Table Of Content

mi Annual Report 1991 Northumberland New Hampshire Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries http://archive.org/details/annualreportofto1991nortu Annual Report Town ofthe Municipal Officers of the of Northumberland New Hampshire INDEX Directory of Officials j, Report to Citizens 6 Audit Information 7 Statement of Appropriations & Taxes 13 ComDarative Statement 14 Statements of Bonding 16 Town Clerk/Tax Collector's Reports 19 P^evenues, Expenses & Water Department Reports 22 Treasurer's Report 25 Trust Fund Report 26 Library Report 27 1991 Town Meeting Summary 29 Water Project 31 Solid Waste 35 Police Department Report 37 Recreation Department 39 Conservation Commission Report 41 Groveton Foundation 42 North Country Council 43 Vital Statistics 44 Groveton Village Precinct Reports and Warrant 47 Property Valuations 50 Report of School District 61 For the Fiscal Year ending December 1991 31, Printed bySherwin DodgePrinters Northumberland Board of Selectmen '-.',,'"' From the Fellows Road in Guildhall Elmer Treamer at Board of Selectmen's Meeting Sleigh Competition at Potter Farm ELECTED OFFICIALS Selectmen Michael Mills (1992) (3-year term) David Goulet (1993) John Normand (1994) Town Clerk/Tax Collector Theresa Brooks (1993) (3-year term) Town Treasurer Pamela Styles (1993) (3-year term) Precinct Commissioners Bradley Tetreault (1992) (3-year term) Frederick Robinson (1993) H. Lee Rice, Sr. (1994) Supervisors of the Checklist Ann Pelchat (1992) (6-year term) Nancy Marshall (1994) Hazel Paradis (1996) Library Trustee Roselyn Wheelock (1992) (3-year term) Marion Rowden (1993) Ellen Gries (1994) Moderator Allan Merrow (1992) (2-year term) Trustee of Trust Funds Lillian Landry (1992) (3-year term) Sharon Maguire (1993) Beth McMann (1994) APPOINTED OFFICIALS Town Manager Ronald Gilbert Bookkeeper/ Deputy TC-TC Frances Rich Chief of Police Highway Foreman David McMann Civil Defense Director Shepard Tlahurin Fire Chief James Sanborn Librarian Nancy Scroggins Assistant Librarian Tjena Mills Health Officer Robert I. Hinkley, M.D. Recreation Commission Alan VJheelock (1992) (3-year term) Bill Everleth (1992) Shirley MacDow (1993) Denise Paugh (1993) Lisa Tetreault (1994) Planning Board Judith Merriam (1992) (3-year term) Mary Sloat (1993) David Auger (1993) Michael Mills (Selectman) Nancy Phillips (1994) Zoning Board of Adjustment Nancy Phillips (1993) (5-year term) Les Joy (1993) Merle Damon (1994) David Goulet (Selectman) Vacant (1995) Cemetery Sexton Thomas Covell Cemetery Committee Forrest Maguire Thomas Covell Cliff Powers Gordon Armstrong Housing Authority Lorna Hurlbutt (1992) Reverend Ann Partner (1993) Robert Styles (1994) Evelyn Shoff (1995) Larry Gray (1996) Ambulance Director Gordon Armstrong Conservation Commission J. Richard Potter Paul Crosby Michael Phillips Mary Sloat Bernard Bushey Barbara Tetreault Ed Mellett Doug Menzies REPORT TO CITIZENS Following are 1991 highlights in town government and is provided for informational purposes only. The new solid waste transfer station/recycling facility became fully operational in the fall of 1991. With the help of outstanding cooperation from residents, operations at the facility are functioning extremely well. Rough estimates indicate that Northumberland residents are recycling about 1/3 of its solid waste. That figure accounts for significant savings for taxpayers for the disposal of the town's solid waste. From time to time minor changes in collection and hand- ling procedures will be required and the public will be notified as the need occurs. During 1991 two attempts at providing a state and federally approved public water system were rejected by the voters. Following these votes, the board of selectmen decided to place this federal and state mandate for an approved water system in a broader based committee composed of lay people who had an interest in studying this matter in detail and recommending to the board of selectmen what direction to follow regarding this matter. It is hoped that this committee's recommendations can be ready for the 1992 town meeting. Commercial and industrial development is continuing to be a subject for study among town officials and other interested individ- uals from within and outside our community. The catalyst for this project is both the troubled economic climate in general and the concerns generated by the announcement that the James River facility in Groveton was for sale. It is expected that this local development committee will give attention to matters relating to retaining commercial and industrial concerns presently located here and work- ing at attracting other commercial and industrial development. The street light replacement project is now complete. As a result the town's street lighting costs have been significantly reduced and have remained fairly