Town of Lyme
Board of Selectmen
Minutes for March 6, 2008
1. The regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen convened at 8:00 AM in the Fire Station training room. The following attended the entire meeting: Dick Jones, Simon Carr, Charles Ragan, Bookkeeper/Secretary Dina Cutting and Administrative Assistant Carole Bont. The following attended part of the meeting: Road Agent Fred Stearns, Town Clerk Patty Jenks, Police Chief Pauline Field and Rusty Estes.
2. The following administrative matters were discussed and actions taken:
a. The minutes for February 28 were approved, as submitted.
b. The manifest was reviewed and signed.
3. Highways. Fred came to discuss issues:
a. Winter materials budget. Due to the exceptional winter this has now been exhausted. Fred estimates that he will need a further $30,000. The Board agreed that it would be necessary to make a floor amendment to the budget at town meeting to cover this. There might be some state funds available as a State of Emergency had been declared for at least one of the recent storms and we will investigate this.
b. Parking for Town meeting. Possible areas for parking were considered:
i. Rte 10. Pauline said that DOT had been contacted earlier about pushing back the snow on Route 10 as there was no possible parking there. We need to contact DOT again.
ii. The Common. Fred said he and Bill were concerned about the damage if we permitted parking on the Common. However he will push back the banks on the back side so that there can be a line of parallel parking there.
iii. Lyme Inn. Patty will check with Tony Pippin to use this. If so, then Fred will arrange to plow the lot.
iv. Dowds Inn. If there is no function we might be able use the parking. Pauline will confirm this with Tammy.
v. The school has had so many snow days that we could not ask them to close for the day.
vi. Ask everyone who can to carpool.
vii. Dina will co-ordinate the parking issues. Shaun will be on duty but should be inside to answer police questions during the business part of the meeting.
4. Rusty Estes came in regarding a building permit on Shoestrap Road (Maple Lane). His property driveway was not beyond the new gates and he was concerned about a building permit. Dick had confirmed with Francesca that this was a pre-existing lot and he would get the necessary permit as long as the driveway connected to the Class V section of Maple Lane.
5. Conservation Commission: Dick summarized the minutes of March 3.
a. DES require that a standard dredge and fill permit is required for the second and third “castor masters”. This requires consulting fees of approximately $3000. The Board discussed the possibility of Francesca undertaking this work as she has significant experience of the subject. It was agreed to discuss this further with her.
b. Vicki May will be standing down from the Commission. The Commission will be looking for a replacement after town meeting.
6. Recreation By-Laws: There was a discussion on the Recreation By-Laws with respect to the boat launch. Pauline suggested that the boat launch should be treated as a separate set of by-laws, because this is access to state water.
Patty emphasized that the Board should show their support for the police, as this was an enforcement of town by-laws.
The issue of canoe storage will come up at town meeting and the proposal will be that, with public input, we formulate separate by-laws together with proposals for canoe/kayak storage.
7. There was a discussion of the questions raised at Little Town Meeting. There were no specific issues to be addressed.
8. Town Meeting:
a. Setup: 5:00 PM Monday March 10. The temporary staging in front of the stage will remain till after the school play. This means that the whole seating area will need to be moved further from the stage. We will also need additional tables, for the additional clerks and displays.
b. There will need to be a floor amendment to the budget for highway winter materials. It was felt that including funding for the ‘caster masters’ installation and permitting would raise the whole beaver issue prematurely.
c. The Board with finalize coverage hours at the set-up.
9. Francesca had submitted the staff portion for her performance appraisal. Carole and Dina said they will complete theirs as soon as they can.
10. There was a discussion on the $1,830 payment for the ‘beaver deceiver’ installed in November. The Board voted to pay for this from the selectmen’s miscellaneous budget. The Board also agreed that staff should not give up income to cover shortfalls in their budgets.
11. At 9:18 AM Dick moved and Charles seconded a motion to go into non-public session under the authority of RSA 91-A:3 II(c) – “Matters which, if discussed in public, would likely affect adversely the reputation of any person”. The motion carried by unanimous roll-call vote. Simon Carr, Dick Jones, Charles Ragan, Dina Cutting and Carole Bont attended the non-public session. The procedure for handling hardship abatements and a hardship abatement were discussed. During the non-public session Dick moved and Charles seconded that the minutes of the non-public session be sealed, which was carried by unanimous roll-call vote. The Board returned to public session at 9:32 AM.
12. The meeting adjourned at 9:33 AM.
Simon Carr
Recorder
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