Condensed from approved minutes:
Members Present: Marj Roy, Town Administrator; Vicky Mishcon, Selectboard Chair; Jim Delaney, and Dave Blinn, Selectboard; John Thompson, Road Agent, and Officer Dan Shaw.
Minutes:
The Board reviewed the minutes of the December 4 and December 18 meetings.The minutes of December 4 and 18, 2017 were approved as amended.
Comcast Cable Franchise Renewal Draft:
Roy explained to the Board that the draft Cable Renewal for Comcast came out in October for their review. The contract is pretty much the same as the current contract. The Board is concerned about some of the homes at the Andover/Franklin town line on Route 11 that do not have access to any cable services. When the representative came to the Board last summer, the representative was asked to investigate getting cable to those folks. The Comcast Construction Team looked into getting cable services in that area, but decided that it was not something they were willing to do because of the high cost. The Board would like to meet and discuss with a representative of the Comcast Construction Team to find out what is needed to happen to get those services and to ask what the long-term plan will be for that area.
Other Business:
• Delaney was very concerned about the situation with the Lion’s Club president, Virginia Edwards. Edwards contacted the Town Maintenance person, Kathy Hildebrand, early morning on New Year’s Day to have her open the Town Hall building so that a food delivery could be placed in the food pantry closet. Hildebrand did as requested by Edwards. Delaney was very concerned, as was the Board, that Edwards has overstepped boundaries once again. The Town Hall was closed for the holiday and should not be opened for such a request unless it’s an emergency situation. In that case, the Town Administrator or a Selectboard member should have been contacted. Edwards should not be making such requests when the Town Hall is closed. After discussion, the Board agreed that Hildebrand should not be put in such a position. For the future, Mishcon offered to be the contact person for Edwards so that Hildebrand does not feel she is obligated to do as Edwards requests.
• Mishcon made the Board aware of a program where the Town has the option to charge residents who register their vehicles in town an additional $5.00 to $10.00 that would go toward road maintenance and projects. The Board also discussed other options such as a commercial rate sticker. Commercial vehicles, 1 ton and up would be charged by using the gross vehicle weight (gvw). Another option would be to charge $2.50 per vehicle registered per year instead of the $5.00 to $10.00 option above. This would be for passenger vehicle and regular pickup trucks; not for boats or snowmobiles. The latter option can be implemented on April 1, 2018. The Board will research further before making a decision.
Correspondence and Signatures:
• Hoyle & Tanner – Scope of services and fees for the project study on Elbow Pond Road at Mountain Brook. The work to fix the issue can’t be done until this study is completed. Delaney made the motion to allow Mishcon to sign the agreement as the first step to addressing the issue and that the money comes out of the capital reserve bridge fund. Blinn seconded the motion. All in favor. Mishcon signed the agreement as the Chair.
• Virtual Towns and School Website – The Board and Elita Reed, who currently maintains the Town Website met with the representative to discuss the needs of the Town. This website is more user friendly than the current website for both employees and residents. The initial cost is $4500.00 which the payments will be divided into three (3) years. Then the yearly service fee is $1500.00. This is a cost savings for the Town. Delaney made the motion for Mishcon to sign the Road Agent Report:
There have been issues during the storms with the equipment from sander freeze ups to fuel freezing. During the beginning of the last storm, Thompson sent out ten (10) trucks and ended the storm with two (2) trucks working.
Thompson stated that they will need to bring in additional sand and they have received the second shipment of salt.
Last Street Bridge – last project on the schedule.
Final budget work session with the Highway Department is scheduled for Wednesday, February 3, 2018 from 1:30 to 3:30 PM.
Non Public Session:
At 7:20 PM, the Board went into non-public session. The Board entered into Non-Public Session by Roll Call Vote:
Mischon: Yes Delaney: Yes Blinn: Yes
Closed Public Meeting at 7:20 PM. Opened Non-Public Session at 7:20 PM. Closed Non-Public Session at 8:20 PM. Re-opened Public Meeting at 8:20 PM.
Adjournment:
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Patricia Moyer, Select Board Secretary