Members Present: Lauchlin Titus and John Melrose

Members Absent: Rob Browne

Others Present: Mary Sabins, Mary Grow, Doug Phillips, Barbara Redmond, Chris French, Rick Denico, Peggy Schaffer, Joe Suga, Gene Field, and Bill Brown.

1. Call to order – The meeting was called to order by Chairman Titus at 6:30 p.m.

2. Minutes – On a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the 6/13/19 meeting as written.

3. Joint meeting with Budget Committee – Sabins thanked the Budget Committee Members for attending and distributed a handout explaining that the streetlight budget is overdraft by $335.07 and that an authorization of transfer of funds from another department is needed at this joint meeting with the Selectmen as per the annual article approved at town meeting. Due to a staff vacancy in the Transfer Station this year, extra funds are available in that department’s budget and Sabins recommended transferring the amount of $340 from the Employee Benefits expense line. On a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by L. Titus, the Select Board voted unanimously to approve the transfer of funds as recommended by the Town Manager. On a motion made by Doug Phillips, seconded by Peggy Schaffer, the Budget Committee voted unanimously to approve the transfer of funds as recommended by the Town Manager. Once the required votes were taken, discussion ensued regarding amending the annual article to include a dollar amount of overdraft that would trigger the requirement of a joint meeting. Since this overdraft amount was relatively small, the Budget Committee indicated they would have been comfortable having the Select Board make the decision to transfer funds with an amount as small as this one. More discussion on this topic will likely be given next spring during budget deliberations.

4. Rick Denico on removal of an abandoned home – Rick explained to the Board that his family is in the process of declaring a mobile home as abandoned property after it was left on his family’s land when tenants left. Once the process is complete, the family wants the trailer removed but they are aware that taxes are owed on the trailer and they cannot obtain the required permit to move the trailer unless they can prove the taxes have been paid. Rick said they do not want to pay taxes on a trailer that did not belong to them, and he asked the Board if they would be willing to abate the taxes owed to the Town. After brief discussion, and on a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to abate the taxes, interest and costs for the 2017 taxes owed by Roger Frost. The Board asked Sabins to request of Assessor Bane to do the same for the current 2018 year taxes, so no taxes will be owed.

5. Carry forward amounts – Public Works Director Gene Field shared with the Board that he has recently discovered rust damage in the form of holes in the overhead doors to the town garage. He’s talked with Overhead Door Company about door replacement. The insulation factor for the existing doors is far less than that of new doors being manufactured now. Gene said if the Board is willing to carry forward money from this year’s budget into next year, he will replace all the doors which may result in some energy savings and less heating costs. The estimated cost for the door replacements is $17,550. Gene thinks he will have about $18K leftover in his budget this year, according to his calculations. After discussion, Gene agreed that he would have the extra $550 in the new budget if the Board wanted to carry forward only $17K to be certain an overdraft will not occur in the PW budget. Sabins had earlier distributed a spreadsheet with carry forward requests itemized, which included the unexpended recreation, paving, cemetery, and FEMA Disaster Reimbursement funds. On a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to approve the request to carry forward the funds for items numbered 1 through 4 as presented on the spreadsheet, and to add item #5 not to exceed $17K for PW Garage doors. Brief discussion was also given with Gene about the Cross Hill Road culvert, grader repairs, and the driveway culvert replacement at the town garage.

6. Annual appointments – The Board reviewed the list of needed reappointments and new appointments as provided by Sabins. After discussion and on a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously approve the list of Selectmen’s appointments except to set aside Dylan Dilloway from the Conservation Commission and add Kevin Wood to the Trail Committee. A motion was then made by J. Melrose, seconded by L. Titus and voted unanimously to approve the list of proposed appointments to be made by the Town Manager, Tax Collector, Town Clerk, Town Treasurer, and General Assistance Administrator. Chairman Titus offered a disclosure that Health Officer Morgan Titus Rau is his daughter and First Responders Assistant Director Paul Begin is his brother-in-law.

The list of approved appointments and reappointments is as follows:

7. Reports – On a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Road and First Responders’ reports as presented. After discussion and on a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented

8. Treasurer’s Warrants – On a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to approve warrants #73, #74, and #75.

9. Other – 1. Upon request made by Sabins, a motion was made by L. Titus, seconded by J. Melrose, and voted unanimously by the Board to close the town office on Friday, July 5th if the two staff members covering the office that day will elect to use vacation time. 2. The request for installation of a sitting bench at the Webber Pond Boat Launch site was discussed. Chairman Titus has one he will donate. 3. The outhouse at China Lake Boat Launch was discussed after a letter of complaint was published in the Town Line Newspaper. Sabins reported that the holding tank will be pumped next week. 4. The MRC newsletter reports that the date that the Fiberight plant will become fully operational has been pushed to August. 5. A town solar energy project was briefly discussed. J. Melrose expressed interest in appointing a committee to explore the best option for the town. Chairman Titus recalled that we once had an energy committee and some of those members may be willing to serve on a solar project committee. The Board suggested we place this topic on the July 18th agenda for discussion.

10. Adjourn – There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.

/mss

These minutes were read and accepted by the Select Board on 7/18/19 with the following amendments: None.