NOTES OF APRIL 11,
2015 JENNESS BEACH VILLAGE DISTRICT
ANNUAL MEETING
Final Revision C – Provided by
the Rye Civic League
Present (clockwise around
table): Auditor Lori Carbajal,
Commissioner Jane Langley, Moderator Michael DiNola (left early), Commissioner
Randy Crapo, Clerk and Treasurer Debra Crapo (left early). By telephone:
Commissioner Mike Netishen (hung up early).
Also present: Peter Crawford, Tom Farrelly, Devin Farrelly,
Michele Sopher, Dominique Winebaum, Sam Winebaum.
Editor’s
note: For ease in finding particular
sections using the archived video and audio on Vimeo, the elapsed time is
indicated. Use the slider and the
elapsed time indicated at the bottom of the video window to fast forward to the
desired section. The video is available
at https://vimeo.com/124723675/.
Summary
1. Budget of
$100,050 and all other articles approved.
Several officers elected in uncontested races.
2. Discussion of
beach and sign issues.
Election
of Officers and non-budgetary Warrant Article discussion (0:00 elapsed)
Debra Crapo announced that 13
residents from the Jenness Beach Village District were present, along with
Peter Crawford and Michele Sopher, who are not residents of the District.
Moderator Michael DiNola explains
that he would like to go through the articles, as described in the agenda, and
discuss under Article 6, the e-mails and the Energy Committee information.
(2:25 elapsed)
Moderator Michael DiNola reads
Article 1, to conduct the election of the District officers. The following individuals were nominated and
elected:
Moderator
for one year – Michael DiNola elected
District
Clerk for one year – Debra Crapo elected
Commissioner
for three years – Randy Crapo elected
Treasurer
for one year - Debra Crapo elected
Auditor
for one year – Lori Carbajal elected
(5:55 elapsed)
Moderator Michael DiNola presents
Article 2, “to hear and act upon any reports of agents, auditors or committees
of officers heretofore chosen.”
Debra Crapo reads the 2014
Treasurer’s and Auditor’s Reports. The
total deposits from the Town Taxes were $ 94,851.00 and the expenditures were $
94,413.36. Balance on hand on 12/31/2014
was $ 7,589.00.
Lori Carbajal explained how she
conducted her audit and that she has reviewed everything.
Devin Farrelly talked about ENH
Power, a competitive electricity supplier affiliated to PSNH, which offers a
25% discount on electricity delivery. They have used the program as homeowners
and she suggested that the board look into it.
Sam Winebaum talked about the
increase for Aquarion Water in recent years, asking what the Commissioners were
doing to negotiate the pricing on the water and the hydrants.
Randy Crapo stated that their only
recourse would be to buy them out.
Dominique Winebaum asked questions
regarding other items on the Treasurer’s report, such as the liability
insurance, which is budgeted at $2,100 but only $ 100 is spent every year.
According to Randy Crapo the District has to date been unable to secure
liability insurance, as it does not have a building. Mrs. Winebaum also stated
the need to create an expendable trust fund for capital improvement
projects. Commissioner Randy Crapo
stated that they use the beach fund for extra expenditures and that they have
been able to have the Town take over some of the expenditures, citing
sidewalks.
Editor’s note: See Tom Pearson’s article in Rye Reflections
called “Who is responsible for Cable Road sidewalk?” published in Rye
Reflections, September 2006, for an explanation of why the town took over the
Cable Road sidewalk. http://ryereflections.org/servlet/pluto?state=3030347061676530303757656250616765303032696430303432373236
(21:00 elapsed)
A motion was made to approve the
Treasurer’s Report and seconded. The
Treasurer’s Report was approved unanimously.
(21:15 elapsed)
Debra Crapo stated they should
approve the minutes of last year’s annual meeting. Randy Crapo asked if there were any questions
regarding the minutes.
Dominique Winebaum stated that the
minutes of the meeting were made available one year after the meeting and that
people had to attend the meeting in order to obtain a copy of the minutes of
last year’s annual meeting. She stated
that she had placed a Right-To-Know request asking for basic information, such
as the minutes, and that according to the RSAs, minutes of meetings should be
made available to the public within 5 business days.
Michael DiNola interrupted Dominique
Winebaum to say they would address this matter in Article 6.
Minutes were approved.
(23:25 elapsed)
Moderator Michael DiNola read
Article 3 “To see if the District will allow and vote the same time payment
dates and time limit(s) on all District property taxes at the town of Rye shall
allow on its property taxes.”
Article 3 was approved.
(23:55 elapsed)
Moderator Michael DiNola read
Article 4 “To see if the District will vote to allow and authorize the
Commissioners to borrow money in anticipation of taxes for the year 2015.
Article 4 was approved.
Approval
of Budget (25:05 elapsed)
Moderator Michael DiNola read
Article 5 “To see if the District will approve $100,050 to defray District
charges for the coming year. (This
article is recommended by the Municipal Budget Committee, Majority vote
required.)
Commissioner Randy Crapo went over
the budget explaining each item.
In describing the
$600 item for beach expenses he stated that in that budget they have the two
cross walk signs: one at the end of
Cable, the other in front of the General Store.
