NOTES OF JUNE 26, 2017 RYE BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING

Final Revision B – Provided by the Rye Civic League

Present (clockwise around table): Town Administrator Michael Magnant, Selectmen Craig Musselman, Priscilla Jenness and Phil Winslow, Finance Director Cyndi Gillespie.

Also present and sitting in the audience or the lobby outside: Interim Fire Chief Tom Lambert, Police Chief Kevin Walsh, Public Works Director Dennis McCarthy.

Persons present from the public included: Bob Gray, John Riley.

Video link: http://townhallstreams.com/stream.php?location_id=32&id=11894

Editor’s note: For ease in finding particular sections using the archived video and audio on the Town website, 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. Videos on the Town website may currently be accessed at www.town.rye.nh.us by clicking on “Town Hall Streaming” at the bottom left of the screen. Follow the link for “Town Hall Live Streaming,” then find the meeting by date under “Previous.”

The video starts at 6:43:42 p.m. (0:00 elapsed). The audio is off until 6:43:53 p.m. (0:11 elapsed)

Summary

1. Request for no parking areas adjacent to new townhouses near Petey’s Restaurant leads to discussion of congestion problems in the area.

2. A number of abatements were granted. Last year’s requests have now all been addressed, with no appeals to the BTLA pending.

3. The initial revaluation results are almost ready. Rye property values have been increasing rapidly, and the assessment of the median single family home will be up about 16 percent.

4. Responses to the RFP to scan Town Hall documents are due in early July.

5. A wage study is being done of 19 non-union town employees.

6. The Town Hall assessment proposed cannot be done out of this year’s budget, according to the Town Attorney.

Announcements

The Fourth of July celebration at Parson’s Field was announced

Sealing of minutes (0:25 elapsed)

The motion of Selectman Jenness to seal the minutes of the non-public meeting just concluded carried unanimously.

Public comment from Police Chief Kevin Walsh (1:46 elapsed)

Chief Walsh referred to the beach patrols that have begun. Some underage drinkers have been providing false names. Thus it is important that the software that has been budgeted be installed so that the names can be verified, he said.

Consent Agenda (3:23 elapsed)

Both Selectmen Musselman and Winslow requested that item C be pulled from the agenda. Items A through B and D through H were unanimously approved.

There was then discussion about item C, the letter from State Senator Dan Innis. Selectman Musselman suggested that the Board of Selectmen take Mr. Innis up on his offer to meet with them as they have not yet done so. Issues for discussion include Ocean Blvd., the Jenness Beach Bath House and the bike path grant. Nancy and David used to be here all of the time, he said. Editor’s note: This is an apparent reference to former State Senator Nancy Stiles, whom Mr. Innis replaced after the November 2016 election, and State Representative David Borden. Neither ran for reelection. Selectman Winslow referred to the importance of the Lang Rd. and Route 1 intersection as well. The motion to place Mr. Innis’ letter on file carried unanimously.

Minutes (7:27 elapsed)

The minutes of the June 12 meeting were unanimously approved with changes. The minutes of the non-public session of the same day were also approved with a change of “except” to “accept.”

No parking in front of 1311, 1312 and 1313 Ocean Blvd. (11:48 elapsed)

Bob Gray of Gray Construction was present with the owner, John Riley. Mr. Gray said that the location is being redeveloped into three townhomes. They would like a no parking zone throughout a forty foot stretch for safety reasons. Editor’s note: The location is just north of Petey’s Restaurant which attracts a lot of traffic and lacks sufficient parking to handle all of their customers. Town Administrator Magnant stated that the request goes above and beyond the permission that has been granted by DOT for establishing no parking areas on Route 1A. Editor’s note: The standard, established by the Town’s prior no parking zone requests, has normally been no parking 20 feet from the edge of the driveway in the direction of approaching traffic, and 10 feet from the other edge of the driveway in the opposite direction. Selectman Musselman said that, by requesting 40 feet, they were looking for an additional 30 feet beyond the standard. Mr. Riley spoke about the exceptional situation at Petey’s.

Police Chief Kevin Walsh agreed that it is a very congested area. A lot of tickets are issued there. However, this would establish a precedent affecting 44 other driveways.

Selectman Musselman said that Mr. Riley was actually asking for the same no parking area as had been provided for others, 20 feet north of Petey’s driveway and 10 feet south of the townhouse driveway. Editor’s note: Apparently the other 10 feet, being shorter than any car, would be made no parking as well.

Selectman Musselman asked about the width of the townhouse driveway. The response was that DOT had approved it. Public Works Director Dennis McCarthy said that they are trying to get DOT to crack down on wide driveways, but they haven’t yet. Selectman Musselman asked whether DOT and the Planning Board had both approved the driveway. The response was that they had. Mr. Gray then said that he believed that the driveway is 20 feet wide.

