June 30, 2009

MINUTES

Selectmen Present: Chairman Michael Brooks, Michel Benoit. John Arruda arrived late.

Others Present: Administrators Melissa Arias & Sue Stacey; Tax Collector Marcia Shackford; Solid Waste Advisory Sub-Committee members David Downs, Ruth Ham, Ray O’Brien, Marcia McKenna; Eva Christiansen of Organics Diversion; Road Agent Bill Chick; Madison TV Videographer Emilie Riss.

Where and When Posted: Town Hall upper and lower bulletin boards, and Madison & Silver Lake Post Offices on September 29, 2008.

Meeting Called To Order: By the Chairman at 5:30 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Benoit made a motion to approve the Selectmen’s Meeting minutes of June 16, 2009 as prepared, seconded by Brooks, and so voted. One set of minutes approved as prepared.

APPROVAL OF MANIFESTS – Benoit made a motion to approve the first Manifest of June 30, 2009 in the amount of $19,685.97 for payroll, seconded by Brooks, and so voted. Benoit made a motion to approve the second Manifest of June 30, 2009 in the amount of $55,515.94 for accounts payable, seconded by Brooks, and so voted. Benoit made a motion to approve the third Manifest of June 30, 2009 in the amount of $150,000.00 for Madison School District for release on July 8, 2009, seconded by Brooks, and so voted.

THERE WERE NO PUBLIC COMMENTS AT THIS TIME.

DEEDING WAIVERS – Tax Collector Marcia Shackford presented an updated list of property owners with delinquent 2006 taxes. Shackford will be attempting to reach out to the individuals on the list between now and the deeding deadline of noon on July 14, 2009. Tax Collector Deeds for the seven land only parcels can be signed during the July 14th meeting, where the Selectmen will vote whether to take the eight parcels with buildings or execute Deed Waivers due to environmental or liability reasons. Shackford will attend the July 14th meeting and have the deeds for building parcels ready for signature on the morning of July 15, 2009.

FIRST-ISSUE TAX COMMITMENT - Shackford informed the Selectmen that as of today, one day before the July 1, 2009 due date, 78.6% of the 1st issue property tax commitment has been collected. Shackford said over 99% of the comments on semi-annual taxation have been positive.

FUTURE SELECTMEN’S MEETING START TIME – The Selectmen discussed Arruda’s request to start future Selectmen’s Meetings at a later time due to his work schedule. Brooks suggested a 7:00 p.m. start time beginning on July 14th, until further notice. Benoit was agreeable to this suggestion so the change in meeting time will be properly posted.

CURRENT USE LAND USE CHANGE TAX APPEAL – The Selectmen revisited Stephen Morrill’s Current Use Land Use Change Tax appeal from the last meeting. Arias prepared a history of the assessment and property taxes paid for the parcel in question, prior to the recent subdivision. Also included was how the penalty was calculated by the assessing firm and the backland values Morrill suggested basing the penalty on. Benoit believed Morrill’s testimony but unfortunately it can’t be corroborated because it wasn’t formally documented in a letter or meeting minutes. Benoit said he feels granting the land use change tax abatement request would be arbitrary in nature and would set a precedent for future requests. Arruda spoke with Arias via phone earlier today and asked her to voice his opposition to the appeal. Morrill will be informed in writing that the Board of Selectmen is not willing to reduce the land use change tax. Brooks said the next step for Morrill would likely be to appeal at the State of New Hampshire Board of Tax and Land Appeals level.

