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Dunbarton Boad of Selectmen August 6, 2026

Video

All right.
Time is 7:05. I'm going to bring the
Dunbarton Board of Selectmen meeting to
order for Thursday, August 6th
7:05 p.m.
I have three selectmen present.
>> I have Leon Komondor, town
administrator, present. I have the fire
chief
>> [clears throat]
>> here. I have the town clerk here.
>> Come on.
>> And I have Mr. Leo Mar
>> Oh.
>> [laughter]
>> See, there it is again.
>> Mr. Barbara, tell the better looking
brother he's recording for the evening
this evening.
Did that help, Bob?
>> I don't know. I don't think Leo
appreciated it. He's going to watch this
video.
>> video.
>> All right. Gentlemen, we have a
interesting meeting tonight. We have
some non-publics and
relatively short meeting, but
let's a lot of material to get through
tonight.
I'll take a motion for the minutes. I'll
start with that.
>> I'll make a motion to approve the
regular minutes of July 23rd, 2026 as
slightly amended.
>> I second that motion.
>> And slightly means, Leon, there were
minimal changes and so that's
>> It was one word.
>> And that's excellent work for the uh
>> for the reporter.
>> All in favor, if there's no further
discussion, all in favor?
>> I.
>> I'll make a motion to approve the 7:59
p.m. non-public minutes of July 23rd,
2026.
>> I'll second that motion.
>> And they do not need to be sealed.
And so, any further discussion on them?
>> No.
>> Hearing none, all in favor?
>> Dana.
>> Hold on, Dana.
>> Yeah.
>> I'll open up for public comment now.
Anything from the back row, Jennifer?
And
Chief, you're on the schedule already,
so stand by.
I'll close public comment and we'll
straighten to our business.
Uh we got Fire Chief uh Brandon
Scothorne here.
Come to the front row and give us
something.
Any good news? Only good news. Only good
news.
>> Um so I I just wanted to provide you all
with some information on
latest fire department stuff. Um
and kind of grant money that are
available. So, [snorts]
um first and foremost, I I talked to you
all uh at length of time about um
the lack of availability of responders,
so kind of like volunteers and uh
slowly kind of dissipating nationwide.
Um we're certainly seeing that in Weare
and certainly seeing that in Dunbarton.
Uh last couple of days are an example of
that. Um you know, six calls over 48
hours
and four of them were handled. Uh two of
them were handled by myself and Captain
Crosby, who were on duty. We had no
other responders. Um
I got one responder to the third one and
then a handful to the fourth one, which
is later in the evening. Which is why we
have the per diems during the day. Um
the second day, there was nobody
available for our on duty uh and we had
two medical calls and we had nobody show
up there in either one of the medical
calls in town. So,
uh despite best recruiting efforts and
efforts to get people trained and
licensed as EMS providers, uh the
daytime still seems to be our
our biggest issue and
um both of those calls that happened uh
yesterday were handled by mutual aid.
Uh
so, to go along with that, I I got a
phone call from uh the fire chief for
the town of Goffstown, uh Chief
Penhaligon, um and he was asking me if
Dunbarton would be interested in
participating in a study.
Uh it'd be a grant-funded study. So, uh
is everybody familiar with the rural
healthcare transformation piece of the
big beautiful bill?
So, a part of uh as I'm
one of the very small parts of this big
beautiful bill was to allocate
uh a certain amount of money uh to be
spread out around the country and to
improve um rural healthcare access to
rural healthcare.
So, the state of New Hampshire was
awarded I think somewhere around $219
million in total.
Um which was a huge chunk of this
available money cuz for states our size,
we were we were awarded much more than
uh some of the other states. A little
over $204 million of that is available
uh and accessible to um
the transformation of rural healthcare
access to this uh to the rural
communities that we have in New
Hampshire. But, only for studies. Uh no.
No, this is depending on what somebody
wanted to try to um
you know, like there are small some
small agencies, right? So, any
individual fire department uh that I
know of went for uh and applied for a
ventilator.
Right? To be able to improve their their
service and um
to folks with respiratory emergencies.
I know Concord Concord Hospital
healthcare system as a whole um asked
for a lot of money to establish a mobile
integrated healthcare program, which
would
uh partner local fire departments and
EMS agencies with the hospital
to be able to send paramedics out to
out to patients' homes to be able to
evaluate them, administer treatments.
>> On emergency calls?
>> On non-emergency. Basically, think of it
as um
somewhat of like what a VNA does right
now. Um but, instead of the Visiting
Nurses Association, uh paramedics who
are licensed through
um through their organization and and
have obtained a mobile integrated
healthcare protocol, we could partner
with Concord Hospital, visit the adverse
individuals who are in their homes and
may have just been discharged by the
hospital, and they need some further
follow-up evaluation. Uh and the whole
point would be to reduce um the repeat
admissions to the hospital and and
reduce overall morbidity and mortality.
Um
to go along with that, what Chief Seliga
had reached out to me for was to see if
uh applying for a grant or being a a
partner in this grant application for a
study to look at regionalization of EMS.
the we we fell under the very definition
of rural, and some other bigger cities
and towns
uh actually fell under the definition of
rural, and then some very smaller
communities didn't. Um it was a That was
an interesting learning process, but
they went by um the federal definition
of rural, which if you guys are
interested, I'll let you look that up on
your own, but it's pretty interesting to
see where the line was drawn for what
was considered rural and wasn't. We fall
into that. The town of Goffstown falls
into that. The town of New Boston falls
into it. And the town of Weare falls
into it.
