TOWN OF COLUMBIA
The Supervisors of the Checklist will be in session on Tuesday, October 27, 2026 from 4:00 am to 4:30 pm at the Columbia Town Office for the purpose of making corrections /additions to the checklist.
Diane Little
Stacey Campbell
Kristin Brooks
Supervisors of the Checklist
Meeting began at 6:00 pm. Present were Selectmen Stohl and Pike, Selectman Cloutier was absent.
Checks and manifests were reviewed and signed.
The Board discussed the amount of compensation to be paid to Thomas Frizzell for providing music at the recent Columbia Bridge Dance. The Board decided to pay Mr. Frizzell $400.00.
An Intent to Cut was approved for Thomas Zuk.
At 6:10 assessor Gary Fournier entered the meeting. Mr. Fournier informed the Board that he was continuing to work on the revaluation but was not as close to finishing it as he would like to be. He said that he planned to do final reviews next week. The letters informing people of their new values are hopefully going to go out the first part of October with hearings in mid-October. The Board discussed having a public meeting once the values are set to inform the public of the increase in valuations and to hopefully answer questions. No actual date was set. Mr. Fournier left the meeting.
At 6:30 Road Agent Dominic Westover entered the meeting. The Board and Mr. Westover discussed the amount remaining in the summer road budget (approximately $56,000) and how best to spend it. Mr. Westover gave the Board some suggestions such as:
1. Paving aprons at the intersection of certain roads to prevent washing.
2. He said he plans on spending about $46,000 which would leave $10,000 for any items that come up before the end of the fiscal year.
3. Carr Road needs a couple of loads of gravel
4. Mr. Westover said that he had rented a roll-off container from J.K. Lynch in order to get read of a pile of culverts that had been removed from various roads.
5. The Town Line sign on Titus Hill Road is missing. Marcia will order one.
Mr. Westover left the meeting at approximately 7:30 pm.
Bids for plowing the Town Hall and Town Office were open. The Town only received one bid from Sheldon Gray Construction. On a motion made by Selectman Stohl and seconded by Selectman Pike the Board voted to award the bid to Sheldon Gray Construction.
A letter granting Keith Whitehill permission to erect a “tree stand” on the Town’s property was signed.
The Board reviewed the MS-535 and the MS-60 which were both prepared by Cohos Advisors. Marcia will take care of submitting them to DRA.
Marcia informed the Board members that the Tessier transaction had closed and the Town had received all money owed to us. Marcia said she was unsure how to account for these funds and had sent an e-mail to the auditors for guidance. The Board signed the Quitclaim Deed deeding the property back to Mr. and Mrs. Tessier.
Selectman Pike reviewed the recent Recycling Center meeting and the issues that will be coming up in the near future which will impact the Town’s appropriation.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Parkhurst, Secretary
Board of Selectmen
Meeting began at 5:54 pm. Present were Selectmen Cloutier, Stohl and Pike.
Checks and manifests were reviewed and signed.
On a motion made by Selectman Pike and seconded by Selectman Stohl, the Board approved the minutes of the August 26th meeting. (Selectman Cloutier abstained.)
At 6:05 pm Thomas Cassin entered the meeting. Mr. Cassin came to discuss the following subjects:
1. Pistol permit issue
2. Mr. Cassin was asking about installing a ham radio tower on his property. The Board instructed him to contact the Planning Board.
Mr. Cassin left the meeting at 6:30 pm
Marcia gave each Board member a reconciliation report of the Town’s bank accounts.
Selectman Pike reviewed for the other two members the recent Recycling Center meeting.
A quote was received from Sheldon Gray Construction for plowing the Town Hall and Town Office for the winter. Marcia will place an ad in the newspaper requesting bids for this. Bids will be opened at the next meeting.
The Board discussed pre-buying oil for the Town Office for the upcoming winter. The Board instructed Marcia to check with both local oil companies on Friday. Whichever one is lower, then Marcia should purchase it.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Parkhurst, Secretary
Board of Selectmen
MINUTES
August 26, 2026
Meeting began at 5:58 pm. Present were Selectmen Stohl and Pike. Selectman Cloutier was absent.
Mail was reviewed.
Checks and manifests were reviewed and signed.
At 6:00 pm Keith Smith entered the meeting. Mr. Smith has a camp on Kelsea Notch Road (right before the State gate) and he would like permission to cut a couple of trees that are leaning into the road. After discussing it, the Board gave Mr. Smith permission to cut the trees. Mr. Smith left the meeting at 6:10 pm.
A letter was received from Michele Johnson asking the Town to put up some road signs indicating the sharp turn on Fish Pond Road. Marcia will take care of ordering two.
At 6:15 pm Giles DeBlois entered the meeting. Mr. DeBlois was requesting that the Town do some ditching and install a culvert on Trask Road around the DeBlois farm. Mr. DeBlois said he had spoken to Dominic previously about it. The Board said they would speak to Dominic about it also. Mr. DeBlois left the meeting.
