MEMBERS PRESENT: Galen Stearns, Carolyn Webber, Christopher Doyle, Margaret Crisler and Roger Hohenberger. David Sullivan, Town Administrator, was also present. Meeting commenced at 6:30 pm at the Armstrong Building where the Board met with Town Counsel.

PUBLIC MEETING: The regular meeting commenced at 7:40 pm at the Town Hall. Mrs. Crisler displayed a beautiful orchid which will be on display in the Town Hall for the next few days.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS: Mrs. Crisler nominated Carolyn Webber for chairman of the Board. Mr. Hohenberger seconded. Passed unanimously.

Mr. Stearns nominated Mrs. Crisler for vice chairman of the Board. Mr. Hohenberger seconded. Passed unanimously. The new officers assumed their roles.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Paramedic: Fire Chief Fruchtman announced that FF/EMT Ralph DeMarco has successfully completed paramedic training at Elliot Hospital. FF DeMarco is now the Department’s fourth paramedic. FF DeMarco thanked the Board for their support of the paramedic program. The Board and the Chief congratulated him.

Volunteer of the Year: Mr. Sullivan presented the Volunteer of the Year Award to Douglass Barker to recognize his work as Emergency Management Director. The award was announced at Town Meeting, however Mr. Barker was not able to attend. Mr. Barker thanked his EM team and stated that their hard work paid off last week during the heavy rainstorm.

Church Road: Mr. Sullivan told the Board that a representative from the State Department of Transportation met with Town representatives to review the condition of Church Road following last week’s rainstorm. He reported that the road will remain closed until repaired. Any traffic on the road could cause further damage.

Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Bailey spoke to the Board and answered questions concerning the condition of the road and proposed repairs. Mr. Sullivan explained that the culvert is still in good condition but the fine materials surrounding it washed away. A representative from the Bureau of Bridge Design will be here tomorrow to give us his opinion.

The Board discussed the use of concrete barriers to keep traffic out of the area as people have been seen moving the present barriers. Mr. Bailey stated that as of now there is no cost estimate. They also discussed enlarging the bridge, the culvert the State put in a few years ago, any possibility of State funding assistance and the flooding of the Common. Mr. Sullivan will keep the Board updated.

Mrs. Crisler told Mr. Bailey about residents having to clean out a culvert on Lowell Road and asked him to speak to the State about this.

Town Reports: Mr. Sullivan noted that two errors have been found in the listing of Town Officers and Committees in the Town Report. First, it was listed Tom Case resigning from the Rockingham Planning Commission which was incorrect. Mr. Case had finished his term. Second, Jill Moe should have been listed as Supervisor of the Checklist, not Maryann Brown. Both corrections will be made in the archived reports.

Fire Department: Fire Chief Fruchtman made the following announcements:

• He thanked department personnel for the successful CPR training for the seventh graders.
• The Department will be a collection site during the week of April 16th, for recalled consumer manufactured products.
• Week of May 20th will be "Buckle Up Seat Belts & Car Seats Week".
• The Fire Act was funded for $100 million and grant applications will be processed quickly. The Fire Department will be sub- mitting two application.

The Chief stated that more information will be upcoming on these events.

Daffodil Days: Mrs. Crisler announced that the Woman’s Club will again be sponsoring Daffodil Days for the American Cancer Society. This weekend they will be selling the daffodils at the Village Bean, Transfer Station and the Post Office.

Nifty Fifties: Mr. Stearns announced that Windham Middle School is presenting "Nifty Fifties" on Thursday and Friday at 7pm. All are encouraged to attend.

LIAISON REPORTS: Mr. Hohenberger reported that he attended the I-93 Meeting last week in Derry. He stated that Cheri Howell, Chairman of the Conservation Commission, did an excellent job in presenting the proposal to have the State purchase Phases II and III of Castle Reach as wetlands mitigation for the expansion of I-93. The property appraisal will be done and then it will take about six weeks for a decision.

Mrs. Crisler reported that the Planning Board met last week and the new members were sworn in. The new chairman is Allan Carpenter. The Board discussed the Heritage Hill land swap and the Klemm’s corner project.

Mrs. Crisler also reported that Recreation and Friends of Arts & Recreation are sponsoring "Fiddler on the Roof" at the Derry Opera House and it is excellent.

Mr. Doyle asked Mrs. Crisler if the Planning Board still needed alternates. She stated they have two slots available. Any resident can apply.

Mr. Doyle reported that the Cable Advisory Board met last Saturday and they received a plaque from the Woman’s Club for their excellent service. Also, they will sponsor a public meeting with Adelphia on April 21st at 10 am at the Cable Studio. Adelphia representatives will discuss all their services and will answer all questions from the public, especially on internet services.

Mr. Doyle also noted that now if residents have basic or basic plus cable service, they no longer need their cable boxes. The boxes must be retained for pay stations and pay preview.

Ms Webber reported that the Historic District/Heritage Commission met and wrote a letter supporting Conservation Commission’s request for wetland mitigation land for expansion of I 93 and worked on the grant for the Bartley House.

Ms Webber further reported that the Griffin Park Committee met and discussed the completion of Phase One. They will hold a site walk on Saturday and will update the Board at their April 9th meeting.

BID AWARDS: Fire - Chief Fruchtman told the Board that 13 bid packages were sent out for a new command vehicle and 6 bids were received. After review of the bids, the Chief recommended that the bid be awarded to Best Ford for their bid price of $27,665.00. The other bids were : Granite Ford - $27,675.90; Newman Ford - $28,097.90; Irwin Ford - $28,900; Grappone Ford - $29,584 and Regan - $29,599.

