Littleton, New Hampshire

Approved Minutes Feb 23, 2010

TOWN OF LITTLETON
BOARD OF SELECTMEN'S MEETING
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2010
TOWN OFFICE CONFERENCE ROOM
2:00 PM

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Present: Town Manager Chuck Connell, Chairman Eddy Moore, Vice Chairman Ed Boynton, Selectman Ron Bolt, Executive Secretary Ceil Stubbings
Others Present: Mary Edick, Sharon Craigie, Don Craigie and Robert Blechl from the Caledonian.
Chairman Moore called the meeting to order at 2:00 PM
Status of Eames Settlement:
Ron Bolt said he asked to bring this up because Jere Eames and Gretchen Harvey came to the town to request an additional $10,000 in lost revenue. Ron said he thought when they talked about this issue with town council they were not going to support that but now he sees that we are. Ron asked when we decided that we were going to support lost revenue. Eddy Moore said he agrees with Ron. Connell said to the best of his knowledge no one offered that. Bolt said that he asked Jere for the information and Jere gave him a piece of paper with personal notes that were taken by Jack Eames. Connell said we are not going for lost revenue. Connell said the release that she signed leaves her free to do that. Bolt said so we are not doing that. Ed Boynton said he presented a question to the attorney regarding this. Connell said there was a clear understanding that the loss of revenue was excluded from the settlement. Bolt asked if what was presented last Wednesday was just a request. Bolt asked Connell about the status of our claim. Connell said the insurers were working on it.
Ron Bolt said that last week we talked extensively about the 1999 Opera House Commission and what its role was. It was to manage the venue portion of the big white building. Bolt told Moore that he had said we would appoint three new commissioners. Moore said not until after the elections. Moore said in 1995 a Special Revenue Fund was set up and separate from the general fund. The surplus shall be expended only after a vote by the body for a specific purpose. Moore said it had to do with restricting the revenue from the Opera House and other town functions. Don Craigie said that back in 1995 there was a town promoter. That fund was for her to manage the Opera House. Don said her position was eliminated and that fund was $7,900 in the hole and in 1999 the debt was forgiven. Bolt said they are going to reactivate the commission. Bolt asked how it would be functioning and would they be working with the Chamber. Moore said nothing could be changed or updated until 2011. Moore then referred to another warrant article, which was done in 2001. Moore said that warrant formed another committee and the current committee contains three of the original committee members. Bolt asked if this commission would handle the finances of the Opera House venue. Moore said yes. Bolt then asked if they would establish the policy and what types of groups could use it.
Don Craigie said that if you look at the warrant article and if you decide to rent to the Chamber then there has to be a close relationship there. Moore said the Chamber would put together the plans, but in reality the three commissioners should put the plan together. Moore said it would make it a little difficult for us to come up with a proposal for the Chamber. Bolt asked if these are going to be appointed positions and not elected. Moore said they are appointed by the three selectmen. Bolt asked about the rest of the big white building and asked if the Joel Bedor committee was still functioning. Moore said yes the committee is still in tact. Moore said he kept the committee going because we were not sure if the town offices would go back in and right now that is not the case. Moore said the mission statement for the committee is still in place. Moore said he does not think there is any emergency to act on anything before town meeting. Bolt said that after the election we could probably meet to give some guidance and a retuning of the mission statement. Bolt said we don't have a master plan.
Connell asked if the board is assuming the town office will never go back into the building. Connell asked if the board was looking for the committee to find another entity to go into the building. Connell said the committee has already made their three recommendations. Connell said it might be prudent to look at other alternatives at the Cottage Street level. Bolt said what he is driving at is the committee has not met in a year and he has not seen them active. Bolt said we should disband them and continue with the master plan of the big white building. Moore said his thinking is people feel the town offices should go back in there. Moore said he would like to know what the general population of the town wants to do and if they want the town offices back there. Ed Boynton said they all know how he feels about it. Moore said he has no qualms either way. Moore said we could peel out of here any time we want to. Connell said there would be provisions. Moore said we are going to use the upstairs for storage, which is upstairs over the Chamber. Bolt said that maybe the general population's mind will be eased if we make the distinction of the venue and the town building. Bolt said that we are not mixing ownership and management of the building. Bolt said that it is in the warrant article. Bolt said moving the town offices was supposed to be a temporary thing.
