BRISTOL — School Board Chair Jeff Levesque of Groton has decided to let the clock run out on opportunities to correct the Newfound Area School District’s default budget, waiting until the day before residents cast their votes to discuss an apparent error that added $712,300 in new spending into the backup budget.
Bristol resident Archie Auger discovered that the default budget, which takes effect if voters turn down the proposed spending figure on the March 13 ballot, includes items in the school district’s capital improvement plan, which voters have never funded.
A default budget is supposed to keep a town or school district operating at its current level, with adjustments for one-time expenditures and contractual obligations. A Weare resident recently prevailed in a challenge to that town’s default budget, which included $60,000 that voters had never agreed to spend.
Business Administrator Michael Limanni had mentioned that Newfound’s default budget included funding for capital improvement plan projects during the school district’s deliberative session, but the comment went past people who were focusing on last year’s vote to add $800,000 to the operating budget to replace the high school roof. Limanni’s comment came in response to a question about whether that $800,000 was part of the default budget.
There was further discussion about the capital improvement plan in the context of the proposed budget, but it was not until after the meeting that Auger realized that the money also was in the default budget.
A capital improvement plan is a long-term goal-setting device that seeks to even out spending over a 10-year period by prioritizing needs and putting spending on a timeline. Adoption of the plan does not fund the items, but indicates when they should be undertaken. Each year, spending items identified in the plan typically end up as special warrant articles.
Capital improvement plans generally are developed by an outside group such as a planning board or budget committee which takes an impartial view of the needs. In Newfound’s case, the plan was developed by the facilities committee, a subcommittee of the school board, which welcomed several school district employees as voting members. The school board then approved the plan in May without putting it to a vote of the school district.
Auger maintains that, because voters never approved of the plan, the $712,300 that was placed in the default budget is illegal.
Levesque said the school district attorney advised that inclusion of capital improvement items in the default budget is proper.
He has placed the discussion on the agenda for the school board’s March 12 meeting at the high school library.

6 March 2018

BRISTOL — The arguments are the same each year during public hearings on the potential adoption of RSA 40:13, commonly known as SB2.
Supporters will argue that switching to the Official Ballot Act will give more people a chance to vote because they will not be required to sit through a long business meeting, but can stop by the polling place at any point that is convenient on election day, and cast their votes by ballot. The period between the first and second session of town meeting will give people a chance to think about the discussion at the deliberative session before having to decide how to vote.
Those objecting will talk about the long tradition of town meeting, where people may arrive with their minds made up, but after learning the facts and hearing the debate, they may change their minds and make a better decision — something that will not happen if they simply show up to place an “x” on the ballot. Towns that have adopted the change find fewer people attending the deliberative session, so those casting their votes may have no idea why the article was offered, and vote it down.
So it went during the SB2 hearing before the Bristol Board of Selectmen on Feb. 22, with a divided audience and a divided board.
Young people and old people are no longer attending the long town meeting, residents said, and voting by ballot will open the process up to such people. Or will people vote only by their pocketbooks, having no idea of the importance of saying “yes” to some of the articles proposed?
Chairman Rick Alpers offered a third option — one he also noted last year — but he said he did not think the town was ready to adopt a town charter at this time.
A town charter, Alpers said, allows a town to craft its own town meeting process in a manner that fits that town. He said he believes that both the traditional town meeting and the Official Ballot Act are antiquated today, when people are so busy they no longer have the time to attend a long town meeting or to get familiar with what’s on the ballot.
Several New Hampshire towns have adopted charters to govern how their municipality works, including Derry, Merrimack, and Peterborough. While the first two have completely altered the way the town works by creating a town council to make all the decisions traditionally left to voters during town meeting, Peterborough preserved its board of selectmen and town meeting, but it holds not just a deliberative and a voting session, but also a “final open session” that allows voters who have turned down the proposed budget in ballot voting to come together again to adopt a final budget.
One of the issues people have with RSA 40:13 is the default budget — an operating budget that takes effect if voters reject the one proposed by the town. It is a simple formula, taking the prior-year budget and removing any one-time expenditures, then adding in contractual obligations (union contracts or bond payments, for example). However, people will sometimes disagree on what constitutes a one-time expenditure. The Newfound Area School District is embroiled in controversy over the administration’s decision to include capital improvement items that voters never weighed in on within the default budget because they had been identified on the district’s capital improvement plan.
The official ballot law does allow a special meeting to deal with the budget if the proposed one is defeated, but towns and school districts generally allow the default budget to take effect.
