Dunbarton Board of Selectmen September 3, 2026

Speakers are labeled SPEAKER_N. This transcript is machine-generated.

Recording

I didn't change the time.
>> No, for September 3rd, 2026.
>> And uh thing is I have all three stuck
present. I have the town administrator
present. Mr. Bar Mantel recording for
the uh citizens of Dun. The town
permulator available, Mr. Fred Mullins.
Um I also have the talking about
elections today will be the town clerk
and the town moderator, John Troy. Thank
you for being in attendance.
Gentlemen, I have some three minutes to
do. I have two non-publix and a regular
minutes and I entertain the motions now.
>> I'll make a motion to approve the
regular minutes of August 20th, 2026 as
amended.
>> I'll second that motion.
>> Any discussion on them, gentlemen?
>> Hear none. All in favor? I
>> I
>> I'll make a motion to approve the 8:06
p.m. nonpublic minutes of August 20th,
2026 also as amended.
>> I'll second that motion.
>> That was the um it
>> it
don't believe it needs to be sealed.
>> I don't think so either. I don't think
so.
>> Okay.
>> And uh hearing no objections. All in
favor?
>> I I
>> Who's the official second? Did you
>> I seconded that. Yes.
>> And the last one. Um
>> actually I have two more on the Yes. Two
more.
>> I have to grab another set. Okay.
>> So I want to know which one you have
there.
>> I have the one from 9:14 p.m.
>> Okay. I make a motion to approve the
9:14 p.m. nonpublic minutes of August
20th, 2026.
>> As amended.
>> Is there is there an amendment on that
one also?
>> As amended. Okay.
>> Yeah, that one was amended. I'll second
it.
>> Okay. Any further discussion on that
>> sealing or not? What is
>> it just talks about salary? I don't It
does not be sealed.
>> It does not.
>> No, because since we came out of that,
we had to make the motion in public.
There was a discussion of salary and we
made motions in public to
>> Okay. Okay.
>> So, it does not have to be sealed. Then
all in favor I
>> I
>> and we're just waiting on the other two.
>> Yeah. One before we make the motion.
have the written copy.
>> Yes,
>> the printed copy.
>> Yes, absolutely.
>> Okay.
>> I don't remember whether that one had
amendments to it or not.
>> That was the energy one. I don't think
it was amended. I didn't see any change
to it today if I recall right.
>> And just for the public's uh concern,
the last last meeting we were uh we're
getting into the negotiation phase and I
we I think we came to a conclusion which
will be announced at the next meeting.
But I think it's uh we have some good
news that we're just monitoring right
now as far as where the prices are going
for electricity. And we're cautiously
optimistic that we chose wisely. We
don't want to be run we don't want to be
run out of town yet.
>> Okay. These um I am not going to sign
these. These have still have errors.
>> Okay.
>> This is the it one
>> and the changes were not made that you
recommended.
>> Um all of the I think his name is
spelled wrong.
>> Is it I saw that. Is it G?
>> I think it's G E O FF
>> and was it is it as J? It's G E FF.
>> Ah, got it.
>> So, it could be that all the other
changes were put in here, but
>> as I saw the name changes on there as I
was reading.
>> I did send uh the amendment
um to Lean. So, well, I think what we
voted on is valid, but this may not be
the proper one she printed.
>> Okay.
>> Or she didn't fix it.
>> I voted on the one I saw by email.
>> Yeah. Which had the G
>> had the G FF,
>> right?
Let me just see here.
>> I would put a I'll put a line through
that void and we will sign the new ones
when
>> Yeah, it looks like all the other
changes may have.
>> I mean, we have some missing corrections
on this one possibly.
>> Which one?
>> The it nonpublic.
>> This the nonpublic
945.
>> Okay. This one here. I just happen to
notice that his name is spelled wrong
everywhere.
here. And that was a correction we
needed to make. So, we still need to fix
that.
>> But they are correct there.
>> No, it's J. It's G E O FF.
>> Oh, yes. Yes.
>> And it's and it's correct in one spot
right here.
>> This is the one that you corrected, I
think.
>> Well, I didn't correct any of them. I
said fix them all.
>> Okay. Gotcha.
>> So,
>> okay. This is the non public. So, is it
spelled wrong?
>> So, we'll just
>> No, this is it.
>> Yeah. So, we just need we just need that
fixed so that we can Right.
>> Put a line put a line through that for
now.
>> Yep.
>> So we don't get a mix. So please put a
line through that.
>> Thank you.
>> Yes. I got the last one then we can move
on.
>> I'll make a motion to approve the 9:45
p.m. nonpublic minutes of August 20th,
2026.
>> Is there any any amendments at all?
>> No.
>> Does it need to be sealed?
>> No. Uh no. Because we no decision was
made. It was pure discussion. We just
gave uh the uh
>> decision to for Dana to
>> to march forward.
>> Yeah.
>> And it's uh the decision announcement
will be announced for with probably next
meeting.
>> Okay.
>> So
>> I made the motion.
>> I seconded the motion. All in favor?
>> I
>> I
>> Okay. Going to go for public comment
now. Front roll. You on the agenda?
You're all set. Back roll. Anything on
the agenda you want to talk about? If
you're not on the agenda. Okay, we'll
bring it right back to the board and I'm
going to give it to uh the moderator and
the town clerk. You have the floor. You
talk about election.
>> Yes. Thank you very much. Just again
just an update
uh state primary Tuesday the 8th of
September. Uh Jennifer and I had four
volunteers on the 18th of August that
did the uh confirmation of the number of
ballots that the town did receive. We
received 900 ballots of Democrat and
Republican ballots.
>> Right. 600 Republican and 300 Democrat.
>> Yeah. So So we're all geared up for
that. We're set up for or set up will be
on Monday the 7th at 9:00 a.m. I've been
conversing with Greg Rule from the
transfer station. Again, Greg, I do
recall Greg had done that in the past
with Woody. So again, he and I've spoken
a number of times and fortunately it's a
it's a holiday for me too. So I can help
him out and I told him initially I told
him if the guys you know I I started as
early as possible so that me you know
>> do you need a second there for help
>> if Yes please if possible.
It's usually about we usually end up um
it's about I'd say an hour good hour and
a half set up in time. You've done it
before Dana and Chuck. You don't think
you've done it before?
>> It's about an hour and a half set up. We
basically provide assistance to the
moderator as he sets up his stuff. The
the uh the transportation folks will set
the boots and all that kind of stuff and
then the town clerk comes in and sets up
her uh posters and all that kind of
stuff. But we work mainly to set up the
uh the voting uh collection area. Okay.
So, we we'll be there for 9:00 a.m. on
Monday,
>> if you would, please. Okay.
>> I I can make it.
>> I can make it.
>> Okay. So, you got to go to three.
>> Yeah, that's fine.
>> We just record when he's not making it.
So, uh we can eat her later on.
>> That's all in for the camera. It's all
in. We got to have some humor here.
As of uh June of this year, we had just
a little over 2,300 registered uh voters
here in the town.
>> Would you like an updated figure?
>> Sure.
>> Uh 2149.
>> Because uh now it's an annual process,
the verification of the checklist and so
the supervisors have gone through that
process. That's not doesn't account for
all the removals. You know, some people
have just moved out of town, but if
somebody hasn't voted in enough years,
they go and reach out. And
>> have they have they dropped after so
many years?
>> If they haven't,
it's it's a little complicated. I don't
want to necessarily speak to it,
>> but but if they scrub the list, then
bottom line.
>> Yeah. It's a look back of five years,
but it's a little bit Like suppose
somebody registered to vote before
like within the last five years but
hasn't voted at all since they
registered to vote.
>> They would also
um get scrubbed with if it's a certain I
don't know all the ins and outs of it.
>> Okay.
>> But
>> well I'm glad I'm glad I'm glad the uh
supervisor checkers have taken this the
job seriously and cleaned up our voters
makes it easy for everyone in the end.
>> Right. Yeah. So the state law now
requires that be done every year instead
of once every 10 years I think it was or
five years.
So it's just it's looking at it each
year then you catch more you know
instead of having a huge list you know
so they did their everybody got sent
mail
>> you know and then if
>> you know this this this kind of reminds
me of the dog license in Bravo
>> and if somebody was removed but then
they showed up to vote they could they
could re-register
>> right and some of those some came into
our office and they re-registered
already. They've reregistered and the
supervisors have approved them.
>> Was that based on a mailing?
