Chairman William Hutchins called the regular session of the Selectmen’s meeting to order on Wednesday, January 9, 2002, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was held in the Grantham Town Offices, located at 34 Dunbar Hill Road, Grantham, NH.

Chairman William Hutchins

Selectman Michael J. Hayward, Sr.

Selectman Constance Jones

Town Administrator Tina Stearns

• Accounts Payable Manifest #14 - Approved
• Payroll Manifest #2002-1 - Approved
• Building Permits - Approved
• Beardslee, Howard & Ann – M225 L181 – 49 Troon Drive – Addition
• Paragon Homes Inc., - M222 L1.2 – Burpee Hill Road – New Construction
• For Signature - Approved
• New London Dispatch Agreement
• Audit Representation Letter
• Property Tax Abatements – due to software conversion errors:
• Stacey, Charles G. & Gail F. – M233 L48
• Cashman, Leonard R. & Judith – M233 L48
• McCarthy, Robert B. & Judith A. – M212 L87
• Cashman, Leonard R. & Judith – M233 L50
• Daniels, Thomas D. – M225 L249
• Hagopian, Gary – M212 L103
• Eastman Sewer Plant – M222 L281
• Property Tax Refunds:
• Barton, Kenneth O. & Joyce A. – M233 L78 – elderly exemption incorrect amount
• Holzworth, James R. & Sandra S. – M222 L42 – annexed lot
• MV Registration Refund – Approved
• Glass, Richard – Not Grantham Resident
• Pole Petition – PSNH & Verizon #9AACZP – 6 Poles on New Aldrich Road
• Pole Petition – PSNH & Verizon #9AACSJ – 1 Pole on Mill Pond Road
• Motion made by Selectman Jones to approve the $50 Veteran Tax Credit applicable beginning with the December 2002 property tax billing of Christopher Place; seconded by Selectman Hayward. Unanimously approved.
• Motion made by Selectman Jones to approve the $50 Veteran Tax Credit applicable beginning with the December 2002 property tax billing of Christopher Newton; seconded by Selectman Hayward. Unanimously approved.
• Motion made by Selectman Hayward to approve the $700 Veteran Tax Credit for Disabled Veterans applicable beginning with the December 2002 property tax billing of Alan D. Lee; seconded by Selectman Jones. Unanimously approved.

Selectman Hayward made a motion to accept the minutes of the December 12, 2001 regular & non-public meeting; seconded by Selectman Jones. Unanimously approved.

Bob MacNeil & Susan Oliveri of Grantham Indoor – A permit has been received from NH DOT to raise Yankee Barn Road up 18 inches. The contractor suggested waiting until Spring to being the work. Mr. MacNeil want to put a petitioned warrant article to the voters of Grantham at Town Meeting in March. He is looking for some guidance/language for the warrant article from the Board of Selectmen.

Selectman Jones believes the petition language would be appropriate if the road were already built. She suggested doing the construction on the road and bringing it to Town Meeting 2003. Connie’s stand is that the Selectmen could not entertain taking the road over until it had been in place for at least one year. If Mr. MacNeil fulfills his original plans for the property this road will see an increase in traffic.

Mr. MacNeil informed the Board that NH DOT does not want to see it paved in order to determine how the flooding does with the road raised. Bob does not want to have the additional cost of building the road if the town is not going to agree to take it over. His understanding is that if the road is not accepted by the town as a Class V road than he cannot subdivide his property due to the lack of road frontage. Bob has development plans for the property but they are contingent on the ability to subdivide.

Selectman Hayward feels that it needs to be brought to town specifications prior to requesting that the town accept it as a Class V road. The road is also State of NH owned which is why the Selectmen were hesitant to accept it.

Mr. MacNeil would rather have the Selectmen give the acceptance of the road the okay instead of taking it to Town Meeting. The length of the discussed road portion is to the base of the hill which would be approximately 600 feet of road. Bob wants the security of knowing the town will accept the road is he expends the money to upgrade it. If the petitioned warrant article is turned down then his intention is to raise the road 18 inches and leave it at that; make no further upgrades. The warrant article can be worded so that it states he will make the necessary road improvements within a certain amount of time.

Selectman Jones stated that if the article passes then it would be up to the Selectmen and Road Agent to ensure the proper construction is done.

Mr. MacNeil stated that he would like it to be paved but would leave it up to the Board of Selectmen whether the road should be paved or not.

Chairman Hutchins polled the Selectmen and the Board does not have a problem with Mr. MacNeil bringing the petitioned warrant article to Town Meeting.

Mary Hutchins, Local Realtor – Mary approached the Board with a complaint against Tax Collector Rita Eigenbrode. While preparing for a closing on a client’s house, Mary had a situation with the bank paying the taxes and not having them posted by the Tax Collector until 10 business days later. Mary wanted to express her dissatisfaction with the procedure of the Tax Collector. Selectman Jones stated that unfortunately with the Tax Collector being an elected position, the Board of Selectmen have no supervisory authority over her. Town Administrator Stearns informed Mary that she had spoke with Rita regarding the unposted payments. Mrs. Hutchins thanked the Board of Selectmen for taking the time to listen.