Peterborough’s solution was to schedule a final open session to deal with the budget, along with other articles that selectmen did not want to include in the first two meetings.
That example shows that there is a lot of latitude in what a town can decide with regard to exercising “the home rule power recognized under Part One, Article 39 of the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, consistent with the general laws of the State,” as Derry’s charter notes.
That is not to say that a town’s charter cannot be challenged. There have been court cases and even legislative action to deal with problems in some of those charters. And would the voters of Bristol be willing to forge a new approach, when, despite several attempts at adopting 40:13, they have not given that option a try yet?
There also is a question in some minds about the legality of the article if it should pass this year. The law requires a public hearing at least 15 days prior to the vote when someone petitions to adopt RSA 40:13. Selectmen had overlooked that requirement and hurriedly scheduled the public hearing for Feb. 22, but couldn’t get the notice in the newspaper until the 17th and didn’t post it on the town website until the 20th. They say they were legally covered by posting it at the Bristol Municipal Building and the Minot-Sleeper Library on Feb. 16, but the seven-day posting requirement generally does not count the day posted and the day of the hearing, so by that tally, they were two days short of the posting requirement.
When resident Paul Simard raised that point, asking whether someone could challenge the vote, Alpers said, “We were sharing the information in good faith. People can sue us at any time for any reason. I think we’re good.”
The selectmen later scheduled a second public hearing on SB2 for Thursday, March 1, at 6 p.m.
27 February 2018

BRISTOL — School Board Chair Jeff Levesque of Groton says there’s no problem with the Newfound Area School District’s default budget, and he won’t call a special meeting to address Archie Auger’s concerns.
Auger, a former school administrator who lives in Bristol, maintains it is illegal to place $712,300 in new spending for capital improvements in the default budget, which takes effect if voters turn down the budget article when they cast their ballots on March 13.
“The school board included those items in the proposed operating budget, which is no problem,” Auger said, “but to also include them in the default budget, when the capital improvement plan has never been brought before the voters, is a serious problem.”
The Newfound Area School Board adopted the capital improvement plan developed by its facilities committee last May, and Levesque said the school district attorney has said that inclusion of capital improvement items in the default budget is proper.
School board member Vincent Paul Migliore of Bridgewater, who is a former chair of that board, said he favors holding a special meeting to discuss Auger’s complaint.
“I’m not sure we did anything wrong,” Migliore said, “but we have a fiduciary responsibility to make as members of the School Board, and if we have new information that could alter the default budget, RSA 40:13-XI(b) provides a way to adjust it by completing an amended default budget form.”
He added, “When we learned of the problem, we had three weeks to deal with it before the [vote], but time is running out.”
Levesque said the subject is on the board’s March 12 meeting agenda, one day before the ballot vote.
“There absolutely will not be a special meeting during vacation week, as many of those with an interest are unavailable,” he said. “If any new information comes forward that indicates the public record on the subject is flawed, there could be a special meeting the following week, between vacation and the regular board meeting, if recommended by the attorney.”
Last week, Hillsborough County Superior Court ruled in a similar challenge that, because Weare voters had never agreed to spend the $60,000 that officials had placed in that town’s default budget, the money had to be removed.
Migliore, who as a state representative sits on the House Municipal and County Government Committee, said there are several bills this session dealing with default budgets because of complaints about the difficulty of interpreting the language in the statute.
The current definition of the default budget says it is the same amount as contained in the previous year’s operating budget, increased by debt service, contracts, and other obligations previously incurred or mandated by law, and reduced by one-time expenditures contained in the operating budget.
House Bill 1307, as proposed, would amend the definition to stipulate that it also would be reduced by any other reductions in the proposed operating budget.
HB 1396 would allow the governing body to increase the default budget by qualifying capital expenditures, providing it is certified by a third party as being “a non-deferrable issue of safety, code compliance, or protection against property loss.”
HB 1652 would require a town or school district to provide greater detail about how the default budget was calculated, including the amounts excluded as being one-time expenditures from the previous year. It would remove a provision of the current law that allows a community to hold one special meeting to revise a budget.
The state Senate also has a bill, SB 342, that would require written documentation of the specific cost items that constitute an increase or decrease in the default budget.
The bill that would allow limited capital expenditures would provide a way for towns or school districts to deal with pressing issues without opening up the default budget to other unapproved capital items.
Traditionally, capital improvement plans lay out a course of spending to address anticipated needs in a way that evens out the tax impact year to year, and the plan serves as guide for annual appropriations. Individual capital improvement projects typically go before the voters for approval as they come up in the plan, but are not automatically added to the budget.
