MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING

MONDAY - MARCH 27, 2006 - 7:00 PM

 

WILLIAM HILTON CENTER

 

PRESENT:     Selectmen Henry Richenburg, Chairman, Robert Carroll, Ed Hunt, Jerry Klima, and Fred Knowles

 

ALSO PRESENT:  Neil Harrington, Town Manager and Janet Flannery, Secretary

 

I.          Call to Order/Salute to the Flag

Chairman Richenburg called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

 

II.        Acceptance of Minutes

Minutes of Feb. 27, 2006 and March 27, 2006

Motion by Selectman Klima, Second by Selectman Knowles; Voted to approve the Minutes of Feb. 27, 2006 as printed.  VOTE: 4 - yea’s - Selectman Hunt abstained.

 

Motion by Selectman Klima, Second by Selectman Hunt; Unanimously voted to approve the Minutes of March 13, 2006 with the following correction being made to page 3, item “d”, last paragraph; add the following sentence.  “Selectman Knowles requested the Harbor Commission to review the policy on no fishing on the pier.”

 

III.       Old Business

Lisa Pearson - Community Development Strategy

Motion by Selectman Carroll, Second by Selectman Klima; Unanimously voted to remove from the table.

Ms. Pearson had presented a draft of the “Community Development Strategy” at the last meeting for the Board’s review.  This Plan will be supplied as part of the Block Grant.  The only change/addition was one requested by Selectman Knowles which was to include recreational fishing from the Town Pier and clamming in the Blackwater Creek.

Motion by Selectman Klima, Second by Selectman Hunt; Unanimously voted to accept the Community Development Strategy Plan as presented and to include the priority list and action plan.

Selectman Carroll commended Ms. Pearson for the document and her work in pulling everything together as to what the Town is doing.

 

General License - LandscapeXpress - 109-113 Rabbit Rd.

Motion by Selectman Carroll, Second by Selectman Klima; Unanimously voted to remove from the table.

Chairman Richenburg pointed out that the applicant has requested that the license be amended to read: “For storage, manufacturing and sale of agricultural and landscape products.”

Mr. Baxter, Health Officer said he was at the location today and there were no odors and that none of the soils have been disturbed since the samples were taken and what is there now should not have an odor and he suggested that a plan be agreed on as to what is going to be done with the piles presently there. 

Gavin Johnson, VP of LandscapeXpress was present and stated that his Company wants to work with the Town and assured the Board that the 3 piles that had caused the odor initially will simply be piles of soil at the end of the year and there will be no odors.  They will not be disturbed until the end of the year, even after the crust that has been created has been broken.  He then requested permission to consolidate two other piles and move them closer to the street taking all precaution to avoid/prevent odors and he stated this will take about a half a day.

Motion by Selectman Carroll, Second by Selectman Hunt; Unanimously voted to approve the General License subject to a condition that the owner will do nothing to create offensive odors.

Motion by Selectman Carroll, Second by Selectman Knowles; Unanimously voted to allow the applicant to consolidate the piles into one pile and assure that there are no offensive odors caused by doing so and this will be done under the guidance of the Board of Health.

 

IV.       New Business

License Renewals - no applications received

 

b.  New Licenses - no applications received

 

c.  Committee Appointments - none

 

d.  Update/Presentations: Town Planner Lisa Pearson/School Committee

Ms. Pearson reported that the Planning Dept. has been very busy, with many projects:

·                      CDBG Grant;  Working on the Rail Trail project and on Earth Day, April 22nd they will be doing a volunteer clean-up day and on the 21st of April the DPW will be going to help install the signs that Selectman Klima had made up.  Ms. Pearson announced that she received word from the State that the $75,000 promised to Salisbury in 2001 and thought to be lost has been tracked down.  It is unspent and has again been promised to Salisbury.  There is also a meeting next week with Timberland to discuss a number of projects which she will be working on and coordinating.

·                      She’s also working on completing the historical properties survey so they can go out to bid and she had submitted a letter requesting that the Town Hall be placed on the National Register.  The Town Hall renovation contract has been signed and  construction for the first phase is scheduled to start in June.

