At the Francestown Select Board meeting on Monday, Town Administrator Jamie Pike started a discussion about the March 14 snowstorm and “what went right and what went wrong.” He suggested that the emergency operation plan needs an update. 

“There’s nothing inside of the book that even tells you when to go,” Pike said. 

Select Board Chair Scot Heath said he had heard a lot of comments from residents who felt that the town wasn’t prepared to help an aging population during emergency situations. 

“The No. 1 thing I was hearing was that we need a shelter not prone to the power going out,” he said.

The town is in the process of putting a generator into the police department, and “I think all these buildings need a freestanding generator,” said Heath.

The Select Board chose Heath as chair and ex-officio of the Planning Board again. Newly elected Select Board member Charlie Pyle was voted ex-officio of the Heritage Commission, and George Ravalico will be ex-officio to the ConVal Selectman’s Advisory Committee.

In another matter, resident Michael Tartalis came before the board to raise three concerns: potholes on Todd Road, the amount of salt the town is buying and why the town has so much black culvert pipe – he said he counted over 83 pieces. He said he believes with costs rising, the town should be focussing on using materials they already have and minimizing purchases.

“I’m a little concerned,” he said. “We’re investing our dollars, but I don’t think we’re investing them wisely.”

After Tartalis left, Ravalico said while he appreciated Tartalis bringing up the concerns, the Select Board isn’t in the habit of micromanaging the road agent or the highway team. Heath agreed and said they’d share the concerns with Road Agent Gary Paige.

Regarding the town’s interest in installing solar panels on three town buildings, Pike said he sent out 18 requests for quotes for a solar installation project, but had received only two responses. Ravalico said as excited as he was about the solar project, he wondered if some of the ARPA funds they planned to use for the project should go toward buying a generator and emergency shelter supplies for Town Hall and scaling down the planned solar project.

Pike also explained that the hydraulic pump for the trash compactor at the recycling center is having some issues and said next year, “I think we might want to put up for another non-lapsing article [on the town warrant].”

The board denied an application for a charitable real estate tax exemption for New England Forestry Foundation for the seventh time. Pike said the foundation must occupy the land to qualify for the exemption, which it does not. The board approved a charitable tax exemption for Francestown Improvement and Historical Society (FIHS) which does occupy its land. Pyle abstained from the vote as the president of FIHS. The Select Board also signed an agreement for a mobile generator.

At the end of the meeting, Heath tasked the board with bringing goals and objectives for the coming year to the next meeting.

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