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BOS Meeting Highlights

BOS meeting minutes are one way to learn how the selectmen are handling town affairs. This page offers an archive of highlights of BOS meetings held in 2016. Be sure to read the official 2016 BOS minutes to see how exciting or dull the actual meeting was.

NOTE: Due to the poor acoustics of the meeting room, many of the discussions were difficult to hear clearly. Consult the official minutes to get more details.

BOS Meeting on December 19, 2016

• Issued decision on Cross St. damage petition - The Board voted to "approve the record of proceedings and request pursuant to NH RSA 231:75" but nothing was said about the actual content of the decision. The RSA, "Damages From Grade or Drainage Change," gives guidelines as to how to determine if remedies are needed for a drainage problem along a road.
• Discussed procedures and accounting for encumbered* funds - Currently some funds are appropriated for a specific purpose in one year but carried over and spent the next year. But those funds do not appear in the next year's budget. The Board decided that they need to explicitly identify last year's encumbered funds and show where they are spent in this year's budget.
• Discussed proposed agreement with Avitar - To compensate for the vacancy left by Donna Severance's resignation, an agreement was proposed whereby Avitar will provide part-time assessing services. The Board approved this.
• Approved services agreement with Benefit Strategies - An agreement was approved for Benefit Strategies to provide HRA services.
• Discussed warrant article for Highway Equipment Capital Reserve Fund - The Highway Dept. finally sold the old garbage truck (sale price was unspecified) and would like this money to be put in the Highway Equipment Capital Reserve Fund. Apparently the money must first go into the Unassigned Fund Balance (a slush fund of unspent tax money) and the voters must approve adding it to the highway fund, whose current balance is $34,467. The Board approved $5,000 to be added to that fund.
• Accepted resignation of Library Trustee - Eric Morgan resigned as Library Trustee.
• Appointed replacement Library Trustee - The Board approved Pauline Boutin as the new Library Trustee.
• Discussed personnel evaluation system - The Board discussed how private companies perform their personnel reviews. The town clerk offered to send the Board information about that topic, which has been under discussion among town clerks in other towns. The Board will continue with the current process until they find something better.
• Discussed dedication for 2017 town report - The Board discussed the new Community Center as the focal point of the dedication. Commendations could be added for all the people who played a role in getting the center funded and built.
• Warrant article for School Resource Officer - The School Board is to propose this new warrant article but has not discussed it with the BOS.
• Final warrant articles - Jan. 10, 2017 is the last day to submit warrant articles and the Board needs to meet to decided on final recommendations before the Budget Committee votes on the articles on Jan. 12.
• Went into non-public session.

* In accounting, an encumbrance is an amount of money that one is required to spend on a stated thing in the future. It can also be a commitment within an organization to use funds for a specific purpose.

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BOS Meeting on December 5, 2016

Selectman Tardiff was absent.

• Log Splitter - a motion was approved to spend $1,699 from the Recycling Fund for this equipment for use at the Highway Garage.
• Evaluation of Town Administrator - It was decided to do this near the Administrator's January 13 work anniversary using a standard evaluation form.
• Capital Improvements Plan - The Board discussed the need to meet with department heads and update the current plan with lists of big ticket price items that will be needed years into the future.
• 2016 Town Report - the Board discussed ideas for the dedication typically in the front of the town report.
• E-mail encryption - The Board discussed upgrading the town's e-mail service to use a stronger and more automated encryption method. The need is to protect personal information about employees and others and confidential town information. This came with a $4,000 price tag for the first year, which the Board approved.
• Proposed development on Pine Acres Rd. - A 12-home cluster development is being proposed but involves some land along the Suncook River and abuts some town property. There was talk of a possible need for an easement, tax impact, and other items.
• Downtown Redevelopment - The owners of the Suncook Mills did not seem to be interested in doing anything with the town.
• After covering several smaller items, the Board went into non-public session.

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BOS Meeting on November 21, 2016

• Police Officer - A candidate was considered for appointment.
• Cross St. water damages - Ben Carver of Cross St. filed a complaint regarding damages from water runoff due to work done by the Highway Dept.
• Sale of town-owned property - Discussed the potential sale of town-owned property to either Allenstown Aggregate, Northeast Granite, or Hynes Group (Holiday Acres). The BOS said it would negotiate with Allenstown Aggregate to offer some town-owned land in exchange for some Allenstown Aggregate land that could become a site for the new Highway Dept. garage.
• Town Fire Alarm System - Discussed with Chief Pendergast the transfer of the fire alarm system to a private vendor.
• Performance review - Completed the Town Administrator's annual performance review.
• Riverside Drive as Emergency Way - Reconsidered the residents' requested that the town readopt Riverside Drive as an Emergency Way,
• The BOS then went into non-public session.

