Chairman Paul Sullivan called the Board of Selectmen to order at 7:40PM on Monday, June 2, 2008, in the Atkinson Town Hall.

Paul Sullivan, Chairman Craig Kleman, Interim Town Administrator

Fred Childs

William Friel

Sue Miner of the Garden Club presented each selectmen with a plant (petunias), which is a native plant of New Hampshire. She mentioned that Governor Lynch had declared this week as Garden Club week. Chair Sullivan thanked the Garden Club for their gifts.

Police Chief P. Consentino presented the scholarships to students and was assisted by the widows of former officers. The scholarships given out were in the areas of Criminal Justice, Music and Computer Science.

Next came a presentation by the Timberlane School Board representatives, Messrs. Mike Mascola and Bill Baldwin. They wanted to introduce themselves to the community. Mr. Mascola said that the district has a website, timberlane.net and that he encourages the community to watch school board meetings. They meet the first and third Thursdays of every month. Mr. Friel asked if Atkinson pays more per student than other communities. Mr. Mascola said that the information is on the state Dept. of Education website. The district receives $9,000 for a tuition student. He talked about how it is determined.

Following that was a presentation by the Library trustees. Mrs. Kay Galloway introduced the new library director, Ms. Diane Heer who hails from Sandown. She worked for Bell labs for many years and has a bachelor’s degree from Univ. of Massachusetts and a master in library science from Simmons. She said that she worked at the Sandown library for six years and lives in Newton. She is excited about the new library and her first tasks will be updating the technology and reviewing the policies and procedures. Mrs. Galloway said that Diane was an attractive candidate because of her involvement in the community beyond the library. The Selectmen welcomed her to the community.

The chair discussed the BTLA mediation sessions and said that they were very productive and that Messrs. Brownfield and Artus were very professional.

Comstar Contract. Mr. Friel said that he had reservations regarding the dunning notices. He felt that the notices were alarming to the elderly. The chair said that the town transports very rarely. The Board discussed the issue.

Mr. Childs made the motion to sign the contract with a second by Mr. Friel. The motion passed 3-0.

A recommendation for the East Road Rec Area was postponed until the next meeting.

Non-Public meeting minutes for May 19^th, 2008 were available and on a motion by Mr. Childs to accept the minutes as written with a second by Mr. Friel, the Board voted 3-0 to approve them.

Public meeting minutes for April 28, 2008 were available and on a motion by Mr. Childs to accept the minutes as written with a second by Mr. Friel, the Board voted 3-0 to approve them.

Public meeting minutes for May 12, 2008 were available. Chair Sullivan said that the minutes should be amended to include the word "Workshop" in the heading. On a motion by Mr. Friel with a second by Mr. Childs to accept the minutes as submitted with a correction. Vote was 3-0.

Public meeting minutes for May 19, 2008 were available and on a motion by Mr. Childs to accept the minutes as submitted with a second by Mr. Friel, the Board voted 3-0 to approve them.

Chair Sullivan said that the petition for a special town meeting was initially set for July 19^th but members of the board felt that the deliberative session should be held during the preceding week. The board agreed that Wednesday, July 16^th was the preferred date with a backup of the following Wednesday, July 23^rd. The Town administrator will research these dates to see if they are available at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) at Timberlane.

The next agenda item was the authorization to contact the town attorney. A letter and memo had been drafted and needed to be approved and send to Town Counsel and to department heads as well.

Mr. Childs wanted to thank Ray and Ginny Morelli for finding flowers for the Cemetery for Memorial Day when the ordered shipment did not arrive. The Cemetery Trustees thanked them for a job well done.

Mr. Friel said that Buzz Durkins’ Kick-a Thon raised $2,000. He also added under old business that for military leave the Town should adopt a policy that pays the difference between the military pay and the Town’s pay.

The Board received a bid for the Engineering Services (CIP)/ Road Maintenance. This is the ten-year capital improvement plan for the roads and the board had agreed to extend the request for proposals (RFP). The bid was received from Keach Nordstrom in the amount of $5,000 lump sum cost. The board will expect a recommendation from the Road Agent at the next meeting.

Mr. Friel asked if the town administrator had prepared a purpose or mission statement for the two ad hoc committees that he had suggested last meeting – insurances and website/ computers. Mr. Kleman said that he had not. He will prepare them for the next meeting.

The board received one bid from Automech out of Milford, NH and for Phase I they listed $1,200 to map the old cemetery, $2,000 for Phase II and $6,600 for creating the database for a grand total of $9,800 plus mileage. This is their official bid.

The Town received two copier bids. Century Copier bid’s was for $5,549 with options. The other bid was from Copilab Connections with two options. One was for $8,195 with options and $9,849 with options.

Mr. Sullivan suggested that the board hold off on the Abatements this week.

The next item addressed by the selectmen was the memo received from the Planning office regarding an increase in the Legal Notice fee, the Zoning Board Application and the Home Business Renewal. Mr. Friel felt that the first fee increase in Legal Notices to seven dollars might be appropriate. Chair Sullivan suggested that the board hold off until next week.

The board decided to do appointments next week.

The board reviewed the Warrant for Unlicensed Dogs. On a motion by Mr. Childs with a second by Mr. Friel, the board approved the warrant on a 3-0 vote.

Mr. Kleman said that he met with Mike Morrison whose company does the Town’s mosquito spraying. He said that he would gladly check backyards of the citizens if they have stagnant water.

The Board decided that the Town administrator and the Town Clerk could interview candidates for the part time Town Clerk assistant.

The Board wanted to have a non-public session to discuss legal issues with Town Counsel as well as the attorney representing the town in the lawsuit against it. Chair Sullivan said that he would like to have it later next week. Mr. Friel said that the board should review the warrant article that passed regarding frivolous lawsuits.

Chair Sullivan asked how the town administrator was doing with the Management’s Discussion and Analysis and Mr. Kleman said that he hoped to get to it this week.

The board discussed the Area Selectmen’s Meeting scheduled for June 17^th. Potential agenda items were: Mosquito Control, Waste Management.

Systems for Abatements. The board briefly discussed the need to sign off on these abatements by individually reviewing them and then as a group approving them at the subsequent selectmen’s meeting.

Mr. Don Frederickson spoke to the board about the recently received petition for a Special Town Meeting. He asked if the petition was similar to the one received last August. Chairman Sullivan said that the board is obliged to schedule a meeting due to the petition. Mr. Childs suggested that the board have Town Counsel present at the deliberative session. Chair Sullivan said that the board had made a prior decision not to have Town Counsel. Mr. Childs said that this should be another item for the scheduled meeting with town counsel.

On motion of Mr. Friel, seconded by Mr. Childs, it was voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 9:02PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Craig Kleman

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Paul A. Sullivan, Chairman

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Fred J. Childs, Jr

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William G. Friel