Mr. Riley said that, while he is grateful for the 10 foot no parking area, that is not enough. Mr. McCarthy said that it was inappropriate to apply different standards to business driveways. Those are wider and people enter and exit on opposite sides, so less clearance is actually needed. The Petey’s driveway is wider than normal, he said.

Selectman Winslow asked whether the situation might be considered exceptional due to the traffic at Petey’s

Town Administrator Magnant noted that the Town does not have the authority to control parking on a state road.

Selectman Musselman suggested that a 10 foot zone be established and then the policy for commercial establishments reviewed.

Public Works Director Dennis McCarthy spoke about a need to get Petey’s in for a site plan review so that the situation there can be straightened out. However, unless there is a reason that site plan review is required, Petey’s will just say that they are grandfathered, he said.

Mr. Magnant suggested that a letter be sent to NHDOT requesting that they look at the situation at Petey’s.

Selectman Winslow noted that the area had been no parking previously. Mr. Riley agreed, saying that there had been no parking for 80 feet north of Petey’s. Two to three parking spots are actually being added, he asserted.

Mr. McCarthy agreed, saying that parking had been precluded as it had been a big wide gravel parking lot. However, there were no signs, he said.

The motion of Selectman Musselman to authorize a no parking zone 10 feet south of the driveway, and another zone 20 feet north of the driveway, and to ask the state for authorization to prohibit parking from Petey’s north, carried unanimously.

Abatements (45:45 elapsed)

Assessor Scott Marsh came up and sat at the table.

With respect to 1419 Ocean Blvd., Burdett Realty LLC, map 174 lot 008, Mr. Marsh reported that the prior assessor had lowered the assessment from $882,000 to $450,000 in 2013. However, the owner had then obtained a $670,000 mortgage. The assessment was unanimously lowered from $694,200 to $647,800.

With respect to 50 Jenness Ave., Dwight Tuttle, map 084 lot 057-001, Mr. Marsh said that the owner was concerned that the land assessment was inconsistent with the property across the street. He agreed and recommended a reduction in the assessment from $482,000 to $417,700. The motion to do so carried unanimously.

With respect to 31 Breakers Rd., Beth Dietz Tuttle, map 084 lot 058, Mr. Marsh said that, while there was a building on the property on April 1, there is no longer. A motion to reduce the assessment from $432,200 to $373,100 carried unanimously.

With respect to 538 Wallis Rd., Boo Nominee Trust, map 016 lot 086, Mr. Marsh stated that the garage had erroneously been considered livable space. The motion to reduce the assessment from $673,700 to $645,600 carried unanimously.

With respect to 633 Central Rd., Roger Wiegley and Dania Seiglie, map 005 lot 007, Mr. Marsh said that the property had been purchased in December 2016 for $1.55 million. It had been overrated. The recommended assessment for $1,350,800 is consistent with that after adjusting for the equalization ratio. That was 86%, now it is 79%. The motion to approve the reduction in assessment from $2,013,100 to $1,350,800 carried unanimously.

With respect to 11 Airfield Dr., Rye Airfield RCD I Inc., map 010 lot 015-003, White Birch, Mr. Marsh said that the owner had not submitted sufficient cause to grant an abatement. While the calculation was based on cash flow, the owner is improperly not considering the value to him of the tax credits, Mr. Marsh said. The motion to deny the abatement (effectively leaving the assessed value at $2,013,100) carried unanimously.

Removal of Exemptions (55:32 elapsed)

Mr. Marsh described the process for renewal of exemptions. He said that the state requires confirmation every five years. Each owner received a letter and neither of these owners responded to multiple letters. He recommended that the exemptions be removed, the owners informed, and one final opportunity be provided for them to respond.

Selectman Musselman said that the issue had been discussed in the prior non-public session as they had been talking about the individual cases. He said that he is concerned about raising assessments on the elderly. He suggested an enclosure with the bill as well.

Selectman Winslow suggested reaching out to the neighbors. They may have information. Perhaps the person is in a nursing home, he said.

The motion of Selectman Winslow to remove the three exemptions, at 62 Fern Ave., 1 Port Way, and 310 Grove Rd., with certified letters to be sent providing another opportunity to respond, carried unanimously.

Revaluation process (62:21 elapsed)

Selectman Winslow asked how many more abatements remained. Mr. Marsh responded that they are now complete. There are also no cases before the BTLA. The market is helping, he said.

Mr. Marsh said that the revaluation is in process and there should be numbers by the end of the week. This will be e-mailed to them and will show what the assessment was and what they are proposing.

He passed out a draft analysis to the Selectmen. It shows the before and after assessment ratios. For 2017, from October 1 to present, if the revaluation was not done, the town would have a ratio of about 79 percent. With the revaluation numbers, the town is at 95 percent, he said.

