All towns · gorham

Board of Selectmen Public Meeting

Video

Okay, I need to have it quiet so the camera and audio can pick up for the minutes taker.
Okay.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
So our first item of business is trustee of the Cemetery Trust Fund?
Marie.
I'm Marie.
You're great.
And you're the trustee, the trust fund.
Here we're the one.
And thank you for having me.
We just wanted to bring to the life that a lot has changed since 2020, basically,
that the trustee has been looking into the cemetery perpetual care trust funds, which there are three.
One of them is the trust fund that has the cemeteries in it,
and the two others are the flower account and then the old cemetery account.
And what we discovered us,
we were looking over a lot of the town reports is that in 1998, the select board were granted
the duties of looking over the cemetery trust. So we had come up with some goals of what
to do with the funds because in 2020, right around 2020, the, what's a perpetual fund is
you take the interest of the accounts and you use that to pay back the town for the maintenance.
And then for the flowers, you use the interest to buy flowers.
And then the old cemetery account, we weren't sure when that was established.
So we came up with a timeline of what happened when.
And we have a, we have a, we have a,
have a few goals. But then when we found out that you were in charge, here we are.
And we've got a, got a skills for you. But we can't really go any further if the select board
isn't on board with what we have to offer. Yeah, I don't know why it was transferred to the
board of selectmen. That was before my time. It was before your time. I did go back to
a couple of the people that were, the two, Mike Waddell was one of them, and Eve Sornio was another
one.
They couldn't remember either.
But some towns have cemetery trustees in our town doesn't, and a lot of towns don't.
So the trustees, the trust fund, were placed in charge of overseeing, which makes sense.
Excuse me, which makes sense because it falls right under the capital reserve accounts anyway.
So I think that's why nothing was happening maybe, and they decided to make the select board in charge.
because since I've been a trustee, nothing's happened.
Yeah, because it would make sense to have the cemetery also fall under the umbrella of trustee
of the trustee of the trust funds, because that would make everything under that one umbrella,
right? Or am I reading this right? To me, it does. Yes.
because we're going down and we're reviewing all those accounts anyway.
And I don't remember the select board ever reviewing the trust funds.
The trust funds.
Which I believe...
We have during budget season when you're looking at the revenue side and the interest side
and the interest made by the trust funds, but other than that, it's been...
To the defense of...
select board, there weren't much, there wasn't much interest there.
No.
At, um, accumulated.
So it didn't, it really wasn't...
Basically, because we didn't know what to do with it.
Right.
And the town was taking care of the cemetery.
Yeah.
And they do a great job.
Um, so that I think that that's why it kind of just got kind of lost.
Also, um, policies and procedures, there, there aren't many policies and procedures.
procedures in any of the towns. So what the municipality is trying to do is to get
the trustees moving with that and to get some kind of more formal system going so that people
that have placed their funds for flowers, the flowers happened. So it did in the past.
And then when there was no money, it kind of fizzled out, went away, right?
And the other piece is that the process of how the town gets paid back has changed.
And it's quite a process to get set up, but once it's set up, it would be fine, it would work.
And then that would actually be revenue for public works.
So I've been, we have all been working on reading town reports and trying to figure out where some of the funds that come from.
and we've come up with some, but I don't want to make this too long.
So we'd like to, like, buy flowers for, get the flower account going again.
And we'd like to clean the stones to the old cemetery.
So we've gotten quotes from two people so far.
And we'd like to pay back, stop paying back to public works.
So it's a process to set up.
Where are the fun sitting right now?
They're in the trust fund.
I mean, the funds are there?
No, I mean, are they in the bank?
Are they, you know, CDs?
They're in the New Hampshire public pool.
And they're making, they're doing well.
Okay.
And trust rates are coming down, but it's still doing better than sitting in the bank.
Yeah.
So are you proposing perhaps that the board should relinquish their control back to the trustees of the trust?
Well, it takes a warrant, which would be a town meeting,
and that would mean we can't, we wouldn't be able to do anything this year.
In the meantime.
Right.
But to keep going.
Yeah.
But, right.
In the meantime, you could work with Joe and Blanson on the best path forward.
On the best path forward, you know.
It's the board.
Right.
The board would basically follow their recommendations and authorize it.
And that's why we're here.
I just wanted to bounce it off you and see what you thought about keeping it.
And we would just work under, like, present what we have to this life board.
I don't know if we'd have to come back to a meeting or we just resent it to you.
That's going to take some research.
How much money are you talking about spending?
Well, to pay back how it works would be for anybody's lot.
that is under the perpetual care account.
We got to come up with how much it would cost per a lot
and pay them back each time they mowed or did weed whacking or that's the common thing to do.
And that would give public works, some extra funds to do something else with.
Cleaning the stones.
I think we talked about that not too long ago.
We have come up with two proposals and they are about $1,200 to clean the stones in the old Main Street Cemetery.
And then all the flowers, we were hoping to get flowers, there's $750 in the interest in the account.
It isn't very much, but I found that that that $250 is taking, it goes to,
certain lots.
So we have like $500 to spend.
I'm hoping to do something to the entrance or something.
I know it doesn't...
Are you talking real flowers or artificial?
Well, we were just thinking something to beautify it for the 250th,
you know, which is right on corn.
So now...
Because if it's plants that need to be planted,
then it would have to be done every year.
Scott Newton, just so everybody knows.
What we're talking about was as far as the entrances of each cemetery,
having something artificial.
For instance, Larry's Cemetery.
They've looked and they'd be like two maybe artificial wreaths made the cemetery next to the pub house.
It would be an urn type with artificial flowers.
Just so that we have something for the house.
4th of July and to memorialize that we have a lot of veterans buried in all these
cemeteries.
It would also benefit, you know, just to show the respect for them.
So that's kind of how we're looking at it.
So I would recommend disconsolidate those into, you know, here are the three, four, five things,
cost that you would like to do.
Then you could present that to the board at the next meeting and then they could
vote on it, and or take any other questions if they have, you know, how are you going to do this?
You're going to lose, use a local vendor, you know, those things.
Yeah.
And then that, then we could work with you and then get a warrant for next year.
We did speak with the vendor, so we know what, we know where the price, price rate could be.
Good.
And the cleaning of the stones?
Is that something we can move forward with or this is just in the old.
If you have the funds, I don't see why not.
It's there.
And the old, I did speak with David Bryant.
Yep.
He went and looked at the stones.
And that, because they were, because they're so old, they don't, you know,
it's going to take a little extra work.
So he, you know, but they can do it.
And I know that we've got another possible person too in line that may be able to do it.
But it's going to take a little bit of work.
Right.
Because I think we had talked about.
public works cleaning the stones, did we?
Or was it there?
Well, we were wanting us to straighten them.
Straightness we could and stuff like that, yeah.
Not clean.
Yeah.
So do you need a motion so so Marie can move forward with cleaning the stones cleaned?
Yeah, because you're in charge.
So made?
Second.
All in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
the flowers, should we get that for the July?