TRANSFER STATION YARD WASTE – The Selectmen met with Eva Christiansen of Earthtenders from Farmington, NH about the town’s yard waste dilemma. Madison resident Russ Lanoie intended to participate in the discussion but had to cancel at the last minute. Earthtenders is a 17-acre composting site that is highly regarded by New Hampshire’s Waste Management Division. Earthtenders has participated in the Solid Waste Operator Certification program training attendants, and does consulting work. Earthtenders will give special consideration to municipalities due to limited operating budgets, and will also allow year-round disposal at the Farmington site. Christianson said the Highway Department could haul yard debris on a monthly or quarterly basis or Earthtenders could arrange the hauling for us at a cost. Brooks gave Christiansen an idea of our problem trying to segregate yard waste from brush, along with our limited storage space and the dilemma of how to handle debris in the future. Selectman Arruda joined the meeting. Christiansen said Earthtenders would charge the Town a flat “tipping” fee for yard waste, probably between $850 - $925 annually. Christiansen would accept our existing material if the Town hauls it and signs a contract for next year. Earthtenders actively manages the debris in windrows and packages the compost under the Earthtenders name, selling as locally as the Mountain Greenery. The group briefly touched on accepting food wastes to haul away to a composting facility. A special storage container would be required and food waste would have to be hauled every 7 – 10 days. Food waste would be charged by the ton or cubic yard, with the possibility of a flat rate per haul. Public information sessions would be key to getting the food waste out of the general waste stream. Christiansen said a pay-as-you-throw system would give taxpayers and residents incentive to begin thoroughly sorting their recyclables. New Hampshire is way below the National average for disposing of recyclable materials. Christiansen fielded questions from the Selectmen and Solid Waste Advisory Committee, leaving the discussion with an offer to assist with future planning, feasibility study and budget crunching.

SOLID WASTE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TRANSFER STATION REPORT – Members of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) were in to present the Selectmen with a report of findings and recommendations based upon their recent research into Transfer Station operations. Their primary focus has been on recycling and the cost savings it provides. Trying to shrink the size of the attendant’s supervision area would be helpful. The bulky and demolition areas should be better defined and supervised for optimal fee collection based on observed imbalances in fees collected. The Committee is recommending the Town’s backhoe be kept at the Transfer Station from Friday afternoon to Monday morning so a qualified operator can compact the roll-off containers, affecting an estimated annual cost savings of $4,000 to $14,000. If the backhoe compaction is successful, the Town might look to purchase a used backhoe for the Transfer Station or hand down existing equipment when replaced by the Highway Department. Chick has no problem sharing the backhoe or storing it at the Transfer Station, and is comfortable with our part-time seasonal employee running it. The Highway Department would retrieve the backhoe if needed for weekend call-out. In the long run, it would be ideal to get rid of the existing glass pile and convert the glass enclosure to metal storage. It would be more cost effective to keep the glass out of the commingled waste. How to handle glass disposal in the meantime would be to either do nothing, get a bulldozer rental to crush and push back the existing glass in the glass enclosure, or have the glass ground into an aggregate the Highway Department could utilize. Grinding on-site is very expensive but effective; hauling glass to a grinding site is very costly for the trucking. Chick said the glass has been pushed back twice since the Transfer Station was rebuilt in 2003. The Committee recommends designating a flat area where items with Freon can be properly stored to allow extraction prior to hauling away. The Selectmen decided to try the backhoe at the Transfer Station over the 4th of July weekend, which Chick agreed to arrange. Chick is to instruct the operator to be extremely cautious if he has to operate the backhoe when patrons are around. The Committee hopes the compaction could be done prior to opening and right after closing, not necessarily when the station is open to the public. Benoit said some municipal transfer stations have a 50% rule to determine which area an item is deposited in. For example, an aluminum exterior door with the wooden jam attached should be deposited in the metal pile because 80% of the unit is metal. Chick will ask the Ward Parcel contractor to push back and compact the existing glass pile when he finishes on the Ward Parcel. The Selectmen decided to have the existing metal pile picked up before establishing a flat location for storage of Freon containing items. Current metal pricing will be sought.

STREET LIGHTING – Additional information has come in from Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) pertaining to the last Selectmen’s meeting and PSNH’s original street light report. The Police Department has been out to confirm and review existing street light locations and a report should be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

THERE WERE NO PUBLIC COMMENTS AT THIS TIME.

SIGNATURE ITEMS –

PURCHASE REQUISITION – #2009-FIRE-001 - ROMCorp. ($182.78) door replacement parts

REQUEST TO USE TOWN PROPERTY – resident Susan Klomp for Starting Point, Foot of the Lake beach, August 11th from 5-8 pm.

ABATEMENT APPLICATION – Granted – Souza (255-006)

WELFARE LIEN – for $1,000 rental assistance

ADJOURNED – 7:37 PM – Arruda made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Benoit, and so voted.

NEXT SELECTMEN’S MEETING – The next meeting will be on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 7:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Melissa S. Arias, Administrator

Recording Secretary