VILLAGE DISTRICT OF EIDELWEISS
Commissioners Meeting
November 7th, 2019
The Board of Commissioners met at 9:00 am on Saturday November 7th,2019. In attendance were Commissioners Adam Leiser, Jay Buckley, Kathy Koziell and Kelly Robttialle. The meeting was filmed for Madison TV by Tim Hughes. Residents in attendance are Dinah Reiss, Mark Graffam, and Larry Leonard. Ian Hayes arrived at 9:30. Kristen Johnson arrived at 10:30 for non-public.
At 9:05am Commissioner Adam Leiser calls the meeting to order.
1. Agenda – No agenda
2. Highway Department Report - The gravel warrants are 95% done. Gravel is entirely done except for Aspen which has been ditched. International is in for inspection which is reason for delay. Hoping to finish tomorrow on Aspen.
Asphalt warrants are all done. The roads that have been done are in good shape. Kelly reports that an additional $3,000 would have been helpful.
Kelly would like an overlay on Geneva Hill, Aspen and others that have been shimmed.
Thusis culvert is next year.
Little Loop quote for trees is $15,000 for full road but only $4,000 on 4/6 Little Loop. Kelly may not be able to do the project this late in the year. Total material cost was $2,600.
5500 is outfitted for snow
550 will be ready by next Tuesday
Kelly is requesting of M-W of Thanksgiving week and the following full week. He would be available for snow plowing during that time.
Adam motion: To approve the 8 days off Kelly is requesting. Kathy second. 3-0 yes
Jay motion: Spend up to $4,000 for tree work on 4/6 Little Loop. Kathy second. 2-0-1 yes with Adam abstaining.
Adam motion: To approve the expenditure of $6600 for the removal of the remaining marked trees on Little Loop. Jay second. 2-0 yes
Discussion ensues about communicating with all property owners on Little Loop regarding tree removal.
Adam to write a letter to all property owners on Little Loop regarding tree removal on that street.
Adam motion: Send the letter to all Little Loop property owners. Kathy second Vote 3-0 yes.
Adam motion: Approve $2100 for studded snow tires on the 550. Jay second. 3-0 yes
Adam outlines that we shouldn’t be tying the hands of the DPW in regards to expenditure.
Adam motion: Allow Kelly to spend up to $1500 per week without authority in non-emergency situations and $5,000 per week in emergency situations. This would be done after communicating with a commissioner if possible. Kathy second. 3-0 yes
Pothole on the corner near Appenvel and Eidelweiss Drive has been fixed.
Bristenstock got a shim coat from the operating fund.
Adam asks what the best way to find out what the DPW is doing, suggest using white board in office for outline of weekly work.
Adam motion: Take up to $500 office equipment CRF to purchase a computer for the DPW. Kathy second. 3-0 yes.
Adam recommends going through Andrew for guidance.
Adam motion: Create an email account for the DPW that would be DPW@vdoe-nh.org. Kathy second. 3-0 yes.
Adam wants to go with Kelly to clean a culvert. Kelly to email me directly. This will hopefully happen on Monday of next week.
Culvert cleaning to be done next week. Larry Leonard says the culvert by his house is completely clogged.
Kelly has no recommendation for fixing the area in front of the playground so the fence doesn’t get damaged again after the EPOA fixes. This will be discussed next year because the fence is still in need of repair.
Adam reminds the board that we still owe money to Kelly for on-call time. The on-call situation is still being considered.
Discussion ensues about the long-term finances of 2020-2039.
Adam motion: Sign the Eversource request for access to change poles near DPW. Kathy second. 3-0 yes
Inspection of DPW is happening at 1:30 next Wednesday. Inspector will bring findings to the BOC.
Adam motion: Kathy attends that 1:30 meeting next Wednesday. Jay second. 3-0 yes
Job posting has been made for the part-time DPW person with pay increase compared to last year when the District received no inquiries. Discussion on trash at DPWII that was removed from Eversource property.
20 yard dumpster can be had from North Conway Incinerator.
Adam motion: Spend up to $1,200 for a dumpster. Kathy second. 3-0 yes
Kathy will coordinate with Kelly.
Dumpster to be placed at DPWII.
Kelly’s injury is a worker comp claim.
Kelly requests to be present during public comment if it relates to him or the DPW. Kelly doesn’t want the BOC to comment for the DPW without him present.
Conversation ensues about employee buy back for retirement.
Total $12,220 is buy-back for the two employees.
Adam motion: Approve and send the letters to 47 and 49 Eidelweiss Drive property owners. Kathy second. Vote 3-0 yes.
3. Water –
Reinach discussion – Ian has been speaking with the water engineer. Larry reports that DES has delayed approval. Jay contacted Rick Skarinka. Larry reports that the pumps will work with the new design.
Ian is concerned about poor communication. Ian outlines multiple problems in the district. He wants decisions to come from the BOC. He also outlines appearance of self sabotage.
Ian wants things to go through the BOC. Larry wants the water committee to be the point contact.
