Selectboard and Finance

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Monday, November 20, 2023, 6:00 pm until 7:00 pm
Town Hall
A meeting of the Select Board

Selectboard Meeting - 5 Academy Hill Road, Conway - 6:00 p.m.
Meetings are now held every other Monday and are at this time accessible via Zoom.

You can join us live on zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6586796584?pwd=V05VK1V4MktSdFU4NGVBWndDb0pFQT09

• Meeting ID: 658 679 6584
• Passcode: conwaysb

Meeting of Select Board

Members: (Quorum)

• Present: Christopher Waldo, at 6:00 PM
• Present: Philip Kantor, Chair, at 6:00 PM
• Present: Erica Goleman, at 6:00 PM

Also Present:

• Jan Warner
• Roy Cohen
• Alan Singer
• John Craine
• Janet Chayes
• Cynthia Lawton-Singer
• Cayte McDonough
• Liz Bouchard
• Veronique Blanchard and Adam Reed

See original Agenda Approved Meeting Minutes

Meeting opened: 6:00 PM

Meeting closed: 7:10 PM

0. Meeting Preliminaries

   • Meeting Opened / Attendance Taken (see above).

   • Minutes Approved: Tue, Nov 14 - Selectboard and Finance

1. Warrants

   • - Vote to approve the Accounts Payable Warrant W24-12 in the amount of $134,871.17; the Payroll Warrant PW24-12 in the amount of $127,671, and the Payroll Deduction Warrant PDW24-12 in the amount of $32,474.3.

     MOTION, moved by Philip Kantor, seconded by Erica Goleman: .

     Pass: Aye: Philip Kantor, Christopher Waldo, Erica Goleman.

2. Meetings Attended by Select Board Members

   • General Discussion...
     Chris attended a Capital Committee meeting.
     
     Phil attended a Disaster Relief Fund meeting regarding funding for the flood damage and the River Walk tour which is part of the MVP grant.

3. Public Comments. None

   • Public

4. Unfinished Business.

   • - Discussion and possible vote(s) regarding the July 2023 rain events on steps Town is taking to remediate town damages; obtain Town compensation; alleviate and address resident concerns; remediate Town infrastructure which worsened flood damages; assist private individuals and non profits in remediating damages; and to help obtain compensation for losses to private residences and property.

   • - Frontier Regional School cyber security.

     General Discussion...
     The Chair apologized for misrepresenting the cyber security conversations between the Superintendent of Schools and the Town Administrator.

5. New Business

   • - Potential classification hearing for the tax rate.

     General Discussion...
     Tabled for a future time.

   • - Discussion with the Finance Committee and final vote on the Special Town Meeting Warrant.

     General Discussion...
     Finance joined at 6:35 and concluded at 7:01.
     
     Article 3. The treasurer confirmed that the town can borrow in small increments. This means that the $1.5 million would be a maximum that could be borrowed but it is felt unlikely that the amount would be needed. The treasurer also reminded the board that every borrow comes with a $650 fee.
     
     Finance voted 3-0-2 in favor of the article.
     Selectboard voted 3-0 in favor of the article.
     
     Article 5. This addresses the seniors and veterans property tax work-off program that many other towns participate in. If approved at special town meeting, the selectboard will then decide the parameters of the program.
     
     Finance voted 3-0-2 in favor of the article.
     Selectboard voted 3-0 in favor of the article.
     
     Article 8. This was previously approved. With further information, the board agreed the article should stand.
     
     Article 9. Further investigation showed that this article may not stand up to legal scrutiny. This article was tabled 3-0 for further investigation.
     
     

     MOTION, moved by Erica Goleman, seconded by Philip Kantor: To approve the warrant as voted on by the Selectboard and Finance Committee including the changes voted on at this meeting.

     Pass: Aye: Philip Kantor, Christopher Waldo, Erica Goleman.

   • - Discuss and vote to sign procurement agreement with Andrea Woods / FRCOG for public safety building addition.

     MOTION, moved by Philip Kantor, seconded by Erica Goleman: To approve and sign the ARPA money expenditure for FRCOG regarding the new saftey building.

     Pass: Aye: Philip Kantor, Christopher Waldo, Erica Goleman.

   • - Discussion regarding maintenance of town gardens and Veterans Memorial Park: fence with abutter.

     General Discussion...
     Pollinate Conway came with a request for $4,000 for maintenance for the Veteran's park garden. They would like to hire someone for watering and maintaining the plants that will be introduced in the spring. Grant money for maintaining is scarce, so Pollinate Conway would like funds from the town to proceed with the project. The Selectboard is supportive of finding private funding but currently does not have any extra money available for this request.
     Pollinate Conway would also like a fence placed in the back of the park to help mitigate deer browsing. This has an estimate of $4,000. There do not seem to be any records showing whether the town or the resident owns the fence already in place, which is in need of repair, and it is doubtful that money will be available for a new fence.
     It was also pointed out that there is some erosion at the town office building from the drain pipe. This will need to be addressed soon before the problem gets worse.

6. Items Not Anticipated 48 Hours in Advance of the Meeting

7. Town Administrator update

8. Selectboard member comments/concerns

   • MOTION, moved by Philip Kantor, seconded by Christopher Waldo: To sign a letter to Senator Warren regarding funding for the town's flood damage. .

     Pass: Aye: Philip Kantor, Christopher Waldo, Erica Goleman.

9. Mail

10. Announcements

11. Meeting Wrap-up

    • Next Meetings:
      1. Wed, Nov 29, at 5:30 PM "Selectboard Meeting" -- CANCELLED -- Town Hall
      2. Thu, Nov 30, at 5:30 PM "Selectboard and Board of Assessors" -- CANCELLED -- Town Hall
      3. Mon, Dec 4, at 6:00 PM "Select Board" -- Town Hall
    • Published! Meeting Closed at 7:10 PM.

The listing of matters is those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law.

Minutes approved on Monday, Dec 4, 2023