All towns · canaan

SB Meeting 9/15/2026

Video

There's a sign in sheet on the back
table. Please sign in.
>> There's a sign in sheet on the back
table. Please sign in.
All right, we got six o'clock. Please
stand for the pledge of allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
>> Thank you everyone for coming tonight.
Big crowd. It's exciting.
>> No. Uh Sadi is out of out of the country
this week. So just Scott and I. Uh
uh September 1st meetings non non public
just public meeting
right Oh,
interesting.
I'll move to accept as written.
>> I'll second. All in favor?
>> I
>> I
>> So I think most of you are here for
goosebond. So we're going to jump right
into that. Got Corey here from
All right. Um, thank you for having me
tonight. Um, I'm for the record, Corey
Clark. I am the chief engineer at the
Dan Barrow at the Manchester Department
of Environmental Services. I apologize.
I am fighting a bit of a cold, so I'll
do my best to speak loudly. So, the
reason I'm here tonight is uh the
ongoing Goose Pond and Dam repair
project. As we all know, um we've been
working on Goose Pond really since uh
2024.
And while the project was substantially
completed in spring of 2025, we have
been dealing with some ongoing gate
issues. And so just to build the
timeline a little bit
when we first kicked off the project and
I first met with everybody here in uh
2023 2024 time frame at that time as
part of the scope of the project the two
existing what we call low-level gates
basically drains at the bottom of the
dam we were under the impression that
those could be re rehabilitated once we
lowered the water surface remove those
gates rehabilitate them and replace them
when We drew the water down in 202 uh
three going into the winter of 2024. We
discovered that those gates are actually
much more deteriorated than we
originally anticipated. Given their
location of where they sat down inside
the dam, it was hard to get any sort of
um hammer or anything else on those
gates prior to actually lowering the
water surface. And so we made the
decision um and working with our design
team to actually replace those gates in
kind. And so those new replacement gates
were manufactured
and designed and manufactured over the
course of the next year. In the winter
of 2025, those gates were actually
installed. We started refilling Goose
Pond. Um and actually before I before we
started refilling those gates went
through initial testing phase before
refilling basically at that time even
with the pond drawn down this the coffer
dam that held water about 8 to 10 ft
above the base of the dam was was
breached. We basically flooded the gate
area did the initial testing the gates
passed the initial testing in the spring
of 202.5.
However, we have to do a final gate test
essentially when the pond is is full or
nearly full. And so in the fall, this
time last year,
um even though Goose Pond wasn't quite
filled, it was still about four and a
half, 5t lower than the normal regional
surface, we um we elected to go ahead
and and test those gates to do the final
testing and sign off on those gates. At
that time, what we discovered was when
those gates were opened with about 15
feet of water pressure behind them, one
of the two gates, the seal that is
sandwiched between the frame of the gate
and the actual gate panel came out of
the the groove that it was in. So, the
gate was no longer sealing and so water
was was moving through that that gate at
that time. Um, in order to prevent
lowering the pond, we actually worked
with our design team. And the way the
goose pond is designed, there's actually
downstream of those two gates is
actually a tunnel that comes out. We
elected to seal off that tunnel with a
bulkhead and actually use divers to go
in at the top of the dam, crawl their
way down through and get to the two
gates to replace those the seal on that
one gate. We did that on October of last
year in which the divers went in
successfully replaced that seal. Um we
exercised the gates prior to uh removing
the bulkhead in the tunnel and then once
once the uh the gate seemed to be okay.
We removed that bulkhead and did the
final gate test. Unfortunately, the gate
did not pass that test again and the
seal became dislodged. So, at which
point in time, we elected to lower the
empoundment over the course of um the
month of November last year back down to
where it was prior to and actually fully
replace that seal. The gate manufacturer
um completely replaced that seal on that
one gate at the same time exercised the
other gate and made sure that everything
was um was within tolerances, at least
what they thought at the time. and went
ahead and started refilling at the uh at
the end of um December of last year.
On May 1st, the pond was refilled back
to the summer recreational season.
Actually, I'm sorry, June 1st, it was
back up to the summer recreational
season in which we figured we would go
ahead and do the final gate test and
sign off on the contract because the our
our contractor's um contract actually
expired at the end of of June. And so at
which point in time we went in now we
had 20 ft of water on top of those
gates. We tested both gates and
unfortunately seals failed on both
gates. So at that time we closed both
gates while they were um leaking
substantially. We decided that we would
hold Goose Pond at that current
recreational level for the the summer
season while we consulted with not only
the contractor but also the gate
manufacturer and our design team to
figure out what exactly had occurred as
a result of this and what was causing
these issues. And so over the course of
the summer, we've been having several
meetings with the design team along with
the gate manufacturer. And what was
discovered is that at Goose Pond Dam
there are actually three new gates. You
have these two lower gates which are 4
feet by 4 feet and then you have an
upper gate which is 3 ft by 3 feet. That
is a brand new gate. That gate has
passed all the testing measures um to
date.
What was discovered is when the gate
manufacturing process occurred at the
factory in California, the press that
was used to make that upper gate was not
retoled to make the lower gates. There's
a thicker gauge steel that is actually
used for the lower two gates. And so
what happened was is when they went to
go bend the radius for the frame on the
lower two gates, that radius was too
large because the press was not retoled
at that time for the thicker gauge
steel. The resulting effect was that
gasket that sits around that gate frame
was actually sitting slightly on that
radius rather than on a flat surface.
Typically, there's a tolerance, I
believe, of about a half inch or so.
Don't quote me on this. I'm not exactly
sure, but basically it's a a tolerance
in which that seal is supposed to sit on
a flat surface. And as a result of the
the bend, it was um it was not. And so
the gate manufacturer has done an
afteraction report on this and um
clearly identified uh what occurred. I
believe I passed that along to the town.
And so the only remedy unfortunately is
to actually replace both of those gates.
And so the reason I am in here tonight
is to discuss the draw down necessary
for gate replacement. We did look at an
alternative or two alternatives to
drawing it down. Could we go in with
divers once again and do the work
underwater? That would require because
the way the gates are actually set
within a grout and all the anchors are
epoxied within the concrete, the the
divers would have to demo out all of
that material underwater and then we
would have to try to get those gates
reestablished in the proper
configuration underwater with chance of
success um being minimal. We also looked
at uh doing a sheet pile coffer dam
around this area. However, a couple of
constraints with that is there would
likely be a level of draw down required
to install such a sheet pile coffer dam
system. And the other issue is due to
the relatively shallow bedrock that is
under the dam, making sure the sheets
actually tie in appropriately and we're
not getting blowin from the bottom of
that excavation below the sheets. And
the third thing is also the um the site
constraints for getting a barge and
sheet pile driving equipment in not only
through pond road but basically at the
site as well as getting that level of
equipment on site um to actually do that
volume of work. So that's why the team
and myself have elected to lower Goose
Pond again and um remove both of those
gates in their entirety and actually
install two brand new gates. And there
was a number of questions that were sent
to me prior to this meeting that I just
want to go over and help answer some
questions. So I'll go through these and
um and certainly take any questions from
the board or others afterwards. So first
question is how does this gate leakage
compare to other dam installations? How
common is this? And so this question
this question and several others were
sent directly to the gate manufacturer.
and
this install leaks. Basically, they're
saying this install leaks excessively
well above the actual specifications due
to the frame not being fabricated
correctly. This would be considered
rare. Number two, what is accepted
allowable leakage based on this design?
Septible leakage is in compliance with
AWA, which is American Waterworks
Association
specification C561-21
defines the minimum requirements for
fabricated steel gates, which is 0.1
gallons per minute per linear foot
around the gate. And so that's what we
were testing for in the initial phase
prior to the seals actually coming
undone.
