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DRAFT – NOT YET APPROVED 
Town of East Kingston Selectmen Meeting Minutes – September 14, 2026          Page 1 of 5 
TOWN OF EAST KINGSTON BOARD OF SELECTMEN 
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MEETING MINUTES  
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September 14, 2026 
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Pound School 
41 Depot Road 
East Kingston, New Hampshire 
6:30PM 
 
Joseph Cacciatore, Chairman 
Matthew Freeman  
Edward Warren 
Board Members present: Joseph Cacciatore – Chairman, Matthew Freeman and Edward Warren.   
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Others Present: Town Administrator Grace Ruelle and Library Trustee Sarah Courchesne.  
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Mr. Cacciatore called the meeting to order at 6:30pm with the roll call.  
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SIGN DOCUMENTS  
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#1. Meeting Minutes 
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The Board reviewed the August 17, 2026 public and nonpublic meeting minutes.  
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MOTION: Mr. Warren motioned to approve the August 17, 2026 public and nonpublic meeting minutes as presented; 
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seconded by Mr. Freeman.  The motion passed 3-0-0. 
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#2. Payroll Registers  
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Chairman Cacciatore presented, for board review and questions, payroll check registers dated August 28, 2026 in the 
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amount of $62,422.66, and September 11, 2026 in the amount of $40,918.07. 
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MOTION: Mr. Warren motioned to approve and sign the payroll registers dated August 28, 2026 in the amount of 
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$62,422.66, and September 11, 2026 in the amount of $40,918.07; seconded by Mr. Freeman.  The motion passed 3-
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0-0. 
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#3. Accounts Payable Check Registers 
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Chairman Cacciatore presented, for board review and questions, accounts payable check registers dated August 21, 
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2026 in the amount of $14,206.39, August 28, 2026 in the amount of $5,725.12, August 28, 2026 in the amount of 
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$129,167.51, September 4, 2026 in the amount of $132.80, and September 4, 2026 in the amount of $110,144.67. 
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MOTION: Mr. Warren motioned to approve and sign the accounts payable check registers dated August 21, 2026 in 
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the amount of $14,206.39, August 28, 2026 in the amount of $5,725.12, August 28, 2026 in the amount of 
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$129,167.51, September 4, 2026 in the amount of $132.80, and September 4, 2026 in the amount of $110,144.67; 
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seconded by Mr. Freeman.  The motion passed 3-0-0. 
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#4. Police Special Detail 
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Chairman Cacciatore presented, for board review and questions, police special detail check registers for the periods of 
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August 13, 2026 through August 19, 2026 in the amount of $3,405.00 and August 24, 2026 through August 31, 2026 in 
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the amount of $880.00. 
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MOTION: Mr. Warren motioned to approve and sign the police special detail check register for the periods of August 
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13, 2026 through August 19, 2026 in the amount of $3,405.00 and August 24, 2026 through August 31, 2026 in the 
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amount of $880.00; seconded by Mr. Freeman.  The motion passed 3-0-0. 
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DISCUSSION ITEMS 
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#1. Home Occupation Renewals 
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DRAFT – NOT YET APPROVED 
Town of East Kingston Selectmen Meeting Minutes – September 14, 2026          Page 2 of 5 
Chairman Cacciatore presented, for board review and questions, the home occupation renewals list.   
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GRANDFATHERED 
VISIBLE 
INVISIBLE 
Bodwell & Sons Biological 
Bodwells Septic Svc 
Colonial Landscape 
Brinks Firewood 
AcuBright 
Capture Your Action 
Glenn Clark Remodeling 
Benders Construction 
The Quinn & Company 
Freeman Logging 
Eyelash Extensions 
MAC Tactical 
Freeman Family Sawing 
JTC Construction 
Airwave Networks Northeast 
Keegan Concrete 
Court’s Custom Cookies 
JJ Paint 
Marshall Property Mgmt 
Horse Kneads 
Ditucci Petroleum 
Millpond Development 
Donahue & Son Insulation 
Shear Joy 
Mike Paul & Co 
SLD Cleaning 
Dog Boarding LLC 
Sullivan Logging 
Compass Point Quilts 
Christopher Leighton Construct 
Jamco Excavators 
Atlantis Pool 
603 Dirt Works 
 
