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7 ANNUAL REPORT for the Town of DANBURY New Hampshire For the Fiscal Year Ending DECEMBER 31, 1999 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Boston Library Consortium IVIember Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/annualreportfort1999danb ANNUAL REPORT for the Town of DANBURY New Hampshire For the Fiscal Year Ending DECEMBER 31, 1999 Printed by P.M. Piper Printing, LLC Franklin, N.H. ABOUT THE FRONT COVER The frontcoverdepictstheresults ofanEagleScoutProjectcompletedby AdamHatchofBoyScoutTroop#52ofDanbury.Thefollowingisacondensed version ofhis final report. TheprojectIplannedwas tomake "WelcometoDanbury"signsforthe threeentrancesintotown.Manyofthelargertownswereputtingupwelcome signs, and I thought it would be nicefor Danbury to have them as well. I thoughtthatputtingdaffodilsonthemwouldbeanicewayofhonoringMrs. Ogmundson and the school children for all their hard work in planting daffodils all over town. Mrs. Ogmundson was a third grade teacher in Danbury who encouraged the school children to strive to make their town more beautiful. The ideaofthisprojectwas toshowa communityspiritofhospitality. I discussed theproject with my Scoutmasteron theeleventh ofFebruaryand withDonna Sprague, thecommitteeservicechairperson, thesamenightand both agreed it was agood idea. I planned on using plywood, 2x4's and 4x4's to build the signs. Bob Wasonagreedtodotheworktobuildthesigns.KathleenGironawouldpaint theflowers on thesigns and my troop wouldhelp to put them up. The only timescheduleIhadwastofinishthembeforeIwastoooldforScouts. Theonly safety hazard I could think ofwould be injuries due to the woodworking machinery. To minimize that risk I let Bob Wason, who is an experienced carpenter, handle the machinery. TheprojectwasstartedonJuly23rdandcompletedon October7, 1999. The total cost for the project was $237.44. The Alexandria Power Plant donatedtheflatstockneededfortheprojectandthreetenfootpineplanksand posttopsweredonatedbyothers. Ispentatotaloftwelvehoursplanningand twenty-three hours ofwork, and volunteers donated a total ofsixty-three hours. Thesevolunteers includedmyparents. BobWason, Kathleen Girona, Ryan Haynes, MikeMaines, EricMaines, RichardMaines, Brian MacKay andJoshua Hatch. The biggest thing I learned while doing this project is that you can't alwaysplanonthingshappeningexactlywhenpeoplesaytheywilldothings. The time schedule has to be kept real flexible to fit into everyone else's schedules. Thingsdidn'talwaysgetdoneexactlywhenIthoughtheywould, but theydidget done. 1999ANNUALREPORT TOWN OFDANBURY TABLE OF CONTENTS Town Officers 4 The Selectmen's Report 6 Minutes of 1999TownMeeting 9 SummaryInventory ofValuation 14 Tax Rate Computation 15 Comparative Statement ofAppropriations and Expenditures 16 SummaryofTrustFunds Accounts 17 Treasurer's Report 19 Tax Collector's Report 20 Town Clerk's Report 22 Budget Committee Report 23 MBA Supplemental Schedule - 24 Auditors' Report 24 Schedule ofLong-TermIndebtedness 25 Schedule ofTown Property 25 George Gamble LibraryReport 26 DanburyTownWarrant 27 Budget 30 Detailed Statement ofExpenditures 34 DanburyPlanningBoard 43 PoliceDepartmentReport 45 DanburyVolunteerFire & EMS Commissioner's Report 47 Community Action Program Report 48 Bristol CommunityServices 49 Lakes Region Planning Commission 50 Kearsarge Area Council on Aging, Inc 51 UNH Cooperative Extension 52 Bristol Community CenterReport 53 ForestFireWarden and StateForest Ranger 54 BlazingStar Grange #71 55 Danbury Community Center 56 SummerRecreationProgram 57 Lake Sunapee Region VNA 58 VitalStatistics 60 PAGE4 TOWNOFDANBURY TOWN OFFICERS Moderator Town Clerk Treasurer MattDenton Sylvia Hill Christie Phelps Selectmen James M. Larkin Term expires 2000 StevenD. Gordon Term expires2001 Alfred (Duke) Reed Term expires2002 Tax Collector Deputy Tax Collector Sylvia Hill MargaretBarnett ChiefofPolice Detective Sergeant Stephen Corsetti Dale Cook J. Patrolman Special Officer Admin. Assistant NormanDaigneault Jean Corsetti Betty Egge Supervisors ofthe Checklist Dorothy McGonnigal Term expires 