TOWN
OF BEDFORD
TOWN
COUNCIL MINUTES
MARCH
20, 2002
A meeting of the Bedford
Town Council was held on Wednesday, March 20, 2002.
Present were Councilors David Danielson, William Greiner, Kevin Keyes,
Thomas Riley, Michael Scanlon, Bruce Searing, and William Van Anglen. Also present was Keith Hickey, Town Manager.
Chairman Scanlon opened the meeting at 7:15 PM.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Public Session – February 13, 2002
Mr.
Greiner said on page 10 and 11, Ms. Haverstein’s name should be changed to Havenstein.
Mr. Danielson made a motion to approve the minutes of the
February 13,2002 public session as amended; motion seconded by
Mr. Greiner; vote on motion passed with Mr. Riley, Mr. Keyes and
Mr. Van Anglen abstaining.
Public Session – February 20, 2002
Mr. Greiner made a motion to approve the minutes of the
February 20, 2002 public session; motion seconded by Mr.
Danielson; vote on motion passed with Mr. Riley, Mr. Keyes
and Mr. Van Anglen abstaining.
Budgetary Town Meeting – March 6, 2002
Mr. Danielson made a motion to approve the minutes of the
Budgetary Town Meeting March 6, 2002; motion seconded by
Mr. Greiner; vote on motion passed with Mr. Keyes and Mr.
Van Anglen abstaining.
Mr.
Scanlon presented Mr. Danielson with a plaque for his year of service as
Chairman of the Town Council.
Mr.
Scanlon announced that the Council meetings in April will be Wednesday, April 10
and Tuesday, April 30 at the old fire station.
Bedford Town
Council – March 20, 2002 – Page 2
PUBLIC COMMENTS
John
Vaillancourt, representing the Bedford Soccer Board, said they have been working
with the Town to straighten out the John Rootes situation.
It is now 8 months later, and they don’t know if Mr. Rootes is coming
back or not. Mr. Vaillancourt
had several conversations with Mr. Hickey who informed him that nothing was set
in stone, and Mr. Rootes had 2 weeks offered to him, but at this point the Town
had made no deals with him. The
Soccer Board would like to know. He
said Mr. Greiner has told him consistently that there is no deal.
Mr. Vaillancourt asked point blank does Parks and Recreation have a deal
with Mr. Rootes. Mr. Greiner
said no they do not have a deal. He
said Mr. Hickey has approached the Soccer League and Mr. Rootes to negotiate.
Mr. Greiner understands they have not been offered weeks to come to
Bedford, and that is still a discussion point.
Mr. Vaillancourt said they tentatively have a meeting with Mr. Rootes
tomorrow. He said the
League’s issues are 3: They want
to be able to run their 3 weeks. With
5 weeks coming, it is going to hurt them. The second issue is Mr. Rootes has his flyers out, and his
web page is up and running.
Mr. Vaillancourt wants to know what is going on from the Council point of
view. Mr. Scanlon said we don’t have any control if
Mr. Rootes wants to advertise.
Mr.
Hickey said Mr. Rootes contacted Brian Ross (Recreation Director) and asked what
dates are available. He was
given 2 available weeks. That is
all we have done. Mr. Greiner said
nothing has changed since he spoke to Mr. Vaillancourt.
Mr. Vaillancourt said Mr. Rootes has taken some pretty tough shots at the
Soccer Board.
Mr.
Searing said the Town Manager is saying there is no deal.
He sees advertising for dates that have not been officially given.
If we have not given him the dates, and there are still issues that have
caused us not to give him the dates, and they are advertising their soccer camp
in our town. He assumes they are
planning on using our fields. He said that doesn’t put them in good standing with
the town. Mr. Greiner said
when he checked the website they were advertising Sportsmen’s Field. He said the only issue with Sportsmen’s is that Parks
and Recreation took Sportsmen’s off line and said any camp would have to go to
Legacy.
Mr.
Riley asked if those are the dates that were offered. Mr. Greiner
said we did not offer them. Mr.
Hickey said Mr. Rootes contacted Mr. Ross to find out what dates were available,
and these were the 2 weeks that were available.
Bedford Town Council – March 20, 2002 – Page 3
Mr.
Hickey said the Soccer League has an issue with the Rootes camp.
It has been his opinion that that the majority of the issues are between
the Rootes camp and the Soccer League.
He thought to satisfy everyone, if everyone could sit down with Mr.
