Office of the Select Board
Town of Orange, New Hampshire
Minutes of December 27, 2017
Present: Dorothy Heinrichs, Chair; Robert Ells, Skip Smith, and Sandi Pierson (clerical)
Others present: Bev Ells and Bob and Sharon Proulx
Meeting opened at 6 PM. Attendance taken by the secretary.
Minutes:
The minutes of December 12, 2017 were unanimously approved.
Skip motioned to seal the nonpublic minutes of November 14, 2017. Bob seconded. Motion passed unanimously in favor.
Bob motioned to seal the nonpublic minutes of November 28, 2017. Dorothy seconded. Skip abstained because he was not at the meeting. Motion passed in favor.
Canaan Trash facility: The Board concurred that they were satisfied with the three-year, proposed contract from Canaan to use their transfer station beginning in 2018.
FEMA: Skip said that Grafton County has formally been declared a “disaster area” by FEMA resulting from the heavy rains and subsequent damage on October 30th. The Board directed Sandi to contact Road Agent Scott Sanborn to find out if he is submitting documentation to FEMA regarding the repairs that needed to be done in Orange due to the storm.
Other:
A notice was received from the State of NH that they electronically deposited $17,062.15 into the town’s account for the 2017 Meals and Rooms distribution.
A notice was received from the NH Department of Revenue Administration that the State Education Tax for 2018 will be $67,846.00. This is $960.00 less than 2017.
The Board reviewed the end-of-year municipal budget report. The 2017 municipal budget was underspent by $22,584.81.
The Board reviewed an end-of-year report from State Senator Bob Guida.
The Bridge House in Plymouth is requesting a 2018 contribution. This will be forwarded to the Budget Committee although it was noted that this agency has not been supported by Orange in the past.
Secretary’s report:
Laurie Sanborn has refunded to the town her $35.00 stipend as a Supervisor of the Trust Funds. She does not know if it is appropriate for her take the stipend because her employer pays her for the day off. The Board directed Sandi to contact the legal services of the NH Municipal Association and ask if there is a conflict in Laurie getting her stipend.
A resident would like the highway department to plow a parking area for her on the side of the road to be used only as she is in the process of clearing her driveway. The request will be forwarded to the road agent.
Reports from other Boards and Committees:
Budget Committee member Bob Proulx will attend the next Board meeting with a schedule of 2018 budget preparation meetings. The Board agreed having joint meetings with the Committee works well in formulating the budget. Bob said the first joint session will be at the second Select Board meeting of the month, January 23.
Public comment:
Tax Collector Sharon Proulx has been hindered in her accounting due to the problems with the aged computer she is using. Because it has been acting up for some time, the Budget Committee had allocated $1,200.00 for a new computer in the 2017 budget. Sharon said that it finally completely malfunctioned and she subsequently spent a number of hours with Avitar to reprogram it because it was imperative to do the data entry of prepayment of 2018 taxes before December 31. After discussion, Skip motioned to approve the tax collector’s request to purchase a new computer and to encumber the $1,200.00 intended in the 2017 budget for that purpose.
Sharon stated that a recurring obstacle for her is not being able to have Avitar access her data base because she does not have internet. After discussion, Skip motioned to fund internet service at the tax collector’s home at an estimated cost of $33.98 per month. Bob seconded. Motion passed unanimously in favor.
Bills and vouchers were reviewed and signed.
Meeting adjourned 6:30 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Sandi Pierson
_________________________ _______________________ ________________________
Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs Robert Ells Lyell Smith