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BOS Meeting on November 7, 2016

• Petition for Riverside Drive - Residents requested that the town readopt the road as an emergency road, and keep it in a passable condition, especially after snowstorms. They noted that the town owns several parcels on that road.

  See the selectmen's online agenda for Nov. 7 for the actual petition letter.

• Sewer Dept. budget - Reviewed the 2017 Sewer Dept. budget, which totals $2,192,252, This is a 3.1% increase over 2016.
• Warrant articles - Discussed the set of warrant articles, all dealing with additions to various capital reserve funds. One new fund is for the Town Library
• 2017 final town budget - Discussed and approved the set of town department budgets to be sent to the Budget Committee.
• Highway Equipment Fund - Voted to transfer $31,459 from the Highway Equipment Capital Reserve Fund to the General Fund. THis was to cover the purchase of a new dump truck.
• 2016 budget adjustment - Voted to increase the 2016 budget by $31,459 to pay for the new dump truck.
• Resignation of Assessing Clerk - Donna Severance submitted her resignation effective Dec. 14, 2016. After serving for six years, she is leaving for personal reasons. Mr. Mulholland said he will look for a replacement but the position is for only 17 hours per week.
• After dealing with a few other items, the Board went into non-public session.

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BOS Meeting on October 24, 2016

• Tri-Town EMS budget - Reviewed the ambulance budget. The ambulance service is still collecting less revenue than they are billing but the cost to the town will drop 7.6%, from $206,408 in 2016 to $190,739 in 2017.
• Insurance rates - Reviewed the insurance rates for 2017.
• Charette results - Reviewed the recommendations from the Plan NH group and discussed the implementation plan.
• Capital Reserve Funds - Discussed the scope and amounts to be added to various capital reserve funds. These will become warrant articles on the 2017 ballot.

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BOS Meeting on October 17, 2016

• 2015 financial audit - The BOS met with the auditors to review the audit. One negative comment from the auditor was that the town did not have its infrastructure fully recorded as a capital asset. They also pointed out a deficit in the state retirement system which hopefully will be remedied. They also recommended a formal review of Library spending records. In response to a recommendation for more formal accounting procedures at the Sewer Dept., it was stated that the town finance dept. is now doing the accounting for that department.
• 2017 budget review - Reviewed the Library budget with Ms. Adams, where the budget increased 2% due to salary increases. Reviewed the Fire Dept. with Chief Pendergast, where there was a very slight decrease from 2016 (about $284,000). Reviewed the Police Dept. budget with Chief Paquette, where there was a 1% increase from 2016 to about $915,000. For a town of 4300, that works out to about $213.00 per person per year.
• Fire Dept. Risk Assessment - the chief said he was working to take corrective action w/r/t the MRI Risk Assessment. To implement them all would add several percent to the Fire Dept. budget.
• Dept. of Safety grants - Accepted a grant of $5,790.00 for DUI Enforcement Patrols. Accepted a grant of $6,590.60 for Selective Traffic Enforcement Patrols.
• Police Dept. Risk Assessment - discussed the MRI Risk Assessment Report with the Police Chief, who said that he has implemented many of the recommendations but disagreed with several (see the BOS minutes for details). Mr. Mulholland stated that it is up to the Board to decide what items to act on.
• Results of NH Charette - The board discussed the action items recommended in the Charette report. The idea of a skating rink or bowling alley came up. To succeed, there needs to be more community involvement. The millenials in town may be more willing to volunteer. Using social media may get more people interested than using traditional media.
• After covering a few other items, the BOS went into a non-public session.

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BOS Meeting on October 3, 2016

• Contracts Policy - second public hearing - policy states that selectmen are the only officials who can sign contracts, unless they designate an alternative signer. The BOS approved the policy.
• Easement to NH Solar Gardens - This allows them to install and maintain the solar array on the Fire Station roof. Easement granted.
• Purchase Agreement with NH Solar Gardens - The town will purchase power fro the fire station solar panels for 20 years at 10% below the supplier's rate with a floor of 8 cents/kwh. Motion approved.
• Holiday Acres Expansion - A report by Fougiere was in agreement with the Holiday Acres presentation. Impact on schools is about 15 new students total. THey want to purchase lots 4, 5, 29, and 31. Lots 4 and 29 will be developed. Their economist said the homes prices should follow the market and not slowly decline.