Uh the town of Deering also falls into
this. Um however, they weren't able to
participate in the study. So, the four
towns uh that I spoke of, we met as as
chiefs and
um and discussed participation in the
study just to see what the feasibility
of regionalization of EMS would look
like.
>> So, it'd be it'd be one one basic
organization to respond to any three
towns.
>> Yeah, four towns. Right. Right. That
would be staffed appropriately all the
time. Yeah, so right [clears throat]
now, this is just study to look at
>> Sure.
>> the logistics of that.
>> Um
>> in the end, if regionalization becomes a
thing, then yes, it's one it's one
organization that's spread out
throughout multiple towns.
In New England, we don't do this. We
don't do this for police. We don't do it
for fire or EMS.
Um but if you head to the south, you go
to places like Florida, and you go out
west, um
most of the agencies that operate in
those states are operating in a regional
capacity, more under a county branch.
>> Okay.
>> Right.
so, this is just informational, and and
I have just as many questions. Actually,
I have more questions myself than I
actually do answers.
Uh in fact, we all do and that's what
this study is about. So, the study that
um
the the grant that they asked for is for
enough money to hire an agency uh to
perform a study to look at what that
would look like for us.
Um what the logistics of it as far
[clears throat] as ownership, uh as far
as
>> And to to develop a proposal.
>> Not even Well, yes, I guess that a
proposal would be part of it.
>> Um if it's feasible
>> It could become a proposal.
>> Could possibly become a proposal. Right.
There's there's still uh between the
four of us, between four chiefs, we have
far more questions and things that that
we're concerned about um
to figure out logistically how that all
works. There There's so many moving
parts to it. Um but the end result is if
if the grant is awarded,
uh then we nothing changes for us in the
immediate term. It's study. It's look at
information. On my side of it, it's
being able to provide information to
this company.
Some of that
>> It'd be good to get a facilitator who
could put everything together for the
three
>> And they'll be four towns. Yeah. Yeah,
this So, the fire chief from Goffstown
is the one who's heading the project uh
and the company that he hires is the one
who's going to gather all the
information.
>> They're going to be the facilitator.
They're going to look up all this. And
And it's on our side of it, it's
information gathering and just
trying to help uh feed information to
them as far as what Dunbarton looks like
and what EMS looks like for us right
now.
>> That's a no-brainer then.
>> At least information. Yeah, and and the
regionalization has been talked about in
our area for over 15 years. Um when I
started as
uh as an EMT, the knuckle um the medical
director for Concord Hospital
uh
had started to try to have these
conversations with the entire capital
area about regionalization and
um the problem is it takes a study. It
takes a non an unbiased look at it to
evaluate every piece of the system and
see if it's
uh if it's something that that that be
done and and
It's difficult to do. You're know, the
first person through the wall always
gets bloody, right? Trying to be able to
provide the information to
>> the thing is the cost sharing, who's
going to pay for it?
>> 1,000% right? And that's the number one
thing that comes up.
The number one side of it is like who's
who's going to be responsible for this
money? Who's going to be responsible for
this equipment? Um and that's exactly
what the study is going to lay out and
and
planning purposes too, right? If it
changes in in how it does.
but I just informational I wanted to let
you know that we're we're going to be a
part of this study so long as it gets
awarded to us. Um but otherwise we
didn't put in for any individual funds
and we at least in the first term of our
not going to be a part of Concord
Hospital's mobile mobile integrated
health care if that gets awarded as
well. Beyond the other one that's out
there is the Central New Hampshire
Special Operations Unit which I'm a part
of also put in for
put in for a grant they're they're
looking to get part-time funding for a
part-time medical director I think for 3
years a dedicated vehicle for the medics
and then the equipment that we would
need to actually establish a blood
program
um pre-hospital and and basically create
the Central New Hampshire SOU medics as
more of like a state-wide resource that
could be activated as the only ground
transport ground non-transport vehicle
in the state of New Hampshire that
actually carries blood.
So that's the our medical director our
our team physician has that idea.
But otherwise nothing else affects the
town of Loudon.
>> I just I do have a couple questions. You
might not have answers to it but um
was there is there like a higher chance
of getting awarded this because of the
collaboration of the towns?
Is that why you were together and you
didn't just go off and do this himself?
>> Yeah, so I I think the collaboration of
the towns really follows the outline of
what this is designed to do, right? It's
designed to provide access to health
care to rural areas where we're having
problems getting access to health care
at least in the emergency fashion. I
think this really follows the line of
what the bill and the money is intended
to do. I think our chances of getting it
are are very high.
>> My personal opinion. And
you mentioned something about Deering is
not participating. Is it because they
chose not to or they're not rural?
>> They are rural. They chose not to. At
least it sounds like
They actually said
>> I didn't know like cuz you said there
was some towns that didn't get the rural
class.
>> Yeah, no Deering is considered they are
which and there there are some really
silly ones out there that you would
think would be 100% rural because
they're smaller than us with smaller
populations
and they were considered non-rural.
>> And I think the the problem is that the
rural classifications by the federal
standard actually go by county
and not by individual town.
>> So if you're in a larger like if you're
a smaller town as a part of a county
that has like the city of Manchester and
Nashua in it,
you weren't considered rural even though
you could be a small town.