>> Yeah, based on the mailing and getting
and saying, "Oh, no, we do want to be
registered to vote." And and somebody
could have tried to vote, but their
absentee ballot didn't get in in time
and so that it doesn't count as voting
even though they try. It's a weird
>> There's a lot of ins and outs of the
state law. So,
>> so in addition to the 900 balls that
that we did receive, Jennifer, you had
mentioned that you've sent out like 250.
>> No, I don't have a full number of the
absentee, but there it hasn't been all
that many yet.
>> Okay. It'll make it easier on the
moderator right there.
>> Yeah, we are open though for um my
office will be open on Monday from 3:00
to 5:00 p.m. per state law. So, if
anybody does want to request an absentee
ballot, they can at that time within
that window. And also, if they already
have one and want to return it,
>> okay,
>> because those have to be returned by
mail or in person to my office.
>> I'd recommend anyone picking up. You say
bring it by person. The mailing is not
going to make it.
>> Well, yeah, at this point.
>> Right. What is the mail deadline?
>> The mail deadline, I believe it's 5:00
pm on Tuesday.
>> Okay.
>> Checks with the office.
the ballots over
>> somebody's
so the following day on the 8th again
polls open at 8:00 so you can be there
>> I'm sorry
they open at at 7 you can come at 8
>> again if you would please come I
ever kind of reviewed the duties.
They're all duties as assigned. And
again, if we could get Chuck maybe a
copy of that.
>> And Chuck actually went to the training
this year, too.
>> I was going to mention I actually went
to the training a couple weeks ago in
conquered when they had it in the
afternoon on a Saturday and I thought it
was quite good.
>> And they when I entered to um sign up,
they I had to sign up twice, but they
said selectman over here and they signed
I was given this book here. I don't know
if you have it.
>> Yum.
>> So, so it's actually in that book that
has the duties of
>> Okay, I'll look for that. And uh
>> um they did cover many of the changes
for 2026 this year. So, there some of
them are pretty involved in stuff. They
mentioned the college student thing and
they bunch of other thing that five-year
thing they mentioned for the voters that
fall off and those kind of things.
>> And Jennifer did email summary page too
of the major some major highlights I
seem to recall.
>> Yeah. Pertaining to ballot clerks,
>> right? Sometimes we're asked to uh by
moderator leads us up makes us do other
things too.
>> So it's good that you have review that
>> especially the new selector.
>> Exactly.
>> Yeah. And the the election procedure
manual which they call EPM is available
online and I've been meaning to one of
these days soon I'm going to send a link
to that
to all of the workers.
>> Okay. Jennifer has a good handle on the
p the pole workers as far as the
schedule of personnel that are are
available
>> and counters too
>> in some count.
>> Do we need to recruit counters like
normal?
>> Um, we will be recruiting some. I did
post on the website also and I've
started a list and been like, oh yeah,
so and so said and so and so said. So,
it's not complete yet. And this year,
how I'd like to do it is focus on those
um who are volunteering, like those who
get priority over somebody who only
shows up, you know, once once or twice a
year to get paid for ballot counting
because that's a lot of work
>> for everybody to, you know, they got to
get a W2 even though. So, and my
budget's getting depleted with that cage
we had to buy for the accessible voting
system that wasn't budgeted.
Okay, great.
Jennifer showed me that cage. Thank you.
That's definitely
a good thing to have. Keep that under.
>> Worked out well, don't you think?
>> Yeah.
>> Perfect. Um,
Jennifer has reached out regarding your
meals. Hopefully, everybody has
responded. Uh, we haven't had any
contact or nobody's contacted me about
setting up a table.
additional revisions.
>> Yeah. So again, just um and then again,
Jennifer's uh reached out and confirmed
that uh Officer Millota will be there
throughout the day.
>> If it's not, we're drafting.
>> Yeah, that's it.
>> I keep thinking there's a town meeting
afterwards, but things we could get out
of there by maybe 11.
>> We could.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
>> the primary two years ago was the
earliest of the elections we've had, I
think, since
Gentlemen, sometimes the election can go
on a on a town meeting night can go to
like two o'clock in the morning. It's
not unheard of. I mean, Bob Martell has
gone and they said two, he's been there
many times. Two o'clock in the morning.
One thing that was interesting is that
that uh I had gone to the first one that
was held in in Pel when the secretary of
state had indicated that you know that
in the past couple of years with co and
everything how we've kind of adapted
pretty pretty you know he was proud that
that we were all able to adapt pretty
well kind of made me feel good you know
just from what I've learned from others.
So, thank you, Fred. Just, you know,
>> I just remember like, you have to wear a
mask in here. Like, I'm not wearing a
mask.
>> Have a nice day.
>> Yeah. Crazy.
>> That's all I had. Jennifer, do you have
anything other than anything else?
>> I don't think so.
>> Thank you for the update. Um, I
appreciate it. I think we'll be there to
support you as always.
>> Go ahead.
>> Polls open at 7. Everybody's expected to
be there at 6:30. Correct.
>> Thank you.
>> 6:30 is when
>> not 6:30. All right.
>> There's a lot to be done before the
polls open and even John starts
>> and just point of point of order.
There's a school day, too.
>> Yes, it is.
>> Yes. Good point.
>> And so there'll be a lot of traffic in
the morning. I think your morning
traffic for incoming people, you know,
it's so low. I think you might get more
moms and dads coming in early in the
morning though,
>> right?
>> Because the school being kids will be
moved up.
>> Yeah.
>> So, I just point that out. We we may be
busier than usual initially.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay. Thank you again.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> And we'll see you uh Monday.
>> Monday.
>> I'll work extra hard for you.
>> Please
pick up the slack, will you?
Okay, lean, you're up.
>> Okay, so um number two, we have review
MS434,
which is due September 1st. And um I put
in your packet the um report that I used
to complete this form, and it's the
anticipated revenues. It's a little
early because I typically will give the
board a quarterly review of these um
documents. I only put one of the final
MS1 434 in
Mike's
>> I have right here. I'll give it to you.
>> You can use my draft. I've got notes on
it. But um I want to just go over some
numbers in the
um
in the revenues collected to date. And
the reason this is the um this is the
time of year we set the tax rate late
September early October. Uh the revenues
gives us an opportunity to review where
we're at as of today. And it also gives
the the board an opportunity to
um either apply more revenue to the
uh to offset this u the tax rate or if
we see that we're really below our
budgeted projected revenues, then it
gives you the opportunity to um use some
surplus because we're not going to be
collecting it. So I just want to bring
your attention to the revenue report.
It's out from being
>> before you go there just for the benefit
of Chuck and Dana's review for you. But
the thing is let's talk about we set the
tax rate in at town meeting and that's
based in March. That's first half the
year.
>> That's the budget.
>> That's budget and that's based upon the
uh the previous year's
>> the rate.
>> Well the previous we use a lot of those
numbers from lapsing surplus and uh
excess revenues,
>> right? But the but the tax rate is
actually based upon the last the uh the
la the last year's
>> so the July bill is based on last year's
tax rate and that's the estimated tax
rate. We're utilizing last year's tax
rate. When we come up to October, we now
have the approval of what passed in in
the school, local school, the uh what
passed in the town, and now we have a
projected um revenue that we reported on
the MS636 which is in the town report
that we utilize for setting the budget
and this report is what we I reported in
the MS636 which is the budget that was
added into the town report. So now it's
called the 434.
>> Okay.
>> And this is a revised revenue and gives
us the opportunity to make changes or
acknowledge an um a good year of
additional revenue and um we use that to
offset the tax rate. So
>> and you submit this to the state of New
Hampshire the department of revenue and
they also had tell me what they added.
So
when we met in March, we came up with a
proposed budget and projected revenues
that those proposed revenues were
inputed into the software. And you can
see in the middle line of the revenues
report is the current year budget. So
when we went to the voters, we used we
proposed 1,39,500
as a projected revenue to offset the
actual expense of the operating budget.
This report then in the current
year-to-ate revenue shows what we've
collected to date.
And then on the second to the right
column, it's balance uncollected.
So, I ran and reviewed all of these
numbers. Um,
I want to point out on page one that in
the current use uh land use change tax,
it shows that there are no revenues
collected to date. We had budgeted
$60,000 for projected revenues for the
town side. This is actually duplicated
because we give 50% to the town u
conservation, but we only account for
50% of it. So, this is our town revenue
that we were anticipating and projecting
that we would get. I just got the three
final um outstanding land use change tax
that I was hoping for and they're
actually coming up higher than what I
projected here. One is for $35,000.
The second one is for $20,000 and the
last one is for
175 and we would get 50% 10% of the
total and then 50% of that. So I think
we're going to be a little higher on our
revenue. We won't meet the uncollected
total but we'll be close. So I don't
recommend any changes in that line. What
I have seen over the years is the
selectment pretty much work with what we
collect because right now we still have
three
four solid months of revenues that we
could potentially collect and will
increase the uncollected portion or
it'll decrease that uncollected portion.