He stated they use about one sign per year and that each sign costs
about $ 300.00. He thinks that last year
the Town might have paid for one.
Devin Farrelly asked if the District
has the ability to replace missing/destroyed signs. Commisioner Randy Crapo stated they take
about 4 months to order and that they have the ability to repair them via the
State sign shop, which is run by prisoners.
Sam Winebaum asked if they should
have one in reserve given that the signs get destroyed or are stolen.
There was general assent that this
was a good idea.
Devin Farrelly stated that we should
order an extra one so we have one on hand at all times.
Dominique Winebaum stated that the
District had not spent any of the “Beach Expenses” budget since 2009 despite
the fact that an amount was budgeted every year.
Debra Crapo explained that the Town
takes care of beach expenses and that they budget money in case they needed it.
Tom Farrelly mentioned that last
year they decided that they would set aside $1,000 to buy barrels & pick up
trash. He asked what had become of that
discussion and if the money had been spent.
Lori Carbajal interjected that
Dennis McCarthy stated that whether you have one barrel or twenty barrels, they
will overflow with trash in no time. She
noted that there has been a steady increase in the amount of trash because of
an increase of beach goers. She is a
member of the Rye Beach Committee and they have been addressing this
issue. At this point, they are trying to
have the garbage trucks, which pick up trash for the State Beaches, make a few
extra stops to pick up trash at other locations.
The discussion moved on to
signs. Debra Crapo stated that we need
Nancy Stiles to advocate for Rye as she feels she has not done anything for
Rye. Randy Crapo stated that they are
going to upgrade the facilities at Jenness Beach and that the bathrooms will be
closed this summer as they put in a new floor.
Editor’s note: a Porta-Potty is
now in the Jenness Beach parking lot. He
also shared his idea of having bathrooms in an area owned by the Sewer
District, adjacent to the pumping station, which is close to Cable Beach.
Lori Carbajal stated that we need
the support of the Selectmen. For
anything to move forward, we need the support of our Selectmen.
Commissioner Jane Langley stated
that the State would be very agreeable to doing something if the Selectmen
wanted it. Again it has to come from the
Selectmen for the State to take action. Editor’s note: Jane Langley is a former State Representative
(R).
Lori Carbajal, suggested that the
Beach Committee should meet with this group [the JBVD Committee] to discuss
beach issues.
Moderator Mike DiNola stated that it
was a great idea. Commissioner Randy Crapo stated that he did not want to be on
any more committees. Debra Crapo
suggested Commissioner Mike Niteshen should meet with the Beach Committee as he
is real beachgoer and he understands the problems related to beach issues.
Devin Farrelly interjected that they
have been able to make progress. A
Memorandum of Agreement from the State of NH has been granted enabling Rye to
keep all of the fines collected from the parking tickets issued by our Town
police officers.
(49:25 elapsed)
Moderator Michael DiNola suggested
making a motion to accept the budget.
Debra Crapo excused herself that she had to leave the meeting as she had
an appointment. She stated that she
really wanted to hear what you have to say, looking at the public, and that she
was happy that Michele [from the Energy Committee] had come.
A motion was made to approve the
budget. It was approved.
(50:35 elapsed)
Moderator Michael DiNola read
Article 6 “to transact any further business that may legally come before said
meeting.”
He stated that he wanted to discuss
communication capabilities that are now in place within the Town of Rye and to
address what Dominique Winebaum had talked about. From now on e-mails need to be addressed to
the Town of Rye. At the time of the
meeting it was not known to whom within the Town such communications should be
addressed. Minutes and other related
documents will be posted on the Town website.
Moderator Michael DiNola stated he
would like to address the crosswalk at Cable Road. In his mind, the sign is not a good
solution. He would like to see a speed
bump that is in place during the summer only.
Sam Winebaum interjected that it was
a called a speed table and not a speed bump and that he had done quite a bit of
research on the topic. In addition, he
felt that we should encourage the State to implement lower and potentially
seasonal speed limits to slow down traffic in congested areas.
Devin Farrelly stated that right now
there is a bill before the State House to allow communities to lower their
speed limit 10 miles an hour during the summer.
She talked to Chief Walsh about this and he stated that there is a
concern because of an initial cost of about $26,000 to buy the digital sign
boards and a $ 4,000.00 maintenance cost per year for the sign.
Sam Winebaum clarified that there
are other types of signs, at lower cost, that show the vehicle speed and speed
limit. His suggestion for the District
is to lower the speed limit to 25 miles per hour and to install at least 4 of
these signs, 2 each on Cable and Perkins.
A member in the audience mentioned
that in Kensington that they are two speed tables in Kensington that are there
permanently.
Mike Netishen spoke from the
speakerphone by stating that there are many issues on Perkins Road, such as
garbage, people changing on the side road, parking.
Jane Langley stated that when she
first moved here, people would respect speed limits because of police
enforcement.
(1:05.45
elapsed)
Moderator Michael DiNola stated he
had to leave to attend the Thresher memorial service.