>> There was a couple of really good
examples
>> when we had our meeting and it was it
was very cool but it's all done by
county.
It's not that I care much but like why
is D-
>> Deering I'm not sure why they had to to
step away. The the Deering chief wasn't
in the meeting that we had. He wasn't
able to make it and then we heard a few
days later that you he wasn't going to
be able to be a part of the study and
there wasn't any information why
it doesn't sound like that's
a permanent thing. It sounds like maybe
down the road they might be able to be a
part of the study but just not opportune
for right now.
>> And just a food for thought.
One of the things I've always said that
as time goes by and continues to grow
>> we're going to have to have to expand
move from away from a volunteer basis.
We've already started to do the step one
of by staffing the emergency services
during the day.
>> But I think it's based on what you told
me it seems like we may want to start
looking at seriously look at staffing at
least emergency services at night too.
>> Mhm.
>> And a 24/7 operation.
>> And so that I I look I look to you that
as far as you could maybe start putting
that on the table or start looking at
numbers and what [clears throat] it
would cost. And so,
again, maybe not this year, this coming
budget year, maybe but the year after we
may have to seriously look at that
>> to provide the the minimum service to
our residents here.
>> Yeah. And this um the other part of the
of the bill with rural health care
transformation,
the study, if it does uh let's just say
that the study results with uh
regionalization of EMS is the way to go.
Um there's the ability for us to reapply
to be able to implement regionalization
of EMS, which
looks like 24/7 EMS coverage um spread
throughout those count- those
communities, right? So, Goffstown has
two stations right now that are already
uh they're already staffed with EMS 24
hours a day. Uh New Boston has their
brand new station that doesn't have
staffing 24 hours a day
uh in the town of Weare does right now,
but
they have five openings.
Uh they and they can't get the staffing.
>> Right. So, staffing staffing is a maybe
a limitation as we go forward.
>> It It It always can be. Yeah. That's one
of my biggest fears at this point. Um
the one thing that we don't have that
those other three buildings do have
right now is the ability to house
somebody for 24 hours a day.
So, as we move forward, if we were to
reapply for implementing regionalization
of EMS,
um hard costs such as facility upgrades
to be able to make this happen are
included in that.
So, just food for thought that if we did
have to expand and add on housing for
uh for EMS providers, then that would be
that could be a hard battle as well. So,
>> I got a couple questions as well.
>> Yes, sir.
>> Um Goffstown's in a different county.
So, with this regionalization, is there
any issue because Goffstown's in
Hillsborough County? And
>> No, there's not.
>> in Merrimack.
>> No, that's a That's a great question.
>> and also we probably go more to Concord
with the ambulance services and they
probably go
more to Manchester, I assume.
>> Yeah, I'd have to look at
I'd have to look at our numbers to see
which hospitals we transport to the
most.
If I had to guess right now, I'd say
we're probably 60% ish to Concord,
20 20% to Elliot, 20% to CMC, right? We
kind of
we're a little bit less
to the south down in Manchester, but
we're kind of positioned right along
that line where we have
and it's and it's people's choice,
right? Where they choose to get their
health care at either at Concord and
some of them choose to to stay in
or get their health care in Manchester.
But we do we do travel all over place.
I the the regional system of EMS is not
necessarily limited to county
in the south and in our west where they
have it, that's what they
it was set up a long time ago and they
did it as county,
but I it's not a limiting factor for us
to, you know, join with agencies or or
municipalities from other another
>> [snorts]
>> But that's a great question. That was
another one of the the things that we
discussed with
Yeah.
>> The other thing I had you mentioned in
the beginning there were two calls, I
believe yesterday that you said no one
showed. What happens in that case? Do
you have mutual aid get called in or
>> Yes. Yeah, so
I was working in at my full-time job in
Bow yesterday. Um and we were the mutual
aid ambulance for two of the calls.
>> I showed up. Um one of the calls was
actually in the southern part of our
town, which would have been the district
four of the town of Boscawen. And when
we requested that, Boscawen ambulance
was not available. So, it rolled to the
second ambulance on our mutual aid card,
which happened to be Bow.
So, we took the first call and then
I made a a judgment as the officer on
duty when the second call came in just
to go out the door right away
and add ourselves to it because I knew
that staffing wasn't available anyway.
>> How long of a delay is that in in in
that when when they called Dunbar and
when that one was
how long is the delay?
>> Great question. The total delay is about
9 minutes.
>> Right. So, 9 to 10 minutes. So, the
first the first tone allowing
or the first dispatch of the resource
allowing providers to get to the station
to get the ambulance is 6 minutes.
There's a timer in dispatch when they
start it. At 6 minutes, if we haven't
signed on or we haven't folded that we
have staffing, they do what we call a
re-tone. So, they just announce it
again. 3 minutes after the re-tone,
they'll re-announce it a second time and
they automatically start it.
>> mutual aid, which is pre-established.
>> Thank you.
>> The the only other piece of
uh I guess bad news that I got along
with all this stuff over the last few
weeks. Um I discussed it briefly with
with Wayne and
I've spoken to a a
a member of Primex and I've got to set
up a meeting to get more detailed
information. So, at one of the
uh the July New Hampshire Association of
Fire Chiefs meeting
uh Primex basically went there and said
um the cost to insure a volunteer
firefighter is going to increase
exponentially.
