June 2008 Archives
The Meredith News June 26th, 2008
To the Editor:
The Moultonboro Seniors Group has been formed to be a resource for Moultonboro
seniors to help them address their concerns and needs.We will refer seniors to services
available in this area and thus we intend to function as an information highway for seniors. Also, we will have a monthly calendar that will list events of interest to seniors and they may pick up their copy at the library every month.The calendar will also list other helpful information. For information, please call Joanne Farnham at 476- 5556.
Joanne Farnham
Moultonboro
The MCA has taken the position that public meetings and minutes thereof should be complete, contain all correspondence /addendums presented or discussed and be available online so that all can access and review at their own pace and timeframe. We are highlighting the following from the May 2008 School Board meeting as much information from that meeting is not available to the public in the online posting. Requests for the complete minutes should be made to the SAU 45 District Office as well as any questions or concerns.
MCA
Click here for the :Moultonboro School Board May 2008 meeting minutes
- Town/SAU Working Group Budget Advisory Committee. There were two meetings in May, the 15th and 21st. Minutes for those meetings should be available at Town Hall and the
- The Board received Minutes from the May 1, 2008 Moultonborough Taking Action (MTA) meeting. Mr. Lancor reviewed the Minutes from the April 29, 2008Wellness Advisory Committee meeting. Athletic Committee: Fox Smith reviewed the minutes from the most recent Athletic Committee meeting held on April 28, 2008. Again these minutes are not posted online.
- 2007-2008 Budget Expenditure Update: The Board received a copy of an end-of-April 2008 Budget Report. No other mention of it’s contents and it is not posted online.
- The Board reviewed the fund equity estimate for June 30, 2008. $50,000 will go back to next year’s budget and $50,000 will go to Buildings and Grounds. No further explanation in the minutes.
- The Board reviewed the minutes from the PAC Meetings held on April 10 and May 1, 2008. No minutes available online.
- Laura Maroon was present to demonstrate an electronic school board agenda packet being developed by her and Karen Robinson. The Board was asked if they would like to move to this format for the July meeting. The Board discussed the pros and cons if they were to approve moving to this format. No explanation of the pros and cons.
United Ways of New Hampshire announces launch of 2-1-1 phone service to help access health resources
Background note :Voters approved Article 13 of the 2008 Moultonborough Town Warrant as follows:
“To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Three thousand dollars ($3,000.00) for the Senior Needs Committee to use for seniors’ program expenses and activities.”
(By Petition) (Not Recommended by Selectmen 4-1)
At the last Selectmen's meeting a proposal was made to divert these funds to help support rising fuel costs and expenses for Meals on-Wheels. The existence, mission and leadership of the SNC has been on the Selectmen's table for quite some time with no decisions apparently imminent. Concerned seniors have gone ahead and formed their own private group to keep moving forward until this matter is resolved. MCA
The following is a comparison of the Selectmen's minutes versus the article in the Meredith News to further clarify this issue. It is followed by the Meredith News article.
Clarification to the June 12th minutes
In comparing the minutes of the June 12th, 2008 Selectmen’s meeting with the article published June 19, 2008 in the Meredith News, there are a number of areas that require clarification.
- As per the Meredith News Article “Town Administrator Carter Terenzini cautioned the board against following McRae’s suggestion explaining that the funds were already earmarked for the printing expenses of creating an updated Senior Needs Committee brochure of senior services in Moultonboro.” This does not appear anywhere in the selectmen’s minutes.
- There is no mention anywhere of Selectmen Charest’s comment that Meals on-Wheels is concerned due to the rising cost of fuel and that they ( MO-W) would “ rather see us look as a board on any ways to do it. A scholarship probably would be the best way to go.”
- Nor is there any mention of Selectman Betsey Patten mentioning that although the money in Article 13 was earmarked for the use of the Senior Needs Committee, the board could investigate other methods of helping the Meals-on- Wheels program out.
- Finally, in regard to the first clarification above, it would appear that Carter’s response to report back to the Selectmen within four weeks was not to address the intent of Article 13 , but to seek other methods to help the meals on-wheels program.
