TOWN OF WALPOLE
MEETING OF THE SELECTBOARD
APRIL 24, 2014

Selectboard Present: Chas Street (Chair); Whitney Aldrich, Steven Dalessio
CALL TO ORDER: Mr. Street called this meeting to order at 6:00 PM in the Walpole Town Hall with five people in attendance.
These are unapproved Minutes.

PUBLIC BUSINESS:
JUSTIN CASSARINO: Mr. Cassarino submitted an application for the Director of the Recreation Department. He works in the school system and is coaching girls’ softball and soccer plus referreeing for recreation games and other school events. This will fit into his summer schedule very well. He likes to stay busy. Mrs. Clough pointed out that several people inquired about the position but Mr. Cassarino applied. Mr. Dalessio asked what he sees as a vision for the Recreation Department. Mr. Cassarino wants to give back to the Town of Walpole because the community is amazing. He wants to have events to get the youth excited. Maybe on Friday have the pool open all day and at night have a movie that they can attend as well. He wants to get the youth active and involved in sports. A lot of the youth tell him that they really want to do something but they are nervous. He keeps trying to convince them to get out there and give it a try. Have strong community events that everyone is aware of. It should be organized. Mr. Dalessio asked if he were to go out to seek the assistant coaches and ask them what they thought of Mr. Cassarino what does he think they would they say. Mr. Cassarino feels they would say he is very professional and a good team player; he always gives something 110%. His biggest rule is not to yell because that makes people uncomfortable and nervous so they will not put their best foot forward. He is always looking for feedback. Mr. Street noted that the Recreation Committee has been active in recent years; it is a good group of people who have accomplished quite a bit. Joe Goodhue always stayed within the budget. That will be one of his responsibilities. Mr. Aldrich is the Selectboard liaison to the Recreation Department. Mrs. Clough will work with him. Mr. Dalessio asked Mr. Cassarino to look beyond the pool. Mr. Street added that that was a good point as the Selectboard has been trying to push the Recreation Committee in that direction and they have done very well; they are responsible for the whole recreation center. He should feel free to contact Mr. Jim Terrell to help take care of heavy projects, take care of the bushes, etc. Mrs. Clough noted that this is on the Highway Department work schedule. Mr. Cassarino will meet with the Recreation Committee on Sunday, April 27th at 6:00 PM. Once the Recreation Committee has met with Mr. Cassarino the Selectboard will vote on the hiring.

CEMETERY COMMITTEE – Dale Woodward: Mr. Woodward advised that last spring he came in to talk to the Selectboard about the cave in at one of the tombs (vault). He encouraged the Selectboard to look at them and he talked about the safety issues there. It is now another spring so he looked at the area and noticed that there is more erosion and you can actually see in the tombs. It is not a safe place to be. He is concerned that they cannot let this ride. Mr. Woodward displayed some pictures. The Cemetery Committee met this morning and they feel this is beyond them but they are willing to help. Mr. Street questioned if this is something that the Highway Department could work on but Mr. Woodward felt they need an outside contractor. Doug Faxon thought the project would be in excess of $30,000 and he would not guarantee that it would hold. He encouraged the Selectboard to look at it. There are three sets of tombs there; one of them is having erosion on the sides so there will be problems in the near future and the third one has a brick façade on a portion of it that is just falling off. Most of them have been cement blocked up so they are closed but the ravages of time are showing up. The Historical Society had someone do a talk on stone walls so Mr. Woodward is going to contact him as he might come over to look and give us some advice. The Town of Walpole owns them. An option would be to remove them but that would also be an expense and they would lose the historical value of the tombs. Mr. Woodward recommended that the Highway Crew put some stakes up with some “No Trespassing” signs up or
something similar for liability purposes. Mrs. Clough will ask Mr. Terrell to look at the area and make some suggestions. Mr. Woodward noted that there is about $400,000 in principal in the Cemetery Trust Funds. His understanding is that the trust fund earns interest and there is about $40,000 in that interest fund. Mr. Woodward’s question is that he knows this is perpetual care money but are there any funds available to fix the tombs without going to the taxpayers. Mrs. Clough will talk to Mrs. Pschirrer, Trustee of Trust Funds, about the terms of the trust. Mr. Woodward also questioned the availability of Historical Grant Funds. There was a consensus to have the Cemetery Committee look into grants. The Selectboard agreed to have Mr. Terrell look at the area first to make his recommendations.

JAN LECLERC: Mrs. LeClerc advised that their barn burned back in January. They are now ready to start re-building. The new barn will not be exactly the same as what was there but the footprint is almost the same. It is within less than 10-feet from where it was and the shape is a little different.

BUILDING / DEMOLITION PERMITS:
Mr. Dalessio moved to approve Demolition Permit No. 2014-08 for Jan Galloway Leclerc, Carol Galloway and JoAn Galloway at Town Tax Map #002-Lot #009-000, 721 County Road, to “Demolish burnt barn (barn fire 01/03/14)”, as submitted. Seconded by Mr. Aldrich. With all in favor, the motion was approved.

