Town of Bartlett, NH
2007 TOWN MEETING
MINUTES
Moderator
Rob Clark
swore in the election officials and read the following
to open the meeting at 8:00AM on Tuesday, March 13, 2007
at the Bartlett
Town Hall, 56 Town Hall Road, Intervale, New Hampshire:
To the inhabitants of the Town of Bartlett, New
Hampshire in the County
of Carroll in said State, qualified to vote in the Town
affairs: You are hereby notified to meet in the Town
Hall in said Bartlett on
Tuesday, March
13, 2007 at eight o’clock in the forenoon to act
upon the following subjects hereinafter set forth. The
voting on Article 1 will be by official ballot at the
Town Hall and the polls shall open for balloting at
eight o’clock in the forenoon and shall not close before
seven o’clock in the evening. The following articles
(Articles 2 -
22) in the
warrant will be acted upon on Thursday, March 15, 2007
at six thirty o’clock in the evening at the
Josiah Bartlett Elementary School
in
Bartlett Village. We hereby certify that we
posted a like copy of said Town Warrant and Budget on
February 26, 2007 at the Post Offices in Glen and
Bartlett, at the Town Hall in Jntervale (Bartlett) and
the Josiah Bartlett Elementary School (the places of
meeting), all being public places within the said Town
of Bartlett, New Hampshire.
A true copy of
warrant attest: Board of Selectmen
-
Gene G. Chandler,
Douglas A. Garland and Jon Tanguay.
ARTICLE
1. To choose
all necessary Town Officers for the ensuing year.
The polls were then opened at 8:00AM on Tuesday,
March 13, 2007 for voting on Article 1. Voting occurred
until 7:00PM when the polls were closed and ballots
were counted.
There were 272 ballots cast and the results were
announced as follows
(*
denotes winners):
ARTICLE
1. To choose
all necessary Town Officers for the ensuing year.
TOWN
BALLOT
Selectman (3 yrs)
-
Gene G. Chandler
=
194*
Auditor (1 yr)
-
no one on the ballot
-
numerous write-ins all
getting one vote
Library Trustee (3 yrs)
-
no one on the ballot
-
Jane Duggan (write in)
=
17*
Moderator (2 yrs)
-
Robert Clark 223*
Trustee of Trust Funds
(3 yrs) -
no one on ballot
-
numerous write-ins all
getting 1 or 2 votes
Planning Board (3 yrs)
-
Vote for Two: Gordon P.
Daly, Sr. =
113
Francis X. Matranga
=
149*
David Publicover
=
167*
SCHOOL
BALLOT
School Board (3 yrs)
-
Vote for Two: Vicki
Harlow =
194*
Daniel Perley
=
146*
Cheri Sullivan
=
103
Michael Wagner
=
53
Moderator (1 yr)
-
Gerry Tilton
=
213*
Treasurer (3 yrs)
-
Sheila Glines
=
233*
Clerk (1 yr)
-
no one was on ballot
-
various write-ins with 1
or 2 votes
There were write-ins for
the various positions and a copy of those are available
at the Town Clerk’s office. Motion was made and seconded
to adjourn the meeting until Thursday, March 15, 2007 at
6:30PM at the
Josiah Bartlett Elementary School.
Vote was taken -
adjourned at
7:01PM to Thursday March 15, 2007 at 6:30PM at the
Josiah
Bartlett
Elementary School.
Moderator Clark opened
the deliberative portion of Town Meeting held on
Thursday March 15, 2007 at 6:30PM at the Josiah
Bartlett
Elementary School. The
Pledge of Allegiance was led by Girl Scouts
Kassie Platt,
Anya Steesy, Courtney Ainsworth, and Kassandra Gile.
Clark outlined where the various documents and
information was available in the room (including the
Bartlett Historical Society display and the Park
Committee proposed sculptures), as well as the location
of the automatic defibrillator, where the emergency
exits were and read the results of Article 1 as outlined
above. Clark then
proceeded with the rest of the warrant as follows:
ARTICLE 2.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of
$1,635,028 to defray Town charges for the ensuing
year and make appropriations of the same. Selectmen
favor. Motion was made and seconded to accept the
article as read.
Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Gene Chandler
spoke to the article going through details of the budget
by department.
Chandler
then made the motion to increase the bottom line of the
budget by $3,000 to add to the fire department equipment
operation/maintenance line, which was seconded by
Selectman Doug Garland. No further discussion.
Clark
asked for a vote on the amendment
=
PASSED (added $3,000 to
make the total budget $1,638,028).
Discussion continued on
the article as amended.
Leslie Mallett
spoke to the article concerning the
Conservation/Treeplanting
line, asking for money for
maintenance of
the park in the Village on the site of the former
Bartlett Hotel and making a motion to add $2,000 to the
budget, which was seconded. Mallett also stated that
the Girl Scouts
had also raised $250 for the park and would like to
present it to the Selectmen. The aforementioned Girl
Scouts then presented the check to the Selectmen.
Another check in the amount of $50.00 from
Gloria and John
Brennan was also presented.
Chandler
then spoke to the amendment stating that the Selectmen
felt we should wait for another year to have more of an
idea of what is needed and that there is about $1900 in
the park account at the moment. No further discussion.
Vote was taken on the amendment to add $2,000
=
PASSED (added $2,000 to
make the total budget $1,640,028).
No further discussion
and vote was taken on the article as amended
=
PASSED ($1,640,028).
ARTICLE 3.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
$125,000.00 for town road improvements. Selectmen favor.
Motion was made and seconded to accept the article as
read. Chandler
spoke to the article, referencing the Selectmen’s Report
for roads that are on the possible list of work for this
season depending on how well the other roads survive the
winter and spring. No discussion. Vote was taken
=
PASSED ($125,000).
ARTICLE 4.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of $60,000.00 for
removing the old
floor drain pipe and outside tank at the Town Garage
and related clean up work; installation of monitoring
wells; installation of a new floor drain pipe and tank
in accordance with State of NH regulations; and a
containment tank for waste oil tanks at the Town Garage.
Selectmen favor. Motion was made and seconded to accept
the article as read.
Chandler
spoke to the article, stating that we have already spent
some of the money as we felt it important to get some of
the work done as soon as possible. No discussion. Vote
was taken =
PASSED ($60,000).
ARTICLE 5.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of $18,980.00 for a new
police cruiser
to replace a 2000 cruiser. Selectmen favor. Motion was
made and seconded to accept the article as read.
Chandler
spoke to the article, stating that while we may have
gotten another year out of the vehicle, we decided to
go ahead with the purchase now in order to take
advantage of installing the Project 54 radio equipment
that would be paid for through a grant and the grant
program expires this year. No discussion. Vote was taken
=
PASSED ($18,980).
ARTICLE 6.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of $8,300.00 for
new office
equipment at the Town Hall including a copy machine and
computer software update. Selectmen favor. Motion
was made and seconded to accept the article as read. Chandler
spoke to the article explaining the various machines and
software that would be purchased as part of this
article. No discussion. Vote was taken PASSED
($8,300).
ARTICLE 7.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of $6,000.00 for a new
poly reversible
plow, drive frame, and cylinders for use by the Highway
Department. Selectmen favor. Motion was made and
seconded to accept the article as read. Chandler spoke to the article. No discussion.
Vote was taken =
PASSED
($6,000).
ARTICLE 8.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of $15,000.00 for the purchase of
replacement fire
hose and related equipment for the Fire Department.
Selectmen favor. Motion was made and seconded to accept
the article as read. Chandler spoke to the article. No discussion.
Vote was taken PASSED
($15,000).
ARTICLE 9.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of $500.00 for the
Eastern
Slope
Airport authority for its use in
operating the
Eastern
Slope
Regional
Airport in 2007. Selectmen
favor. Motion was made and seconded to accept the
article as read. Chandler
spoke to the article. No discussion. Vote was taken
=
PASSED ($500).
ARTICLE 10. To see if the Town will vote to raise
and appropriate $35,000.00 to be added to the
Capital Reserve
Fund established in 2005 under the provisions of NH
RSA 35:1 for the purpose of
acquisition of
land and construction of a new
Bartlett
Public Library. Agreeable to a petition signed
by Marcia
Burchstead and others. Chandler
opposes/Tanguay
favors $10,000/Garland abstains. Motion was made and
seconded to accept the article as read.