SARAH SCHMIDT
The Meredith News June 19th, 2008
MOULTONBORO — The Board of Selectmen will be considering different avenues in which to help out the Meals on Wheels program, after an unsuccessful attempt to use funds for the Senior Needs Committee for this purpose. Moultonboro resident John McRae proposed that the board use the funds from Article 13, adopted at this year’s Town Meeting. Article 13 allows for $3,000 to be set aside for the expansion and promotion of the Senior Needs Committee in Moultonboro.
The funds should instead be used for helping the Moultonboro Meals-on- Wheels program with gas reimbursement for volunteer drivers and food costs, McRae said. With rising prices in gas and food, Meals on- Wheels Director Donna Grow said in an interview last week that the program is having a harder time finding volunteers to drive, and that the cost of food has gone up 25 percent. Town Administrator Carter Terenzini cautioned the board against following
McRae’s suggestion,….
The Meredith News June 19th, 2008
MEREDITH/MOULTONBORO
— Escalating costs for construction and asphalt have selectmen in both Meredith and Moultonboro raising eyebrows and considering whether to scale back road reconstruction this year.Though the estimate for the oft-debated Ossipee Park Road is “spot-on,” Moultonboro Town Administrator Carter Terenzini reported that estimates for other road projects had increased dramatically beyond what had been anticipated in winter. Though Terenzini said the town staff made a decision to pull Sawmill Road out of the task list of roads, due to a need for further traffic study, the costs for the other roads remained high. “The initial estimates were dramatically out of whack,” said Terenzini. “The LBG engineer acknowledged that it didn’t fit together right.” But even excluding Sawmill Road, the total comes to $365,000 - still about 25 percent over budget,….
The Meredith News June 19th, 2008
SARAH SCHMIDT
MOULTONBORO — TheBoard of Selectmen requested a meeting with town counsel after a report that counsel advised them against several actions to help create an alternaten route to Fox Hollow Road. Town Administrator Carter Terenzini reported to the selectmen that town counsel had advised against using exaction fees to construct the alternate route and warned against liability
issues if the town allowed the public to use a private right-of-way.
While Terenzini said this was not to imply that the safety issues at
the intersection of Fox Hollow Road and Route 25 were not serious, but that the town could become legally vulnerable....
The Meredith News June 19th, 2008
SARAH SCHMIDT
MEREDITH — Third time could be the charm for the Inter-Lakes School Board meetings to be broadcast on publiccable access - if the board agrees on it as a good use of time and money. At earlier meetings this year, several parents have requested that the meetings be taped and broadcast on Lakes Region Public Access. Parent Steve Merrill advocated this practice at last week’s meeting. “It’s critically important that the board adopts a policy to promote open and transparent government,” said Merrill. “It’s long overdue, and it puts it in a forum where all can see what’s going on. It’s important the community can access the board.”....
By LAUREN R. DORGAN
Monitor staff
Concord Monitor June 18th, 2008
Lawmakers shrunk
The plan chops the budget of a statewide cancer-screening program to $500,000 from $4 million, requires the University System of New Hampshire to save $2.5 million and slices wiggle room from the Department of Education's catastrophic aid program for the 2008-09 school year.
The latest cuts, for fiscal 2009, emerged from a series of sessions in which Lynch met with department heads as a group to discuss what they came to call the "pain thresholds" of three levels of trims. Almost every state agency chipped into the bottom line, from $14.8 million from the Department of Health and Human Services, the biggest agency, to $1,000 from the state's Cosmetology and Barbers Board.
"We've had to make some tough choices," Lynch told legislators on the state's fiscal committee, saying that one of his chief aims was "protecting services to our most vulnerable citizens."
Some of those choices meant gutting the funding for programs Democrats touted last year...
6 HOLLAND STREET
PO BOX 139
MOULTONBOROUGH, NH 03254
Selectmen’s Meeting June 12, 2008
DRAFT
MINUTES
Present: Selectmen: Karel A. Crawford, Edward J. Charest, James F. Gray, Joel R. Mudgett, Betsey L. Patten; Carter Terenzini, Town Administrator; Hope K. Kokas, Secretary.
I. CALL TO ORDER: Karel called the meeting to Order at 7:00 P.M.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
III. REVIEW/APPROVE MINUTES: Joel Made the Motion to approve the Minutes of May 29, 2008 as written. Betsey Seconded. The Motion carried unanimously.
IV. NEW RESIDENTS: Tammy J. Daoust, John F. & Cheryl A. Botto, Melissa A. Walker, William F. Gustafson, Susan C. Nenning-Appleby, Carter Terenzini.
