Minutes
Commissioners Clark, Stewart, and DiBernardo were present. Chief Kreamer proposed increasing CCEMS staffing to 13 per shift, costing approximately $765,000 annually including benefits. Commissioners decided to discuss this with the Delegation in August. Trombly noted CCEMS would owe money to the general fund to avoid tax impacts. A motion by Stewart, seconded by Clark, to accept the weekly manifests and July 8 minutes passed unanimously. Commissioners voted to enter non-public session at 8:40 AM, exited at 8:57 AM, re-entered at 8:58 AM, and exited again at 9:14 AM; no decisions were made in these sessions. The meeting adjourned at 10:21 AM. Coates reported applying for Rural Health Transformation Grant funding for Maplewood and EMS. The next meeting is scheduled for 9:30 AM next week at Maplewood. Source: https://co.cheshire.nh.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Comm.-Minutes-Jul-29.pdf
COMMISSIONERS MEETING Wednesday, July 22, 2026 Minutes This meeting will be conducted in person and via Zoom at County Hall 12 Court Street Keene NH, 03431 Zoom Call-in Number: +1 646 558 8656 Meeting ID: 409 748 8803 Pin #: 603123 Start Time 8:30 AM Present: Commissioners Terry Clark, Claudia Stewart, and Skipper DiBernardo Absent: Staff: County Administrator Coates, Finance Director Trombly, Systems Administrator Beckford, IT Director Hummel, and Director of Executive Services/Communications Bernstein Guests: Public Comments Upon recognition from the Chair, a Public Comment on topics of interest may be made. I. Elected Officials & Department Head Updates To receive, as informational, departmental updates requiring Commissioner review, participation, approval, and impactful departmental and operational issues. 1. HR Director May stated there will be an employee’s association event on Thursday, July 23rd in the County parking lot from 11:30am-1:30pm. 2. CCEMS Chief Kreamer brought forward the idea of increasing staffing at CCEMS to 13 staff per shift. Increasing to 13 would allow room to absorb callouts, FMLA, and vacation time. He said calls have increased 8%. He said there have been 5,890 hours for the town of Winchester last year alone. They are also covering several other towns such as Walpole, Alstead, Marlow, etc. Commissioner Stewart asked how much this would cost. Finance Director Trombly said it would be around $765,000 a year including benefits. The Commissioners said this should be discussed with the Delegation in August. Trombly said we are going to have to have CCEMS owe money to the general fund in order to not impact taxes to be raised. II. Scheduled Items Master Agenda Item #1375: Semi-Annual Report, IT – R. Hummel Action Expected: To receive an informational report on the last six months of operations. 1. IT Director Hummel said that on May 1 of this year there were over 3,000,000 attempts against the fire wall. He said there are over 750,000,000 attempts on the County firewall in a year. Systems Administrator Beckford said almost all browsers have AI built in. She said that said a version of Anthropic’s AI gave itself access to the internet. She said this will be used by bad actors to hack. She said multi-factor authentication and other forms of security are going to be rendered useless. Beckford said they are building storage, backing up information, and ensuring that the majority of systems can be back online after 30 minutes in the event of a hack. County Administrator Weekly Operations Report - The County Administrator will update the Commissioners on activities that have taken place since the previous meeting. 1. County Administrator Coates said they submitted applications for the Rural Health Transformation Grant funding for Maplewood. Additional applications will be submitted for EMS too. III. Old Business IV. New Business V. Consent Agenda Items: Vote to accept the Weekly Manifests and Minutes of July 8, 2026 Commissioner Stewart made a motion to accept the manifest and minutes of July 8, Commissioner Clark seconded. Upon a roll call vote the motion passed unanimously. VI. Calendar Action Expected: To accept the calendar as informational and to make necessary changes/additions. 1. Director of Communications Bernstein said next week’s meeting is at 9:30AM at Maplewood. VII. General Discussion for Commissioners VIII. Nonpublic Sessions: At 8:40AM Commissioner DiBernardo made a motion to enter into a non-public session pursuant to RSA 91-A:3, II (a). Commissioner Stewart seconded. Upon a roll call vote the motion passed unanimously. As a result of the non-public the Commissioner’s made no decisions and no votes were taken. At 8:57AM the Commissioners unanimously voted to re-enter the public session. At 8:58AM Commissioner DiBernardo made a motion to enter into a non-public session pursuant to RSA 91-A:3, II (e). Commissioner Stewart seconded. Upon a roll call vote the motion passed unanimously. As a result of the non-public the Commissioner’s made no decisions and no votes were taken. At 9:14AM the Commissioners unanimously voted to re-enter the public session. IX. Adjournment At 10:21AM Commissioner Clark made a motion to adjourn, and Commissioner DiBernardo seconded. Upon a roll call vote the motion passed unanimously. Minutes Recorded by: Davis Bernstein Director of Executive Services & Communications Minutes Reviewed by: Commissioner DiBernardo Clerk, Cheshire County Commissioners