If you have the funds.
Well, there's $500.
It's not much, but maybe we could just do what.
I would like to see a motion for that if we could.
Because in order to order the start of the materials,
you know, we've got to have time for the vendor to order the material.
Right.
So the sooner we could get that approved, the better off it would be.
So much?
I'll make a motion to approve.
Second.
All in favor?
Hi.
All in favor?
I.
Thank you.
Okay.
We'll get flowers for the entrance of the two sets.
Should we do them?
Well, we'll have to talk to them now because when I went from 750 to five, we'll have to.
Well, we've been, as we're researching, things are changing two on our end.
Oh, join the club.
Digging around in the town reports and finding prizes.
Yep.
Been there, done now.
Thank you for doing all that research and all those are a lot of work.
Okay, welcome.
I do want to make mention, though, there was a Mrs. Hall from town.
I just want to acknowledge her.
I don't know if you know her, Camelah Hall.
Anyway, she did an inventory of the Evans Cemetery and the Larry Cemetery herself.
Really?
Yeah, in 2002, which is going to help us a lot.
She's in hundreds of pages.
Really?
Everything.
All handwritten and written.
and very accurate.
So I just wanted to acknowledge her publicly and thank her.
Yes.
And she's happy to hear that it's going to be used.
Her hardware's going to be used.
Mm-hmm.
That was good.
Okay.
Then we'll move forward.
And then if we have changes, we'll just present it at another meeting.
Is that what we do?
Or give it to me.
Yeah, a progress report or Joe.
Oh, okay.
And we'll get an update from Joe or Peter.
Whoever happens to be here at the time.
Okay.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Before they need, could, you know,
so can people ask questions before they leave?
I'll understand.
They're staying, so you're going to wait until public comment.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Everybody's good.
Thank you.
All right.
Next item on the agenda is assessing abatements and exemptions.
Michelle?
Oh, there he is.
Polly moly.
I left the other half of the pile for the next meeting.
Oh, my goodness.
So,
based on that pile,
if you want to just read them
and stack them,
and we'll sign them after the meeting,
rather than have everybody
just sit here and watch our sign
all that paperwork.
But I will, each in packets, so take one and pass the rest of the packets.
So yeah, there are, put, a few, and then I have a couple of exemptions as well.
So the first amendment is for Helen Boisejure,
the property on Main Street.
The recommendation on this.
one is to deny it.
The taxpayer provided an opinion
of value based on four comparable
sales. However,
the comparable sales are considerably
smaller and not in the same
location. So
they did take a
look at it and
found no changes that were needed.
So they are recommending that you deny
the debate. So
I'll take a motion to
recommend the
assessors to accept the
assessment recommendations. Yes, thank you.
So moved.
Second?
I'm just looking at over.
Second.
All in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
The next property has two
abatement applications, which
is for Donna
Godin, for
property on Alpine Street,
One of them is that the house previously was listed in fair condition, and it was changed to average in the eval.
It was inspected, and they did find that there are areas that have deferred maintenance, such as flooring and older kitchen, older windows, bathroom, and it should be reduced to a fair value.
That would create a reduction in
value of 13,410 for an abatement of 31446 plus $5.44.4.4 interest for a total of 31991.
Okay, so I'll take a motion to accept the assessor's recommendation.
So moved. Second.
All in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
Aye.
The second abatement on that property is based on
unconstitutional taxation, and that is not something that can be done at the local level.
That's something that must be done at the state level.
The only areas that the local, that can be done in a local level, at municipality level is
disproportionality, incorrect physical data, market data, and then poverty or inability to pay.
None of those were provided.
So the assessors.
recommending that you deny the second abatement.
So I'll take a motion to accept the assessor's recommendation to deny.
So moves.
You can apply at the state level?
It's nothing that the town can handle.
And it would mean a change in state law.
Second.
All in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
Rich?
Aye.
The next one is for property owned by Gorham Land Company, for a parcel of land that is 2.89 acres.
They felt that the value was disproportionate.
However, the acreage that they're looking at is 2.89 acres.
It was removed from current use back in 2000.
There is a hunting cabin that currently sits on it, and although the access is difficult, it's
already receiving a 65% adjustment for that.
And so they are recommending that you deny the abatement and that's a value at 52-3 speed.
And just so you know, if it were at full market value, the value on that 2.89 acres would be 150,056.
Is it in current use?
So the majority of that land is in current use, but as long as that hunting cabin sits on it,
it cannot be in current use.
So it was removed.
back in 2000 for that reason. So I'm looking for a motion to recommend these
the assessors. Someone second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. The next one is for
a property on Parmarad Street owned by William and Emily Lynch. They state that
the home is in average condition with fair to average materials used for the construction. It is a
original, the building is original, the window stores, kitchen, and bathrooms. No updates
have been made. And they also state that the parcel next door to it, since their purchase of
the property in 22 has also sold and is now being used for heavy machinery, mining, that type of
stuff. So they are recommending that you reduce both the building and the land. And it would
create a reduction of $69,100 for an abatement of $1,620.40
with interest of $25.57 for a total of $1,645.97.
Make a motion to approve. Second.
On you, aye. Aye. Aye. The next abatement is for the pub house.
public house eateries there were a couple of things that we found on that they used some
comparable properties they didn't feel that those were quite acceptable however
they did find that it does need some there's been some deferred maintenance the
property should be reduced to average condition instead of good but the
biggest part was that for some reason in the calculation
in the system. The shed at the rear of the property was being very highly
over-assessed. So they are recommending that you grant the abatement. It would reduce the
value by 55,900 for an abatement of $1,310.86 with interest of $20.69.
cents for a total refund of $1,331.54.
Motion to approve. Second.
On the David? Aye. Aye. Hi. Michelle, do I read that correctly that that that 264
square foot shed had a $40,000 value? Yeah. Yeah. It was just a little over a
over itself. Yeah. For some reason, the way that it was in the system was actually
calculating it as first floor, first floor commercial and a shed of the same
good footage. So it was double assessment. The next property is for the Toby and Daniel
Reichock Trust for a property on Cottage Street. They were requesting an abatement because they
it looked like the property was being assessed as having three separate heating systems,
which it didn't. And then actually what it does is it calculates at $3 per square foot, not as $3 per
system. So they are recommending that you deny the abatement. So I move. Second.
All in favor?
Aye.
Hi. Hi.
Aye.
The next one is for Benjamin and Lisa Schott for property at 55 Main Street.
They purchased the property in September 25 for a recorded sale price of $389.
We had the property assessed at $620,600, and we found that there was an area.
on the sketch, a four, believe it or not, a 44 square foot area that set a value on that
44 square feet of 250,000. So they, we corrected that sketch, and they also corrected
the number of rooms, interior walls, types, etc., and that created a reduction in value of
$246,420 for an abatement of $5,778 and $55 with no interest.
Make the motion to approve.
Second.
All in favor?
Hi, hi.
Hi.
Hi.
And the next is for Kimberly Smith and Michael Bergeron for a property on Main Street on Main Street.
