The Town of Northwood, New Hampshire

Chairman Bryer stated the primary purpose of the meeting was to prepare for Town Meeting. He then welcomed Ken Curley and Alden Dill to the meeting and announced that they would be sworn in at Saturday’s meeting. Ms. Cady then mentioned that there were three manifests that had been previously signed that needed to be moved.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to approve the check manifest dated March 14, 2007 in the amount of $200,120.00 basically for the school payment to Coe-Brown. With no comment, the vote was taken. Approved 2/0.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to approve the payroll manifest dated March 14, 2007 in the amount of $35,728.71. With no comment, the vote was taken. Approved 2/0.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to approve the check register dated March 7, 2007 in the amount of $44,011.130. With no comment, the vote was taken. Approved 2/0.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to approve the check register dated March 7, 2007 in the amount of $15,940.17. With no comment, the vote was taken. Approved 2/0.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to approve the check register dated March 28, 2007 in the amount of $200,365.71. With no comment, the vote was taken. Approved 2/0.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to approve the payroll register manifest dated March 28, 2007 in the amount of $47,933.50. With no comment, the vote was taken. Approved 2/0.

Ms. Cady explained that this was one of the two payments made for this buy-out, one being $1,000.00 in July and the other $1,000.00 in December.

After asking if there was any further comment,
***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to approve the Health and Dental Buy-Out for Lisa Fellows-Weaver. Motion passed 2/0.

Ms. Cady then presented an application for the Library to hold a Raffle to be held Saturday, which required Chairman Bryer’s signature.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to approve the signing of the Library Raffle application. With no further discussion, vote taken motion passed 2/0.

Ms. Cady presented a document for signature by Chairman Bryer from B. H. Cameron Septic Services for dumping at the lagoon. She responded to Selectman Hadley’s question that this was for a 1-year contract, retroactive to January 1, 2007.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to approve the signing of the B. H. Cameron Septic Services contract for calendar year 2007 to use the Northwood Septic Lagoon for disposal of Septic for Northwood residents only as has been done in the past. With no further discussion, vote taken, passed 2/0.

Ms. Cady presented an agreement for the Northwood Fire Department to be able to buy at Hannaford tax free when they buy sandwiches, etc. on the tax-free account.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to sign the agreement for less than $500.00 per month purchase of tax-free food from Hanaford’s for the Northwood Fire Department. With no further discussion, motion passed 2/0.

Ms. Cady stated she received the deed from the Twombly’s to register for the road which needed to be accepted.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Chairman Bryer, motion carried 2/0.

Ms. Cady presented a contract to send the Health Officer to the Capitol Area Health Network. She explained the Town receives $50.00 plus mileage once a month when Mr. Arsenault attends these meetings which cover such items as Pandemic disease outbreaks, flu viruses, mosquito infections, etc., that incorporates a phone alert system by which one community would get help from other area communities in the event of such a catastrophe.

***Motion*** Selectman Hadley moved, and Chairman Bryer seconded to authorize the Chairman to sign the contract. With no further comment, the vote was taken and passed 2/0.

Land Use Change Tax bills were then presented for signature for Gregory Bane, Kendall Bane, Mark Chingas, Paul & Leslie Longueil, Anthony & Jesse Matras, Robert & Suzanne Fletcher, Saratoga Realty LLC, Mark & Sara Coop and Riverview Land Development. Also presented were applications for a veteran exemption for Wilfred Deschamp, and abatement in the amount of $995.00 for Samuel Johnson Revocable Trust, Pamela English & Richard Buiel for $2,023, and Signer Stover-Kuchan for $196, as well as denials for James Makris and Bruce Fistel, and the acceptance of an elderly exemption for Mildred Strachan. Selectman Hadley asked about the denials and Ms. Cady stated these people had asked for abatements because of over-taxation and Assessor Wood had recommended denying them, as he did not feel they were over taxed.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Chairman Bryer to approve signing the land use change, abatement, veteran credit and elderly exemption documents as presented by Rod Wood. The vote taken was 2/0 to accept the documents.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Chairman Bryer to sign the denials for Makris and Fistel as recommended by Rod Wood. The vote taken was 2/0 to accept the documents.

Ms. Cady stated she had received a call from Kyle Starkweather, a student from Coe-Brown who did the sound system last year at Town Meeting, asking if he would receive a stipend for doing it again this year. He had not received one last year. He doesn’t believe it was a community service item. Selectman Hadley suggested she call Mr. Davis to ask him about it.

Ms. Cady then stated she had received a copy of a Resolution from the City of Dover regarding the cost of retirement being increased back to Towns and Cities, asking for a vote to support their resolution. She read the resolution to the Board. Chairman Bryer stated he would not support the resolution and Ms. Cady stated she felt it would be a conflict of interest and he should abstain because he worked for the State along with Selectman Hadley, whose wife worked for the State as well.

