Office of the Select Board
Town of Orange, New Hampshire
Minutes of May 13, 2014
Present: Betty Fulton, Chair; Bob Ells, Patricia Mercer, and Sandi Pierson (clerical).
Others present: Kathy Stacy, Bob and Sharon Proulx, George and Pat White, Bev Ells, Laurie and Scott Sanborn, Henry Minasian, and Dave Como.
Meeting opened at 7 PM. Attendance taken by the secretary.
Approval of minutes:
The minutes of April 22, 2014 were unanimously accepted as submitted by the secretary. The minutes of April 30, 2014 as submitted by the Chair were discussed. Bob Ells motioned to accept the minutes as written, Betty seconded. Pat Mercer voted in opposition citing that the discussion about filling the vacancy of the school board was not accurately reflected in the minutes. The minutes were approved with two in favor, one in opposition. (Clerical note: These minutes of a special meeting were primarily to review financial records in anticipation of turning over the treasurer’s records to the new treasurer, Cathy Bean.)
School Board: The above minutes brought about a lengthy discussion regarding the Select Board needing to appoint an Orange representative to the Mascoma School Board to fill the vacancy left by Charlie Sova’s resignation. Pat Mercer stated that it was her belief that at the April 30, 2014 meeting, the other two board members endorsed her candidacy for the position. She stated that she originally thought it was the school district that appointed a person to fill a vacancy based on the Selectmen’s recommendation. She said she now realizes the law has changed and it is now the Selectmen who appoint a school board member upon a resignation. Both Bob and Betty agreed that at the April 30th meeting, they did not vote nor confirm Pat’s appointment to the school board, but, instead, took into consideration that she was interested in serving in the position.
Scott Sanborn stated he was unaware that Charlie Sova had resigned and that the Board was entertaining candidates. Scott had shown an interest in the appointment and acknowledged that he would resign from the School Board Budget Committee if considered for school board by the Selectmen. He was not in opposition to the Board appointing Pat, only the procedure of not first publicly announcing the vacancy and considering that others that may be interested. Scott stated that even though he has withdrawn his formal request to be on the school board, he would still be interested and willing to serve on it. Betty noted that an email to the Selectmen’s office was received from Kathy Stacy stating that she is also interested in being appointed to the school board vacancy.
Pat Mercer maintained that the school and others made every effort to publicize the vacancy to Orange residents.
Pat White suggested an exterior sign (with detachable letters) which could be placed by the flagpole so that town information and notices could be posted regularly. David Como stated he would make a donation toward a sign. Sharon Proulx felt a permanent sign on the town house property should reflect the historical characteristic of the building, especially since it is in the process of being considered for the NH State Register of Historic Places.
Betty stated that the LGC recommends not sending town emails to an employee’s email address. Betty expressed concern that the essence of the email demonstrated that someone else should be chosen for the school board. Betty spoke in support of Kathy Stacy as the Orange representative to the school board. Pat said she did not feel her email was offensive. She added that Scott and she settled their dissimilar opinions by email in a civil manner.
After a prolonged discussion, Betty tabled the school board vacancy topic to the next Selectmen’s meeting. Later in the evening, Bob Proulx expressed his dismay that the matter had been tabled because he felt a number of residents attended tonight’s meeting because filling the vacancy was on the agenda.
Intent to Cut: The Board reviewed and signed an Intent to Cut for Henry and Jeanne Minasian on Tuttle Hill Road, Map 4, Lot 17-C.
Trustees of the Trust Funds:
The Board was in receipt of an email from Albert Emerson stating that he was interested in filling the vacancy on the Trustees of the Trust Funds. After discussion, Bob motioned to appoint Albert Emerson to the Trustees of the Trust Funds. Pat seconded. Motion passed unanimously in favor. Sandi will contact Mr. Emerson and ask him to come to the May 27 meeting to be sworn in.
An email from Jeanne Minasian, a Trustee of the Trust Funds, was received affirming that $2,785 was transferred to the town’s general account from the Town Document Preservation Capital Reserve Fund. This is for the purchase of a fireproof, documentation cabinet. Answering a question from Dave Como, Betty stated that $10 will be left in the capital reserve in order to keep it open and the remaining approximate $85 needed for the cabinet will come from the municipal budget under General Government Buildings.
Letter of appreciation: The Board signed a letter of appreciation to Scott Lurgio for his eight years served on the Orange Conservation Commission. Scott has been the Chair of the OCC for a number of years. He is leaving the OCC due to increased work responsibilities.
Pole licensing and the Fairpoint abatement application: Sandi distributed copies of documentation regarding Fairpoint’s property tax abatement application and the recommendation from Avitar to update the town’s pole licensing agreement. Sandi stated that Fairpoint had been assessed by Cross Country (the town’s assessing firm in 2013) at $309,100 which resulted in Fairpoint paying $6,661.11 in 2013 property taxes. (In their abatement application, Fairpoint is requesting a $31,694 valuation.) Avitar’s recommendation in regards to the abatement is for the town to abate the PRW (public right of way) component of the assessment because the town lacks a current pole licensing agreement. Avitar cited that recently a Merrimack County Superior judge ruled that a town’s pole licensing agreement needs to be updated to include the PRW provision prior to taxation. Avitar’s recommendation is to abate the $197,900 PRW assessment which would result in an abatement payment of $4,264.75. Sandi stated that even thought the Board has until July 1st to act on abatements, the town is required to pay accrued interest on abatements at 6% per annum from the time the 2013 tax payment was received by the tax collector.