2000 Louise Huntoon Term expires 2002 Linda Sargent Term expires 2004 Library Trustees Mary Quinn Term expires 2000 PhyllisWiggin Term expires 2001 Anna Tanguay Term expires 2002 Trustees ofTrust Funds Sue-Anne Bourbeau Termexpires 2000 Debbie DeSantis Term expires2001 PenelopeDusio Appointed RoadAgent Auditor Ricky Moran Leo Zaccaria Municipal Budget Committee Donald Buebendorf Term expires2000 Carl Huard Term expires2000 Jean Corsetti Term expires2001 ChristopherBraley Resigned Carl Macuch Appointed William Egge Resigned Jon Schurger Term expires 2001 John Puhlhorn Appointed James M. Larkin Ex-Officio (2000) 1999ANNUALREPORT PAGES Representative to the Representative to the School Board School Budget Committee Wade Heberling ChristopherBraley- Resigned EmergencyManagement Director ForestFire Warden Andrew Phelps GlennDaniels PlanningBoard Albert Hopkins Term expires 2000 Mary Lynn Ray Resigned Phyllis Taylor Term expires 2001 Linda RayWUson Term expires2001 Jon Schurger Term expires2002 Debbie Phelps Term expires 2002 Dale Cook Alternate Eddie Phelps Alternate Steve Whitman Alternate Steven Gordon Ex-Officio (2001) Recreation Committee Gordon OrdwayJr. Term expires 2000 MarkPhelps Term expires 2001 Dale Cook Term expires 2001 KimberlyBarney Resigned Karen Padgett Appointed Cemetery Trustees Steve Corsetti Term expires 2000 Phyllis Taylor Term expires2001 TimothyMartin Term expires 2002 OFFICERS OF DANBURY VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT Lloyd A. West PAGE6 TOWNOFDANBURY 1999 SELECTMEN'S REPORT OnApril29,1999,GovernorShaheensignedH.B. 117whichcreatedanew mechanism for funding education. This law has impacted ourbudget in two ways. First, our tax rate went from $30.75 per thousand in 1998 to $25.92 per thousand in 1999, thus reducing our property taxes. Second, the legislature ordered the Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) to evaluate how eachcityandtownassessespropertyandrequiresDRAtomakerecommenda- tions for improvinglocal assessment practices where needed. In late Decem- ber, DRA spent several days reviewingDanbury's propertyrecord cards and noted that there were significant problems with our assessment practices. Several suggestionsweremade astohowtheseproblemscouldbeaddressed. Aftercarefullyreviewingalloptions,theSelectmenhaveconcludedthatdoing acompleterevaluationofallpropertieswouldbethemostfeasibleone forthe town.Therefore,attownmeetingyouwillbeaskedtoapproveawarrantarticle establishinga capital reserve fund forpropertyappraisal, aswell asanarticle requestingthat$10,000.00be placed into thatfund. Inthe followingyear, you willbe asked to fully fund a town-wide revaluation. There were several other events which occurred in 1999 that will impact ourtaxrate. Last fall, the Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid Association voted to assess each member community $22,200.00 in support of a new communica- tionsfacility. Afternumerousmeetings,theSelectmenhavedeterminedthatit isinthebestinterestofDanburytoremainintheLakesRegionAssociationfor theforeseeablefuture.Therefore,youwillbeaskedtoapproveawarrantarticle at town meeting in support ofthis activity. Through the summerand early fall, we experienced significantproblems withthewell thatsuppliesboth the communitycenterand townhall. Inspite of many efforts, we were unable to effectively eliminate bacteria from the water. Since the qualityofthe existingwaterpresents a significanthealthand safety hazard, we have concluded that digging a new well is our only viable option. Please note that within the General Government Buildings account, $10,000.00 hasbeen added for an artesian well. Atlastyear'stownmeeting. Article 13,purchaseofanewHighwaytruck, waspassedoverbecausetheadoptionofArticle12,buildingofanewHighway garage, wasapproved.Thisyearweareaskingvoterstoapprovethepurchase ofa new Highway truck. In 1995 the town paid foranInventory and Assessment ofRoad Surfaces conductedby the University ofNew Hampshire. Its purpose was to evaluate the condition of our major roads, provide alternatives for road repair and prioritizeroadconstructionprojects. NorthRoad