Linda Hastings, Friends of the Bartlett Library
member, spoke to the article stating the bottom line is
that they need more space.
Frank Graham
spoke in favor of the article citing a liability issue
due to lack of space.
Julia King
stated she supports the
article, outlined some of the work done so far, and
stated she knows the Selectmen plan to amend the amount
of the article and she would not support that. Chandler
corrected her and stated the Selectmen do not plan to
amend the article.
Jimi Emery
asked if the library could stay in the school.
King stated
that although they have met in the past with the school
board and officials, that no architectural work or study
has been done yet.
Norman Head
stated the article states for acquisition of land and
construction and therefore the money couldn’t be used
for studies or architectural work. Rob Upton stated he
supported the article. No further discussion. Vote was
taken =
PASSED ($35,000).
ARTICLE 11.
To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen
to discontinue
the collection of franchise fees from cable subscribers
in the amount of $51,000 and to advise the cable
provider to discontinue billing
Bartlett
subscribers for said franchise fee effective April 1.
2007. Agreeable to a petition signed by
William Fabrizio
and others. Motion was made and seconded to accept the
article as read.
William Fabrizio spoke to the article explaining his
reasoning on why the fees should be discontinued. Chandler corrected him on
the fact that the franchise fees were originally used to
bring cable TV to areas in town that did not meet the
number of houses per mile required by the company. Once
all areas got it, the fees just went into the general
fund to reduce taxes.
Chandler
also pointed out the number of condos (and which are
presumably mostly second homes) in town that also pay
the fee but do not necessarily use town services. Garland spoke to the article supporting former Jackson
Selectman Dee McClave’s argument that the lines run
through the town right-of-way and should pay for their
use. Frank
Pingree asked if we could put this money into a fund
for creating cable free TV. Chandler
stated we could not do this for this year as it was not
warned, but could be done in future years through a
warrant article.
Kathleen Sullivan Head stated that she misses Ch. 3
not only for Bartlett’s meetings but to watch other
town’s meetings to see what issues they are addressing
and she spoke against the article feeling that fee
collection should be preserved in the event the public
access channel is renegotiated or other public access to
info such as a website can be developed using the fees.
No further discussion.
Vote was taken
FAILED.
ARTICLE 12.
To see if the Town will vote to
discontinue the
Capital Reserve Fund for the Loader which was
created in 1996 and which was expended per Article 5 of
the 1998 Town Meeting but was not properly discontinued.
Said funds with any accumulated interest to date of
closure are to be transferred to the town’s general
fund. (Majority vote required). Motion was made and
seconded to accept the article as read. Chandler spoke to the article explaining this
was just a housekeeping item at the request of the NH
Dept. of Revenue. No discussion. Vote was taken
=
Moderator Clark declared
it PASSED by a
majority as there were no dissenting votes.
ARTICLE 13. To see if the Town will vote to
accept the deed
for one-tenth of a mile of Ledge View Drive road. The road begins at
an intersecting point at
Glen Ledge Rd. in the area of
Glen and runs one-tenth of a mile to a cul-de-sac. Final
acceptance is subject to verification by the Selectmen
that all construction and surfacing has been completed
to current town standards. Agreeable to a petition
signed by Carl
Nelson and others. Motion was made and seconded to
accept the article as
read. Bill Beck,
resident of the road, spoke to the article, stating the
road was built to town specs at the time it was built
with full intentions of having the town take it over.
Chandler
stated that it probably did at the time it was built but
we have changed the road specs. we don’t know whether it
meets those or not and the town’s engineer will have to
review it at the property owners’ expense.
Norman Head
stated he would support the town taking the road if it
meets current town specs. No further discussion. Vote
was taken =
PASSED.
Motion was made and
seconded to take Articles 14-20 as a block. Vote was
taken =
PASSED.
Clark
asked for any discussion on any of the articles. There
was none. Vote was taken on Articles 14-2 0
=
PASSED AS FOLLOWS:
ARTICLE 14.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of $4,769.00 to support
Bartlett home
delivered meals (Meals on Wheels), congregate
meals, transportation, and program services provided by
the Gibson Center for Senior Services, Inc. Agreeable to
a petition signed by
Ernest Menard
and others. Selectmen favor. PASSED ($4,769).