She asked for direction on the Primex and the Local Government Center health plans which had been circulated to town employees. She had received comments back from Danielle Fortin and Donna Bunker from the Library, stating they would not like to change to the new plan. Chairman Bryer stated a decision needs to be made from comparative information. Ms. Cady responded that some of the differences are in health programs application fees and that for prescribed designer drugs, Pilgrim Health would want a generic drug used instead, and that in order to get the higher priced drug, participants might need to appeal the unit. Chairman Bryer stated he would like to compare the two programs to see how they match up. Ms. Cady said she had sent him an e-mail showing that there would be a cost savings of $120 on a single plan, but that she had not done a complete aggregate to show complete savings by switching. She stated that currently they were spending $1606 per month for a single and that it would be $1377 under Primex. Over $18,000 is currently spent a month for the Town. Chairman Bryer stated that if we save $20,000 over the course of the year, it might show reason for approving the change. Ms. Cady reminded the Board that a 15% discount would be given to the Town if all insurances are given to Primex. Chairman Bryer stated that the whole amount of savings should be checked out.

Ms. Cady then asked that the contract with Network Managers, and that Chris Andrews had asked to present his company as a network company, along with Steve Gimally (sp?) (Mission) also wanting to be considered. Chairman Bryer asked if this had gone out for bid, and Ms. Cady replied it had not. Chairman Bryer stated that in order to be fair, it should go out to bid and Ms. Cady agreed. Chairman Bryer questioned that he heard there were people not satisfied with Network Managers, and Ms. Cady replied they had improved tremendously during the last three months, making a point of coming to the office to ask what they could do to improve their service. She also said that Pete came into the office last week and started putting the folders of each employee into their own files which would eliminate the possibility of anyone getting access to any other files, helping out a lot.

Harvey Lake Watershed’s letter was read, asking the Town to budget $100.00 for the year 2007 to participate in the State’s public beach program. The request was not received until February 27, 2007 but Chairman Bryer stated that they could find $100.00 for this request somewhere in the budget.

Ms. Cady announced that on March 21, 2007 the Strafford Regional Planning Commission is sponsoring a US Census Bureau news workshop on what we will be doing on the U.S. Census with the materials and grants that would be available under it. She stated she did not know whether the Board wanted to send someone to attend it.

Ms. Cady stated that she received a letter from Daniel Funk with the State’s 10-year Transportation Update, showing an anticipated date of 2012 for the fixing of the intersection of Routes 4 and 152. Selectman Hadley asked whether this addressed the sidewalks, and she replied it did not.

Rockingham County Strategic Economic Plan asked Ms. Cady to identify local projects that advance and promote the regions goals. She stated that in order to qualify, the Town needed to have an unemployment rate of more than 1%, and that the last time she checked, the Town was at 4.6%. Certain amount of people in the survey needed to be below a specified income, and she stated she would check into it further.

Chairman Bryer then requested the minutes be presented for approval.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to accept the public minutes of January 23, 2007 as presented. Vote was 2/0 to accept.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to accept the public minutes of February 13, 2007 as presented. Vote was 2/0 to accept.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to accept the public hearing of February 20, 2007 (public hearing on SB-2) as presented. Vote was 2/0 to accept.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Hadley, seconded by Selectman Bryer to accept the public minutes of February 26, 2007 as presented. Vote was 2/0 to accept.

***Motion*** motion was made by Selectman Bryer, seconded by Selectman Hadley to accept the non-public minutes of January 9, 2007 as presented. Vote was 2/0 to accept.

Selectman Hadley asked for an update on the wage study, and Ms. Cady said she had given a copy of the new draft of the study to Chairman Bryer, that she had read through it. Chairman Bryer asked if the study was public information under the Right to Know Act, and Ms. Cady said it was not until the Board accepted it. Chairman Bryer stated he had read the report, and did not have any problem with it other than he thought 20 steps was too much. Selectman Hadley asked how many the current one had and was advised that it had 10. Chairman Bryer suggested 15 would be a good amount. He also thought it should be brought before the new Board once they are in office for their review.

Regarding the Town Meeting, Chairman Bryer asked if copies of the Code of Conflict had been made for distribution as he thought people would be asking for them. Ms. Cady also reminded Chairman Bryer that he had asked the Building Inspector’s findings on the Teen Center. Chairman Bryer asked if any of the dollar amounts needed to be changed in the Warrant Articles and Ms. Cady replied that the Metrocast Cablevision article needed to be adjusted to $25,507.87. He asked if the figures on the Compactor were ok and she responded that it depended on which compactor they chose. If they chose the 4-yard compactor, the cost would be $42,000, and the 2-yard would be $25,000, and they would need two of them. They decided to go with the 4-yard to get what they needed.
Chairman Bryer asked to make sure that the dollar amounts in the warrant were correct, because once they were passed on the floor, he wanted to make sure the funding was there. Ms. Cady replied that she thought they were under-funded. She referred to the fact that she asked Jim Wilson what he planned to pay hourly for the highway laborer and what health benefits would be included if it was approved and he said he currently pays $13.50 an hour but there is a $15,000 part-time line which could be added to that would come pretty close. Ms. Cady then stated she didn’t think there would be enough money for the Transfer Station position or the Finance Technician were elected unless the hires were in May. Mrs. Knox stated she used the current figures from the budget and the State retirement figures when she prepared the petitions. Chairman Bryer asked to have Ms. Garrett refigure to make sure there was enough money for those positions.

