Office of the Select Board

Town of Orange, New Hampshire

Minutes of April 12, 2016

 

Present: Dorothy Heinrichs, Chair; Robert Ells, and Sandi Pierson (clerical). Not present: Lyell Smith was out of town.

Others present: Beverly Ells, David Como, Bernie Waugh, and Mathew Decker. Meeting opened at 7:00 PM.

Legal Informational: The town’s attorney, Bernie Waugh, presented his annual municipal law update. Topics included land use, zoning, planning and real estate laws, municipal administration and taxation, and right-to-know laws.

Minutes: The March 22, 2016 minutes were unanimously approved as submitted.

Gravel: The Board reviewed and signed an Intent to Excavate for Robert Senter’s gravel pit on Burnt Hill. Bob motioned to waive the payment of excavation taxes for 2015. Dorothy seconded. Motion passed unanimously in favor.

MS-123: The Board reviewed and signed the MS-123 (Report of Town Officers) as submitted by Town Clerk Sophie Seace.

Abatement: The Board reviewed Avitar’s recommendation on the abatement application of New Hampshire Electric Co-op. Avitar Assessor Gary Roberge recommended denying the abatement, citing that NHEC uses a formula not specific to each town, thus for assessing purposes Avitar develops data by “Replacement Cost Less Depreciation.” After discussion, the Board unanimously voted to deny the abatement application based on Avitar’s recommendation.

Training request: The Board reviewed and approved a training request from Supervisor of the Checklist Betsy Coble to attend ElectionNet training.

Junk ordinance: The Board signed two letters to property owners whose properties are in violation of the Orange Junk Ordinance as well as State Junkyard statutes, RSA 236:111 through 236:129; both violations being the number of unregistered vehicles on their properties. The violators will be given sixty days to comply.

Other:

  •   Trash report: as of March 25 the town disposed of 16.80 tons of trash and 6.30 tons of recyclables.

  •   A card of thanks was received from the American Red Cross for the 2016 contribution from the town.

 Because the data on the Informational Directory did not change after the March elections, the Board unanimously agreed that the cost of mailing a new one was not necessary. The town will instead do a postcard mailing notifying residents of the holiday alternative trash pick-up dates and the annual large trash pick-up date.

Secretary’s report:

  •   Pauline Emerson mentioned she would be willing to fill the vacancy on the Trustees of the Trust Funds. The Board asked Sandi to contact her for confirmation.

  •   Sophie would like to be a user on DRA web portal so that she can directly upload her required documents and reports. The Board unanimously approved the request.

Reports from other Boards and Committees: n/a

Public comment: Dave Como asked how much Casella would charge for tires during the large trash pick- up. He offered to pay to dispose of a load of old tires used on New Colony Road for a retainer wall. Sandi will check with Casella on the price.

Bills and vouchers were reviewed and signed.

Nonpublic session: At 8:15 PM Bob motioned to go into nonpublic session pursuant to RSA 91- A:3, II (c) to discuss correspondence relating to veteran credits. Dorothy seconded. Motion to come out of nonpublic session at 8:25 PM. Unanimously approved.

Meeting adjourned 8:25 P.M.

Respectfully submitted, Sandi Pierson

Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs

Robert Ells

Lyell Smith