MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING
MONDAY - NOVEMBER 22, 2004 - 7:00 PM
WILLIAM HILTON CENTER
PRESENT: Selectmen Robert Carroll Chairman, Ed Hunt, Anthony Papoulias, Henry Richenburg, Jerry Klima
ALSO PRESENT: Neil Harrington, Town Manager and Janet Flannery, Secretary
I. Call to Order/Salute to the Flag
Chairman Carroll called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
II. Acceptance of Minutes
Minutes of Oct. 25, 2004 and Nov. 8, 2004
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to approve the Minutes of Oct. 25, 2004 with the following correction: page 1, Section III, 2nd paragraph change abstention from Mr. Papoulias to Mr. Richenburg.
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to approve the Minutes of Nov. 8, 2004 as printed.
III. Old Business
Acceptance of a Parcel of Land on Baker Rd. From Ferry Rd. LLC
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to remove from the table.
The Engineer representing Mr. Palis explained that they have delineated the walkway as requested by the Conservation Commission. He further stated that ConComm went out and looked at it and it was his belief that they are going to accept it. Sel. Carroll said it is his understanding that the Planning Board has given specific specifications for the walkway and feels that the Selectmen should go by the plans given by the Planning Board. After further discussion it was suggested that the Planning Board and ConComm either appear before the Selectmen or send a letter stating exactly what they want before the Selectmen accepts the parcel of land. Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to table until the next meeting in order to get the input from both the Planning Board and ConComm.
Adelphia Board/Committee Meeting Coverage
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to remove from the table.
Don Beaulieu of the Community Access group, Doug Bozak from Adelphia, and Chuck Takesian, Chairman of the Cable Advisory Board were present. Mr. Beaulieu addressed the Board and explained that for the past 28 months his group has been taping and cable casting the meetings of various board and committees after being trained to do so by Adelphia. When this group started they had 8 volunteers take the training and taping the meetings of the Board of Health, ZBA, Planning Board, License Commission, Conservation, and 2 meeting of the ZoningRedistricting Committee.
MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING OF NOV. 22, 2004
Unfortunately, this group is now down to 2 ½ people, with 2 new volunteers taking training this week, but there is a need for more volunteers due to the ambitious schedule with 10 meetings per month; 6 live and 4 taped. In closing, Mr. Beaulieu requested that the Board request in writing that Adelphia cablecast 2 additional meetings per month at this fixed camera location. Sel. Carroll said on behalf of the residents and citizens this has been a tremendous bonus for them to be able to see these meetings and he extended his gratitude.
Sel. Hunt said he thought that the school committee meetings would be a good one to tape. Mr. Bozak said that those meetings are not in a fixed camera location and in order to film those meetings it would require a very large amount of equipment plus a good deal of time to set it up, etc. However, he would be willing to work with Comcast by broadcasting those meetings in Salisbury if they would provide the tape on a timely basis.
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to authorize Sel. Carroll to send a letter to Adelphia requesting them to cover two additional programs per month working in conjunction with the community access group.
IV. New Business
License Renewals:
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to renew a Common Victualer license for: Cristy’s Pizza, Inc. - 11B Broadway (2005).
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to renew a Class I license for Howard Motors - 141 Beach Rd. (2005)
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to renew a General license to: Darlene Cady - 83B Elm St. And Richard McAllister - 136 Rabbit Rd.
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to renew an Earth Removal Permit to George Fowler - 15 Folly Mill Rd. (2005).
b. New Licenses:
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to approve a Common Victualer license to C.J.’s Pizzaria - 203 Lafayette Rd.
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to approve a General license for: Beach Rd. Antiques & Collectibles - 8B Beach Rd., and Creative Balance Massage Therapy - 15 Main St. Suite 210
c. Committee Appointments
Housing Authority - 1 vacancy - 1 applicant
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to appoint David Sheafer to fill an unexpired term on the Housing Authority until June 30, 2006,
MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING OF NOV. 22, 2004
Triton Superintendent Search Committee - 1 vacancy - no applicants: this will be posted again and taken up at the next meeting.
