Belmont Selectboard OKs police auctions for unclaimed property

BELMONT — Belmont’s public safety leaders are again trying to save taxpayers money through auctioning off old equipment and evidence, and pitched their ideas at the Nov. 4 selectboard meeting.

Police Chief Stephen Akerstrom sought permission from the board to use a new service called PropertyRoom.com, an online police auction website for seized, found and unclaimed property. The company works with over 4,000 law enforcement agencies and communities.

“We have a bunch of evidence that was in our evidence room that we can get rid of. [There are] several ways that we can get rid of it,” Akerstrom said. “We call the people back to get rid of it, and they come and get it. There's other things that are, like, found property that nobody claims. Those types of things we can auction. And by statute, we have to either auction them or destroy them.”

Using the site would be convenient. The town wouldn’t have to cut a check to PropertyRoom.com for their cut. Instead, that would come out of the proceeds from the sale. An additional fuel surcharge would factor in for pick-up of the auction items.

“This is a service that the only cost that comes with using this, PropertyRoom, is a fuel surcharge for them to come pick up the property and they auction it off,” Akerstrom said. “In return, we get up to $1,000 if it's 50% of whatever the item sells for. If it's over $1,000, we get 75% of it.”

Several New Hampshire law enforcement agencies are using the site, ge said, including Gilford, Fremont, Keene, Nashua, Portsmouth and Salem. At the close of an auction, the company sends the town a check.

“It's a monthly check that is sent to the town, and by statute it goes back in the general fund,” Akerstrom said, with a request. “If it's at all possible, we would like to use some of those funds for replacement of evidence processing items. There's also an evidence refrigerator that we have to have, that we keep things in, for many, many years. The one that's in there now is old, and before it goes dead, I'd like to get a different one.”

Because the money coming back to the general fund is unknown, the board made no motion. Instead, they supported the department’s engagement with PropertyRoom.com.

“We're going to grant you to go forward with this, and then you're going to come back, because we can't say how much money you're going to get,” Chair Ruth Mooney said.

Board members and Akerstrom agreed when there were funds to collect, he would request approval.

And, as the fire department wraps up the final technical stages of a Granite State Clean Fleet grant that allowed them to purchase a new fire truck, Chief Donald Pickowicz sought input from the board on the best way forward to decommission the old truck.

“We are at the final stages of this project, and before we move forward, I'd like to know what the selectboard would like us to do with the fire truck,” he said. “There's just a couple options.”

Those options included using a local salvage company to remove the truck and decommission it on their property; putting the state-approved decommissioned truck on Municibid, a government auction website; or a third, new company could help sell the decommissioned truck.

Putting the truck up for bid would mean Belmont’s Public Works Department would have to store the decommissioned truck until the sale.

At Town Meeting in March, voters approved Article 13, asking to spend matching funds for a new fire truck, in order to access a $500,000 Granite State Clean Fleet grant. 

Ultimately, the board supported Pickowicz in accepting bids on the decommissioned vehicle in short order, so the town can accept their check as part of the grant process, which should arrive before the end of the year.

Finally, town leaders provided an Election Day update, pleased with such a high voter turnout.

According to Town Clerk Jennifer Cashman, more than 3,000 voters showed up on Nov. 3, to elect their local and state legislators in the midterm election.

“Yesterday, we had our New Hampshire state General Election. The turnout, including in-person voters and absentee, was over 3,300, which is more than I've ever seen,” Cashman said Nov. 4. “So, I hope that we can get that kind of turnout in March for our Town Election.”

Town leaders assisted at the polls, helping with the ballot box, handing out stickers and answering questions.

“Thank you to the board, so much, for everything that you did. Ruth, you stuck it out with us to the end through all of that counting. I want to thank my team, the supervisors of the checklist, all of the ballot clerks, all of the election workers, Al Nix as our moderator,” she said. “It was just a great day. I just wanted to come and let you guys know that I'm so proud of everybody, and it was just great.”

Missing from the meeting was board member Jon Pike. The next meeting of the Belmont Selectboard will be at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 18, at the Belmont Mill.

For more information, visit belmontnh.gov.

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Katlyn Proctor can be reached at katlyn@laconiadailysun.com or by calling 603-524-0150.