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Atkinson intervenes over water company plan

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

October 23, 2008
Eagle Tribune

ATKINSON — Town officials have asked the state Public Utilities Commission to deny Hampstead Area Water Co.’s application to borrow money from the state.

The motion was submitted by town attorney Sumner Kalman last week. But Selectman Bill Friel said this week they need to follow up with more detailed objections as to why an interconnection between Atkinson and Hampstead would not be in the best interest of the public.

Today was the original deadline to file as an intervener with the Public Utilities Commission, but the commission has now extended that cutoff to the end of the month. Two residents — Carol Grant and John Wolters — have also filed to intervene, according to the commission.

The water company applied for a $1.1 million loan to connect Atkinson’s water system with Hampstead’s over the summer. If the loan is awarded, 15,000 feet of pipe would be laid between the two towns. First, the Public Utilities Commission has to allow the water company to take the loan and increase its rates.

But now Atkinson officials are saying that can’t happen. A 1,185-acre increase in the Hampstead Area Water Co. franchise area would hurt a valuable water resource in Atkinson, which the town has a duty to protect, the motion said.

Selectmen’s Chairman Paul Sullivan said the selectmen have a list of questions they wanted to ask Harold Morse, the water company president, before submitting the rest of their intervener motion to the state.

Morse had asked to be on the selectmen’s agenda Monday night, but canceled just prior to the meeting’s start.

“He decided he wasn’t coming,” Sullivan said. “I certainly wanted to give him an opportunity to talk.”

Selectmen are checking with Kalman as to the appropriate way to respond to the Public Utilities Commission.

Morse has not returned phone calls from The Eagle-Tribune.

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Our view: Atkinson funds need proper management

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

August 19, 2008
Eagle Tribune

For years, Atkinson, N.H., police Chief Philip Consentino has argued there was nothing wrong with the way he collected and spent donations of money for the Police Department and assistance to the elderly.

Now, the New Hampshire attorney general disagrees.

The attorney general’s office said in a letter to town officials that five donation accounts under Consentino’s control are being managed illegally. The office’s charitable trust unit wrote that the violations were likely due to ignorance of the law and said that the management of the accounts must be brought into compliance with the law.

Consentino has been a focal point for public criticism due to his multiple roles in town affairs and his handling of the accounts. In addition to police chief, Consentino serves as director of elderly affairs. He once also served as a selectman and was reprimanded by a Superior Court judge for presiding over meetings in which police or elderly affairs matters were discussed.

But Consentino is also popular, particularly among the senior citizens he serves as elderly affairs director.

Consentino conducts a donation drive each year, sending out solicitations on police letterhead, wrote Terry Knowles, assistant director of the charitable trust unit. The money collected is distributed among five funds — the senior donation fund, “Life is Not Done Group,” Police Department equipment, DARE and police funds.

The money is spent at the chief’s discretion, with the approval of the selectmen. Consentino will make withdrawals from the fund for anything from flowers to fuel assistance for a senior.

There are several problems with this, according to Knowles. First, the chief has sole discretion in selecting who gets money. Knowles recommended that the jobs of police chief and elderly affairs director be separate and distinct and that a system be established for determining who receives money.

Also, Knowles wrote that the accounts need to be placed under the control of the Trustees of the Trust Fund, who would then control who may make authorized disbursements. The trustees would also issue annual, public reports on account balances and activity.

Consentino’s methods may have worked well when Atkinson was a sleepy farming town. But it is now an increasingly prosperous residential community, among the fastest-growing in the state. Atkinson officials must act on this report and bring their charitable fund management into the 21st century.

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Atkinson selectmen, residents at odds over right-to-know requests

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

May 28, 2008
Eagle Tribune

ATKINSON — Town officials said they are overburdened by right-to-know requests that are too broad to easily research.

Selectmen want to know if they are legally required to do lengthy research to fulfill the blanket requests, according to selectmen’s Chairman Paul Sullivan.

The town has sent a response letter to each request, but those making the requests said they aren’t getting the information they want — and they don’t think they ever will.

Some requests have been for copies of minutes from each meeting during which a specific topic was discussed, Sullivan said. The time it takes for staff members to go through each set of minutes and look for a specific topic costs the town money, he said.

“We need to figure out if this is our obligation to research,” he said.

It’s not, according to Bill Chapman, a Concord attorney who specializes in right-to-know law. Government bodies are required to fulfill reasonably described requests, he said.

“If we look at it from just a common sense basis, to say all minutes where a particular matter has been discussed is not reasonably describing it,” Chapman said.

The person filing the request should ask for copies of minutes from specific meeting dates, he said. Or, since agencies are required to keep all minutes on file, the person asking should be able to look through years of minutes themselves, he said.

“The purpose of the right-to-know law is to not only honor the public’s right to know, but also to not put undue burden on the governing body,” Chapman said.

He said he doesn’t recall a case where the words “reasonably described” were challenged. But those who file right-to-know requests in Atkinson have not been satisfied with the town’s answers, and one resident said he’s ready to challenge officials on it.

Leon Artus said between his committee — Atkinson Taxpayers for Fair Evaluations — and others, more than 30 right-to-know requests have been filed in town since the beginning of the year. He said many of those requests are “in transition” now because he didn’t get the answers he wanted.

“Never have, and obviously never will, until it’s taken to a higher authority,” he said.

But selectmen maintain they are following the law.

Selectman Bill Friel said requests need to be more specific.

“This one also asks for some conclusions for us to answer, which isn’t part of the right-to-know law,” he said.

Large green, black and white Right to Know Law signs are now posted around Town Hall, reminding residents of what they can and cannot request.

The town is required, by law, to respond to the requests within five business days. But with requests for all public mentions of a certain subject, such as assessing, there isn’t time for interim Town Administrator Craig Kleman to do lots of research, especially in that time frame, the selectmen said.

Since he arrived in April, Kleman said he has worked on four right-to-know projects. The requests ranged from meeting minutes to information on personnel files, which cannot be publicly released, he said.

“It’s a very time-consuming process and, you know, you want to make sure you are really answering the spirit of the right-to-know law,” he said.

Kleman said he couldn’t estimate how long he spends on each case nor the total amount of time he has spent.

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