HIGHLAND – At Monday night’s selectboard meeting, grant writing consultant Kevin Flynn discussed the need for more advanced engineering plans illustrating the Ward Hill Road proposed for this year’s Community Development Block Grant application. Flynn showed the board an example of plans for similar projects in Winchendon from Tighe and Bond Engineers. The plans from Tighe and Bond would cost the town an estimated $4,800 to potentially come from Chapter 90 funds.
There was question of should the town spend the money to have the plans done if there is assurance the advanced plans will help the town get the grant this year. However, as the road work must be done regardless of being awarded the grant, the plans will be required at some point. A motion was passed to approve funds to attain engineering drawings for the proposed Ward Hill Road renovations to be included in this year’s Community Development Block Grant application.
Richard Tenney, Highway Department Superintendent, requested a credit line to be set up for the highway department at Tractor Supply. Tenney said that they already have similar lines of credit as stores such as True Value and Hamshaw Lumber. He would like to have the option to purchase goods there as they have a lot to offer. “A lot of the stuff we buy, we get stuck paying a lot in shipping,” said Tenney who has to order a lot of larger items. Town Departments can only buy items where they have approved lines of credit. He suggested starting with a small amount of $300 or $400 and he can get approval for more expensive purchases.
Tom Specht, Finance Committee Chair, suggested giving the highway department a $1,000 credit line at Tractor Supply as he knows they could buy a lot of materials at the store. A motion was passed by the board to approve the creation of a $1,000 credit line at Tractor Supply for the highway department. Administrative assistant Rhonda Whitney proposed the idea of mandatory direct deposit for all town employees. She said there has been some issue with employees who work very few hours not cashing checks frequently and causing issues with the accounting department.
According to Whitney, during last week’s Christmas holiday, when the town hall was closed, employees were unable to collect their paychecks. Many town employees are already paid through direct deposit. The fire department, police department, and highway department have already agreed to be paid via direct deposit. However there was some question of being able to enforce this in the case of employees that do not have a bank account to deposit into. There was the idea of providing an exemption for those with no bank account. Whitney will ask neighboring towns if and how they handle the mandating of direct deposit and report to the board.