Auger pointed out that the school board approved its capital improvement plan after last year’s District Meeting, so residents never had a chance to vote on the plan. Under the Municipal Budget Law, adoption of a capital improvement plan requires a ⅗ affirmative vote in an Official Ballot community.
If it had been approved, the School Board might have justification for putting the cost items in the default budget, he said.
As it stands, if school district residents vote down the proposed budget, they still would be facing that cost in the default budget, Auger said.
The Budget Committee is supporting a $23,813,595 operating budget which, if defeated, would result in a $23,535,833 default budget. Without the new capital items, the default budget would drop to $22,823,533, just slightly more than the current-year budget of $22,000,656.
27 February 2018

BRISTOL — The dozen residents who attended an informational presentation on plans to build a new town hall and renovate the Bristol Police Station heaped praise upon the space needs committee for its efforts in coming up with a solution for overcrowding at the Bristol Municipal Building, but some said they still felt uneasy about the cost and were unsure whether they would vote for the project.
Committee Chair Edward “Ned” Gordon said he understood the concerns and found himself apologizing once again for bringing in a $2.65 million project after having told voters at last year’s town meeting that the committee wanted to keep the price to $1.25 million.
“We said we wanted a $1.25 million project, and the architect said, ‘No way,’” Gordon said.
Speaking to the group at the Minot-Sleeper Library on Feb. 24, Gordon offered a tantalizing backup idea, noting that LRGHealthcare’s cost-cutting measures include shutting down Newfound Family Practice on School Street. He said that building might be suitable for use as a town hall, saving the expense of building one.
Residents already use the medical center’s parking lot during events at the nearby Old Town Hall on Summer Street, and the office building also has a meeting room. There would be acquisition and renovation costs, but it would likely be less expensive than building a new town hall, Gordon said.
He said he is waiting for an opportunity to speak to someone at LRGHealthcare about the medical center before the building project comes up at town meeting.
Current plans call for the construction of a new town hall on the “Smith lot” adjacent to the municipal building this summer, and moving the town offices early in 2019. The police department would be able to spread out into the municipal building, which would gain a new sallyport and a larger booking area, with space for juvenile detention.
Gordon noted that, in response to concerns about the location of the sallyport, the architect is moving it closer to the front of the building with an entrance that would be at the bottom-floor level to avoid the need for an elevator or lift. Booking would be right off the sallyport.
He reiterated the reasons for not building a new police station, mainly due to the higher cost for police facilities, and he said the police could function well in the old building, while operations by the town clerk-tax collector, assessing, and welfare department could not.
The weight of the town records is causing the newer part of the building to separate from the original brick portion, he noted, and a new facility could provide privacy for members of the public doing business with the town.
In making adjustments in the plans to lower the price, Samyn-D’Elia Architects had reduced the cost to $2.45 million, but the selectmen had added some things back in which brought the cost back up to $2.65 million, Gordon said.
The town hall is projected to cost $1,938,688 to build, with $328,266 for renovations to the police station, bringing total construction costs to $2,266,954. Architectural and engineering fees, furnishings, legal fees, and other “soft costs” account for the rest.
Selectmen plan to use $400,000 from the unexpended fund balance to offset the cost, with $250,000 coming from taxation and $2 million from a bond.
25 February 2018

Four major animal cruelty cases in New Hampshire over the past year have gotten the attention of legislators in Concord, and there are competing House and Senate bills to address the problem.
One of the cases cited involves Jennifer “Bobbi” Choate, who lost 36 dogs to fire and had another 29 dogs seized after they were found in unheated quarters in Bristol and Alexandria during sub-zero weather. Choate has pleaded not guilty to the animal cruelty charges filed by the two towns, and the cases are awaiting trial.
The seizure of 84 Great Danes owned by Christina Fay of Wolfeboro spurred Wolfeboro Republican Jeb Bradley, who serves as the Senate Majority Leader in Concord, to file Senate Bill 569, which updates existing animal cruelty laws by redefining what qualifies as a kennel and imposing bond requirements when animals are seized.
A competing measure, House Bill 1385, is being sponsored by Rep. Matthew Scruton of Rochester, who would establish a legislative study committee to review the effectiveness of current laws, including whether they are being enforced, look into whether additional laws or regulations are necessary, and assess whether New Hampshire laws are consistent with the federal Animal Welfare Act. The committee also would determine possible funding sources for the care of animals seized in cruelty cases.
