Warner Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
November 9, 2004
Meeting
opened at
6:00
p.m.
In
attendance: Selectman Wayne Eigabroadt – Chairman and Selectman Peter St.
James.
Recorder
of the minutes is Mary Whalen.
Robert
O’Connor
met with the Selectmen regarding the progress on the school bus stop shelters.
Mr. O’Connor contacted the School Board and learned that the school
does not have the right to make any changes to the construction/design that has
been mandated by the State even though the school has purview of the shelters.
Concrete slabs are required. Mr.
O’Connor would like the Director of Public Works a Selectman and himself to
visit the four sites before any construction begins; any foreseeable problems
will be noted. The Selectmen’s
Office will arrange the time and day of the site visits.
Mr. O’Connor is meeting with the Planning Board in December for
criteria clarification. Mr.
O’Connor noted to the Board of Selectmen about discrepancies between the
Planning and Zoning Board in regards to the control of signage.
Mr. O’Connor recommends that the three entities meet to make sure all
are on the same page. Selectman
Eigabroadt asked Mr. O’Connor to help maintain the
ADA
(American Disabilities Act) compliance within the Town of
Warner
;
all recommendations will be forwarded to the Selectmen.
The Selectmen also asked Mr. O’Connor to sit on the newly formed Policy
Committee that will be meeting on
November
10, 2004
.
The Committee will be tasked with re-writing the personnel policy book.
Selectman
St. James made the motion to approve
meeting minutes dated October 26 and Work Session meeting minutes dated October
28 and
November
3, 2004
.
Chairman Eigabroadt seconded the motion.
The motion passed.
Chairman
Eigabroadt read into the record a statement from the
Local
Government
Center
congratulating the Town of
Warner
for second place in the 2004 annual report award.
Wendy
Pinkham met with the Board to discuss the cost of health insurance for 2005.
Local
Government
Center
forwarded information about other health plans along with prices.
If the prescription part of the current plan were changed with the co-pay
it would drop $10.00 for one person, $21.00 for two person plan and $29.00 for
family (per month). Monthly it would
cost for a one person plan $455.86 ($466.62 without changing the prescription
part of the plan), two person plan $911.72 ($933.25) and the family plan
$1,230.82 ($1,259.89). Mrs. Pinkham
explained that there are other plans available with similar comp 1000, 2500
& 5000. The more out of pocket
expense the least expense you will have for your coverage, but you may not have
as good of coverage. To change to comp 1000 with mail in prescription one person
would cost $400.78, two person family $801.56 and family $1,082.10 per month.
It is required to have 75% participation for any of the plans.
The town will be penalized two years if it is decided to drop
Local
Government
Center
.
The town is looking at a 16.9% increase to the current package.
Costs can be lowered by increasing the deductible.
A 5% employee contribution was also discussed based on the current plan.
An employees 5% contribution for the family plan would $63.00 per month,
2 person plan $47.00 per month and a single plan would be $23.50.
Dental increased by 3.6%, no change for life insurance, short term
disability shows no change accept when pay increases are shown in July, short
term disability changes based on pay. The
Selectmen will take this information under advisement.
Mrs. Pinkham forwarded a letter to the Board for their review pertaining
to the purchase of a horizontal baler for the Transfer Station.
Lake Sunapee Bank requires verbiage stating the Selectmen have the right
to borrow money without the vote of the Town.
The verbiage supplied was for the receipt of grant money only; the
Finance Director will research further for the correct verbiage.
The Finance Director also submitted an invoice for the repair of the
Treasures computer.
Allan
Brown, Director of Public Works met with the Board to continue with the Highway
Departments 2005 budget. A copy of
the highway block grant figures was supplied to Mr. Brown.
Mr. Brown asked the Selectmen how the bond payment would be handled.
The Budget Committee understood that the money that was originally
budgeted for gravel would now be used for the bond payment.
Chairman Eigabroadt did explain to the Budget Committee that even though
the Town owns a gravel pit, it does cost money to process the gravel, and Mr.
Brown planned on using the money originally budgeted for gravel toward the
cleaning catch basins, mowing and processing the gravel.
Mr. Brown commented that the cost of parts, steel and products that are
made from petroleum have increased tremendously.
The proposed 2005 Highway Department budget is at a 31% increase from
last year not counting labor and benefits. Chairman
Eigabroadt asked Mr. Brown if there is money available for the repair of
bridges. Mr. Brown explained that
there is a program through the State, the town is responsible for 1/3rd the cost
if a bridge needs to be rebuilt and the State would supply 2/3rds of the cost.
The Board reviewed a coy of red listed bridges within the Town of
Warner
.
Lang,
Waterloo
,
Joppa,
North
Road
,
and Conners Mill bridges were rated in the red.
Mr. Brown has previously spoken about creating a Capital Reserve Fund for
bridges. Chairman Eigabroadt
commented that before the voters are approached more information pertaining to
the cost of the repairs is needed. The town needs to apply to the State
requesting a cost analysis. Mr.
Brown further explained that the covered bridges are posted at a reduced weight
and height than is required that is why they are on the red list.