It's a three-family home that was originally built in 1870.
The property is already listed in fair condition for its age.
The applicant felt that it was over-assessed compared to others like it.
And the assessor looked at four other ones in similar area, and this one was comparably assessed to those.
So she is recommending that you deny the abatement.
Motion to deny.
All in favor?
Aye.
The next is for Mildred Dupick, for Woodlock, off of Route 2.
The taxpayer states that the property is landlocked.
However, no comparable sales or values were provided other than their tax reps,
landlocked parcel of land in Hillsboro, which is not considered comparable.
And they refer to an estimated increase in commercial land at 12%, which has nothing to do with the woodlot, as it's classified as a residential.
So the 25 assessment equates to about $1,300 per acre, so they are recommending that you deny it as well.
there was an error on the tax.
The tax maps have it at 100 plus or minus acres,
and it's actually 112.
So we have added the additional 12 acres,
which actually increases the value instead of decreases it.
Are they in current use?
No.
Parts of that, you know what, Drew,
I'm not entirely positive, but they don't.
It is not.
It's not in current use.
And it's landlocked with no access?
So it has access.
The taxpayer's representative gave a value comparable from a property in Hillsville.
So we don't have a comparable that was supplied from here.
Right.
But is this property completely landlocked with no access?
There's going to be no easements or anything to get from there.
I'm going to say. I don't know if it's completely
allowed for no usements.
Well, I believe it does, but I'm not
positive. I know it is
the parcel is also
adjacent to another two-pick parcel
related, but not the same ownership.
Now, whether they have access
through that, I'm not
positive. I know the other parcel
did have
deeded access, but I'm not sure on this one.
And I don't see that
is this parcel
up behind
warmer or on
Cascade Hill? So it's
if you go under the
trestle, it's over in that
area. It sits right beside Dennis Tupix
property. Yeah. They are
in the same
area. Okay. If it's
completely landlocked, that would be
apt to
approve, I mean,
no, not deny it.
So how do we find out
if it's landlocked, for sure?
I think that
in order to keep the process
moving along, that we
go by the recommendation of the assessor
and give
them the opportunity to go
to the BTLA,
which is the last word.
Okay.
They could appeal it.
Okay.
So a motion to deny.
Second.
All the favor.
Hi.
And when you mentioned that,
Judy,
what, so just for people
that might be watching
at home,
so the BTLA is
the Bureau of Tax
Land Appeals.
So that isn't,
this isn't the
final disposition
for any of these.
Right.
They could
appeal to the
BTLA.
Yeah.
Or superior court.
Or superior court.
Yeah.
The next one
is Ballant Court
irrevocable trust.
this is a property
on Highland Ave.
It's a double
wide with an in-law apartment
and has
944
square feet
of living space
with an extra kitchen
for the in-law.
We've tried several times
to reach them
to do an
interior inspection
and they have not returned
our calls.
So she looked at
two comparable properties
and that have
sold between 24 and
25 and
the leaves that these are, this one is
equitably assessed to those
and for those two reasons
is recommending that you deny the
abatement. Motion to
deny.
Okay. I'm in favor?
Aye.
And then the next one is
for the Richard Wallingford
Trust.
For the property on
Glen Road.
It's a commercial
building.
we, they filed an
abatement on it.
We did go take a look at it
and they did find
that there were
sketch errors,
not so much errors,
but parts of the property
were assessed as
being first floor
commercial space
when they're actually
workshop space.
So it's a
60 by 28
area of the back
of the building
that was
changed.
And it was also,
, I believe,
it was also changed
to commercial
with apartment
because there is
an apartment
upstairs.
So the
reduction and value
on that one
is quite a
large.
It's a reduction
of $282,780
which is a
reduction in
value of
$6,631,631.
with interest of $116.27.47 for a total abatement of $6,747.46.
Motion to approve.
Second.
On the baby?
Aye.
Aye.
Those are the remainder of the current.
The new application are the new ones that the assessor has reviewed.
The only two that I have remaining are the two at the board table.
for 30 days,
which would be the abatements for Cardel and for Zonio.
The Cardell
abatement, I've reached out to the attorney twice now
and have not heard back from him on scheduling a walkthrough.
So the assessor is recommending that you
move forward with the denial on the application.
Okay.
And if we do that,
that moves their position along
to the BTLA as well.
BTLA O'SPIure report,
they so choose. Correct.
Motion.
Motion to deny.
I'm recusing.
Second?
No.
And the next one is
for Christina Zornio.
And you had wanted to table that one as well
for 30 days.
Okay, on the advice of council,
I'll take a motion
to deny that abatement request.
Motion to deny.
Second.
All in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
Aye.
So when you sign this
one, there are two
spots on the back.
One is a column for approval
and one is a column for denial.
Yep.
So please make sure
you sign in the correct spot.
You get so many there.
I know.
I try to flag them
during the edge.
I do.
I have.
I also have an abatement for,
and this is a system abatement only
for Goram R.R.E. LLC, which is the mill.
And this
is a system abatement only for the difference between what
the 2025
final tax bills
actually were and
what the tax signed
tax agreement that
the board signed with
the mill after the last half
tax bills went out. So that's
what this is. It's a system only
and it's for $71,004.48
and there is no file for that one
just needs to be signed.
Then I have
I have an
exemption, actually sorry,
I have a veterans credit
for a Daniel
Zagdengross
for his military
service and
that is for $300
and he does
qualify and he's also
the recipient of the Global War on Terrorism
Exhibitionary Medal. So thank you for
your service. And that would be
for $2027 for $300.
Take a motion?
We moved. Second.
All in favor?
Aye. Aye.
And then the last thing
that I have for you is
also a
veteran's credit. It is
for Mary and Christine
Partnope and Mary Partnope is
the applicant.
I had noticed that
her husband who
had been receiving the veterans credit
was deceased,
and so she needed to apply
as the spouse
of a deceased veteran, which
she did, and she does
qualify for that. At the same time,
she also applied for an elderly
exemption, but she was beyond a date.
to apply for that. So that is denied
and the veteran's credit
of 300 is granted
for 2027.
Take a motion?
All in favor?
Aye. Aye. Aye.
That's it?
That's it. That's all I have for you.
Thank you. I had a quick question on a prior
we denied a solar
exemption because they didn't meet the deadline
last time. Was it the deadline or was it the
fact that they had an irrevocable
trust? Deadline, I'm pretty sure.
So when was the deadline?
April 15th.
And as I remember at the warrant,
that we voted on at the town meeting,
he said,
100%,
but there was no mention of a deadline.
And then they said we couldn't do it
because we were at risk of getting sued
because there's no...
Previously, you mean?
No, Mr. Riddell got up and said the reason
we need to devote it on it because we can't do the tax.
is because it puts us at risk for getting sued.
And there was no mention of the deadline.
Correct.
So how would the deadline decided or sent out?
A petitioned warrant article has to go in as it's printed.
So in their application, they did not follow the whole statute through.
