by admin | Jun 8, 2026 | Board of Selectmen Minutes
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 6:15 pm Wayne Dorman and Lynn Rancloes entered the meeting. Mr. Dorman explained that they were looking to get the Board’s opinion regarding the County moving the current nursing home from its Stewartstown location. Mr. Dorman said that he was looking to schedule a meeting of all the area Selectmen to discuss this issue. He gave the Board members a petition that is being circulated to show opposition to the plan. The Board told Mr. Dorman that they would be willing and interested in attending a meeting but that they weren’t comfortable with signing a petition until they know more about the alternatives. Mr. Dorman stated that he was going to continue to try and set up a meeting. Mr. Dorman and Ms. Rancloes left the meeting at 6:40 pm.
Road Agent Dominic Westover entered the meeting at 6:30 pm to discuss his meeting with a property owner (Craig Kellett) regarding South Jordan Hill Road/Gene Jordan Road. Selectman Pike gave some information about his recent telephone conversation with Ted Burns regarding the work that he had done
on Gene Jordan Road. It is unclear who has done the work up there but the Board noted that any work done on a Class VI road must be approved by the Board.
Patrick Carr entered the meeting at 6:45 to discuss the Town’s cemeteries. Mr. Carr said that he would be interested in doing some work in the Keach Road Cemetery. Specifically setting stones back up, repairing the ones he can, etc. He showed the Board pictures that he had taken of the worst ones. After discussing it further, Selectman Stohl made a motion which was seconded by Selectman Pike to hire Mr. Carr to do what repairs he could for the sum of $5,000.00. This money will be taken out of the Cemetery Maintenance Trust Fund. Marcia informed the Board that right now there is approximately $15,000 in the fund. An amount of $5,000 will be taken out soon to pay for the having Mike Lynch cut some brush/trees in the Columbia Bridge Cemetery. The $5,000 for Mr. Carr’s work will also come out of that Fund leaving a balance of approximately $5,000. It was noted that we should plan on adding to that fund at the next Town Meeting. Mr. Carr left the meeting.
On a motion made by Selectman Pike and seconded by Selectman Stohl, the Board approved the minutes of the May 27th meeting.
An Easement was signed for the Town to make a proper “turn around” for the plow truck, etc. This easement is on the property formerly owned by Tessiers. Marcia will have the easement recorded at the Registry of Deeds.
Meeting adjourned at 7:35 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Parkhurst, Secretary
Board of Selectmen
by admin | May 28, 2026 | Board of Selectmen Minutes
Meeting began at 6:00 pm. Present were Selectmen Stohl and Pike. Selectman Cloutier was absent.
On a motion made by Selectman Pike and seconded by Selectman Stohl the Board approved the minutes of the May 14, 2026 meeting.
Checks and manifests were reviewed and signed.
At 6:07 a phone call was received from Craig Kellett who owns a property on Gene Jordan Road. He called because he was concerned about Ted Burns doing work to the road. He stated that Mr. Burns has installed some “water bars” and that the previous weekend his wife’s car had “bottomed out” and sustained damage because of those bars. The Board explained that they were unaware that Mr. Burns was doing any work on a Class VI road and that he had not received permission from them. At this point, Road Agent Dominic Westover entered the meeting. It was decided that Mr. Kellett should meet with Mr. Westover on Saturday morning (at 10:00 am) to view the situation. Mr. Kellett ended the call.
Mr. Westover informed the Board of the following road matters:
1. Grading will start on Thursday at the south end of Town.
2. A culvert was replaced on Bunnell Road today and he is working on one on Carr Road.
3. At some point, he will have to rent a “dumpster” in order to get rid of all of the plastic culverts he is replacing.
4. An easement should be drawn up for a “turnaround” at the Tessier property while the Town still owns it. Marcia will type this up and have it ready for the next meeting. Marcia also informed Mr. Westover that the Rosenbergs on Stoddard Road had never signed theirs. Mr. Westover said he would remind them to come to the office and sign it.
Mr. Westover left the meeting at 6:25 pm.
Treasurer Carrie Klebe and Deputy Treasurer Sophie Goudreau entered the meeting. Ms. Klebe said they were just checking to see if the Selectmen needed anything from them. Ms. Klebe reminded the Board that we still have one last school payment due and asked when the tax bills would be coming out. Marcia stated that she hoped next week. Ms. Klebe and Mrs. Goudreau left the meeting at 6; 40 pm.