Mr. Doyle motioned to award the bid for the Fire command vehicle to Best Ford for $27,665. Mr. Stearns seconded. Mr. Stearns questioned delivery time to allow for taxes to be collected in June. The Chief replied that would not be a problem. Mr. Hohenberger asked what the other associated costs would be: striping, lights, etc. The Chief estimated $4,500. Motion passed unanimously.

Emergency Management - Mr. Barker, Emergency Management Director, told the Board that bid packages were sent out for a trailer. The trailer will be used to respond and storage for emergencies. Two bids were received: Hooksett Kawasaki Polaris - $5,100 and Gilford Sales Inc. - $5,799. Mr. Barker stated that $7,000 was in the budget for this item, including striping and outfitting. Mr. Stearns motioned to award the bid for the response trailer to Hooksett Kawasaki for $5,100. Mr. Doyle seconded. Passed unanimously.

TOWN VAULT: Mr. Sullivan requested that the Selectmen grant a waiver from the Town’s purchasing policies for the purchase of the town vault approved at our recent ballot vote. He further explained that over the last two years, it was researched and decided that the removal of the old concrete building (addition) at Town Hall and replacement with a new concrete structure against the "historic", original 9’ x 7’ vault was the best alternative. Mr. Sullivan stated he would not name the local company he has been working with, but stated that there are few companies that do this type of work and felt we would not get any other bids. He also stated that other associated work: site work, clapboard siding, gable roofing, etc - would go out for bid.

Mr. Hohenberger felt this was a large project and it needed to go out to bid. The other board members agreed. Mr. Stearns had some concerns about having a concrete floor as it would hold moisture. Mr. Sullivan will follow up. Mr. Doyle motioned not to waive the bid process for the new vault. Mr. Hohenberger seconded. Passed unanimously.

CORRESPONDENCE: Thank you letter received from the Java Jive Planning Team for the use of Searles School.

Notice received that Household Hazardous Waste Collections will be held at the new highway department facility on Thursday, May 24th from 3 - 7 pm. The remainder of the collections will be at the City of Nashua Department of Public Works garage on Riverside Drive from 8 am until noon on the following Saturdays: April 7, May 5, June 2, August 4, October 6 and November 3rd.

Letter received from Representative Anthony DiFruscia regarding HB537 as amended in support of the LCHIP program. Board members noted that funding of this program was cut last week from 12 million to 4 million dollars. The Town is presently preparing two grant applications under this program requesting funds for the Bartley restoration and conservation land purchase.

Memo received from Mr. Sullivan stating that the following board and committee appointments are expiring in June. Present appointees have been notified and instructed if they are interested in being reappointed, they need to send a letter to the Board so stating. Also, residents are encouraged to apply by also sending a letter of interest to the Board. April 13, 2001 is the application deadline.

MINUTES: Mr. Stearns motioned to accept the minutes of March 12th as presented. Mr. Doyle seconded. Passed unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS: Renovations to the Old Fire Station - Mr. Doyle asked the status of the renovations to the old fire station. Mr. Sullivan stated that for the last two weeks the maintenance staff has been extremely busy with snow removal and flooding in several buildings so not much work has been done. He noted that, although the maintenance staff is doing much of the work at the old station, that they must also do the regular work. The savings by having the maintenance do this work is about $80,000, however it may take longer than a contractor but the savings are substantial. He further stated that he is very proud of the work they have done and still hope to have the Building Department move sometime in April.

Route 111 By-Pass - Mr. Hohenberger asked if the DOT has provided the current plan for the proposed by-pass. Mr. Sullivan stated that he was told it was 85% complete but it has not been received to date. Mr. Sullivan also stated that the Board will have a workshop next Monday at which they can discuss it.

NEW BUSINESS: Liaison Appointments - Mr. Sullivan told the Board that he would be providing them with a listing of liaison positions which will be decided at their April 9th meeting. He asked them to consider which positions they would be interested in.

Cable Changes - Mr. Case, Cable Technical Coordinator, spoke about the recent changes Adelphia has made. Mr. Case stated that if you disconnect your cable box, your television will need to be reprogrammed. Boxes can only be disconnected if you have basic or basic plus cable service. Those with pay channels will need to keep their boxes until the system is digitalized later this year. If you are having problems reprogramming, you can call Adelphia for assistance or call the Cable Studio at 434-0300 and he will come and program it for you. Also, the boxes need to be returned to Adelphia in Londonderry. Mr. Hohenberger suggested that Adelphia have a drop off station in Windham or at least one day for residents to return these boxes. This will be looked into.

The Board and Mr. Case discussed the internet connection and what problems were occurring.

NON-PUBLIC SESSIONS: Mr. Doyle motioned to go into non-public session in accordance with RSA- 91A:3, IIa. Mr. Stearns seconded. Roll Call Vote - Yes. The Board and Mr. Sullivan were in attendance. Subject was personnel.

Mr. Stearns motioned and Mr. Hohenberger seconded to deny a grievance filed by the Municipal Union. Passed unanimously.

Mr. Hohenberger motioned and Mr. Stearns seconded to deny a grievance filed by the Police Union. Passed 4-1 with Mr. Doyle opposed.

Mr. Stearns motioned and Mr. Doyle seconded to approve the hiring of a custodian pending background and medical checks. Passed unanimously.

The Board reviewed a department head evaluation.

The Board discussed the wage schedule for all management positions and reviewed the Town’s position relative to compatible communities. Mr. Stearns moved to amend the present schedule by moving the management level positions up one grade but the respective steps back one. Passed 4-1 with Mr. Hohenberger opposed.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Davis
Administrative Assistant

NOTE: These minutes are prepared in draft form and have not been submitted to the Board for approval.