Littleton Board of Selectmen
Meeting-Minutes-March 10, 2004
LITTLETON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MEETING MINUTES
MARCH 10, 2004
LITTLETON TOWN OFFICE CONFERENCE ROOM
Present: Chairman George Hicks, Vice Chairman Burt Ingerson, Selectman Bill Hight, Town Manager Jason Hoch, Executive Assistant Cheryl Sargent
Selectman Ingerson moved to go into non-public session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters. The motion was seconded by Selectman Hicks and carried 3-0 with the Chairman taking a roll call of each member.
Matters discussed during non-public included the compensation and performance of the Town Manager, staff development and areas of improvements for departments for the ensuing year.
Selectman Ingerson voted to come out of non-public session at 4:00 pm. The motion was seconded by Selectman Hight and carried 3-0.
Selectman Ingerson moved to adjust the Town Manager’s salary to $62,500 effective February 1, 2004 with a $2500 bonus for work performance in 2003. The rate will not be subject to Cost of Living Adjustment on April 1st. The motion was seconded by Selectman Hight and carried 3-0.
Chairman Hicks opened the Selectmen’s Meeting at 4:00 pm.
Eddy Moore presented a check to Littleton Main Street Inc. on behalf of the Curran Foundation for the maintenance of the Kenneth Curran Footbridge. David Wood accepted the check on behalf of Littleton Main Street Inc. and expressed his appreciation to Eddy Moore. He noted a dedicated account will be set up for maintaining the footbridge in Ken Curran’s honor.
Dave Sircle and Bill Gilpatric from Aquarion were in to give the Selectman an update on operations at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Plant operations are going well Maintenance continues on the plant as parts arrive. Work on the Operations and Maintenance Manual for the Public Works Department has been turned over to Aquarions engineer, EER. Aquarion has been working with the Highway Department on the roads and sidewalk plan to come up with a schedule for new sidewalks. Selectman Ingerson asked what plans are in place for new sidewalks. Bill stated when a new road is proposed the sidewalks are included at that time. Selectman Ingerson noted there were some sidewalks in town which need repair and there are several locations in which sidewalks should be added due to the amount of pedestrian traffic in those locations. The Selectmen thanked Dave Sircle and Bill Gilpatric for coming in to the meeting.
Tom Considine, Perry Goodell, Don Craigie from Littleton Water & Light were in to give an update of their annual operating budget and Capital Improvement Plan. Mr. Craigie stated that operating expenses are up and water usage is down. L W & L will find it necessary to raise the fire hydrant rental fees next year from $44 to $62. There was some discussion regarding who is responsible for keeping the hydrants shoveled out in the winter. It was the general consensus that as far back as anyone could remember this has been done by the fire department although there is nothing in writing specifying this is a duty of the fire department.
Regarding electrical rates, Don Craigie noted deregulation has hurt LW&L ‘s operating budget. Bankruptcies caused by mergers have affected the cost per kilowatt hour. LW&L will find it necessary to raise electrical rates this year. They are not sure how much of an increase will be made until they study the numbers.
Selectman Hicks asked the Commissionerst if they thought the Town should own Moore Dam. Mr. Craigie stated he did not feel the Town had the borrowing power to purchase it. Also, the upkeep would be extremely costly.
Tom Considine gave a brief overview of the Capital Improvement Plan for 2004. He noted the closing of Butsons last year was a big blow to Littleton Water and Light as they will be losing $150,000/yr from that source.
Jason thanked Littleton Water and Light for their cooperation and assistance on the Washington and Bishop Streets projects.
Selectman Hight moved to approve the minutes of February 25, 2004. The motion was seconded by Selectman Ingerson and carried 3-0.
Carol Cullen briefly went over the Vision Contract with the Board, She explained Vision will be providing data tables for new assessments. The table will be based on the cost approach of a particular property as well as unit cost for residential properties. . A manual and sales survey will be provided to the Town. There will be formal hearings and property owners will be notified of the reassessment. It is anticipated the reassessment will be completed on or before August 15, 2005. The contract proposed by Vision will cost the Town $88,000. The Selectmen thanked Carol for keeping them informed and all agreed they would like to review the contract. Copies of the contract will be provided to the Selectmen.
Jason stated work is moving forward on the Bishop and Bronson Street sewer jobs. Work is on schedule.
Fire Chief Lopes is working on getting a contract together for the repair of the fire department roof.
Both union contracts are ready for signatures.
The Highway Department is working on draft bids for road improvements and new vehicle purchase as approved at Town Meeting on Tuesday.
The Ladder Truck Committee has held their 1st meeting and are working on plans for getting the current ladder truck evaluated to come up with a cost for repairs to the vehicle. They will be reporting to the Board of Selectmen shortly. In the meantime, Chief Lopes is working on getting a rental truck and should know within the next two weeks what is available to the Town.
Jason noted some suggestions were made on election day regarding changing the location of the polls or reconfiguring the current set up. The Selectmen may want to give this some consideration before the next election. A suggestion was also made to lump the service agencies requests under one article as this would cut down on the length of time each voter must spend currently checking off each article separately. This will be discussed further.
Following some discussion and on the recommendation of the Police Chief and Town Manager, Selectman Ingerson moved to increase the parking meter fees on Main Street to 10 cents for 24 minutes and 25 cents per hour with a 2 hour maximum to be implemented on a schedule determined by the Police Chief and Town Manager. This does not include the parking meters in front of the Laconia Bank or Post Office. The motion was seconded by Selectman Hight and carried 3-0.
Jason noted he had e-mailed the Police Facility Committee thanking them for the time and effort they had put into plans for the new proposed police facility. The committee has been invited to the Volunteer Reception which will take place in the near future. He plans to meet with the Committee in early April.
Jason noted he will not be here for the Selectmen’s Meeting on the 24th.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Cheryl Sargent
Executive Assistant
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Chairman George O. Hicks Secretary William R. Hight
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Vice-Chairman Burton E. Ingerson