V. PUBLIC MEETING:
1. John McRae, Vice Chair of the Senior Site Council of the Lions Club, requested that the Selectmen appropriate the $3,000 from Article 13 to be used to assist the Meals on Wheels drivers, increases in the cost of food and lunch scholarships for seniors, etc. Carter commented that in his discussions with the Senior Needs Committee, their petition for Article 13 was mainly for the purpose to update their brochure. Joann Farnham, the sponsor of the petition warrant article stated that the purpose for the money was to update the brochure and newsletter. Mr. McRae stated that if the Selectmen were to approve the request, the funds would go to senior programming and activities besides Meals on Wheels......
June 5th, 2008
From: NH House Highlights
By Pamela Price
Our society is one of rules and laws which guide our existence within this democracy. Our government operates by rules, procedure, and tradition. The NH House is no exception. Last evening the House met in special session until late in the evening. All the rules and process which have long guided the way we do business were changed by a vote of the Democratic majority.......
Letter to the Editor
Weirs Times June 12th, 1008
To The Editor: Citizens of
The CItizen Saturday, June 14, 2008
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled that the hiring of Belknap County Sheriff Craig Wiggin by the Belknap County Legislative Delegation was illegal because the vote was taken secretly instead of in public.
Lakes Region political activists Doug Lambert of Gilford and Thomas Tardiff of Laconia had challenged the convention's selection of Wiggin to replace Dan Collis, who left mid-term to take a job in the private sector. The pair filed a lawsuit in Belknap County Superior Court and Judge Bruce Mohl ruled that the replacement process followed by the delegation violated the state's Right-to-Know Law by using a secret ballot, but said that the entire process could have been conducted in nonpublic session.
But in an 11-page opinion released on Friday, the Supreme Court found ....
The Citizen Friday, June 13, 2008
It's interesting that on the one hand there are people with an insatiable appetite for information and on the other hand there are those who find themselves ill at ease with some means of getting information out to the public.
The Inter-Lakes School Board is finding itself on the horns of just this dilemma.
On Tuesday, the board took up a request that its meetings be videotaped with the idea that they then could be shown on public access television.
While the board did agree to look into the request further, the board's initial reaction to this request was at best ambivalent......
**Please Note: Items to be placed on the weekly Selectmen’s Meeting Agenda must be submitted no later than Friday 4 p.m.
Office of Selectmen
P. O. Box 139 / 6 Holland Street
Moultonborough, NH 03254
603-476-2347
AGENDASelectmen’s Meeting June 12, 2008
I. CALL TO ORDER: 7:00 PM
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
III. REVIEW / APPROVAL MINUTES: May 29, 2008
IV. NEW RESIDENTS:V. PUBLIC MEETING
VI. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Presentation & Swearing in, Police Officer Jared Beaulieu
2. Introduction of New VNS Staff
3. Action: Review of Bids & Award of Transfer Station Fork Lift Truck
4. Action: Review & Award of Roofing Bid @ Community Center
5. Action: Review & Approve VNS Office Manager Job Description
6. Action: Review & Approve Tuition Reimbursement, Deana Harty
7. Action: Review & Approve Launch Request, Lee’s Mills & State’s Landing, Bubba Bassin
8. Action: Review & Approve Temporary Sign Permit Application, 528 Whittier Highway
9. Action: Review & Approve Permanent Sign Permit Application, 528 Whittier Highway
10. Action: Review & Approve Temporary Sign Permit Application, 240 Gov. Wentworth HighwayVII. OLD BUSINESS:
1. Action: Fox Hollow Road Next StepsVIII OTHER BUSINESS:
1. Legislative Update
2. Planning Board Update
3. Administration Update
4. Planning Board Minutes, May 28, 2008IX. PENDING:
X. CORRESPONDENCE:
1. Raymond Bassett, June 4, 2008, Recreation Dept.XI. ADJOURNMENT:
April 2008 School Board Minutes Past school board minutes
Superintendent Lancor's formal response to a question regarding differing cost of education for in and out of district students.