Sharon Craigie asked about the storage if you do move back in. Connell said he does not believe there will be enough room. Sharon said you really need a plan. Sharon said a person once said you don't plan for the day you plan for the future. Sharon asked if we put them back in where are we going to go from here. Sharon said there is also an issue with the parking. Connell said he is not going to get into the parking. Connell said the 800 square feet for the storage would give us more then enough room. Connell said that whether the office moves back or not we would still have to do something. Connell said the cost is $146 of materials for the storage area he proposed last week. Connell said he thinks we can establish some temporary storage and organize what we already have there and also take some of the files from here. Sharon asked if there is not a weight limit on the mezzanine level. Connell said no.
Mary Edick said she would like to throw her thoughts out. She would like to see it utilized as a community building and not cost the taxpayer. Mary asked if it is feasible to put the town offices back in there and not cost us an arm and a leg. She wants to see it used. She would really like to see the Joel Bedor committee really have an overall plan. Mary said there should be master plan because she likes to see what it is going to cost. Moore told Mary she should go down to see the building. Mary asked if the two small offices could be rented out. She said she likes to see comparisons of costs and what it could be used for. Mary said she thought Mary Daly's idea was good.
Sharon Craigie asked how big are those office spaces. Connell said they are ten by ten. Sharon asked how many bathrooms do you have at the Chamber level. Connell said there was one of each. Sharon then said you want to have busses stop there with only two public bathrooms. Sharon then asked about the kitchen. Sharon said there was an event in August and asked what kind of caterer would want to use it without a kitchen. Sharon said that is why she is asking about the deal with the chamber. Sharon asked what did we earn for the August event. Connell said they were not charged. Don Craigie said that is what is attractive about it. Moore said the use is limited because there is no kitchen. Moore said he does not think it is going to be a big moneymaker. Sharon said that Don Merrill said there was a study done and asked for a copy of it. Moore said that people should go through the building. Connell said that Channel 2 has it on tape. Sharon asked the board if there have been tons of things going on between them and the Chamber. Sharon said you have three committees. You have the Chamber, the Bedor committee and you have a commission and all of this stuff has been going on in non-public. Sharon said there is nothing in the minutes and this leads to problems if you are not open. Sharon said that even your lease agreement says you were going to have a warrant article. Bolt told Sharon that we addressed that last week and it was an oversight.
Mary Edick asked does that make this lease null and void as of today. Connell said it is going to die on March 9th. Mary asked what happens on March 10th. Mary asked when would that happen at the first meeting after the election. Connell said that would be determined in the non-public after this meeting. Mary asked how would it adversely affect them. Connell said that if they know the parameters under which he can negotiate it would give them an advantage. Mary asked when would the public know the terms of the lease. Connell said as with the last lease it will be discussed and ratified at a selectmen's meeting. Moore said that a lot of things are going to happen after March 9th. Connell said he made the recommendation to cancel the March 3rd meeting. Bolt asked why would we cancel the meeting when it is a week away. Bolt said he does not get it. Connell said there is nothing on the agenda. Bolt said it seems we have a considerable amount of responsibilities to take care of and he wouldn't cancel the meeting. Ed Boynton told Bolt that you asked us to cancel a meeting when you went on vacation. Ed said it is just an opportunity for a bunch more people to come in and lay out their dirty laundry. Bolt told Boynton that he thinks it is a pretty remarkable statement that you don't want to hear from the public. Boynton made the motion to cancel the next meeting. Bolt said he would not second it. Moore said he did not mind either way. Boynton then withdrew his motion.
Connell made the recommendation to go into non-public session per RSA 91-A:3 II (d) to discuss the parameters of the Opera House lease agreements. Ed Boynton moved to go into non-public session. Ron Bolt seconded the motion. After a unanimous roll call vote the board entered into the non-public session at 2:54 PM.

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