Office of the Select Board
Town of Orange, New Hampshire
Minutes of January 8, 2013
Present: Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs (chaired the meeting), Betty Fulton, Bob Ells, and Sandi Pierson (clerical).
Others present: Bob Proulx, Judith Lindahl, Bev Ells, Bill Fulton, Tom and Wendy Huntley, Pat and George White, and Barbara Smith.
Meeting called to order at 7:00 PM.
Attendance taken by the secretary.
Minutes: The minutes of December 26, 2012 were unanimously approved as submitted.
Municipal Budget: The Board met with Budget Committee Secretary Bob Proulx to discuss the timeline of upcoming budget meetings.
Town report: Dorothy stated that the reports to be included in the 2012 annual town report from the department heads and officers should be submitted to the office by January 31. They expect to have the completed town report available at least a week before town meeting.
Upper Valley Humane Society: The Board reviewed a renewal contract for 2013 from the Upper Valley Humane Society. Betty said that this year’s Humane Society expenditures were not in the 2012 budget appropriations. They amounted to about $600. She also noted that there have been questions of animals being brought into the Humane Society that were not actually Orange-related. Betty felt the town as a whole should vote on the contract at town meeting per a warrant article. Dorothy asked what the back-up plan would be if the town voted not to renew the contract. Betty said the people involved with the animal could take it down themselves. Henry said the Board approved the contract last year to have a controlled cost in case stray dogs from Orange are brought to the Humane Society. (The Society charges a $25 intake fee and $25 per day for a dogs and $10 for cats for no more than seven days. After seven days the animal is the responsibility of the Humane Society.) It was believed that if someone brought a stray animal to the Humane Society, they would accept it regardless if there is a contract or not. Pat White questioned if the town picked up a nuisance stray, what they would be able to do with it if there was no contract. It was unclear what the response of law enforcement would be if they were called to take a stray but the town did not contract with the Humane Society to take them. The Board agreed to address the contract at town meeting.
Orange Conservation Commission: The Board unanimously approved appointing Sandi Pierson as a member to the Orange Conservation Commission.
Supervisors of the Checklist: The Board was in receipt of a letter of resignation from Sharon Dunbar as a member of the Supervisors of the Checklist due to other pressing commitments. After discussion, Bob motioned to accept the letter of resignation with regret. Betty seconded. Motion passed unanimously in favor. It was affirmed that it is the jurisdiction of the other Supervisors of the Checklist to appoint a person to fill the vacancy until the March 2013 election. Sandi will contact the other two members and let them know Sharon has resigned.
Welfare guidelines: The Board discussed approving the welfare guidelines for 2013. Betty stated that Attorney Bernie Waugh affirmed there were no changes in the RSAs that would necessitate changing the 2012 guidelines. The Board reviewed the monetary allowances and compared them to Canaan’s. It was noted that Canaan’s allowances had not changed from 2012 thus were the same as Orange’s current ones. Sandi stated that Grafton had not changed theirs from 2012 either. They agreed the allowances would remain the same.
Sandi said she spoke to Welfare Overseer Pat Mercer earlier that day and told her that the review and approval of the welfare guidelines were on the agenda for tonight and that she hoped that Pat could attend the meeting. Pat said she did not know if she was coming to the meeting but that she was going to submit revised guidelines to the office by 2 PM as an email attachment and would note which pages she made changes to.
Sandi said Pat’s email was not on the computer when she left at 2 PM. She said they were downloaded onto the desktop just prior to tonight’s Board meeting but that no page numbers were annotated. Pat White said that there were no page numbers to correspond to because Pat Mercer’s revised copy was 53 pages and the current welfare guidelines were 66 pages. Betty said that in light of the fact that Attorney Waugh said there were no changes in the law that would merit changing the guidelines and the Board was making no changes in allowances, she was in favor of renewing the 2012 guidelines as prepared by Attorney Waugh.
After discussion, Bob Ells motioned to approve the welfare guidelines for 2013 as prepared by Attorney Waugh in 2012. Betty seconded. Motion passed unanimously in favor.
Tax Collector: Bob Proulx stated that the town computer that Sharon uses as tax collector had “crashed.” He said Systems Plus Computer repaired the computer and recovered all the data. Sharon is now backing up all data up with an external hard drive which backs up the entirety of the computer automatically. Dorothy said that although the Board did not call a meeting to authorize the expenditure, all Board members concurred that it was an urgent situation that needed to be addressed without delay. The total came to about $200. Betty stressed that it is critical that officers keep their computer data backed up on a regular basis.
Bernie Waugh’s visit: Dorothy stated that Bernie Waugh came for his informational visit last night. A copy of his summary of RSA changes will be posted for the public and a copy will be on file in the office. Dorothy noted that Bernie confirmed that all ad hoc committee meetings must be legally posted and minutes must be taken.
The above led to discussion on the legal posting of meetings. A municipal meeting must be posted in two places. Currently it generally posted on the outside bulletin board at the town house and on the bulletin board in the foyer by the town clerk’s office. Bob Proulx said that sometimes items pertaining to Orange are posted at the Canaan post office. It was suggested that formally posting meetings by way of Pat White’s residential email list or the Heinrich’s Orange-centered website may be used. Betty questioned whether privately maintained websites and emails can be considered legal venues for municipal postings.
Intent to Cut: Tom and Wendy Huntley submitted an Intent to Cut for their property on the corner of Cross Road and Wheeler Road (Map 1, Lot 7). After review, the Board unanimously approved the Intent to Cut. After the Intent is given an operation number, Sandi will mail copies to the DRA, the land owners, and the logger.
Reviewed:
- The Board was in receipt of correspondence from the state affirming that the 2012 Meals and Room revenue of $14,765.83 was electronically deposited into the town’s account.
- The Board was in receipt of a Certificate of Use from Don Pfaefflin for Dorothy and Jay Heinrich’s woodshed.
Public comment: none
Meeting adjourned 8:15 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Sandi Pierson
______________________ ______________________ ______________________
Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs Betty Fulton Robert Ells