Hickey as mediator and try to come up with some type of an understanding or
agreement. That meeting was
to be held tomorrow. He
received an e-mail from Mr. Rootes indicating that in his opinion he had a deal
to be the sole provider of camps with the Bedford Soccer League.
Mr. Rootes is not coming tomorrow.
Mr.
Scanlon asked if we have done anything with the camp policy.
Has Mr. Ross finalized it. Mr.
Hickey said there are 2 different issues. He
would like to see this as an agenda item.
Mr. Greiner referred to a February 18 letter from Mr. Rootes which is not
at all like the conversation with Mr. Hickey.
Mr. Hickey said he felt we
could do this without Mr. Rootes coming up, but it became apparent that was not
going to happen, so he tried to get Mr. Rootes to come up and sit down with the
Soccer League to try and get this resolved.
Mr. Hickey said this is not a town issue.
It is between the Soccer League who think they are owed money by Mr.
Rootes.
Mr.
Scanlon said the last draft of the policy said you had to be in good standing
with the league to use the fields. He
thinks that policy needs to be resolved.
Mr. Searing said they have this ongoing discrepancy with the Soccer
League that is still out there, and that is somewhat of a separate issue in
terms of whether they get field space. The
problem he sees is you have this discrepancy, i.e. verbal negotiations and
agreements, that were had between Mr. Rootes and the Soccer League.
Now what we are seeing that does have to do with the Town is they are
advertising when they don’t even have the fields.
He thinks this is a Town issue. He
feels we owe it to the Bedford Soccer League to protect them.
They have provided a phenomenal service to the kids.
He hopes we do not release those dates until the Council decides if they
are in good standing.
Mr.
Scanlon said we do not have a policy now that they have to be in good standing.
He feels the field use policy should come back on April 10.
Mr. Keyes asked how many weeks of camp they are planning to sponsor other
than Mr. Rootes. Mr. Vaillancourt
said 3 weeks with Nutmeg Soccer Camps.
Mr. Keyes asked if that is enough to satisfy the needs of Bedford.
Mr. Vaillancourt said it would serve it better than it has in the past,
because in the past they used to cram everything into 2 weeks.
Mr. Keyes said based on your
experience, do we need 5 weeks. Mr.
Vaillancourt said no. He said if
Mr. Rootes gets 2 weeks, they will have to look and see if it is profitable
enough for them to have their camps come in for 3 weeks.
Mr.
Danielson cautioned if they want to compete in August, and if the kids don’t
want to come, they don’t come. Mr.
Keyes is tired of hearing about someone from 1500 miles away coming and telling
us what we should be doing with our leagues and our fields.
Bedford Town Council – March 20, 2002 – Page 4
Mr.
Riley said he is only asking for 2 weeks, and if 2 weeks is available, and he is
in good standing with the Town, then we have to look at it.
We can’t say yes to one and no to another.
Mr. Keyes disagrees. He
feels we should let the Bedford Soccer League make the decision.
Mr. Danielson said it is not a matter of the Soccer Board working with
Mr. Rootes, it is a business wanting to come and use the fields. We should be careful not to inject ourselves into a
situation between two business organizations.
Mr.
Greiner said it isn’t necessarily just between their word and our word.
Alicia Rootes told Mr. Scanlon that they did have a deal.
Mr. Greiner asked the 2 parties to negotiate in good faith.
Mr. Greiner made a motion we not invite the Rootes camp
back this year based on the way things have been going
over the last several months;
Mr.
Scanlon would like to see this come up on April 10. If we can pass the policy, and they are not in good
standing with the league they are not coming.
Mr. Vaillancourt said the whole point is his web site is up and running
and people will start sending money.
Mr.
Scanlon asked if the Council has a problem if we instruct the Town Manager to
contact Mr. Rootes, not to be using Bedford dates because at this point he does
not have those dates. Mr.
Riley said because it was not an agenda item, he does not feel it is appropriate
to put a motion on the table without notification of what was being discussed.
Mr. Scanlon said we need a policy in place.
Mr. Greiner said we don’t need a policy.
The Council can make a decision as to who uses our fields.
Mr. Scanlon feels they have overstepped their bounds.
We have not given them these dates.
Mr. Vaillancourt said Mr. Rootes has held up their money for 8 months.