So the current year to date will grow
and our goal is to set a projected
revenue so that we don't deplete our
surplus because if we work with a
revenue number and it doesn't meet and
doesn't come in at that number then we
still set the tax rate but we end up
using some of our surplus.
>> I guess the bottom line is that's why we
you don't overestimate your revenues
because if you come in under you taking
it out of your Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> In other words, they plan for the lean
year. Yeah. Not the worst, but the lean
year.
>> A lean year as far as revenue,
>> right? Because if you if you
overestimate revenues, you're you may be
taken out of your reserves.
>> Okay.
>> And the board pretty much has to work
with the department of revenue so that
if you don't meet your um revenue
projections, then I would be meeting
with you and say this is what our
financial statement says. We have in
surplus. we haven't met our revenues,
which I've never seen in the 20 years
I've been here. Um, and so you would
have the decision to make to use a
100,000, 300,000, whatever you choose in
the unassigned fund surplus, which is
noted on that financial statement that
you have in your your possession. So, I
pretty much just ran through the big
numbers that I feel could potentially
sway our collective revenues. And so the
first one I brought to your attention
was Elen's change tax. I think we're
going to be close to the 60, but I would
recommend no changes. We're looking at
at least 32,000 in revenue that I'll
have when the board meets in two weeks
to sign off. And uh is
>> the numbers you just said um are like
37,000 when I added them up as you were
mentioning them.
>> Yes, because they came in higher. I just
got them this week.
>> So we should say 37, not 32.
>> Well, this I had written before. I knew
that and the um I was kind of leaning on
MRI to get those tax warrants. Okay. So,
we're we're going to be higher than what
this 325 is.
>> Um next page, motor vehicle permits. I
highlighted just that one line. Again,
all these accounts, you can see uh the
account numbers on the left. 3220 is the
category. Our system breaks all these
accounts in separate lines. But the
bottom line of that group account, we
had budgeted $775,000.
We're at $712,000.
Almost almost $713,000. So we only have
about 62,000 to collect for vehicle
registration in this category through
the end of the year. So I believe that
we will meet our goal there. And that um
>> it sounds like we'll exceed it a lot.
Absolutely. Four months left.
>> Yep.
>> Four months left. And you take uh you
look at the numbers, it looked like it
could be a lot more than 62,000,
>> right? I made a note on the last page.
>> I researched last year's last four
months and um we had collected 303,555.
So I just rounded it down to 300,000
just for numbers.
>> Okay.
>> Um so we'll go back to that in just a
minute. Um
>> so that'll be a plus.
>> Yeah. We're we're we're collecting at
the rate of about 80k a month.
>> Yes.
>> Yeah. So we'll should be a lot higher in
that category.
>> That's correct.
>> Right. By the end of
>> But the thing is and the thing is why is
it so high? Do we make a mistake? No.
Because let's say the economy turned to
crap
>> and people want to be buying new cars.
>> People buying new must be buying new
cars.
>> That is exactly what's happening. Okay.
>> Yeah. So it's been good so far. Um the
remainder of the permits um we're a
little bit low on the building permits.
This is one of the slower years I've
seen in a long time. the building.
>> It's right beneath the um business
category. We've only collected 13,739,
but one house permit right now is
bringing in about 900 to a million
dollars in new property assessment that
converts to tax rate dollars. So, even
though we're at a slow year, we have
three new house permits, we could still
see a substantial uh increase in our
property revenue for assessments.
>> Oh, yeah. Yeah,
>> they're expensive houses.
>> They are. They really are. Um, no other
changes on the other licenses. We're
only at 9% left to collect the um
revenues from other government. Um, I
highlighted the highway block grant.
That one is we budgeted 100,000. I'm I
have one payment remaining that will be
posted in the end of October and that's
$34,35.
And so we will exceed the minimum that
we have uncollected. And this particular
line, the department of revenue will use
every penny that we collect. So any of
these other lines that we we exceed by
our projection,
we we either um apply it to the next
year's budget for additional revenues or
we leave it in the surplus. But in the
case of all these um federal items like
rooms and rooms and meals. Um the flood
control
I will have to do a journal adjustment
after I set the tax rate. So if this is
higher, this is going to be about
$14,000 higher, 13,000, the DRRA will
use every penny that we get on the
highway block grant and apply it to the
tax rate. I'll just have to make an
adjustment to that line.
>> And that when she says apply to the tax
rate, that will lower the tax rate for
the citizens.
>> Right. And that that's the same goes for
uh flood control. You can see there that
we had budgeted current year7,000,
but I've gotten I got the flood control
payment last week. So I've entered it.
It came in at 75,000.
That excess of 5 thou 5600 would
normally go to uh surplus, but in this
case, the DRA will use it in the tax
rate setting. So I will have to make a
journal adjustment entry to change my
projected budget of 70 up to the
636
>> just as you can see in the prior year
that was actually set at 70 the first
column but the RA set the tax rate and I
had to make a a journal entry to
increase that budget because that does
get applied to the tax rate
>> the flood control reimbursement
distillation what it is it's the cross
state park
>> army corp
>> army corp engineers it's a Massachusetts
payment for keeping them from getting
flooded
>> right
>> and uh when they don't pay we just open
the gates
>> few years They weren't paying it.
>> Correct. Or a few years back, the state
was actually trying to take it away from
us,
>> right?
>> Because they were paying it out of their
coffer, but they weren't getting it from
the
>> Massachusetts. And then they said,
"Well, wait a minute.
>> Why are we paying when we're not getting
the money,
>> right?" So,
>> but uh the legislation
>> all the towns that were affected by that
uh spoke very loudly and they ended up
>> in fact Oington was our liaison and they
were wondering that they get a
significant portion of their budget from
the the uh
>> control.
Go ahead. I was just going to say Neil
Kirk is the one that proposed the
legislation to put that money in the
state's general fund
>> from where and from where correct.
>> So in other words, we've had politicians
trying to like uh
>> take the money from us.
>> Not not terribly. Didn't sit well with
them in Hawkington.
>> Yeah. All right. On page three, the top
I have highlighted rooms and meals. Um
we had budgeted conservatively at
185,000 and you could see the prior year
revenue 315,491
that was the revenue that the department
of revenue gave to us at tax rate
setting and applied it to the tax rate
at that time. So I will be making an
entry if it comes in higher than 185,000
to make up the difference of what is
given to us when we set the tax rate.
And and again, we're conser that's a
conservative number we used last year.
And we use conservative number because
let's say we have a bad season and it's
all rainy one season and it's been
raining for some summers here. That
means Massachusetts people aren't coming
up and spending their room and meals in
New Hampshire. They're buying their
restaurants and staying overnight.
>> Okay.
>> And so that's all dependent. It's kind
of like weather related. And we let the
Canadians coming down too because they
spend money to go to restaurants. So it
all comes back to us.
>> I think we're 30% down on Canadian
visits,
>> right? But Massachusetts comes up. So
I'm I'm happy as long as someone's
coming in.
>> They're filling those rooms.
>> Yeah. Exactly.
>> So one question on that. If we're very
conservative on this, does that mean we
are going to end up with a higher tax
rate for the taxpayers?
>> Yes. But what what happens as Lean says
we don't want to underolct?
>> We don't want to underolct because we
understand the tax on citizens. But what
happens is, as Lean said, the state will
use the entire amount and apply it to
the tax rate. So let's say it's only
185. Then we're on budget. We we that's
not gonna affect the
>> it almost doesn't matter,
>> right? But if it if it's more, it just
lowers the tax rate for everybody,
>> right? So,
>> okay,
>> Chuck, if you look at that very first
column, prior year revenues,
>> right,
>> it says 315,491.
That actually that budget was set at 185
last year in 2025. But when we
>> page three at the top,
>> rooms and meals.
>> Okay.
>> See the left hand column? It says
315,000.
>> Oh, yes, I see it. That was actually set
at a conservative budget of 185 last
year. And when the DRRA came to set tax
rate, I had to make an entry to increase
that those numbers because the state
will utilize every dollar that they get
from federal monies and state money.
>> Okay?
>> So that could change,
>> right?
>> Um and then when you go to page four, I
mean all these others are within line.
Um
again the income from departments the
whole category is 3401 all those
accounts the system breaks it out we
only enter two lines um budget lines
which covers the entire group um that
budget group is 55,000 we've collected
43,508
501 so that leaves us about 21% to
collect between now and the end of the
year that's on the just beneath the
flood control and you can You know, all
these categories, these numbers on the
left, it's one number, but our computer
spreads it out
as the entry gets made.
