Selectmen Issues: June 2009 Archives
The town voted on the establishment of a Heritage Commission at Town Meeting this year and we have been waiting for months for the Board of Selectmen to finalize volunteers to that commission. Once volunteer letters to the Board have been submitted and reviewed, we would think that the commission would be properly appointed and the newly formed Heritage Commission could meet and begin the tasks ahead of them. Not so: and still we wait. The Board of Selectmen still have not yet finished determining who is on the committee. Why is that?
There are several things that concern us about the appointments made thus far. For instance, at the Board of Selectmen meeting on May 14, 2009, Chairwoman Karel Crawford said that they would work on it at their scheduled work session on May 28th. Yet somehow at the Selectmen’s meeting on May 21, the very next week, announcements were made as to who would be appointed to the Heritage Commission. When did they discuss that they would make appointments at their May 21 Board of Selectmen’s meeting rather than at their scheduled work session? Is it possible that all five of the selectmen were on the same wave length at the same time? If they had a discussion, it was not before the public. If so, where are the minutes? Or is this privileged information not available to the public?
We wonder if there was some kind of discussion behind the scenes that no one bothered to recognize as a need to bring to the public under the Right to know law.
Another issue is the selection of one volunteer who serves on several other committees. No questions were raised at the appointment of Jean Beadle who serves as the Chair of the Advisory Budget Committee, as well as a member of the Town Planner Screening Committee. Yet when Selectmen Betsey Patten suggested that Jane Fairchild should be assigned as an alternate, she implied that Jane would be far too busy to be on the Heritage Commission as she is already a member of the planning board. Not Jean Beadle however who is the Chair of the ABC. She should be quite busy finding a replacement for a member that resigned, not to mention all the time to bring a new member of the ABC up to speed.
Don’t forget folks, the school will be in the midst of contract negotiations with the teachers union, the school budget, and the town budget and that should be more that enough to keep the ABC Chair quite busy. Why is an alternate assignment good for one but not the other?
Is there some favoritism amongst the appointments?
The third issue at hand is the select board member that is required by statute to serve on the Heritage Commission. Another statute states that there cannot be 2 members of the Planning Board on the same committee or board. Selectmen Ed Charest is on the planning board as is volunteer Jane Fairchild. How will this be resolved?
How long must we wait? There is a worksession June 25, 2009 @ 4pm........
Last November, Town Administrator Carter Terenzini presented the Route 25 corridor study results to the Board of Selectmen. This was at the same meeting that Stewart Lamprey made his presentation about Fox Hollow. Mr. Lamprey stated that Fox Hollow had been identified by the DOT and the Lakes Region Planning Board as the most dangerous intersection, with 27 accidents and 2 fatalities within 1000 feet of the intersection.
Karel Crawford made the statement, ‘I don’t feel the commissioner should dedicate to one part of the road (Rt 25). We have to represent the town of Moultonboro, and we have to represent the entire town, and others on the other intersection. I feel that because politically, because someone knew someone, though he has every right to do so, it feels wrong for the DOT to pick one road because Mr. Lamprey lives on
It was decided after much discussions over several weeks, that Fox Hollow would be moved to the top of the list of intersections to address. There have been several engineering firms out at the site of Fox Hollow and Route 25 studying the area and planning how to “fix” the intersection. The town is in the process of hiring a Town Planner to work with the recently hired engineering firm of KV Partners, LLC.
The planning was going along rather smoothly until late in the afternoon of Tuesday June 2, 2009 when there was a serious accident on Route 25 by the intersection of
It would seem that the corridor study was spot on. One only has to travel on Route 25 west on an icy, snowy day to understand why
We hope that the Board of Selectmen will be successful in their efforts to convince the DOT that Sheridan Road is in fact a higher priority than Fox Hollow and should be addressed sooner than later. …And no one stands to gain financially from improving
Lot's of meetings this week in Town:
School Board Meeting: Tuesday June 9th, 7pm Town Hall
Planning Board: Wednesday June 10th, 7:30pm Town Hall
ABC : Thursday June 11th, 5PM Town Hall
ABC/Selectmen/School Board: Thursday June 11th 6pm Town Hall
Selectmen: Thursday June 11th, 7pm Town Hall
There are times when I attend a Board of Selectmen’s meeting that I really find it difficult to hear what they are saying. I have often thought that it’s just me as my hearing is not the best. And times being what they are, it’s a difficult to afford to have my hearing aids repaired or replaced with technologically advanced aids.