He was never supposed to get a bill from the Town, and he did get a bill
from the Town. Mr. Scanlon
believes the Soccer League has been given their 3 weeks so they can go
ahead with their camp. Mr.
Searing thinks we have an obligation to provide some type of protection to the
Town league. If they think the success of their 3 weeks is jeopardized
because we are not closing the door. We
are leaving the door open for another 3 weeks.
We are telling them to stop advertising, but can we legally.
What damage can be done to the Bedford Soccer League for the next 3 weeks
by us not closing the door.
Mr.
Van Anglen agrees with Mr. Searing. They
are advertising and are going to start collecting money.
He believes we do have to give public notice.
His concern is that there could be people that would be paying into this
that would then not be able to get the money back.
Mr. Scanlon said we are going to ask them to stop advertising and
collecting money in Bedford.
Bedford Town Council – March 20, 2001 – Page 5
Mr.
Riley asked for the minutes of the last meeting when the Council discussed the
policy. Mr. Greiner asked if we can
take a straw poll. Mr. Hickey said
it would be meaningless. Mr.
Scanlon said it will be resolved April 10.
Someone
in the audience said this is not a matter between 2 businesses.
He feels they are an extension of the town.
He is for profit and the Soccer League is not.
Jay
Joseph, 118 County Road, read an
article in the newspaper about asking for fields. He said they have asked for fields. There are 8 fields
needed. That is a huge issue
for the town. If it is not
Joppa, then where. Mr.
Scanlon said at the budget meeting he proposed $200,000 for the purchase of
land, and it did not get a second.
Jim
Morgan, 39 Riddle Drive, asked if anything has been done about getting Mr.
LaMontagne to come in and talk about Greenfield Farms.
He asked to do that at the April 10 meeting.
Mr. Scanlon said that will be discussed in Councilor comments.
Mr.
Scanlon said he would like a consensus on whether the Chairman should vote or
not. He would prefer to vote.
He feels it is important for the people in the audience to see how he
feels. The consensus was he
can vote. Mr. Scanlon said then he
will vote on all issues.
AGENDA ITEMS
1.
Awarding of
field maintenance tractor bid
Mr.
Danielson recused himself since one of the bidders is a client of the company he
belongs to.
Mr. Greiner made a motion to allow Mr. Hickey to purchase
a Kubota tractor, Model # L3010GST from Chappell Tractor
Sales for no more than $19,715; that amount includes the
trade of the existing 1965 Ford Model 2000; motion seconded
by Mr. Van Anglen.
Mr.
Searing asked if Chappell had the same model number, L3010
because before they were bidding on L3410, so they had that model and
came in and underbid MB Tractor & Equipment;
Mr. Hickey said they originally bid on the wrong model.
Vote on motion passed with Mr. Danielson abstaining.
Bedford Town Council – March 20, 2002 – Page 6
2.
Discussion on
Water Drought Regulations
Mr.
Scanlon said it is his understanding that the State has declared a step 3 water
emergency and Manchester is talking about it.
Mr. Hickey said Manchester has some recommendations to be proposed to the
Water Commissioners on March 27. If
they are supportive, there will be a public hearing in April to adopt those
regulations. Pennichuck Water Works
purchases all their water from Manchester Water and Merrimack Village District,
and they will have to comply with the regulations from both of those
organizations.
Mr.
Scanlon said we cannot mandate anything for those with a private well.
We can encourage them to conserve water.
Mr. Hickey said we have posted on the web site the guidelines from the
State to help provide information to residents.
We cannot control what someone does with their private well.
It is important for us to be proactive. Mr. Hickey said Mr. Searing suggested
that he and another Councilor do some type of TV show on BCTV to try to be
proactive and promote water conservation. Mr.
Van Anglen would like to help with
that. He asked about
scheduling a meeting with Manchester Water and Pennichuck to discuss their plans
for drought management. He referred
to a newspaper article about Manchester Water contracts with Bedford.
He asked who enforces those restrictions.
Mr. Hickey said Manchester Water does because they own the water. He can talk to the Police Chief to make sure their
officers are aware of what the restrictions are, and if they see someone not
complying to have them notify Manchester Water.
Mr.
Danielson concurs with those ideas. He
suggested we have something that is fairly consistent that is going into the
papers and on BCTV. Even though we
have no regulation over private wells, we should be very concerned about the
various leagues and their irrigation systems.
We should think about recommending alternate uses.