static at this reduced level. The town's new backhoe was purchased in early sping of 1991. At this time four of the five original lease payments remain. Having our own backhoe adds a great deal of flexibility in scheduling needed repairs and in the long run will significantly reduce costs associated with backhoe use. Also backhoe ownership allows the town to better serve its residents. Town officials are being ever increasingly challenged at control- long the municipal portion of the property tax rate in the light^of ever-increasing mandates from the federal and state government regarding infrastructure improvements to facilities such as sewer, water and solid waste. A great part of this challenge is involved with the fact that all town services are supported mainly by the property tax. We will continue to do the best we can at controlling costs but it appears that alternative funding sources are needed to assist the property tax payer. Ronald J. Gilbert Town Manager . FRANCIS DINEEN & CO J. CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS ;IS J. DINEEN, C.P.A. 5 MIDDLE STREET- LANCASTER, N.H 03584 iG WHAN KIM, C.PA. 603 788-4928 603 788-4636 603 788 3830 June 25, 1991 TRANSMITTAL AND COMMENTARY LETTER Board of Selectmen Town of Northumberland Groveton, New Hampshire 03582 Members of the Board: We have audited the financial statements of the various funds and account groups of the Town of Northumberland for the year ended December 31, 1990 and have issued our report thereon, dated June 15, 1991. As part of our audited, we reviewed and tested the Town's system of internal accounting control to the extent we considered necessary to evaluate the system as required by generally accepted auditing standards. Under these standards, the purpose of such evaluation is to establish a basis for reliance thereon in determining the nature, timing and extent of other such auditing procedures that are necessary for expressing an opinion on the financial statements. Such study and evaluation disclosed the following conditions that should be corrected in order to improve the Town's internal control system. Our following remarks are being made in the hope that they will improve existing procedures and are in no way a criticism of Town personnel 1) Need Formalized Policy Regarding Vacation and Sick pay The Board of Selectmen should prepare and adopt a formal policy on the accrual and payment of accrued vacation and sick pay. The adoption of this policy could be extremely helpful in the future in avoiding possible litigation or contingent liabilities. 2) Document all Adjustments to Accounting Records During the audit it was difficult to find readily available explanations for adjustments made to general ledger accounts. Recommendation Documentation of adjustments to accounting records should be complete and accurate and chronicled in a systematic fashion, that would make these adjustments easily assessable. All adjusting accounting journal entries should be dated and numbered and bound in a formal journal book. 3) Town needs to Improve the Computer Generated Financial Statements Since 1990 was the first year the Town generated financial statements utilizing their computer, some areas of the computer accounting system need improvement. 1. The computer generated financial statements commingled several funds activities together. 2. Accounting for some Special Revenue activities was done through only one General Ledger account, which recorded both revenue and expenditure transactions. During our audit, we conducted extensive analyses breaking out the various revenue and expenditure transaction to prepare meaningful financial statements. We believe that this commingled fund computer accounting system does not provide Town management with meaningful data to make appropriate business decisions during the year. Recommendation The Town should discontinue this practice of commingling funds and ask the computer company to establish a complete set of accounts within each fund for assets, liabilities, fund balances, revenue and expenditures. 4) Review Procedure should be Implemented for Journal Entries A substantial amount of additional audit time was expended in the current audit period reclassifying incorrect journal entries. Recommendation A review procedure should be initiated that will produce accurate financial statements. Each month a review should be made of the General Ledger trial balances, so that erroneous journal entries could be corrected immediately. 5) Necessity for Centralized Cash Register The Town could improve the processing of cash receipts and reduce the likelihood of errors or irregularities if any, with a centralized computer cash register. Recommendation The Town should consider acquiring a computer cash register that has the ability to merge with the Town's current computer system.