TOWN OF DUNBARTON
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MINUTES OF MEETING
January 22, 2004
Present: Chuck
Graybill
J.R.
Swindlehurst, III
Steve
Kennedy
Janice
VandeBogart, Town Administrator
7:00 p.m. Chuck called the meeting to order. Request for information before the budget
hearing was received from Lori Davis and company.
The request includes a complete revenue and expense
report by department, along with time slips, Fire Dept. reports and other
information.
Steve moved that the request for information under RSA
91:A be referred to the law firm of
Grasmere and Spillman, for determination as to the reasonableness of the
request to meet the time frame and privacy issues requested. J.R. seconded the motion. A vote was taken and it was unanimous in
favor of the motion.
A discussion followed regarding the Right to Know law,
the reasonableness of the time frame asked for in the request, the process of having the copies made,
privacy issues, security issues and
whether Lori Davis' claim that the costs of the Town providing the copies is
exorbitant is true.
Steve wants the Town's lawyer to determine our usual
and customary fees and indicated that supervising the copying, if made by Lori
Davis, will cost her money.
Janice mentioned that pay stubs have social security
numbers on them and that is a problem since that information cannot be given
out.
J.R. feels that
we should make the copies and Lori Davis should pay for them.
Steve feels that no copies should be made unless they
pay for them.
7:37 p.m. Jon
Wiggin, re: Requested Fire Dept. records
Jon was aware of Lori Davis' request and indicated
that there are privacy concerns and that the request has no bearing on the
budget. He metioned that he was asked
for similar information for the Town's lawyer and was given a 30-60 day time frame to obtain the
information. Steve asked whether there
was pending litigation and Jon
indicated that there was not. Steve asked Jon what he is charging for the
copying. Jon indicated that he is
charging $2/copy and mentioned that Bedford charges $10/copy and Concord
charges $15/copy .
Steve said he needs to know how many hours this will
take and noted that it is disruptive to the office. He will not waiver from the $10/hour and
.50/copy charges. Janice stated that the
original request from Lori Davis came in on Wed., 1/21, and Chuck noted that
the revised request came in at 6:50 p.m today.
Chuck stated that he wants to make a motion that we
will provide this information, except for the Fire Dept. information, in a
timely fasion, but it won't be completed by the 1/26 deadline.
Steve said that it is not going to happen, the 1/26
deadline isn't reasonable and we are not going to change our usual and
customary practices.
7:58 p.m. Jeff
Trexler, re: Vaal property
Jeff brought in a plan of the Vaal property. He indicated that the appraisal is due by
2/6. The bond hearing is set for 2/19 at
7 p.m. Jeff said he would like to rely
on Town Counsel for the writing of the Warrant Article. J.R. also suggested checking with the Dept.
of Revenue. Janice will call the Dept.
of Revenue to get the wording for a bond (to purchase the Vaal property) for a
warrant article and a supplemental warrant article. A discussion regarding the issues with
property ownership took place, such as maintenance, caretaking, whether to
continue to rent out the property, and if so, how many units to rent. Jeff mentioned that the Vaals are willing to
stay. Chuck doesn't want to put in
additional money. He has no problem with
the Vaals staying there, but doesn't want other tenants. Jeff said that other tenants would provide
income. Chuck doesn't think it would be sufficient to cover a new septic
system. Steve doesn't think a new septic
system would be necessary if all the tenants were kicked out. J.R. said the the
rental income could cover the maintenance costs. Janice indicated that the rental income would
need to go into the general fund, not a revenue account for rental income. Janice suggested that we may want to increase
insurance. The restricting of public
access was discussed, as well as the pond access.
Ron Slocum interjected that the Vaals went to the
Zoning Board for an approval of a new septic system. Jeff was aware of that and stated that the design
he brought in reflects the change.
Steve said we need to have a firm policy in place to
bring to the Town by 2/19. Jeff feels
that buying this property will allow for future Town expansion without
affecting the Town Common.
Jeff said we now need to wait until the appraisal
comes in, but that we should contact Town Counsel now.
A discussion on the quality of air at the elementary
school took place.
Steve will come in on Friday at 8 a.m. to conduct a
conference call with Steve Duggan with Janice.
Jeff presented an estimate of the effect of the bond
on the tax rate over 5 years at .88 (based on a $600,000 bond, with a bond
payment of $140,000 during the highest year) and .54 over 10 years (based on a
bond payment of $85,000).
8:37 p.m. Fred
Mullen, re: Election Day
Fred indicated that a poll inspector is coming on
Tuesday and there will be a representative from the Dean campaign conducting an
exit poll. Fred indicated that we need to have three handicapped parking spots
and signs directing the way into the community center. Janice will obtain these. Jeff mentioned that someone should call Chuck
Gaides and let him know what is going on and that there will be school and
basketball practice that day.
Steve will be present at the elections from 8 a.m. - 1
p.m. and then will come back to count ballots. Chuck and J.R. will be present
when they can.
9:00 p.m. Other
Business:
Janice presented each Board member with a budget
workbook and indicated that the revenue figures are accurate. The Board completed the anticipated revenue
projections. See attached.
Janice gave the Board information on minor legal
issues.
Chuck indicated that the Town Clerk's request will be
a warrant article. Janice mentioned that
the public will expect more public hours but that Linda doesn't plan on
offering more public hours.
9:15 p.m. Chuck
asked for public comment
Ron Slocum asked how the Selectmen decide whether to
approve requests themselves versus presenting a warrant article. Chuck said that a warrant article would be
justified if the Board thinks the public
might be concerned.
9:25 p.m. Steve
moved to adjourn, which was seconded by Chuck.
The motion carried.
_____________________________________________________________________
Chuck Graybill, Chairman
_____________________________________________________________________
J.R. Swindlehurst,III, Selectman
_____________________________________________________________________
Steve Kennedy, Selectman
Respectfully Submitted,
Joanne Johnson