At 6:45 assessor, Gary Fournier, entered the meeting. The Board told Mr. Fournier that they felt before the issue of who would be defending values in front of the BTLA (if necessary) can be settled, that all parties needed to meet. (All parties being the Selectmen, Jason Call and Gary Fournier). The Board decided on a tentative meeting date of Thursday, June 4th, at 10:00 am. Marcia will contact Jason Call to see if this is agreeable to him and get back to everyone via e-mail. Mr. Fournier left the meeting at 7:00 pm.
An Intent to Cut was signed for Terrence Pfaff.
A Property Tax Warrant was signed by the Board without any totals. Marcia will fill in the totals once she gets the final assessment numbers.
It was decided to postpone doing the Yield Tax review until the entire Board could be present.
Meeting adjourned at 7:25 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Parkhurst, Secretary
Board of Selectmen
by admin | May 13, 2026 | Board of Selectmen Minutes
Checks and manifests were reviewed and signed.
Meeting began at 5:55 pm. Present were Selectmen Cloutier and Pike. Selectman Stohl was absent.
On a motion made by Selectman Pike and seconded by Selectman Cloutier, the Board approved the minutes of the April 22, 2026 meeting.
Mail was reviewed.
Marcia informed the Board that she had received quotes for work to be done at the Town Office as follows:
Pressure washing outside of building – $400.00
Washing windows/screens – $250.00
Deep cleaning of interior – $750.00
All of the work is to be done by Wicked Clean Windows. On a motion made by Selectman Cloutier and seconded by Selectman Pike, the Board approved the work to be done.
The Board discussed purchasing another fire proof cabinet to be used for storing property files. The Board needs to decide if the floor beams should be “upgraded” before putting another cabinet in. The cabinet is 500 pounds without any contents.
A quote was received and reviewed from Michael Lynch for cutting brush/trees at the Columbia Bridge Cemetery. On a motion made by Selectman Cloutier and seconded by Selectman Pike, the Board approved Mr. Lynch doing the work. Marcia will contact him.
Marcia said she had been contacted by Annmarie Gooch regarding the stones in the old East Columbia Cemetery. Selectman Cloutier said he would take a look at them and we would discuss it further at the next meeting.
An Abatement for Norman Tallmage in the amount of $4.00 for 2026 taxes was approved.
Marcia said she had recent conversations with our new assessor, Jason Call, and Gary Fournier (who is completing the revaluation from last year) regarding tax appeals and who will be handling them. Mr. Fournier has requested that Mr. Call handle any appeals to the BTLA stemming from the revaluation. More discussions with both parties need to take place before we can make a decision on this matter.
Monthly bank reconciliations for all bank accounts were given to the Board members.
Meeting adjourned at 6:55 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Parkhurst, Secretary
Board of Selectmen
by admin | Apr 22, 2026 | Board of Selectmen Minutes
Meeting began at 5:55 pm. Present were Selectmen Cloutier, Stohl and Pike.
Checks and manifests were reviewed and signed.
Mail was reviewed.
At 5:59 pm Jason Rella entered the meeting to attend the bid opening. Chairman Cloutier opened the bids received and read the results as follows:
Cemeteries Carr Property Services $7,000 (for season)
Yetti Yard Man $7,920 (for season)
Town Bldgs. Carr Property Services $1,750 (for season)
Yetti Yard Man $1,920 (for season)
On a motion made by Selectman Stohl and seconded by Selectman Pike, the Board voted to award both bids to Carr Property Services. Mr. Rella left the meeting at 6:15 pm.
A Supplemental Intent to Cut was approved for Savannahwood, LLC.
On a motion made by Selectman Cloutier and seconded by Selectman Pike, the Board approved the minutes of the April 8, 2026 meeting.
At 6:30 pm Donald and Stacey Campbell entered the meeting. Mrs. Campbell was there to discuss the following:
1. Town of Columbia float for July 4th parade in Colebrook. Mrs. Campbell will get in touch with some other residents and we will set up a meeting to discuss ideas, make plans, etc.
2. Joint “Columbia Covered Bridge Dance” to be held with the Town of Lemington. (Mrs. Campbell has already spoken to Myra Ellingwood of the Lemington Historical Society who expressed interest in the idea). The group talked about a date (September 11th), time (4:00 – 8:00) “pot luck meal and BYOB”. Selectman Stohl said he would look into how we could close “Columbia Bridge Road” for the night. Once we know we can close the road, we can continue to make additional plans.