Bucovina Cuisines 
FF Mech. Welding 
 
Amesbury Towing 
American City Homes 
 
K & B Landscape 
Sea of Green Lawn Care 
 
Ridabock Glass 
Hum & Bee 
 
Freedom Junk Removal 
BW Smith Excavation 
 
Warrens Auto Repair 
Diana’s Country Dog Inn 
 
Clever K9 
Hanscomb Transport 
 
Restaurantunstoppable.com 
White Mountain Scientific 
MOTION: Mr. Warren motioned to approve the home occupation renewal permits as presented except for Warren’s 
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Auto Repair; seconded by Mr. Freeman.  The motion passed 3-0-0. 
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MOTION: Chairman Cacciatore motioned to approve the home occupation renewal permit for Warren’s Auto Repair; 
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seconded by Mr. Freeman.  The motion passed 2-0-1 (Mr. Warren abstained). 
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#2. HealthTrust Dental Plan Change 
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Town Administrator Ruelle informed the board that the current dental plan offered by HealthTrust is being 
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discontinued and that four other dental plan options are available for consideration.  The replacement plan needs to 
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be selected by November 14th.  She noted that each of the options are similar and range from $1 to $3 more per plan. 
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Discussion ensued on soliciting employee input from the ten town employees currently enrolled in the insurance, that 
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the board will make the final decision, on maximum plan coverages ($1,000, $1,500 and $2,000), on the current 
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contribution rates (single plan with 100% covered by the town, and 2-person and family plans with 80% covered by the 
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town).  Employees will be given 30 days to provide feedback before a final decision is made by the board. 
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CORRESPONDENCE 
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#1. Reminder – Second Public Hearing for Land Donation 
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Town Administrator Ruelle noted the second public hearing on the land donation is scheduled for September 21, 2026 
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at 6pm at the Pound School. 
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#2. NHMA Important Dates Calendar for the 2027 March SB2 Town Meeting 
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Town Administrator Ruelle presented the NH Municipal Association’s SB2 town calendar dates for the 2027 election 
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season.  Deadlines and dates included budget hearing deadlines, zoning amendment public hearing dates, deliberative 
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session dates, and the March Town meeting date.  The board will use this guidance in setting the town’s hearing dates. 
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DRAFT – NOT YET APPROVED 
Town of East Kingston Selectmen Meeting Minutes – September 14, 2026          Page 3 of 5 
Discussion then ensued on providing budget development guidance to department heads, setting COLA numbers 
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utilizing the CPI-U index, and scheduling a department head meeting for Tuesday, October 14 at 6:30pm. 
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#3. Elderly Exemption Criteria 
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Town Administrator Ruelle noted that the town voted on the eligibility criteria for elderly exemptions by way of a 
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warrant article years ago and that that criteria is outdated with respect to the current actual, realized poverty rates. 
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She stated that a number of property owners have fallen short of the current criteria by $2k-$5k and inquired if the 
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board would consider modifying the criteria by way of a new warrant article for the 2027 Warrant.   
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Discussion ensued on the process to change the criteria, on the Department of Revenue Administration’s list of elderly 
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exemption stats for Rockingham County (EK is $10k below average), on the qualifying age of 65 years, on EK’s poverty 
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rate (14%) in relation to surrounding communities, and on consideration to change the criteria for the 2027 Warrant 
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with an effective date of 2028. No action was taken at this time. 
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NONPUBLIC SESSION #1 - REPUTATION 
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MOTION: Chairman Cacciatore motioned to go into non-public session under RSA 91-A:3, (c) Matters which, if 
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discussed in public, would likely affect adversely the reputation of any person, other than a member of the public 
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body itself, unless such person requests an open meeting. This exemption shall extend to any application for 
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assistance or tax abatement or waiver of a fee, fine, or other levy, if based on inability to pay or poverty of the 
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applicant; seconded by Mr. Warren.   
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The board was polled:  
Chairman Cacciatore – yes  
 
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Mr. Freeman – yes  
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                                                          Mr. Warren – yes  
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The board entered nonpublic session at 6:58pm. The board re-entered public session at 7:02pm. 
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MOTION: Mr. Warren motioned to seal nonpublic meeting minutes under RSA 91-A:3, on the basis that divulgence 
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of the information likely would affect adversely the reputation of any person other than a member of the public 
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body itself; seconded by Mr. Freeman.   The motion passed 3-0-0 (2/3 vote required). 
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NONPUBLIC SESSION #2 - REPUTATION 
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MOTION: Chairman Cacciatore motioned to go into non-public session under RSA 91-A:3, (c) Matters which, if 
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discussed in public, would likely affect adversely the reputation of any person, other than a member of the public 
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body itself, unless such person requests an open meeting. This exemption shall extend to any application for 
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assistance or tax abatement or waiver of a fee, fine, or other levy, if based on inability to pay or poverty of the 
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applicant; seconded by Mr. Warren.   
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The board was polled:  
Chairman Cacciatore – yes  
 