If the gate leakage is due, this is
question three. If gate leakage is due
to a 1/8 error in the gate construction,
why is this a sound design? Should it be
compensation,
for example, oversized track and gasket?
The gate style has been fabricated in
this configuration since the early 2000s
and has proven suitability over the
years. The gate being fabricated
incorrectly is a rare occurrence.
Therefore, has this design been used
elsewhere? This design has been used
numerous times over the past 20 years
that the gate has been manufactured. Was
this design ever lab tested? This design
has been lab tested over the years in an
unseated capacity. Essentially, what
that means is they don't have the the
functionality to test each gate, open up
the gate, and allow water to move
through under that full head, but they
can certainly test the gates under under
a full capacity. This design has been
field tested as well over numerous
installations throughout the country.
Many design engineers require field
tested part of their specifications
similar to what we had here at Goose
Home.
The next question is, "A 3x3 sliding
slookate operating on a 20 foot seating
head typically uses a four-sided
resilient seal composed of ultra high
modular weight polyethylene sliding
seats combined with compressible neopre
EVM bulb cord. This is still the
question. The accepted allowable leakage
rate for the specification is 1.2
gallons per minute under standard code
requirements through high performance
design. Although high performance
designs also achieve 0.6 6 gallons per
minute or better. How does these gates
compare to that standard? NPI gates,
which is the manufacturer of wing
fabricated correctly, can achieve half
of the AWA requirement, 0.05 gallons per
foot of seating perimeter. This would
equate to 0.89 gallons per minute
allowable.
Who is in who's in charge of this after
project? Who will be monitoring daily
progress? Will someone be on site daily
to clearly progress, evaluate progress
and determine if work meets all
expectations? This is from our design
engineer who will be on site as the
designer and construction engineer.
Gamut Gamut Fleming Transportation
Systems will have a representative on
site for the duration of track of
duration of work to track and document
the replacement gate work to ensure
contract conformance and quality. Is
there a detailed schedule available with
this project? Yes, Michaelels has put
one together and I can certainly share
that as necessary. How however I will
state that I um in conversations with
the with Michaelels is it's it's kind of
a worst case scenario in which filling
of goose pond starts um January 1. In my
talks with them, we can shift that back
particularly if Goose Pond is fully
drained by the end of uh October. Are
there contract penalties for schedules
incentives for early compensation? The
current contract does not allow for
additional payment for early
compensation or schedule ship. However,
NHDS has been holding over a quarter
million dollars for the for the repair
of these gates. That money has been held
since the initial testing happened last
spring and no payment has been made
since that time in order to complete
this work. So, all the dive testing, the
other the other seal replacement, um,
and this work coming up is all still
part of the entire gate process. And so
we've been holding payment until this is
rectified. Who are the subcontra
contractors subcontractors for this
project? Michaelels is the contractor
for this. McWain Services will be the
contracted um subcontractor to reinstall
the gates. And McWain um is the gate
manufacturer company out of California.
Will work start at 7 a.m. on Monday and
end after 5:00 p.m. on Saturday? Will
work be done during holidays? Does the
contractor have the manpower scheduled
for this program? This is from Michaels.
We work will start at 7 a.m. daily and
we will work a minimum of eight hours
per day. As of now, we will not be
working weekends, but we'll have
somebody in the area to monitor pumps as
needed. Obviously, the weather will be a
huge factor. For example, if we lose a
day or two during the week because of
inclement weather that will force us to
work the weekends so we don't lose days
on the schedule. We will keep an eye on
the cold as well, but we are ready to
build heated enclosures that we have in
the past as needed. We will not be
working holidays. We we want our
employees home with their families for
these special occasions. We have
emergency on-site coverage as needed
during these holiday weekends. We will
commit to the right project staff to
make sure we get this replacement
completed in a timely manner with good
quality and safety at the forefront. Why
are you waiting until October 1st to
start the draw down? We could possibly
start earlier. It's really just making
sure that we don't leave anybody who may
not be aware of the October 1st draw
down stranded with either boats or other
things out on the empowerment. But DES
is certainly available to start lowering
the water surface and we may um in
consultation with the lake association
start drawing things down a little bit
earlier. And what can Goose Pond do to
help with this situation? And the answer
to that is really making sure that
everybody's aware of this and making
sure that watercraft is off the body of
water particular if we start lowering
things a little bit sooner. So, uh the
other thing I did want to say as part of
this is so the new gates are actually
being manufactured right now. In fact,
that that water testing at the facility
in California is actually taking place
tomorrow. As part of that, Ganet Fleming
is actually on site in California,
making sure that those new gates pass
that on-site testing and also to make
sure that all the press radiuses and
everything else on those new gates are
actually within factory tolerances. So,
we will be making sure that prior to
even stripping those gates, they are
within what the design specification
actually calls out for. And so with
that, I will open it up to any questions
that the board may have and however else
you want to handle. Any other questions?
>> Um,
what what I mean, how often are those
lower dates even used? I mean, what is
this?
>> So, here in the state of New Hampshire,
all all hazardous dams, regardless if
they're high hazards, such as goose,
significant or low, are required to have
a a what they call a pond drain,
basically a low-level drain. If there's
ever an incident emergency situation in
which we have to lower the empoundment
that has to occur. One, you know, one
example of this is we actually had a
request uh last week in Pittsfield, New
Hampshire to lower Pittsfield Mill Dam
by the police department over there for
an active investigation. So that is just
one example, but certainly if there was
ever a dam safety emergency or some
other need to lower the empoundment,
that is why that requirement is actually
established. So here at Goosebond, we
have to have one um means of actually
lower the water. I will say we do not
need two and if it was discovered that
one gate was faulty and not both gates,
we may be having a different
conversation where maybe one could be
sealed up while we maintain the other
one. However, in this case, both gates
are found faulty. Therefore, that's why
we're replacing both of them at the same
time. And so our intent moving forward
is as you may recall this dam used to
have three large wooden discharge gates.
Um our concern with those wooden gates
is due to their age and um integrity. We
were concerned that if they were to ever
fail to be catastrophic loss of Goose
Pond and basically flooding downstream.
So as part of the project we remove
those wooden gates, put in that small
3x3 gate. That will be our gate we
typically use for operations. However,
if we ever get a large storm event, we
will certainly be using the lower gates
to help mitigate any any storage issues
within Goose Pond, but also any
downstream flooding issues um after we
store water at Goose Pond or anything
else like that. So, they will be used in
the future um moving forward.
>> So, I know you talked about the specs of
leakage around the current situation
with the two lower gates. I mean, the
lake has stayed full. You've been able
to manage water levels even with that
happening. is again what's the concern
leaving it there's water blow by those
>> the concern about that is uh twofold one
um while we've been lucky here in the um
in the Cananan area it's actually been a
little wetter than other parts of the
state a lot of the other lakes
throughout the state are actually well
below their below their average and so
certainly with Goose Pond um not only
the gate leakage but the other factor
that we now have to contend with with
basically water moving through Goose
Pond is is we put in very extensive
foundation drains on the downstream side
and they're doing their job perfectly
and they are running quite a bit right
now. And so the concern is is over time
if if we have a significant drought in
this area as we have seen in years past
prior when we used to have flashboards
on Goose Pond is we can lose upwards of
a foot or two off of goose pond
relatively easy and so this is only
going to compound the issues with having
those gates continue to leak. The other
concern is because those seals are
neopre in nature is if we open up those
gates and if one of those seals gets
jammed in the gate guides, we won't be
able to close the gate properly and we
will end up with a jammed gate. So while
both both gates are now closed, if we
had to use those for any particular
reason, our concern being basically they
could jam up and they wouldn't work
properly and we'd be stuck with an open
gate.
Okay,
>> any questions?
Not really. It's he explained pretty
well that it's
manually a timeline right now that we're
looking at.
