Present: Jack Sapia, Chair, Paul Sullivan, Fred Childs (Selectmen) and Russell McAllister (Town Administrator).

The Board observed a moment of silence.

7:30 pmMeeting called to order.

Public Hearing

Withdrawal from PD Donation Account

Chief Consentino addressed the Board relative to a request to withdraw funding in the amount of $2,968 from the PD Donation account. The items to be funded are listed below.

New Dentures

Toolbox

Snow Tires

Writing Bench for the PD Bathroom

Postage

Siren set-up for a cruiser

The Chair solicited comments from the audience. Hearing none the public hearing was adjourned at approximately 7:38pm.

Police Department

Chief Consentino announced upcoming holiday events including the children’s Christmas Party that provided free shopping time for parents. Chief Consentino noted that there had been 118 senior transports for the month of November. He also chided the Department of Transportation for not salting Rt. 121 in a more timely fashion. The Board discussed the issue with the intention of calling District 6. The Board also began a discussion of child predators. It was noted that during an informal hearing the County Prosecutor and Sheriff had spoken about the issue. Mr. Sapia believed that the Board should respond to the issue in a way that made the community better aware of the issue.

Correspondence

The TA read from various correspondences including a letter from FEMA acknowledging that the Town’s Hazard Mitigation Plan had been approved.

Minutes

Mr. Childs made the motion to approve the meeting minutes of November 26th. Mr. Sullivan seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous and so moved.

Library Trustees – Kaye Galloway

Construction Update

Ms. Galloway addressed the Board relative the construction progress noting that the projected date of completion had been moved up from November 2008 to July 2008. It was also noted that a web cam had been setup and that individuals could logon to the library web site and view the construction.

Katie McDonough addressed the Board explaining that the staff was in the process of preparing the collection to be moved to the new library.. She also noted that circulation had increased by 1,000 items above last year’s circulation numbers. Holiday events were announced.

Town Administrator’s Report:

Care of Grounds

The TA explained that Mr. Stewart had been scheduled to make a recommendation before the Board, but given the winter storm Mr. Stewart’s recommendation was re-scheduled for the next week.

Cleaning Bids

The TA presented the bid amounts and asked if the Board preferred having Mr. Weymouth review and recommend. The Board agreed.

Abatements

The TA presented 2 administrative abatements listed in the table below.

 

MBLU

Address

Reason

Amount

000006-000069-000000 9 Twin Oaks Didn’t receive exemption 221.50
000010-000007-00007C 29 Ridgewood Drive Paid wrong tax bill 68.11
    Total 289.61

Mr. Sullivan made the motion to grant the administrative abatements for 9 Twin Oaks in the amount of $221.50 and abate $68.11 for 29 Ridgewood Drive. Mr. Childs seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous and so moved.

Personnel Policy - Longevity Pay

The TA presented the language associated with the policy change. The Board discussed the merits of its adoption. Board members agreed to accept the new policy. The TA agreed to put it into an acceptable for inclusion within the Personnel Policy for the next meeting with an effective date for January 1st, 2008.

Old Business

Board members debated the efficacy of the TA and MIS Consultant recommendation to move the financial software from a stand alone PC located in the Bookkeeper’s office to the server. Mr. Sullivan explained that he had conducted some research and that the financial software installed on the PC was secure from outside use and that the current back-up procedures provided the necessary protection from data loss. Mr. Childs concurred. The TA noted that it was up to the Board and that he had provided a recommendation for their review. The decision was the Board’s to make.

Board members engaged in a discussion concerning the funding of a contingency fund in the amount of $15,000. Mr. Childs agreed to broach the subject with the budget committee.

New Business

Mr. Childs announced the Recreation’s Senior Dinner scheduled for Wednesday. He also noted that the Christmas Party was scheduled for December 17th after the Board’s meeting. He encouraged members to keep the meeting short if they expected anyone to attend. All eyes looked to Chairman Sapia. Mr. Sapia grinned and asked if members had completed their reviews of the performance reviews. He suggested that the members revisit an earlier strategic planning issue involving employee and town goals. Mr. Childs noted that several employees were scheduled to receive raises. Board members discussed amounts and directed the TA to provide an analysis of costs. The TA agreed to do so.

Mr. Sapia made the motion to enter into non-public session under RSA 91-A:3, II (a) to discuss a personnel issue at approximately 8:55pm. Mr. Sullivan seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous and so moved.

The Board re-entered public session at approximately 9:55pm. There being no further business to come before the Board Mr. Childs made the motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Sullivan seconded the motion. The meeting concluded at approximately 10:00pm.

 

 

Respectfully,

 

Russell McAllister

Town Administrator

 

 

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Jack Sapia, Chair

 

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Paul Sullivan

 

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Fred Childs