So, for years and it's
it's not a fixed number, but they they
just in rough terms they used a fixed
number to
to get the point across. So, for years
um let's just say a volunteer
firefighter has been costing the town
$300 per person for insurance.
Uh what they explained is that they they
did a a study and basically that number
hasn't changed in a very very long time
and they realized they're behind the
times. So,
they they started We've already actually
seen the effects of it. Our numbers
actually went up for 2026 from what was
explained to me, but over a 5-year
period we're going to see an exponential
increase in the cost of insuring a
volunteer firefighter and and the
estimate the the number that was given
that as an example was if it was $300 in
the first year, by the time you get to
year five, it's going to be $9,600.
So,
the meeting that we have to set up with
Primex to be able to to look at the
numbers for Dunmore and then figure out
exactly how that affects us is is coming
forward, but
>> that's another problem.
>> Does claim rates have anything to do
with it?
>> Uh I'm sure it plays a role in it, but I
don't know whether it's [cough] claim
rates specific [clears throat]
to the jurisdiction or if it's overall
claim rates in New Hampshire. Yeah.
>> Or even
does the amount of
uh calls that a volunteer responds to
have any
Cuz some people are not things like
workers comp always does look back stuff
and things like that. It it you know it
always
>> Yeah, calls do play a role in it I think
just because it's a percentage-based
number on how much it costs us.
>> It's percentage-based on on salary and
payout. And obviously calls means that
we don't pay as much as other agencies.
And participation being volunteer means
that we pay less than other agencies.
So, if somebody chooses to only come to
four calls a year, then we're paying
less for them.
>> But the but the number is still going to
increase by quite a bit.
>> So, one of the hard things that I have
to look at is
the logistics of what they consider a
volunteer firefighter,
what they consider somebody else who's
on the department [clears throat] that
doesn't necessarily engage in
firefighting activities that could be
in a support role.
>> Well, if you break
>> Right. So, there's different
>> rates for different
>> Correct. Yeah, so that We may be able to
get around this by the reclassification
of those who support the department but
don't necessarily engage in that
activity.
>> Is that I I recall you have a whole
laundry list of
potential people you could call upon.
>> Correct.
>> And
>> Well, it's 23. It's not for me. That's I
don't know if I call it a laundry list.
There were only 23 other firefighters
and 23 other employees at the at the
department.
>> So, just to touch on that, the way I
have to report our um
information to Primex so that they can
determine our annual rates, is to use
the budget total number, the number of
firefighters in that report. So, he has
several that are listed as active, but
don't show up. So, there's all those
factors have to be included in that
calculation. And then
then they have, you know, the section
for the police department, the
administration, uh the library, the fire
department. So, the whole combined is
included in it.
>> they they probably do a deep dive into
risk management.
>> Yeah. [clears throat]
>> Okay. So, just uh another thing that
we're
uh yeah, I'm going to have to look at
uh um
to see what we might have to change at
the department, but not
uh you know, not as much as
>> you to join the police chief when he has
two hands out. Just come with two hands
out there, stop.
>> You know, when he's on vacation, he
doesn't bring these things to us, so
>> [cough]
>> So, we uh increasing vacation hours?
>> I have a motion.
Thank you. Uh the thing is uh we have to
have the good and the bad. So, thank you
for bringing that up to us.
>> Uh so, I apologize. I'm under prepared
for uh
uh under prepared for the discussion
with the rural healthcare transformation
stuff. What I will send you uh
retroactively here is um the grant
application, uh which was submitted
along with
uh my letter which endorsed the study.
>> So, again, it hasn't been awarded, but
I'll at least send you that information.
>> Right. I think we all have a consensus
here. We're all
leaning towards absolutely
>> going forward.
>> Yes, yeah.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> Yeah. Oh, yeah, definitely. I'll just
I'll I'll forward these to you, at least
have copies of it, so you can see what
it entails.
>> Now, did it require signatures from just
you or
>> Yeah. Okay, great.
>> Yep.
Cuz I don't want anything I hold it for
another 2 weeks.
>> Yeah, no, no, I appreciate it. Yeah. Um
but yeah, the yeah, the grant
application window is closed, so
everybody who's
got their hands out for some of the 204
fish million dollars is is already done
asking.
>> Oh, wow. It's closed.
>> It's It was a very, very narrow window.
It was so narrow that while I was on my
last vacation, which we discussed, I had
to open my computer and and write my
letter of support because I was going to
miss the window while I was on my
return.
So.
>> That's tight.
>> Thank you. That was
>> Oh, no no no no problem. That was easy.
>> That's all I got. I apologize for taking
so much time.
>> That's good. Fine.
Okay. I'm ready to
>> See you in a few months.
>> Sounds good.
>> Two hands out now.
>> Two hands.
Um I'm going to go right to mailbox
items.
Just let you know Remember the we had an
issue with the signs that by the
Dunbarton sign with all the
vegetated matter which was
>> toxic.
>> That was sweet. Poison ivy.
>> Tom Cassano did a great job in
the the Dunbarton H corner one.
>> Did he have to mow it?
>> He
had to bushwhack everything around it.
>> They got permission from the landowner
and then they proceeded and
>> Good campaign.
>> So, that was an email came in. So, thank
you Tom Cassano for doing that. We got a
bunch from the garden club. That was
great.
We got a
This is just something that
Greg Rule has been doing uh
outstanding work in getting best price
and just dealing with the with the This
is an example of some of his
communications he's had with external
agencies. I just want to put that out
for the record.