·                      Senior Center project: the architectural project has been completed and approved by Town Counsel.  Work should start on the 31st of March with a completion in November.

·                      The Affordable Housing Plan was sent out last week.

·                      Zoning: the Salisbury Square zoning proposal is two-tiered but should be ready to be presented at the next Selectmen’s meeting.  The second initiative is the hotel/motel re-use which is to be an incentive for some hotel/motel owners to upgrade them and bring them up.  Industrial Park sewer project: the contract with Weston-Sampson has been signed they are moving forward on that project.

 

Susan Fish of the School Committee said there was not much to report since the last meeting but announced that at the April 12th meeting the Superintendent will be listing any cuts that will be made if the override fails.

 

e.  Tri-Town Restoration Committee - Request for Tag Days

Donna Pedrone of CCC Road explained that the Tri-Town Restoration Committee is a political action committee to support the schools and they are trying to raise funds through the tag days for advertisement articles to better educate the parents.  Tonight the request is to have tag days on April 1st and 2nd at the intersection Rte. 1 and Pleasant St. and Route 1 and Beach Rd. from10AM - 4PM.

Chairman Richenburg stated for the record that tag days are normally for non-profit organizations, and whichever way it goes this evening, whether it is endorsed or not, it is not a stance of the Board of Selectmen and they are simply voting as to allow or not allow the tag days.  Also, if there is an opposing group that wants to come forward, the Board will entertain that also.  He also pointed out that any contribution taken, the Committee must get the person’s name, address and amount of donation no matter what the amount is, and he reiterated that whatever the vote is the Board is not endorsing them in any way.  He also reminded them to make the Police Chief aware that they will be out there.

Motion by Selectman Hunt, Second by Selectman Carroll; Unanimously voted to approve the request for tag days provided that the Committee be in full compliance with the campaign and finance laws, and that there is an equal time requirement in that if there is another group that comes before the Board they will have equal time.

 

f.  Approval of Fire Fighters Contract

Manager stated that this is for FY03 04 and 05 because they are the furthest behind in terms of their contract. 

Motion by Selectman Hunt, Second by Selectman Carroll; Unanimously voted to approve the collective bargaining agreement between the Town of Salisbury and the Salisbury Firefighters Independent Union for the period July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2005.

 

g.  Discussion of Triton Override

Chairman Richenburg stated that this is to be a discussion of what the Town can contribute towards the Triton budget; it is not a forum to lobby for or against the Triton budget.  The Board of Selectmen is required to have this motion in writing to the Town Clerk 35 days before the Town Meeting.

Town Manager pointed out that the Warrant Advisory Committee has joined the Selectmen tonight.  He stated their goal was to put together a budget that allowed it to be a defensible increase in the assessment from Salisbury to Triton.  He further stated that the Town is looking at an estimated $1.2M increase in estimated revenue and no matter how we slice it, an override is necessary.  The Triton increase this year is over $1.3M which is more than our anticipated revenue.  Based on that he is recommending a $900,000 override figure which is the difference between the increase of Triton’s budget and the actual request increase which is $1.3M.  This would allow him to incorporate the following: Essex County Retirement, FICA, Health Insurance, Chamber of Commerce, negotiated salary increases, and additional emergency costs and this would leave the Town with about $300,000 for everything else.  In recognition of the fact that Triton has made its intent clear to increase their budget by 50% for the next 4 years, he is reluctant to commit more than a 7% increase at this time.

Chairman Richenburg said he appreciates the efforts of the Manager and the Finance Director in working on the budget and he also wants to be fair to the schools.  At this time he said he would entertain comments from the public.

Donna Pedrone - CCC Road: understands that the Town is going to have an 8% increase in revenue and taking into consideration the 5-year plan and assessments going up over the next 4 years she would like to see the Town budget the 8% to the school budget.  She also requested that the ballot question be shows an question #1.  Mr. Harrington cautioned everybody that the 8% increase is an estimate and an increase greater than the amount he recommended at this time will remain the norm for future budgets and to fund an 8% increase rather than the 7% would mean that there would be less money to do some of the things in town; he will not recommend an override to restore funds for the Town.

 

Chuck Colburn - Seabrook Road: stated that everything in Town is figured on a 3% increase for employees raises and it is not fair for Triton to expect 8%.

