November 18
Condensed from approved minutes
Present: Selectmen Mishcon, Danforth and Coolidge, Town Administrator Roy, Road Agent Jon Champagne, and a member of the public, John Thompson.
Bids for demolition of buildings at 76 Bridge Road as well as cleanup of debris at that location were opened. Bids were from: Atwood, Thompson, Hurlburt, Abandanza, Darryl Hoitt. One bid was withdrawn the afternoon of November 18 and is not listed above. The Selectmen did not select a contractor due to the fact that an asbestos inspection is pending.
Wendy Pinkham presented a formal request for the Town to move to semi-annual tax billing.
She provided the Board with a very thorough fact sheet to corroborate the fact that the Town would save money by billing semi-annually. The savings could be as much as $8,000 per year.
The Assessment Letter of Intent with Cross Country Assessing will be ready for Board signature this week. Once signed by the Andover Selectmen, the letter will go to the Selectmen in Salisbury and Webster for signatures.
Mr. Danforth proposed taking the bridges from the Road Agent’s budget and putting them on a warrant article.
The Lawrence Street Bridge will be very expensive and will most likely be funded with Federal funds. Towns that have their portion of, or authorization for, their portion of the funding have the first opportunity for their project to be selected.
Mr. Danforth proposed a Japanese Knotweed eradication project. This invasive plant can be seen all over town. It is wise to keep it out of the bog areas such as the pond at Highland Lake. He also suggested borrowing money to put a paving plan in place.
The Board will review the Road Agent’s list of proposed projects and regular budget items.
The Board discussed the need to increase the grader maintenance budget line by $500 to cover the turnover inspection when the new Road Agent takes office.
A new budget line item will be added for Road Agent’s time/wages. The Board scheduled a work session for Wednesday, November 20, at 9 AM. Ms. Roy will call Jon to see if he is available to attend the work session.
There was discussion about a warrant article for a centralized HVAC system for the Town Office Building. It was decided that $3,000 would be added to the budget for a quote on a centralized HVAC system.
Recreation Committee
Alan Hanscom and Tom Frantz presented the Recreation Committee’s 2014 proposed budget.
Does last year’s Town Meeting vote for the Blackwater Park Building carry forward? (There is some money remaining).
Discussion ensued about re-establishing the Recycling Committee for educational and innovative purposes.
The Board signed the Tax Warrant and the paperwork for the extension of the Tax Anticipation Note (line of credit).
Mr. Danforth provided warrant article wording for authorization to transfer four Town properties that have been in custodial care of the Town for over 10 years. Three of the four cannot be developed due to state or Town regulations, such as driveway permit denial.
The Board received a petition requesting that the Board defer the demolition of the property at 76 Bridge Road. Mishcon thanked the petitioners and explained that Town Counsel has advised that the property must be demolished for reasons of liability. There has been a lot of public input and several votes of the Board for demolition.