Selectmen Minutes
March 15, 2022
Present: Gary Backstrom, Diane Callahan, Chet Bowles
Call to order by Gary Backstrom at 5:31 pm.
Motion to nominate Chet Bowles as Chair (Callahan/Backstrom). Backstrom and Callahan – yea, Bowles – abstained, motion carried.
Motion to approve the minutes of 3/1/2022 (Callahan/Backstrom). Backstrom and Callahan – yea, Bowles – abstained, motion carried.
Mitch Nourse informed the Board that he needs to change the location of his garage, he is moving further away from the lot-line. Mr. Nourse asked if the distance needed to be checked again. Mr. Bowles suggested that the new distance be verified. Mr.Woodhouse verified the distance originally, so Mr. Nourse will contact Mr. Woodhouse to check the new location.
Motion to approve 3/15/2022 payroll and manifest (Callahan/Backstrom). All in favor, motion carried.
Karen Shea Dufresne, Tax Collector, has asked Juliana Kazanovicz to be the Deputy Tax Collector. Motion to appoint Juliana Kazanovicz as Deputy Tax Collector to March 2024 (Bowles/Backstrom). All in favor, motion carried.
Karen Shea Dufresne:
Tax lien notifications for the 2022 property taxes have been sent out, the total outstanding is $26,895.17. One of the tax liens is John Von Adler, who is deceased.
Motion to approve the 2022-2023 contract with the Jaffrey Library (Bowles/Callahan). All in favor, motion carried. Chet Bowles signed the contract as Chair.
Sandy Eneguess:
Keeping up with the plowing and sanding. Bump signs and frost heave signs have been put out. Trying to keep the roads safe.
McCoy Road has a six ton limit.
There has been some destruction on South Road due to the construction. Mr. Eneguess shut down construction temporarily and everything was taken care of in a civil manner.
Mr. Backstrom gave kudos to Mr. Eneguess for the condition of the roads. Ms. Dufresne stated that Cross Road has never been so good.
There was discussion about making sure Mr. Eneguess gets text messages.
Mr. Eneguess asked how long the Board would like him to keep messages. The Board thought that a reasonable time if the issue has been addressed, then delete the message.
Discussion about the town meeting vote to reduce the 2022 budget by $25,000.00. Motion to remove $25,000.00 from the Highway budget, with the understanding that other budget items may need to be adjusted if the Highway budget appears to be going over budget (Bowles/Backstrom). All in favor, motion carried.
The Town Administrator informed the Board that the 2019 QuickBooks program will no longer be supported by Intuit, which means that the town will no longer have access to payroll. The cost of payroll through QuickBooks has increased from $500.00 to $600.00 and the upgrade for QuickBooks will require an annual subscription of $399.99. The Town Administrator suggested keeping the QuickBooks 2019 and researching payroll services. The town has until May 31, 2022 to make a decision. The Board approved researching payroll services.
Discussion about the website- motion to have CharlesWorks host the website (Bowles/Backstrom). All in favor, motion carried. Rory Goff has stated that he would be willing to act as Webmaster, at least for a year. Motion to designate Rory Goff as Webmaster (Bowles/Callahan). All in favor, motion carried. Discussion of Webmaster compensation will be discussed at a future meeting. Discussion about spam protection for the website. Mr. Bowles will ask Mr. Goff to find out if CharlesWorks could set up spam protection and bill the town. The other option is to find out if Clean Talk will bill the town on an annual basis. The Town Administrator will contact Bar Harbor Bank & Trust to determine if the town can obtain a credit card for small purchases like this.
Mr. Bowles:
Asked if the Board would consider changing the meeting nights. Mr. Bowles belongs to a singing group that meets in Keene on Tuesdays at 7 pm. Ms. Callahan has no conflicts with a change. Mr. Backstrom and Ms. Harling both have conflicts with Monday, Wednesday, and Thursdays. It was determined that the meetings will continue on the first and third Tuesdays at 5:30 pm and this issue will be looked at again in a few months.
Appointments:
Motion to appoint Pierre Groleau as the Site Inspector (Callahan/Backstrom). All in favor, motion carried.
Motion to appoint Jeff Osgood as a full member of the Planning Board for a 3 year term to 3/2025 (Backstrom/Callahan). All in favor, motion carried.
Motion to appoint Sara Tobias as an Alternate to the Planning Board for a 2 year term to 3/3024 (Backstrom/Callahan). All in favor, motion carried.
Motion to appoint Mitch Call as an Alternate to the Planning Board for a 3 year term to 3/2025 (Bowles/Backstrom). All in favor, motion carried.
Motion to appoint Gerald Debonis as a full member to the Planning Board for a 2 year term to 3/2024 (Bowles/Callahan). All in favor, motion carried.
Motion to appoint Diane Callahan as the Ex-Officio member to the Planning Board (Bowles/Backstrom). All in favor, motion carried.
Motion to appoint Stephen Gapp and Pat Joyner as full members to the Zoning Board of Adjustment for 3 year terms to 3/2025, reappoint Jane Murray as a full member to the ZBA for a 2 year term to 3/2024 (Bowles/Backstrom). All in favor, motion carried.
Motion to appoint the following to the Conservation Commission: Ian Coles for a 3 year term to 3/2025; Beth Fernald for a 1 year term to 2/2023; Jim Martens to a 2 year term to 3/2024; Shane LaBrake to a 3 year term to 2/2025; Belinda Backstrom to a 3 year term to 3/2025; Anne Fischer to a 1 year term to 3/2023; Anne Booth to a 2 year term to 32024 (Bowles/Backstrom). All in favor, motion carried.
Mr. Bowles can no longer serve as a Trustee of the Trust Funds now that he has been elected as a Selectman, a new Trustee will need to be appointed.
Fred Woodhouse is willing to do the Sexton position. Motion to appoint Fred Woodhouse as Sexton (Backstrom/Bowles). All in favor, motion carried.
The Board determined that future meetings will be held in the smaller meeting room.
Meeting adjourned at 7:25 PM.
Minutes taken by Debra Harling. Approved on 04/05/2022.