Office of the Select Board
Town of Orange, New Hampshire
Minutes of December 10, 2013

 

Present: Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs (chaired the meeting), Betty Fulton, Bob Ells, and Sandi Pierson (clerical).

Others present: George and Pat White, Anita Watson Garland, Brent Stevens, and Scott Sanborn.

Meeting opened at 7:00 PM. Attendance taken by the secretary.

Minutes: The minutes of November 26, 2013 were unanimously approved.

Informational: County Commissioner Martha Richards cancelled her appointment to attend the meeting. This was for informational purposes only.

Internet: The Board was in receipt of a letter from NHEC stating that Wild Blue internet service was being discontinued in the area as of January 31, 2014. Though the town presently uses Wild Blue, it is anticipated that we will be connected to Fairpoint DSL before January 31.

Highway: Scott Sanborn met with the Board to discuss highway department issues.

  • FEMA: Scott felt that in hindsight a number of projects during 2013 that he requested to come out of FEMA funds should have actually come out of the highway budget. He requested that $14,746 be allocated from the municipal budget to the FEMA account. This would leave about $18,000 in his highway budget to finish out the year and to provide a cushion. He said reallocating money from the operating budget into the FEMA account would make them available in 2014 whereas if left in the operating budget, they are not carried over and are simply considered underspent.
  • At the end of the year, if money is still available in his budget, Scott would like to consider a pre-buy on road material from the Green Oaks gravel pit in Grafton.
  • Scott outlined his plans for addressing the water drainage around the Town House and also to repair two cracks in the foundation. The work would be done in the spring of 2014. He would like to have this work done with FEMA funds if they are reallocated. He said the work will include rain gutters and cribbing around the new generator.
  • Scott gave an update on recent road improvements to Razor Hill and New Colony.
  • Scott does not see anything out of the ordinary with the 2014 budget. He said the town should consider long range planning for the town’s paved roads.

Budget: Scott’s discussion on his highway budget led into a general discussion of the budget as a whole. Betty said that they are hoping that before the end of the year the NH DOS will have reimbursed the $3550 taken out of the budget to pay the state’s portion of the generator. Betty asked Sandi to see if the payments have been processed at the bank and to follow up on the reimbursement procedure. Betty noted that there are several line item categories collectively overspent by about $5500. This is being compensated by line item categories that are underspent.

Cemeteries: Anita requested two vouchers be processed for Barry and Wanda Geddis for work done in the cemeteries. She said they are going to hold off on branch and small tree trimming until 2014. She said the Cemetery Trustees are going to request some extra funding in 2014 to have Donnie Dunkerton do addition tree work. Anita said she would like more of a notice if the Board believes the cemetery budget is going to be affected by line item categories that have been overspent.

Generator: Emergency Management Director Brent Stevens stated that the emergency generator has been installed and is connected to the town’s propane. The manual and key are on file in the Selectmen’s office. Brent will do the annual maintenance check including changing the oil and inspecting filters.

Brent showed the Board the new EMD radio provided to him by a State grant.

Secretary’s report:

  • Michael Scala, a representative from Senator Kelly Ayotte’s office, would like to visit the Town House between 7 and 8 PM on Monday, December 16 to meet with citizens for informational purposes. The second Board meeting of the month is being held on this day. The Board agreed to meet at 6:30 PM and leave the one hour slot open for Mr. Scala.
  • Sandi submitted to each Board member copies of emails from the DRA regarding an LUCT abatement request from Nick Brunet d/b/a Woodlot and Grange. Brunet feels that the LUCT levied on the permanent access road through his property to Kokas’ lot should have been charged to Kokas because it was the construction of their cabin that caused the right-of-way to come out of current use. The Board requested that Sandi forward the information to Attorney Waugh for his opinion.
  • Sandi complimented the annual critter tales book given to the children at the Christmas party. The story honored a number of past residents and was beautifully written by Pauline and Nathaniel Emerson. A number of volunteers created the book with an accompanying “bear pillow.”
  • Sandi said that she would like to acknowledge the amount of time it takes Betty to prepare the town’s MS-5, a task that Grafton appropriates almost $3000 for an outside CPA to do.
  • Sandi submitted to the Board a copy of the November 26 Community Action Report from the DRA. This report essentially outlined three options for a town’s next revaluation: cyclical, statistical, and a full revaluation. Revaluations are done every five years and the next one slated for Orange is 2015.

Orange Conservation Commission: Dorothy stated that the OCC is starting to update the Natural Resource Inventory for Orange. Data from this will be incorporated into the Master Plan which is presently being worked on by the Planning Board.

Trash: Dorothy stated that as of the end of November the town has disposed of 82.47 tons of trash and 30.05 tons of recyclables.

Vouchers were signed. Meeting adjourned 8:05 PM

Respectfully submitted, Sandi Pierson

Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs Betty Fulton  Robert Ells