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TOWN OF EATON, NEW HAMPSHIRE 03832
EVANS MEMORIAL BUILDING
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
January 29, 2008
The regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen took place on Tuesday, January 29th , 2008 at the Evans Memorial Building. Present were: Don Philbrick, Rick Young and Lee Stack. The meeting was called to order at 7 p.m.
The minutes of the meeting of January 22nd were accepted as distributed.
Don Philbrick said the Eaton School bus had been in an accident on Rte 302 by Stark Rd but no one was hurt.
Don Philbrick discussed an issue over elections. Mark Griffin had resigned as Town Clerk/ Tax Collector effective after the Town Meeting but after the filing period for candidates had begun. Don Philbrick said that according to RSA 669:61 any vacancy occurring in this manner shall not be filled by official ballot until the annual meeting the following year. With regard to the Town Clerk/ Tax Collector position, the deputy shall discharge the duties of the position until the Selectmen fill the position within 30 days. The Selectmen met with Mark Griffin and discussed the situation since the public notice recently issued indicated that the Town Clerk/Tax Collector position was up for election. It is not. The Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint Suzanne Raiche to the position of Town Clerk/Tax Collector when Mark Griffin leaves.
Rick Young said he had spoken with Ryan Bushnell about signing the contract for managing some of the blueberries on Foss Mt.
Lee Stack said he had emailed FairPoint Communications and updated them on the survey taken in Town on broadband access. He will look at how the requests are distributed in Town. Rick Young noted that FairPoint had issued a list of areas where they will be expanding service if the purchase of the Verizon land lines is approved. He said it was a very short list.
Gloria Williams discussed the political caucuses in Maine and wondered why they did not have a primary.
Barry Portnoy and Dick Shaw have filed a boundary line adjustment application with the Planning Board.
The Selectmen reviewed budget expenditures. The remainder of the meeting was spent developing the budget for 2008. The Selectmen noted that the Treasurer was severely underpaid and had done an excellent job for many years. . Rick Young made a motion, seconded by Lee Stack, to raise the salry of the Treasurer to $1,800 per year. The motion carried unanimously.
Correspondence included a letter of resignation from Mark Griffin.
The Department of Revenue Administration calculated an equalization ratio of 100.2% for the Town but there were few sales to base it on.
A petitioned article for $759 for the Gibson Center was received from Judy Fowler.
The Department of Health and Human Services is conducting another point in time homeless survey on January 30th.
The Legislative Bulletin #6 from the Local Government Center discussed the proposed collective bargaining bills, commercial property assessments and proposed growth management ordinances.
The Regional dinners sponsored by the Local Government Center will focus on New Hampshire’s public pension funding dilemma.
Correspondence from Verizon discussed the pending transfer to FairPoint Communications.
Mark Griffin and Suzanne Raiche were in attendance.
The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
David V. Maudsley