>> So the timeline is um we would start the
draw down on October 1st with the with
the expectation that we would be lowered
to start work um by November 1st. I've
already discussed with Michaelels.
They're going to be showing up to look
at basically tentatively starting to
mobilize the middle of October with the
uh expectation as soon as we hit that
draw down mark to start working um
installing reinstall establishing the
coffer dam upstream and getting
equipment in there necessarily. One of
the things that we have to address is in
front of both of those gates are two
large trash racks that were installed as
part of this project. those have to be
removed before we can start removing the
gates. And so there's a fair amount of
heavy crane work that we got to do just
to get just to get those gates um
exposed and get those gates out of
there. And so the the timeline
essentially being they start work
November 1st. We have a 7 to 10 week
period. And so as by the middle of
December, we would we would have the new
gates installed. They'd be going through
all their testing and fitting test. We
would be doing the initial gate testing
like we did in the spring of 2025 at the
end of December with those gates being
closed like they were last year on
January 1st.
>> Um so once again Goosebond Road's going
to be exposed to some pretty heavy
equipment coming in and out.
>> Yeah. And so it will be exposed um our
intent is to have all that exposure
hopefully happen before any any freezing
or freeze thaw cycles. So certainly you
know next spring we don't intend on
having any any issues at that point in
time. I know Michaelels has been
cognizant um with heavy equipment
traffic of working with their delivery
drivers to make sure that um they're
aware of the speed restrictions on the
road and any other issues along with
working with the highway department. So
certainly if we have a wet fall then we
will be working with the highway
department on any on any potential
issues.
Yeah, because that is unstable ground
under that road from
just in from Route 4 to the dam is not
good uh ground.
>> Yeah. So particular what what we what we
were working with with some of the
equipment deliveries and such is making
sure that essentially they are being
escorted by Michael's staff so that
they're staying away from I know in one
corner in particular where the road is
is kind of caving off on that side to
make sure that they are not
>> traversing that one that one area of
concern.
>> Yeah. The biggest problem is going to be
more so when they're done that they've
got to have any of that heavy equipment
out by February 1st or it will or it
will be there until May.
>> Yep. Yep. And so our intent is to
certainly have all that equipment out of
there like we did last year. Everything
was demog um by uh by the start of the
year. The one thing we will have to do
like we did last year um and I I can't
thank the lake association enough for
monitoring this. Michael Ree is we will
have to um once again have bubblers out
in front of the the new gates to make
sure ice formation doesn't compromise
the gates. Fortunately, this year,
unlike last year, we will not have a
generator on site. One of the things
that we did over the summer months is
pull permanent power into the site. So,
we'll be able to use that to basically
run those bubbler mechanisms. So, there
won't be a on-site generator to uh to
worry about in this this particular
year.
So, end of the project, lake back full.
What do you What's your
>> So, lake back full. We still have to
make sure that these gates pass the
final test. So, it's going to be a
timeline just like it was last year in
which we shut the gates come January
1st. Lake fills up. Hopefully, we have a
good winter and spring runoff like we
did last year in which by summer
recreational season, the lake is now
full. We can test the gates and sign off
on the contract, get final payment, and
we are done. Any
questions from
Mike?
>> Cory, I thank you for everything you
gave us here recently, but um you know,
one of the things one of the things I
covered in my phone conversation with
you was it seems like I mean the the
draw down, you could watch it. You could
watch it six inches and a foot and nine
inches today. As we're getting closer
and closer to the 20 foot, it they
really got to have all of the equipment
on on site already. the all the men on
put them in the hotel for two days for
to just play dominoes. But you know when
the water hits 20 feet or the magic
number, they got to be ready to go. They
can't make a phone call there and say,
"All right, guys, show up." Because you
you only have effectively about six
weeks, right? They're going to take
Christmas and Thanksgiving off,
>> right? And so the conversation I had
with Michael today was as that water is
going down because they're going have to
reestablish the road coming in. not only
the road coming in on the upstream side
of the dam, but they can start working
on that, but also making sure all the
sandbags and other materials needed for
the coffer dam in place. Right.
>> Unfortunately, the gates, if they pass
testing um tomorrow, I believe there's a
couple other QAQC tests, but really they
should be on a truck heading this way by
early October at the latest from
California coming in. So, they should be
arriving, I would expect, mid October.
Well, I mean, one thing that might help
is that they did this same exact thing
last other than replacing the gate, but
they did the same thing last year. You
know, they had to build the igloo with
the heated
>> space for the concrete. And I mean, this
this is this is a fire drill, you know.
>> Yeah.
>> The same people.
>> That that was another question. Do you
know if it's the same crew, the same
Michael's crew? So the um you may be um
the uh the project manager that came in
towards the end of the project, Jamie,
he's going to be the the primary uh
manager along with Tom as well. So it's
going to be the same crew that did the
work last last winter out there to do
this work.
>> And Alex from Gana Fleming, same guy.
>> Yes. Or Scott. Yes. It was also been
part of this project from the getgo. Oh
go I was there almost every day the
original not every day but you know
every two three times of and I never saw
Alex out on the dam he was always in the
trailer so I I don't know if he's got to
be watch I I don't know anything about
that business but it just seems like
somebody needs to be looking over
somebody's shoulder to make sure.
>> Yeah. In fact, one of the things that we
required as part of this um is a full
extensive work plan from Michaels on how
this is all going because I made it very
clear to them is I don't want everything
to be watered and all of a sudden they
discover oh well how are we going to
core out this anchor bolt and actually
replace this anchor bolt or move this
anchor bolt. All that needs to be
figured out well ahead of time. We know
exactly how those gates were installed
due to the current existing design
drawings and all the documentation under
constru that was done during
construction. So, as part of the
submittal package that they have to put
in for these gates is a full work plan
of exactly which bolts need to be
removed, which ones are going to be cut,
which ones are going to be poured out,
which ones are going to be grouted. So,
that way to help expedite the process.
There's no there's no what they call
RFIs or requests for information that
comes out during the actual project. All
of that is taken care of well ahead of
time. And see, you know, in the after
report, which was fascinating, there
were Yeah, but there were anchor bolts
put in the wrong place. Like, nobody
noticed that when they were doing it. I
mean, it's 22 and a quarter inches from
the edge, ready to drill. Boom. How does
it become 27?
>> Yeah. You know,
>> I don't get it. Nobody was watching, you
know? That's what I That's what I
thought Alex would be doing.
>> Yeah. No, you you're you're completely
right. And so that's that's going back
to the the um the work plan that we're
establishing is to make sure that
whether bolts were put in the right spot
or wrong spot to to begin with, we know
where they are now and how they are
going to get addressed in court.
>> You mentioned that the gates are now uh
probably finished and and and
ready to be tested. Are they being
tested under a load? Is there a dry
test? So they get dry tested and they
get tested under a static load. So it's
my understanding they have a facility in
which they can install the gate and put
20 ft of water on it or I don't possibly
more but they put that water pressure on
the gate. What they don't have the
facility to do is because when you open
a 4x4 ft gate the volume of water is
such that you cannot maintain that load
on that gate. So they have the ability
to statically test that gate. But
unfortunately there is not an ability to
basically allow testing to occur where
you load up the gate, open the gate and
then close the gate under that same
loading criteria.
>> Isn't that the problem we ran into?
>> That is the problem we ran into. And so
>> um so unfortunately that's why as part
of all these projects we have the final
gate testing. And so while the gate will
be
done to the the the tolerances as
required. And according to the
manufacturer, these gates are installed
all throughout the US and they don't
have problems with the other gates.
Fortunately, each gate
>> they opened them.
