Notes for Tue, Mar 4 at 5 PM

 Agenda Items
5:00 p.m. Call Meeting to Order, Review Agenda, Review Minutes:  2/25/25
Public Comment - none
5:15 p.m. Kurowski/Wecker Dog Hearing deliberation—vote possible

• Meredith Wecker wrote a letter to the SB which was forwarded to Kyle Dragon, the Animal Control Officer.
• Kyle's recommendation remains as it was last week that Shams be labeled a nuisance dog due to an escalation in aggression.
• To not label the dog a nuisance opens up the Town to liability.
• The SB is going to continue deliberation until next week until further questions can be asked of animal control.

Budget Hearings & Discussion held jointly with Finance Committee
[I did not have copies of the individual department budgets so the discussions were hard to follow so there may be mistakes.  If anyone requests a particular budget or budgets I will try to get a hold of them.]
5:40 p.m. (started at 5.47 PM) MTRSD School Committee Representative—Budge Litchfield, update

• Budge went over the budget for the district: FY26 Mohawk Trail District Budget
• Heath had a decline in the Total Operating Assessment:  HEATH   $1,018,085   $998,725   -$19,360 -1.90%
• The Town will need to set aside money in case the money coming from the state and federal contributions are not known at the time we vote on our budget.

6:00 p.m. (6:24 p.m. start)  Fire Department Budget Hearing—Chief Nick Anzuoni

• Nick was concerned that the state was not aware of the severity of the recent situation where Towns were without power for up to 3 days.  Nick has done a write up for Natalie Blaise.
• National Grid kept saying the power would be on in a short period of time so many people stayed in their homes. 
• The effort by National Grid to get the power back  on was not managed as well as it could be.
• There is a communications issue in the building that needs to be addressed.

6:20 p.m. (6:45 start) Highway Department Budget Hearing—Supt. Tyson Howard
Equipment

•  Two pieces of equipment are in need of replacement: 2002 International Dump Truck and 2016 Dodge 5500 (not dependable  and cost more overtime as it was down for maintenance). Cost $5500 in maintenance this winter.
• A  5500 is a non CDL truck which removes a limitation allowing outside drivers so should be an equal replacement not a smaller truck.
• The 2002 truck  is not fixable because parts are not available.

​Paving

• Costs may go up, and how much paving depends on Chapter 90 money.
• Tyson has difficulty getting quotes

Preservation
Garage and trucks have been neglected in the past so Tyson is playing catch up.

• If something is not done the building will have to be replaced.​

Signage

• Many roads do not have signage which is a safety issue for emergency vehicles that come to help  from other towns to help.

​7:15 p.m. (7:30 p.m. start) Library Budget Hearing—Library Trustees and Library Director

• ​Kate Barrows went over the budget and is willing to answer any questions. 
• Budget has appeared to decrease, [but again, I could not follow].
• Library usage has regained  from COVID 

7:40 p.m. (7:47 p.m. start) Police Department Budget Hearing—Chief John McDonough

• May need more hours to get out into the town.
• Expenses are not increasing too much.

State of Emergency (unanticipated topic)

• A question was raised by Wendy Whalen of the Finance Committee about communication during the state of emergency in Heath.  Hilma attended a meeting in Conway with the governor regarding transportation.  She raised the issue of the tremendous cost of our state of emergency.  The governor was there to listen so took in the information, but did not provide feedback at the time.

• The internet did not go down so a backup battery would have provided access to the internet.

Other Business 
Sawyer Hall water/heat issues

• Still no heat and no water.
• A number of pipes have pinholes, slices, or valves that need replacing.
• New valves are needed as the old valves are not replaceable. New valves have a 2 week lead time and have been ordered.
• Hartnet Plumbing will move forward with the known problems and once those fixes are done  they will see if there are more issues.
• Sawyer Hall will need to be cleaned once the work is done.
• Hilma has filed for insurance and an appraiser has been contacted.
• SB passed the motion to accept the Hartnet estimate of $14,389

Community Hall Windows Project Update—vote anticipated

• The committee was disbanded with many thanks.

Rental Space RFP/Appraisal Update 

• No updates

HCA with True Cannabis—vote possible 

• A resident requested the Select Board to declare the HCA with True Cannabis  null and void.
• The HCA has no value given changes in the government regulations.  The SB is willing to terminate the HCA.
• SB wants to look at the developer agreement. 

Mail not previously discussed

• There is concern by the property owner about the use of their property without permission by the bridge construction company.
• Distribution of Chapter 90 money is determined by population  rather than roads.