  Northeast Granite Co. wants to purchase lot 25 (beyond Allenstown Aggregate) as a quarry operation for producing stone for landscaping. They estimate it will take 40 years to quarry all the stone.

• Highway Dept. - Ron Pellisier pointed out the $183,737 amount for road paving and supplied a list of roads of the worst roads in town. He may select roads with the least amount of utilities. The BOS asked about the old Sterling packer still sitting at the dump. Ron will work through online auction sites to find a buyer.

  The storm water and street light budgets were reviewed.

• Parks & Recreation Dept. - this budget was reviewed.
• Social Services requests -
  • Merrimack County Advocacy Center - requested $2,000.00 to help victims of child abuse. Chief Paquette gave his recommendation.
  • Red Cross - requested $1,988.00 to help people recover from emergencies and disasters.
  • Community Action Program (CAP) - requested $20,000.00 to help residents in need (for example, food bills, fuel bills, electric bills).
  • Child & Family Services - request for $3,500.00 to help families dealing with social and emotional needs.
• Old Allenstown Meeting House - Armand Verville reviewed this budget.
• Cemetery budget - Larry Anderson will contact other towns about obtaining cemetery plots for town use.
• Conservation Committee and Trust Funds - Larry Anderson reviewed those budgets.
• The BOS reviewed several smaller budgets in alphabetical order.
• Public Works Facility Committee - Ron Pellisier said a 3-acre site for a new highway garage was located on land behind the current transfer station. The next step is to do a site plan, test borings, and a building design. All other parts of the transfer station will remain as is. Some funds will need to be voted on for the highway capital reserve fund.
• Boat Landing - Based on results from the Downtown Planning Charette, the state Fish & Game Dept. will be contacted since they are the ones who offered to rebuild the area. The BOS authorized the project and needs to get the Sewer Commission to do the same.

  The town needs to grant Fish & Game a 30-year lease and in return Fish & Game will build the boat launching area. The town will insure the property and periodically remove trash. Fish & Game last said it may now take a year or more before starting the project but the BOS will try to expedite the project.

• The BOS then went into closed door session.

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BOS Meeting on September 26, 2016

• Solar Panels on Fire Station - a public hearing was briefly opened for discussion of this project.
• New Contracting Policy - a public hearing was briefly opened for further discussion of this new policy on the proper handling of municipal contracts.
• Fanny Drive - The Board met with residents to discuss maintenance of this road, which lies along the Suncook River with access from Route 28. The residents said there was an old agreement about joint maintenance by the abutters. Apparently the town owns a parcel on that road and the residents wanted the town to help with road maintenance. The BOS considers this a private road, uneligible for town maintenance.
• Fire Dept Risk Assessment - Municipal Resources, Inc. (MRI, Meredith, NH) was paid to assess the town fire department. In their report they concluded "The AFD is in the midst of a significant staffing crisis that has compromised operations through a lack of response. Despite this, when members of the department are available, they produce an effective and efficient response that serves the town well." The report also commented that "The organization offers a valuable service to the community." The Fire Chief also admitted that there was a period of internal conflict due to the change in leadership. The resulting loss of personnel seemed to have been stabilized.
• Tax abatement for President's Professional Park - The Condo Association (on Route 28 near to Sunrise Baptist Church) asked for a tax abatement of the former Preston unit, which has been abandoned since late 2015 and suffered damage since then. The situation is complicated but they hope to make repairs and put it up for lease or sale so that a new owner can resume paying property taxes.
• Disaster Recovery Plan - This 125-page document was developed to provide town officials with the guidance needed to properly respond to a major disaster or emergency. This plan supplements the existing Emergency Operations Plan.
• Winter Plowing - After residents living on private roads recently asked for maintenance of their roads, the Board stated that these roads are not eligible for winter plowing.
• Proposed Sewer Bond - A $1.6 million bond was proposed for a Suncook Pond Wastewater Pump Station. This project will eliminate the high risk situation of the sewer pipe running under the river and also provide separate pipelines to connect Allenstown and Pembroke to the sewer plant. There will be flow meters to measure the incoming flow from each town.
• Holiday Acres Expansion - Fougere Planning submitted a $1200 proposal to do a fiscal impact study for the proposed 210-unit expansion of Holiday Acres. This is to verify the benefits listed in the developer's presentation. The developers are supposed to reimburse the town if the deal is approved.
• Resignation of police officer - The School Resource Officer resigned. The school board would not fund the position beyond one year at a time, which made it unappealing to any candidate.
• Downtown Planning Charette - The Board discussed final details for the planning session. Several dozen residents have signed up to participate. The first Listening Session starts Friday, Sept. 30, at 3:30 p.m.