Mr. Dalessio moved to approve Building Permit No. 2014-09 for Jan Galloway Leclerc, Carol Galloway & JoAn Galloway at Town Tax Map #002, Lot #009-000, 721 County Road to “Rebuild a 112’ x 116’ 2 Story Barn”, as submitted. Seconded by Mr. Aldrich. With all in favor, the motion was approved.

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE:
Mr. Dalessio moved to approve the Accounts Payable check register and manifest for checks dated April 25, 2014, in the amount of $45,135.32. Seconded by Mr. Aldrich. With all in favor, the motion was approved.

PAYROLL:
Mr. Dalessio moved to approve the payroll voucher for the week ending April 19, 2014, in the amount of $19,743.29. Seconded by Mr. Aldrich. With all in favor, the motion was approved.
Mr. Dalessio moved to approve the electronic transfer for the 941 Employer Taxes for Withholding, MEDI and FICA taxes in the amount of $4,442.23. Seconded by Mr. Aldrich. With all in favor, the motion was approved.

SELECTBOARD MEETING MINUTES:
SELECTBOARD MEETING – April 17, 2014: Mr. Dalessio moved to approve the Minutes of the Selectboard meeting of April 17, 2014, as submitted. Seconded by Mr. Aldrich. With all in favor, the minutes were approved.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
The Selectboard received and review Minutes of the following meetings:
 Planning Board – April 8, 2014; and
 North Walpole Village District Board of Commissioners – April 22, 2014.

NEW BUSINESS:
LETTER FROM DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (DOT): The Selectboard acknowledged receipt of the letter from the DOT regarding the reconstruction of the at-grade crossing of the Spur-Green
Mountain Railroad and NH Route 12 in the Town of Walpole. Mrs. Clough sent Mr. Terrell a copy and will send a copy to Mr. Mark Houghton for their input and indicate a date for them to respond. The tentative advertising date for this project is June 24, 2014.

UTILITIES CONTRACT: The Selectboard acknowledged receipt of an email from Mrs. Teague regarding the expiring electric contract. Currently the Town of Walpole was locked into rates with Nextera Energy with the Fall Mountain Regional School District and the Town of Alstead. However, due to rate restructuring Mrs. Teague is recommending that they change to Liberty Utilities but it is a Selectboard decision. The Selectboard reviewed the various Town accounts and rates. There was a Selectboard consensus to sign the letter to Nextera Energy to terminate their contract and to change the accounts to Liberty Utilities. Mrs. Teague came into the meeting. She provided an explanation as to why the rates are going up. For many years the five towns in the FMRSD buy in with them to take advantage of lower rates. Mrs. Teague shops at six different suppliers. Currently she is watching the market for heating oil.
Mr. Aldrich moved that the Town of Walpole move their accounts from Nextera Energy, at the termination of the contract in May of 2014, to Liberty Utilities until further notice and authorize the Chairman of the Selectboard to sign the letter. Seconded by Mr. Dalessio. With all in favor, the motion was approved.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ON THE COMMON: Mr. Street recommended that Mrs. Clough ask Mr. Herb Hurlburt to take the Christmas lights off the tree on the Common.

RECESS SELECTBOARD MEETING: Mr. Aldrich moved to recess this Selectboard meeting. The Selectboard will enter into a meeting as the Hooper Trustees. Seconded by Mr. Dalessio. With all in favor, the motion was approved at 7:10 PM.

The regular Selectboard meeting resumed at 7:26 PM.

OLD BUSINESS:
COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS: Mr. Aldrich moved to appoint / re-appoint the following committee members:
 Recreation Commission – Eliza Miller for a three year term;
 Hooper Scholarship Committee – Tom Goins for a two year term;
 Jan Galloway – Hooper Scholarship for a two year term;
 Karen Galloway – Hooper Institute for a three year term; and
 Bob Anderson – Zoning Board of Adjustment as an Alternate member for a three year term.
Seconded by Mr. Dalessio. With all in favor, the motion was approved.

INSURANCE LETTER: The Selectboard acknowledged receipt of a letter from Dana Hemenway, dated April 22, 2014, requesting a copy of the ‘status report’ mentioned in the Flynn, Riedel & Young letter dated April 16, 2014, in regards to his claim. Mrs. Clough feels he wants copies of all the correspondence; the Selectboard authorized Mrs. Clough to send copies of the correspondence as requested by Mr. Hemenway. Mrs. Clough advised that the Town received a copy of the letter from Flynn, Riedel and Young that was sent to Dana Hemenway. Mr. Dalessio recommended that the Selectboard get a copy of the ‘status report’ from Flynn, Riedel and Young or Health Trust. Mrs. Clough will follow-up.

NON-PUBLIC SESSION:
Mr. Aldrich moved to enter into a Non-Public Session pursuant to RSA 91-A:3 II to discuss (a) Personnel and (c) Reputations. Mr. Dalessio seconded the motion and, on a roll call vote with all in favor, the motion was approved at 7:55 PM.

The regular meeting resumed at 8:05 PM.

ADJOURNMENT:
Mr. Dalessio moved to adjourn this meeting. Seconded by Mr. Aldrich. With all in favor, the motion was approved at 8:06 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Regina Borden, Recording Secretary