>> Each gate is custom made. And so it's
where until you finally get it on site
and you go through all the final gate
testing on site, um you you
unfortunately just don't know how they
will actually perform. Are these uh are
we using the same seals or a different
type of seal? Because I thought you
mentioned earlier that when you tested
them, the seals didn't hold.
>> The seals didn't hold. And basically
what happened was is is
the the frames. So the there's a there's
a stainless steel frame that gets bolted
up to the concrete and then the panel
that actually opens and closes sits
within guides in that frame and rides on
these seals.
>> The way the um the way the frame was
constructed cuz the frame actually
curves into the opening that the water
moves through. that that curvature was
too great on the gates that are
currently at the dam. And so that seal
is actually slightly sitting on that
curve. And we're talking only an eighth
of an inch. So it wasn't caught
unfortunately either during the
manufacturer review or on site review.
And it wasn't until after the
manufacturer dove into their m
manufacturing records and figured out
that the tooling on the press was not
changed. Therefore, that's why that
radius is too much.
>> Okay. So, so there's a high degree of
confidence that they're going to get it
right.
>> That is what they are delivering to me.
Yes.
>> Thank all the issues they've had. Is
there going to be a state quality
assessment team on site to ensure that
some of the things that they're doing is
it's not 27 in but the actual 22 and a
quarter inch that it needs to be.
>> Yeah.
>> Or are we going to just wait till
they're done and then
>> you know because it seems like some of
that stuff could have been caught if
earlier if there were people outside of
the Michael's team doing the
inspections.
>> Right. So typically the way the way any
sort of construction project works
whether it's here or a DOT project is
you have the design process that takes
place in this case you know two gates
that are going to be installed they have
to meet this spec it's up to the
manufacturer to provide a drawing or
document stating that the gates meet
that spec and so then the design
engineer and dees review that spec gets
signed off on um that it yes it meets
the spec and then it goes in when it was
installed the manufacturer then has to
sign off that it was installed in
accordance with with proper protocols
and that's what happened with these
gates the gate manufacturer came out in
those initial tests in 2025 signed off
on the gates they came back last year
after doing the seals signed off on the
gates however it it in this case
obviously the fault was what was
approved on the drawings was not what
was actually manufactured and because
the tolerance was so small it wasn't
caught. Um so moving forward not only do
we have the work plan that we are going
to be following but also yes dees is
going to have certainly a much more
active role in making sure these pass
standards. In fact, what I will say um
when we did the initial gate test um
this last year is even myself and a
couple others went into the tunnels to
check those gates at that time signed
off on it. I was up here um on the day
that they started the final testing the
spring to make sure that everything
everything seemed to be fine. It wasn't
until they went back into the tunnel
after after they cycled the gates. I was
here during the cycling, but it takes a
period of time for the tail water to
come down in order to get back in there
in which it discovered that the the
seals have popped out. So, we will
certainly have a very active role in
this as well.
>> You can't afford another.
>> No, I I completely
>> environmentally that lake will not do
well.
>> So, as you know,
>> if manufactured correctly, the seals
will not or should not
>> correct. Yes. like the upper gate. And
we have not seen, of course, that gate
doesn't have 20 feet of pressure on it,
>> but we have not seen the same um issues
at the upper gate as what we've seen at
the lower two gates.
>> Doesn't the Army Corp of Engineers
provide a service to these types of
inspections when things are constructed?
I thought the Army Corps of Engineers
gets involved with these when asked to
expect these issues.
>> I am not aware of an Army Corps service
for dam safety related issues there. I
may just be not aware of one. Army Corps
is certainly involved on Army Corps
related projects. So like for example
the flood control sites in New
Hampshire, whether it's Hopkins,
Everett, um Franklin Falls, those are
owned by Army Corps. There's a number of
levies throughout the state that have to
go through review of Army Corps as well,
but a dam that's regulated by the state
of New Hampshire does not have to go
through Army Corps review and approval.
I there could be a service out there
that I'm not aware of and I'll I can
look into that to see if there is such a
thing.
>> What's the early finish date?
Is the schedule available?
>> Yeah. So, I I can provide the schedule.
Um, what I will say is, like I said,
that schedule is a worst case scenario
in which filling starts the first week
in January. I've already talked to
Michaels about shifting that schedule a
little sooner.
>> I don't think you don't you didn't ask
them for a, you know, minimum schedule.
They said be be done by January 1st.
>> Yeah. And so the the the process is a
seven to 10 week process. So, I would
say if if weather cooperates and we we
have good weather, then we might be able
to be done in middle of December, but I
would say it's probably going to be the
end of the month before we
>> Well, if Michaelels does, it'll be the
last day of the year.
>> For sure. I guarantee.
>> I guarantee.
>> I want to know the early date and then
we'll find out how many days they're not
going to show up because it's too cold.
Well, in this case, you know, one thing
that was mentioned in in the in the
questions is that making sure that they
are already tenting stuff and have all
the equipment on site for tenting
because all that grow has to be done
under certain ambient temperatures.
>> I'm I'm very concerned about this whole
schedule because it's another one of
Michaels.
>> Yeah.
>> They don't show up and they leave early
Fridays they're not here and Mondays
they're not here.
So, somebody going to be there to crack
the whip.
>> Yeah.
Who's that?
>> Well, I I mean I'm I'm intimately
involved in this project.
That's not who who actually controls the
schedule, Michaels or you?
>> So, it's it's a combination of both. You
know, it's it's it's pushing them to
meet the to meet the the required
schedule. Um, at the same time certainly
there's contractual obligations in the
way the contract is set up in which
there is leverage but there's not
ultimate leverage. I can't I can't
dictate you shall be here today. It's
just not the way the state contract is
set up unfortunately.
>> I also don't have infinite funds at my
disposal. So if there was change orders
required with no you are working
absolutely over the holiday weekend then
I don't have additional funds to apply
for for that unfortunately if I did then
we would have a different conversation.
>> Do they have a man power estimate for
the program?
>> Uh I have not seen um exactly what the
manpower they're they're estimating on
that front. Um I guess
>> and do they have the people? I guess go.
>> Yes, we've certainly we've certainly
been assured that
>> they are already they are already
gearing up with a the personnel in the
equipment and um a lot of the equipment
will be rented equipment from the
greater area. So, they're already
reaching out to vendors that they worked
with last year to make sure that
everything is in line from midocctober
to get going.
>> But on the monetary, you said you have a
budget. Is the state having to cover the
cost of this because the manufacturer of
those gates should be covering the cost.
>> That's correct. So, we have not been
covering any additional cost. In fact,
we've been holding over a quarter of a
million dollars in final payment because
of this. So, we've been holding that and
they know that we're holding it until
this work is satisfactory complete. We
were hoping to release it last year
after the gate testing. We're open and
release it this spring. In fact, we had
to go and actually ex
>> in order to make sure this work gets
done once we discovered that the gates
did not meet um testing criteria in the
spring because Michael's contract
actually expired at the end of June, we
had to go back to governor and council
to actually extend their contract for
another year in order to actually get
this done because technically Michael's
contract was expired at the end of June.
And so we worked with Michaelels to make
sure that we could get that extension
while still holding that quarter million
dollars as part of this project.
>> Yeah. That saves you having to go out to
bid again.
>> Yes. Yes. Certainly.
>> Yeah.
But I just want clarification when you
said you had a budget. This should all
be covered by the manufacturer
who gave
>> equipment was fault too if they
installed me correctly too. Right.
>> Right. And so that's that's where I I
have not been part of the back and forth
that Michaelels has had with their with
their subcontractor. So I I can't speak
on on negotiations that they've had
internally on this.
>> Is Michael solvent enough to be sure
he's going to have enough money to
finish before he gets his payment?