>> Questions, gentlemen? Time to ask them.
I want to make sure you get a grasp of
this. The state takes these numbers and
they the state comes up with the tax
rate based on what we report here.
>> Yes.
>> Yes. And they add then they add their
revenues in and use the entire amount to
lower lower up our tax rate.
>> Y
>> it's usually lower.
>> We want it lower.
>> Yes.
>> So Chuck, I want to point out that uh
just beneath that flood control section
or the federal section is the income
from departments. And again, we only use
two accounts. We plug in for a number
for a budget and then if you look all
these accounts are 3401. So the computer
automatically when we make a journal
entry it will show these the breakdowns
and right now recycling income is almost
at its budget. We had projected uh
25,000 we're at 22241.
And then um transfer station disposal
fees. You see there's a zero budget, but
that combined with the recycling income,
they're having a really good year. Where
we're not having a good year are the
other accounts within, but we're still
only needing to collect 11,498. So we'll
probably be close between now and the
end of the year to meet that budget.
>> Okay.
>> But the numbers are less than the um
actual
Yeah, recycling was really good last
year.
>> Greg just told me today he's expecting a
check to come in for about $3,700
in recycling toward the aluminum they
just got rid of.
>> Okay.
>> Again,
>> very much market driven.
>> Yeah. And and they can they save until
they need. They don't take it like every
week or every month. They wait till they
have enough
>> and they shop around for the best price
to get, you know, to dispose of it.
And that's kudos to the citizens for the
recycling you do, bringing aluminum cans
and separating them. That all can goes
to us bring us money income into the
town
>> and it avoids general uh purpose waste
costs.
>> Correct. Yeah. Right. Just weight.
>> Every pound that can be recycled is a
pound we're not paying to dispose.
>> Even some of the trash we get a reduced
rate to dispose of it because it's recyc
it's potentially recyclable. But we
still have to pay money to get rid of
it, but it's less than the general waste
>> next section is sale of town property.
We don't budget anything in that
category and any um journal entries
would be from sale of uh equipment or
town vehicles gets posted there.
Interest on investments is just
basically the treasures um interest that
she receives um from her monthly
statements. She has one account that
earns interest.
And so for the bottom line, current year
year-to- date revenue, we have collected
951,539.
Our uncollected balance is 357,962.
That's 27% remaining through all
accounts. We still have four solid
months. And I outlined the four accounts
that have not been entered into the
system. Rooms and meals, we set it at
185. So, I've subtracted 185,
anticipating we're going to get at least
that. Uh, highway block grant second
quarter, it it's u confirmed that we're
going to be getting 3435,
which is not posted to this GL. Um, land
use um change tax three pending. I had
originally estimated 325. It's actually
going to come in around 35, a little bit
higher. And then we have four months of
town clerk vehicle revenues. September
through December of last year, we
brought in 303,555.
So I just load it to a round number
$300,000. So those four account numbers
gives us pending revenue for the next
four months 30 551,535
which is in excess of our projected
budget of 1,3095
no 190 projected over but our our
current budget was 1,39,500.
So, we're still I think we're going to
be very comfortable with what we uh
collect between now and the end of the
year. And that any of that excess
revenue, the board can make the decision
when you're going through the budget
discussion to either apply it to the new
budget or leave it in surplus. So,
that's those are the pieces that you'll
be looking at.
>> We usually look at um just as a point of
order, we look at um apply to surplus as
one option. We can lower the tax rate
and buy it towards a tax rate for the
next year and we can look at uh all
those projects that we like maybe pushed
off for a year. If we want to fund them
uh we can fund them. So it's usually a
mixture of some return some to the tax
base. It's their money. We make sure we
keep a healthy reserve. Usually DR
recommends about 5% of our operating
budget and uh again it just it depends
upon how the budgets come in for the
year and what we're planning for the
year. And so we don't determine that.
And that'll be determined at the next
town meeting as we present that to the
to the voters.
>> But you'll discuss it here.
>> Oh, we'll have a budget review. We'll
discuss it. We'll figure out which way
you want to go and we'll go from there.
So these projected revenues where it's
going to be over on 193,000. Does the
tax rate get based on that overage that
we're projecting or that doesn't take
into account?
>> That that is your surplus. That is the
board.
projected surplus.
>> Yeah, the projected surplus. Yeah,
>> this is uh moving forward to next year
as well. When was the tax rate that's
going to be um due in November?
>> When was that determined?
>> It's going to be
>> right previously.
>> It's set in the end of September, early
October is when I set the tax rate and
then
>> for what we pay in November, correct?
It's due on December of 2026.
>> Correct. A very small window.
>> Oh, okay. It's a small window. Okay.
>> In fact, it's not really lean. It's
quite small.
>> It's DRA. The Department of Revenue sets
it for us.
>> Correct.
>> Okay. So, it's a short window of time
between now and
>> Correct.
>> actually get set.
>> Yep. Yep. And that's why these are due
by September 1st.
>> And right now, I'm probably 99%
>> up to date with all the forms that I
need to have at the state level. Um, in
past years, I have been
first or second in the
>> I was going to say point of order. Where
are you in line?
>> Usually the first to set the tax rate.
>> Okay.
>> In the state of New Hampshire. So,
>> okay.
>> And that and by doing that, I'm able to
generate my warrant. I get that
information to the tax collector. She's
able to print her bills and we can there
then give the taxpayers
35
to 40 days instead of the min. I have to
give taxpayers 30 days notice. So, if
I'm late and I'm missing paperwork or
the school hasn't submitted their
paperwork and it holds us up, there are
towns that set their tax rate by this in
the middle of December, the end of the
year, and then you're holding up revenue
because you still need to pay your
bills,
>> right?
>> And if you don't have a lot of money in
the bank, then you run into problems.
But
>> I see.
>> Okay.
>> So, is this the time of year that we
would decide whether 193,000 is
>> sufficient or what we want? We could
reduce this and tell the DRA to use some
of this.
>> Yep. Y um I can say that over the last
10 years of um actually I started this
role in 2008
in the early years some of the board
because we had a large surplus chose to
use a hundred or
$200,000. But when you take 200,000
times the tax rate it really isn't a lot
of of a decrease. It might be 10 cents
11 cents. And what they have done is try
to beef up the surplus so that we don't
have to touch it. It's rainy day. You
are the surpluses that the current
boards have been using are the excess
lapsing operating budget and the excess
um revenues that are over the projected
numbers. So last year we used
approximately
$600,000
of laping operating budget and excess
revenue to help um defer the on the
operating the overall cost to the new
budget for the taxpayers.
>> Oh, okay.
>> That that won't that'll be part of our
discussions as we go through the budget
season.
>> Okay. We don't make we make a decision
early probably by J November December we
we basically talk and banter back and
forth and we give marching orders to
lean as which way which way we're going
and we have to come up with a spending
plan how the flavor as the each
department prepares their budgets
>> and you'll be able to determine that
when you see what everyone presents you
for their budget and if there's a
substantial increase that you're not
happy with you may ask the department
heads to go back can sharpen their
pencils or you may say this is a cost of
inflation and it is what it is and these
funds as laps in funds and excess
revenues allows you to help offset that
um increase
>> and I and I think the past was we always
viewed it as it's it's not excess money
it's the it's the voters's money it's
the taxpayers money and uh because we
should always be concerned about
returning the taxpayers money to them
whether it be lowering taxes or uh you
know not
freely.
>> So some of the ways that the previous
boards have utilized all this exit
lapsing surplus and excess revenue is
some boards chose to apply this surplus
to the other warrant articles and it's
only in the last seven to 10 years that
the board has said well this should be
applied to the operating budget because
we're seeing increases due to volume in
town growing and then leaving the
warrant articles to um
>> I I think a comment was made by someone
in the audience.
>> The warrants should be with stand by
their own. They shouldn't have to be
subsidized by tax dollars. If a warrant
is that good for the town, then it
should could should stand on its own,
>> right?
>> If you may recall that statement from a
certain used to sit in the corner of the
air,
>> we're talking about your brother
to quote your brother, u Mr. Leo
Martell, give credit where it's due.
Cleo made a comment that warrants as
presented should be able to stand by
their if they're that good should be
able to stand on their own and not need
extra tax dollars that be placed against
it
just as a as a philosophy which is
interesting. I agree with that. Good.
>> Right.
>> Okay. Thank you Lee.