andWalkerBrookRoadare considered as priorityprojects. Inhisbudgetrequest, theroadagentis asking for$33,500.00formajorworkonNorthRoad.TheSelectmenhavealsoincluded on the warrant, a request to raise and appropriate the sum of $50,000.00 for renovationofWalkerBrookRoad.Ifapproved,thisprojectwillbesentoutfor bid. Also, theSelectmenareconsideringaskingthe town to setaside a similar 1999ANNUALREPORT PAGE7 amount ofmoneyin future years for special road construction projects. PleasenotethattheSelectmenhavenotrecommendedanyincreaseinthe PoliceDepartmentbudgetfor2000.In1996,thePoliceChiefrecommendedand the citizens approved a warrant article to fund a professional management reviewoftheDanburyPoliceDepartment.Thisreviewwastobeconductedby theNHAssociationofChiefsofPolice.Thisreviewwasnotdone Inthelasttwo . years,thisBoardandtheBudgetCommitteewerepromisedtimeandagainthat athoroughevaluationoftheDanburyPoliceDepartmentwouldbeconducted in order to provide us with information that we could use for long-range planningpurposesandbudgetprojection.Thereviewwasnotdone Therefore, . theselectmenhavetakenapositionthatnoincreasesinthePoliceDepartment budget should be approved until the requested review is completed. Please further note that an article has been placed on the warrant to address this problem. The Selectmen are supporting the increased assessment for Ambulance Servicesfrom$5,070.00in 1999to$20,728.00in2000. Althoughthetownisnot required to provide this service, we believe that not providing ambulance services wouldjeopardize the safety of our citizens. However, the selectmen arealsoattemptingtoseekotherfundstohelpunderwritethesecosts.Further, wehavebeenasked toparticipateonBristol's studycommitteetoreviewand evaluate the future ofambulance services to our community. Therewere many other activities which occurred in town to make 1999 a most memorable year: the rebuildingoftheball field at Independence Park; the purchase ofa newFastSquadvehicle, thanks toourFireDepartment; breaking ground on the new Highway Garage; theopeningofa new 18-holechampionship golfcourseatRaggedMoun- tain; anothervery successful summerrecreation program; the adoption ofpublic assistance policies and personnel regulations; Converting the Town Clerk and Tax Collector's positions to salary only, withoutfees; Convertingthe Road Agent and Administrative Assistantpositions from hourly to salary; the adoption ofjunkyard policies and procedures; theperambulationofthetownlinesbetweenDanburyandWUmotandDan- buryandGrafton(withsincerethankstoAndyPhelpsandEdRoche);and, • the resolution ofaboundarylocation problembetweenDanbury and Hill. In ending our report for 1999, the Selectmen wish to recognize the followingindividualsandgroupsfortheirongoingeffortstomakeDanbury a wonderful place to live and raise a family: Our town employees; past and present members of the Planning Board, Budget Committee, Recreation PAGE8 TOWNOFDANBURY Department and Boards of Selectmen; the Danbury Volunteer Fire Depart- ment; Blazing Star Grange; Lee Knapp American Legion; business leaders; local churches; "Welcome to Danbury" sign maker, Adam Hatch; the staff members of the Danbury Workshop and Noel Phelps for his work on the stone walls. There is, however, one person that deserves additional recognition: If you want to see this man sitting down, you'd better look quick....it doesn't happen often. It is more likely that he is building a rockwall, cutting grass, chopping wood, assisting the elderly, making repairs (gratis) at Town Hall orumpiring one ofhis manyball games. He hasbeen a teacherforoverthirtyyears and a memberoftheDanbury Volunteer Fire Department for as long as anyone can remember. He is the Cemetery Sexton, the Danbury Emergency Management Director, a past SelectmanandapastBudgetCommitteeMember.Heisthefatherofthreeand grandfather oftwo, the latterbeing probably his favoritejob. Toofewtimes dowehavetheopportunitytopubliclyrecognizesomeone while they are still around to hear it. So to you, Andy Phelps, Danbury says: ThankYouForAll YourWork! Respectfully submitted, Steven D. Gordon James M. Larkin Alfred S. Reed