VILLAGE DISTRICT OF EIDELWEISS
Commissioners Meeting
March 12, 2019
The Board of Commissioners met at 9:00 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. In attendance were Commissioners Adam Leiser and Kathy Koziell. Also present were Kelly Robitaille (hwy), Conway Police Chief Ed Wagner (10 am), Conway Police Lt Chris Mattei and Sheriff Domenic Richardi (11 am). The meeting was filmed for Madison TV by Tim Hughes.
At 9:00 am Commissioner Adam Leiser calls the meeting to order.
1. Agenda
Adam Leiser makes a motion to approve the agenda. Kathy Koziell seconds. Motion passed 2-0.
The action list is reviewed and discussed.
2. Highway Department Report
Kelly Robitaille reports on Sunday’s storm. Without the proper vehicles, road clearing was difficult. Asphalt could not be treated effectively. Madison allowed use of a truck at 7 pm Sunday. The 7400 was stuck on Saint Moritz. A tow truck was needed to get the truck back on the road. Kelly reports that the truck was on the flat section but could not make the turn. Adam Leiser asks if cost is known for the tow truck; approximately $500. Use of the road grader to pull out a truck is discussed. Adam outlines that at Saturday’s meeting, this was discussed extensively. Adam questions if the truck was someplace that it should not have been, Kelly states this was within the normal route. Kelly reports that some persons were stuck with this storm. Some vacationers were unable to make Oak Ridge Road to get to Presidential View. Adam discusses mailing information regarding signing up for the news alerts to all homeowners so that official correspondence gets to as many people as possible and situations such as this could be avoided. Kathy Koziell highlights including a handout with the water bills. Kelly outlines that he was not pleased with the inability to not keep the roads clear.
Kelly reports that salt is needed. Discussion on ordering salt is held. This is done by the truckload. Salt shed can hold two truckloads. State pricing is received. Discussion on how long salt lasts; this is dependent on the temperature and storm. Adam Leiser questions using products that are more environmentally friendly than salt. Kelly outlines that these products are much more expensive than salt. Adam discusses using an alternative around the pond; Kelly responds that reducing salt near Boulder Beach would not alter the amount of salt entering the ponds. Discussion on using sand instead of salt close to the pond, Kelly outlines that this would not be beneficial for public safety. $2,000 per load for salt is outlined. Adam Leiser makes a motion to approve two truckloads of salt. Kathy Koziell seconds. Motion passed 2-0.
Kelly reports that the District received an email with pictures of the snow push back down by the State on Rte 113. Kelly outlines that the State responded within two hours of the VDOE request to push back the intersections. Kelly outlines that the crew is not allowed to push back intersections from Rte 113 as this is a State road. The email was received by the area supervisor, who thought it was from a Commissioner. The supervisor was not pleased. A thank you letter from the Commissioners to the State DOT supervisor for their recent response will be drafted. Adam outlines that the crew has done a very good job and should be commended for that. Allow the Commissioners to fight the fight for them. Adam outlines to allow the Commissioners to support and protect the District.
Kelly Robitaille outlines that the truck should have been approved at District meeting and the crew should not have been put in a position to allow this to happen. Kelly outlines that if the truck had been approved, it would have been in service for this storm. Adam reiterates to allow the Board to address the issues. Adam highlights that the truck delay of two weeks saved the District $8,000 in bond interest. Kelly outlines that the new truck is the replacement of the Terra Star which is not in service. This is not the needed replacement for the F-550; the F-550 is still unreliable and should not be used. Two trucks are needed to properly take care of the roads. Discussion on plow routes is held. Kelly request that he be allowed to handle the issue at this time as this is what he does.
3. Water
Intent for Ian Hayes is to meet with him during Water Committee meetings, not Board of Commissioners meetings.
Discussion is held on the warrant article wording for the Reinach tank. Adam Leiser states that Attorney Buckley of NHMA has stated that a different size can be built regardless of the article stating 90,000-gallon tank provided funding would be available for any costs over what was
An email to Paul Fluet is discussed to alter specifications to 120,000-gallon tank and to give insight on why the design is rectangular. Adam outlines prior attempt last year to get some answers from Paul Fluet. The prior email will be sent for review.
Kathy questions if there would be a charge for responding to this email from Fluet, this is not known.
4. Administration
Action list will be updated to show the water committee for water projects.
Kathy Koziell will review the information for scheduling the safety meeting
Adam Leiser states the next meeting will be scheduled for Thursday at 8 pm at Town Hall.
Payroll is discussed. Report and time cards are reviewed and discussed. Nancy Cole clarifies that the work done for the annual meeting was admin work, including setting up of the voting booths and creating the handouts for the meeting. Payroll report is outlined. Adam Leiser makes a motion to approve payroll in the amount of $7,955.05. Kathy Koziell seconds. Motion passed 2-0.