It is completely voluntary. He
recommends that this be under the Health Dept. and let him be the person who
pushes that. Mr. Riley agrees with Mr. Danielson. He asked this be on the retreat agenda and get ideas
from other towns. He would like to
be proactive instead of reactive. He
feels a department head should
regulate it. Mr.
Searing said the Karen White (Town Planner) memo indicated we should distribute
fact sheets.. He thinks one of the
things is distributing this in some form townwide, i.e. mailing in the
“Banner”. He thinks
it would be a good idea to have copies at the Library and Town Office Building. Mr. Danielson said also in public places like Dunkin Donuts
or any public place where people are going to be. Mr. Searing suggested Mr. Hickey go to the papers and
suggest a special article. Mr.
Danielson said this is a health issue if we do not have water. Mr. Searing asked what direction can we
give Mr. Hickey to move forward.
Mr. Hickey can do that.
Mr.
Van Anglen suggested a retreat topic be a water council to drive this issue.
Bedford Town Council – March 20, 2002 – Page 7
Mr.
Hickey said the “Banner” should be out around April 13, and he will
incorporate as much of the information that he can.
He thinks it is good idea for Mr. Searing and Mr. Van Anglen to do a TV
show. Mr. Scanlon said we have had
problems in the past with private companies sticking their suction pumps into
private ponds and pulling water out.
He said we should make sure people understand that is illegal.
Mr. Keyes said we can send the material over to the schools. Mr. Searing said if it rains for the next 30 days, we still
should continue on. He asked about
distribution at the Transfer Station on a Saturday. Mr. Scanlon asked Mr. Hickey to coordinate “dump day.”
Mr.
Danielson said we should ask the Town Manager to come back at the next meeting
with a step plan that says what we are going to do. It can be an ongoing step.
Mr. Scanlon said the retreat is on April 13, which is only 3 days after
the next meeting. Mr. Hickey will
include something in the packet and will e-mail it.
Richard
Moore, 27 Bedford Center Road, thinks it is a great suggestion to do this
campaign to try and get people to conserve groundwater.
He studies groundwater and would be happy to look at the suggestions and
offer comments. He was at a
conference last week, and they said about 90% of the household water that goes
back through the septic system ends up recharging the aquifers.
So, there is not nearly as big a loss with that as with lawn irrigation.
Trying to conserve on landscaping is a much more effective mechanism.
Mr.
Danielson asked if Mr. Moore could give the same presentation to the Council
that he gave to the Planning Board. Mr.
Scanlon asked Mr. Hickey to work that out.
3.
Results of
Survey on Town Services
Mr.
Riley read the ratings in terms of resident concerns: 1) Road
maintenance; 2)
Open space preservation; 3)
Traffic management; 4)
Land use permitting; 5)
Recreation programs and facilities;
6) Responsiveness to citizen
concerns; 7) Police protection; 8)
Fire protection; 9)
Transfer station; 10) Property
assessment services; 11)
Code enforcement; 12) Emergency
medical services; 13) Library services; 14)
Tax collection services.
Mr.
Scanlon said the survey results are on the web page. Mr. Hickey said we have been exploring the possibility of
offering a debit/credit card for payment of taxes, motor vehicle registration,
etc. When we asked the
question whether people would be willing to incur the fee we incur, the answer
was no 4 to 1. We will
continue to explore it, but that was a surprise to him.
The information we gathered on the road improvements and whether or not
people would be interested in increasing taxes to support accelerating the road
program, there was a majority that said yes, but not by a tremendous amount.
We need to be wary that there obviously is a concern.
Bedford Town Council – March 20, 2002 – Page 8
Mr.
Danielson said one of the things we ought to do on the idea of credit cards, if
we could register over the web. That
way only the people who are going to use it will pay for it.
He believes over time we will see this increasing.
Mr. Hickey said we would be willing to offer that.
We are just trying to recoup any cost we incur.
Mr. Greiner said the vast majority of people have their taxes escrowed,
so to them it is not a service they would care for. Mr. Hickey said this would also be for building
permits, motor vehicle fees, etc. He
said maybe we could lease or buy an ATM machine for the lobby. Mr. Searing said it seems like we listed 14 town
services, and this came in last.
He does not feel it is time to pursue this.
Mr.
Greiner thinks it was interesting on the roads. Clearly it was a big issue on roads, but in terms of paying
for it, he thinks we need to be cautious and look at all the options.
Mr. Searing said based on this survey, a $26 million bond would have been
shot down.