Current law places the financial responsibility on the towns, which animal welfare people say serves as a disincentive to a town considering the prosecution of an abusive pet owner. Both supporters and opponents of Bradley’s bill have testified that authorities did not act quickly enough once they learned of problems with Fay’s Great Danes.
Last December, Circuit Judge Charles Greenhalgh found Fay guilty of animal cruelty and gave her a one-year suspended jail sentence, ordering her to pay restitution of $773,887.63 to the Humane Society of the United States which is caring for the seized dogs, $16,300 to the town of Wolfeboro, and $1,500 to Pope Memorial SPCA of Concord Merrimack County.
The sentence has been stayed because of Fay’s appeal to Carroll County Superior Court.
Bradley’s bill has gained traction and, on Feb. 20, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted to recommend an amended version of the bill to the full senate.
The amendment redefined the threshold set for the definition of a commercial kennel. The original bill defined a kennel as having five or more breeding females, 10 or more litters a year, or 50 puppies in a 12-month period. Dog owners complained that many pet owners prefer not to neuter their animals, but they would be forced to pay a kennel licensing fee and allow a pre-inspection and spot inspections at any time if they had five unspayed females.
The amendment reset that threshold to seven breeding females, which lawmakers felt should exempt the majority of those who simply keep dogs as pets.
During earlier testimony on Bradley’s bill, many farmers and dog owners objected to the requirement that owners of seized animals must post a bond of $2,000 per animal or forfeit the animal. The bond would renew every 30 days while the case remained in court, creating a significant financial burden, especially for those of modest means whose sole companionship might come from a pet.
Furthermore, current law imposes no penalty until someone is found guilty, but Bradley stripped that provision, making the bond a requirement at the time someone is charged. Opponents said that violates the guarantee of due process, and the bill contains no provision for returning the money if the person is found not guilty.
Supporters of Bradley’s bill point out that authorities must have probable cause to obtain the court warrant necessary to seize animals, and say the fear of false charges is unwarranted.
Scruton’s alternative bill would have the Speaker of the House appoint four members to the study committee, and the President of the Senate to appoint one. On the House side, there would be one member appointed from the Fish and Game and Marine Resources Committee, two members from the Environment and Agriculture Committee, and one member from the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.
They would be charged with reviewing the available information and filing a report with recommendations in November.
22 February 2018

BRISTOL — Voters will be facing petitioned warrant articles to allow businesses to offer keno gambling and to replace the traditional town meeting with official ballot voting during this year’s Town Meeting on Saturday, March 17.
Selectmen held the required public hearing on keno during their Feb. 15 meeting, but overlooked the requirement for a hearing on the adoption of RSA 40:13, commonly known as SB2, so were planning to hold that hearing at a special meeting on Feb. 22. To hold the hearing required a seven-day notice, and as of Tuesday morning, that hearing still had not been posted on the town website. Town officials, however, confirmed that the hearing will take place Thursday evening.
During the keno hearing, there were few questions from the public, but the selectmen discussed the pros and cons among themselves, with a representative of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission there to explain the intricacies of the game.
The New Hampshire Legislature voted to allow keno as a way to offer a financial incentive to public schools to provide full-day kindergarten. Whether or not a town votes to allow keno within its borders, each school district will be eligible to receive $1,100 per student from the state, beginning in 2019. The Newfound Area School District already offers full-day kindergarten, so the new form of gambling would provide an additional source of revenue.
There are questions whether proceeds of the game will fully cover the cost of the incentive, particularly in its first year when some communities have chosen to take a wait-and-see attitude toward keno. If it does not generate enough income, a portion of the kindergarten funding would come from the state’s general fund.
The Lottery Commission cites the amount of money Massachusetts receives from keno, where the game has been offered for many years, and claims there is no data to support the premise that it is more addictive that other forms of gambling because of the frequency of play.
Similar in appearance to bingo, keno allows people to bet on a series of numbers which are electronically drawn. The price of the ticket depends upon how many numbers one picks, and whether one chooses a “multiplier” to increase the prize.
Selectmen chose not to place the question on the town meeting warrant, but citizens petitioned to have a chance to vote on it. One local restaurant has submitted an application to the state to offer keno, should voters agree to allow it in Bristol.
Edward “Ned” Gordon commented that, although he is not an advocate of gambling, he believes keno is preferable to allowing casinos, considering that the proceeds benefit kindergarten and help local businesses.