>> Any questions on the revenues? Okay. So
this is a um responsibility of the town
administrator. I have to look at these
um and then I have to file the
information with the state which I've
already done which is that's the draft
version but my final version
>> so that has been completed and submitted
>> and the thing is uh when do you
anticipate news? Um again I have to look
at the total
>> no a news from from the state uh what
usually the last week in September first
weekend in October
>> give or take.
>> Yes. And I've been lucky to have it set
at the end of September. So that gives
me two solid weeks to do what I need to
do to create the warrant. And
>> and so I the only thing I'm in looking
for anticipation is Roman meals. How
good was it a year for New Hampshire? It
was a great year for New Hampshire. That
means it will be a great year for us.
Okay, let's continue on. Okay,
>> so in your you do not have the MS1 in
your packet, but I wanted to bring it to
your attention because this is another
um document that has to be filed with
the Department of Revenue and they look
at our total uh assessed value and they
use that as um converted to the tax rate
for dollars. Um for
And I can leave this for you to read.
It's pretty substantial. But I wanted to
point out that this is a board of
assessors function. When they adopted
the board of assessors, they wanted to
separate responsibilities between the
board that makes all the decisions with
another board. So that there was um
more transparency with how things were
handled. And I work with Municipal
Resources, Inc. and they are assessors.
I monitor the um building permits and
the changes that they make. He has to
update current use values. Um and then I
developed this worksheet that works
extremely well for me. uh their MS1
reports out of one software vision and
the MS1 report out of BMSI and I compare
the two and I come up with the
reconciled uh dollar amount and for 2026
even with um minimal new house permits
we have uh collected new value of
10,457.
So that equates times the tax rate to um
170,880 and converts to 22.5 cents. So
that's how you can see that assessment
affects the revenues. Revenue projection
affects the revenues or the tax rate. So
all these different pieces work
together. If you're interested in
looking at it, there's quite a bit of
information here, but and all the
support that I needed because I'm
working with a utility company. I'm
working with MRI on making sure that um
current use penalties are reviewed in in
a timely basis and making sure that
building permits are picked up and those
are this is cut off time is April 1st
and you can see that we're here
in September and because the utilities
are the last piece to submit their um
value changes I just received the um
George Susie's utility values on August
21st because they have until September
1st to submit their data. So, there's
really a small window that I have to get
this information put together. Um, I
like to have a handle on how the MS1
report is built out and I always have
the municipal resources review it. This
has been done completed. Um, he did
limited review and complimented that I
did a good job and this will be to the
board of assessors who meet next week
and they'll sign it and then I'll upload
this to the state and so this will be
one additional document that will
complete the tax rate setting. If you
want to look at it I can there are two
points of voting here I just want to
point out first of all suie is our uh
shall I say he represents over about 100
New Hampshire small towns and dealing
with setting the valuations for the
utilities and the utilities have been
fighting us for years and they end up
always taking us to court and it's
dragged out for years. We used to have
to keep a a running uh balance in
reserve in the event we had a payout but
sus uh Mr. Susi's uh model for
evaluation has been accepted by the New
Hampshire court system and it it serves
as example. So we're for once we're on
the winning side and the utilities have
not challenged us uh for two years now.
>> Well no they haven't challenged us but
the pending 2017 and 18 appeals were
still out there and so we had um part of
our surplus in reserve surplus uh to in
preparation of of settling with uh
Eversource and last September October um
we were told by the courts that we had
won our case and therefore this $200,000
that we were holding could be returned
to the the voters and last this past
March the board used that $200,000 to
help reduce some of the the
And the second point of what I just want
to point out is um people always ask
what we have a board of assessors. Why
do we outsource it?
>> It's so it's a keep honest people
honest.
>> Yeah.
>> Um because a it's an independent group
who comes in and looks at evaluations
and it's not done by your friend down
the street.
>> Right. And this is valuing you know all
the telephone poles and power lines
all properties
>> all the wire utility properties
>> utility properties are separately but
thing is your your home for example it's
not done by your neighbor it's done by
an independent company
>> right yeah
>> when I first started here it was and
there were always challenges from
certain individuals filing abatements
whether they were being fairly assessed
compared to all the town officials in
town. So this kind of keeps it neutral.
They don't have any interest in um
>> they just follow the rules of
>> it's unbiased and they're professionals
that know
>> it is it is
>> that know what things are worth.
>> And the thing is and the other thing it
is audited by the state.
>> Oh they audit all of our forms,
>> right? But but the the company that does
evaluations too the audit valuations are
actually audited to make sure they're a
the valuations are fair.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> So I just just a point of just a more of
an education point.
>> So what is and Susie doing any more for
us now than
>> um annual pickups and his fee for that
is 10,000 a year.
>> Okay. I just saw that payment go out
this last week. So
>> So during a rebal year, he has a
separate payment that is for bringing
evaluating
as we did with the rebal. But MRI only
does residential. He does the utilities
and his fee is actually
>> 10,000 a year for four years,
but we don't give him the money until we
do the revalier. So that his contract
was to give an additional 10,000 for a
year. And originally we were giving him
the 10,000 in the budget every year, but
if he ever went default or decide to
retire, we'd be out of money that we
needed for a rebal year. So we've
changed that. So when I um propose a
rebal budget warrant or a warrant
article, it includes money that's
allocated for the uh statistical rebal
and then it's also includes monies that
the utility appraiser will need to do
the additional work.
>> So are we paying him 40k then?
>> Not in a calendar year. you know, we're
reserving it through capital reserve
deposits and then when we go in the
fifth year for reval, then we will
disperse money from the capital reserve
to pay for us.
>> Yeah, there's an RSA that
>> done in a different year than the
residential housing.
>> It's the same year,
>> which is what the department of revenue
requires. So,
>> but I thought the residential reval was
like a year ago, 2025. The tax rate got
revised on that, didn't it?
>> Correct. In 2025.
>> But how come we're doing the the
utilities are just going seem like that
that's coming in now?
>> No, it's from before
>> um
>> 2025.
>> Are you referring to the 10 $10 million?
>> Yeah, I'm talking Well, I'm referring to
the $10,000 we just paid.
>> That's his annual fee. He goes out there
just like the MRI who does the annual
pickups and he
>> annual fee. Yep. And um he come he goes
to um
>> but what she's saying it's not payable
unto
>> the year of uh revaluation
the 10,000 we just paid is annual
separate fee
>> annual pay annual fee. Oh okay. All
right.
>> That's not the reval fee.
>> Oh okay.
>> Which is every five years.
>> Mhm.
>> All right.
>> All right.
>> Okay. You want to move on? I got one
more report to talk about.
>> Um
>> 535.
>> 535. I did give you all a copy of that.
Um, our current auditor, um,
>> one we have to sign tonight
>> contracted us or agreed to do our
financial statement because they're
involved with the details behind the
scenes for during the audit period. It's
a nominal fee. It's well worth it. It it
gets us a fresh separate set of eyes on
this. And this form is completed by your
auditor.
Um these are pretty standard. They often
times have to include liability
accounts. Um they have to include
capital outlay uh debt services um your
capital reserves and they follow the
requirement for completing this um
accurately.
I want to bring your attention to and
you can bring us home and when we meet
with our auditor if you have any
questions you can um
>> the auditor will come brief us when
>> um I have to look at your schedule and
we have to maybe do a zoom with them.
>> Are these um uh voted appropriations
um fully year voted appropriations and
the actual expenditures are just year to
date?
>> No, it's this is all based on 2025.
We use prior year's expenses and vote
appropriations and um we use those
numbers. So the this form is always a
year behind
>> a little confusing.
>> You have a copy for signature. We have
to sign this for you.
>> That's correct. Does that one have to be
uploaded to the DRA? This final one was
uploaded to the DR by our auditor and we
just have to get you to sign it. So, I
just want to bring you to page eight of
the MS 535 balance sheet
and I want to bring you down to the fund
equity section, second to the last line
or the well the last line 2530
unassigned fund balance.
You can see that starting we were at
1,72,937
with the um surplus lapsing from 2025.
Our current ending balance for
unassigned fund balance is 1,396,28.
And as of March of this year, I believe
the board, you can see that uh there the
assigned fund balance right above it.
Last year it said 239,286.
200 of that was earmarked for the
utility appraisals
in the event we had to pay out. I had to
keep overlay money set aside in reserve
even though it's part of our surplus in
the event we had to And we projected
about a $200,000 payout if we lost
>> in court against
municipalities versus ever source.
>> So that we won that case. So I notified
the auditor that that no longer needs to
be encumbered or signed and he has
changed the dollar amount. That ending
balance sometimes will include
outstanding um warrant articles that are
under contract that are in
haven't been finalized yet. So that
brings our unassigned fund balance to
1,ion396. But this past um March we we
used up 200 of that and then we applied
I want to say it was looking at
it.