Mr.
Danielson said on Joppa Hill, active recreation came out third.
Mr. Greiner said there is always a percentage of people that vote
no on everything. For
passive recreation, he wonders if that is the no vote.
Mr. Searing said this tells him that pretty substantially everybody
supports all 3 (passive recreation, active recreation, educational farm).
Mr. Scanlon thought that number would be very small compared to where it
is.
Mr.
Keyes said his concern is he did not know this was going to be handed out, and
wishes it was put out the week before.
Mr. Greiner said on the flip side, that would have allowed an e-mail
campaign. This got the real
true perspective.
Mr.
Greiner said re the 3 biggest things: road
maintenance – we’ve got a plan. Open
space preservation – we received an LCHIP grant for master planning the area
and also are going to be receiving the money from Amherst because the bond
passed over there. Traffic
management – he assumes they are talking about Route 101, and we are in the
middle of the study. We are moving
positively in all three areas of concern. Mr.
Danielson said the concept of traffic management, the assumption is it is 101.
He wonders if that is the only thing that is on people’s minds.
What about the feeder roads.
Mr.
Searing said re New Boston Road/Route 114,
the Council discussed where it is in the state que, and Mr. Riley
mentioned the intersection at St. Anselm was in the process.
Mr. Riley said it is done.
The White Avenue intersection has been approved by the state, and that is
in the planning stages now. The
Donald Street/114 has sent a notice that any future developments should put
money towards that intersection.
Mr. Searing asked where is the 114/New Boston Road.
Mr. Riley said that is the last one.
White Avenue is before that in the que.
Mr. Danielson said there was a meeting with the state, and the plan is to
try to widen the intersection going north on 114 at the intersection of Donald
Street for a right turn lane.
Bedford Town Council – March 20, 2002 – Page 9
Mr.
Searing said when we talked about this 6+ months ago, a lot of the development that’s going on in Town is coming
into that intersection, and there is a lot of usage to that intersection from
Goffstown. He asked if
there is any way we can fast track that on the state level. Mr. Greiner asked if we talked about getting dialog
with Goffstown to see if they would contribute.
Mr. Danielson said that was before they did the work on St. Anselm Drive,
and they contributed to that. Mr.
Riley said we can ask the Planning Director to get an impact fee from any
development impacting that intersection. Mr. Danielson would like to push a little harder
on the regional impact on that intersection.
Susan
Tufts-Moore, 27 Bedford Center Road, thanked the town for putting the survey
results on the web site. Regarding
traffic management it may also be speed not just volume.
Regarding Joppa Hill, she thinks it is very hard to interpret the
results. She feels the no’s are
just as important as the yes’s.
COUNCILOR COMMENTS
Mr.
Searing said in a recent meeting we set tentatively that the staff would be
making a presentation on May 8 regarding the findings on Joppa Hill.
He requested that we make sure we follow through on that.
At that meeting, on the
agenda we can include a thorough discussion as to whether we want to form a
Joppa Hill Committee and decide what shape that committee would
take and to start moving forward on forming a master plan for that property.
Mr. Scanlon asked if we can have the whole committee
come that night. Mr. Riley
feels it is such an important subject, let’s not have a big agenda so we do
not have to rush.
Mr.
Hickey said the LCHIP would like to see us work with Amherst to provide a
conservation program. Mr.
Danielson understands the LCHIP was to do planning.
It appears to be very focused on conservation planning with Amherst.
Mr. Hickey said they want to see a conservation plan for the property
with Amherst where appropriate. They
commented on ultimately what we want to see on the property in the future.
Mr.
Searing said throughout the budget hearings and budget meeting, we committed to
a period when we would have a road plan in place. He thinks we need to, as soon as possible, have Mr. Hickey
come back with an outline of things we need to do and a time schedule we are
going to follow. He
recommends at the next meeting we have a time schedule and items we need to
accomplish to meet that July goal. Mr.
Scanlon said that is on the retreat agenda.
Bedford Town
Council – March 20, 2002 – Page 10
It
was agreed the Council would not need the “road trip” this year.
Mr.
Hickey said we talked in the past
about having Mr. Riley and Mr. Searing be the Public Works liaison to work with
Ed Kelly (Director of Public Works), Paul Belanger (Supt. Of Public Works) and
Mr. Hickey on the road program.
Mr. Searing asked permission between now and the retreat to work with Mr.