>> Yes. Yes. Um I will say um there hasn't
really been any discussion on the
payment or anything like that. It's just
been a discussion around how do we get
this result. And so that's been so that
up to this point there hasn't been any
conversations and worry about money or
holding money. It's been what do we need
to do to get this project done and and
get these gates signed off so that we
are completely done this project in
Goosebond is operating for the next 50
to 100 years.
>> Do they have the portaotties on order?
>> Any other questions?
>> You don't know why. just one quick I
know that you get the permits to do this
kind of work from wetlands I guess right
wild wetland
>> and I guess this isn't more of a this is
more of a statement than a question I
guess but I just find it so hard to
believe that wetlands would allow three
drains in four years of of a lake with
without it seems like without any
consideration for the wildlife impact
you know I mean when that water went out
the first time there were 1 billion
muscle shells in that lake
You couldn't walk someplace without
stepping on a muscle shell, right? And
where' they, you know, what happened to
the, you know, they all died. How how
many years it going to take for the
stuff to come back. You know, my wife
and I do the water sampling monthly for
the lake. And we noticed this year it's
very different than it has been in the
past. Our phosphorus levels are higher.
Our conductivity is much higher.
Transparency is in half of what it used
to be. And the dissolved oxygen went
from like 10 mil milligrams per liter
throughout the water column 30 feet to
we're at less we're we're less than one
at five meters. There's zero oxygen in
the bottom half of goose pond right now.
The fish can't live less than two or
three milligrams per liter. So it's just
like I just I don't know. I that's
frustrating part for me that wetland
says, "Yeah, well just drain it again
and fix that dam and we'll be okay."
It's like it's impossible. I mean, how
many years will it take to get back to
where we were?
>> Transparency used to be five, six
meters. Today, it's three,
>> you know,
>> it's just all that crap in the water
that's decaying. So, they don't have any
I mean, as a scientist, they don't have
any I mean, nobody came out to study the
lake to do a species count or anything
that I'm aware of.
>> Yeah, I guess it's a question for the
lake association. I can certainly talk
to Amy Sangula and see what see what
they have is I would be curious to see
data going back to when it was
originally collected.
>> Yeah.
>> Um to see what occurred between then and
now given that the lake was drained in
the early 90s to see if there's any data
there to see what it took when it was
drained in the 90s
>> right
>> to recover. I don't have that. I I tell
you, I'll reach out to Amy in wershed
and see what they have for data.
>> One last one. Uh the type of contract
that you have with Michaels, is it firm
fixed price or is it cost plus? Do you
do you know? So, is was it a set price
and they are set to that price or is
there you know you are going to have
change orders that you're going to have
to pay for but like goes back to your
question there is contractually
is the state
could be held liable still for some
additional cost.
>> The state could always be held liable
for some additional cost. It is it is a
firm set price um for the contract. And
so and one of the un
one of the things that we have to do at
the state of New Hampshire is when every
contract that we have is there's always
a contingency pot for change orders and
things like that. You know, one of the
biggest contingent one of the changes we
had right off the bat is discovering
that these old gates were actually we
couldn't we couldn't rehabilitate them.
So we had to actually remove them and
replace them. Um, however, what I will
say is all that is upfront. So, when we
sign the contract, the way the the way
the the way the funds have to get
encumbered and the way the governor and
council approval process works is the
contractor not only sees what that base
price is, but also what we have for
contingency. So, we work with them on
that. But in in the case of Goose Pond
is we have only what we have. And that
that that messaging has been made to
Michael's
um from the get-go. In fact, one of the
things we actually had to do as well
this summer with governor and council is
as many of you know this project was
funded through ARPA funds through
American Rescue Plan Act funding. the
that that money that we're holding a
quarter million dollars was ARPA funds
that if we do not spend them by the end
of this calendar year they go back to
the US Treasury.
>> So one of the things we had to do this
summer is actually go to govern first we
had to go to the state legislative
fiscal committee and then we had to go
to governor and council to swap out
those ARPA funds with state capital
funds. That way we could continue
holding that money, use that ARPA money
on another project that we have going on
because otherwise we would have had to
pay Michael's out before the end of the
year, right?
>> And so we worked with Michaelels to make
that switch so that we have capital
state funding which does not have the
end date and we can continue moving
forward.
>> So we are holding those funds.
>> You could probably fix more dams if you
don't have to deal with it all this
administration.
>> It is a process sometimes.
So the interest on that quarter million
dollars cannot be put in escrow in case
there's any consequences to the lake
that needs to be mitigated at a later
point.
>> So unfortunately no the way our in-house
accounting system is um how because
basically it's it's it's it's at the the
state treasury and then gets moved to
us. So
unfortunately it's to my knowledge that
that cannot occur um
just because of the way the inhouse
county system works.
>> Any other questions on gooseb
Thank you. Thanks
>> everyone.
We're out.
with police or
the motion to then something up here.
>> We have a motion for our truck lease
that we have to finalize.
I move that the re resolution entitled
resolution to authorize $266,173
lease purchase financing of equipment be
approved in form presented to this
meeting and that a tested copy of said
resolution be included with the minutes
of this meeting.
>> I'll second all in favor
>> I
>> I
said we're not signing.
>> You don't have to. Authoriz
authorize me to sign it.
>> What's that?
>> So, authorize me to sign it.
>> Uh, I'll make a motion to author Jack to
sign it.
>> I'll second it.
>> I
>> uh So, we have uh one nonprofit that we
did not approve. We're waiting for some
more information. um Terry and uh
has put together the whole package. It
was submitted. Um so I'm going to make a
motion that
is approved for
Thank you for all that work.
>> Any what
>> that one
completed now.
I just want to make sure that
>> uh bridge shed proposal. Uh I just
wanted to uh keep on the landscape uh
the proposal that's we got about a month
ago or so um that's we posted on the
website and uh circulated um from Masoma
uh Valley Preservation Alliance to
basically uh buy from the town the
freight shed um for $10,000.
Um and uh their plan is to
uh get grants and funding in the amount
of estimated at 540,000
to basically restore the building, turn
it back into some sort of productive
use,
um a business, a restaurant,
uh whatever. um basically put it back on
the tax rules and u uh basically what of
course what they do is they try to
restore it to um uh its historic
elements and apparently there's there's
a number of them there that that they've
looked at and uh you can look on the
website kind of see some conceptual
>> ideas of that
>> put probably 50,000 into it too over the
years so
>> already
>> um So, I just wanted to kind of keep it
alive to see when uh the board might be
um ready or what their thoughts are on
it. And um so I'm not necessarily
looking for a decision tonight, but I
just don't want the the conversation to
go stale.
Uh I think the only other thing what we
had mentioned
is
what size any lot adjustments because
the actual lot that the freight shed is
on is what it sets on. It'll be a matter
of designating build delineating a lot
line as to what they see as necessity as
far as parking or
>> separate from the local historically.
>> Yes,
because it is on its own law, but it's
like I say, it's just what it sets on.
>> Yeah,
>> I'd seen recommendations for there's
recommendations from them on that. I
didn't know but I was I guess I thought
that's what the deliation was. Clarify
that. So
>> I can I can get information on that. I
don't have
>> Yeah, because I know conversation was
they would look to have a lot size that
would park six to eight cars. That was a
conversation I listen to, but I've never
seen anything from them to further that.
>> All right. Is there any thought that the
town would simply keep some of that
property and make it generally parking
available for both of those properties
which ultimately
will potentially be sold versus
transferring those spaces to the
occupants
question.
>> I mean we have to come up with a
decision on cabins for too. Yeah, which
also cost near future.
>> And and just just generally for the
public, the that the blog store there
that the town has had to taxes at the
same time as the freight shed that are
interested parties or both that want to
basically redevelop the property and put
it back on the tax roles. And uh and the
large shed isn't ripe yet because we're
still doing research on when we took it.