>> What will happen is a a company
representative will meet with us on the
board probably on BTC review this with
us and review his audit and his findings
and recommendations for shorts.
>> Okay.
>> So next time you look at your town
report a little uh a lot of this will
start to register. This is the 636 which
is the operating budget that we're
projecting the revenues that we're
projecting. And then on the back page,
special warn articles. Um,
I want to say that we have fund balance
to reduce. So we used 660,000
of that 13.
So it looks like a big number, but in
the same calendar year, we used 660,000
of that to offset the tax rate. That's
returning money to the voters to to the
to the taxpayers
>> as it should be.
>> Okay.
Okay. Anything else on this one? We're
going to hear more of this when the uh
when the auditors come online. Correct.
>> Correct. Yep.
>> Okay.
Copy. Signature copy.
You'll to understand it after a couple
of years.
>> Yeah, I know. I gota go through this a
little bit more. Yes,
>> I might be asking you some more
questions.
>> Oh, sure. Anytime you want to come in
>> offline. Yeah.
>> I'll be more than happy to go over
anything.
>> All right.
Okay. Um that concludes Lean's
presentation for tonight on those items.
I'm going to move right on to mailbox.
In fact, before I move on to mailbox, I
have a corrected copy that Lean printed
for us with uh the name spelled
correctly. Gio G. Yeah, it is pronounced
>> Jeff.
>> G E O F.
>> Yes.
>> Okay,
>> you already signed. You're at the
office.
>> I saw J and I didn't catch the O.
>> Okay, we have mailbox items. Small
mailbox tonight.
>> Well, there's one more here. We're still
misspelled right there.
>> Can I miss it?
>> Can we make a pen?
>> Yes, you can.
>> Just on this. It's just one of them.
approves it.
>> Well, that bounced out to me. It's not
highlighted or it's not bold like the
others.
>> It's another one.
>> Oh jeez.
>> One. Can we defer that to
>> I can I can reprint those two pages.
>> Okay.
It's a couple cases where not.
>> Yeah. Fine. I was
>> put an X through that top page.
>> Put an X through it. Okay. We'll take uh
I made a couple. I'll just
>> Okay.
>> Circle. I'll just circle the couple. I
just
>> We'll wait for the computer to find
them.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> I was relying on the poll that I
>> Okay.
>> Um
All right. Mailbox items. I have a uh uh
email from a uh concerned citizen
regarding um speed supposedly. Um, I
didn't understand it at first, but I
understand it now. On your GPS's, when
you're driving down a road, it sometimes
flashes 30 or 45 miles an hour on your
on your little speedometer because they
were getting the information coming in
um via the Google and all that kind of
good stuff. Well, in in one of them, it
drops supposedly drops from 40 to 30.
Then it shows a speed limit. The GPS
shows it at 70 miles an hour. So, we're
fast high speed in Denver at 70. So, uh,
I think Dana, you had some action, a
potential action item for this one.
We're going to pass it to
>> I can forward it to
>> the fire chief.
>> Forward to the fire chief because he
allegedly might have um admin privileges
within Google Maps to make public safety
request changes.
>> And so, I didn't think it was our
purview at all because I I don't I don't
think we responsible for Google.
But I think it can help the public.
Let's make it make it. So,
>> can I just um touch on that, Dana? I was
glad that you brought that up.
>> So, I was told in the other office that
um a person of safety, which would be
the fire chief,
>> has a different level of authority and
has an administrative login for Google
problems. Um when it comes to life
safety, he has access
these requests that might be resolved
quicker. So, I don't know if that's
something that we can lean on him and
see if they can make some other changes
for us. I know they're not necessarily
like changes, but if they repeat issues
or complaints, it's nice to be able to
bring it to their attention that they're
either Google mapping or their
information is not accurate.
>> Yeah, we'll find let's find that out. I
mean, I literally just learned of that
and I want to I don't want to assume
that he has
>> Okay.
>> all those capabilities.
>> Okay.
>> No, I'm just asking.
>> Okay. We'll find out first,
>> but we will find out. Um, also, there's
just another um there's another factor
is that GPS speeds may be working off of
a different system than Google Maps.
>> Oh, so they're just like a link on top
of that. It could it could be a totally
separate system that extracts that data.
>> Um, so
>> it's not clear where that data exists in
the cloud.
>> I can just see the uh you're getting a
speeding, but it says 70.
>> JPS said I could do 70.
>> All right. I I'm going to move on move
on. I have um uh we've been talking
about negotiating with the uh the power
the uh electricity supply sources and
Chuck you've uncovered some good
information but uh we have three of the
three companies Eversource, Liberty,
Unatlour is $38 million in under
collections. Liberty is 9 million, Unatl
potential uh bills that can be passed on
to consumers which may affect the supply
rate. So that's helping us. We made a
decision and it helped us in our
decision. So thank you to Chuck for
pointing that out. He emailed us and it
helped us cement our decision. We're
going to have a meet a discussion. We're
going to discuss about it and we'll
probably have an announcement at our
next select board meeting regarding the
rates for the following year. Remember
our rates for Dun Barton Power end uh
December 1st and then we have to we're
negotiating into a new contract and
we're trying to get the best price and
for the rate and term we can. And so
that will be announced at next meeting.
>> Okay.
>> So, thank you for that. That was a good
>> trying to research a little bit more
there.
>> That was good
>> after our meeting.
>> Okay. And I also have uh thank you Dana
for getting back with Brian Pike
regarding rate of pay. That was that was
great. Thank you.
>> Okay. And town ministry report. You can
talk about that when it comes around to
you
>> when we go around.
I think that's it. Is there anything
else I'm missing? I have
health trust postcard September 24th
we're having a board of directors
determine rates and see if there's a
surplus
um basically our health group has
surpluses and they're going to be a
meeting a public notice meeting at some
I don't we have very little say so and
it it depends upon their revenues and
expenses for the year whether there'll
be a dividend given and if we get a
dividend it's usually provided back to
the uh we usually give it back to the
pure the town for their payment
Yeah. Helps our budget.
>> Yep. It does a little bit. A little bit.
Okay. Uh I believe the mailbox is all I
have. So I'm going to open up for public
comment again.
Back row. Anything. Fred was here as a
town per help me with the term per
>> perramulator.
>> Permulator. It's a tough word sometime.
>> Walk the woods.
>> You walk the woods. But lean and could
you please tell tell us what's up with
that?
>> Um Fred and I work together to send out
notices to the abuing towns. Um Fred has
been very diligent in making sure that
we comply with the law and the RSAs. Is
it an RSA?
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. Um and unfortunately some of our
abing towns will show some interest
initially and then we I connect them
together with Fred to schedule a um
boundary walk and they don't always
follow through. So
So, I have the three binders on my desk.
So, we'll be following up.
>> And that's that's for the public. That's
where uh Fred representing the town of
Denver actually goes out and reaffirms
the boundaries between towns.
>> Yeah.
>> Is that still do every seven years?
>> This this goes back to 1651.
And the King of England says New
Hampshire is not part of the
Massachusetts Bay call. So, you still
got to do it. And it's a state law.
Every seven years the slept or the
desertes have to walk the bounds and
renew the boundaries
and I do I repaint all the engravings
and take pictures and now I also take a
GPS reading of them so somebody comes
after me they could find them. So when
we first started, I started in 97. I had
a compass and a map.
>> But but anyhow, it's supposed to be the
older town is the one that initiates it
by law.
>> Okay.
>> And which we're only older than Hooks.
The rest of the towns around us are
older than we are. They're supposed to
initiate it, but they don't do it.
>> So if we don't do it, it doesn't get
done.
>> And then once
>> we take some of their property
move 5T every year.
>> No, it has. It has.
>> Yeah.
>> There was a property in B and he took
down some stone wall.
>> Yeah.
>> To go around some on somebody else's
property in Dunarton to get back into a
swimming pool.
>> Okay. And uh I happen to find it because
we're walking the line that day. I said,
"What is this?" And there's all kinds of
junk in this Dumb Barton's land that was
put there by somebody else.
>> So they ended up have to buy a lot from
the person that was affected. And he
says, "Well, we're going to make this a
bowl." I said, "Well, you can't do
that."
>> He says to change the town line, it's an
act of the state legislature and a
twothirds vote for every town involved
with it. Very nice.
>> So now it's still a Dunarton law. He
gets tax bill on that lot.
>> Very nice. But anyhow, as an example of
that, when I first started doing it, uh,
town of B and Dunarton had been done
since 1944.
>> Huh.