Letter from Alan & Sheila Lee – Veteran Credit – Alan Lee applied for and was granted a $50 Veterans Tax Credit in December 2000; this was applied on the December 2001 tax bill. Mr. Lee has re-applied for a $700 Disabled Veterans Tax Credit which has been approved and will be applied to the December 2002 tax bill. Mr. Lee feels that he was misinformed by the office personnel in December 2000 when first applying by not being told that he checked the incorrect box. He requests that the $700 Disabled Veteran Tax Credit be refunded with interest to him for the December 2001 tax billing. Selectman Jones made the motion to deny the request for the refund based on the fact that the applications are self-explanatory and the office personnel cannot change an application that has been submitted; seconded by Selectman Hayward. Unanimously denied.

Request from NHMA Property-Liability Trust to Meet with Selectmen – Thomas J. Dunn, Marketing Manager of NHMA Property-Liability Trust would like to meet with the Board of Selectmen regarding the ramifications to switching insurance to Primex³. Administrator Stearns has spoken with Tom Lopizzo of Primex³ and he stated that NHMA is a claims-made insurer and should be offering the town tail coverage. The Board agreed there is no need to meet with Mr. Dunn and requested Administrator Stearns write a letter questioned NHMA on the tail coverage.

School Lease Agreement – The Board of Selectmen will be meeting with the School Board on January 10^th for further discussion on the lease agreement. It was noted by Administrator Stearns that United Construction sanded the playground area at the school which meant driving a truck over the new leach field. The Town was not contacted by the School regarding the ice in the school yard.

Library Building Fund Money Owed to the Town – It was discovered by the Auditors that the Dunbar Free Library owed the Town of Grantham ~$7,000 from the Building Fund for expenditures that were paid out of the operating budget. Administrator Stearns to contact Library Trustees to request payment.

Landfill Closure Bids – The bid opening for the landfill closure was held on Tuesday, January 8^th with the following results:

United Construction       $235,000.⁰⁰                                 $208,100.⁰⁰

RD Edmunds & Sons     $293,000.⁰⁰                                 $268,000.⁰⁰

Scott’s Construction       $298,400.⁰⁰                                 $258,400.⁰⁰

Paragon Construction     $329,600.⁰⁰                                 $279,600.⁰⁰

David G. Roach & Sons $468,855.⁰⁰                                 $322,132.⁵⁰

Administrator Stearns will contact the Municipal Bond Bank to determine interest rates, etc. for amounts of $300,000.⁰⁰ & $350,000.⁰⁰.

Coalition Update – Memo was received from Pat Remick of Portsmouth asking if the Board of Selectmen drafted a letter seeking support for the proposed Constitutional amendment. The Board has not drafted a letter and Selectman Jones (also a Representative) stated that she and Representative Leone would be supporting the amendment. The proposed amendment basically would do away with "donor" towns but would not eliminate the state education property tax.

Emergency Management Director – F. Robert Osgood requested Selectmen approval to attend a course in dealing with Emergency Response to a Criminal/Terrorist Incident. Unanimous approval.

Tax Collector – Rita Eigenbrode has collected $2,878,732.84 of the warranted $3,158,356.60.

Transfer Station – The Transfer Station has moved to the new location on Route 114. Administrator Stearns informed the Selectmen that Road Agent Joe Newcomb and Asst. Road Agent Jeff Hastings have put in many hours designing and constructing the new Transfer Station and should be highly commended for it. The flow of traffic is very smooth with the new design and the new site better accommodates multiple cars.

Trustee of Trust Funds Report – December 2001 report was received from Connie Howard.

NH DOT Meeting – A meeting has been scheduled for Monday, February 4, 2002 at the Grantham Town Hall for discussion regarding the Route 114 Bridge repairs by the NH DOT.

Grantham Mountain Market Addition – It was noted by Administrator Stearns that an addition was put on the Mountain Market without a building permit. Tina spoke with Tom Frawley of Johnson & Dix Fuel Corp and was told that he had verbal approval on the site plan from the Planning Board that is why he proceeded with the building. Tina is working with Johnson & Dix Fuel Corp to ensure full compliance with the regulations of the Town of Grantham.

At 7:50 p.m. Selectman Jones made the motion to enter into non-public session under the terms of RSA 91:A:3 Para. II(a) to discuss a NH/VT Solid Waste Project confidential issue with Arthur Magowan; seconded by Selectman Hayward. Members were polled: Hutchins – yes, Hayward – yes, Jones – yes. The Selectmen returned to regular session at 8:05 p.m. with no decisions being made.

There being no further business, Selectman Jones made the motion to adjourn; seconded by Selectman Hayward. Meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.

Tina M. Stearns