Ms. Cady stated she had figured that the Transfer Station Expendable Trust fund would not have enough money in it in the third year of the lease to fund the compactor, and that those funds would need to be raised by taxes at that point. Because the fund was sufficient for a couple of years it was decided to do another warrant article at the point when the lease payment would need to be raised by taxation.

With regard to the warrant articles, it was discussed who would move and who would explain them as they came up at Town Meeting. Petitioned warrant articles would be addressed by the makers of the articles. It was mentioned that Ms. Smith was to order another 150 town reports and have them delivered to Coe Brown.

Selectman Hadley stated that the impact from the proposed operating budget was estimated to be $2.27 which was the same as last year, and the estimated impact of the other warrant articles was $.40.

Ms. Bailey commented that there was a play being held at Coe-Brown this weekend and Selectman Hadley stated that they could recess town meeting if it ran into the time where it would conflict with the play.

Ms. Edwards stated that the Planning Board was planning to make a presentation at the beginning of the Town Meeting and that the moderator should be notified.

Public Comments

Ms. Knox asked what would happen to retirees if the health insurance plan is changed. Chairman Bryer replied that he felt an analysis should be done first, and that issue should be looked into and an informational meeting should be held to get questions answered. If certain groups would be affected, those items should be reviewed. Ms. Cady stated that the savings would be about $120 for a single plan and $370 for a family plan. Chairman Bryer stated this could result in quite a savings for the town, but a comparison will need to be done of the two plans because the Board doesn’t want employees or retirees to be hurt from the change. Ms. Cady said that the Police had not responded.

Mr. Wolf asked if a handout would be available to show what the total cost would be for each of the new hires. Chairman Bryer stated the positions were petition items and would be the responsibility of those making the petition to supply those figures. Mr. Wolf said he understood his position, but he thought it would be fair to have something handed out showing those positions. Selectman Hadley said the money was listed in the articles and that it could be figured out if you took the amounts in the articles and divided it out for benefits and salaries. Ms. Cady stated the full-time Recreation Director amount was accurate, but was figured as for a single member health coverage.

Ms. McNally stated she thought the article for the full-time Recreation Director should be amended for a family-plan health coverage rather than single, just to be prepared in case the recipient wanted a family rather than just a single. She then went on to inquire about the wage study. Chairman Bryer stated that for budgetary purposes, the salaries had been estimated at a step plus COLA, but what he would do would be to look at the new matrix and place the employees on that scale at an appropriate grade and step. He said the study came back showing that the Town was paying very well. He went on to explain how employees would be put on the new wage matrix, giving some employees more percentage of increase than others depending on where they fell on the scale. Ms. McNally asked for clarification of whether all employees at the top of their scale would be handled the same, and Chairman Bryer stated he would do that for all non-elected officials.

Mr. Wolf asked a question regarding when the Rte 4 and Rte 152 intersection would be worked on and was told 2013. He also asked about the Credit Union coming to town and Chairman Bryer stated he could not answer that.

Mr. Curley asked about the Teen Center articles and whether the $10,000 was to be combined with the $40,000, for a total of $50,000. Selectman Hadley stated that it was assumed that only one article would be approved, and that it would be either $10,000 or $40,000.

Ms. McNally asked whether any decisions would be made during non-public session, and Chairman Bryer stated they did not plan on any.

Selectman’s comments

Selectman Hadley thanked Chairman Bryer for appointing him for the 60-day term. He wished the two new selectmen the best of luck, and also stated that he thought it was good that both of the new selectmen had stated they would attend the Selectman Institute and that he recommended that Chairman Bryer attend as well because when he attended in 2001 three Barrington selectmen were there and they made a difference when they went back to Barrington, and he thought it was an excellent institute for all selectmen to attend. Ms. Bailey asked that she speak for the public and thank Selectman Hadley for serving and that they all appreciated it. Chairman Bryer stated that Selectman Hadley had been a breath of fresh air and he thanked him for serving. Selectman Hadley also asked to thank Selectman Witham, as he knew the vote had been from both selectmen.

***Motion*** Motion was made by Selectman Hadley to go to non-public meeting under 91:A-3,II-a to discuss matters non-public personnel issues, seconded by Chairman Bryer, passed 2/0.

***Motion*** Motion was made by Chairman Bryer, seconded by Selectman Hadley to seal the minutes, passed 2/0.

***Motion*** Motion was made to adjourn at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

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