Select Board
Friday, August 26, 2022
Meeting Minutes

Select Board: Andrea Hodson, Kathy Scott, Pegg Monahan
Attendees: Road Agent Wes Tarr, Emergency Management Director and Facilities Jeff Cady, Officer in Charge Zach Byam, Temple-Greenville Police Chief James McTague, Former Temple Select Board Member Ted Petro, Harrisville Assessor Lynn Cook

Andrea Hodson opened the meeting opened at 2:00 pm.

Agenda and minutes – With the additional agenda item of traffic signage, the board voted to approve the agenda. For the August 11 meeting minutes, Andrea Hodson had the following additions: For the ReThink Plastic program, the SB chair will follow up with an appointment letter for program volunteers; Jeff Cady will facilitate access to the Recycling Center and assist with testing of the scale. For the facilities update for the Old Highway Garage, Mr. Cady reported that Harrisville Designs has moved its cardboard and supplies out and the Community Church has removed the pews. Also, the SB is amenable to the temporary storage of the church replica.

Highway Department – The SB discussed with the Road Agent the status of reclamation work at the town gravel pit. The Highway Department is on path with the plan outlined in the Gravel Pit Committee Report, specifically the entirety of Section 8 of the report, with item 3a of the report to be completed. These areas relate to the section off of the Jaquith Road trail and the area adjacent to the Anderson home. Mr. Tarr confirmed that an Alteration of Terrain Permit is not needed for several years.

The board discussed the status of the privately owned, but publicly traveled, alleyway between the post office and School Street. Residents have complained of the poor condition and requested the town’s assistance. The SB will await correspondence from the property owner who inquired and subsequently invite affected property owners and Historic Harrisville to meet with the SB to discuss the issue.

For 2023 road projects, the Road Agent would like to repair Church and School Streets as well as Tolman Pond Road. If the contractor on the Sunset Hill roadwork, approved at 2022 Town Meeting, is delayed, this project also may extend into 2023.  Mr. Tarr awaits word from the contractor who is paving Mason Road on their start date. The road is ready.

Street Signage – Pegg Monahan requested replacement of the Prospect Street sign at the intersection of Main and Prospect. The board also discussed ideas for a more effective location and verbiage on the No Left Turn sign from the northbound side of Main Street into the General Store parking lot.  No decision made.

Facilities update – Mr. Cady reported that the drums of used oil at the Recycle Center were disposed of with the help of the Highway Department.  He also noted that the overhead door at the Old Highway garage needs repair. Mr. Cady will contact Keene Door to explore options. Following discussion, the board agreed that a sign reading “Harrisville Town Offices” should be installed above the entranceway of the recently painted town hall.

Mr. Cady and the board discussed the best location for the ReThink Plastic containers and the need to discuss the program and signage, prepared by the committee, with the RC Coordinator. Kathy Scott will reach out. The committee hopes to launch the program on 9/2.

Police Department – The board met with Temple-Greenville Police Chief James McTague to hear about the shared police department funded by the two towns. Chief McTague explained the process the towns went about to establish the joint department and he discussed the benefits, including tremendous savings, improved results and seamless coverage. Former Temple SB member Ted Petro shared input of each town’s Select Board’s role in the process.  The SB will continue discussion of the idea.

Assessing – Lynn Cook explained to the SB that, because of the low equalization ratio, which measures assessed property values against market values, the town lost $380,000 in revenue due to utility valuation. She did note, however, that the town’s total valuation only changed by $136,000 and for 2022 comes to $209,114, 434. Following discussion and review, the SB signed the MS-1, the Assessor’s Report of Property Valuation, for submission to the DRA.

MS-535 – The Auditors Report will be posted to DRA by Vachon Clukay. The SB signed the MS-434, Revised Estimated Revenue, also for submission to the DRA.

– The SB signed the Gravel Tax Yield for Map 10-Lot 6 in the amount of $220.42.

Finance – The SB signed the payroll warrant in the amount of $18,074.96 and the pay warrant in the amount of $186,314.66.

Following review of the draft Returned Check Policy endorsed by the Town Clerk and Treasurer to ensure fairness and consistency for returned checks, the SB agreed that $35 should be the fee and will approve the policy for this amount.

For revisiting Harrisville’s fee schedule for building permit and all land use applications, the board asked the Administrative Assistant to survey adjacent towns’ fee schedules as a comparison and report back.

SB meeting calendar – The SB will meet Thursday 9/1 and Thursday 9/8 at 7:00 pm, Tuesday 9/13 all day for the State Primary, and Friday 9/30 at 9:00 am.

The meeting adjourned at 5:30 pm.