It's an example how well he's been
doing.
>> Good.
Um I have something uh
The library wants to know if they have
sent an email. They have two quilts um
Chris Harmon gave library old red
Dunbarton's rows there. They were sold
back They were sold sold to them some
time ago.
We have a They have agreement with the
library. They want to put them up on the
second floor. Do we have any issues with
that? I guess. They need to know they
can put more on the wall.
>> I don't put what on
>> They
>> it's a picture. It's in black and white,
>> It's like a
It's like a It's a double quilt.
>> That one is
like a
burnt red.
>> And this one here looks kind of grayish
to me.
>> Um but the other one has a lot of bright
colors on it and might
fit on a short wall and
I think what the
the group that was working on
>> I I sorry.
>> making that accessible um
thought that putting things on the wall
without damaging
>> the noise and the echoing so
they requested other tapestries to be
put up so
>> In fact, it may actually help the sound
help the sound too.
And uh I don't think I would support
their judgment in
placing them wherever they want.
>> I agree.
>> All right. I'll get
it installed then.
>> Thank you too.
>> All right.
We also have something from uh
>> You want to just uh initial that?
>> Oh, I'm sorry.
>> Core engineers
about um
They have a master plan in Hopkinton
Everett master It's a Hopkinton Everett
Lakes master plan and it needs revision
and they're going to just talk about it
and they're going to have an open house
meeting about it which anyone is invited
[clears throat] to it.
>> But it says no formal presentation.
>> That's kind of interesting.
>> Exactly.
>> I have some interest in
If I have some time, I might go.
>> It says that's open to the public.
>> It is.
>> Yes, it is.
>> It's
>> It's a [clears throat]
hosting open house August 25th in
Contoocook to share details on draft
revisions to the 1978 [clears throat]
Hopkinton Everett Lakes master plan
at the Hopkinton Town Library in
Contoocook, is that
uh my understanding.
The location.
>> At what time?
>> It says uh open house from 5:00 to 7:00
p.m. on August 25th.
At the Hopkinton Town Library.
>> If
Just like to know what
Is it
>> If no one can go, maybe we can send an
email back just like we'd like to know
what the proposed changes are.
>> And if they could send us some email of
their PowerPoint, their whatever they're
so at least we're properly aware,
correct? I think that'd be a minimal.
>> All right. Uh
This is from David Allen to Leanne. You
want to help me with this one, Leanne?
>> Oh, um
David asked me to reach out to the
ethics board to uh come up with some
wording for uh
receiving minimal gifts
and so that it's black and white and
puts it that into the personnel policy.
He said that um it was a good question
to ask. He said, but they their
organization or group is on summer
like schedule so they'll be back to
meetings in September so they'll work on
drafting something up for us.
>> That could go into a personnel policy,
actually.
>> why I was hoping to get some information
before we had the workshop.
>> forgot about it.
>> Actually, thanks for that.
>> But I just think just so people aren't
wondering like, oh
should I take these, you know,
flowers that someone dropped off for me
or whatever, right?
>> Yep. Yep.
>> Okay, we also have here um
State of New Hampshire's update to the
highway block grant and it basically
tells the amounts we're getting.
And then
>> It's been go It's been about the same
for the last few years. The um um
confusing part is that they go from July
1st to June 30th. So, their first
payment or quarter is made in July.
>> Second quarter's in around December.
Third quarter's January and then fourth
quarter is April of next year. So,
they're kind of half We'll hear We'll
know I have to actually use the April uh
January April plus the first and second
quarter of this calendar year for my
budget. They
design theirs by annual. So, they go
from July
>> And just for the public, just tell us
what money can be used for just as a
summary for me.
>> primarily for highway and some
communities will earmark the highway
grant specific in a fund that the um
highway department can draw on, but in
this particular town, it's part of the
overall budget and that's where
the road agent has funds in within an
account within his budget that he calls
um highway maintenance.
>> And that's where And that's subject to
the highway um public hearing where we
determine priorities for the town.
>> When he has his road projects, yeah.
>> And that's done in the spring of the
year.
Okay.
>> And uh what's the difference between the
uh row that's labeled A and then there's
another one SB 367? Are they two funds?
>> It's a different That's a very new fund
that they kind of broke aside from the
total
uh description and I think it's
associated with the tolls, the toll
money.
>> Oh,
okay.
>> That And I I like to keep it separate if
even when I make the entry for the
journal so that if there's a decrease or
increase, you can see where that change
was made.
The last item uh was something that we
No, excuse me. That was the last.
we had an officer who basically dropped
out of um
academy.
And we wanted some clarification as far
as if there are any recoupable funds
that the town can ask the officer
reimburse the town for money spent.
Uh Sean, the uh
town attorney gave us a lot of language
on it. And then then our selectmen
and Leroy chimed in on it, gave us some
very simple language. And I think uh
it's we're going to implement that. And
essentially that when an officer drops
out from this republic uh we've invested
time in him as far as vetting him,
putting him through tests, uh
fingerprinting, background checks,
buying him equipment, paying him for the
duration while he's before he goes to
the academy and after he goes to the
academy. The only thing we found from a
common sense point of view, the only
thing would be the reimbursement we
would ask him to reimburse for those
individual expenses for uniform and
equipment that we expended upon him. We
can't We don't We don't think it's right
that we take wages away from him because
he's actually working either before or
after or during the training. But I
think it's if there's individual
equipment that we expend on the officer,
we're going to
>> That was unique.
