VILLAGE DISTRICT OF EIDELWEISS
Commissioners Meeting
Tuesday August 16, 2022
The Board of Commissioners met at 9:00am on Tuesday August 16, 2022.
In attendance for the public meeting are Commissioner Jay Buckley, Commissioner Mike Smith, Commissioner Ralph Lutjen, Donna MacKinnon-Administrator, Alexis Wagoner-Administrator, Kelly Robitaille-DPW Foreman & Doug Prescott.
Meeting videotaped by Carol of Madison TV
At 9:00am Commissioner Ralph Lutjen calls the meeting to order
Public Meeting
Jay Buckley makes a motion to approve the agenda, Mike Smith 2nds, passes 3-0.
Kelly Robitaille requests that Jeff’s review be postponed until jeff is back from vacation.
Mike Smith makes a motion to approve the Minutes of 8/9/22, Jay Buckley 2nds, passes 3-0.
Mike Smith makes a motion to approve the 8/9/22 Non-Public Minutes RSA 91-A:3 II (d), Jay Buckley 2nds, passes 3-0.
Mike Smith makes a motion to approve the Operating Account manifest for $22,848.25, Jay Buckley 2nds, passes 3-0
Mike Smith makes a motion to approve the Water Assessment Fund manifest for $59,666.04, Jay Buckley 2nds, passes 3-0
DPW
Kelly Robitaille requests the week of 8/22/22 off, Jeff DiMartino is off this week 8/15/22 and then Tony Eldridge will be off for two weeks starting 8/29/22.
Mike Smith makes a motion to approve Kelly’s vacation time off request, Ralph Lutjen 2nds, passes 3-0
Discussion on the rafts on the ponds. The DPW removed a raft on Geneva beach, someone had relocated the raft and the chains were all twisted. On Boulder beach Kelly Robitaille found 8-10 kids trying to flip the raft, he yelled at them to stop but none of the kids cared, and the parents did nothing either. Kelly Robitaille is concerned the raft is going to flip over onto someone and get seriously hurt. Alexis Wagoner spoke with Primex, and signs need to be posted on the rafts to reduce liability but even with the signs posted there is still liability.
Ralph Lutjen makes a motion to remove the rafts from the beaches, Mike Smith 2nds, passes 3-0
Kelly Robitaille states that the VDOE has tried other alternate options to the rafts in the past, but nothing has worked well. Jay Buckley adds that we can review next year and see if there is anything else out there. The DPW is going to pull them completely and store them away until next year. There is potential to sell them as well.
Discussion on signage at the beaches. Signs need to be there that state swim at your own risk, no lifeguard on duty, etc. Office is to put together verbiage for the next meeting. Kelly Robitaille also mentions to add no dog sins on the beach as people have been bringing their dogs to the beach and allowing them to go to the bathroom on the beach.
Discussion on beaver dam. It is dismantled and the water levels are the same on each side. There are no signs of beaver activity. There is a log placed up stream from the beaver dam that someone put there to try and stop water flow. There are rocks and sand on either side of the log to build it up. Kelly Robitaille will remove the log dam once Jeff is back from vacation. Jay Buckley mentions that a homeowner stated to him that the dam is being built up even more. He also contacted the Madison P.D and suggests contacting the dam bureau to get guidance. Ralph Lutjen will send an email to the dam bureau with a picture to get guidance.
Discussion on digging for water, doing well with the excavator it does a better job than the backhoe.
Discussion on the backhoe. It is breaking right now; Chadwick is coming to look at it again this week. The rental from John Deere is coming this week as well. Discussion on purchasing the backhoe from John Deere. 80% of the rental cost would go to the purchase. It is available for purchase, last week a quote came in for $155,000 but since the machine that is coming had been ordered before the mark up the price would be $132,400 before trade. The trade in would be $28,000, giving a net price of $108,400. Ralph Lutjen states that with a lease purchase the interest rate would be 6.5% and then we could take $50,000 out of the $75,000 Highway CRF to help off set the amount and lower the loan amount to $58,4000. For a 7-year loan the yearly payment would be $9,820 and for a 5-year loan the yearly payment would be $13,210. We are going to need to set up a public hearing to bring the matter to the voters. Ralph Lutjen adds that it comes with a 5-year warranty bumper to bumper only have to pay for the cost of milage. Kelly Robitaille is going to try to get 2 other bids. Caterpillar has not responded, and Case is coming in tomorrow. Ralph Lutjen mentions that this is an opportunity to resolve the backhoe issue. John Deere is the choice for the State of NH, and this will also prevent issues from arising in the winter. Kelly Robitaille adds that we are also getting a cost reduction by the machine being a demo which was only used for 2 days. The office is going to contact the DRA to see how we would proceed in setting up a meeting. Jay Buckley discusses fixing the Volvo and continuing to use that. Kelly Robitaille states it is going to get fixed but what is going to break next and how long will it take to be repaired. The Volvo was originally built in Poland and the parts are sourced from overseas. There are currently no harnesses available, and one is going to have to be constructed. Chadwick is going to take the entire harness apart to see if they can rewire and fix the current harness before getting a new one assembled.
