Select Board approves employee handbook, hires new assessor contractor and clears encumbrances

At its meeting the Select Board approved several formal actions: the updated employee handbook was approved unanimously; the board voted to move forward with a new assessing contract with Whitney Consulting Group LLC after Corcoran Consulting gave 90 days' notice; the encumbrance list (updated total $288,450.43) was approved; and the board granted a resident permission to tap town maple trees for charitable donations.

Assessing contract: Susan reported Corcoran Consulting had given 90 days' notice and that the assessor assigned to Kingston (Katie) planned to join Whitney Consulting. The board moved to establish a new contract with Whitney Consulting Group LLC with contract details to be worked out by the select-board administrator and finance director and any budget adjustment submitted to the budget committee by the stated deadline. The motion carried unanimously.

Employee manual: Board members debated vacation-accrual approaches; one member objected to front-loading vacation while long-serving employees described the town's historical practice. After discussion a motion to approve the revised employee manual passed unanimously.

Encumbrances and capital items: The board reviewed encumbrances including a carryover from a PoET grant and voted to approve encumbrances with an updated total of $288,450.43. In discussion of warrant articles, members discussed rewording an article to raise and appropriate $50,000 toward a new fire tanker estimated at about $750,000 so that a small reserve would remain in the capital account.

Maple tapping: The board approved a request from resident Bob Lumnus to tap town maple trees again this season for charitable donations; the motion passed unanimously.

Minutes and next steps: The board approved minutes from Dec. 16, 2024. At the end of the session the chair called for a motion to go into nonpublic session under RSA 91-A.