Was it property? Did we go do all the
notices, that sort of thing. Typical
stuff we've done with all of the tax
needed properties that we'll be
disposing of this year. Um but
ultimately that we'll we'll have some
some discussion. The board's going to
have to make a decision about
>> I think we need to separate the two now.
>> Yeah. Yeah. So I mean if we sell the the
lo cabin store um you know it's going to
get all that property and that's not
right either. So
>> right let me let me do a little more
research and get back on their thoughts
on parking
>> a lot a lot online pretty easily
one meeting.
>> Sure. Let me get a little more
information on that. Any other concerns
or questions?
>> Has one.
>> So the freight shed, that's another
taxed property.
>> It is.
>> Didn't know that.
>> That that started that came up in
discussion eventually a couple of years
ago, a couple few years ago. I think we
finally some some months ago, we issued
an RFP for it. Um and that's what
resulted from it
>> that the u the caretakers of the
building really um Judith
>> Kushner and others have actually gotten
some of their own money to kind of
stabilize it do some stuff. So they've
had kind of not only a vested but an
invested interest in preserving it and
trying to uh leverage it into be
rehabilitated, restored and then
repurposed.
>> Good. Great. Okay. I'd like to move on
that sooner than later if we can.
>> All right. Thank you, Chair. Um we are
going to set Halloween treat hours.
>> Oh, sorry. Go ahead. There's a question
about the assessments.
>> Uh, we'll get that at the end of the
meeting. Okay.
>> I can't say that late. I'm in bed
usually by 6:00 for health reasons.
>> Okay.
>> I live at 18 Chief's Drive. It's
probably the best lot in the whole town.
However,
a lot of the land is wet.
I've already had to replace a wall in
the garage and I soon have replaced the
basement wall.
What's happening is taxation without
representation
because nobody's come to my yard and
nobody's come to my house. The last 25
years of my husband's life, he had
cancer. So, nothing has been done to the
house
except the garage wall and replacement
pro deck that caused the problem with
the garage wall.
I want to know why we don't have
assessors that come around in their body
to look and see what is really there.
Because I'm saddling our seven kids with
a white elephant.
There's no way
anybody will pay that kind of money for
that place.
>> Okay. So, the assessor is the one that
makes that decision and that's the
person
>> and twice and not received any call
backs and I'm going to demand somebody.
You're going to have to get the cops to
hold me back.
>> I mean, you have every right to have the
assessor come out and look at your
property now. So, I mean, that's that is
your right. And you can based on your
property card,
you may have a very strong argument, but
that's got to be done with the assessor
before it comes to the select court. And
I'm sorry to say that that's that's the
person who makes the first
>> Well, she better start answering her
goddamn phone.
>> It's not a woman. It's Brendan. It's a
man. It's Brendan is the assessor,
>> not Donna.
>> No.
>> Okay.
>> Do you have his name that I can have and
call him?
>> Brendan.
If you stop down at town hall when you
get a minute, we can get that.
>> Thank you.
>> Okay. Um, moving on for approving
>> without representation
26 Halloween trick-or- treat hours.
Again, that's uh WM, which is out every
year. So, we are going to set them for
Saturday, October 3rd. I'm sure we can
make a motion.
>> So, move. All in favor?
>> I
>> I October 31st, 5 to 7 minutes.
>> Thank you.
>> Uh water ordinance. We're started
looking at water ordinance. We're not
going to do too much tonight. Um really
uh the last time water ordinance water
were looked at was in 1998. Uh so it's
obviously time for them to be brought up
to speed and taken a look at. There's
been a number of questions about a
couple different things uh that we need
to take a look at. So, I started going
through it. Um we have a a template. Uh
Scott really just looked at it today.
You only got it today. So, um but we are
looking at it and uh uh we'll come up
with a new set of ordinances for water
and sewer or an updated set. Um, and
then we'll have a a public meeting to uh
bring them up to seat and have them uh
uh voted on by the board.
Just trying to keep everybody on the
board with that.
>> Yes.
>> Uh Upper Valley Stray Animal Contract
for the Police Department. This is, I
think, our third year of this renewed
contract uh with Upper Valley Humane
Society for uh helping the police
station pick up strays or or take strays
when we pick them up. Uh we already
voted on the contract. This is just
signing the actual contract. So
required. We've already done it.
Um, and again,
um, I don't know if we're going to,
again, we're we're looking at Kianne and
Aiden this summer went through a whole
process of looking at all the job
descriptions of all town employees. Um,
and there's a chain sheet here. Uh,
again, just letting people know that we
are looking at this and, uh, the the
level of work that was done. I think
there's 100 almost 200 pages of job
descriptions uh with the actual job
descriptions for all the town employees
uh for all the job descriptions.
There's a couple things missing just in
the in the organizational chart. I come
and talk to you at some point and just
make sure I got everybody. I know how we
did it, but it looks like there's a
couple positions that are not on there.
So, just want to make sure we get them
lined in. Um, and then we'll start to
roll on this as we move forward.
>> We can actually tell people what their
job is.
>> Hold them.
>> Um, somebody's very trusty.
>> You're up again. You got to speak out
loud.
>> Well, I don't know how much you like it.
>> Yeah, I hate it actually. But um I had
Nancy write something up because well
anyway basically um
we gave a revised treefold
to Scott last night at our meeting. We
had we had um
we had put out RFPs and there were we
put out I guess Nancy put out four and
there were two companies that responded
and so we
>> or how many?
Oh, I I don't know the total number of
trees, but it's for like three
cemeteries,
>> four maybe.
>> Um, but in any case, we finally uh
decided on uh the lower estimate,
but
we were shocked at how much it was. So
we met again and said well maybe we can
eliminate some of the trees that you
know were like we'd like to take care of
this branch or we'd like to remove this
one because it could come down
versus what really needs to h have to
happen their emergency type things. So,
we revised the quote and the cheap one,
the original one was
$29,200
and that was for um
Scott, do you have your copy of the the
new one?
You don't have the original one, but no.
>> Um Oh, all right. Which portion of the
>> um well that we have um the Wells Annex
and the Cananan Street Cemetery. There
were uh one, two, three, four. There
were seven maples that needed um
deadwood uh limbs removed. One of them
needed to have some kind of like cabling
put up to help hold it. I don't quite
understand it all. Um, but there were
two that needed to be cut completely.
Um,
that's in Kanan Street. And then in
Wells Annex, there's there was one small
tree where there were branches that are
hanging over the shed that's there that
are like I think they're getting in the
way of the wires or something. But for
Wells Annex and Kanan Street, it was
$9,000.
And then Wells Cemetery, which is the
cemetery that we have funds for.
>> Um
we had
one, two, three, four, five, six. Six
trees to remove, but we decided to
um
remove
one of the pines. We weren't going to
deal with that.
um their original
cost for the well cemetery work was
16,200
and we reduced it down to 10,600
and then we had a $4,000
cost for um four trees in Birch Corner
and we completely removed Birch Corner
out of the out of the bid. So our new
our new total is $19,600.
The problem is we only have $11,000 in
our in our budget. So we
>> Yeah. So we Nancy wants permission
to overspend our budget by about $8,600.
>> Okay.
>> Um
there might be a little bit more money
in there that we can take out, but
there's we're not really sure. There
isn't a whole lot in there. Um,
the amount that we have in our budget
would take care of Kanan Street and
Wells, which is 9,000,
but the tree company is asking for a 50%
or they're demanding a 50% deposit,
which is $10,000.
>> So, that's why we're, you know, we need
to like
juggle some money around. Does Wells
annex
have funds because it's part of Wells
actually?
>> No. No.
>> I knew that's how we got it.
>> Yeah,
that's part of the problem. I was guess
it was a new purchase.
>> What was that, Ellie?