5. Accounts Payable
6. Minutes
Adam Leiser makes a motion to approve the minutes of Feb 28. Kathy Koziell seconds. Motion passed 2-0
The minutes of March 09 will be reviewed Thursday.
7. Commissioners Reports
Kathy Koziell outlines the first meeting of the Communication meeting. Paula Doyle will be Chair, Andrew Harteveldt will be recording secretary. Kathy outlines three persons accessing the website is recommended. Adam outlines one person would be better. Nancy agrees that one person should be assigned a user name. Adam makes a motion to grant Paula Doyle access. Kathy Koziell seconds. Motion passed 2-0.
Adding committees to the website will be done.
Communication to all residents to sign up for the VDOE website. Persons should be directed to the website for registration for these notices. Accepting credit cards is discussed.
Placing of cards for registration of canoe rack spaces on the racks will be done. Updates to the Beach Ordinance and the Highway Ordinance will be proposed. Kathy will work on getting the updates to the office for review by the Board on Thursday night.
A Communications committee meeting is scheduled for Monday March 25th at 5 pm.
Adam Leiser discusses the action list. Altering the spacing will be done.
Plumber is discussed, Federal Piping is used at this time. Keith Ferry will be asked to look at the DPW bathroom work needed; he is a licensed plumber and resident.
Discussion on locating valves that are most likely to be hit is held. Information collected during the data gathering will be made available to the water committee.
Discussion on Little Loop project is held. Adam Leiser recuses himself from any decision made on this project. Kathy Koziell will work on obtaining the price to complete this project that the prior Board had approved. Discussion on having the contractor mark the trees to be removed as discussed by the prior Board is held. The final updated plans will be given to Kathy to proceed with this. Having the estimate is needed to proceed with construction. Adam Leiser adds that he will be having private work done at this property by RWN and Bob Wirling this year. The VDOE could save all mobilization costs if the road drainage work was scheduled while the crews were already present at the property.
Discussion on other projects is held. Action list will be updated to reflect ownership of projects with the new Board.
Adam Leiser discusses he spoke with Rick Skarinka yesterday regarding the tank replacement project.
The loader will not be rented for this year.
Adam Leiser makes a motion to have all email forwarded to the commissioners. Kathy Koziell seconds. Nancy Cole outlines that forwarding all emails could result in an unintentional breach of RSA 91-A as the Board could sequentially respond to emails during off hours. Adam Leiser rescinds the motion.
Discussion on appearance of accountant Rhonda with the Board. Will be scheduled Monday the 25th at 10 am. A commissioners meeting will be set for 9 am on that day.
Adam Leiser and Kathy Koziell will attend the 4-10 seminar in Rochester. This will be posted as a meeting.
8. Signature Items
Adam Leiser makes a motion to sign the letter to Tara Brown. Kathy Koziell seconds. Letter is read aloud. Motion passed 2-0.
Adam Leiser makes a motion to sign the MS232. Kathy Koziell seconds. Document is reviewed and discussed. Motion passed 2-0.
9. Correspondence
Two persons have stated interest in a new finance committee. Nancy Cole states that she would also be interested in being on this committee. Additional members will be sought. The Committee will include Nancy on all information.
Adam will draft a thank you to the DOT for responding to the request to open intersections from the District onto Route 113. Contact information will be sent.
10. Scheduled Appearances
Treasurer Dinah Reiss gives the Commissioners identification information that needs to be brought to the Bank of NH to have the new Commissioners added as signers on the account. Signature cards will be handled with each Commissioner at the bank. Each Commissioner will go to the bank to bring their forms.
Ed Wagner, Chief of the Conway Police discusses the proposed updates to the Sheriff’s tower. Updates to the tower will include height adjustment. Ability to use the tower by the Conway PD will be looked at in case the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for use of VDOE property needs to be updated. Adam Leiser recommends one document to reflect the entire project.
Sending the MOU to Chris Boldt to determine if the document needs to be updated to include Conway PD will be done.
Sheriff Richardi outlines that the proposed tower updates have been approved and financed. Sheriff Richardi is informed that an update to the MOU may be needed to include Conway. Sheriff Richardi states that the footprint will be expanded to a 12 x 12 x 8 footprint, new tower will be 120 feet. Current tower is 60 feet in height. All work will be done by the Sheriff’s Department through grants. Sheriff will be adding a bridge for the wires that will extend to the cabana.
11. Public Comment
Dinah Reiss outlines that she wishes that Kelly Robitaille did not feel that he carries the burden and could consider the financial needs of the District.
Dinah outlines the recent email blast regarding the possible water outage. A follow up could have been sent. Adam Leiser states that this was his error, he should have followed up with this.
12. Other Business
At 11:30 am Kathy Koziell makes a motion to adjourn the meeting. Adam Leiser seconds. Motion passed 2-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy E. Cole
Administrator