>> And when they the word Dunarton line
when they were building it in the 1950s
for the Army Corps,
>> right?
>> The last time it was done was 1955 until
Marggo Mlo from where and I did it in
97. That's
>> Well, Fred, I want you to be thinking
succession plan. You got to get an
assistant out there with you,
>> right?
>> Someone who's about 20 years old. We
keep keep doing it.
>> Yeah.
>> It's actually quite interesting.
>> No, I think one of the sucker went with
him. I think uh didn't
>> Well, last time when I did the word
Dunart line, Dave Null come out with us.
>> Yeah.
>> And one time Dan is the police
chief come out with us. And another time
we were doing golf town, they had the
fire chief, the police chief, the deputy
chief, the selectman come out on the
golf town line. And we found o over in
the wear line two bounds have been
missing since 1955.
>> Wow.
>> And it took us seven years dealing with
Army Corp to get them replaced and then
we had a big celebration. You were up
here, weren't you?
>> Were they taken out as part of the
construction?
>> Yeah. But the problem was they were old
granite posts and they're engraved D and
W on them
>> and they're on the roadside of a stone
wall.
So they got whacked and you know grant
is brittle.
He it happened on the in Gtown Dunart
line on the
>> D road
>> because in the winter time there was so
much snow the plow would plow and it's
on the road side of the stone wall and
they break it
>> right
>> but that's we don't find it and one on
13 at hooks Dunart and Gtown it's been
missing since the 1960s
when they widen the road
>> and we get that replaced.
>> He was instrumental.
>> Do you have a rough idea how many of
these granite pillars are
surrounding our town?
>> Um,
>> nobody ever
>> Yes. Um, there's like 56.
>> Okay.
>> No, I think Yeah, there's like 56 all
the way around. And what I've done, I've
I I've made each one a way point.
>> Yeah.
>> And I can tell you where in town it is
by that way point.
>> Yeah. using a GPS, but you can't use a
GPS to do the parameulation because it's
not that accurate.
Surveyor's one is, but your handheld's
not, but use it to locate the things.
Now, there's one on Dun Barton and Bow
and used back in 1944 says it was in
Bailey's pasture.
No, Bailey is on Bailey's corner.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah. Well, the cow pasture the cow
pasture right now is thick woods
and try to find it.
>> Right.
>> We did.
>> Oh, good. Wow.
>> Well, thank you for what you do. And
>> that's why I get the big bucks.
>> Yeah. Exactly. Exactly.
>> But uh sometimes Jeff Trxler comes out
with me.
>> Great.
>> He's interested. Then George Hold told
me before he'd like to do it too, but
you know, which is fine. And I said,
"But the problem is is getting the towns
together.
>> It's not us. It's the other towns."
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> And you know, not only that, I contact
land owners to say, "Okay, we're going
to come across your property to go look
at this."
>> Right.
>> You know, I can just see you going out
there and someone coming someone coming
at you. What are you trespassing for?
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> People have been pretty good.
>> Yeah. Well, thank you again for what you
do. Okay. But uh just keep on keep on
the other talents.
>> Yeah.
>> Jennifer, you're all set. Okay, Lean,
you got something for the board?
>> Yeah, I just uh thought that the
administrator status report would be
helpful maybe monthly. Uh every meeting
I think is a little bit excessive. A lot
of this information we did discuss on
the um agenda because it is a uh key
achievement update that I wanted to
point out to the board. These are
department of revenue forms that we use
to set the tax rate. And there is a
critical or short window time to get
this complete so that we um
>> have everything set for setting the tax
rate. So the MS434 as we discussed uh no
recommended changes that's been
submitted to the state and I've signed
off on that. MS1 summary of inventory of
of evaluation has been completed
reviewed by MRI and due September 1st.
That has been completed. I need the
board of assessors to sign off on a true
copy so I can upload that. MS535
financial report of the budget is
completed by the auditor due uh
September 1st. Uh he and I uh spoke a
few days few times this week and um he
released that form to the state and I
will need the board to sign that tonight
so I can upload a final signed copy. And
then last but not least, labor audit
preliminary and final proof of payment
were filed with the Department of Labor
and it was due on September 2nd. I met
that guideline. So, this is complete and
behind us. Um, internal financial
management and reconciliation. Uh, still
work in progress. It's been a busy
couple of weeks here, but we're making
progress. Email migration to.gov
communication continues with Nest it.
Uh, this is still a project work in
process. they are communicating to me
regularly where um they he's introduced
me to the project manager and the I the
lead IT person um given me directions to
reach out to the current uh IT companies
so that there are they're aware of the
these individuals that will be reaching
out to him and then building and
maintenance still working
>> just just for the public um what we're
doing in the town we we've had Gmail for
years uh we're switching the entire
pound
>> mostly a grant
>> mostly through a grant to a go.gov
domain in computer language.
>> Can I just correct?
>> Correct.
>> Correct you. Yes.
>> We were aorg.org.
>> We're not We weren't Gmail,
>> but we were using Gmail.
>> No, we were Microsoft.
>> Okay.
>> The town is Microsoft.
>> The town is using the dog.
>> All right. I stand corrected.
>> Yeah. Okay.
>> But it's just a.org going to a.gov,
>> right? Okay.
>> Is what that is what that is.
>> And what and it provides I think a
little bit higher security profile. So,
I think it's we've had horror stories of
other towns being um hijacked. Yeah.
Insurance covers it, but it does
interrupt operations.
>> Yeah.
>> And also, there are certain things that
you are only you only have access to if
you actually have.gov accounts.
>> Yep.
>> Um.org accounts are are traditionally
meant for nonprofits and and
organizations. That's why.org exists.
>> Okay.
>> As opposed to a.com. Um, and so really a
town should be a.gov. So, it's it's due
time for us to switch.
>> Yeah, it is.
>> Do you guys have a send out a lot of
group mail?
>> The reason why I'm asking Chuck knows
he's got the problem with it is that uh
going to Brandon State, he sends
American Legion stuff in a group,
>> right?
>> And it gets bounced back.
>> Yeah. I think that's a kind of a oneoff
issue I'm having.
>> Uh I have an American Legion email which
is a Gmail account that I created with
Google,
>> right?
>> And for some reason when I'm sending
bulk emails, which are blind copy to uh
like maybe 30 recipients,
um mostly the Granite State
Communications emails are getting
bounced back. They're there. I'm getting
a note that said email back that the
first that says it's delayed for 48
hours and then it says after 48 hours
it's going to say it failed to send and
it's mostly granite state communications
but there one or two other emails that
gave me the bounce back. But in some
cases the people actually got the email
and in some cases they didn't get the
email.
>> Oh boy. And I called Granite State
Communications and they thought, well,
it could be a filter or something
because you're blind copying. You're
sending to multi multiple recipients and
maybe that's
thinking that I'm a spammer.
So,
>> uh I haven't got the I don't know why
this is occurring yet. I called Granite
State and they gave me some pointers
>> um like maybe breaking up the emails and
things like that. They told me that
Gmail, a free Gmail account limits you
to 500 emails a day and they said try
again in 24 hours.
>> Oh my,
>> but I was way less than 500 emails with
only 30 email. So I don't know B if you
have any ideas on ever have any problem
like that?
>> I sent you an email this week and it got
bounced back, you know. So yeah,
>> because the one you sent me only to me,
>> right?
>> I received it.
>> You did receive it, but you said you
received it in your priority email,
>> but it was like in priority mail, not in
the inbox,
>> right? So that's weird. I don't know. I
haven't I I don't exactly know what's
going on yet. So
>> what is your uh what is your email
platform? Are you using email?
>> GSNet.net.
>> Grate
the same one I've been using 25 years. I
don't know. Granite State called me back
and they said they didn't think it was
on their end, but I suspect that might
be because they're really the bulk of
the recipients that are affected
>> and all the other emails go through.
>> Yeah.
>> Like to whatever the other domain is of
AOL or
>> you're like you're likely tripping some
>> tripping. You're you're getting a high
spam score within the Granite Estate
>> for some reason
>> network. Yes. within their servers.
>> Um my only experience with this has not
been with Granite State, but TDS, who
has um a lot of their service out in the
western area, west of here in towns,
Andrew and other places.
>> Okay.
>> They're notoriously bad for rejecting
emails. Um I
>> I absolutely know that. And so what it
is is I think these these folks air on
the side of caution and they they block
more than they should,
>> right?
>> Um so you you do have to do some
gymnastics to try and figure out like
send smaller batches or something like
that. You need to you're getting
unfortunately you have a high spam score
is happening
>> with with Granite State right now
because it's done this blind copying to
multiple
>> is probably not helping you,
>> right? But now it even blocks some of
the ones when I send an individual like
Fred an email.