When I went back and looked at the statute,
it is clear that that particular statute that they referenced,
is by application.
So had they,
I didn't see it before it went into the warrant.
So it is, statutorily requires an application.
So how is that communicated to the person?
I tried to call every single person that I know of
that has solar on their system,
on their tax cards.
We tried to go through building permits,
hunt down phone numbers online.
Anybody that we did have a phone number for,
we called,
I called the people that actually put the petition in
and said, can you call as many of those people
that you know that signed your petition
to try and get as many of them as we possibly could.
Do we know about the deadline before the warrant was put in or no?
I didn't know that they didn't have that in there.
So, unfortunately, no.
And it wasn't until the Department of Revenue actually talked to one of the people that has it
and said to them, you could apply for solar exemption because they saw it.
And I was like, uh-oh, what?
And so I started going back through, and that's when I found that that particular,
the statute that they referenced in their petition does have a requirement for an application
to be submitted, no later.
than the 50. So who put the warrant in?
That was a petitioned or an article. So we have no choice but to put it in.
As written. Yes. That's correct. And if that's all you have
for me, I will leave things for you.
Okay.
That is up to the chairman. If she wants to allow that now, if she...
No, she can read to a public comment. So if you want to stay, Michelle?
Okay. I want to do that. And I don't need it.
Next item is the year-to-date budget review.
So year-date is really year-date as April 30th,
because this review got the late a little bit.
All in all, relatively good news, I'd say.
So focusing on the general fund,
we collected roughly 23% of our revenues for the year so far
and spent so far roughly 29% of our budget, which at 1.30th the year complete,
we're looking free on track.
So if our expectation is 33% of our budget, either collected or spent as of April 30th,
you know, that's pretty good. We've underspent by 4%.
And revenue as well, they're under-collected by 10% a lot of that, I think, comes down to timing
because you have a big-ticket item.
like EMS contract revenue, which won't fully be collected until as of about a week ago at the end of May.
So for the end of May, you'd see all the EMS contract revenue, which is roughly $221,000 will be fully collected.
And then a high blocker in revenue, which if it keeps on pace like it has the last three years,
should exceed $200,000, if not get close to $250,000.
So that doesn't come in until December, though.
that's the same with rooms and meals tax that doesn't come in until the end of the year.
Yeah, rooms and meals tax is not come in until the end of the year.
Yeah.
But otherwise, everything is looking good, and, you know, the general trend is that we should be able to keep on track under budget.
I can't guarantee it's going to be that roughly, you know, 4% currently, but we're doing really good about, you know, staying under.
How do...
Oh, never mind.
have a fixed rate for oil.
Yeah.
But it was so cold this winter, we've probably used a lot more than normal.
Yeah.
Was it harder, John, to heat the DPW?
It took more than last year.
Yeah.
And with our issues, this is our propane system that didn't necessarily help either.
Yeah.
There were a couple times where we had to get refilled for our entire propane care town hall.
Yeah.
Otherwise, just some kind of quick, high-level key items, because I know I've already sent you guys the budget at the end of April.
The highway admin budget, aka John's budget, was slightly ahead of pace at roughly 37%,
but as we've talked about in the past, a lot of things due to the seasonal winter costs,
so we won't expect that to continue through the summer.
And some of it also is due to the due to the summer.
the use of our highway block grant funds that we received in the state.
We don't have a designated budget expense line like that.
We instead off like Maine Town just to spend it directly from the budget.
Yep.
It is offset.
We have a revenue line for the India revenue revenue we collect from the state that they give us for highway block grant.
And we also encumber prior years on spec funds.
So I wouldn't be concerned if you see highway is over because it's generally.
Because we have that offset in revenue.
The next note I had is now outdated because we have now fully collected as of last week or the week before all of our EMS contract revenue.
But as I would have said, we normally haven't collected all by the end of July.
And then for other timing notes for the expense side of things, by the end of July, we made our annual bond payment transferred out our operating funds to the library.
Pay out our Patriot purposes budget for whatever that comes out to for the year.
how the 4th of July is hopefully for good weather this year, because I know we've had some
rainy 4th of the Julys in the past.
And otherwise, by that point, we should fully expended our position of one article.
Next time, please.
Yeah.
So I wanted to correct something that I had said to the Budget Committee Chair.
He asked when our last bond payment was, and I mistakenly told you next year, it's the year after.
So just to correct that.
It's my 2028.
2028, yep.
And that's approximately 200,000?
Roughly, yeah, 204, in change.
With interest and principal.
Yeah, that's the principal and interest.
Yeah.
Otherwise, there were some noted departments that were at the end of April
well below 25% spent, mostly either due to some timing,
either because of the point in the time of the year it is,
or just trying to help with cash flow.
or just demand being lower.
Otherwise, all in all, we're doing pretty good.
Nothing really too major to know.
No, I don't see anything that really sticks out.
Bob, you have any questions for Bronson?
I didn't answer to the quick question for John.
May.
So you've gone through, so you have half of your assault on hand then at $50,000.
Yeah.
Half of what budget was, yeah.
All right. How do we do last year with, do we have much left over?
The same as last year.
Of the same, yeah.
Yeah, it was, so we had taken another, we had taken some more out this year to bring the budget down a little bit.
So, and it's looking good so far.
I think we'll be all set, you know, as long as the price.
When do you make that next purchase?
It won't be until, like, probably, September or November?
Yeah, because we got enough to start.
season and go for a few weeks.
You're always looking, too, for price reductions.
Yes.
So last year, the company that we had gone with, they couldn't get us to salt.
And it was, so the company that I got us to bring us salt was actually $7 cheaper for
time.
So we ended up saving money that way also.
So that helped out.
Yeah.
But when you reduce your salt budget, hoping that the winter isn't, it's kind of a cross-your-fingers type of deal.
Yep.
So I can't see.
I have to be able to cut it in more on it.
Yeah.
Because it's thin.
It's very fair.
But you're looking good right now.
Yes.
Yeah.
Thank you for that.
Thank you for.
Thank you.
Do you have any questions?
I do not.
Okay.
Bronson, are you finished?
Yeah, I'm good.
You're good?
Good job.
Okay.
I'm just going to make sure that they're also a lot of stream over across the hall.
Okay.
Next item is the Main Street project design.
So, Rich, you want to comment your opinion?
I thought alternative to, I agree.
except I would not do the bump outs.
I would think that the pump outs are, create more problems than they solve.
It's the one that's below budget or under budget, and we can use that money to hopefully improve the crosswalks, you know, all through town rather than just a certain area.
And that's about it.
I concur with Dr. Cardo.
And I think.
we all agree.
So I can tell you, just for Rich's point, it's a good point.
The plan number two was both sidewalks kind of through this area, which are tough up to the high school,
but the pedestrian improvements would go throughout the corridor.
So typically crosswalks need lights at both sides.
There's an opportunity to have better lighting.
You've had some accidents because of unlit or poorly lit areas.
And then the school crossings at both the Ed Fenn and the high school will be upgraded with a more visible blinking type light.
