Bethlehem Board of Selectmen
Meeting Minutes
February 26, 2018
Present: Chairman Moritz, Selectman Boisseau, Selectman Moore.
Chairman Moritz opened the meeting at 6:00 pm.
Chris McGrath came before the Board to ask if he could have a fire on Election Day again this year. The Board were ok with him having a fire. He also suggested a revenue source for the police by having a marijuana ordinance. He said Twin Mountain has the ordinance and already collected $14,000 in fines.
Mary Lou Krambeer came before the Board to discuss election preparations. She said they had 936 people vote last year which is 2700 ballots to be counted. She said she is recruiting ballot counters. Ms. Krambeer said there isn’t an RSA on how to recruit them so she talked with the Secretary of State on best practices. She said she is having a balance of men/woman and needs people under 40. She asked the Selectmen to come at 7:15 as backups. She also said she would like a table in the lobby with info and to welcome people. She explained they can ask if people are registered and tell them to pull out their id’s. She asked the Board if that table could be manned by staff. Chairman Moritz said she needs to think on that. Ms. Krambeer said she would also be putting up parking signs in front of town building on both sides of the road for 15 minute parking. Sonya Clark suggested they put up extra handicap parking signs on the lower level which Ms. Krambeer and the Board agreed to do.
Road Agent, Brett Jackson, came before the Board to discuss issues with the trucks. He said it will be $13,000 to fix the 08 Sterling and said he paid $7500 on it in December. He explained he is asking for $80,000 for the Capital Reserve Fund this year. He said he needs to be more aggressive in replacing the trucks. Mr. Jackson said he had another truck down on Saturday and explained they run 7 trucks per storm. He said he looked at lease options but NHMA (NH Municipal Assoc.) said he can’t pay lease payments out of Capital Reserve Funds. He said the life of a truck is 10 years but that is pushing it. He said he would look into financing options for a new truck and said more towns are moving towards leasing.
PUBLIC INPUT
Jim Payette said at the last meeting there was a comment on revenue from NCES. He said they paid 700,000 in 2017 and it is estimated they will pay $489,900 in 2018. He said that is a $1.00 per thousand drop from 2017. Chairman Moritz said based on the info NCES provided in September they were supposed to be flat for 2018 and 2019 with the same amount of revenue. Chairman Moritz said she would look into that.
Dann said at the last meeting (Deliberative) the room was overcrowded and the Fire Chief said it was for a good reason. He said if something had happened and there was a death how would that be explained to authorities. Chairman Moritz said professionals advised the Board on room capacity. Dann also said he doesn’t agree with the fine for having marijuana and said everyone has a vice and said you should only go after people who hurt people. Julian said Dann was correct the room was over occupied and the town is liable.
The Board discussed the next auction and reviewed the list of properties. The Board agreed to have the auction on Aug. 25th with a back-up date of Sept. 8th.
The Board reviewed a request from the Eagles to hold raffles. Chairman Moritz moved to approve the request. Selectman Moore seconded. Carried 3-0.
The Board discussed the flag pole. Chairman Moritz explained there is money allocated for town building maintenance that is over the max limit that is supposed to be in the account. She said there is a stainless steel pole that is being donated to the town and would like to use funds from that account to cover the cost of installation etc. She said she would get more information about the costs for the next meeting.
Chairman Moritz said the Board needs to vote every year for the façade grant program to continue. Chairman Moritz moved to move forward with the façade grant that is beneficial to local businesses. Selectman Moore seconded. Carried 3-0. Chairman Moritz said businesses can apply for the grant and the committee reviews the application and then the Board approves it.
The Board reviewed the minutes from 02/12/18. Selectman Moore moved to approve the minutes. Chairman Moritz seconded. Carried 3-0.
At 6:47 Chairman Moritz moved to go into non-public session per RSA 91A:3 II for matter of personnel. Selectman Boisseau seconded. Chairman Moritz did roll call with all members agreeing to go into non-public session. Dann objected to the non-public session.
The Board discussed personnel.
At 7:15 Selectman Moore moved to come out of non-public session. Chairman Moritz seconded. Chairman Moritz did roll call with all members agreeing to come out of non-public session.
At 7:15 Selectman Moore moved to adjourn. Selectman Boisseau seconded. Carried 3-0.
Respectfully submitted,
April Hibberd
Administrative Assistant
