Meeting convened at 6:30 PM
PRESENT: Marj Roy, Town Administrator; Vicky Mishcon, Select Board, Chair; Dave Blinn and Chuck Keyser, Select Board Members; Elita Reed, Bookkeeper; John Thompson, Road Agent; and Police Chief Joe Mahoney.
Also present were:  Emergency Services Chief John Kinney; and Recreation Committee members Alan Hanscom and Tom Frantz.
ROAD AGENT REPORT by John Thompson
• General maintenance – The highway department has been plowing and picking up tree branches
• Commercial Driver License (CDL) – Keith Blinn went to Twin Mountain to take the CDL test. The truck he drove there to take the test broke down and thus the State considers it a “fail”.. Blinn is required to wait ten days and then he may re-submit his application along with the $20.00 fee to take the test. Blinn will only need to take the skills section of the CDL test because he has done the other sections of the test. The truck that broke down has been repaired so it will be available for Blinn to use. This time, Blinn will take the test in Concord instead of traveling to Twin Mountain.
• Last Street Bridge – the beams came last Friday. As soon as the highway department is finished with the storm clean up and have the equipment serviced, then this bridge project will begin.  Thompson communicated with CWS Fence about putting up the steel rails. The bridge is not up to Department of Transportation standards for today, so CWS Fence cannot do it. However, Thompson spoke to Hansen, and although in the same boat as CWS Fence, they are a bit more flexible. With the Town being the general contractor, Hansen is able to help with this project.  Hoyle Tanner’s engineer, Josif, recommended the concrete work will be done in the Spring. Thompson and the Board agreed.
• Equipment – Thompson is looking into getting another construction piece of equipment
• Winter Salt – the Town used more salt than it has in the last few years. Previous years saw the usage at approximately 220 – 250 tons. This year, the usage is already approximately 40 – 50 tons. The rise in the salt is due to more increased night traffic to employment.  The salt is readily available. Thompson reserved 300 tons this year and next year he will reserve 400 tons.
• Budget – the budget is up approximately five percent in comparison to the last few years where the budget remained stable. Mishcon indicated that $4, 000 needs to be added just to purchase new replacement town road signs for the ones that have been stolen. When Franklin 911 responds, they need to know where the streets are in our town. Thompson increased the budget $10,000 in hopes of hiring a summer part time person. This year had many unplanned projects that came up and regular maintenance is now behind. Other items that increased the budget were the increased use of sand, culverts, and cold patch along with the wages.
• School Parking Lot – The Town will continue to plow the school parking lot. It will be a new line item in the budget.
• Elbow Pond Road Project – Roy received the permit and distributed it to the Board and to Thompson. Thompson suggested that at this point, this project should be started in the Spring when the water flow is low. The permit expires on November 9, 2023. The Board agreed.
BUDGET PROPOSALS PRESENTED to the Select Board
• Police Department Budget presented by Chief Joe Mahoney. See attached.                                  The Board discussed the budget with Mahoney. The increase in the budget is for a full-time police officer. Included in the proposed budget is a list of other similar sized Towns along with their police department’s call for services they handle and the number of full and part time officers.
• Emergency Services Budget presented by Chief John Kinney.  See attached. The Board reviewed the budget with Kinney. Kinney noted for the 2020 budget, the Town will need to start the process of figuring out what option is most appropriate for the purchase of an ambulance. The first option is to buy a new ambulance. The second one is to downgrade to a van. And the last option is to keep the outside shell of the ambulance and upgrade the interior portions. Kinney also noted an increase in the budget is the cost of having Franklin’s emergency 24/7 coverage. According to Kinney, Franklin’s six-month review of how things are going with Andover is that they are very happy with how it has worked out.
• Recreation Committee Budget presented by Tom Frantz and Alan Hanscom. See attached. The Board discussed the budget with both Frantz and Hanscom. The Board tried working on a delineation of responsibilities between the Town and the Committee for the buildings, upkeep, cleaning, etc…. Frantz and Hanscom noted that they are still working on having the Blackwater Park fencing done. It has been on hold because they only received one quote proposal. The fencing is to keep the children and the vehicle traffic separate.  
• Library Budget presented by Marj Roy.                                                                                                     The budget is the same as last year. Discussion revolved around having the community involved in the library ramp project. It was agreed that the project needs to be a long-term solution. The goal is to get the project organized and then present it at Town Meeting 2020.
The Board also discussed having the community involved in the flower garden out in front of the Town Hall building by the road. The Service Club maintains that garden. There are damage issues on the side of the road when the State plows throw sand inadvertently on the flower bed and also on the parking lot side when the Town’s plows hit the flower garden bed borders.  
PREVIOUS MINUTES
Mishcon made the motion to accept the November 19th minutes as written. Keyser seconded the motion. All in favor. The November 19, 2018 minutes are approved as written.
CORRESPONDENCE AND SIGNATURES
• Letter from the Town of Sutton for the December 19th hearing at 7:00 PM for the Vertax Cell Tower
• Notice of Regional Impact from the Town of Danbury on the SRK Holdings (Ragged Mountain Ski Resort) Subdivision approval for December 11, 2018 at 7:00 PM The resort expansion is on New Canada Road
• Pole License for TDS Telecom #3698 for eleven New Hampshire Electric Co-op poles on Chase Hill Road. Signed by all three Select Board members (3 copies)
ADJOURNMENT
Mishcon made the motion to adjourn the meeting. Keyser seconded the motion. All in favor. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM
Minutes prepared by Patricia Moyer, Select Board Secretary