>> That was unique to the officer that
cannot necessarily be reused. Um
we're going to ask for reimbursement uh
on behalf of the town.
Uh the original policy that the chief
had was for if an officer essentially
got trained and left to another town
we'd ask him for almost uh the entirety
of the cost of training and penalize him
a little bit more after he signed the
agreement.
But this is a very simplistic method of
recouping some of the cost we've spent
and goodwill that are that are unique to
the individual going to the school.
>> And just to clarify a couple things. uh
One, the last one was a him, but your
reference could be him or her.
>> Absolutely. The policy would be that.
But also in in the case that wasn't
covered,
it we would not ask for reimbursement if
someone
through their best efforts and fair
efforts actually wasn't able to pass the
academy or somehow flunked or didn't
meet physical standards or anything like
that. That's not covered in this. That's
not what we're looking for in this case.
We're looking for somebody who basically
willfully
ejects themselves out of this process
because they either didn't like it, they
uh maybe even committed a crime or some
There's language in there that's going
to
basically say at the if it was some
negligent act of the applicant going
through training that they would then
have to reimburse us for their unique
equipment
that we invested on them that that we
have.
>> The other thing about it is that the uh
the agreement already covers office
long-term officers uh that are here for
a number of years that we can recoup
some of their costs as well. Is that
right?
>> Well, up until I I think so.
>> About 4 years. About 4 years, actually.
Yeah, right. But it's already in place
for long-term officers. This is just
adding it to a
>> in training trainee.
>> Right. To recoup uh
uniforms and equipment only, but not
wages.
>> Right. Correct.
>> In the original policy, we never it was
really never in in in
We never really thought there would be
an exception for that.
We
After someone's been vetted so much,
you'd never think he'd drop out of
the academy for
uh the bad reasons.
>> The only thing I'd ask is that I'd like
to see a final copy
>> Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
>> uh the the the current policy and the
proposed wording. I'd I'd like to see
>> in fact that so I can do A to B
comparison.
>> Yeah. Dana has passed the um
>> wording to the chief. He's on board with
it. He's We just got to get it prepared
for the next meeting.
>> So, can I just
clarify for the record that when you
refer to the policy, this is a police
department policy, would not be included
in our personnel policy, and it would be
something that we would be have the new
hire employee sign, and it would go into
their personnel file.
>> Correct. That is correct.
>> And this one we're talking about is the
police training agreement, not the not
the other agreement that they have
because I think there's two different
ones that they have.
>> was one in the same.
>> It could It could be. Maybe
I I That That I'm not sure about. I I
don't know whether there's a separate
one for someone has to go through the
>> But I do have a note
>> it is one Well, it's one in the same.
>> Okay. All right. I stand corrected.
>> But I think it's that it's it's to help
protect Dunbar and from when we invest
in
hopefully great great people.
>> We don't want great people running away
from us.
>> Okay. Enough said on that.
All right. Now, that ends the mailbox.
Oh, just to follow up on that, chief is
on board with it. You guys recommend
changes. And we just got to get them
written up and implemented those changes
you sent to him.
>> Now, I'm going to open up for public
comment again.
>> Bob?
>> I have nothing.
>> Okay. Jennifer?
>> I just wanted to mention the election
coming up is just over a month
away, September 8th, which is the day
after Labor Day.
So, that means set up is going to be on
Labor Day.
So, as many of you as can be there, it's
very helpful. The moderator, I'm sure
will be scheduling a meeting
with you coming up to explain duties
again and all that.
>> New transfer station manager, you may
make sure the moderator talks to Gregory
about it.
>> Right, absolutely. Yeah, I did talk to
Greg, and I emailed him so that he could
add it to his calendar, but I haven't
gone into detail, but I'll be
coordinating with
moderator
more in the coming weeks. I expect we'll
have a complete ballot clerk list for
you to appoint at the next meeting.
>> I haven't
finalized that all, and there's also
training coming up. I will email you.
Ideally, you will have gotten a
a list of that that just came in the
email today.
>> It came out today. I I saw it in the
emails.
>> So, if
if any of you didn't get it, you know,
let me know cuz that probably means we
don't have you set up right in the
system that goes to the elections.
>> And we want to make sure that we just
make sure
>> All the reps are there. Okay.
>> But they usually have
>> Talking about but the thing is if you
plan to send it to selectmen again, it'd
be great.
>> Yes. No, yeah, I didn't send it yet. So,
I will send it to selectmen. If you got
it, you got it from the elections.
>> Got it.
>> So, but they
>> What what are the
What are the elections being held that
day?
>> Primary elections are being held
September 8th.
>> Primary elections.
>> Yeah, and then the general election is
November 3rd.
I hate to say the primary ones are
probably going to be the most difficult
ones cuz you have so many candidates.
>> Yeah, it's
>> It won't be It won't be difficult during
the day. The counting becomes more
challenging.
>> It It can, but I seem to recall 2 years
ago the primary was we got We were out
of there earlier that night than the
other all the other elections.
>> Let's keep that thought.
>> Yes.
>> No, I was surprised. It was like, "Wow,
that didn't go so well."