Discussion on needing a new dump truck. Kelly Robitaille mentions that during the Highway Committee meeting it was discussed that we hold onto the dump truck for at least another 4 years. A lot of the work can be done in house. The backhoe is the most important machine and the District cannot go a day without it.
Ralph Lutjen makes a motion to conduct a special meeting to discuss the purchase of the backhoe, Mike Smith 2nds for discussion. Passes 3-0
Ralph Lutjen makes a motion to contact the DRA with the information about the backhoe, circumstances, and a recommended solution of going through the Bank of NH with a bank loan of $9,820.04 a year. This will also not over run the budget. Mike Smith 2nds, passes 3-0
Going to wait to discuss a date for the meeting until the DRA gets back to the office.
Discussion on Jim Lyons email. Water comes down the road and down the asphalt driveway. Kelly Robitaille mentions that engineers have looked at the issue in the past. A drainage culvert was installed at the other side of the road, but that homeowner is not allowing drainage onto their property. The water goes down hill and there is no sand/silt that is going down the driveway. Ralph Lutjen suggests taking pictures of the damage. Mike Smith states that in the past Primex had stated that is it not the VDOE’s property and not our issue. Ralph Lutjen then suggests that the only solution is to create a ditch line on his driveway. Jay Buckley adds that a catch basin was located at the intersection and would have diverted water, but it has since been closed off. In the spring the DPW hand shoveled the side of the road, but it was only a temporary fix. The only way to permanently fix the issue is to pave the intersection but that was voted down at a past annual meeting. Ralph Lutjen states to respond to the homeowner that the DPW will continue to do maintenance on the road.
Jay Buckley brings up Beth Gannon’s email from the spring regarding water going down the Porridge Shore beach and eroding the sand. Kelly Robitaille responds that he looked at it the other day and they are going to install drainage.
Administration
Discussion on the POW flag.
Jay Buckley makes a motion to request a POW flag from the VFW and if they do not provide one to spend up to $30 to get a new one, Mike Smith 2nds, passes 3-0
Discussion on Granite State Analytical invoice for leak detection in 2020. Bill received on 8/2/2022 from 7/15/2020 for $25.00.
Ralph Lutjen makes a motion to pay the $25 to Granite State Analytical, Jay Buckley 2nds, passes 3-0
July Budget overview: Ralph Lutjen comments that everything looks consistent. Comments on the Asset Management line going to continue to investigate it. Jay Buckley states that the budget is usually spent a bit more towards the end of the year and that the numbers should be a little bit less. In past years there has been a lower draw down at this point. Ralph Lutjen responds that this is the risk we live with each year.
Jay Buckley makes a motion to transfer $10,000 from the Water Assessment Fund to the Water Extension Fund CRF for a new water hook-up, Ralph Lutjen 2nds, passes 3-0
Jay Buckley makes a motion to transfer $4,545.91 from the Water assessment Fund to the Operating Fund for the July expenses, Ralph Lutjen 2nds, passes 3-0
Commissioner’s Concerns/Reports
Jay Buckley brings up sending a letter to the people with campers on their properties. Kelly Robitaille is going to get the address; he spoke with Bob Boyd about the campers on Jungfrau. Bob Boyd suggested updating the ordinance to make the camper issue clearer. He stated Kathy Koziell is working on the matter already, Ralph Lutjen is going to see what she has found.
Discussion on rate setting seminar Loui Adorno suggested Jay Buckley attend on 9/27 from 8-3.