Tom Farrelly stated that before
Michael DiNola left, he wanted to say that we have heard all these things, “if
we had the money, if we had the money….” We need to install the parking meters
and stripe the lines. The proceeds for the first year would be $ 100,000.00 and
$ 400,000.00 each year thereafter. He
feels that this Commission needs to have a voice. It needs to happen and it needs to happen
yesterday as we could be paying for everything:
nicer sidewalks, trash pick up, moving things, maybe have a crosswalk
light that could be controlled with the touch of a button.
Randy Crapo interjected that the
Town already collects enough for all of that.
He stated that the Town collects $ 50,000 from beach stickers. They used
to take 2/3 of those proceeds and would place it in a general revenue
fund. Now they voted to use half that
money to test the water for pollution and we can spend the rest of the money on
the beach.
Tom Farrelly made the point that we
need to increase parking for residents.
He would like to defend Nancy Stiles as she told the Selectmen that if
they would put and pay for the meters, they could keep the money. She clarified this for the Town. If the Town does not step up to have meters,
people will take actions.
Street
lighting savings (1:09:22 elapsed)
Sam Winebaum
asked if they could move to a different topic.
Moderator Michael DiNola left at
that time.
Sam Winebaum stated that he would
like to talk about streetlights and introduced Michele Sopher from the Rye
Energy Committee who would be doing a short presentation.
Sam Winebaum stated that he has
mapped the 69 streetlights. He would
like to talk about the potentially huge cost savings paid back within less than
4 years by changing to LED lighting. He
believes that this District needs to look at this now as the cost keeps
increasing. He provided an inventory of
the streetlights stating that 57 of them are mercury from 1964. He has a question for the Commissioners, as
there is a streetlight on Fern Avenue, which is listed on the 2011 PSNH
inventory of District lights and he would like to know the story behind that as
it is not part of the Jenness Beach District.
He stated that a number of them were not working. He believes we could save at least $ 9,000 a
year by changing to LED lights. It is a
“no brainer” in his view. It would
improve the neighborhood by changing to LED lights. He stated the lights should be there for safety
purposes and not be operating as a security system. Eliminating those that are
not there for safety reasons could easily decrease the number of streetlights.
(1:14:24 elapsed)
Michele Sopher from the Energy
Committee spoke with regard to the work done by the Rye Energy Committee
relating to energy use. They have done
two reports to chart energy use through all of Rye. Both reports are available on the Town
website on the Energy page. Michele
Sopher explained that the Jenness Beach Village District has been overpaying
for streetlights. The District in on the
OL rate, which means the streetlights are not metered and the cost is
higher. She showed a number of graphs
from the Energy report to illustrate the high cost for streetlights in the
Jenness Beach Village District, amounting to 61 % of the lighting costs for
Rye. . Link to the 2012-2013 Energy
report, see pages 18-19 and Appendix E, o-p.: http://www.town.rye.nh.us/Pages/RyeNH_BComm/Energy/Rye_Energy_Reports.pdf/2012_Rye_Energy_Report.pdf
(1:17:46 elapsed)
During Michele Sopher’s
presentation, Commissioner Mike Netishen, stated that he had to leave.
Michele Sopher stated that there is
another rate within PSNH (now Eversource), which is called EOL, which stands
for Efficient Outdoor Lighting rate, and if we were to switch 57 of the
streetlights (the mercury ones), to a more efficient style of lights, such as
LEDs, it would save half of the cost. By switching to LEDs, the savings would
be even more.
She also made the recommendation to
decrease the number of streetlights. The
Jenness Beach Village District has 69 streetlights in comparison to 9 for Rye
not including the Rye Beach Village District.
She mentioned the Town of North Hampton, which has conducted a
comprehensive study and methodical approach in regard to decreasing the number
of streetlights and energy cost.
(1:24:10 elapsed)
Commissioner Randy Crapo thanked
Michele Sopher and stated that the next step would be to put a Committee
together and to have a proposal from PSNH.
Michele Sopher provided a number of
approaches to funding the switch to LED streetlights. Sam Winebaum stated that he would be thrilled
to be on this Committee and would be happy to do the legwork.
Sam Winebaum made a motion that the
Jenness Beach Village District form a committee to look at the streetlights and
LED lightings for potential savings and that this Committee comes to the
Commissioners by July 1st 2015.
Dominique Winebaum seconded the motion.
The motion was approved unanimously.
It was suggested that it would be
great if we could have a sample for the whole town and it would be looked into
if it were feasible to try a couple of LED streetlights first as a try out.
Michele Sopher pointed out that
almost $3,000 could come from the existing streetlight budget to help finance
the switch to LEDs. She also stated that
Eversource would not provide an analysis of the savings by switching to LEDs
without a formal request from Commissioner Randy Crapo. Editor’s
note: this would be a starting point for the Committee in order to be able to
provide a report in terms of analyzing
potential savings by switching to LEDs.
The meeting was adjourned despite
more questions/comments from members of the public as the Assistant Town Clerk,
Andrea Morrissey, had to close the Town Hall.
Editor’s note: Town Hall is now open Saturday mornings. This was the first day of the new policy.