And the reflective paint will also be there through with all the crosswalk.
So the pedestrian improvements will go through the corridor, but as far as sidewalks, that would
stop, whatever, from Route 16 up to the high school.
So when we had the public hearing in September, H.E.B. gathered all the information
from that public hearing to base their designs on, and the schools were the top priority.
And I can tell you from from, um, the schools were the top priority.
the high school down, it's, we needed to have that side done as well for the safety of the kids because the kids walk from the high school down to the common for their baseball practices, their soccer practices, and it's an issue.
It's a real issue.
So that takes care of that.
And the fact that we get to do both sides of the street is a plus for the money.
that we're spending. And I've talked to walkers. I've walked from intersection to intersection
twice myself to see exactly where the worst issues were. And I spoke to four walkers who
walkers who walk the whole length every single day and asked them what they thought was the worst
part. If we only had so much money, you know, should we
to the bottom half of Main Street? Or should we move it up to the north or west, whatever it is?
And they all agreed they were unanimous in doing the downtown area. So it's been in the work for almost four years. We've been at this?
Yes. And it is CDS or congressionally directed spending or earmarks for this room. So those funds don't have any
kind of escalation clause. So this is the original budgets we're working with and it is
what it is. It doesn't go up. So. And then money ends in 20. We have to get money spent or what's the
word Bronson would use allocated. Appropriated. Yeah, appropriated. Yeah. And if we're under
budget, can we extend it at all toward Ed Fenn? Yes. Yes. To, to, to,
a point, there are some, you know, maybe slight beautification pieces we could do and then, you know, extend up on one side of the street, perhaps towards the Ed Fenn. And maybe we can afford paint, hopefully. This project should come in, you know, at 1.7, 1.75 million. So we would be able to get like a little bike detour, maybe down church.
street to get bikes off Main Street where it's really busy, get them to come down and get
it to calm it that way. And based on my discussion with the walkers and my walking at myself,
that section just before, I would say starting from just above Skagans to Ed Fenn is not bad at all.
So the money would be well spent.
on the safety issues of the crosswalks and the lights and stuff like that.
Because there should be a 700,000, almost a 700,000 excess.
Right.
And basically, that gives us the luxury of putting in the safety issues, the crosswalks, the lighting, the signage, the bike, the bike detour, the bike detour.
gives us the luxury of customizing it to our needs and not what the engineers think we should have.
We love engineers.
It's not there.
So, yeah, Rich, we should be under budget, and I believe, so that's going to save the town, you know, $50,000, $60,000 for the taxpayers.
You know, I don't like to leave grant money on the table, but.
I think this is the best fit and again, saving the town, you know, $50,000, should make us happy.
Anybody else? Rich? No. We're ready for a motion? So, I mean, I move to approve the, I mean, recommend the alternative to.
All in favor? Hi. Hi. Hi.
Okay, very good.
Next agenda item is the MOU for the Coa Cycling Club trail proposal.
Yes, so as you might recall, the Coa Cycling Club proposed some trail work at what we referred to as the Woodward Lot, which is off Dublin Street,
to make a trail and improve trail access.
Water sewer commissioners were there as well.
We thought a memorandum of understanding to clarify what the responsibilities would be.
So the MOU says purpose of this Board of Slutman's memorandum is to outline the expectations,
responsibilities of the Co-Oce cycling club regarding club's proposal to construct
and maintain a new mountain bike trail on land map R4, lot 8, owned by the town of Gorm, New Hampshire.
The new trail will be constructed by Coas Cycling Club members and volunteers following
recognized sustainable trail building principles to minimize erosion, reduce long-term maintenance
needs, and protect the natural environment.
All expenses related to construction, maintenance, and signage shall be the responsibility
of the Coas Cycling Club.
There shall be no permanent structures defined as concrete footings, supporting the building,
and or utility connections constructed on the property.
Airport runway incursion is one of the most dangerous airport hazards.
Reasonable signage shall be installed and maintained by the Co-Aceiking Club.
The marks the airport one way as prohibited.
This memorandum of understanding may be modified upon 30 days written notice
and upon written agreement of both parties.
Any questions, Rich, or Bob?
I have one.
No.
So we'll move for a motion to approve that MOU?
I have two originals.
And I'll tell you this was going to be in the May meeting, so I just wrote in June.
There could be something where I'll change that to make it look like June, so it could be in your folders,
but we'll have you sign that now.
Okay.
So we all voted?
Yep.
Okay.
Moving on, we have
policy discussion for welfare in 91A?
So really just, yeah, for the town manager, managers, just anything in the welfare proposal.
Thank you, Kim, I'm Bronson, for doing a lot of legwork to put that together,
to have more structured response for welfare.
So I didn't know if there are any questions the board had,
or discussions on that.
You all set with the welfare policy?
I have no comment.
I'm satisfied with the way.
So I'll take a motion to approve the welfare policy as written.
So I'm in second.
All in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
Very good.
And for 91A, I said again, thank you, Bronson, did a lot of work.
And Kim, looking at other stuff, I've talked with our legal counsel and whatnot.
So highlighting one of the things we'd like to formalize and,
change. We have a basically a little bit of an outdated policy.
So one element
is getting a central email
and a central intake form.
So
if somebody has a 9-1-A request, they could send it
to, like, 91A request
at gornreshamsher.com.
And
on our website, having a form
saying, here's a 91A request form
and, you know, information
we need. Sometimes people submit incomplete or they aren't clear. Is it a 91A request or not? So we would suggest people use that intake form. So that's, does the board like that idea?
Bronson, is one of those forms, fillable?
Yes, it's a filable PDF. Okay.
Yeah, I've printed out.
So somebody wouldn't have to print it off, fill it out.
and submit it. So it's all done online. Perfect.
Yeah, for those people who like the digital stuff.
And everything, once we're live and running,
then anybody can access the program
and the 91A request to see what the requests are and who's making them,
which is good for.
for transparency for everybody.
So it's a good thing.
That proposal was just trying to make it an easier bite.
2026, I mean, we could go back into half in 2025 and before,
but 2026 and beyond, we would just post 91A requests.
We've had,
uh, Jimmy and I have, have gotten to know,
gun to know the folks of the ACLU.
Intimately?
Well, I wouldn't go that far, but
there's a lot of those requests, I think, the residents
might want to see.
We also have, like, requests from
foreign, like, podcasters and
out of state people who want
information. There's
regular requests for
like permit data
and sales data
and these are companies that
collect that and then they sell
that data to other people
like for marketing purposes.
Legally, we can't deny
them, but we know what they're doing
is getting the data and then they sell
it off to people like, oh, what towns are
spending or what are the permit
fees in this town?
This is a town that's building or this
is a town that's not.
So
I think as
you said transparency-wise, that will be
useful for folks. Yeah, if everything
goes well once
the 91A
portion of
the
program is up and running, and
if there are no glitches, and
if we have to tweak it,
then we'll do that, then we
will also look at
also uploading
any
just generic
request for information.
so that those can be accessed as well.
