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ANNUAL REPORT for the Town of BRIDGEWATER New Hampshire For the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 1990 ANNUAL REPORT for the Town of BRIDGEWATER New Hampshire For the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 1990 In Memory of KENNETH RAYMOND Ken lived and worked in the Bridgewater area most of his life. He served his community because he was proud of it. He devoted his life to love, honesty, sincerity and devotion. He always had a strong feeling and dedication to family, whether that was defined as his beloved wife, Marilyn, or in a larger sense to his friends and neighbors and the citizens of the community he so well served with pride and devotion. Ken served as police chief of the community for 20 years. In other capacities as dog officer and health officer of the community. The granite sign on the lawn in front of the town hall and fire station was donated as a memorial to Ken by his wife Marilyn, friends and neighbors. Ken will long be remembered by all who knew him. INDEX Town Officers 2 Selectmen s Report 4 ' Town Warrant 6 Town Budget Appropriations 8 Town Budget Revenues 10 Tax Rate Computations & Comparisons 11 Vendor Analysis Report 12 Trustees of the Trusts Funds 19 Auditor s Report 20 ' Public Library Report 26 Planning Board Report 27 Forest Fire Warden Report 28 Fire Department Report 29 Police Deptartment Report 30 Lakes Region Planning Comm Report 31 Grafton Commissioner s Report 32 ' Grafton County Senior Citizens Report 34 Sceva Speare Hospital Report 35 Vital Statistics 36 - 2 - TOWN OFFICERS March Town Meeting Town Clerk Patricia Mitchell 1991 Selectmen Terranccv Murphy 1991 William T. Thistle 1992 Maurice Jenness 1993 Treasurer Marilyn Raymond 1991 Trustees of Trust Funds Phyllis Clement 1996 Robert Miller 1992 Supervisors of Check Lists Eileen Linde 1992 Gladys Andrick 1994 Ilene Pollard 1996 Moderator Ronald Towne 1992 Library Trustees Mary Delashmit 1991 Elizabeth Cheney 1992 Catherine Drew 1993 School Board Member Nils Larson 1992 - 3 - APPOINTMENTS Tax Collector Margaret A. Thistle 1991 Forest Fire Warden Stephen Andricks Deputy Fire Wardens John Voelbel Greighton Gray Andrew Denton Paul MacVittie Planning Board Lawrence Denton, Chm Robert Williams Allen Dehls Ronald Olszak Warren Emmons Marilyn Raymond William Thistle, Ex. Off, Mary Jane Denton, Clerk Alternates: Col. Beverly Finkle Terrance Murphy Paul MacVitte Henry Crane Zoning Board of Adjustment Nils Larson, chm Ronald Towne Thomas Curran E. Wayne Thompson Katherine Miller Alternates: Charles Swanson David Cheney Conservation Committee Paul Macvittie,chm Mark Givens Thomas Curran Nancy Gray Col Beverly Finkle Marjorie Dehls Helyn Townsend Alternate Chief of Police John Voelbel Fire Chief David Bartlett Building Inspector Fred Wilcox . - 4 SELECTMEN'S REPORT It is becoming increasingly apparent that people are under the impression the Board of Selectmen of a Municipality perform the scheduling and layout of day to day operations of various departments within a Town. This is definitely not the case. It is the responsibility of the department heads to assume these duties within their department. The Selectmen handle the prudential affairs of the Town. They are the managers and administer all Town affairs. In a private corp, the board of directors instruct management how to run a business. In a Town, the Town Meeting is the board of directors, and the voters, through theirs votes, convey their intents to the Selectmen, who are the managers. These directions are passed on to the various department heads. It is then their responsibility to handle all day to day applications There must be complete cooperation, coordination and trust between all departments for any business or Town to be successful. If there is a breakdown between departments, an undercurrent exists and tends to undermine the successful operation within a business or community. Whenever a breakdown does occur, the Selectmen will take all necessary steps to correct this unruly situation. In some cases, it may take a while and patience must prevail. As always the Town is in excellent financial condition. Our indebtedness is small and reducing annually. We did have a small deficit at the end of 1990. With the economic conditions as they are, we have attempted to hold the line on spending where ever possible for the coming year. The increase in the refuse disposal item is necessary to absorb the loss of revenue when the Town of Alexandria did not renew their contract effective last Town Meeting. A slight increase in the fire dept is necessary to offset the increase in the annual assessment for the Lakes Region Dispatch service. We have included an additional $4500 in the police dept budget for use of the Grafton County Sheriff's police dispatch. The Selectmen instituted this proceedure to improve communi- cations between the citizens of the Town and the police dept. The area ambulance service is now operated by the Town of Bristol and they have requested a substantial increase in the Town's apportionment. Some budget figures show an increase over last year. This is due to the shifting of some expenses from one item to another within the budget. A bookkeeping adjustment. There will be an increase in the tax base to offset a large amount of the necessary increases. The net town budget is up $13,900 over the last years budget for a 5% increase over 1990. We project 1991 tax rate to be $6.25 per 1000 for an increase in the rate of less than 1% over 1990.