>> Sure.
>> Says I'm not getting
I'm already a
>> have a bad score.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> Something you can reach out to Granite
State and ask them to put them on the
good side.
>> There is a possibility you could end up
being whitelisted by Granite State. I
don't
>> I don't know. blacklist. Is that
>> whitisted? Where where where kind of
like reset my spam score to zero, so
it's not it's not high. I don't know
what system they're using for spam
scoring. These are all like third party
vendors that they're likely using. It's
probably not even within their system,
but they should have the ability to
whitelist. Whether they whether you can
find the person in Granite State that
knows anything about that,
>> I don't think I found the right person
yet. They did call me back and they said
they didn't think it was on Granite
State. Then
>> try and use that whitelist. Uh
>> question ask them to whitelist you.
>> Oh, okay. I specifically do that. All
right.
>> See if that'll happen.
>> Sometimes they can't because they either
have to whitelist all Gmail people or
>> maybe not just you. So that could be a
problem.
>> In fact, you got a call back. Should be
grateful.
>> Yeah.
>> All right. Yeah, I know. I'm grateful
for the call. I I did want to I did want
to add just something else uh because I
was going to bring it up is that the.gov
migration was the initiator that caused
us to look at a new IT provider. But we
are not just using Ness which is NESS IT
for this.gov project. We are actually
going to them for all of our IT going
forward.
>> Correct. So to clarify,
>> yeah, I want to clarify that
>> one umbrella.
>> We use this, we use this as the stimulus
to for us to make a decision to switch
IT providers in the town because the
town office was using one IT provider,
the police department was using a
different IT provider. Um, now we're
going to one single one as of October
1st. So that transition is underway.
The.gov gov was just a a stimulus for us
to make a change.
>> Yeah.
>> And and just for the public who may be
listening, it may be a challenge. The
emails may be may have some spotty.
There's going to be a transition time.
It may could potentially be spotty in my
opinion, but supposedly it's going to it
may be seamless.
>> We have a project manager and then we
also have someone in town that's going
to oversee some of the
>> I think it'll actually go pretty well.
>> Okay, good. Can I ask you another
question? You're in the American Legion
with us.
You get his email bounce back.
>> Do you use GSI?
>> No, I use AOL.
>> Oh, okay.
>> No, Mike's email did not
>> He's the last guy using AOL.
>> I have AOL as well, but
>> Oh my god, I found two of them.
>> But I have I have Gmail. I have the
Grant I have a Granite State mail
account, too. So my my my my name goes
back to 1980 is with AOL and I had
dialup when I first started
>> right.
>> They shut the lights out in in
California years ago. That's there's
still just some office out there that's
just
>> running those AOL servers.
>> All right.
Okay. Okay. Continuing on. Le you. Okay.
>> You're on building maintenance.
>> Yep. Um,
I brought this up at my last report. Uh,
second floor town hall door is not
working. It is currently in an unlocked
position because there's something
behind the batteries and maybe the
electronics. I haven't had a chance to
look into it, but I will put this on a
higher priority and if it's nothing that
I can do, then we'll be calling uh a
locksmith to take a look at that. Just
for the heck of it, I I've had the
electronic punch with numbers at my
home.
>> Y
>> I switched to a mechanical numbers. No
batteries, no replacement batteries,
nothing to renew except that you can
change the number.
>> Mechanical.
>> It's a purely mechanical numbers.
>> And the thing is it's going back. I know
Dana's looking at me rolling his eyes
saying
>> the AOL guy.
>> The AOL guy. But the thing is I it's
worked so well for five years now with
no battery replacement and it's just a
push button.
>> This particular um door system we're
looking at replacing batteries like
every month to two months that sounds
>> so I I yeah I have electronic locks at
home and I only have to replace them
every like months and it's not being
used and that's and that's used like
people are in and out of that door all
the time.
>> Yeah.
>> But mechanical can't go wrong with
mechanical.
That's true.
>> Okay. But the thing is we got to we we
should look at other options. I think
that's the bottom line whether it be a
different different type of lock. Maybe
>> I know we paid a lot of money for that
but
>> I can even help you look at it.
>> Thank you.
>> The on we're on the town hall door
locks. The the main door going into the
library uh foyer area, whatever you call
it. The lower part of that never
engages. Only the upper part does when
you lock it. So that's another thing
that could be looked at.
>> Have the maintenance guy. Look at the
bottom.
>> Yeah, look at the bottom one. The
bottom. I know Fred knows and he's seen
it before when we locked up
>> the town hall. Uh
>> okay. Okay. Anything else, Le?
>> Um just that the board has approved some
shifting of office space here. The
window and door has been ordered for the
new proposed office for the
administrator and we should have those
in within two one to two weeks and then
carpentry work will begin. Um and we'll
work around that initial setup before we
start shifting any of the uh other
workstations.
>> Very good.
Okay, I'm going to bring it to the board
now. I'm going to start with Chuck.
Anything for the board, Chuck?
>> Nothing.
>> Nothing tonight.
>> Okay. I
as it goes to me. I'm going to go to
Dana next.
>> I have nothing.
>> Okay. I just want to remind the board to
remember one of the things outstanding
at election day. We're going to do a
walk around and look at the the parking
lot condition.
>> Yes,
>> that was one of the outstanding. Okay.
Just want to remind the board of that.
>> Um we're going to go non-public. I want
to talk about the uh some contract
negotiations I had recently and that's
going to be nonpublic.
>> Can you I just add one more. Go
>> ahead. I've been I've gone over I did
give the board um several documents in
your packet take home. Uh this time of
the year I have to start looking at
scheduling for
town meeting public hearings. Um
unfortunately the printer here was
printing things in black and white so
it's a little bit more
little more difficult to follow. Um I
did provide you with timets for
um traditional town meeting through the
department of revenue. I also looked up
the NHMA traditional town meeting
calendar that outlines um several other
areas such as zoning changes and the
deadlines. Um as for myself, I like to
use these tools to um make sure that we
are compliant with u public notices and
other things. The table uh time table
that I have in black and white. I will
send all this to you. Um so you can see
it a little bit clearer but there a very
small window when it comes to um working
on the budget having public hearing and
then meeting the deadlines for state. I
also gave you a draft
um just the first two three months
calendar for 2027
and the reason for that is because the
the time what I've handed to you. We'll
have some critical um deadlines for um
public hearing and
>> we always have
>> town meeting um snow dates and uh
few things that are coming up. So I just
I will send this all to you in a color
format and then once I get this printed
up I will u give you the colorized
version so that you can look at the
different um things that that board is
responsible for and making sure that the
town complies with all these you know
such things as um petition warrant
articles those are due February 2nd. So
>> you understand the term petition war
article
>> yes I know what that means
>> in the There was one um public hearing
that we were on ahead of schedule and we
scheduled it for the last week in
January and come to find out the
petition warrant article deadline was
after the public hearing
>> and after legal review because there was
no money associated with the petition
article we were okay but the important
thing is to not hold your public hearing
before petition warles come before the
board if someone says, "I want to
petition the board to pave a road. It's
going to cost $600,000." And they have
the signatures to support their uh the
25 signatures. Then the board has to put
that on the warrant. Um and then you can
voted vote on the uh separate articles
at a later date. But all these things
have a a date um that really is critical
to the next step. So, I will send these
to you electronically so you can look at
them at your leisure, but I also will
have them colorized so I can hand them
out to you um next week or so.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Um and so and then going forward, we'll
want to look at the uh schedule for any
future board meetings, but the the
critical ones for me are in February.
And then um
March 2nd I have
>> this is we gota meet make sure we're we
got our act together for those public
hearings.
>> March 2nd is highlighted because that's
when I have to have the town reports
available for the taxpayers and
obviously the March 9th is the second
Tuesday and that would be our town
meeting.
>> Okay. And I bring back to the board Dana
was that you and I bring it back to
myself.
>> I just uh we are Um, Miss Sarah McKeen.
Uh, she's working for the admin
assistant of the police department. She
started September 1st and so I saw her
today. She's, uh,
drinking water from a fire hose. She's
busy. So, Chris has got her stacked with
work.
>> So, so far so good.
Um, at that point I'm going to say I'm
going to like to make a motion we go to
nonpublic for RSA 91-L sub paragraph
number three sub paragraph for number
two A. At my request time is 8
>> 38 38
>> and we'll Kinsky. Yes.
>> Frost. Yes.
>> Yes. We'll take a two-minut break to
give Bob a chance to break down
>> real quick folding of this stuff.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> That's okay though. Thank you, Fred.
>> Yeah.