Town of Westmoreland

Office of Selectmen

Westmoreland, NH 03467

 

Selectmen's Meeting Minutes

 

DATE: June 18, 2009

 

Present: Marjorie Merena, Russell Austin, Russ Kotfila, Leona Gordon, Dick Cate, George Laine               

Marjorie Merena called the meeting to order at 7:00

She began the meeting by reading the following statement:

The June 4 meeting was unacceptable. Please be advised of the following:

1. The Chairperson runs the meeting.
2. The agenda will be followed.
3. Cell phones will be silenced for the duration of the meeting.

4. Voices will not be raised.

The Selectmen are three parts of a whole.
The duty of the selectmen is to "manage the prudential affairs of the town."

The Selectboard enforces the rules; it does not make policy. Residents bring their issues before us at our regularly scheduled meetings and we listen, discuss, and decide how to resolve. We do not present their issues for them.

Meetings are open to the public and we welcome all who care enough about our town to attend. All those who attend will be listed as such in the minutes. The first item on our agenda is "Public Business" which is when we listen to the concerns of the public. After "Public Business" the meeting continues but only the selectmen may speak. Guests are to be still. The chair may recognize a guest and allow him/her to speak - after all, we are all in this together - we are here to serve the town.

We disregard anonymous e-mails and letters and anything said or brought before us by an unnamed person.

Common courtesy is all I ask.

As the Vulcans say, "The honor is to serve."

PUBLIC BUSINESS:
Leona Gordon expressed appreciation for the work done on the
Thompson Road. She thanked the Highway crew for their fine work.

SELECTMEN'S MINUTES:
The Minutes of the
June 4, 2009 meeting were corrected:
1. Under "Public Business" the sentence reading "Russ K. said he had been asked by an abutter..." was changed to "Russ K. said he had been asked by June Derjue, an abutter, ...".
2. Gary Hudson was added to the list of those present.

3. Dennis Chamberlin came to ask permission from the Town to serve beer with meals at his outdoor picnic tables at his restaurant (the Pit Stop) on Route 12. He had already received state permission to serve beer indoors. However, approval from local officials is needed for outdoor serving. After some discussion, the Board agreed to give Dennis approval for this only through July 15. They asked Dennis to return to the Board's regular meeting on July 16 to discuss it further. In addition, Russ K. will discuss this issue with the Planning Board at their July meeting. After input from both the Planning Board and Dennis, the Select Board will determine whether to continue the approval or not.


The Minutes of the
June 4, 2009 meeting were approved as corrected.

OLD BUSINESS:      
In regard to the E-911 request to name shared driveways, Russ K informed us that only those with 3 or more dwellings need to be named. Marjorie will ask Patty Krasner to name the driveway she shares with 2 other residents. Shared driveways with 2 dwellings need to have numbers posted.

In regard to the survey of the Town property and the Hatt property off McAdam Road: Marjorie is waiting for a call-back from Surveyor William Fitzgerald. She will get a copy of the survey the Town had done last year from Wayne McCutcheon.

NEW BUSINESS:
Pistol Permit: Three pistol permits were approved and signed.

The Town received a letter from Recycling Services in Claremont. Due to the economy, they will be charging the Town for swapping containers for our corrugated board and paper at $100 each per swap. They will "revisit" this issue when the economy improves to reduce the fee. Marjorie will call Triple-T to see what they can do for us.

LETTER TO BE SIGNED:
Notice of Property Tax Abatement - James Aldrich
Notice of Property Tax Abatement - Kathleen H.
Watts

APPOINTMENTS:
Marjorie contacted 5 people who might consider the position of Secretary for the Zoning Board.

James Starkey was reappointed to the Planning Board - term expires 2012.
Nancy Zeller was reappointed to the Planning Board - term expires 2012.
Jim Ranson was appointed to be an alternate member of the Planning Board.

At
7:50 PM, Russ Austin moved to go into nonpublic session under RSA 91-A:3, II (c) and/or (e). Russ K. seconded. After roll call, all agreed. Upon the conclusion of this session, all members agreed to seal the minutes per the same RSA. The nonpublic session ended at 9:02 PM.

At
9:05 Russ K. moved that the meeting adjourn. Seconded by Russ A. All in favor so voted.

Respectfully submitted, Marjorie Merena for Tina Blanchard, Assistant

BOARD OF SELECTMEN


Marjorie Merena, Chair


Russell Austin


Russell Kotfila

These are unapproved minutes. Any corrections will be shown in the Selectmen's minutes of
July 2, 2009.