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BOS Meeting on September 12, 2016

This meeting had a very lengthy list of agenda items.

• Jeff Gryval was appointed as interim selectman until the March 2017 elections. He was sworn in and immediately took a seat with the other selectmen.
• A public hearing was opened regarding the solar panel project for the fire station. The town is to receive a 10% discount off the prevailing electric rate. After questions were answered,the hearing was closed until the next hearing.
• Mr Ed Faye of Riverside Drive spoke for residents of that road asking for help with road maintenance. Mr. Mulholland read notes from the town attorney stating that it was still a private road and the town could not service it. A 1994 ruling declaring the road an emergency lane was deemed invalid and rescinded. The residents were told they could re-petition the town for emergency lane status but that there were specific requirements they would have to satisfy.
• Robert Tigges of Kimberly Lane (off River Rd.) asked for help with a problem with his neighbor, Russell Harvey, who runs a construction business. A 2003 court order stated that Mr. Harvey had to clean up his property, which referred to numerous trucks and trailers stored there. Mr Tigges said this has yet to be enforced, but Mr. Harvey said he has been taking action to remedy the situation.
• Holiday Acres Expansion. The Hynes Group wants to buy four, large, town-owned parcels at the far end of Holiday Acres and construct homes for buyers over 55 years old. This age restriction is apparently allowed by federal law. A total of 200-210 double-wide, manufactured homes are to be built at the rate of 10-12 per year. There will be a separate entrance off Chester Tpke. Holiday Acres currently has 298 mobile homes.

  They estimated that the project will result a total of $29.6 million in assessed value, and next to no impact on the school system due to the age restriction. The two-bedroom houses, built on slab foundations, are to be sold for $112,500 and the town will be paid $4162.00 per sewer hookup and $1500.00 for each water hookup. When a resident mentioned that new businesses would be preferable, the developers responded that this project would result in a net tax benefit for the town.

  A follow-up meeting is to be held.

• 2017 Budget Overview. Currently the town budget may increase by 2.5%. Selectmen agreed that they need to get the increase closer to 1%.
• Health and dental insurance. The goal was to select a plan that allowed for reduced premiums. After reviewing all the choices, the selectmen picked the most cost effective one. Check the official minutes for details.
• NHMA policy recommendations. Seven proposals were reviewed and only #5 was approved (regarding legislation that defines short-term rentals). Refer to the Selectmen's Sept. 12 agenda page for details.
• Discussed a suggestion from Michael Frascinella to amend the Nepotism section of the town personnel manual to prohibit a supervisor from supervising a subordinate if the two were in a romantic relationship. To support this suggestion, a report by the Society for Human Resource Management (http://www.shrm.org) was referenced. This report presented strong evidence that such a prohibition was widely in effect. In the end, the Board decided to reject the suggestion.
• River Road Project. The board approved the changes as long as it did not change the scope or cost of the project.
• The board discussed a Contracting Policy that clarified which officials have authority to enter into contracts for the town.

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BOS Meeting on August 22, 2016

• Officer Warburton presented a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence to the town. He had found it stored away in his home and decided it would be more fitting to be displayed at town hall.
• Mrs. McKenney read a statement expressing disappointment that the outgoing Finance Director offered no assistance in helping the town get through the disruption of having to hire a replacement. She also expressed concern that the BOS properly handle the appointment of a replacement for outgoing selectmen Kate Walker who is moving out of town.
• After receiving 35 applications, the BOS approved the appointment of Karen Simmons as Finance Director.
• Edits to the Social Media Policy were approved and Health Trust is the favored choice for health and dental insurance at the upcoming SVRTA meeting.
• Road maintenance - The town will no longer plow Fanny Drive since it is a private road. The Highway Dept. will rework the road edge to eliminate water runoff onto property on Cross St. Changes were made to the River Road Project. The Phase 1 section will be repaired and given a base coat, while the Phase 2 section will receive a shim coat. The rest of the project will be done next year. The scope of the project has not changed, just the order of execution.
• Selectman Kate Walker's resignation was accepted, and she was thanked for all the work she had done on behalf of the town. Michael Frascinella suggested that the replacement be handled like the replacement of the finance director: advertise the position and select the best applicant. Former selectman Jeff Gryval was conveniently in the audience and was asked if he was willing to serve again. He said he was. Since the resignation was effective Sept. 1st, no one can be appointed before then.
• Carol Merrill was appointed as an alternate to the Trustees of the Trust Funds and as an alternate to the Cemetery Trustees. A new state law now allows alternates.
• School Resource Officer - The school board will not fund the position for three years. The BOS will not approve a one year position since that would be unfair to an applicant, plus Chief Paquette said it would take another three months to fill the position.
• The BOS accepted a donation from Comcast of 29 new computer monitors.
• The Board discussed the sale of several small parcels near Allenstown Aggregate and Holiday Acres.
• Mr. Mulholland was nominated as the town's delegate to the NH Municipal Association's Policy Conference.
• Downtown Planning Charette - The town created a flyer to circulate to residents. A volunteer will hand out flyers in the downtown area. For details see the page on this web site.
• Residents of Riverside Drive asked for time on the next agenda to discuss the overgrowth on their road.