Selectmen also held a public hearing on the proposed $2 million bond for the town hall-police station project, although there were no handouts to help the public understand the implications of the choices. Verbally, Town Administrator Nik Coates outlined the range of interest rates offered by the New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank and Northway Bank, noting that those figures could change by town meeting time. The remainder of the cost of the $2.65 million project would be covered by using $400,000 from the unreserved fund balance and $250,000 in taxation.
Another option, to keep the tax rate stable, would be reduce the budget and/or warrant article spending by $578,000, Coates said. That could be done on the floor of town meeting.
Selectmen noted that, even if there is no tax increase this year, the bond payments will increase the tax rate in future years. However, bonds for the fire department pumper will be paid off in 2021, and the library project will be paid off in 2022.
19 February 2018

BRISTOL — Robert “Rob” Glassett, the current chair of the Bristol Budget Committee, is vying with his vice-chair for a seat on the Bristol Board of Selectmen.
Selectman Paul Manganiello is not seeking another term, leaving the three-year seat up for grabs.
Glassett, who works in trade sales for Pella Windows and Doors and also serves as an on-call firefighter in Bristol, said he wants to see the town continue the progress it has made over the last two years.
“I want the town to keep moving forward,” Glassett said, “but there are some who want to handcuff that progress,” Glassett said.
His opponent, Wayne Anderson, has suggested that the Bristol Police Department has too many full-time officers, but, in Glassett’s view, the department is the right size for the town.
“With an incoming chief, we don’t want to limit what they can accomplish,” he said. “Let the chief come up with a plan so they can succeed.”
Glassett believes that comparisons with other towns do not take into account the transient population or the influx of people from surrounding towns who come to Bristol to shop or for services.
“Population alone doesn’t accurately reflect the need,” he said. “I don’t feel they’re looking at the right numbers. What counts is calls for service. You need to look at the in-custody arrests and felonies.”
He also argues that the safety of officers is important.
“To be out there at 1 a.m., and the nearest backup is at least 15 minutes away, is putting that officer in danger.”
He concedes that Anderson’s suggestion that the town use part-timers to fill the need is “a great idea, but recruiting part-timers is difficult. People are too busy, and you can’t get part-timers to get certified and work for a department. Typically, part-timers are working for other departments, or are close to retirement.”
As for the importance of building a new town hall and converting the existing municipal building into a police station, Glassett sees it as “an absolute need; otherwise, we’re kicking the can down the road.”
Bristol has attempted to address space needs for two decades, but voters have rejected previous building plans. The current plan has been scaled back from the original proposal in face of public resistance to the cost.
“We need to make sure it’s the right plan,” Glassett said. “I want voters to be able to decide, and if it passes, we need to see it’s done right. The biggest thing is that it have no further impact on the tax rate.”
Glassett said this is the time build, while interest rates are still low. Delaying the project will increase the cost of both building and bonding.
Yet Glassett does not support the selectmen’s decision to lower the amount of borrowing by applying money that normally would go into some capital reserve accounts toward the building project.
“I believe we should stay with capital reserve accounts. They’re there for a reason,” he said.
Capital reserve accounts allow the town to set aside money for future capital needs, as outlined on the Capital Improvement Plan that prioritizes spending to avoid spikes in the tax rate. If enough money is not set aside, taxpayers in future years will have to make up the difference in higher taxes.
Detractors say the money set aside gets eaten away by inflation, and it forces taxpayers to pay ahead for equipment or improvements they may not be around to see.
Glassett said that, by sticking to the capital improvement plan, the town saves for anticipated expenses, taking into account when current bonds will be paid off. “Then it looks like little or no impact on the tax rate,” he said.
“We have a reasonable tax rate,” he said, “and for what we pay, we get excellent services.” He cited the town departments, as well as the library and downtown improvements, as examples of what the town has accomplished.
“The little amount that could be saved has little impact on the tax rate,” Glassett said. “You don’t jeopardize public safety to save a few dollars.”
The biggest challenge, he said, is to accomplish all the town is trying to accomplish in a reasonable amount of time and within a reasonable budget.
“I have a decent amount of leadership ability,” Glassett said. “Every great leader needs great leaders below them, and to you need problem-solving ability and be able to look outside of the box.”
He said it’s good to have analytical ability, but one needs to put the human factor first.
“There are intangibles involved,” he said. “There are needs of the community and town employees that you don’t just cast aside and just look at the numbers.”
He concluded, “I want to see us maintain the course we’re on, but be prudent and reasonable when it comes to spending. I don’t want to arbitrarily cut spending.