Marcia also informed the Board that Road Agent Dominic Westover was asking if the Town could open an account with the State of NH so he could purchase fuel from the State gas pumps. Currently, there is no place close by to get gasoline 24 hours a day and it is helpful to be able to fuel up some place close during the winter when plowing. Mr. Westover had printed out an application. The Board instructed Marcia to fill it out and provide any information that is needed for this.
Marcia informed the Board that she had applied for an extension on the Town’s MS-1 to October lst.
A Veteran’s Tax Credit was approved for James Haley.
The Board reviewed Carrie Klebe’s request for an adjustment on her Yield Tax bill. After discussing it, the Board felt that the amount of the bill was fair. Marcia will send Ms. Klebe a letter.
At 6:30 pm the following people entered the meeting: Terry Rosi, Myra Ellingwood, Donald Campbell, Stacey Campbell and Joe Daley. The group was there to discuss plans (and concerns) regarding the upcoming Columbia Bridge Dance on September 12th. Mr. Daley expressed his concerns about closing the bridge as a lot of first responders use it. Selectman Stohl explained that the Town would be notifying Dispatch about the closure so they could route ambulances’, etc. around. Mr. Daley was also concerned about parking. Mrs. Campbell said that the Town had received approval from landowners (on the Vermont side) Clark Jeffers and David White to use their property to park on. Mr. Daley left the meeting.
The remaining people continued to discuss final plans for the event. It was noted that Mary Gray (co-owner) of the house next door to the bridge was very concerned about people being on her property. The Board instructed Marcia to ask Ms. Gray if she would like the Town to “mark” her property with stakes and ribbons to prevent people from going there. (Marcia will contact her.) If was noted that perhaps we should meet again on September 9th to make sure everything was ready. At 7:10 everyone left the meeting except for Mr. Campbell.
Mr. Campbell explained that he had recently done a little work to the central vacuum at the office and that he thought perhaps it was time for a new one. He will check around and get some prices for the Board.
The Board (and Mr. Campbell) discussed the Tessier tax issue. Marcia will provide the Board with up to date numbers for the taxes, legal costs, etc. that are owed to the Town. Selectman Stohl made a motion seconded by Selectman Pike to abate the interest only on the amount owed. Mr. Campbell said that the closing is supposed to be taking place sometime next week. Mr. Campbell left the meeting.
The Board reviewed revenues received for the first half of the year and updated those items necessary. Marcia will file the MS-434 (Revised Revenue Form) with the State.
Marcia reminded the Board that the State Primary was on Tuesday, September 8th and that they needed to be around during the day and available after the polls close to help count ballots and seal the ballot boxes.
A Yield Tax Warrant and Excavation Tax Warrant were signed by the Board.
Selectman Pike gave an update to the Board about the recent Recycling Center meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 8:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Parkhurst, Secretary
Board of Selectmen
Meeting began at 6:00 pm. Present were Selectman Stohl and Pike. Selectman Cloutier entered the meeting via phone at 7:00 pm.
Mail was reviewed.
Checks and manifests were reviewed and signed.
On a motion made by Selectman Stohl and seconded by Selectman Pike, the Board approved the minutes of the July 7, 2026 meeting.
At 6:30 pm Lee Kershaw entered the meeting. Mr. Kershaw came to the meeting to discuss his recent Yield Tax bill. Mr. Kershaw explained to the Board that he didn’t really make any money off the sale of the wood that was cut and, in fact, had to pay the logger an additional fee. After discussion, the Board voted to abate $176.01 off the total bill. Mr. Kershaw left the meeting.
At 6:45 Road Agent Dominic Westover entered the meeting. He gave each Board member a quote from Dorman Paving for doing six different sections of Meridan Hill Road for a total price of $90,520. The Board discussed the total amount of the summer road budget ($200,000.00) and the amount spent to date ($28,351.91). On a motion made by Selectman Cloutier and seconded by Selectman Stohl, the Board voted to have the work done. (Selectman Pike abstained.) Mr. Westover left the meeting.
An Abatement was signed for Gregory Archambault in the amount of $7.97. Marcia explained that this was an error on her part.
Marcia informed the Board that she would be taking some vacation time on August 10-13th. Letters will be sent to all of the August registration residents.
At the present time, we have collected 87% of our first issue tax bill and there have been 200 on-line transactions since January lst.
The Board discussed including generators and solar panels in the assessment process. The Board would like Marcia to contract assessor, Jason Call, with several questions:
1. Solar panels – do we do all panels or just larger one. (Do we need a policy on this?)
2. Generators – do we do all generators or just the “stand by” ones? (Again, do we need a policy on this?)
3. How do other Town’s do it?
4. The income method for businesses. The only actual business we have in Town is Blue Mt. Variety but what about Christmas tree companies and/or maple sugaring operations.
Meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Parkhurst, Secretary
Board of Selectmen