Discussion on Upper Lake View PRV. Jay Buckley contacted some other contractors that seem interested he also reached out to a couple other concrete companies for the vault. Jay Buckley is going to reach out to Dawson for the job as well. Jay Buckley spoke with Ian Hayes and Ian mentioned how he would like to know the contractor for the safety of his men.
Mike Smith discusses his disappointment from the Water Committee on their presentation last week. He expected there to more of a list for future planning.
Mike Smith makes a motion that by 8/26 the Water Committee is to come up with a to do list for the annual meeting, Ralph Lutjen 2nds for discussion. Ralph Lutjen states that the engineers should review the AMP plan and meet with the Water Committee to discuss projects. He also adds that the priority list should be based on which projects would be catastrophic if not done. Ralph Lutjen mentions an idea of going to the bond bank to get a large loan to tackle a bunch of the projects on the list. A $50 water bill increase is not going to cover the millions of dollars needed for these projects. Projects need to be lined up to avoid outages in the future. Jay Buckley adds that we could go to the bod bank for items that are on the list of high failure consequences. Ralph Lutjen adds that we need to pick projects that are at the highest risk to the system, He is impressed with the work done by the Water committee but there needs to be a list. Mike Smith comments that the Water Committee has not provided anything for next year’s budget, and that they are relying too much on getting grant money and not focusing on reasonable projects. Doug Prescott comments that they wanted to do the Muddy Beach floor with the money remaining in the Asset Management budget line and that the list of projects with the highest priority are highlighted in red in the AMP.
Ralph Lutjen makes an amendment to the original motion to ask for the priority list and figures and to extend the deadline to 9/6, Mike Smith 2nds the amendment, Passes with amendment 3-0
Mike Smith makes a motion to have Kelly Robitaille get his water operator license, Ralph Lutjen 2nds for discussion. Mike comments that it is not a bad idea to have a back up if for some reason Ian cannot get to the District. Having another person know the water system. Kelly Robitaille mentions that if the DPW is going to continue getting more involved in the water system in the future then it is not a bad idea for him to have a license and know where the shut off valves are incase of an emergency. Jay Buckley states that he would like more information. Motion Passes 2-1
Discussion on doing water work in house and purchasing an excavator in the future. Mike Smith states that it could save a ton of money since a lot of piping needs to be replaced. Also, the Water committee should do a cost analysis for doing the work in house.
Discussion on Hydro Model Calibration.
Jay Buckley makes a motion to respond to Cathy and OK moving forward with Ian, Ralph Lutjen 2nds, passes 3-0
Correspondence
Review of Eversource July Report
Review of Granite State Results
Discussion on 65 Huttwil Drive email regarding treehouse. The Commissioners agreed that if it falls within zoning there was no issue.
Discussion on EPOA email regarding upcoming events: an ice cream social on 8/27, yard sale on 9/4 and fall walk on 10/8.
Mike Smith makes a motion to approve the ice cream social and the fall walk but not the yard sale, No 2nd.
Doug Prescott comments that the Madison PD have been contacted and that if they cannot do it in the parking lot then each individual will do it at their home and people will have to drive around the District. Mike Smith feels that since the other request for a yard sale at the Huttwil lot was denied it is only fair to deny this one as well.
Ralph Lutjen makes a motion to approve all EPOA events on the list, Jay Buckley 2nds, passes 2-1
Public Comment
Doug Prescott discusses the engineer on file for the VDOE. Comparing CMA Engineers with Horizons Engineering. Outlining roads and water needs verse each company.
NON-PUBLIC MEETING
Ralph Lutjen makes a motion at 10:52am to go into Non-Public for RSA 91-A:3, II (b). Mike Smith seconded. Motion Passed 3-0.
Mike Smith makes a motion to come out of Non-Public meeting under RSA 91-A:3, II (b) and return to public meeting at 11:05am. Jay Buckley seconded. Motion Passed 3-0.
Mike Smith makes a motion at 11:05am to go into Non-Public for RSA 91-A:3, II (c). Ralph Lutjen seconded. Motion Passed 3-0.
Ralph Lutjen makes a motion to come out of Non-Public meeting under RSA 91-A:3, II (c) and return to public meeting at 11:16am. Jay Buckley seconded. Motion Passed 3-0.
Mike Smith makes a motion to adjourn at 11:18am, Jay Buckley 2nds, passes 3-0
Respectfully submitted,
Alexis Wagoner, Administrator.