Town of Dublin
Board of Selectmen’s Meeting
Monday October 27, 2008
Present:
Sterling Abram, Charlie Champagne, Kathy Merrick
Chairman Abram called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.
Administrative Time
BOS reviewed and signed Payroll and A/P checks.
Oak Tree: Discussion ensured about the Public Hearing scheduled for November 6, 2008
regarding possible removal of the oak tree at Old Common Road and Route 101 for the Traffic
Calming Project. The notice sent to the newspaper states that the Hearing is a Planning Board
Hearing; however, it has been decided that the Hearing should be held by the BOS. Ed Germain
will communicate this with Peter Imhoff, Candice Reed, and the Ledger-Transcript.
Code Enforcement Officer: BOS discussed the parameters of the position.
Southwest Community Services: A letter was received from SWCS requesting increase of the
Town’s annual donation from $750 to $850. BOS agreed with the request for an increase and
signed the form for return to SWCS.
Trustees of the Trust Funds: Charlie attended the Trustees of Trust Funds meeting at Charter
Trust on October 16th. Charlie relayed a question from the Trustees as to the timing of Bill
Raymond’s request for transfer now of $18,230 to cover the Welfare budget, rather than in
December. Bill will be billing ToT for the balance of the 2008 Welfare expenditures in
December. Charlie mentioned that market value of investments is down considerably and this
may negatively impact generation of income in future periods.. Trustees have made a change in
their investment policy on money market funds and will be investing in government instruments,
which are considered more conservative and lower yielding investments.
Joe Cavanaugh, Lisa Martin (Quantum Construction), Brian Barden
The purpose of meeting with BOS is to review the Bridge Capital Improvement plan, prepared
by Quantum. Joe passed out a flow chart listing all 16 Town bridges, with both short- and longterm recommendations plus cost estimates. He reminded BOS that for bridges over 10 feet, the
Town must have its 20% cost share in hand before getting on the waiting list for State Bridge
Aid, currently a five-year wait. There is currently $43,000 in the Bridge Repair/Replacement
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Capital Reserve Funds, making the Town short $30,000 for the $73,000 Town share for the
Charcoal Road Bridge. Joe asked BOS to consider raising the amount put into the Bridge
Capital Reserve Fund each year (currently $10,000/year).
Joe pointed out that DOT’s recommended bridge replacements are box culverts not replacementin-kind, which would substantially increase the cost. Sterling noted that some of Lisa
recommendations call for enlarging the present culvert and creating a natural bottom. Lisa
responded that HDPE pipe cannot be used because if you put fill in the bottom, it won’t stay but
will blow through. She added that DOT’s threshold was a 3 foot pipe which then necessitates a
Dredge and Fill Application and “then they start looking at fish, too.” Also, legislation is
currently being rewritten mandating increased bridge size which would increase costs to the
towns. Joe suggested it would be worth approaching State politicians on this issue.
Sterling asked how Hancock was able to get their bridge done so quickly. Brian said that he had
talked with Kurt Grassett, Hancock’s Road Agent, who said he told the State the bridge was out
and it was an emergency; he received his approval in 10 days.
Joe asked if Warrant Article 21 for Culvert Repair was a lapsing or non-lapsing Article. Sterling
replied that it was a lapsing Warrant Article. Brian commented that he thought Bill Raymond
was going to see if the funds could be encumbered. BOS stated that they are not interested in
encumbering the funds.
Priorities: Lisa recommends the following bridges be considered highest priority and be 2009
projects:
Cobb Meadow Road over Brush Brook
Short-Term Recommendations: Lower load limit. Replace bridge ASAP.
Cost: $275,000 (installation of box culvert)
$69,000 approved for pipe insert at 2008 Town Meeting
Old Troy Road over Charcoal Brook
Short-Term Recom: Install several HDPE culverts with Town personnel
(most economical)
Cost: $50,000
Install concrete box culvert with opening not greater than
103.5 square feet
Cost: $400,000
Charcoal Road over Charcoal Brook (Red listed + qualifies for State Aid)
Short-Term Recom: Town should appropriate $73,000 Town share to get into Municipal
Bridge Aid program ASAP
Cost: $30,000 (approximately)
Long-Term Recom: Replace bridge ASAP Cost: $600,000
Appropriate approximately $47,000 (included in $600,000)
over next few years for anticipated increase in 20% Town share
Joe commented that there are a lot of bridge maintenance projects that Brian and the Highway
crew could take care of for the next few years plus they could do the annual inspections.
