SELECTMEN’S MEETING MINUTES FOR MARCH 12, 2012
The Board of Selectmen met for their weekly meeting at 6:30 p. m. at the Campton Town Office. Present were, Selectmen, Charles Cheney, Charles Wheeler, Sharon Davis, Craig Keeney, and Marsh Morgan. The Board signed the manifest and reviewed the bills. They signed 1 Intent to Cut, 1 Elderly Exemption, 1 Veteran’s Exemption and 1 Disabled Exemption.
Members of the public who were present at the meeting, but not on the agenda were Butch Bain and Kelly Bolger.
At 6:45 p.m. Chair Davis called the meeting to order to discuss the Warrant Articles and Ann Marie indicated that there were only two Articles to read at Town Meeting. It was agreed that Article 5 will be read by Chair Davis and Article 17 will be read by Selectman Wheeler.
Chair Davis then called for a Motion to approve the Minutes of the previous meeting. Selectman Morgan made the Motion to accept the Minutes as written. The Motion was seconded by Selectman Keeney and the Minutes as written were unanimously approved.
Chair Davis called on Ann Marie to review correspondence.  Ann Marie indicated that a copy of a Memo of Inspection was forwarded to the Town from James Weber, P.E. of the State of NH Dam Safety & Inspection Section concerning the Campton Bog Dam. The report reflected some concerns; however, none of the issues detract from the dam’s structural integrity or operability at this time the DES has established no schedule for addressing the issues. Mr. Weber indicated the next scheduled inspection is set for 2017. After reading this report, it was determined that the Town does not own the dam and this report was just informational.
A letter was received from Attorney John A. Curran, the attorney representing the Town’s insurance company pertaining to the Fire Fighter who is filing a claim against the Town and Robert Burhoe, Sr. pertaining to a slip and fall case. Attorney Curran would like to meet with Ann Marie, Fire Chief Tobine and Butch Bain, Road Agent. The tentative date is March 16, 2012. No confirmed time has been set.
Ann Marie indicated that the Board has received all recent e-mails from Hoyle, Tanner & Associates concerning the Blair Bridge Project and DES Wetlands approval. The Wetlands Bureau has now approved the access points for the pier construction work. At this point, Selectman Cheney indicated that he spoke with Mr. Jorgensen regarding an easement to get to the river. Selectman Cheney informed the Board that Mr. Jorgensen is willing to give the Town an easement. Mr. Jorgensen also discussed with Selectman Cheney the possibility of the Town being willing to reduce his property taxes due to loss of business. The Board discussed concerns with this issue; however, Selectman Cheney requested that Ann Marie contact Mark Nieder concerning this matter.
A letter was received from University of NH Cooperative Extension stating that County Forester, Dave Falkenham, wanted to make sure Towns were aware of new federal funding opportunities for community forest land acquisition. The application deadline is May 15, 2012.
The Town web site report has been received and the amount of visitors has increased since last month; however e-mails have dropped.
Notice from the Local Government Center concerning Workshops for newly elected and appointed municipal officials. The closest workshop to Campton is scheduled for May 19th and September 29th in Concord.
Grafton County Senior Citizens Council forwarded an invitation to their Annual Meeting on Monday, April 2, 2012, at 10 Campbell Street, in Lebanon with a luncheon starting at 11:45 a.m. and the keynote speaker on that day will be Councilor Ray Burton.
Ann Marie was sorry to inform the Board that Lester Mitchell had passed away and his obituary was distributed to the Board; however, no services were announced at this time.
Chair Davis then called on Selectman Keeney regarding Other Business – Selectmen’s Input. Selectman Keeney indicated that he met with J. S. Adams Security pertaining to the security system at the Town Office. It was recommended that doom cameras be installed and door chimes. Also there would be no monitors; however activity could be read by computer access or CD with an authorized password. It was pointed out that this system could be transferred to another building and Kelly Bolger confirmed that the eight cameras would be sufficient in the proposed new Town Office Building. After discussion, the Board requested that Ann Marie approach Mary Durgin regarding funding for the system through the Durgin Trust Fund.
There was some discussion by the Board concerning Town cell phones. It was agreed that this matter be tabled until after the elections. Butch Bain indicated that the new radios will be up and running in about 4 to 6 weeks for the Highway Department.
Chair Davis stated that due to issues at the Town Office this passed week with the computer systems being down during the installation of the new server she felt that the Town Office should have a disaster recovery plan (aka Business Continuity Plan). This need was brought to light when a property owner came into the office to pay her taxes with cash (while the computer system was down) and the Tax Collector’s Office indicated that they could not take the money at that time because they could not issue a computer print out receipt. Chair Davis commented that banks have disaster recovery plans in place so if their computers are down they can still accept deposits and provide hand receipts. The Town Offices should be able to do the same.
There being no further business, Chair Davis declared the meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Eleanor M. Dewey, Office Assistant to Ann Marie Foote, Town Administrator