>> Great minds. Well, something just came
to mind is
Labor Day's a holiday, and it's in the
personnel plan, and even though these
guys work part-time, do you treat it as
It's or do you treat it as a regular
>> Oh, they get If they work on a holiday,
they get paid time and a half. Is that
what you're asking?
>> Yeah, that's what I'm That's what I'm
>> Absolutely, yeah.
>> We don't We have a few like day after
Thanksgiving that's considered a
holiday, but
>> Make Make sure you tell them tell Greg
that in your in your continuing
discussions with Greg.
He's going to be paid as a holiday.
>> Usually that's a motivation for it.
>> I'd rather not be the one inserting the
middle of saying what personnel will
find to them.
>> just I think there might have been
issues in the past about something being
relayed
>> We can take We can We can take it up.
>> step in the middle, you know, just just
in case.
>> We can take it up for action.
Um anything else?
>> Um I think that's it.
Okay, I'm coming back to the uh town
administrator.
I only have one
thing and I put did provide the board
with the updated calendar. I'd like to
We've been
uh mentioning that we'd like to have a
personnel policy review and because
we're already in August, I'd like to try
to get something set up on a schedule
during the day with the board uh sooner
than later so that it has I have time to
put all the new changes in the
policy and then distribute all the
the the final copy to all the employees
before the end of
>> I'd like to shoot for Is it general
August this month that we can do it
sometime this month, gentlemen?
Is it first I'll start off that I'm
available.
Dan?
>> Are you only available the last
>> I'd like to know what your available
availability will be.
>> There's one week that's
>> Do we want to um
>> The last week of August, the first two
weeks of September.
>> I'm sure
>> Can we go ahead? Can we just pick this
uh can we just pick it by email or do we
need to do it live right now?
>> You don't have to do it live, but sooner
than later.
>> Only Only because I don't want to reveal
any
>> Okay. Why don't Why don't we just uh
We're going to target just target the
last week in in August.
>> Last full week in August. We're going to
target that week and let's get your
information, Colleen.
>> Okay?
>> For a second and third choice in that
that week. The only thing is we're going
to do it like midday for 2 hours. We'll
plan on 2 hours.
Okay?
So the week of the 24th.
>> Week of the 24th.
We We We just got to get an email out
and we'll get that finalized.
Okay. Anything else?
>> And that's not a
select board meeting week.
>> Correct. So that might work out.
>> That's good.
>> All right. Anything else, Colleen?
>> Okay. I'm going to bring it to the board
again. I will start with Chuck if you
would be so kind.
>> Yeah. One question on Old Home Day. A
couple questions, actually.
Yeah, we touched upon it last meeting
that it might be some
all of the
select board representatives might not
be available that day.
Um I want to know who I'm
working with for ice cream and who Who
do I see? Who
Who's the honcho for ice cream? What do
I do? You know, am I the only
Who else is going to be there?
>> I I'll probably end up being there with
you.
>> Dan is going to be out of town.
>> I may not, yeah.
So as long as we have two people there,
there's usually more than enough people
there. You just got to make sure you
don't bring your best shoes cuz ice
cream's going to drip on your shoes.
Okay. And they're going to give you
They're going to give you gloves. It's
in the afternoon. Note note the time of
the ice cream.
I usually come up in the morning. I
usually come up with parade and then
mingle a little bit, but you just got to
basically hover until they're ready to
ready for ice cream distribution and we
just help set it up and scoop it. That's
all we do. And it usually lasts for
about Lean, I'd say say maybe 45 minutes
to an hour.
>> Until the ice cream's gone.
>> Yeah, pretty much. And everyone
Everyone's had their fill.
>> pretty quick.
>> It does, yeah.
And uh and that's pretty that's pretty
pretty much the last event of the day,
really.
>> Right. So, Chuck, it's usually held in
the under the tents where they sell the
hamburgers and hot dogs.
>> Yes, I know where that is. Yeah, I'm
familiar with that.
>> have the ice uh chests set up there, and
so that it makes it pretty easy for for
them to set up the line.
>> Okay, you you'll probably most likely
>> Something like that. I'm about 90% yes.
>> Okay. And uh as far as other help, who
the way does that come from?
>> It's uh basically everyone who's They're
volunteers, everyone.
>> Volunteers from us. Okay.
>> The Garden Club
um as I said earlier, the
the
Rec Committee usually reaches out to the
school, the SAU, because the um seniors
are supposed to do community service.
And every year that I've been there,
there's been three or four
seniors behind the the counter helping
either in the hot dog hamburgers,
collect money, and then they end up
staying and helping with the um ice
cream.
>> And the thing is, we'll usually pay them
with an extra scoop.
>> All right. The other question on Old
Home Day I have is opening the town hall
or not. And I know there's concern about
making sure the bathrooms up there are
closed that day. Are they Are we closing
down the bathrooms because of no
capacity?
>> So, uh Natalie had uh from uh Old Home
PTO, who's organizing a children's play
there, came before the board a few weeks
back and did mention that
for that period of time, they would be
making sure that the doors are locked,
only open the half hour before the
um event, and then they would clean up
and make sure that the door gets locked
behind them.
>> Okay. There was talk about maybe putting
a tape across the bathroom doors,
because I know how people might be when
they only have three portable johns,
support parties and
and they think, oh, there's a real
bathroom here.
>> Right. So, the doors will be locked only
except for the short time before that
event.
>> And library's closed so there will be no
need for the library built for the whole
building to be unlocked.
Thank you for Thank you. Okay.