d. Board of Health Cancer Update
Mr. Baxter, Health Officer gave an update as to what he and the Board of Health has been doing and their future plans as they relate to the cancer study. A copy of his report is attached and made a part of these Minutes. Mr. Harrington reported that he and the Health Dept. Had met with the State Dept. Of Health as set up by Mr. Baxter and Sen. Baddour and Rep. Costello were also in attendance. They reiterated that the previous reports given to the Town was the most recent data they had and they stated that they are willing to continue to work with the town. Sel. Richenburg thanked Mr. Baxter and said he appreciates the time that he and the Board of Health is taking to work on this issue, and wanted everyone to know that the Board of Health is addressing these issues on a daily basis and not putting them on the back burner. Mr. Baxter indicated that the Board of Health has addressed every single issue and is continuing to work on them; they have done additional testing of the water and they do far more than what DPW requires. Sel. Carroll highlighted the asbestos report stating that the maximum contaminant level is 7M fibers per liter and Salisbury has .193M fibers per liter which is negligible. He further stated that he does not want anybody to get the wrong impression; the Selectmen are all very well aware of the issues and they are not “poo-pooing” the issue, but when statements are made that are wrong they have the right to correct them. He said that Salisbury does not have the highest cancer rate in the State; it does have some high levels, but there are some types where Salisbury is far below.
Kendall Eaton addressed the Board and stated that there are Federal grants out there and asked why the Town didn’t go after them. Sel. Carroll asked him if he had a name or any information and he said they could contact Prof. Richard Clapp at Boston University because he has indicated that there are funds available out there for this study.
e. Monthly Report from Triton Regional School Committee Member
Jim Poulin gave an update and addressed the Regional Agreement Issue reporting that there has been a challenge to the agreement from Salisbury and Rowley when they chose to go by the 2 step method and Newbury is contesting this; they are currently paying the minimum contribution and not their portion of the bill. They are in a cash flow negative position and technically are in violation. The school committee is presently working with the Towns Boards of Selectmen and hopefully a proper regional agreement will be arrived at.
The sub-committees have been formed to look at transportation costs, special ed, choice school and charter school costs, hosting costs and grounds costs; these are all subjects that will be coming up at future dates. He then updated the Board on the superintendent search and said they would like to have someone up and running fully as soon as possible for Dr. Murphy’s last day is going to be January 1st.
f. November 29, 2004 EPA Meeting Discussion
Sel. Carroll said there was a special meeting of the Board last week to discuss the strategy for the
MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING OF NOV. 22, 2004
upcoming meeting with EPA where the Board is going to attempt to get the EPA to address the zoning by-law submitted to them and give an opinion as to whether that conforms with the sewer grant. Town Counsel will lead the discussion and will address the grant condition relative to Salisbury’s position now and where we are in terms of growth.
g. North End Commons Condominiums re: 40B Comprehensive Permit
Board received a letter from DHCD indicating the applicant has applied to the subsidized agency and they are inviting the Board to comment as they see fit. Sel. Klima said there is one discrepancy that needs to be dealt with and part of the application was a letter of support by the local housing partnership and he said perhaps they should be given this and he suggested that they provide comments on the application. Motion by Sel. Klima, Seconded by Sel. Richenburg; Unanimously voted to refer this to the Housing Partnership Committee and ask them to consider it and send a letter as requested.
Kendra Pike, Chairman of the Housing Partnership Committee was present and addressed the Board stating her committee would like to see the letter and address it.
h. December Meeting Dates
Due to Christmas holiday schedules, the Board’s general consensus was to re-schedule the December meetings to the 1st and 3rd Monday, rather than the 2nd and 4th Monday.
I. Progress Report on Town’s Goals & Objectives
Sel. Carroll said that the Board had approved the goals and objectives on July 26th and he thought it would be appropriate if each member gave a report on what each signed up for and the status:
Sel. Hunt -
Expansion of the beach ballfield: Drainage is an on-going problem and Mr. Levesque has a meeting tomorrow with Millennium Engineering and the project is starting to pick up and hopefully will be complete by the Summer.
Opening of the Clam Flats: This project is to the point where the committee has presented the Board with facts and money is the last item; they are working out the start-up of the program and hopefully it will start very shortly.
Rings Island Water: Not a high priority, but does mean something to the Town. There’s been several meetings and this will be picking up in another 2 - 3 months.
Northend Flooding: Sel. Hunt has been in touch with Mr. Levesque and Ms. Pearson. At the present time they are trying to place the sandbags and hopefully in the next month will be re-sandbagging the beach to protect the area.
South end of the beach sewer: He knows the Manager has been working with the residents of that area in obtaining the 300 signatures in order to apply for a grant. Mr. Levesque said this is one of his priorities to do something with that area and even if the Town doesn’t get the grant there will be some construction done in that area in the Spring.
Sel. Klima:
Addressed the affordable housing needs and establishing a Housing Partnership Committee which has been established and is working.