>> I'm just saying I'm a trustee, too, so
what I say counts, too. But just let you
know that
Pen and Nancy have done a tremendous
amount of work on this for over a year.
This has been going on for over a year
and it needs to be done. And we've
listened to people complain on Facebook
and everywhere else. And if you want to
have another, if you don't follow
through on this, we're going to have
another episode. I spent eight years
before, and I'm just talking for myself.
eight years from 2008 until 2016 trying
to get the select board to cut those
trees in soya hill and we've damaged
stones in there and why somebody hasn't
come to you guys to complain to have
them fixed I don't know but if these
don't get done that's what's going to
happen is you guys are going to be
liable for having to fix the stones but
we have money like but we don't know how
much in in wells to pay for some of it
and we also have another fund called the
Mildred Nex fund that we can pay for
anything
in well as long as it's in well
cemetery.
>> So those are priorities and they've cut
back everything that they have put on
that list is things that are urgently
needed. It's not a wish list or anything
else. It's stuff that needs to be done
soon before the end of the year.
>> I see you. Okay, that's just my
Lynn can, you know, give hers too, but I
just want to know that we've done a lot
of work and we don't get paid. So, um,
>> so and and mostly it was Lynn and Nancy
that did it all and they deserve a lot
of credit.
>> Agreed.
>> So, just say yeah,
>> want to weigh in on money situations?
So, we're looking at 9,000 that you
don't have.
>> Like roughly 8,600.
>> Yeah.
>> But that's like immediately. I mean, we
can definitely pay it back,
>> but we just need to we need to we need
to um come up with a deposit which is
going to that kills our budget right
there.
>> Is the amount in a tree budget repeat
every year?
This is the first year we've been able
to for a tree.
We were hoping to have it,
>> but the collection never spent it. They
spent it on other stuff. We had like a a
surplus of like $30,000 in our budget
two years ago that somebody else got to
spend.
>> So, basically, trees have been
deteriorating.
>> So, we have a good amount of trees
>> that really need to be taken care of.
So, I would say
probably the next few years we're going
to have to have some big tree work done.
>> That's exactly where I was going. If if
every year there's a certain amount of
money put in for trees and given we're
already in October.
>> Yeah.
>> Maybe just roll it roll it into roll it
into two.
>> Did 20 almost 20 years ago we did this.
>> Every year I was on the on on the on the
cemetery trustees. We put money in the
budget and it never got spent on
>> free. But but we're talking about today.
So, okay. And we're trying to we're
trying to help here. We're not trying to
shut you down. Okay.
>> We had plenty of time. Do it.
>> Like like I would say with most
department heads, if you don't have
enough money this year, put it in next
year's budget.
>> That's my plan. Um, but we were like
when we when Nancy first talked to one
of the tree people
>> um like a year ago
his quote was like half this amount. So
she was just absolutely shocked at how
much and and the other one was even
higher. It was like 30 something,000 and
it was like oh my god.
>> So this was the first year we're trying
to catch up past
you're absolutely right. It's just the
fact that now knowing what this is and
going back to your point it's like okay
you know what would sought to be 11,000
whatnot next year it's like okay we'll
increase it to compensate for
>> but this being the first year it's kind
of a learning curve going down and needs
to be done otherwise
>> it's just going to compound on the issue
>> what does Kianne had to say about
>> yeah I was gonna say it's midepptember
and we haven't spent the contingency
budget yet we still have the contingency
fund
Anybody else want to weigh in? Since
we're
I'm going to make a motion that we
approve this uh expenditure.
>> I'll second that.
>> All in favor?
>> I
depend on the contingency.
>> What's the contingency budget?
for cemeteries.
>> Oh, no. No. I just was wondering what it
was.
>> I was just wondering what it was. That's
all.
>> It's a town rainy day.
>> Oh, I see.
>> A year ago. Last year.
>> Yes.
>> Well, thank you.
>> Thank you for everything you guys been
doing. So, it's much needed. I
appreciate.
>> When did we have one more request? Did
we have one other thing you wanted to
ask, but I forgot what it was?
>> Uh, no.
>> No. So,
>> not now.
>> No, too late.
>> Are you discussing town property for
sale?
>> The um ordinances
>> that's already been done.
>> We already have it. I sent you an email
earlier today. It's all set.
>> Thank you. Okay. Yeah.
>> So, um, as you know, you're you you've
got, I think, seven properties that are
going to go up for a sale auction on
October 24th, uh, right in this room at
10 o'clock in the morning. Um, and, um,
the only official that that kind of
needs to be available is for somebody to
sign off on the auction sale documents.
And so one of you uh a prestigious
gentleman could actually
>> there's only one here
>> attend
attend that meeting and sign those
documents. Um
>> what's the date
>> or you October 24th? It's a Saturday
>> Saturday.
>> It is. Yeah.
>> Um
>> great. Thanks.
>> So I just want to bring that to your
agenda. I know the three of us will be
here. One of one of you will more than
likely be.
>> Okay. This be a good time to vote for
Satie because she's not here to
>> No, that that'll come back in place.
>> Okay, that's good. I just wanted to be
be sure you knew that because those that
isn't going to take long. They don't
think it'll take more than an hour to
get kids open make get her done.
>> Okay.
>> So,
you won't be here long.
>> Yes. So you say
I promise.
What else you got, Jack? Um um not not
too much. Just in the interest of of
time, I just want to give you a little
update on the generators. I know we've
talked about them for the last couple
years. We actually have have them under
contract. Um the um the generator at the
water plant uh is actually up and
running. Um, one of the things that
happened with it, it was simply
unplugged and so the battery
the battery wasn't being charged. There
are some other routine maintenance
because it doesn't maintain
things. Um, the depot tree the depot
pumping station generator has been
broken for years. Apparently, it is not
repairable.
um the the hoses and wires, they're all
dried and crumbled and and rusty. I
mean, it's just terrible. So I will be
um um looking working with um our
engineers on not only the continuing
effort to rebuild uh and try to find a
reasonable solution to that pumping
station
>> um but also
depending upon what the solution is we
might be over here by a smaller
generator because that pulls a lot of
power right now. But again, we're we'll
be having a meeting tomorrow at 11:30,
Scott, which you're also invited to if
you want to.
>> I can't go on that. Oh, yeah, you can.
Oh, so you're required to attend.
>> No, I am going.
>> Oh, you are going. Oh, okay. Good. Um,
>> so you know, that is one of those
requirements. We should have been
working all along, but it's been broken
for years. Um and the wastewater
treatment plant also has a generator
which is um disintegrating according to
the report uh from the maintenance
people. So uh we we have two two of
those generators that have not worked in
years um that I'll have to scope out
some sort of replacement for. I am going
to look at uh the state of New Hampshire
because I uh it used to be that Homeland
Security Emergency Management used to
have some grant funds kind of a 50/50
split for emergency generators on the
water side of things. I'm not sure if
they have to on the wastewater side of
things but
>> I'm not sure because that's where
number of these municipalities those
generators they're as large as they are
because they were uh surplus
>> that they turned over to the towns.
Yeah,
>> we'll just move the water plant one
there and then
>> but anyway, so we'll work on that. The u
the fire department uh police station um
that one uh needs about $3,800 worth of
work. It it also hasn't worked in in
some number of years. And so I subject
to your consent, I'll I'll I'll approve
that $3,800 repair on that one.
>> So we're making some progress.
three cool just a little more money to
spend fixing things.
>> Nothing that money won't fix.
>> Yeah. Um and we have started flushing
the water lines uh which again we talked
about uh
last week. Um and um that of course
followed on on the discussion that all
of the hydrants endowment likely don't
work because they've never been
exercised properly. Um, so, uh, we're we
have a plan for those as well. We'll get
some parts and inventory just in case
things break. Um, but we have a plan
that's already on the website and the
newsletter about the, uh, waterline
flushing schedule. So, uh, most people
will see some discolored water after
that. So, just let it run until it's
clear.
that actually should uh at least uh uh
in our conversations with dees help with
the discolored water that some people
have complained about. I know we've
tested that water that was discolored.