 

Mike Gilbert - 4 Pleasant St.: urged the Selectmen to use the 8.05% increase as the floor for the amount that the Town puts forward.  He also disputed the fact that the floor for the Triton budget cannot be included in the calculation of the budget in the following years.  Mr. Harrington clarified that and stated that in his experience over the last 20 - 25 years, when a Town sacrifices any portion of the budget for a school it is forgotten in subsequent years.

 

Motion by Selectman Carroll, Second by Selectman Klima; Unanimously voted to place on the ballot for the May 9th Town election the following question: “Shall the Town of Salisbury be allowed to assess an additional $900,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of supporting the Town’s assessment from the Triton Regional School District for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006?”

 

h.  Date of Town Meeting

Chairman Richenburg said Town Meeting is May 16th and suggested for discussion that the date be moved to May 23rd.  Town Moderator Ron Ray indicated that the by-laws state that the Annual Town Meeting be held on the 2nd Tues.  He recommended to postpone Article 3, go through the rest of the articles and at the end the Selectmen would make a motion to adjourn to a time certain. 

Selectman Carroll suggested holding the Town Meeting as scheduled and postpone article 3 as suggested by the Moderator.  Board was in agreement to this.

I.  Selectmen’s Meeting Schedule

Chairman Richenburg said in the event Town Meeting is postponed he suggested that the Board meet on the 1st and 3rd Monday in June.

Motion by Selectman Hunt, Second by Selectman Knowles; Voted to meet the 1st and 3rd Monday in the Month of June.  VOTE: - 4 yea’s - Selectman Carroll abstained.

 

V.        Comments by Visitors

Wayne David said he is glad to see the clam flats open and asked the indulgence of the Board to keep the Clam Flat Advisory Committee active.  He attended a meeting of 8 Towns and the Bay recently and the subject came up of the town creek and the tidal restrictions.  Also, there is a move by Plum Island to repair the jetty at the mouth of the Merrimack River and he pointed out that Salisbury also has problem and asked that the Selectmen contact the Army Corps of Engineers to take a look at it and perhaps they could repair it to prevent erosion.

 

VI.       Sewer/Water:

 

VII.     Correspondence

·                      Notice of public hearings scheduled for March 28th by the Division of Marine Fisheries and the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission.

 

VIII.    Hearings

7:30 PM - Verizon Pole Hearing

Motion by Selectman Klima, Second by Selectman Carroll; Unanimously voted to open the Hearing at 7:35 PM.

Joseph Gleason, Right of Way Agent for Verizon requested permission to remove two existing poles and place 2 new poles at 147 Bridge Rd. to accommodate a new business development at that location.

Motion by Selectman Hunt, Second by Selectman Carroll; Unanimously voted to close the Hearing at 7:40 PM.

Motion by Selectman Hunt, Second by Selectman Klima; Unanimously voted to approve request as presented.

 

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

Selectmen Hunt:

Stated that the Veteran’s Honor Roll in the square needs some repairs and requested that they be taken care of.

Thanked the DPW for getting the sandbags put in place at the north end of the beach.

Thanked the staff for putting the talent show on at the elementary school which was held on March 17th.

Thanked the Board of Health for the Fair they put on last Saturday.

 

Chairman Richenburg also commented on the Health Fair and thought it went amazingly well and thanked the Board of Health and Health Agent.

Selectman Knowles said he attended the Planning Board meeting last week and said a lifelong resident had appeared before them and he pointed out that they bend over backwards and made it so that he could purchase the property and run his business from it rather than continue to rent space.

 

Selectmen Klima announced 2 upcoming meetings: one on Wednesday, March 29th at 7PM when the railtrail group is going to meet and plan for the Earth Day cleanup and the other on Thursday, March 30th at the COA when the Zoning Review Committee will meet to focus on Salisbury Square.

 

XI.       Executive Session - none

 

XII.     Adjournment

Motion by Selectman Knowles, Second by Klima; Unanimously voted to adjourn at 9:25 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted:

Janet E. Flannery, Secretary

 

Approved:______________________________

     Fred Knowles, Clerk