“The biggest reason I’m running is for our community.”
15 February 2018

BRISTOL — Karyl Court, the former Beech Street Apartments, has a long history of complaints by the town, but at the end of 2014, with water and sewer bills remaining unpaid and the building’s electricity having been shut off, Bristol decided it was time to take action and stopped its water supply.
Water and Sewer Superintendent Jeff Chartier said the Karyl Court Condo Association had ceased paying its bills in July 2014, and his department sent a notice that water would be shut off after 30 days if the account was not paid. He delayed taking any action because there were children in the complex, but after they moved out, he shut off the water in December of that year.
Norm Hebert, who assumed leadership of the condominium association last year, admits that the association had “fallen apart” when some of the owner-investors found they were having a hard time renting the units and the renters they had were failing to pay. “So the owners stopped paying as well,” he said.
Hebert attempted to get things back on track by paying off the association’s $11,013 in water and sewer liens on March 2, 2017. He thought that would allow the town to turn the water back on, but Chartier told him that, because of its history, the association would have to install individual meters for each unit.
Chartier said Karyl Court is a unique situation, having a single master meter for the entire complex. Most condominium associations install individual meters so each owner is responsible for his own water usage. He noted that water rates are lower for individual meters, which are charged the residential rate, while a single master meter gets charged at the commercial rate.
The minimum unit charge for residential meters is $31.19 per quarter, with an “overage charge” of $5.03 per 100 cubic feet of water beyond the basic 500 cf. (3,740 gallons) allowed. The commercial rate is $33.76 per quarter, plus $5.60 per 100 cf. after the first 500.
The town’s minimum water and sewer charges continue to accrue, even when the water is turned off, Chartier said, because it is considered an availability charge for the distribution, collection and treatment systems that are in place.
“These charges support bond payments, staffing, a portion of system maintenance and repairs,” he explained.
“The overage charge is the portion of the rate that represents what it costs to keep the water flowing, and the treatment of the wastewater, such as pumping cost, chemicals, electricity, a portion of system maintenance and repairs, and any other cost that may factor into moving the water and wastewater throughout the distribution, collection, and treatment system and processes. Overage charges are not charged to customers when their water is off,” he said.
Two of the units already had installed separate meters by the time of the shut-off, and another put in a meter to restore its water supply after the complex was shut down. A fourth unit met its needs by carrying water and using a camp shower. All four were still liable for their portion of the common water supply, and they paid separately to remain up to date with their portion.
After Hebert purchased two units and took over as president of the condominium association, he reconnected the master meter and ran pipes through the hallway to his units, according to Chartier. When the town learned of it, they called in the police department to investigate what they considered theft of services.
No charges were filed, since the water was being metered, but the town demanded that the remaining 12 unit owners without meters agree to install individual meters.
Hebert said the list price for the meters was $800, which would make the total cost $18,000, which he found to be exorbitant.
Hebert complained about the situation to the Bristol Board of Selectmen in a Jan. 2 email, saying that to expect the 12 remaining unit owners to agree to install individual meters was overly optimistic.
“The overwhelming majority of these owners were behind in their condo fees by many thousands of dollars; …seven of these units were currently in litigation and the remainder would likely soon be, such that obtaining written consent from all 12 of them so as to effect this conversion would be ‘impossible,’” he wrote.
Hebert also asked that “all water and sewer fees billed from March 3, 2017, until whenever the existing common meter is ‘properly connected’ should be waived in full, and the re-connection of our water service should be undertaken immediately!”
The selectmen agreed to remove the requirement that all owners had to agree to individual meters before turning on the water, but individually, each owner would have to install a meter in order to have water service.
The selectmen also agreed to waive the portion of the water and sewer fees accruing between November 2017 and the end of March 2018, and waived the impact fees and labor costs associated with the installation of the meters, which lowered the per-meter charge from $600 to $485. They also agreed to hold the rates to the old level, rather than implementing the 5 percent increase that selectmen had approved at the end of 2017. The reduced rates will be offered through Jan. 1, 2019, after which regular rates would apply.
Hebert remained determined to fight the charges, claiming the town had inflicted the association with $97,000 in gross damages.
“They left us with no water for 10 months, until mandating the new meters. They just gave me an ultimatum, and won’t talk with me. They told me I was persona non grata and wouldn’t even let me come into the building.”
Town officials deny telling Hebert not to come into the Bristol Municipal Building.