This helps keep box vans from going through the bridges and hitting the
knee braces. Mr. Brown explained
that the Conners Mill bridge is missing an E2 sign (accepts any weight until
further analyzed) and
North
Road
,
the 15 ton weight limit sign has been shot up.
Chairman Eigabroadt asked Mr. Brown to obtain a cost analysis for the two
bridges that are listed as the worst (New Market & Joppa Road West).
The guardrails around the bridges are listed as substandard because they
are spaced @ 12’ 6” instead of the required 6’ 3” and the guardrails do
not have breakaway ends. Mr. Brown
explained that none of the guardrails in town meet the State requirements.
Mr. Brown recommended having the State complete a projected expense for
Connor
Mill Road
.
The
Lang
Bridge
is going to need painting; everything needs to be captured because it is lead
based paint. Selectman St. James
asked why the hydrants were taken out of the Precinct.
Mr. Brown explained years ago when the Precinct was being broken up the
Town did not want to take over the indebtedness.
The Precinct did not have enough help at the time.
The Highway Department inherited the
Silver
Lake
dam and the hydrants. First though
the dam went to Parks & Recreation then the dam went to the Highway
Department due to lack of maintenance. The
dam had no evacuation plan, no emergency management plan and a list of 10-15
deficiencies by the Department of Environmental Services, (the State inspected
the dam on
November
9, 2004
).
The Highway Department repaired and developed an emergency plan for the
dam. The hydrants were transferred
to the Highway Department with $3,250.00 and proceeded to remove the steamer
caps and installed never seize caps; permanent markers were installed on a
percentage of the hydrants. Then the
following year the Budget Committee denied funding for the hydrants and only
allotted $400.00 which was only enough to shovel the hydrants out.
Then the hydrants were separated between the Fire Department for summer
maintenance and Highway Department for winter maintenance.
Mr. Brown explained that it does not make sense for the town to maintain
the hydrants because they cannot be opened without the Precincts permission.
Chairman Eigabroadt stated for the record that the physician’s office
across from the Town Hall complained about the parking during the
November
2, 2004
election. The doctor’s office
requested to have the cars towed that were parked in front of the office.
The doctor’s office was told that the cars could not be towed.
The excavator is up and running. A
glass crush is scheduled for either the week of Thanksgiving or the week after.
The Highway Department will supply the loader and the operator.
Mr. Brown informed the Board that the loader breaks are worn and will
need repair. The cost of repairing
the brakes will cost about $9,000.00 because they are inner wet disc brakes.
Hazelton will bill the Town for the work next year and will supply a
loader at no cost. The 2005 budget will be adjusted to reflect the cost of the
brake job. Mr. Brown and the Board
reviewed an equipment schedule for 2005. A
pick up truck is scheduled in 2005, a ½ ton dump truck is being requested
($58,000.00, cab & chassis, dump body, plow package, sander).
Chairman Eigabroadt asked if the 86 will last another year, a lot of
repairs were completed on the vehicle this year.
Mr. Brown recommended definitely waiting another year.
The new pick up would replace the 99.
Denny Hill project will begin in the spring of 2005.
A Warrant Article for the funding of road projects was discussed; the
Budget Committee will be approached on the idea. A
mechanic position will be advertised. A mechanic job description needs to be
created. Mr. Brown informed the
Board that he has no replacement drivers for this winter.
The labor portion of the Highway Department budget will be finalized by
November
18, 2004
.
Chairman Eigabroadt asked when
Quimby
Road
and Carla Roberts’s driveway be complete.
Mr. Brown will do the Roberts driveway this week and
Quimby
Road
next week.
The
Selectmen agreed not to issue holiday gift certificates this year.
A memo will be issued.
Chairman
Eigabroadt informed the Board that there are 15 computers from the
Odd
Fellows
Building
clean out that need to be disposed of. Due
to the lack of space in the last dumpster, Mr. Grandy (contracted to clean out
the building) asked if the computers could be disposed at the Transfer Station.
The original estimate for the amount of paint cans was off by two hundred
cans. The Board agreed to dispose
the computers Transfer Station at no cost to Mr. Grandy.
Mr. Grandy also disposed 30 cans of paint at the Transfer Station at no
cost. Selectman St. James
recommended using money, if any is left, from the Martin Building Fund to offset
the disposal fees. Mr. Grandy
requested funds to be drawn from the Martin Building Fund on behalf of his
second payment ($1,186.00) made payable to General Trailer Rental for the
purchase of a trailer. The Board
agreed to make a second payment to Mr. Grandy in the amount of $1,186.00 and
then he can disburse the funds as he sees fit.
The Board requested a balance of the Martin Building Fund.
The
Selectmen approved the following building permits:
Map
34
Lot
22
Deck
Map
10
Lot
40
Porch
Map
04
Lot
05
New Home
The
Selectmen reviewed the year to date (as of October) long sheet of the budget.
Spending should be no higher than 83.4%.
The Selectmen discussed the extra cost that will be added to the budget
due to snow removal from the center of town.
It was normally stored were the
Telephone
Museum
is now.
A
memo will be sent to all Town employees asking for input in regards to the Town
Report cover and the dedication.
Motion
to adjourn at
8:43
p.m.
Board
of Selectmen
Wayne
Eigabroadt –
Chairman
Peter
St.
James
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