Littleton Board of Selectmen-Meeting
Minutes-January 26, 2005
LITTLETON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 26, 2005
Present: Chairman Burt Ingerson, Vice Chairman Bill Hight, Selectman George Hicks, Town Manager Jason Hoch and Executive Assistant Cheryl Sargent
Chairman Ingerson opened the Selectmen’s Meeting at 4:00 pm. and subsequently entered into a Board of Assessors Meeting.
Carol Cullen noted Child & Family Realty purchased property at 28 Lafayette Avenue. An error in transferring the deed occurred by which the wrong piece of property was transferred. The first issue of taxes was paid and the error was corrected. As a State entitiy, they are tax exempt. Child & Family Realty is requesting their second issue tax be abated in the amount of $2,514.38.
Bruce Hadlock stated the Board was incorrect in abating the request at this time and should be waiting until April 1 to abate it.
Carol Cullen noted the first issue had been paid by the previous owner and this was correcting a mistake. They could have been eligible for the entire year.
Selectman Hicks moved to approve the abatement request. The motion was seconded by Selectman Hight and carried 3-0.
Chairman Ingerson closed the Board of Assessors meeting and returned to the Selectmen’s meeting.
Herb Lahout has requested two streetlights for Joe Lahout Lane where additional building sites have been approved by the Planning Board. In reviewing the request, Larry Jackson noted there are currently three streetlights on Joe Lahout Lane and he feels they are sufficient. He is recommending the Selectmen deny the request.
Selectman Hicks moved to deny the request of Herb Lahout for two additional streetlights for Joe Lahout Lane. The motion was seconded by Selectman Hight and carried 3-0.
Jan Edick, Chairman of the Conservation Commission read a letter he had prepared regarding a news brief in the January 23rd edition of the Union Leader in which it was reported the Littleton Conservation Commission has reservations regarding the proposed Lowe’s development on the Poulsen property on Meadow Street. Mr. Edick stated that although there are some reservations among Commission members regarding wetlands impact, there is a general impression of the public that the Conservation Commission is against the development and this is not necessarily true. The Conservation Commission will be addressing procedures for dealing with the press at a later meeting as there is currently no procedure established for giving interviews to the press.
Mr. Edick also added Wendell Lucas’ term will expire in April and he does not desire to be re-appointed. Gwen Howe will be resigning her position which has another year to go on the term. Mike Dickerman has expressed an interest in finishing Gwen’s term and Mr. Edick will be making this recommendation.
Bruce Hadlock noted that no one from Lowe’s has approached him to initiate any dialog regarding potential development. He feels this would be the proper thing for a developer to do. He added he has had re-occurring noise from Home Depot at 3:00 am. He will wait until spring to address any damage done to his property as he understands there is some work which they can’t complete until that time of the year. He stated he feels in the future any meeting held with big developers should be taped to make sure that they adhere to any promises made to the Town which may not be in the written minutes. He said that roof drainage was an example of this. Home Depot had said at a meeting that they would drain the roof of the building to the opposite side of the building from which it is currently draining but the written minutes did not reflect this comment.
Eddy Moore asked the Selectmen if they intend to present a warrant this year to do away with the sidewalk/hydrant precinct tax. The Selectmen stated they have no intention of doing this.
Bruce Hadlock and Eddy Moore questioned the $770,000 that the School Board must raise and appropriate in their budget even though the money is expected to come in from federal funds. Jason explained that in gross budgeting the money must appear on both sides of the ledger making it necessary to show the funds as revenue and an expense. This is a State required practice and one the Town has done for a number of years.
Bruce Hadlock noted he is aware that there are fifteen people in administration for the Town of Littleton who are collecting health insurance benefits; 13 2-person plans at $14,000 each and 2 family plans at $20,000 each. He stated he feels these costs are exorbitant and could be lowered if Jason would shop around for lower health care prices. Jason stated he has had conversations with other providers and in fact, had discussed health insurance with a provider that morning.
There was a pre-application meeting on Monday with Lowe’s development team and various Department Heads from the Town as well as DETSpersonnel. The scope of the review consisted basically of flood and wetland issues. The plan, at this time needs a lot of work especially with adjacent properties and possible runoff and drainage issues. Jason said it looks like it will be a lengthy review process.
The North Country Council Transportation Steering Committee will be holding a public hearing regarding the proposed alternate truck route. Jason noted once again that this alternate truck route was not proposed or endorsed by the Town of Littleton. Briefing packets will be distributed prior to the hearing.
Jason has met with Mike Stein of Woodard and Curran and staff from Aquarian regarding updating our sewer plan and the permit renewal process for the Waste Water Treatment Plant. Regarding the centrifuge, there are just a couple of design issues which need to be worked out before it is in place.
The draft warrant and MS6 has been reviewed by Town Counsel and DRA. It will be posted next week according to the RSA.
The Riverwalk Bridge was vandalized but the Police Department has identified the juveniles who did the graffiti. Their parents will be financially responsible for restoring the bridge to its original condition.
Selectman Hight volunteered to meet with Jason and the committee from the Senior Center to discuss their future options for an expanded facility.
Karen Noyes will meet with the Selectmen for a worksession in February to go over the Management Discussion and Analysis Report with them and answer any questions they might have.
Bruce Hadlock asked Jason and the Selectmen why the ladder truck was acquired through a loan rather than through the bond process. Jason replied that several years ago it was agreed to forgo bonds as the Town could receive a better deal by acquiring loans. He stated we currently have a very good relationship with Laconia Savings Bank and they have been able to loan us the money at a fixed rate for the next ten years.
Bruce Hadlock stated he would like to see an article on the warrant next year to allow the voters to purchase the parking lot next door behind the diner. He stated he felt it would be cheaper in the long run to purchase the lot outright than to pay to lease it year after year.
Jason noted the parking meter fund was used to offset the debt.
Bruce Hadlock also noted the budget line item for Don Jutton’s consulting service has been cut from $40,000 to $20,000. He stated he still feels that this amount is too high and the Town if not getting their money’s worth. Selectman Ingerson disagreed with Bruce stating he feels that Don has been worth what we have paid him and the Town is thriving in part due to Don’s hard work in attracting business and development to Littleton. Bruce said he disagreed.
The Selectmen discussed the proposed warrant article to increase the Veteran’s exemption from $100 to $300. Although the Selectmen appreciate the service given by the Veterans’, they do not feel this is the right time to increase the exemption because of the impact it will have on taxes. Carol also alerted the Selectmen there is a good possibility that the RSA regarding Veteran’s Exemptions may change to revise the enlisted times served. If this happens, there will be a big increase in the number of Veterans’ getting this exemption. Selectman Hicks stated he has serious mixed feelings about denying this request but realizes the timing is not good to ask for something which will adversely impact the tax rate.
Jason noted that 352 $100 Veterans’ exemptions means a decrease of $3,500 in taxed revenue, while increasing the exemption to $300 will mean a decrease of $105,600.
Selectman Hight moved to not recommend this proposed article this year. The motion was seconded by Selectman Hicks and carried 3-0.
Selectman Hicks moved to approve the minutes of January 12, 2005 as amended. The motion was seconded by Selectman Hight and carried 3-0.
The meeting adjourned at 5:20 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Cheryl Sargent,
Executive Assistant
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Chairman Burton E. Ingerson
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Vice Chairman William R. Hight
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Selectman George O. Hicks