After discussion, Pat Mercer motioned to abate Fairpoint the $197,900 PRW assessment as recommended by Avitar. Bob Ells seconded. Motion passed unanimously in favor.
Sandi submitted to the Board a current utility pole license from the town of Auburn, NH which includes the PRW. Using their license as a template, she created a draft pole license for Orange which she also distributed to the Board. She noted that the updated pole license needs to be accepted at a public hearing which would be legally posted. The public hearing can be done at a regularly scheduled Selectmen’s meeting. Sandi distributed a copy of Auburn’s public notice and a draft for Orange.
Sandi recommended that the Board direct her to send the documentation presented at tonight’s meeting to Attorney Bernie Waugh for his review and opinion. Questions for Bernie would include:
Does the pole license draft meet the full, legal requirement in order to tax the PRW? Should the town submit copies of the approved pole license to all utilities being taxed in Orange?
Does the pole license, after approval at a public hearing, get recorded at the Registry of Deeds?
After discussion, Pat Mercer motioned for the Board to direct Sandi to submit the documentation she presented at the meeting to Attorney Waugh for his review and opinion and for the Board to review his response prior to sending the abatement payment to Fairpoint. Betty seconded. Motioned passed unanimously in favor.
Training requests: The Board reviewed training requests from Cemetery Trustees Anita Garland, Skip Smith, and Pat Mercer to attend the Cemetery Trustee Session hosted by the Attorney General Office On June 4th in Concord. Sandi said that Anita dropped off the documentation and that she had filled out the training requests. Betty requested that Sandi confirm whether the training is full day or half day. After the Board checked how much of the training budget remained, they approved the three requests.
The training requests led to a discussion about what the original intention was for paying town officials a stipend to attend training. After input from the audience, it was agreed that the original intent of a stipend was to compensate a town official who would miss a day of work to attend municipal training. Though that was the primary intent, it was agreed that the 2010 warrant article did not stipulate that; it simply allows the Board to approve a stipend and mileage reimbursement for a town official to attend training. It was suggested the stipend protocol be formally clarified via a policy or warrant article to make clear that the intent is to reimburse a training attendee for missing a day of work.
Building permit: The Board reviewed and signed a building permit for Betsy Coble and Robert Shea for home improvements at 38 Peaslee Road. Improvements include electrical, new well, and frost wall. The building permit had already been reviewed and signed by Building Inspector Don Pfaefflin.
Equalization: The Board was in receipt of correspondence from the Department of Revenue Administration regarding the sales and median ratio for Orange. Based on sales within the municipality from 2010 to April 1, 2013, the sales-assessment ratio is set at 81.3% and the median ratio (appraisal purposes) at 82.6%.
Trash report: As of April 25, 2014 the town has disposed of 24.11 tons of trash and 9.29 tons of recyclables.
Mascoma High School tax impact: Kathy Stacy said she spoke with Executive Councilor Joe Kenney regarding why the Orange’s school tax rate is expected to be significantly higher than the other Mascoma towns (per $1000 of property valuation) due to the high school renovation. Kathy stated that Mr. Kenney recommended that he and a representative from the DRA attend an informational meeting in Orange to explain the disproportionate property taxes Orange will bear. The Select Board agreed that an informational meeting would be welcome and appreciated. Bob Ells suggested having it as part of a Select Board meeting and for the Board to conduct the business part of the meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. Kathy will follow up with Joe Kenney’s office to set a date for the informational meeting.
Other:
A letter of appreciation was received from the Court Appointed Special Advocates for the town’s 2014 contribution.
A letter of appreciation was received from the Canaan Town Library for the town’s 2014 contribution.
The State of NH has electronically deposited $5,587.42 into the town’s account for the April payment of the Highway Block Grant.
The State of NH has electronically deposited $1,330.93 into the town’s account for the 2013 state forest land reimbursement. It was noted that this payment has significantly decreased over the past five years.
Secretary’s report:
Sandi stated that when she was lowering the outside American flag to half staff, she noticed it was somewhat faded and was torn in places. She asked the Board to replace the flag and turn the existing flag over to Dave Stacy for proper disposal. Pat Mercer stated that usually Bob Proulx replaces the flag when necessary.
Sandi stated that the ditch for the generator propane line has not been filled in. It was affirmed that Scott will take care of it when he does the water run-off upgrade.
Sandi submitted to the Board three letters for them to sign regarding acreage discrepancies between the tax maps and assessment cards. This is an ongoing project of a number of discrepancies that Sandi is working on throughout the year.
Public comment: The Board entertained and took public comment. Parties that spoke are welcome to submit their comments and attach them to the minutes for public review.
Meeting adjourned 8:30 PM
Respectfully submitted, Sandi Pierson
______________________ Betty Fulton
______________________ Robert Ells
______________________ Patricia Mercer