Office of the Select Board

Town of Orange, New Hampshire

Minutes of November 13, 2018


Present: Dorothy Heinrichs, Chair; Robert Ells, Tamara Fairbank, and Sandi Pierson (clerical).Others present: Bev Ells
Meeting opened at 6 PM. Attendance taken by the secretary.

Minutes:

  • The minutes of October 23, 2018 were approved.

  • The minutes of November 6, 2018 were approved.

    Equalization rate: The Board reviewed and approved the preliminary sales analysis submitted by Mark Stetson for the municipal assessment data certificate. This will be sent to the Department of Revenue Administration for their review and for them to finalize the equalization ratio.

    Treasurer reports: The Board reviewed the Treasurer’s reports for July, August, and September2018. The Select Board reconciliations were on target and Dorothy signed the reports.

    Capital Reserve Funds: The Board signed a letter to the treasurer authorizing the withdrawal of $22,000, to be placed in the following capital reserve funds as voted on at the 2018 town meeting:

  • Orange Anniversary (newly established): $2,000.

  • Town Highway Equipment: $6,000.

  • Revaluation: $4,000.

  • Town Road Improvement: $10,000.

    Other:

  • A request was received from the Grafton County Senior Citizens Council for a 2019 contribution of $400. This is the same as 2018. The request will be forwarded to the Budget Committee.

  •  A request was received from the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission for the Board to write a letter of support for their application to the USDA for solid waste funding. After reviewing what their funding objectives were, the Board concurred. The Board will sign a letter of support at the next meeting.

  • A letter was received from Gardner, Fulton and Waugh stating that their law firm is merging with the Drummond Woodsum law firm. The merger is scheduled for January 2019. The Gardner, Fulton and Waugh firm name will be retired and the combined firm will take the name of Drummond Woodsum.

  • Notification was received from the State of NH that they have electronically deposited the October 2018 Block Grant payment of $8,824.47 into the town’s account.

  • A notice was received from the NH Municipal Association that they will have their annual meeting on November 14, 2018.

  • Information about the USDA community facility grant program was received.
    Note of appreciation: The Board thanked Skip Smith for fixing the Town House lighting issue that unexpectedly occurred.

    Other business:

  • The Board concurred with a request from Marilyn Johnson to have Angel Buckwold do some cleaning at the Town House prior to the annual Christmas party, which is scheduled for December 9th.

Secretary’s report:

  • We have not yet received the revised figure for the monthly school payment, which goes into effect this month. The SAU stated it would arrive “sometime in November.”

  • Mark Rogers would like the Board to consider abating his inventory penalty of $17.00 due to a post office oversight. Sandi said he had changed addresses at the time it was mailed and perhaps did not receive it. After discussion, the Board agreed that if Mark Rogers will submit an inventory form, they will abate the penalty. Tam motion to abate the $17.00 upon the submission of an inventory form. Bob seconded. Motion passed unanimously in favor.

  • Dorothy asked Sandi to request from town counsel a quote on the 2019 retainer.Reports from other Boards and Committees:

The Historical Society will meet on January 7, 2018 at the Town House.

Public comment: n/a
Bills and vouchers were reviewed and signed.

Nonpublic session: At 6:30 PM Bob motioned to go into nonpublic session pursuant to RSA 91- A: 3-I (c) to review a Tax Deferral application and an Elderly Exemption application. Tam seconded. Motion unanimously approved. At 6:40 PM Bob motioned to come out of nonpublic session Tam seconded. Motion unanimously approved. Dorothy stated that motions were passed in nonpublic session to approve both applications.

Meeting adjourned 6:40 PM.

Dorothy Behlen Heinrichs

Robert Ells

Tamara Fairbank