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BOS Meeting on August 8, 2016

• Student firefighters – Chief Dana Pendergast presented information about two candidates for the position of call firefighter. They are to work 20 hr/wk while attending firefighter training. The board approved the appointments.
• 2016 Emergency Operations Plan was approved.
• River Road Reconstruction Project – Road Agent Ron Pellisier discussed the project, which involves River Road from the junction with Granite St to Pinewood Rd. (Rte. 28). This is part of the Highway Dept.'s 2017 budget. Phase I consists of repaving 1400 ft. of roadway from Granite St. to Heritage Drive, replacing numerous sewer and drain covers, and paving all the driveway aprons along that stretch. The board accepted a bid of $100,992 from Advanced Excavating and Paving, Granite St, Allenstown.

  The board asked for a schedule so they can notify residents of the dates for the project. The next step is for the board to draft a contract for the work.

• Social Media Policy – A minor revision to this 2014 policy is to add a statement about the Sewer Commission on page 2. The original policy can be found under the Town Administrator's web page.
• Taxes for timber – A tax bill for $958.27 due from Pembroke Water Works was discussed. (Timber is taxed at 10% of its assessed value.) Apparently, Pembroke owns some land inside Bear Brook State Park and had a logging company harvest some timber.
• NH Charette Project – The board discussed this event, scheduled for Sept. 30th and Oct. 1st. Project personnel will solicit ideas from residents on how to plan the future of the downtown area. See the Town News panel on the town web site.
  A better idea might be to find businesses to occupy Big Jim's vacant property and the vacant warehouses on the other side of Route 28.
• Old Home Day – There was some discussion about this Aug. 27th event but no agreement on the town's involvement.

The meeting adjourned about 7 p.m.

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BOS Meeting on July 25, 2016

• Mr. Thomas O'Donnell of Cross St. complained about an ongoing drainage problem due to rain water running onto his property. Road Agent Ron Pelissier stated he had done repairs to the road and that the resident had been satisfied. It was agreed that the road agent would visit the property the next morning. Shortly after Mr. O'Donnell left, it started raining. He returned and the road agent went with him to inspect the runoff at the property.
• A discussion about the 2017 Town Clerk/Town Collector budget became quite animated. The Town Clerk objected to the way the Town Administrator had restructured the budget into town clerk/tax collector/municipal agent job titles with most of the hours going to the municipal agent. The Dept. of Revenue Administration had confirmed that the Town Clerk's budget structure was acceptable. The Town Administrator disagreed, stating that a reading of state budgeting rules favored the selectmen's budget structure. The resolution of the situation was unclear.
• Due to the resignation of the Finance Director (last day Aug. 4, 2016), the board decided to hire a part-time contractor (1) to learn all the job functions and then (2) to teach these functions to the new director once hired. The estimated cost for the contractor will be around $85-95/hr.

  At the next BOS meeting, residents should consider the following:

  • In the current job structure, the employee works part-time as Finance Director and part-time as Welfare Director.
  • The 2015 Town Report states that an electronic time sheet and payroll processing system was implemented; a more efficient and more versatile accounting software program was installed; for accounts payable, the town now uses electronic funds transfer (EFT) and sends invoices via e-mail.
  • With the foregoing commendable improvements, one would expect a reduced need for a Finance Director.
  • The resulting question that residents should ask the board is: to fill the Finance Director's position, what are the maximum weekly hours needed to perform those job functions?
• About 1/2 hour was spent reviewing the NH Municipal Association's "2017-2018 Legislative Policy Recommendations". These recommendations originated from committee work involving NH cities and towns and consisted of policies that NHMA members either support or oppose, such as opposition to unfunded mandates. Each town's governing body was urged to vote on each recommendation and send a delegate to the Sept. 23 policy conference.

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Selectmen's page

Board of Selectmen (town web site)