And the third part is
suggested by counsel.
We had a really
intermittent policy,
which isn't what you want
with 91A requests.
Some people pick them up,
other people don't.
So the policy currently
doesn't describe
how people get their 91A
information. So it's kind of
all over the board.
the law itself
91A does not require
you know people
sending out mail
sending out a telegram
sending it
with a whatever
so what many communities do
and under advice of counsel
was have people show up
at town hall
during normal business hours
when it's available
and they can either pick up their copy
or if it's a lot
pick up the thumb drive
or
or take, view
the documents. And if they want to
view the documents and take pictures, that's fine
or if they see a document and they want to copy,
they can pay for it. So that
we were hoping would dissuade
some of the Massachusetts
international
the kind of data harvesting
people. Like,
you're from Texas,
you want to come out and pick it up?
Here's all the permits.
And if you don't, don't.
How does the board feel about that?
So just for rough numbers,
how many 91A's have we had to date?
Like more than 20,
more than 50, more than 100?
Since the start of the year,
dozens,
maybe close to probably
yeah, dozens,
more than 50.
But less than 100?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, all of those 91A
request when they come in as fast and furious as they do it the way we're doing
things now it's a disruption to the daily activities of the employees because they
have to fulfill these requests but which is why we want to centralize it I mean
it'll be a thing where Jimmy and I will both get you know people will get our
information are you saying and then they'll I'm staying here tonight um sorry
Joe um they uh we get multiple the same one like they would pepper everybody or
they would send one to Michelle and one to me and then we're both wait a minute what you're
working did you what what and it is just not efficient so we're trying to be more efficient
one one request one email address 100 requests one email address okay thank you board
we're moving on to old business updates peter um well i guess part of the town manager
update or or not um i can tell you updates uh railroad street uh and stony brook are going to be
uh worked on for roadwise starting in june so if you see our crews out we're going to be
uh and they were out today replacing some catch basins and we had a contract with um
We have a bidding process and I believe a black top we had a couple competitive bids so we have two road projects one is that said that Stonybrook area which John identified and we looked at really does need road repair
and then the railroad street before the 4th of July to have that and we want to catch this road before it needs serious repair so John I believe we're talking from railroad street
from 16 all the way down to Wilber Street.
Thank you.
So if you drive by these guys and they have a plastic cut out, those change will be
appreciated.
Well, they came, the prices were good.
I mean, as you recall, we have, what, $80,000 per year?
Yeah, the capital reserve one, yeah.
And both of these projects came in at what, I'm
you on the spot but one was 74 yeah and the other one was 72 yeah
I think wherever it was 74 yeah and the and the and the and the reason why they were both
similar the length here on railroad streets a lot longer but we're not doing
repair it's going to be actually repair over there yeah we're taking a hot top off
out there and putting more hot top yeah so that's why that one is very similar
And that's the extent, you might recall the budget committee, I think we approved $200,000, $225,000.
I think we wanted $250,000, we cut that back.
So we're going to be using $150 of that this year.
So we'll be way under budget there trying to save some money.
Other ones, we had a good meeting with Homeland Security and FEMA, so this was Phil and I and Joe.
The PBD River, we're getting ready to put out bids for that.
The good news is, well, how do we put this?
The state permit we're applying for is for thousands of cubic yards of debris removal.
The original FEMA project scope was about a third of that much.
Because what they did is they looked at what they saw for exposed.
rock and they calculated and said, here's how much rock you need.
When the engineers went in and said, that's just the tip of the iceberg.
So it's not just that, it's the other, so it's about three or four times more.
And FEMA, to my, well, happy surprise, as well as Phil said, let's go out and look at this
or show us what the engineer said, maybe we can put in for more money.
Because if that's really the problem, and it's that much and you can show it to us,
then we'll give you more money, which made Phil and I really happy.
So as soon as we get that budget, we will be putting out RFPs,
and so that project is going to happen.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Oh, you're welcome.
Yeah, but I'm happy to have more money is good.
Yeah.
Because I didn't want to come to the town and say, well, to do this,
FEMA only gave us, you know, 85,000.
but it's a $200,000 project.
So you'll have to wait until we have the other $100,000 whatever,000?
Well, no, we wouldn't, well, you really shouldn't wait.
We would find that.
We'll have a golf tournament.
So that's it for my updates.
So is there any other business?
I have some.
It's come to my attention that public, I mean, records that are done at committees,
are they kept in-house?
Like at any of our boards, this board?
You mean budget committee, planning board?
Any of them.
Should any of them be kept at in a private residence?
I wouldn't think so.
No.
So it's come to my attention that the Forestry Board, for instance,
something came up where they needed to something and they couldn't find it.
And then Mike said, well, it might be at my house.
So, you know, if something happens to him,
he has a fire or a flood, that gets wiped out.
Yeah, I don't know what the Forest Commission does.
But I think as a select board, we should let people, I mean, let the committees know.
Original documents should stay in the town hall.
Exactly.
So I think you can have copies if you want to take them home.
But I think we need to let people know that they shouldn't be keeping things in their house.
So I don't know how we do.
that. Peter, can you do that? Well, certainly, as Judy said, you know,
coffees or people have, you know, packets and things like that. They would have that.
But originals, yes, should not be at, you know, any committees. It's like a primary store.
Right. Yeah. So, but that was mentioned at the Forestry Committee.
And the other question I had is that several people have asked me, why,
there were certain boards that weren't put on the voting, you know, to vote for people to get on certain boards.
There were some that were left off.
And I didn't have an answer on to why that was.
Well, I think each board runs independently of each other.
Every chairman runs their board or committee the way they see fit as long as they stay within the parameters.
But, I mean, when there's open, he doesn't they get voted on at the, at the, at the, you?
Yearly meeting? Like budget committee or they're voting. Yeah, budget committee and they're voting on.
Yeah, they're voted on. Is every committee voted on it?
No. Some are set up by warrant. And some are just appointed.
Okay. Yeah. But that's that is up to the chair as to how they're running their boards or committees.
I can answer that to people then. It is because, you know, the planning board.
The zoning board, I used to think they were the same.
Like, oh, it's all land use.
And it's like, no, no, no, one's quasi-judicial.
That's a zoning board.
And then the planning board, and they have different policies.
You know, budget committee, do we have seven members, nine members, 12 members,
how do you get it on?
But they control their own show.
Appointments or appointments. Sometimes it's both.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. It's however the jail wants to run their board or committee. All right. Anything else, Rich?
No, I'll do some on to public comment.
And we're into public comment. So I think Mary is the first one that had her hand up to speak.
She said you had a question for Marie.
Well, I've got a question, but I also want to make a statement.
By voting to have both the northern and southern sidewalk.
from GMHS to the intersection of Main Street and Bligh Road,
these sections will now be subject to the regulations of the grant funding.
And it had been reported at the last meeting that there could be no snow machines on those new sections.