Code Violations
Land Use Manager Christina Goodwin said that problems with Karyl Court predated her employment with the town. She first got involved with the complex in 2013, after learning of documented complaints about trash building up in the common areas and lack of hot water, and in one case, no working refrigerator. There also were complaints about broken steps, doors, and windows, failure to remove trash from the outside bin, and life-safety code violations.
By the time the town shut off the water, the association’s failure to pay its electric bill had resulted in Eversource shutting off power to the building, so Goodwin said there was no heat in the common area, and the town had concerns about pipes freezing.
When the selectmen agreed to waive some of the fees to make it easier for the owners to install individual meters, Fire Chief Ben LaRoche also sent the association a letter, outlining the steps it would have to take to meet state fire codes. Among them: only owners, not tenants, are allowed to occupy the units until the fire and life-safety concerns are addressed; the non-operational fire alarm system needs to updated and tested; emergency lighting must be installed; hallways and exits must be free of obstructions; and a rear door has to be replaced.
Goodwin informed Hebert that any construction with a cost of more than $2,000 would require a land use permit from the town.
“I’m taking care of all the issues relating to fire safety,” Hebert said, adding that alarm specialists will be installing a new system, along with emergency lighting, on Feb. 21, and LaRoche is scheduled to come and test the equipment that afternoon.
“I’ll be all set with the fire department, and I never had a problem with them,” Hebert said. “This is all about the water. I don’t even have a problem with the individual meters; I would just like some kind of break on the cost.”
The town maintains that the concessions the selectmen made have provided the break Hebert has been seeking.
14 February 2018

BRISTOL — Selectmen hope to sweeten the incentive for building a new town hall and renovating the existing home of the Bristol Police Department by foregoing some of the set-asides the town normally makes for future capital purchases and, instead, applying that money to the town building project.
In a conversation with members of the Bristol Space Needs Committee prior to their Feb. 1 meeting, selectmen agreed to reapply some of the money that normally would go into capital reserve funds to lower the amount of borrowing for the town hall/police station. Taxpayers would be paying the same amount that they would have been if they put the money into capital reserve funds this year, but a smaller bond would save on future interest costs and lower the debt payments through the life of the bond.
Members of the public have been skeptical of the building proposal, which the space needs committee originally estimated would cost $1.25 million. That estimate increased to more than $2 million by October, when Samyn-D’Elia Architects of Ashland presented preliminary plans to meet the space needs of the town offices and addressed a long list of issues the police department has faced with its current quarters in the Bristol Municipal Building.
The original charge of the committee was to address the town’s needs for 20 years, and, in September, Rick Alpers, chair of the Bristol Board of Selectmen, said, “The last thing I want to hear in 20 years is that it wasn’t big enough. I want to do it right now.”
However, public opposition to the projected cost had the architects going back to reduce the size of the meeting room that originally was to be large enough to accommodate town meetings.
Despite a 900-square-foot reduction in size for the new town hall, as well as the elimination of some other amenities and adjusting police department space to utilize existing walls, the estimated price had increased again by the time of the second public hearing, in November, to $3.4 million.
An overwhelmingly negative response to that projection had the committee reassess the project and return with a new plan that they hoped would reduce the cost to $2.2 million but which still came in at $2,650,000. Selectmen figured that they could borrow $2.25 million and use $400,000 from the town’s unassigned fund balance to make up the difference.
Town Administrator Nik Coates pointed out that using $400,000 from the fund balance would bring the account to the low end of what the NH Department of Revenue Administration recommends as a set-aside to cover tax exemptions and unanticipated expenses.
Foregoing capital reserve fund payments as a way to lower the bond proved to be controversial. Selectman J.P. Morrison said he felt it was important to save toward future purchases in order to even out the tax rate and support the town’s capital improvement project plan, which took 10 years to develop after having been abandoned in the past. The CIP plan takes into account the need to replace equipment and infrastructure, spreading out the expenditures to avoid spikes in the tax rate.
Capital reserve funds traditionally are used to save for large purchases such as ladder trucks for the fire department, but last year the town also started using them for annual purchases, setting aside more than the anticipated need in order to have money on hand to take advantage of spot sales during the year.
Some residents, such as Town Moderator Edward “Ned” Gordon, who also serves as chair of the space needs committee, opposes capital reserve funds, saying it forces people — especially the elderly — to pay for future purchases they may not be around to see. During inflationary periods, capital reserve funds also lose value because the interest earned does not keep pace.
In their discussions on Feb. 1, selectmen said they would still want to place money into some capital reserve funds, but they agreed to reduce those requests by $250,000 and apply that money to the building project in order to borrow less.