Hickey to design the time line. Mr.
Scanlon said yes.
Mr.
Greiner said in the reading file there is a memo from Nancy Larson (Planner I)
regarding Parker Ridge, and it was decided that the Planning Board would not
have another public hearing. He
wonders if it would make sense to have a public hearing so people will be
informed. His concern is it was a
very contentious and emotional issue with a lot of it based on water. If we do nothing, people might come forward and say things
happened without them being notified. Mr.
Scanlon asked if we could send a letter. Mr. Hickey said there is the concern that the developer had
that if we had a public hearing, they would have no ability to appeal.
The Planning Board Chairman and Planning Director have made contact with
some of the more vocal people about the proposal.
Everyone they spoke to is in agreement that they are satisfied, and that
there is not a need for a public hearing. Mr.
Hickey suggested once we have confirmation in writing that the well field will
be capped and water will be supplied from Merrimack with Pennichuck, is to do a
letter to the neighborhood to let them know what is happening, and the reasons
why there was no public hearing. Mr.
Greiner said his concern is to make sure that people are notified.
Mr.
Greiner said there was a sense that the Planning Board should be cognizant about
discussing with the Council in terms of negotiating future deals.
Mr. Hickey talked to the chairman, and he is aware of that.
He feels any deals need to come back to the Council.
Mr. Hickey said we are talking about exchanging in-kind work for fees.
Mr. Danielson said the reverse has been true in the past where the
Planning Board would go to the Town and say, tell us what you need, and the
Planning Board would then go to the developer and say this is what we need.
Mr.
Greiner said in the case of Greenfield Farms, that is an example.
Did that come back to the Council.
Mr. Danielson can’t remember.
Mr. Scanlon asked if it is unreasonable to say the developer should come
to the Council to negotiate a deal and then go back to the Planning Board.
Mr. Keyes suggested this be on the agenda for the retreat. Mr. Danielson cautioned we check State Law because that is
very close to doing Planning Board stuff. Mr.
Greiner said the reason for bringing it up is we have 2 bad decisions.
One is trading the current use money for Legacy Park, and the other is
Greenfield Farms.
Bedford Town Council – March 20, 2002 – Page 11
Mr.
Greiner said Southern NH Planning Commission (SNHPC) has some issues with the
101 project. Nashua Regional
Planning has been very involved in this process, and SNHPC has been uninvolved.
Part of it is because the money for the other communities came through
Nashua. Mr.
Greiner, who is on the 101 committee, would like to see more involvement from
SNHPC. Mr. Danielson said Moni Sharma (SNHPC) said
he has not been involved, and he does not know why.
Mr. Danielson will check further.
Mr.
Greiner said Amherst has purchased the land from us. They are an SB 2 town, and got 64% of the voters to approve
it. Under SB 300 this would not
have passed.
Mr.
Greiner said last week they had a 101 meeting and there were 3 recommendations.
One of them is going to the Highway Safety Committee next week and that
is to examine the speed limits, and reducing the speed limits west of Wallace
Road to the Amherst town line as an interim measure until we can get some
turning lanes. The other 2 items
were a recommendation to the Council to immediately explore funding a fully
signalized intersection at Hardy, Jenkins and Route 101.
The third was an overpass from Nashua Road to Bell Hill Road with a
connector road going from Nashua Road to Wallace Road.
Mr.
Danielson said re speed limits, he believes that process can come out of the
Safety Committee as a recommendation to talk to the State Highway because it is
a state highway. Mr. Greiner
asked if we need to make a decision supporting the recommendations from the 101
committee. Mr. Hickey said at some
point we should find out the cost to the town.
Mr. Danielson would like to see that connector road part of a larger,
overall plan. Mr. Hickey said we
will bring the state in and discuss the long term solutions and the interim
short term solutions. Mr.
Scanlon asked if there is a consensus to allow Mr. Greiner to move forward.
All agreed.
Mr.
Riley thanked the Council for sending flowers to his mother.
She is home now and doing well. Mr.
Riley thanked everyone involved in the election.
This was democracy at its finest.
Mr.
Danielson asked to send a message to the Moderator, Assistant Moderator, staff
and Police Chief for moving everyone around.
Mr.
Riley said this is the first time he has ever seen a downturn in motor vehicle
revenues in February. We need
to keep an eye on that.
Bedford Town Council – March 20, 2002 – Page 12
COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
Mr.