Rail Trail/Walking Trails: A lot of progress has been made from the Merrimack River to the NH Border and also from Lions Park to Cushing Street. There was a meeting last week to get a rail trail interest group started which went well and the committee will be meeting every last Tuesday of each month.
Zoning By-Law Review: This is on-going in an effort to try to improve the beach commercial district. They are also looking at Rabbit Rd. To see if there should be any changes.
Sel. Richenburg:
Is a member of the Regional School Superintendent Search Committee and has gone to 4 meetings re: the search company and is now waiting for the time when the applicants will be interviewed. He’s the chairman of the regional agreement review committee. This committee has met 9 times since August.
He’s also been part of the Town Hall renovation committee, and has been working on trying to get the Town Manager’s job description and salary classification and the extension of the contract between the Manager and the Town.
Sel. Carroll:
Member of the Technology Committee to upgrade the Town’s technology and has established a high speed internet access for the Town as well as setting up e-mail for all departments, purchased new hardware and software.
Worked on the consideration of a water and sewer moratorium, and an increase in the water system capacity and has identified a potential site for a new well and is searching for a second location.
Addressed the 40B requests and forwarded objections.
Addressed the Folly Mill Rd. Drainage and worked with Mr. Levesque and a consultant and there is a design in place to correct the problem.
Has streamlined the license procedure and revised the application forms.
Addressed the rail trails vandalism.
Town Manager has a number of priorities, some of which are: the on-going receivables project, PILOT funding,
Memorial School leases have been drafted and sent out, but not finalized.
Audit update: the finance director has completed closing it out and the auditors will be coming in the next couple of weeks, will be meeting on Dec. 15th with the Finance Director and Warrant Advisory re: the capital plan.
Town Hall renovations - work is progressing.
Has established the stabilization fund.
Continued legislative liaison being done on a daily basis.
Working on improving town boards and committees and has made a few new appointments to the ZBA and will be making an appointment to the Conservation Commission and looking for new applicants to the two new Board of Health openings.
Outstanding litigation - the Town is down to a hand-full of cases being handled by Kopelman & Paige; two major issues will most likely go to trial.
RE: increasing our water capacity, Mr. Harrington has had discussions with Amesbury and Mr. Levesque has a draft document.
The Bartlett purchase is almost consummated.
As for south end of the beach, only half way there with the survey responses but hopefully some additional ones will be coming in.
Road/Street repair plan - this has not been tackled, but this is the winter that they will work on for repairs to be done in the Spring.
Industrial Park: Proceeding with that and very close to getting the grant applications in.
V. Comments by Visitors
Janet Webster of Seabrook Rd. Addressed the Board inquiring about the status of the paperwork her attorney had submitted to the Manager. Mr. Harrington said the information was received and is being handled administratively by him; he has talked with her Attorney and hopefully he will be able to have something for the next Town Meeting in May, providing all the documents are in order.
VI. Sewer/Water
Set Hearing Date for Water Access Fee Fund
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Unanimously voted to set a hearing date for Dec. 6, 2004 at 7:30 in the Hilton Center for a water access appeal.
VII. Correspondence - none
VIII. Hearings - none
IX. Town Manager’s Report
Mr. Harrington summarized his written report, a copy of which is attached and made a part of these Minutes.
X. Selectmen’s Report
Sel. Hunt requested a progress report for the sewer project on Old County Rd.
He also said he attended a Zoning Review Committee meeting and one of the concerns of a lot of the people is having 3 members of the Planning Board. sitting on this and asked if this is a violation of the open meeting law. Mr. Harrington said, according to Town Counsel it is not so long as they are sticking to issues regarding zoning only and not planning issues. Sel. Hunt said he has given it a lot of thought in that the Planning Board could come up with a plan for Rabbit Rd. and having a majority of the Planning Board sitting on this committee isn’t giving the Town what it needs.
XI. Executive Session
Motion by Sel. Richenburg, Seconded by Sel. Hunt; Voted to move into Executive Session at 9:30 PM to discuss a potential covenant relative to Kendell Lane in which negotiation in public session would be detrimental to the Town, and to adjourn without returning to Regular Session. Those present to be: the full Board of Selectmen, Town Manager Neil Harrington and Secretary Janet Flannery. Roll vote: Sel. Papoulias - no; Sel. Klima - yes; Sel. Carroll - yes; Sel. Richenburg - yes; Sel. Hunt - yes. Motion carried.
XII. Adjournment
Meeting adjourned after the Executive Session at 10:20
Respectfully submitted,
Janet Flannery, Secretary
Approved:______________________________
Ed Hunt, Clerk