The warrant article for the building project still calls for a $2,650,000 appropriation, but it would use $400,000 from the unassigned fund balance and $250,000 from taxation, leaving $2 million to be borrowed.
Should that article pass, the selectmen plan to reduce the $325,000 capital reserve funds request to $100,000, but if it fails, they would seek the full $325,000 for capital reserves.
Meanwhile, the space needs committee will be holding three informal meetings to provide an update on their plans for the town hall and police station. The first of those meetings will take place Thursday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. in the Minot-Sleeper Library. The others will take place Saturday, Feb. 24, at 10:30 a.m. and Wednesday, March 7, at 2 p.m., also at the library.
There will be a public hearing on the plans on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m.
9 February 2018

BRISTOL — Wayne Anderson has decided to bring his business background to bear on the issues confronting the town of Bristol and is throwing his hat into the ring in hopes of winning Paul Manganiello’s seat on the board of selectmen.
Manganiello, currently serving as vice-chair, is not seeking re-election in March, which leaves the seat open for a new face. Anderson, current vice-chair of the Bristol Budget Committee, will be facing Budget Committee Chair Robert “Rob” Glassett, who also wants the job as selectman.
“We have people with goodwill and good intentions,” Anderson said, “but the town has a lack of acumen in taking it where it needs to be.”
Anderson said he approaches matters from the center. “Some people will want to spend any amount of money, and the other side gets disappointed and angry,” he said. “Neither one is able to persuade the folks in the middle. If I get elected, I hope to bring a more cogent center argument. There’s plenty of money to do what we need to do, and people are paying enough taxes. What we need is to make a business decision on where to spend that money.”
He believes the town’s leaders are caught up in the way things were done in the past and don’t see how to move forward. A particular target for savings, he believes, is the Bristol Police Department.
Anderson surveyed towns of similar size as Bristol and came up with a five-town comparison to show that Bristol is overspending on its police department. Of the five towns — Bristol, Campton, Greenland, Lancaster, and Sunapee — Bristol has the highest number of full-time police officers, at 10. Greenland, with a higher population (3,554 to Bristol’s 3,058), has eight full-time and four part-time officers. Campton, with more square miles (51.9 compared to 17.1 in Bristol), has seven full-time officers. Sunapee, which also has a tourist population with its lake and mountain, has five full-time and six part-time officers. Lancaster, with the second-largest territory (50.2 square miles) has five full-time officers.
Likewise, Bristol has the the highest police budget and Lancaster has the lowest. Greenland, with the same approximate number of reported crimes (200 compared to 223 in Bristol) has a budget that is $60,000 lower than Bristol’s.
Bristol is often described as the “hub” for the Newfound Region, with residents of Alexandria, Bridgewater, and Danbury coming here to do business and people from all of the surrounding communities enjoying the lake and other amenities. Anderson does not see that as a reason for more police coverage.
He points out that the New Hampshire State Police patrol Route 104 and says there is no need to have Bristol officers doing traffic stops along that stretch of highway.
“It’s a managerial matter,” he said, saying the police chief should find a more efficient use of taxpayer money. “We could pull out two full-time officers and augment it with part-timers,” he said.
Looking at other towns that are Bristol’s size, Anderson said a full-time fire department is not necessary, but he noted that there is an aging population and the people have decided they want it this way. “It seems highly valued, and that’s fine,” he said.
He thinks most of the town departments are well-managed and do a good job, and he is particularly impressed with Town Administrator Nik Coates, who came with a planning background that Anderson thinks has enhanced the town by bringing a broader perspective.
“The problem comes in the support from the select board,” he said.
“The search for a new police chief is a great opportunity to reassess what we’re doing,” Anderson continued. “We can’t do any worse.”
Anderson supports the town hall project, but said the town needs to find a way to pay for it. He credits Manganiello with seeking a solution to limit the tax impact by reducing the requests for money in capital reserve accounts. “But I’m not sure it goes deep enough.”
The proposal solves the problem for one year, he said, but it does not address the increased costs in future years. Reducing the number of police officers could solve that problem, he said.
He also is worried about the impact of tax changes at the federal level that may hurt the second-home market that Bristol relies upon to keep tax increases in check. “That can catch up with us in just a couple of months,” he said.
Anderson said that, when he retired from his career in sales with Dow Corning, “it was great to have a chance to play the golf I never got to play, but if things here could be different, and I do nothing, woe to me.”
8 February 2018