Meredith Selectboard meets Monday to discuss capital improvement plan, fee schedule, water treatment plant rehab

MEREDITH — The selectboard meets on Monday to discuss planning for capital improvement projects, town fees, and authorizing the town manager to sign off on the water treatment plant filter rehabilitation, among other business.

David Thorpe, a longtime zoning board member who volunteers in a number of facets, is scheduled to meet with the board about the Capital Improvements Plan project plan.

First discussed at the June 8 selectboard meeting, the project plan spreadsheet will outline the creation of the 10-year-plan, costs and scopes for large infrastructure projects, and a line-by-line presentation of the planning involved in these projects.

This includes large projects for waterfront infrastructure, Main Street rehabilitation, the repair of the Waukewan Dam and canal, sewer maintenance, municipal building projects that include the public works office and Town Hall, town infrastructure, parks & rec projects, and roadwork.

Chris Janosa, director of human resources and special projects, will discuss personnel policy manual revisions. According to information in the agenda packet, the personnel policy manual was last updated in 2018, and over the last several leadership meetings, the town manager and department heads made updates.

One of the biggest changes was the way vacation is accrued by department heads. New employees hired as department heads will receive 160 hours of vacation time on their first day, and all department heads will accrue 14 hours of vacation time per month.

Another change is implementing vacation accruals for regular part-time employees, who will be able to accrue between four and seven hours per month, based on tenure.

The group also updated the vacation accrual ceiling from 240 to 320 hours.

Town Manager Judie Milner will give an update on fees during the workshop. According to documents in the agenda packet, last year, the town’s management team reviewed the fee structure. Many existing fees hadn’t been updated in more than a decade, and some much longer. Updated fees were adopted by the selectboard on Sept. 22, 2025, and were effective Jan. 1.

This is the first regular review of the fee schedule, which will be annual going forward. Since the fee schedule was adopted in 2025, the board has approved changing cemetery fees, adopting a commercial marine operator boat launch fee, and amended the short-term rental regulation fee.

During the upcoming meeting, Milner and town leader will go over the fee schedules.

Milner will also discuss the Breezeline franchise agreement.

The selectboard will receive a septic system regulation update from Code Enforcement Officer Jonathan Trull. According to documents in the agenda, he is recommending no changes be made to the current regulations, and believes they should continue to be enforced until all properties are brought into compliance.

The selectboard is also expected to vote on authorizing Milner to sign documents pertaining to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for the Water Treatment Plant Filter Upgrades Project, approved at Town Meeting in 2026.

The project identifies four filters at the plant at the end of useful life and need rehabilitation. Staff anticipate there will be a 30% principal forgiveness of up to $270,000.

The selectboard is also expected to create a space needs committee, following comments Aug. 10, and 24. Seven members will be appointed, with members serving staggered, three-year terms.

The selectboard will meet at the Meredith Community Center at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14.