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT NO. 45 MOULTONBOROUGH
May 23, 2008
Mr. Paul Punturieri
Dear Mr. Punturieri:
On Thursday, May 15, Mr. Mark Borrin forwarded to me an email you sent to him on the evening of May 14, 2008. In the email, you stated, "The 2006-2007 .average cost per pupil for SAU #45 (source: NH DOE) was $15,717.58 which is 20% more than the tuition for non-residents. The cost per pupil should be the same for all students. Why can we educate non-residents for $3,243 less?"
The following exerpts are from the published Moultonborough Selectmen Minutes of May 22nd and May 29th . It is followed by an article in the Meredith News on June 5th, 2008. We encourage our readers to contact/write/email the selectmen with any questions or clarification so as to be fuly informed on this issue.
MCA
From Moultonborough Selectmen Meeting Minutes May 22nd, 2008
Action Re:
From Moultonborough Selectmen Meeting Minutes May 29th, 2008
Cristina Ashjian presented her letter to the Selectmen regarding last week’s meeting Minutes. She asked that it be made a part of the record and proceeded to read her letter into the Minutes (attached). Ms. Ashjian expressed concern that the Minutes of May 22, 2008 did not detail the concerns expressed by her and other members of the audience concerning the reconstruction of
The Meredith News June 5th, 2008
SARAH SCHMIDT
MOULTONBORO — The Board of Selectmen voted for a design amendment to the oft-debated
By Norma Love
Associated Press Writer
The Citizen June 5th 2008
But lawmakers did not fix two key long-term problems: how to fund future cost-of-living increases and how to help all public retirees with health insurance. Instead, they voted to establish commissions to study long-term solutions to both issues.
"This is the second year of what I believe is a five-year effort to restore the strength of our retirement system," said Sen. Peter Burling. The Senate passed the bill 23-0.
Some in the House were less happy with the compromise, but the House voted 303-27 to pass it.
"We failed you. We failed you badly. .....
"Through the Needs Assessment we are able to see where we are doing a good job and where we need to improve"
Lisa Morris, Executive Director of the Lakes Region Partnership for Public Health
The Citizen June 3rd,2008
Area residents are being asked to participate in the Lakes Region Community Needs Assessment. This needs assessment survey is being distributed via postal mail, email and hard copy to residents of
The assessment is completed every five years. This year's assessment will seek to identify concerns in the areas of health, safety, community life, and social and human services. Results will be used to develop new programs and/or alter current services.
"Through the Needs Assessment we are able to see where we are doing a good job and where we need to improve," remarked Lisa Morris, executive director of the Lakes Region Partnership for Public Health. "We want to encourage every resident of the Lakes Region to participate in this process."
The Lakes Region Community Needs Assessment survey is available online at www.surveymonkey.com or through the sponsoring organizations websites. Beginning June 9, surveys will be available at all town/city halls and libraries for the before mentioned areas, and by calling 528-2145. The results of this assessment will be distributed in local newspapers in late fall.
This assessment is sponsored by the Lakes Region Partnership for Public Health, Belknap County Citizens Council for Children and Families, Community Action Program Belknap-Merrimack Counties, Community Health and Hospice, Genesis Behavioral Health, LRGHealthcare, Lakes Region Community Services, Lakes Region United Way and the Taylor Community.
The Moultonborough Strategic Planning Committees's web site with meeting minutes and schedules.
Click Here for: Moultonborough Master Plan Committee's Meeting Minutes
"HB 1645 is arguably the most important piece of legislation to affect
Editorial The Citizen June 1st, 2008
Taxpayers in cities and towns are at risk
So near, yet so far.
Negotiators deadlocked Saturday morning in an attempt to overhaul the New Hampshire Retirement System. The major sticking point in the dispute is a House of Representatives provision in HB 1645 calling for a cap on pensions for employees hired after July 1, 2009, at 100 percent of their highest year of pay. It is something the unions — particularly the police and firefighters unions — object to. Their argument is it would hurt recruitment and retention would be made more difficult because they work overtime to boost their retirements benefits — retirement for which they become eligible at age 45.
Recruitment and retention is a management function unless otherwise ceded in contract negotiations. The argument of unions to the contrary are at best lame,.......
Article Date: Sunday, June 1, 2008
In the Lakes Region, several communities are waiting until the law is signed before evaluating their current practices, and some say the changes, which were approved by the House and Senate in May, won't affect them at all.
Timothy Warren, Gilmanton's town administrator, said his office and the board of selectmen do not engage in email discussion