Editor’s note: This is an apparent reference to the equalization ratio, which is the ratio of the assessment to the fair market value of the property, based on transactions. The actual assessment relative to fair market value is irrelevant in determining whether a property owner is entitled to an abatement. To be entitled to an abatement, the property owner must show that his property is overassessed relative to other properties in the town. Since the equalization ratio indicates the assessed value of the average house relative to fair market value, the assessment must be divided by the equalization ratio to arrive at the imputed fair market value. If that value exceeds what it can be demonstrated the house is worth, the property owner is theoretically entitled to an abatement.

Example 1:

Property Assessment Fair Market Value

A $400,000 $ 500,000

B $800,000 $1,000,000

In the above case, both properties are fairly assessed, as each is assessed at 80 percent of the fair market value.

Example 2:

Property Assessment Fair Market Value

A $450,000 $ 500,000

B $800,000 $1,000,000

In this case, property A is overassessed relative to property B, as it is assessed at 90 percent of fair market value, while B is assessed at only 80 percent. If A and B are the only properties in town, A may be entitled to an abatement, even though his assessment is less than the fair market value (some range of variation in assessments is permissible without triggering an abatement, however). In this case, the average property is assessed at $1,250,000/$1,500,000, or 83.3 percent of fair market value. $450,000/.833 = $540,000 is the imputed fair market value, which exceeds the actual fair market value.

Mr. Marsh said that, for the year before, 2016, the ratio was at 86 percent. With the revaluation those figures would be at 99 percent. We look at two years worth of sales. So far this year there are 65 valid sales, last year there were 115, and the prior year 101. Mr. Marsh provided ratio figures for the past few years as 94% 91% 86%, and we’d be at 79% this year, indicating that the market has been heating up, he said.

Selectman Musselman referred to an increase in single family assessments of 14.8 percent. In 2016, the assessment for single family homes was $1.3 billion. Now it is $1.5 billion, which is up $194 million or a 14.8 percent increase. The median single family home is up $85,000 or a 16 percent increase. New construction distorts the figures. There have been 20-30 new homes completed in the $1 million range.

Selectman Winslow said that the public should know that, even though the assessments are going up, the tax rate will go down. Mr. Marsh said that it depends on the spending. If assessments go up 15 percent, the tax rate should theoretically go down 15 percent, but nobody ever spends the same amount of money.

Selectman Musselman referred to changed multipliers the last time with respect to neighborhoods, distance to ocean and type of house. He asked whether those multipliers and relationships had been changed or whether the values had been brought up to come up to current levels.

Mr. Marsh described the process. They look at transactions, establish a price per square foot, and look at the neighborhoods, of which there are many. It takes time to deal with those. He said that he does not believe they changed substantially. Many properties are up about 16 percent. Mobile homes actually decreased. Condominium price changes were limited. They looked at 170 sales over the last year and a half to two years. The revaluation is of the entire town, he said.

DRED agreement (72:45 elapsed)

Police Chief Kevin Walsh said that this agreement allows citations to be amended to fall under the DRED (state) rules if needed. The town ordinances are enforced on state property, but if these are contested, this agreement allows citations to be amended to fall under the DRED (state) rules. He asked that the Selectmen sign the agreement. The motion to authorize the selectmen to sign the agreement carried unanimously.

Document scanning RFP (73:41 elapsed)

Town Administrator Magnant explained how this project had had its genesis in the Town Hall renovation and the problem with the weight of the files. The solution to that was to scan the files. Also, there has been a state law change. Previously, documents that needed to be preserved permanently had to be in paper or microfilm form. Now they can also be in electronic form. The budget is $60,000. Prices received have been all over the block. The project will be triaged. The 300 oversized drawings they will hold off on.

Mr. Winslow asked how new documents would be handled. Mr. Magnant said that applicants are already being required to submit documents digitally. These can be clicked and dragged into the map and lot file. There will be a lobby computer for public access.

Mr. Winslow asked about the skill sets to handle this. Mr. Magnant said that these are present. He said that Building Inspector Peter Rowell is “old school.”

Mr. Magnant said that Dover and Portsmouth are doing more digitally.

He added that the proposals are due July 6. He said that he wanted to make sure that the Selectmen wanted to proceed. Selectman Musselman said that they have to do it.

Wage and Classification study (80:44 elapsed)

Town Administrator Magnant said that he had reached out to MRI, Alan’s firm, while Town Finance Director Cyndi Gillespie had reached out to the other two firms. Editor’s note: Former Rye Chief and Town Administrator Alan Gould is head of Municipal Resources, Inc. (“MRI”). They are currently conducting the search for the full-time Fire Chief as well as performing contract assessing services.