So basically, by voting to do both sides, the board has voted to directly affect any current or future businesses in the area
from GNHS to the intersection of Main Street and Glen Road from receiving business income from snow machines, which to me sounds unfair.
So that's my statement.
The question for Marie was, did you folks by any chance talk to the Coas County Botanical Club about flowers?
I know they do a lot of the flowers around Gore.
Oh, no, we didn't.
I don't know what the contract is.
I hate it some thought.
a little
just a quick meeting before.
We went with I official
so if you could address the chair.
We went with artificial
long term
so we would have to keep buying
flowers every year.
Artificial can just be fixed up for
a fraction of the price of buying
real flowers for all these seminars.
So that was
So we've got, yeah, and we're, it's kind of like a thing that we decided to do both little and know, it's a bit, doesn't help.
No, they do a great job around the ground.
So we certainly will get that consideration, thank you.
We're welcome.
Last meeting, it was Bob Gargano had stated that he was going to go back to 2022 for my abatement.
He stated around $600, which was only for two years.
years, 2022 and 2023, because there was no actual dollar amount given for 2024, only a $10,000-something
dollar assessment value that was over assessed. And now, I spoke with Michelle the other day. I asked
if numbers were available, going back to 2019, she stated, if the board asks, why does the board
have to ask for specific numbers that are part of an abatement that I requested from 2020?
2019 until 2024. And how can you all of a sudden go from thinking about different things
and looking at numbers to straight up denied? And I can't help that feel that it is a 100% biased vote.
Okay. And you know for a fact that my abatement specifically cannot go to the BTLA because it's past a year.
So I've paid, in my calculations, because I have received absolutely nothing from Michelle,
in my calculations, almost $1,800 to $2,000 in the past six years that I have overpaid in taxes.
And I guess I'll look at that as a donation to this town because apparently being the money more than I do.
I have a great job now.
Thank you very much. And I have no problem paying my taxes. So I guess that $2,000 can go towards.
the money that other people didn't have to pay for their taxes.
I don't feel that it's fair, that I've overpaid almost $2,000
because that's my next tax bill that would have been covered.
And I can't help but think that someone didn't do their full ability of their job,
of going back all the years that I requested.
Is that a question or just a comment?
No, that's it?
Do you have numbers?
I mean, I don't understand why.
No, we're not going to get into the debate.
Even requesting information when you stated that you were willing to go back to at least the re-evaluation.
That was Bob's thing, and if you want to explain it.
Well, we've got your opinion documented.
Thank you very much.
Well, you're welcome for the donation.
And frankly, I love this town.
Well, I have a question.
Why weren't we given the numbers back to?
Because we had consulted with legal and legal advised us to just, you know.
And I will be making a money request for all of that.
And you are entitled or it's your right to do that.
Anyone else?
Brian.
Yes.
Brian well, in reference to the sidewalks, the option, the option you guys chose, I think is great.
I'm glad to hear that you're against the bump out,
but I would like to make a recommendation if I could
to have a thing to do with the crosswalks,
and this is throughout the whole town.
I've had a number of close calls
with pedestrians coming out,
mainly because the parking spaces
to each side of the crosswalk
are too tight.
So even if people, they've got to almost get out into traffic,
before you can see them.
So I would suggest making at least a car spot
ahead and behind of each crosswalk
as no parking.
That way, the people don't have to be
on that breakdown, on that white line
to be able to peek up into traffic.
And if that could be done all the way up to town
and within the market, they think we'd make the save a life.
Are there the regulations to how far you'd have to have...
There may be.
There is.
There is.
Yes, and I don't know exactly.
I know some of them, we do have the yellow and red.
The yellow is usually for the crosswalks.
Right.
So we do have a lot of them painted like that.
A lot of people don't follow that either.
But that's just the curves.
The two definitely stick out as the common
in front of the high school.
Yep.
Those are my two biggest crosswalk issues.
In front of the high school, those are painted.
Right.
But people park there are all the parted.
I think maybe more sign-ins and the science will help.
The space designation goes by whatever the speed limit.
You know, whatever the speed limit.
Yeah, I just do the form of the form and, you know,
sometimes when it's busy down there, there's a game going on or for an event.
Yeah, everything's, they're parked in there.
I think that's a good question for HB.
Yeah. Yeah.
That was my only comment.
And I'm sure there are going to be other tweaks and adjustments as we go along with the process.
Sure.
So I will tell you, H.E.B would say, that's why you need bumpos.
Right.
So people can, because they're always pushing the bump-bos.
That's fine if we didn't have some of the stuff.
Yes, I get to.
I know.
I know.
They're supposed to be that.
I know what stop sign is, I think it's 15 for a stop sign,
but I'm not positive on the crosslocks.
I do have it in my office.
The HB can provide that.
Yeah.
It could be an enforcement.
piece where we just have to, like
when we used to have the cars passing school buses all the time.
We started to crack down on that.
That limited that.
And I know that at the school, people
want to pick up their kids and they think it's short term.
I'll just, what's the harm.
But you can't.
But that's the worst time.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Anyone else?
I'm sorry.
No, no, no, no. There was two of you.
That's good time.
Thank you.
Donaghan.
Regarding a
91A requests, you mentioned that there's been, like, over 50 to 75 requests.
I'm just wondering if there's a pattern for these requests,
like if you're getting similar requests for similar information.
Is there anything that, obviously, you can, when they put in the 91A request,
you'll present them that information.
Is there anything that you could just automatically make more
public so you wouldn't get
all of these requests?
Is there anything that you could just share with the public
that would help reduce
91A requests?
I think that's why we're going, that's why we're
doing what we're doing by putting
a program into place where we have one central email
and a
scanning
requests
live so that
people can check and see.
if somebody's already asked that question.
But Donna, you mean, you're absolutely right.
And when we get the same kind of,
let's get your Homeland Security contract,
what is the training that you've done with ICE,
and we get it from multiple different newspapers,
and it's the same kind of,
it's almost like a pro forma,
and then you get it from residents.
It is kind of there.
A lot of the time,
what we do for,
reply is this
is a public document. It's already out there.
Right? So
here's your answer.
It's in the town report.
You know, we're not
going to put together a special packet
for somebody.
You know, what is your
spending been on salt for the last five
years? We're not going to have John
put together a little spreadsheet for that
person. You would say, it's
in the town report. They're available online
at the library. It's already
public. Thank you very much.
A lot of requests
for information
in 91A requests
are already public
information that these
people can look up themselves.
So we do have
the ability to just
state that that is public
information and it's in your town
report or it's online.
So if I put in
a 91A request,
for information
on the website? Not yet.
No. No. So if others
have that same request, they
could see it on the website. It's
already been requested.
So they wouldn't have to request
it again because it would be
published already.
Is that way? We're not at that point yet.
But
we are working towards
getting the 91A
request part of
it done and up
and
and live and
once we see how that works
then we're going to be considering
any request for information.
And just like a phase two would be
the answer
to that.
