Office of the Select Board
Town of Orange, New Hampshire
Minutes of February 26, 2013

 

 

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

Others present: George and Pat White and Henry Minasian.

Meeting called to order at 7:00 PM.

Minutes:

  • The minutes of February 12, 2013 were approved as submitted.
  • The minutes of February 18, 2013 were approved as submitted. (Signing of the warrant, signed two correspondences.)

Intent to Excavate: The Board approved and signed an Excavation Permit for Bobby Senter’s gravel pit on Burnt Hill Road. A $100 check was attached and will be remitted to the state.

Demolition permit: The Board reviewed and signed a Demolition Permit for Brian Barrell to remove the structures located at 101 Tuttle Hill Road. The permit was already signed by the Building Inspector. It was noted that most of the buildings were already demolished.

Land Use Change Tax: The Board reviewed an email from Hope Kokas regarding the recent Land Use Change Tax being levied on a half acre of land taken out of current use. Ms. Kokas stated that she had received a letter from Avitar informing them that the half acre was coming out of current use and asked if the town had a copy of the letter, and, if so, could she have a copy. Sandi stated that she checked the Kokas file and did not find any such correspondence. The Board directed Sandi to request Ms. Kokas send the town a copy of their letter. They also asked Sandi to contact Avitar and ask if correspondence was sent to the town or land owners regarding acreage coming out of current use in 2010.

Budget Tracking discussion: Dorothy asked if the budget tracking sheet for the Select Board’s office was ready for the annual audit. Betty said she has diligently gone through the spreadsheet a number of times and that it corresponds to the vouchers, but that it does not reconcile with the treasurer. She affirmed that she had met with the treasurer and it was established there was no contradiction in the voucher totals for 2012 between the Select Board and treasurer. She feels a possibility that working with the data with an external device between two computers that have different software versions could be the cause. She said that at one point she entered data and the total figure did not change as it should have. She plans on installing the latest version of Quicken on her home computer. Henry said that historically it has been easier to reconcile if only one person enters data. Betty affirmed that she has been the only one to enter data on the spreadsheet for the Select Board’s office. Betty said that during 2013, each month the Board should be sure they match with the treasurer.

Legal: The Board reviewed correspondence from Attorney Waugh regarding the Board’s adoption of the 2013 welfare guidelines. (In an email, Pat Mercer contended that the Board had adopted the welfare guidelines improperly.) Dorothy stated that the attorney’s correspondence affirms that the Board’s adoption of the welfare guidelines was appropriate and within the state statutes.

Bridge inspection report: The Board reviewed the Department of Transportation’s bridge inspection report of February 19, 2013 for the bridge over Brown Brook near Bruce Ells’ home on Brock Hill.  The DOT stated that the bridge needs to remain posted as “E2” and that no action needs to be taken by the town at this time. Sandi will forward the report to Scott Sanborn if he does not already have a copy.

Orange Conservation Commission (OCC):

  • Dorothy reminded everyone of the Ben Kilham bear presentation at the town house on April 7.
  • Trash report: During February there were 5.45 tons of trash picked up and 2.26 tons of recyclables. To date for 2013 there has been 10.64 tons of trash and 4.44 of recyclables picked up.

Other: The Board thanked Barbara Smith and Pat White for coordinating Candidate’s Night.

Secretary’s report: Sandi noted the following items:

 

  • Sandi said that the DRA sets a deadline to do pick-ups and we should do them earlier than we usually do. The Board requested Sandi contact Cross Country to set a date.
  • The Board is in receipt of $537.00 for the sale of the old sander by sealed bid.
  • Miles Sinclair of the Hardy Hill Snowmobile Club has submitted a grant request of $30,000 (80/20% match) to the NH Bureau of Trails to continue repairs on Class VI sections of Old Hood Road and New Colony Road as well as the Atwell Brook Trail.

 

Vouchers were signed.

Meeting adjourned 8:15 PM

Respectfully submitted,

Sandi Pierson

 

______________________      ______________________      ______________________

Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs             Betty Fulton                                   Robert Ells