipes etc. ? Timber and Gravel Tax - Three Reports of Cut and one of Excavation had recently been received, which the Selectboard signed to have the tax bills go out. Other Business ? Town Manager Sutton reported he was keeping a close eye on Sewer Tap Fees expenditures due to decrease in building and start of summer season. ? Town Manager Sutton also mentioned that we had picked up $7 million in pick-ups and the abatement for the Landing had been resolved. Forest Ridge is still in discussions and will be resolved by July 1st. The tax warrant will be ready to go out on June 5th, with real estate taxes being due July 5th. ? The 4th of July Fireworks may be moved off of Centex's property. As they will be building in that location soon and many entities are now involved, it seems simpler to move the launch location onto Town-owned property. ? The insurance adjusters have approved a little over $10,000 towards repairs after the April storm. This will have to go into the general fund to be appropriated next year, and we will pay the bills out of contingency. ? Town Manager Sutton reminded the Board of the Arthur Salem Way dedication scheduled for Friday noon. ? Tara Tower and Town Manager Sutton met with the Community Building Grant people today. All looks good to get the new heating system. ? On his recent travels, Town Manager Sutton crossed paths with Governor Lynch at the airport. The Governor told Town Manager Sutton that he seriously doubted that we would become a donor town again, but asked for our help convincing other officials. Sutton told Governor Lynch that the Coalition Communities support his amendment. Routine Business ? NCCA Land Proposal - Rick Kelley and Dennis Ducharme, representing the Board of the North Country Center for the Arts, told the Board of Selectmen that they are interested in pursuing the matter relevant to Article 19 of the March 13, 2007 annual Lincoln Town Meeting warrant, which authorized the selectmen to convey a parcel of real estate, Map 16, Lot 312 (location of the White Water Treatment Plant) to the NCCA. Now, pursuant to RSA 41:14-a, the Selectmen will submit the sale to the Planning Board, and wait for review and recommendation by that Planning Board. Assuming the recommendation is received, the Selectboard will then hold two public meetings for comments. The NCCA plans to use the same crew as are currently cleaning up the Paper Mill to clean up the White Water Treatment Plant, as that has been a smooth and safe process. NCCA will do a Phase 1 and 2 site assessment before closing on property, and would then take over any responsibility for contamination in the future. Costs for the survey, attorney's fees, demolition and others would be very close to the current value of the property per the assessors. There was also some discussion on how to protect the best right of way to the proposed riverfront park. ? Loon Snowmaking Line - Rick Kelley reported that Loon has awarded two bids for the snowmaking line. Lyman Brothers will do about 2700 feet along the south side of the river, while Conn Construction will do the Connector Road section to the pond. Mr. Kelley also confirmed that CNL, Loon's holding company, has signed for the new ski lift and some pieces have already arrived. Trail development is in progress and South Mountain should open December 15, 2007. Other Business ? Town Manager Sutton mentioned that he would like to have a feasibility study of best practices done at the solid waste facility, as he had received many questions and comments about its operation recently and in the past five years. Both Lincoln and Woodstock Boards of Selectmen would need to agree to the study. Chairman Huot felt we should meet with Woodstock regarding solid waste specifically, and meet more frequently with to help the coordinators of that facility - Peter Moore and Jimmy Fadden. Selectman Moore welcomed the sharing of responsibility, and felt an independent study would show with more strength that current operations are in the best interests of both towns. The State and North Country Council have offered to do this study, but we would need to investigate cost. Public Input ? Wilfred Bishop noted that there would be a meeting June 4th at Cannon Mountain regarding global warming and its effect on the local economy. He also distributed a WaterSense brochure. Finally, he commented on the PUC meeting last week regarding Verizon and Fairpoint Communications. At 6:50 pm, Mr. Sutton left and the meeting was adjourned. The Selectboard then reviewed payroll and accounts payable check registers for the week ending May 27, 2007. Date: 6/11/07 Approved by: Chairman Deanna L. Huot, Selectman Peter E. Moore, Selectman R. Patricia McTeague