Mr. Sapia opened the public hearing with a moment of silence for the troops serving overseas.

Mr. Sapia accepted a motion to review the Board of Selectmen meeting minutes of March 22, 2007. Mr. Sullivan made a motion to amend the minutes. Mr. Childs seconded the motion. Page 2, NHMVD application for bond counsel after "Board was interested" on the 3rd and 4th lines, "the Board discussed the issue but decided not to go forward with bond counsel." Mr. Sullivan moves to accept the Board of Selectmen meeting minutes of March 22, 2007 as amended. Mr. Childs questions whether the change will make a difference, and Mr. Sullivan responds that it does not. Mr. Childs seconded the motion. The vote is unanimous and so moved.

Police Department Report:

1. Chief Consentino reviews for the Board the police statistics and the elderly affairs for the month of March.

2. Chief Consentino has completed the officers annual reviews, and they have all received satisfactory reviews. Chief Consentino is recommending an hourly increase according to the union contract.

3. Chief Consentino reviews the request for bid package for the new wheelchair van. He is requesting that process be started as soon as possible. He has received a sizable donation which will drop the price by $6,000.

4. Chief Consentino inquires about the Tower Committee appointees. Mr. Sapia informs the Chief that Paul DiMaggio of the Planning Board and Tim Dziechowski of the Conservation Committee have been appointed as representatives. The Board of Selectmen is still waiting for representatives of the Budget Committee and Recreation Committee to be appointed. The appointees should all be in place in about two weeks, and the Tower Committee can then move forward.

5. Mr. Sapia asks the Chief if he is aware of a telephone scam that is occurring in Town. The Chief said he is aware of a bank scam over the phone and warns the residents not to give out any of their banking or credit card information over the telephone.

Library Committee Report: The Board of Selectmen recently met with the Library Trustees and Ron and voted and decided to move forward with the architects contract. The Board will be signing the contract tonight. The Library Committee is pleased with the discussions and look forward to working with the Board. Mr. Sapia asks Ron about the communications the Board will have with the Library Committee regarding regularly scheduled meetings around the project. Ron said the Library Committee plans on coming to the Board of Selectmen meetings regularly, and every Wednesday night at 7:30, the Library Building Committee meets. He would like to have a Board of Selectmen representative attend these weekly meetings. The Library Committee will update the Board weekly of the construction phase. Mr. Sapia would like to meet with the Library Committee to discuss the requisition schedule process. Ron informed the Board that he e-mailed the TA a schedule from April 2007 through October 2008. Ron will put together an invoice for the Board to review. Mr. Sapia would like to see a schedule from this date through the end of the project in a bar chart format. Ron informed the Board that he plans on having the foundation in place by November 15, 2007, and framers can work all winter. All finish work will be completed in the spring. Mr. Childs asks Ron to explain the credit the Town is receiving on the invoice. Ron explained the original number was the fees that was sent out to the public, but donations have paid a part of these fees, and the credit is reflected in the first invoice. Mr. Sapia asked why this phase was put in the contract, and Ron states that the contract was set up in two phases when the contract was first put together.

Highway Department Report: Ted Stewart discusses the new fencing at the ballfields. He has received three estimates for the fencing and the lowest bidder is $1,500. He will be purchasing 8 ft of new fencing, and the rest will be what the Town already has. Noriko will submit a PO with the TA. The Board approved the fencing, and the work will begin next week. Mr. Stewart informs the Board that the ground will need to be leveled in order to put up the fencing. Mr. Sapia asks if this is part of the $9,000 budgeted for the project. Mr. Stewart informs the Board that it is. The Board has no problem with this and gives approval to move forward with the project. Mr. Sapia would like the minutes to reflect the following three estimates:

Frank Paris Fencing Company, Salem, NH $1,500

Fences Unlimited $3,124

Groveland Fence Co. $2,350

Mr. Stewart has reviewed the applications for the Assistant Road Agent position and interviewed potential candidates. Mr. Stewart is recommending that Josh Dudfield, who is a four year highway department employee, be offered the position. Mr. Sullivan agrees with this candidate. Mr. Childs disagrees with this candidate. The Board would like to review all the applicants and conduct interviews with Mr. Stewart. The Board is taking this issue under advisement. Mr. Stewart had an assistant and two college students working part-time last year. He is requesting to hire two seasonal part-time employees this year. This is in the highway department budget. The Board agrees and the highway department will advertise for two part-time seasonal employees. Last winter, Mr. Childs had requested that the gate at the dump be replaced. Mr. Stewart informed the Board that he would like to reorganize the recycling center and move the gate to where the 8-foot fencing begins. This would make the dump smaller, but increase the amount of parking. Mr. Sapia asks for a schematic of Mr. Stewart’s plans to reorganize the recycling center, and the Board will review it for next week’s meeting. The Board discusses changing the dumping costs because of residents who do large amounts of dumping at the recycling center and the affect it is having on residents who do small amounts of dumping. The Board discussed with Mr. Stewart that he was instructed to chip once a month rather than burning. Mr. Stewart is concerned the recycling budget was not raised to reflect the costs of chipping. Mr. Sapia believes there are plenty of employees available to chip rather than burn. Mr. Stewart said there was no money in the recycling line to rent a chipper, and is asking to increase the spending in the recycling line to cover the chipper The only increase was in the equipment rental line for the highway department of $4,000-$5,000. Mr. Sapia feels the money is in the budget for chipping rather than burning as discussed at previous meetings. The Board of Selectmen will take this under advisement.

Town Administrator Report:

1. Computer purchase. A purchase order has been completed for a computer purchase. Mr. Sullivan would like to take this matter under advisement. Mr. Sullivan asks if the computer has already been purchased. He does not believe a computer purchase was put in for recreation, but that they would be receiving one of the computers that is being replaced.

2. Abatement Report. Year-to-date there have been 20 approved abatements, and 11 denied abatements, totaling $4,681.31. Mr. Sullivan would like to review the abatements as a group, and Mr. Childs reads off the abatements granted.

Mr. Childs reads off the abatements denied.

Paul DiMaggio: Mr. DiMaggio discussed the letter he wrote to the Board regarding the communications tower. He would like to raise funds to do a study and appoint a committee to review the study. Mr. Sapia agrees for the need to do a study and having a committee of representatives from all of the Town boards and committees. Mr. DiMaggio would like the Board to allow the study committee to interview the potential consultants with the Board of Selectmen, and he would like the committee to be allowed to monitor the consultant and conduct a review with the Board of Selectmen. Appointments of committee members will be made in addition to the existing Communications Tower Committee. The Planning Board and the Conservation Committee have already appointed their representatives.

AMR Contract: Primex and Town Counsel are currently reviewing the contract. Mr. Sullivan finds the contract to be simple and straight forward. The TA is to contact Town Counsel and AMR to proceed.

MS5: The MS5 needs the Board of Selectmen’s signature. The Board will review and sign it during the week.

RPS: Mr. Sapia asks to wait to discuss this issue until next week when the TA returns. Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Childs agree.

Old Business: The Board discussed the Town Hall pond. It was put in the budget for a new well for separate heating and cooling last year. Mr. Sullivan asks if one well will work, and Mr. Childs says it will. They are currently having trouble with the pond. They could dredge the pond, but the problem is with the top of the pond rather than the bottom. Mr. Childs has a quote of how much it would cost to make this work. The Board would like to proceed.

Mr. Sullivan inquires as to the whereabouts of the Selectmen’s laptop computer. It is confirmed that it is in the TA’s possession. Mr. Sullivan feels it should be in Town Hall. Mr. Sapia said that the TA used it to work on the Annual Report, which required him to work nights and weekends. Mr. Sullivan would like to know why the TA is taking it home, and what it is being used for, and whether it pertains to his job. The Board feels this needs to be addressed. Mr. Sullivan believes the laptop should remain in Town Hall for the Selectmen’s use.

Mr. Childs informed the Board that a resident has offered to help with the Annual Report next year.

New Business: Mr. Sullivan discusses the resource group for residents with life-changing events, such as a house loss due to fire. Mr. Sapia feels an advocacy group would be very helpful for residents with life-changing events.

Mr. Childs informs the Board that the veterans would like to have more people involved and attending the meetings. They will be holding meetings in the evening so more people can attend. The next meeting will be held on May 24, 2007 at the Community Center from 7:00-8:00 p.m.

The Board of Selectmen would like to thank all those involved with the success of the Lions Club pancake breakfast held at the Timberlane Regional Middle School.

The Area Selectmen’s Meeting will be held at Plaistow Town Hall on April 11, 2007 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Mr. Childs informs the Board that he will be able to attend this meeting.

Carol Grant: Ms. Grant reads a request to the Board regarding the Vietnam honor roll panels, and she asks the Board to comply with the 2005 Town vote and install the panels in place for Memorial Day which is in 56 days. She asks the Board to take her request under advisement.

Respectfully

Raelene McBride

Recording Secretary

Jack Sapia, Chair

Paul Sullivan

Fred Childs