Office of the Select Board

Town of Orange, New Hampshire

Minutes of October 25, 2016


Present: Dorothy Heinrichs, Chair; Robert Ells, Lyell ‘Skip’ Smith, and Sandi Pierson (clerical). Others present: Beverly Ells, Mark Stetson, and Sharon Proulx.

Meeting opened at 7:00 PM.

Minutes:

  • The public minutes of October 12, 2016 were unanimously approved.

  • The nonpublic minutes of October 12, 2016 were unanimously approved.

    Mark stated that to not update the pole licensing to include the ROW is like a tenant giving the landlord the agreement. He estimated that the town is presently losing $65,000 in ROW assessment value. (Fairpoint’s present assessment of infrastructure is $72,000.) The Board noted that the town’s attorney advised against updating the language in the pole license until the court case is settled. Mark said that 75% of the 65 towns they represent amended their pole license three years ago to include the ROW. He acknowledged that a few legal firms have advised towns to put it on hold.

    Answering questions from the Board, Mark said that there can be joint ownership of a pole, meaning whoever is on it is taxed equally for it. He said the town’s recent tax abatement credit of $977 was not related to the pole licensing issue. Dorothy felt that if they were assessing the electric companies the ROW, then the town should be doing the same with Fairpoint. After discussion, the Board unanimously agreed to move forward with the pole licensing amendment and have it complete before the next assessing deadline of April 1, 2017. They requested that Sandi contact Bernie Waugh and ask his office to review the amended pole licensing documents.

Telecommunications Assessing: Mark Stetson from Avitar Associates came before the Board to talk about the regulations of assessing Fairpoint and the significance of amending the town’s pole licensing agreements. Mark explained that in the late 1990’s the Legislature shifted the assessing appraisements of telecommunications from the State to the local level but gave a one year reprieve in doing so. Subsequently this reprieve went on until 2011. In 2011 the poles and conduits (underground pipes) became taxable and Fairpoint immediately started filing abatements on their taxation. Orange, who had a different assessor at the time, did not start taxing the infrastructure until 2013. Also taxed is the use of the public right-of-way (ROW) which is considered a ten foot swath and is assessed at $3000 an acre. Fairpoint is challenging the ROW state-wide in Superior Court, which has been consolidated by the courts as Fairpoint v. Acworth. The DRA now establishes the value of poles and conduits; the municipality establishes the value of the ROW. Mark said that the electric utilities are presently taxed in Orange on infrastructure and the ROW.

Building permits:

  • The Board reviewed and signed a building permit for Paul Schwarz/57 Eastman Road/Map 1, Lot 10 for a garage. The permit was already signed by the Building Inspector.

  • The Board reviewed and signed a building permit for Rene Regione/89 Tuttle Hill/Map 3, Lot 61B for a garage. The permit was already signed by the Building Inspector.

  • Certificate of Occupancy: The Board reviewed and signed a Certificate of Occupancy from the Building Inspector for Charles and Sheila Gillingham/640 Tuttle Hill Road for the completion of a deck.

Other (all FYI):

  • The Board reviewed the Primex Workman’s Comp 2017 summary.

  • An approval for Septic Operation was received from the DES (Weekes/Tug Mountain)

  • A notice of application for a Septic System was received from the DES (Azze/Cardigan Mountain Rd.)

  • The Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission contribution for 2017 will be $455.20

  • The ambulance coverage from Canaan FAST, Inc. for 2017 will be $5,650, a $165.40

    increase over 2016.

  • The Board asked Sandi to email the Building Inspector regarding the apparent construction of a residential addition of which no permit has been filed.

  • Skip stated there has been brush clean-up at the dilapidated home on Eastman which revealed a shallow well. The Board agreed that if the building has running water, the Building Inspector should check to see what the septic is, or if there is one at all.

  • Casella has not yet responded to the request to service the last 0.6 mile of Tug Mountain Road. The Board asked Sandi to follow up by email.

Secretary’s report:

  • The 2016 contribution to the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission was inadvertently paid twice. Trish Weekes reported that both checks cleared the bank. The Board asked Sandi to contact the Commission and ask if they want to issue a refund or have the overpayment as a credit on the 2017 dues.

  • Tessa reported that payroll checks have been delayed due to a mix-up in email by Intuit which sent notices to the former treasurer’s email address.

  • The last of the antiquated deposit books that registered the Select Board’s bank deposits has been used. Sandi said that she and the treasurer have been reconciling at the end of each month (detailed itemization of Board vouchers and deposits) with spreadsheets. Sharon felt it was essential to have the treasurer sign off on a copy of all deposit slips. Sandi will ask Tessa how she would like to proceed.

  • The DRA training for the tax-setting portion of the web portal was not long enough to merit putting in for a training stipend. Sandi will log it in as 1.5 hours on her pay sheet. The follow up training on Thursday is in-house via a webinar.

November meeting: Because of elections and two Board members not being available to meet on November 7, the next Board meeting will be Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 6 PM. On that date the Board plans to set a preliminary tax rate which will be sent to the DRA for approval. The Board anticipates signing the tax warrant when they convene for Election Day on November 8.

Reports from other Boards and Committees:

  • Historical Commission: On behalf of the Orange Historical Commission, Sharon Proulx thanked the Harvest Festival Committee for their donation of $844.00 to be used for the Orange 250th Celebration in 2019.

  • Tax Collector: Tax Collector Sharon Proulx reported that the town began the year with $91,516.02 in uncollected taxes. At this date the uncollected taxes total $15,486.54. This is the lowest amount she has ever seen.

  • Conservation Commission: OCC member Sandi Pierson disposed of four five-gallon containers of hazardous waste left on the side of Tug Mountain Road with the assistance of Mike Sampson.

    Bills and vouchers were reviewed and signed.

    The Board offers their condolences to the family of Rosemary Haness and Sal Guadagnino upon the passing of Rosemary’s mother, Esther Haness.

Public Comment: n/a

Meeting adjourned 7:45 P.M.

Respectfully submitted, Sandi Pierson

Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs

Robert Ells

Lyell Smith