It doesn't violate anything. It just is
an appearance
issue. Um, but the waterline flushing
will uh will actually become
routine as it should have been all along
and will actually flush all of the
lines, not just the ones where the
hydrants work.
>> So, onward and up.
Um,
subject to any questions, I'll I'll
leave it at that. We we continue to
Potato Pot potato road bridge is
actually due to go out to bid this fall.
Um
>> so it's still on schedule.
>> Yeah. Well, yeah, it's a it's it's been
on the 2027 schedule
>> and um that bridge is expected to cost
about $3.4 million.
>> Uh the construction of it is 100%
federally paid for. Um the uh design of
it is 80% paid for by state funds and um
we have to pay 20% of the design costs
which are about $80,000.
Um so so far we have because these are
reimbursementbased
projects we've actually already paid
$321,000
for the design of it. And uh I was
speaking with the engineers today. We're
because this has now been approved by
DOT to go out to bid, we'll actually be
getting 320 320 321,000
back
>> that we've already spent. So again, this
will be kind of a cycle with some of
these bridges. Obviously all of these
bridges which we'll be fixing in 27 28
29 potato grist mill transfer station
that's all in it's a $12 million
>> package uh at the end of the day uh
we'll only be on the hook for about
800,000 total. That's not a small amount
of money, but when you look against what
those projects cost that we're already
under contract for, by the way, because
a lot of money's been spent on
>> paid out half the
>> Yeah. Gris Millill Bridge uh will go out
for construction uh well go out for bid
in 2027, construction around 2028. That
is a $6 million bridge. It's a very big
bridge and um we'll be on the hook for
20,000.
It's 100% paid for by the federal
government on design and construction.
We had to pay 20% of the engineering
study. We spent 119 119,000 on that. So,
we're in for about 20 grand. So, we're
getting a $6 million bridge for $20,000.
And the transfer station bridge um is
estimated at the moment to be in the $3
million range. Um
um I mentioned that before. That's an
8020 state and federal split. Um
and so that that one will be a little
more expensive for us because it's more
of our bridge, not not somebody else's.
Um and that that that will cost us about
700,000. So
um but again that's not till 2029. We
will likely have to update
uh some of the bonding warrant articles
because when some of the bridge projects
were originally teed up uh in
>> in 2020 2020 actually um because of of
cost escalations and that sort of thing.
I can imagine we'll have one or more
warrant articles to update those prices.
Again, we've we've agreed to do these
projects. We have to do these projects.
These roads are very important. Um the
overall cost to us, while significant,
is is it's a small amount compared to
the actual cost.
>> Yeah. Because we've already had a co
initial cost increase on the transfer
station bridge.
>> Oh, yes. just because of mandatory
design changes that we had to do.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> So, other than that, life is good. We're
making some subtle changes to some of
the office structures in town hall. It's
it's either been done by donated
materials or um staff labor uh on the
weekends. So, not a lot of money there.
Other than that, life is good.
Um I just want to say that uh a formal
announcement will be coming out but um
our new fire chief started this week uh
Jeremy Tibbo KBO
>> TBO. Um so I mean look for he's got a a
long resume of success in the upper
valley and he lives in Kanan uh which
we're we're kind of lucky to have that
as well. So um I know he's been meeting
with some of the fire staff and
everything else from what Jack told told
me. I have not seen him since he
started, but um I hope to shortly. So
>> So I just want to let everybody know
that, you know, that's that's a good
thing for the community, too. So
>> one more step forward.
>> Yeah, Kelly.
>> Yeah. When we're talking about fire
hydrants, I noticed that the fire
hydrant, it's on the corner between
Route 4 and School Street, has got like
a plastic bag.
>> So I'm assuming that's one of the ones
that was tested this week and it
probably failed. So,
>> okay. So, it's going to be replaced.
>> Can't even open it.
>> Yeah. So,
>> well, are you ever going to come to my
house and look at
>> Yeah, we're going to do the whole town.
The schedule is out there, Ellie. The
schedule's out there for you to see.
>> So, the day you flush, it's on the
schedule. You'll be you're testing the
hydrant. It said water system flushing,
and I didn't know what that meant.
>> We're testing all the fire hydrants.
>> You're testing the whole system.
>> Well, you you you use the fire hydrant
to flush the water.
>> Oh, that's what I thought. Okay. You
just want to make sure. Okay.
>> And so to the extent that we try to
flush the water lines and the hydrant
has a problem, we'll have to fix the
hydrant.
>> So I'll look for them then. Okay.
Because the fire department used to do
this back in the olden days when we had
just volunteers. They used to do it on a
regular basis. They haven't done it in a
long time.
>> Thanks. Okay. Good.
>> So out of seven hydrants, you have one
that failed.
>> I don't know. I don't have the schedule
in front of me. Uh
>> four that are couldn't even find the
gate valve and the tool and I put a 10
pound sledgehammer to and I couldn't
even get
>> because there was a fire I mean this was
like 50 some odd years ago and there was
a fire across the street from my house
in the middle of January and it I
assumed it was frozen but they ended up
we had just bought the tanker and pumped
it they pumped it out of the river so
luckily
>> you know I live near the river so as
long as this water river
>> I want to thank uh the DPW and the water
department for jumping right on it I
mean it was just brought to our
attention two weeks ago that this was an
issue and had not been done. So, we'll
move it as quickly as we can to get it.
>> Uh that was 67 by Tucker.
>> September 18th is your street.
>> Is there like a preventive maintenance
for loose fire hydrants? Like I know
when I worked in the town where they
they they had them like scheduled almost
yearly.
>> That's supposed to be what was happening
all along and the board was under the
impression that that was happening with
with our it was not. So or it was
halfhazardly working with the ones that
he knew worked and opened up. So
>> again that was brought to our attention.
Right now the plan is to kind of have
another scheduling of flushing probably
sometime mid late October too and then
another one be Aprilish May and then
October of next year how it's kind of
laid out right we have any issues.
>> Um the other thing that's coming online
shortly is we we're contracting out for
Sterns to start pumping uh the
individual septic tanks at each of the
houses because that hasn't been getting
done on a regular schedule either. uh
basically uh they were getting pumped
when the failed or they were full. So uh
that's not acceptable as well. So
they're going to start doing a third a
year. Uh there's some other I mean
there's a couple locations that are high
high volume that even more recently that
they're coming on board this fall to
start doing that. So
>> do we not have a used to have a septic
tank? Uh the pump failed on it, but it
really was the manpower of doing it
ourselves is really not realistic and
that's probably why it wasn't getting
done in a
>> less. No, but I was just curious cuz
that's not in the surplus auction.
>> Uh well, it it just broke. It's uh we
haven't made a decision on if we're
going to uh we're looking for a pump to
see how expensive it is. Um yeah,
>> you know, it's a good thing to have in
case of emergency, but uh it's really
not was never designed for basically
being having daily use like it needs.
So,
>> okay.
>> Anything else?
>> Oh, one more question. Um you said that
you
seven properties properties.
>> That's correct.
>> The taxed properties.
>> That's correct.
>> Okay. And is there a way we can find
these online? Yeah, they'll be we're
going to put them up on the uh the
website probably in the newsletter. I'm
awaiting probably in the next few days
the um material from the auction house
that will identify them.
>> All right. So, we got to have the same
auctioneer doate
is doing vehicles.
>> Okay. All right. Good. All right. I'll
look for it. Thank you.
>> Make a motion to
move. All in favor? High five. Thank
you. Thanks everyone.