Scanlon announced the Council appointments to Boards and Commissions:
Planning
Board – Mr. Danielson regular and Mr. Scanlon as alternate.
Mr.
Danielson said the Chairman asked him to do this board, and he said he would do
it with the caveat that his classes are typically on Mondays and Wednesdays, and
there will be many nights he can’t be there. Mr. Keyes will attend when either one can’t make it.
Conservation
Commission – Mr. Riley regular and Mr. Van Anglen alternate.
Historic
District Commission – Mr. Keyes regular and Mr. Riley alternate.
Highway
Safety – Mr. Searing regular and Mr. Keyes alternate.
Parks
and Recreation Commission – Mr. Searing regular and Mr. Greiner alternate.
School
Board Liaison – Mr. Greiner and
Mr. Keyes
Board
of Adjustment – Mr. Van Anglen regular and Mr. Keyes alternate.
SNHPC
– Mr. Danielson regular and Mr. Scanlon alternate.
NHMA
– Mr. Danielson regular and Mr. Scanlon alternate.
Cable
Contract – Mr. Scanlon and Mr. Greiner
Bedford
Village Common – Mr. Riley and Mr. Scanlon
Route
101 Committee – Mr. Greiner and Mr. Scanlon
BCTV
– Mr. Scanlon regular and Mr. Greiner alternate.
Airport
Road Ext. – Mr. Danielson
Road
Program Liaison – Mr. Searing
Mr.
Scanlon said last year there were a number of occasions where the regular member
could not make it, and the alternate member was not notified.
He asked each Councilor to make sure to call Mr. Scanlon if neither
member can make a meeting.
Bedford Town Council – March 20, 2002 – Page 13
Mr.
Scanlon asked if Mr. Hickey spoke with Mr. LaMontagne re Greenfield Farms.
Mr. Hickey said he has been trying to contact him, and he has not
returned the calls. He looked at the agreement and it says he will get the
field on line as soon as he possibly can or before Phase IV is done.
Mr. Scanlon said that field was supposed to be done.
Mr. Hickey said he has said the field would be ready this spring.
We are withholding some items he may need in the future until he gets it
done. Mr. Danielson said the
property has changed hands. Mr.
Scanlon said he is still responsible. If
we cannot get a satisfactory answer, he would like to have him in here.
Right now he is using it as a staging ground.
He said the Town waived considerable impact fees.
Mr. Riley asked if we could ask the Planner to give us a letter
indicating if all the obligations have been met, and if not what the deadlines
are to be met.
Mr.
Scanlon said the Chairman speaks for the Council, so if anyone gets a call from
a reporter, if you feel it appropriate to speak, then you can speak, otherwise
have them call the Chairman. Mr.
Scanlon noticed tonight that everything should be directed through the chair.
Tonight a lot of questions were being asked directly from the audience.
Mr.
Searing asked on the different committees, he assumes there is some latitude to
respond to questions from the press. Mr.
Scanlon said you have all the latitude you want.
Mr. Riley said if you are speaking for the Council, it should come from
the chair. If you are speaking as
an individual, that’s a different situation.
Mr.
Scanlon said the annual retreat will be Saturday, April 13 at 10 AM with the
place to be forthcoming.
Mr.
Scanlon wants the Council to get together with the School Board.
We said we were going to get together 4 times a year, and last year it
was twice. He asked to put
them on a regular rotation.
Mr.
Greiner said on the 101 Study Committee some members have never showed up or
very rarely. They have not seen the
Planning Board rep for months.
He asked the Planning Board to appoint someone else for that spot.
Mr. Keyes asked when the appointments are made to boards and commissions.
The deadline for letters is March 22.
Mr. Scanlon said the process he would like isD not a committee, but a
committee of the whole. He would
like to invite the chairman of each board/commission to sit as an observer.
Mr. Searing asked if he is concerned about the time it might take to get
through all this. Mr. Scanlon said we could do 20-minute
interviews. Mr. Danielson
asked if we could do them in executive session.
Mr. Hickey said we cannot do that, but we could do them at 5 PM on a
regular meeting night. Mr. Keyes
asked if we interview existing members. Mr.
Scanlon would like to do that. Mr.
Van Anglen said an interview with 7 people is a little intimidating.
Mr. Scanlon thinks it is important all Councilors get involved.
A motion was made, seconded and passed to adjourn at 9:20 P M.
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