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TOWN OF EATON, NEW HAMPSHIRE 03832
EVANS MEMORIAL BUILDING
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
April 10, 2007
The regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen took place on Tuesday, April 10th , 2007 at the Evans Memorial Building. Present were: Don Philbrick, Rick Young and Lee Stack. The meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m.
The minutes for the meeting of April 3rd were approved as distributed.
Don Philbrick said the emergency plans for a pandemic had been received from the Town of Conway. There is a meeting on May 4th that requires a representative from the Town. Don Hall will be contacted.
Rick Young said the Conservation Commission meeting scheduled for last night had been postponed at the request of the Chairman. There was still some delay over the bridges for the Willis Bean Rd. Rick Young noted he had drawn up proposed contracts for managing the blueberry fields and the Commission and the Board of Selectmen needed to review them soon so work could begin.
Lee Stack relayed some discussions held at the Eaton Village Preservation Society meeting recently. They were proposing smartening up the Town Beach to increase the organization’s visibility beyond that of the Eaton Village Store. Lee Stack said that if it involved Town funds any appropriations should be for permanent improvements. Rick Young noted that this kind of work, such as setting and painting the perimeter posts, painting the picnic tables etc, used to be done by a group of volunteers. Temporary beautifying features such as potted plants etc were donations and not from Town funds. There was an extensive discussion about the status and standing of the Eaton Village Preservation Society.
The second item that Lee Stack said had been discussed by the Eaton Village Preservation Society was the concern over fire protection and response time with an apparent yearning to return to Conway Village for services or the Town to get its own fire engine and/or department. Rick Young reviewed the history of fire and rescue services to the Town. He noted that Conway Village, when it provided services to the Town, had decided to change the formula for calculating the cost to Eaton. Originally, costs had been based on the number of calls but changing to cost based on property valuation was going to raise the cost from approximately $16,000 to over $40,000. Conway Village Commissioners were unwilling to reconsider so the Town shopped around for alternatives. Both Freedom and Center Conway Fire and Rescue Departments, with backup from Medstar, were very interested and made proposals that totaled approximately $16,000 with Freedom covering the southern part of Town and Center Conway the remainder. In 2000 the Selectmen accepted their proposals. The total cost of fire and rescue services in 2006 was just over $19,000 exclusive of the forest fire off Potter Rd. It was noted that Albany, where the valuation is similar to that of Eaton, paid approximately $80,000 in 2006 for fire and rescue services from Conway Village.
Rick Young noted there had also been attempts for Eaton to form its own fire department but these had been rejected by Town Meeting, in part, because of costs and the shortage of trained volunteers to provide a basic minimum level of service 24/7. The NH Municipal Association had also recommended against such a development because of insurance and liability issues.
Signature item was the Department of Revenue Administration MS-2 form of appropriations approved at Town Meeting.
The State Department of Transportation will be contacted about the status of the bridge aid fund for the Potter Rd bridge and when funding for it could be expected.
The annual report on the condition of the Town owned bridges was received from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. A copy will be provided to Elwyn Thurston.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services had provided information on the recent suspicion of a case of rabies in a New Hampshire resident.
The Department of Revenue Administration is hosting information sessions around the State on the current use taxation of forestry and agricultural buildings.
An application for a boundary line adjustment for the Reibling Trust has been filed with the Planning Board. The Public Hearing will be on April 18th.
The approved budget for Carroll County has been received. The amount to be raised by taxation is increased by over 10% (just over $1 million).
The Associated Contractors of America and A Safer Road to Tomorrow organizations had sent two article on roads and bridges in New Hampshire. They urged funding and rebuilding of the State’s neglected roads.
The Department of Environmental Services has issued a permit for construction of a septic system for John Manouse on the Brownfield Rd (Tax map R11, lot 16).
The New Hampshire Public health Association is holding their Annual Meeting in Manchester on April 25th.
The Selectmen reviewed, approved and signed a pole license permit for PSNH for a replacement pole and a new pole on Ridge Rd.
Legislative Bulletin #15 discussed House action on damage caps in personal injury actions and a failed attempt to change the interest rates on delinquent taxes.
The web page has been updated and is almost current with the exception of the updated Zoning Ordinance.
Mark Griffin and Suzanne Raiche were in attendance.
The meeting adjourned at 9 05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
David V. Maudsley