Mr. Campbell spoke with the Board about the following:
1. Septic system at the Town Hall – determined at it was frozen Town Meeting Day.
2. Installed a spigot on the outside of the building and will be running the water to see if we could get it to clear up.
3. Discussed moving the handicapped ramp and rebuilding it.
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell left the meeting at 7:30 pm.
The Board reviewed the list of taxpayers who still owe their 2023 taxes. One taxpayer (who owns two properties) has agreed to make monthly payments beginning in May. The remaining taxpayer has not answered any correspondence from the Town. Marcia will draft a letter for the Selectmen to review. Once completed, we will give it to the Sheriff’s Department for “in hand” service.
Meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Parkhurst, Secretary
Board of Selectmen
by admin | Apr 8, 2026 | Board of Selectmen Minutes
Meeting began at 6:00 pm. Present were Selectman Cloutier and Pike, Selectman Stohl was absent.
Checks and manifests were reviewed and signed.
On a motion made by Selectman Pike and seconded by Selectman Cloutier, the Board approved the minutes of the March 25, 2026 meeting.
Four (4) Intent to Excavate forms were signed for Pike Industries.
The Board approved and signed a contract with Northtown Associates for the Town’s assessing (pickups) for 2026.
The Board approved and signed a contract with Brett Purvis & Associates to complete the revaluation by September, 2026.
Marcia told the Board that she had been contacted by DRA about the sales ratio study. Gary Fournier has not been able to complete it so DRA is going to finish it for us.
Donald Campbell entered the meeting at 6:35 pm to discuss a couple of maintenance issues at the Town Hall:
Septic system – going to have Bolens come to locate the tank
Handicap ramp – re-do and move it
Water system- let water run to see if it clears up/possible filter
Marcia informed the Board that she would be putting ads in the newspaper for mowing the Town’s cemeteries and the two buildings. The bids will be opened at the next meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 7:07 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Parkhurst, Secretary
Board of Selectmen
by admin | Mar 25, 2026 | Board of Selectmen Minutes
Meeting began at 6:00 pm. Present were Selectmen Cloutier, Stohl and Pike.
On a motion made by Selectman Cloutier and seconded by Selectman Pike, the Board approved the minutes of the March 11, 2026 meeting.
Checks and manifests were reviewed and signed.
The MS232 (Appropriations Approved) was signed.
The MS60W (Audit Waiver Request for 2025) was signed.
The Data Assessment Certification was signed. (Assessor Gary Fournier is working on our equalization ratio study.)
At 6:00 Jason Call (Northtown Associates) entered the meeting (along with his associate). Mr. Call and the Board discussed what our assessing needs are going forward. For 2026 it will be pick-ups only. Then 2027 through 2031 will be our next cyclical revaluation. Mr. Call said that he had spoken with Gary Fournier since this year will be a little different as we are still finishing up the 2025 revaluation. Mr. Call said they would be interested in providing our assessing services going forward. The Board all agree that they were pleased to get someone local and someone that already knew the Town. Mr. Call said he would be providing us with a contract. Mr. Call (and associate) left the meeting at 6:45 pm.
On a motion made by Selectman Cloutier and seconded by Selectman Pike, the Board voted to enter non-public session as per RSA 91-A:3, paragraph II (e) at 6:55 pm.
On a motion made by Selectman Stohl and seconded by Selectman Cloutier, the Board voted to return to regular session at 7:05 pm.
The Board signed a letter drafted by Marcia and Attorney Chris Boldt to be sent to Jason Young regarding his Right-to-Know request.
The Board reviewed a list of taxpayers who have not paid their 2023 property taxes yet and are eligible for tax deeding. Marcia will send a letter to each taxpayer.
The Board reviewed an e-mail from Donald Campbell regarding the well at the Town Hall and suggestions regarding clearing up the water.
Selectman Cloutier noted that the Road Agent had informed him that we have two culverts that have collapsed and need to be replaced once the weather gets better. One is on Bunnell Road and one is on Meriden Hill Road.
Selectman Stohl stated that he had attended the Dispatch Center meeting and that Raymond Gorman was elected as the new Chairman of the Dispatch Committee.
Meeting adjourned at 7:35 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Parkhurst, Secretary
Board of Selectmen