Discussion followed concerning the culvert near the Charcoal Road Bridge. Lisa pointed out
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that the advantage of doing DOT-eligible projects over local ones is that DOT will pay for
looking at all the options plus upgrading the road on either side of a bridge. Unfortunately, the
Town has a number of structures built around the same time and with the same type of
construction. Sterling brought up the issue of guardrails and the Town philosophy of not
wanting to see a lot of guardrails.
In reference to the Highway Department taking on some of these projects, Charlie asked if Brian
would have to hire temporary help. Brian replied the additional work would require renting an
excavator plus the cost of the concrete. Lisa said that the town of Northfield works this way:
They do not go out to bid but do the work with Town employees, local contractors, etc. Joe
suggested adopting a “cookie-cutter” design that the Highway Department could do repeatedly,
thereby saving time and money. Lisa said that DES will not disapprove something like this, with
an open-bottom. The downside is the longevity factor because you are getting a 30-year product
rather than 75. She said that the first question DOT will ask is “Has the road ever overtopped?”
If the answer is yes, then the bridge qualifies for the Municipal Bridge Program. Lisa suggested
trying alternate designs to see how much money it would save and try it with the Cobb Meadow
Bridge first. Lisa said the concept could be done first and submitted as a permit. Her firm could
performance spec it, which would save on engineering costs as well. Charlie asked Lisa if she
was suggesting the Town go forward with the Cobb Meadow Bridge in 2009, doing the work
ourselves, and see how it goes. Lisa agreed.
Sterling asked what we could do as a temporary measure if the Town could not fund the Cobb
Meadow Bridge repair. Could a Bailey bridge be done? Lisa replied that she thought that would
be a waste of money because water would take the fill out and then you would have no
foundation. Charlie asked if deterioration would be visible before the bridge started to fail. Lisa
replied that sometimes a bridge will fail with no warning, and sometimes you’ll have a cavity
and not know it. The cavity could open three or four feet before the bridge breaks.
Brian said that he agreed with Lisa’s list of priorities for bridge repair/replacement. Lisa
suggested appropriating the 20% needed for the DOT bridge projects because otherwise they
won’t get on the waiting list. Charlie asked if you could show that the necessary amount needed
was held in the Undesignated Fund Balance. Lisa replied that you could do that but that the
money must be dedicated to bridge repair. Sterling told Lisa and Joe that BOS would review the
Bridge CIP further. He asked Lisa what would be the monetary difference between a steel or
concrete span on the Cobb Meadow Bridge. Lisa said $130,000 versus $275,000 because the
materiel cost of concrete would be three times the cost of the steel span. She believes that a
concrete box is the ideal structure for that location based on all factors, including longevity. Lisa
will work up comparative cost figures for steel vs. concrete with the Town acting as General
Contractor and subcontracting out pieces of the work.
Paul Waterman (2009 Budget)
Paul handed out his Activity Reports for the periods 9/9/08 – 9/22/08 and 9/23/098 – 10/27/08.
Sterling asked about his Activity Report for 8/25/08 – 9/9/08 which BOS has not received. Paul
reported that year-to-date, he has issued 31 residential Building Permits and 9 Use and
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Occupancy Permits. Sterling asked Paul to explain how much of his time a Demolition Permit
takes. Paul said the time varies: Beech Hill took 20 hours, the Elder barn took 4 hours, but
another barn took only 1½ hours. Paul stated that complaints take a minimum of one hour but
could take up to three hours. He figures that he averages two complaints per month, at three
hours each. Sterling asked him how the level of complaints compares to when he first started in
this position. Discussion ensued about possible ways to maintain office hours, appointments,
and work on an as-needed basis. Charlie suggested having office hours only by appointment.
Sterling said that BOS would further review the position/2009 budget and make
recommendations to BudCom.
BOS discussed the advantages and disadvantages of separating the positions of Code
Enforcement Officer and Health Officer. Paul suggested that, should the positions be separated,
taking three hours/week out of his budget to go to the Health Officer and he would keep one
hour/week to cover the septic issues. Upon questioning by Sterling, Paul replied that he was
keeping track of his hours on the Saturley case.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:58 p.m.
Minutes taken by Kathy Merrick.
Sterling Abram, Chairman
Edward B. Germain
Charles F. Champagne
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