In most situations, I can hear okay. In the BoS meetings, I find it hard to understand everything that is said. Frankly, I don’t think I am alone. I once asked if there was a hearing enhancement device available and was told I should sit in the front row. Well, that’s not the answer I wanted to hear. I was hoping that there would be another answer. Perhaps if there were a microphone available to the selectmen so everyone would be able to hear all that is being said. Or should I say mumbled? Whispered? I have seen some meeting when comments made are uttered so low that it is impossible to hear more than a few feet away. I wonder what would happen if we were all able to hear everything that they said in public?
Let’s face it. The majority of attendees of the BoS meetings are senior citizens or close to it. How many of them are wearing aids or need to wear aids? How many of the board members have difficulty hearing?
What if we had amplification available at the meetings so that there was no question as to what, if any, comments were made under their collective breaths? After all, in the state and federal levels of our government there are microphones available so everyone can hear. Otherwise, what would reporters use to interview congressmen? A pad and pencil?? Hmmm. Let’s think a bit more progressively, shall we?
Shirley Oliver presented a citizen's petition to the BoS at the June 4th meeting to reprioritize the route 25 intersection matrix. This was in response to the recent accident at
Mike Edgecombe from Time Warner Cable attended the BoS meeting at their invitation to answer questions from the BoS and the public.
So what happened to channel 4? Mike explained that Moultonboro is in the
He was asked how many subscribers TWC had in Moultonboro and he did not have that information with him.
The Selectmen were asked how much money of the franchise fee has been expended in the build out to underserved areas of town. To date there is about $32,000 in the fund. (Note from the MCA: It is only since 2008 that this franchise fee was put into a separate fund. Prior to that it went into the general fund to offset taxes)
Mike will provide a letter to the BoS with details of what he discussed tonight as well as number of subscribers.
June 4, 2009
Editorial
Everything about public meetings should be made as public-friendly as possible. That means posting agendas online (consistently, and as far in advance as possible, please), holding non-public sessions at the end of meetings whenever humanly possible, and allowing the public the most convenient method for making comments about town affairs. Recentdecisions and conversations of various local boards and committees have stirred up some controversy regarding how public comments should be handled at public meetings. In Sanbornton selectmen had to reprioritize after backlash from residents about moving public input sessions to the end of meetings. The move angered some,who said the change was an attempt to keep them from being heard, specifically because Sanbornton’s meetings can run late. Ultimately, the board put the sessions back to the beginning of each meeting, which we think was the right thing to do.
Moultonboro changed its policy recently as well, also drawing fire from the town’s more vocal citizens. Instead of allowing residents to comment and ask questions as the meeting progressed, it restricts public input to the beginning and end of each selectmen’s meeting. It might be more conducive to informed input if the board would consider handing out packets of information prior to the meeting. It’s difficult for members of the public to do more than ask questions to figure out what the issue is – and after the vote is cast and the decision made, everyone just wants to go home. It’s unlikely that a vote would be changed, once cast, as the selectmen have suggested they could do if swayed by public input. In its organizational meeting just last week, the Gilford Budget Committee discussed the issue, trying to decide where to place public input on the agenda so residents would have a fair shot to voice concerns or make comments at a relevant time. They, respectably, want to ensure that the public can talk freely before a vote, but perhaps after committee discussion so the speakers are informed. Also making an effort to respect the public, the Tilton Board of Selectmen just started holding a public input session at its meetings. Often there is no input, but occasionally the opening has given interested residents a chance to speak informally without having to make an appointment. It hasn’t appeared to slow the board down in terms of getting things done, and citizens have peace of mind that, should they ever want to throw out a comment or raise a concern, they will have the opportunity and ability to do so. Boards and committees are meant to be working for the residents of a town, so it doesn’t make sense to us when they make residents jump over hurdles to get a chance to speak (or get a hold of an agenda or meeting minutes, for that matter). We understand that they need to get things done, and that sometimes public comments sessions can get out of hand in terms of length or topic, but the board does have the ability to limit speaking time, or to offer a timeslot on the agenda should the topic warrant one.