>> It's been working pretty well for for
the last couple of years where we've
locked that building and this building.
>> All right, thank you. That's all I have.
>> All right. I'm going to chime in on that
because I got a few updates with the
police department, but the thing is uh
the the route is going to follow a
previous route. They're going to
basically uh the state is going to
provide barriers to block 13 off
and they'll have deep uh deep detour
signs for the 1 hour before and they'll
drop that off with that police
department. They'll the police
department will set up the barriers.
They actually provide barriers. The
Department of Safety and Action.
And uh they're going to on on Bernard
Hill Road they're going to Bernard Hill,
excuse me. They're going to have the uh
uh that's where they'll line up. There's
a field over there. There's a police
department has it well in hand. They've
been communicating effectively with the
uh Olde Home Day Committee and it looks
like it should go well.
And uh
so that's that's that's that's a little
bit of the update on that.
Separate note, um police department this
would remind the public that there's a
bicycle rodeo August 8th 10:00 to 12:00
and they usually give out free helmets
to children who uh want to get
be safe with their bicycles. So, there's
a little bicycle rodeo going to be at
John E. Larkin out here.
>> And they usually have someone on site
with the police department inspecting
children's bikes to make sure that
they're
performing
well.
>> Usually a good turnout.
>> Exactly. Uh
>> Question on the parade route.
>> Um do you know about what time they
usually block 13 that morning?
>> They'll be They'll be by 1 hour.
It's going to be about an hour.
>> I think the permit that Chris um sent to
me said that it was going to be blocked
15 or 20 minutes before
the event and then continue until after.
>> Okay, yeah. But the thing is
this up the road, I mean people who are
just bypassing Dunbarton will be able to
easily get by with the detour signs.
>> Do you know how it detours?
>> Yes, it goes uh Mansion Road.
Go so you know where the the old You
know where the old where the old gas
pumps are? You're going to be You're
going to be turned right there. Go ahead
and south and it'll go around towards
Mansion Road and then come out at
Mansion Road. Okay, yeah.
Under 13 again.
Good question, though.
the chief reported they We have recalled
the retention bonuses
that we authorized. He said they were
well received and even the part-timers
who did not receive it
were were fully
very supportive of it and were grateful
to the for the town of Dunbarton. So
it's a thumbs up from that.
Okay, bear with me. The easy We're still
short one officer
because that officer dropped out.
Um there's a recruiting
They're potentially making an offer to a
new candidate not an existing candidate
so he'll be coming in at a lower rate of
pay
and there's still has some additional
vetting still going on with that. So
it's still a work in progress.
>> So it would be a trainee, then?
And I have And then I'm going to hold
off I I am calling for non-public this
is an employee discussion I need to have
with police department number.
Okay, that's all I have for the board at
this time in public. Dan, it's to you.
>> Yeah, I I two things.
The transfer station
search and evaluation still going on. In
fact, we had a
test driving of some equipment this
morning at one of the sites
one of the preferred
pieces of equipment we're looking at.
A little bit of the
There's two things that are kind of
holding up right now. One is we are
investigating forklift opportunities
because there's a possibility that a
forklift within the building would
actually be a very suitable solution and
we hadn't previously had Dave Nault
investigate forklifts. So as a team
committee here, we've decided to
investigate forklift options.
And the other thing is the grants that
are available. We have made contact with
the folks at the
Department of Environmental Services
about the grants.
The main person that knows the most
about them is we're in vacation season.
So they're out.
So some questions that we have regarding
that won't be answered until next week.
But
obviously grants are critical component
of any choice and selection that we
make. So that's ongoing.
>> I just like to public acknowledge former
selectman David Nault for helping out
with any of the initial legwork for us
in getting this project started.
>> So I thank you to Dave Nault.
>> Yes. Yeah, we he was able to
evaluate probably in the range of like
20 some odd pieces of equipment
at multiple vendors and was able to
narrow things down based on suitability
for our needs and he he did a lot of
work there. So he's handed that off.
He's going to step He's going to step
back from it now that we've narrowed it
to a smaller
smaller selection. And then the last
thing I did want to just bring up again
that Dunbarton Community Power is still
an option if anybody's not currently
enrolled and we did get some flyers from
our agent uh this week and we're we've
been posting them up at different
places, the library, the bulletin
boards, and whatnot in case anybody's
interested or notices those. It's not a
new program, but we do have the flyers
with the uh with the rates that we have
and how they compare to the
>> So, the bottom line is someone still
signs up now, they can still save 4
months of savings and that could be a
significant
>> of the
that's why I'm continuing to bring it up
is
um because the utility rates are
uh are going up uh or did go up August
1st just a few days ago.
That's all I have.
I we have two quick non-publics, so I'm
going to
uh ask that we go into a
>> Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sitting here reading
this newspaper.
This was uh from the Bolt Times uh in
July.
It's just uh basically, you know how
they have a section for Dunbarton? It's
kind of nice they had some pictures of
our new officers and uh and some awards
we gave out to the
>> our officers also.
>> I noticed that, too.
>> Yeah, and uh
I tell you, she looks too young to be a
police officer. I
>> So, uh just quick for the public, make
sure you'll get your Bolt Times
if you didn't see that. Okay, then I'd
like to make a
make a motion we go to non-public for
RSA 91-A
subparagraph 3 Roman numeral 2
A and B at the request of the town
>> Levoy asked.
>> Commencing at