Ian recommends that the BOC decide how they want to move forward.
The Reinach Tank is being jeopardized.
Discussion ensues.
Bids to go out on 11/12.
Ian is concerned about second guessing of the water system. Issues are significant.
Challenges associated with running a water system. Sometimes doing nothing is the best option.
Ian outlines that his contract will increase to $65 per hour and the monthly stipend will likely change as well. He does want to remain with the VDOE.
Overflows are possible at all VDOE tanks. A tree hit Jungfrau causing the SCADA communications problems of the last few weeks. New antenna has been ordered. This “fix” isn’t complete but it’s being addressed.
The culvert at the top of Reinach was installed incorrectly which is why we have flooding issues. Ian recommends ignoring drainage issue until the new tank is put in.
Only Reinach is uncovered. If possible, Kelly will be instructed by Ian to re-cover the tank once SCADA communication has been fixed to address tank overflow.
Jay asks about the new tank design and that it has overflow protection. Site design typically gets altered.
Adam reiterates that the water operator and engineer are being micromanaged and should be left alone to get the job done.
Ian comments that we probably have 40 leaks in our system as a result of 1500 connections underground.
Electrical project is reported on by Kathy.
EII for DPW $13,137
Just Electric for DPW $38,000 inside and $7800 outside
Adam motion: Allocate up to $65,000 for DPW upgrades. Jay second. 3-0 yes
Summit pumphouse
EII price is $5553
Just Electric $9440
Adam motion: Allocate up to $28,000 for Summit upgrades. Kathy second 3-0 yes
Kathy to work with Larry to write the work orders.
Mark wants to know if Ian saw the video from 11/2. The answer is yes. Mark begins to ask questions. Ian expresses frustration about Mark’s contribution to the district.
Dinah asks if work orders were done for Reinach. Jay says that they weren’t done.
Kathy reiterates Adam’s point about not second guessing and micromanaging.
Kathy outlines that Donna gave a two week notice for her other job to give the VDOE more time. The VDOE hopes that Donna will be giving the VDOE additional hours starting on Tuesday.
Kathy to meet with Dinah shortly to go through finances.
Kathy outlines the website issues and how to fix them.
Kathy to work on updating finances as well
Adam to send Brooks bid to Mark.
Mark outlines the email Adam forwarded to him regarding the replacement tank from January 2019.
Mark outlines that he’s concerned that employees and contractors don’t want to hear from the public.
Dinah believes it’s a problem that our employees and contractors have such resentment from the public.
Dinah also outlines that Jay hasn’t followed through on what he says he is going to do.
In the 11/14/2017 Meeting: Jay motion: To amend the 11/7 minutes that he asked Dinah for assistance and Dinah declined. Adam second. Yes 3-0. Yes 3-0
Adam motion: To send the letter crafted by Adam to Jim Lyons. Second Jay. Vote 3-0 yes
4. Administration –
Adam motion: to increase approved amount from $300-$1000 at DPW1 for power vent replacement on furnace. Jay second. Vote 3-0. yes
5. Accounts Payable –
6. Minutes –
Adam motion: Approve minutes of 11/2/19. Jay second. Vote 3-0 yes
7. Commissioners Reports
Jay reports a resident complained to him about parking at Hutwill because someone blocked their car.
Snow plow employee advertisement is in the paper.
Terri Cancelarich has not been contacted.
Adam motion: sign and send letter to Jim Lyons regarding his property. Kathy second. Vote 3-0 yes
Adam reports he sent the finances spreadsheet and presentation last night.
Adam continues working on the employee handbook.
8. Signature Items
9. Correspondence
10. Scheduled Appearances
11. Public Comment
None
12. Other Business
Motion to go into non-public RSA 91a:3,II (a) employment matters. At 11:39am
Adam motion: to enter non-public. Kathy seconds, Vote yes 3-0
Exited Non-Public at 12:45
Public session resumed:
Discussion on correspondence to J. Lyons, R. Taylor, Drew (49 Eidelweiss Dr) and, all Little Loop property owners.
Adam makes a motion to have correspondence printed on VDOE letterhead and signed out of session, Jay seconds, motion passed 3-0
Adam makes a motion to call Terri Cancelarich, Jay seconds motion passes 3-0
Terri was asked to investigate financing options for the Reinarch Tank. She will have a response early next week.
Discussion on having a better way to structure flow of responsibilities to not have action being taken outside of the BOC authority.
At 1:55 Adam leaves the meeting.
Kathy makes a motion to reinforce to all committee members that they are in an advisory role and that they are to send recommendations for action to the BOC. They are prohibited from taking action individually unless instructed by the BOC. Jay seconds. Motion passes 2-0
Jay makes a motion to have Adam Leiser be the contact person for the Reinarch Water Tanks project. Kathy seconds, Motion passes 2-0
Kathy Makes a Motion to adjourn at 2:10pm, Jay seconds, Motion passes 2-0
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Koziell
Commissioner