Ms. Gillespie said that ____ Thornton had been selected. They have received wonderful reviews.

Selectman Musselman said that many of the clients are of similar size to Rye. He asked whether the town could be shooting itself in the foot by doing the study. Mr. Magnant said that that could be the case. Selectman Winslow said that it is a double edged sword. Good people could be lost if the salaries are not competitive.

Ms. Gillespie said that only 19 non-union positions would be covered by the study. Call personnel and part-time workers have already been done. Those remaining include the department heads. If people are being overpaid, it may be necessary to “red line” their positions. Editor’s note: This refers to employees who are paid more than the maximum salary for the particular position. The salary is not reduced, but cannot again be increased until the issue is eliminated by a general increase in the salary ranges or a merit increase which places the employee in a different range.

Selectman Musselman said that, last year, the Library had said that they had done a study, but would not provide it. Perhaps it was not written down, he said. He said that perhaps the Library should be asked whether they would like to participate. That led to discussion about a committee being formed by the Selectmen and Library Trustees to look at wage scales. Mr. Magnant said that he understood that this was being worked on. Ms. Gillespie noted that a part-time employee had been hired to replace a full-time employee. Editor’s note: That may refer to Tricia Quinn, who passed away.

The motion to approve entering into the agreement with ____ Thornton for $5490 carried unanimously.

New business: Rockingham Planning Commission online survey (88:32 elapsed)

Selectman Winslow referred to this study.

Organization chart (89:59 elapsed)

Town Finance Director Cyndi Gillespie presented the organization chart. Slides were projected on the back wall and were not visible in the video. The chart is color coded and includes the various boards and commissions, and elected and appointed members. Ms. Gillespie went through the various parts of the organization and described the chart in detail.

This led to discussion about certain boards and committees not being aware that they may use town resources. Selectman Musselman used the example of the Conservation Commission, and asked where their files were kept. Ms. Gillespie said that, five or six years earlier these had been moved to Town Hall. A lot of it was archived.

Selectman Winslow said that the current Historic District Commission files are kept by the Chairman, but are then moved to Town Hall.

Selectman Musselman said that that should not be. The Conservation Commission files had been kept separately. Questions arose about financial issues that the town had been unable to answer.

Selectman Musselman complimented Ms. Gillespie for a nicely done job on the organization chart.

Interim Fire Chief Tom Lambert raised the issue of the Assistant Fire Chief. That position still exists, but is vacant, he said.

Ms. Gillespie said that it has been vacant since she arrived in 2000.

Chief Lambert explained how the department had been reorganized and the Lieutenants had become shift supervisors.

Town Hall conditions assessment (111:34 elapsed)

Town Administrator Magnant stated that the Town Attorney had opined that this could not be done out of the 2017 budget as “no means no.” Editor’s note: This is an apparent reference to 2017 Article 30, which failed to pass 702-874. That would have provided funds to repair the exterior of town hall, provide handicapped access and achieve other goals. Under RSA 32:10, I(e), when town meeting does not approve an appropriation contained in a separate warrant article, nothing may be expended for that purpose that year.

Selectman Musselman said that perhaps this is something that needs to go to Town Meeting, or perhaps they should just wait and see if the Loftus article fails. Editor’s note: John Loftus is, together with an architect, preparing, at no cost to the town, a conceptual design for a tear down and rebuild of Town Hall in accordance with 2017 Article 34, which passed 873-700. That warrant article provided no funds and did not state that the Town Hall would be demolished. It is anticipated that Mr. Loftus will put forward a warrant article in 2018 to provide funds to construct his design. However, if bond financing is to be used, a 60 percent vote would be required, more than Article 34 achieved.

Selectman Musselman referred to the LCHIP application being submitted now, with the grant provider being told that the grant could be accepted but that Town Meeting approval would be required. He also said that the painting, which would cost $60,000, cannot be done as quickly as everyone wanted.

Globe article on “Select Board” vs. “Selectman” (115:23 elapsed)

Selectman Musselman referred to an article appearing in that mornings Boston Globe indicating that Boards of Selectmen are changing their names to Select Boards. A majority of towns in New Hampshire have not done so. He said that he is ambivalent about it. That led to discussion, which indicated that there appeared to be no support for changing the name.

Selectman Musselman said that they had been a Board of Selectmen since the 1700s. Police Chief Walsh said (inaudibly on the video, but repeated by Selectman Musselman) that the Town Hall had been used since then as well.

Town Finance Director Cyndi Gillespie asked whether Selectman Jenness was the first female Selectman. It was revealed that she was the fourth. Susan Alfie, Shirley Tibbets and Frances Holway had gone before.

Adjournment (118:30 elapsed)

Whereupon the meeting adjourned at approximately 8:42 p.m.