Government Oversite

Welcome to the Carroll County NH Commissioners meeting from 1/15/14. Commissioners: David Babson, David Sorensen and Asha Kenney collectively administer the business of the County. The Board exercises budgetary control over County operations and prepares the annual budget for the approval by the County Delegation. The Board met at the County Administration Building, 95 Water Village Rd, Ossipee and began this meeting at 10:00 am.


Video Analysis: COMPLETE


Encrypted Analysis: f16vrguzR5orfQ68559eKPmTig40OHjw



00:01 Meeting begins at 10:07am; Sorensen gives clarification about a statement he made from last weeks meeting regarding public input; Background: (during last weeks meeting Sorensen made a statement that public comment is public comment and is not meant to be question and answer.) debating versus public comments; Sorensen makes it clear that his statement was not meant to inhibit public participation; Rich Zacher, Brookfield Selectmen, comments on the County Website and times of operation; snow day closings; brief discussion of how weather related closings are handled; contact numbers; website postings; WMUR postings;


05:00 Steve Brown, Wakefield resident; reason why meeting began at 10:00am; MVC breakfast; trash contract being reviewed in Non Public; claims and litigation; Brown is concerned the the trash contract should not be done in non public; contracts versus union contracts; 91a law as it relates to the review of the trash contract; Sorensen discusses the bidding process and gives the reason why it is being done in non public; Brown- “did the contract go out to bid?” Sorensen- “No, we got three bids”


10:00 Discussion of sending the trash contract out to bid; North Conway Incinerator; Cassella; Waste Management; existing contract expires in August 1st; Brown- Waste Management bid; Mellisa Seamans, Carroll County Independent; County bid policy; temporary injunction ordered to stop disposal or destruction of County records: Docket Number: 212- 2014- CV- 00008; Superior Court Judge Fauvor;


15:00 Seamans; requests information regarding a petition filed against the County and the County Commissioners filed by Ed Comeau of GovernmentOversite.com; Seamans asks for the investigation results regarding complaints against the County Commission by the former Captain of the HOC, Capt. Fowler; Sorensen states he has not seen the final report; Liz Bailey; commissioners discuss the process of the investigation; Kenney states that she was not notified about the completion of the investigation; HR, Wynette Degroot announces good news regarding a wellness challenge through the inter-local trust; health insurance wellness challenge;


20:00 Howard Chandler, Becky Mason, MVC, air conditioner mechanical problems; icing conditions; Bob Murray; unusual icing condition that made the unit fall over; pinched refrigerant line; electric supply line pulled; seasonal use of air conditioning; estimates for repairs; photographs; accident report; Trane; contract negotiations; continuing educational support; nurses; expanding to other positions;


25:00 Becky Mason reports on the continuing education process; offered scholarships; LPN; RN’s; tuition reimbursement; finding positions after training; collection mechanism if the employee leaves;


30:00 Chandler, not being able to guarantee positions after program completion; two year program; Mason gives program details; meeting qualifications; recouping tuition funding if employee leaves area; Chandler gives recommendations; rewarding with financing; creating a pool of funds; legal process;


35:00 Delegation involvement regarding the control of the County budget and the Continuing Education Funds; Commissioner fund versus a MVC fund; comparison- Sheriff’s department funding for continuing education; tuition reimbursement; training existing employees versus hiring new; Loan versus scholarships;


40:00 Granite State College suspension of LPN nursing program; State Board of Nursing Approval; Berlin Community College Program; North Conway; lagging enrollment; requirement of a Bachelors degree versus a Associates; filling positions at the MVC; agency use; Family Medical Leave Act; premium per diem use; Obama Care;


45:00 Scheduling Per Diem; employees on Medical Leave; resisting overstaffing; Babson, congratulates Chandler and Mason on their staff and their direction of staff; using existing staff more efficiently versus overuse of per diem; reducing scheduled overtime;


50:00 Orientation of new employees; resentment between staff and per diems; WORK SESSION ITEMS Anne Aiton, Registrar of Deeds; drafting tables that are being removed from the Registrar; selling the tables; storing the tables until sale; local school use; amending the ROD budget;


55:00 Amending the Registrar of Deeds budget- new file racks; Commissioner and Delegation approval; discussion- details of budget changes; MOTION to purchase the Safeco file system for 22,581.42- equipment surcharge fund; passes unanimous;