Right. And so if somebody asked
how much salt is there,
you would see that, you know,
Joe Schmo from Jackson
and then our reply was
these are available at our
town and we
could post a response.
And then the third part
the board
you know, might
want to think about for phase three
is that
do taxpayers
want to know how much time
went into these?
And maybe we
decide to go to a phase three,
maybe we don't.
...for a 91A request right now
that's sitting in the corner
and it's not available to me.
Okay, you've had you two minutes
Christine. It's time for somebody else.
Did I see Sandy
Sharon now?
No, this gentleman back to you.
Oh, yeah.
I'm sorry,
on 14 Broadway.
I've been gone.
I just recently
returned back
from Florida,
it was after winter,
and I saw it on
one of my cameras
that H.E.B.
was down at the end of the street.
And they knocked
on my door,
and I'm just wondering,
does anybody know
what that was about?
No idea.
Oh, I might...
I took something in the office,
and they said that it could be
possibly looking at
the tragedy.
of the moose down by my house,
which would be a big plus.
Yeah.
I mean, they came down to Water Street
or the buy department,
and they kind of like forgot about us
down at the end,
where it's really piling up.
So, H.E.B,
we have a grant-funded watershed
study,
and you need a
watershed study if you want the big money
because nobody's going to give you big money
when you say, what's you're playing,
what are you going to do with this million dollars?
Oh, I don't know.
We'll figure it out.
trust us. They're like, no,
where's your blue binder? You know, where's
your engineering? So we
got a grant
to be able to do a
watershed study and
HGB ended up being the
contractors. They were doing drone flights.
I think I made a message
maybe a month or so ago. They were doing
drone flights up and down and said, please don't shoot
them down. They're HGB.
I was concerned. These are expensive and people like, what's that?
So they were doing a survey
of the moose river
to take measurements and
look at flood risks, and then they're
going to come up with, you know, recommendations,
which very well could be.
Because I know they dredge
down to about the fire department, right?
Yeah. That debris
ends up down my way.
Yes. I mean, I'm right at the very end
end by the corner that turns
into the end of the squadron.
And, I mean, it is piling up.
Something has to be done there.
It's getting bad.
Yep.
So,
that's what we're
intending to do. Instead of small little
wait until things break
and fix it, the idea would be
get this study done, we'll be done this year
and then we'll have information
to go to grant, like whether it's
USDA or DES
or wherever, and say, look,
we need money for these things.
People's homes are at risk.
Yeah. Absolutely.
And my other question was,
what is going on with taxes
in this time?
It's like your tax must
right out of here.
You know,
regionalize the school.
Do something.
I mean, it just doesn't make sense.
That's what I've got to say.
Okay.
Thank you.
I'm welcome.
And I have one last thing to say, I guess,
I don't like to do this in a public forum,
but since it was brought up
in a public forum by another member,
I want to say that, you know,
we filed an abatement as
if in this town, everybody should
file an abatement because of the taxes.
but since I knew I was running for office,
I just hired a lawyer
because I didn't want to be any sense of impropriety going on
because that's what I hear from a lot of people
that there's some impropriety going on
when people do things.
So I hired a lawyer for the abatement,
and it was set at a public forum
by somebody that it wasn't an abatement.
It was litigation against a town.
And that was a private information
from a lawyer to attend.
employee. So I don't know how that
information got to a person
who mentioned it at a public
forum at a board meeting. And I think
that's very inappropriate.
Was it this board?
Nope. It was at the
planning board.
And that planning board
when he made that
and it was Mr. Waddell who made
that statement and said it was
litigation. And
then what happened
was it got sent to the
lawyers to make a decision about who
was going to be on the planning board
and then it came back to the lawyer said you can't
you have to disregard all that was said and that's like
closing the barn door after the horse is gone
you know once you make that statement
it's out there and I think that was very inappropriate
and I don't know what can be done
but I don't know who released that information
to them but I think there should be an investigation
if the town can't
have that
sense that we keep things
that are confidential confidential I think that's
bad.
So I just want to put that out there.
Okay.
It wasn't our board that did that.
No, it wasn't.
I guess you have to deal with the board that did it.
I don't know what else to say.
Okay.
Then I'll go to that board then.
Anything else.
I do have one thing I overlooked
and I can't believe I overlooked Joe.
As you know, the board
usually authorizes town managers
to do sign off on grants
So we have that trail grant.
This is one to Phil
really worked hard on.
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
and the Bureau of Trails.
So Clint Savage.
So this is, we have a contract,
an award contract for about
$50,000 coming up for
trail work. So the Board of Selectmen
is legal authority for the town of Gorm.
Hereby grant authorization
to Joe Hemings, town manager
of the town of Gorm, New Hampshire,
to sign any documents related to the
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Bureau of Trails RTP grant, which was
awarded in 2026, the authority to sign all the NCR grants as an authorized agent for the town
of Gorm, Board of Selectmen reserve the right to also sign any grant documents and the right
to rescind the town manager's authorization at any time.
So I guess we're looking for a motion to approve this document and authorizing Joe to sign for
Motion to authoritow to.
Aye.
Second.
All in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
That's for the Bangor Street kind of access,
that access as well as for
at the end of the street
developing a better delineated parking
near the pipeline.
Is that it?
I guess we'll be looking for a motion to adjourn?
No.
No, minutes.
Oh, minutes.
I'm looking for a motion.
a motion to approve the minutes.
Salute.
Second.
Has that
a little group's been fixed?
Yeah.
Okay.
Epo?
Aye.
Aye.
Aye.
All right.
And then my town manager report,
obviously,
this week,
it was a crazy week.
Water main week.
You know,
we're going to try to figure out the cause,
you know,
the
assumption could have been high usage, you know, with the holiday weekend, and we have
pipes that are 100 years old.
But I wanted to express the thanks to the water and sewer department going out, you know, working
for a day, 24 hours straight, getting that repaired.
Department of Public Works, stepping in, helping out.
Fire department, helping out with water, whoever needed it.
All the business owners were very cooperative, understanding.
during that crisis mode, we all pull together and, you know, just it shows what kind of community we are.
So just a shout out to all of those men and women.
Also, we have, and I don't know what we call the e-blast or whatever.
Finally, our website does have that notification, so you can sign up for a text message or an email for whatever you like.
if you like planning board meetings, budget meetings, if you want to know when the board meets,
whatever, you can click off, and then you'll get an automatic message on your phone.
You can also sign up for other alerts, like if there was a power with a water sewer was handy.
We could put a message out to everybody, hey, water sewers down, or if there's a tree down in the road
and we have to be a week 16 is closed.
So check out the website.
Bronson got that up and going, and so far not too many books.
So I'm very pleased with that, and otherwise, that is it for it.
Okay, unless you all want to sit here and want to sign all with the papers.
Who made the motion?
I'll take a motion to adjourn.
I'll take a motion to adjourn.
We approve for denial.
thank you yep thank you see yeah so rich did you second the motion to
a second second all in favor aye aye that was 735 oh yeah at 735 yeah at 730
yeah thanks guys yeah camera camera