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Mr. Freeman – yes  
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                                                          Mr. Warren – yes  
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The board entered nonpublic session at 7:03pm. The board re-entered public session at 7:16pm. 
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MOTION: Mr. Warren motioned to seal nonpublic meeting minutes under RSA 91-A:3, on the basis that divulgence 
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of the information likely would affect adversely the reputation of any person other than a member of the public 
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body itself; seconded by Mr. Freeman.   The motion passed 3-0-0 (2/3 vote required). 
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NONPUBLIC SESSION #3 - SECURITY 
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MOTION: Mr. Freeman motioned to go into non-public session under RSA 91-A:3, (g) Consideration of security-
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related issues; seconded by Chairman Cacciatore.   
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The board was polled:  
Chairman Cacciatore – yes  
 
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DRAFT – NOT YET APPROVED 
Town of East Kingston Selectmen Meeting Minutes – September 14, 2026          Page 4 of 5 
 
 
 
 
Mr. Freeman – yes  
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                                                          Mr. Warren – yes  
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The board entered nonpublic session at 7:18pm. The board re-entered public session at 7:25pm. 
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MOTION: Mr. Freeman motioned to seal nonpublic meeting minutes under RSA 91-A:3, on the basis that divulgence 
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of the information would render the proposed action ineffective; seconded by Mr. Warren.   The motion passed 3-
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0-0 (2/3 vote required). 
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ALS STAKEHOLDERS MEETING 
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Mr. Warren then left the board table and took a seat in the gallery as Fire Chief to inform the board on an ALS 
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Stakeholders meeting that he attended in Plaistow.  The purpose of that meeting was to present an emergency-
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paramedic program offered by the Town of Plaistow to provide paramedic services to member towns to replace the 
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service once provided by ALS which was terminated by Exeter Hospital.  Participation in this program includes a 
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readiness fee that is the same for all participating towns, and then additional billings when the ALS paramedic rides in 
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the ambulance – situations where the paramedic is not needed to ride the ambulance are not charged as this is covered 
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by the readiness fees. The term of the contract would be five years to coincide with typical grant applications, and the 
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cost would be $15k for the first year, $30k for the second year, and increases until a cap of $81k for year five. 
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He spoke to the cost of employing their own medic (approximately $145k per year), of the level of certification for such 
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medic (highest level with accompanying medical equipment), the cost for non-member calls to ALS ($3k each), that 
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membership would require the vote of the taxpayer (warrant article), that calls to ALS can be cancelled at any time 
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without cost, and that Exeter Hospital, as well as other local hospitals, go on divert status often thus the need to have 
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this caliber of medical expertise and equipment for emergency calls.  
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He fielded questions about the funding and revenue stream for this program in that currently all revenue generated 
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by the EK ambulance goes to the ambulance fund; however, all charges to the town through the ALS service would be 
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paid from the general fund thus the revenue would not offset the expenditure. He stated they could modify how these 
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funds/expenditure are managed.   
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Questions were raised on how this proposal fits in with the recent proposal to offer EK’s ambulance services to the 
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Town of Kensington (how do you justify paying for greater coverage when the town is reducing its own coverage 
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intentionally to service another town?), on why the town would pay for paramedics when the town already employs 
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them, and on whether or not this extra service was necessary due to the town’s close proximity to the Exeter Hospital.  
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Mr. Warren responded that the Kensington deal is unlikely to happen though there are still talks, that the level of 
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paramedic certification for the town’s employees is not to the level of the ALS paramedics plus they bring with them 
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state of the art medical equipment, and that Exeter Hospital goes on divert often due to their own limitations. He 
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further stated he thinks it’s a valuable service that the town needs, however, he does agree that the cost is not very 
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affordable. 
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Discussion ensued on holding informational forums to educate the voter on this program (livestream an in-person 
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forum, posting the recording to throughout the town (website and social media), and then allowing the voter to decide 
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if they want this type of service in town and be willing to pay for it. 
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MOTION: Mr. Freeman motioned to hold a special community-wide forum to be presented by the Plaistow Fire 
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Chief, to videotape the forum and release it to the public, and to follow up with a presentation at the deliberative 
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session; seconded by Chairman Cacciatore. 
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Discussion: Sample warrant article language has been drafted for consideration, the elementary school has livestream 
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capabilities, informational flyer could be produced, they can use the new emergency alert system to get the 
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information out, and they will aim for the end of October – early November for the forum. 
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DRAFT – NOT YET APPROVED 
Town of East Kingston Selectmen Meeting Minutes – September 14, 2026          Page 5 of 5 
VOTE: The motion passed 2-0-0 (Mr. Warren recused himself from the vote). 
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Other logistics about the forum were discussed as was the one-year notice to end the contract requirement. 
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Mr. Warren returned to the board table. 
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There being no other business before the board, 
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MOTION: Mr. Freeman motioned to adjourn; seconded by Mr. Warren.  The motion passed 3-0-0 and the meeting 
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ended at 8:17pm. 
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Minutes prepared by Catherine Belcher.   
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Joseph Cacciatore 
 
Matthew Freeman 
 
Edward Warren 
 
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