1:00:00 ENERGY AUDIT EEI; past energy audits; lighting updates; MISSION STATEMENT getting input; collaborative effort; Commission goals; published annual report; Babson frequency of electric bill, unsigned checks, Babson asks Kenney why she didn’t sign the milage reimbursement;


1:05:00 Kenney intimates that the milage charged by the Recording Secretary to take delegation minutes is too expensive; Secretary charged $50; Delegation responsibility; discussion- how mileage is determined; requesting miles travelled; Babson reports on how past recording secretaries tallied their milage; Babson argues that Kenney charged for and signed her own checks for milage in the past;


1:10:00 Babson argues that Kenney charged for and signed her own checks for milage in the past; Kenney goes on to say that Babson is “bullying around” Kenney continues to point out that Babson continues to sign for “Your girlfriend” TRASH COLLECTION CONTRACT Chandler, RSA 28:8; 5,000 cap; services; Babson reports on Waste Management; Babson points out that now that the bids are being discussed in public, due to Brown’s earlier insistence that the trash contract is not Non Public “Waste Management can now do anything they want with the prices” Babson- not corruption, but the commissions attempt at saving money; negotiated agreement versus bid prices;


1:15:00 Sorensen asks Steve Brown: with knowing the circumstances and the route the commission took regarding the trash contract what is his opinion; Brown- does the trash contract have anything to do with the temporary injunction that stops the County from removing or destroying documents?; Sorensen- NO!, we are not going their; Brown reads the injunction; Sorensen states that the discussion of disposing of old records was discussed in Non Public: Sorensen- how does Brown know of a discussion in Non Public session? continuation of existing trash contract; Babson questions Brown about his charge that the Commission is acting in a corrupt manner by how they are handling the Trash contract; Brown adds that the County has a chairman “that will blatantly lie about an Email, what else won’t he lie about within a 28.3 million dollar County budget; Kenney asked about solicited companies for trash removal; compactor;


1:20:00 Babson- saving money; compactor and recyclable hauling expenses; Sorensen reads email from trash servicer who stated he could not accommodate; Sorensen reads another email from another provider that also cannot accommodate; replicating existing process; Kenney insists that the trash contract be put out to bid;


1:25:00 The legal bidding process; Sorensen to Kenney- if the bid comes back higher will Kenney agree to pay the difference?; Facilities director, Bob Murray, states that he fears a missed opportunity to save the County money” Sorensen- we will put it out to bid and accept the consequences, but it won’t be on my shoulders; Babson makes MOTION to extent the contract to Waste Management; 2nd; Babson- yes, Sorensen- yes, Kenney - appose; motion fails- Trash contract goes out to bid; REVEIW OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES Babson commends the recording secretary for “excellent minutes” corrections;


1:30:00 Corrections; Sorensen makes a statement that all the minutes reviewed last year is in the hands of the County Clerk; Recording secretary discusses an amendment to last weeks non public minutes;


1:35:00 Commission reviews non public minutes; Motion to accept non public session of January 28th; Kenney 2nd; Sorensen asks how are they being sealed; Sorensen asks for a role call vote; motion passes; discussion of accepting the Babson’s addendum; Babson reports on a discussion he had with Jason Johnson, HOC Superintendent about the County Jail budget; Babson reports on his testimony regarding a House Bill on election of commissioners;


1:40:00 Babson discusses the County election processes; Public Comment Mellisa Seamans discusses the trash bidding process; RSA 28:8- competitive bidding on purchases; contracting for services; asks for the status on safes or fireproof cabinets; Brown- trash contract; temporary injunction; asks Sorensen if in fact their was a conversation in Non Public to hire a company to dispose of County documents?


1:45:00 Kenney states that a discussion of disposing of County documents does not meet the criteria of a Non Public; “it is a public discussion” Mellisa Seamans asks Kenney if she told someone about the disposal of documents; Kenney says “No” “but, even if it was you admit that stuff was done in non public” Seamans asks who was present in the non public meeting; Sorensen, Babson, Kenney and Wynette Degroot; MOTION Babson- to recess until 1:00pm; Kenney 2nd; unanimous; Sorensen asks Steve Brown to write down when he lied; Sorensen- I don’t normally lie, but I may have to clarify what I said like I did today” Brown- January 18th of 2012.