ARTICLE 15.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of $3,582.00 to assist The
Mental Health Center.
Agreeable to a petition signed by
Maureen Cason
Hanlon and others. Selectmen favor. PASSED ($3,582).
ARTICLE 16.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of $7,364.12 for the support of the
White Mt. Community
Health Center
to help meet the healthcare needs of the uninsured and
underinsured residents of
Bartlett. Agreeable to petition
signed by Drew
Smith and others. Selectmen favor. PASSED
(7,364.12).
ARTICLE 17.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of $4,000.00 for support of the
Tn-County
Community Action Program for the purpose of
continuing services of the
Fuel Assistance
Program for the residents of Bartlett. Agreeable to
a petition signed by
Doris Chadbourne
and others. Selectmen favor. PASSED ($4,000).
ARTICLE 18.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of
$3,500.00 for
the Early
Support and Services Program (birth to 3 yrs.) of
Children
Unlimited, Inc.
Agreeable to a petition signed by
Suzette Chaine
and others.
Selectmen favor. PASSED
($3,500).
ARTICLE 19.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of
$1,348.00 to help defray
the costs of Service Delivery of the
Mt. Washington
Valley Chapter of the
American Red
Cross.
Chandler
opposes -
not a proper use
of town funds for
national organizations and petition was late/Garland and
Tanguay favor. PASSED
($1,348).
ARTICLE 20.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
the sum of $1,110.00 in support of
Starting Point
providing crisis services to the victims of domestic and
sexual violence and their children. Agreeable to a
petition signed by
Suzette
Indelicato and others. Selectmen favor. PASSED
($1,110).
ARTICLE 21. To see if the town will go on
record in support of effective actions by the President
and the Congress to address
the issue of
climate change which is increasingly harmful to the
environment and economy of New
Hampshire and to the future well being of
the people of
Bartlett. These actions include:
1.
Establishment of a
national program requiring reductions of
U.S.
greenhouse gas emissions while protecting the U.S. economy. 2. Creation of a major
national research initiative to foster rapid
development of sustainable energy technologies thereby
stimulating new jobs and investment. In addition, the
town of Bartlett
encourages New Hampshire citizens to
work for emission reductions within their communities,
and we ask Selectmen to consider the appointment of a
voluntary energy committee to recommend local steps to
save energy and reduce emissions. The record of the vote
on this article shall be transmitted to the New
Hampshire Congressional Delegation, to the President of
the
United States, and to
declared candidates for those offices. Agreeable to a
petition signed by
David Shedd
and others. Motion was made and seconded to accept the
article as read.
David Shedd spoke to the article.
Gail Paine
spoke in support of the article and volunteered to serve
on the committee if it is created. No further
discussion. Vote was taken
=
PASSED.
ARTICLE
22. To transact any other business that may
legally come before said meeting. Motion was made and
seconded to accept the article as read.
Norman Head
spoke on behalf of the newly formed
Bartlett
Historical Society and encouraged all residents to
become a member for a mere $10 as it would go a long way
to help the Society.
Julia King
asked to acknowledge the absence of
John Murphy
(Dundee Rd.) who passed away this year and was a
constant presence at Town Meeting, whether you agreed
with him or not.
Frank Graham asked if the old items that were being
replaced in Articles 5, 6, and 7 would be sold or traded
in. Chandler stated that we would either sell or
trade in any items that are replaced and it would be
listed in Revenues under Sale of Town Property.
Fire Chief L.
Patrick Roberts asked that residents remove any old
numbers identifying their property now that the F9 11
system is enacted. Even if you are not putting up your
new number, please remove the old one as it is less
confusing for those that have put up their correct
numbers. Roberts also stated that the Bartlett
Firefighters Association has numbers for sale if you
need to buy one.
William Fabrizio stated that he would think the
roads would be reviewed by the town before coming to
Town Meeting for acceptance. No further discussion.
Motion was made and
seconded to adjourn the meeting. Vote ADJOURNED
at 8:01PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn P. Jones
Leslie Mallett
Administrative Assistant to the Selectmen
Town Clerk
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