Selectmen ask voters to dissolve outdated trust funds

By David Carkhuff

A $6,813 road-surveying trust fund dating back to 1963 and two other funds dedicated to solid waste disposal and traffic and road improvements have outlived their usefulness, selectmen decided on Oct. 18.Selectmen agreed to put the three trust funds on the warrant for liquidation, formally presenting voters the chance to turn these funds into revenue for the town's 2006 budget.In 1963, the town approved a fund for surveying of roads and preparation of tax maps. This year, the fund contained $6,813.In 1981, the town approved a fund for "regional solution to the disposal of solid waste." This year, the fund contained $658.In 1989, the town approved a traffic and road improvement capital reserve fund "for the purpose of design and layout of an East Side Road running along the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative power line from Route 302 northerly to Skimobile Road. This year, the fund contained $44,738.Selectman Karen Umberger said, "I want to make it clear we didn't just discover this money."Umberger later explained that she had noticed these funds had been sitting in the budget for years without any money being withdrawn, so she suggested that selectmen ask voters to dissolve them.Selectman Mark Hounsell said, "By liquidating these funds, these accounts, the funds are kind of floating up there, and we would need to make some kind of proposal to the people of what we recommend they do."Town Manager Earl Sires said, "You could do that."Earmarking the money would require additional action, he said. For example, when the town dissolved a swim fund, the money became revenue for the following year's budget.The board voted to place the three funds on the warrant for liquidation. Selectmen deferred any discussion about whether the money should be earmarked for another use or simply returned to the budget as revenue.In other business on Oct. 18: Selectmen were updated on ongoing meetings and plans for a revised agreement with Mount Washington Valley Ski Touring Association. "Over the last couple of years, we've done work on getting that organization, which the town is part of, to be a break-even organization," Sires said, noting past financial issues for the organization.A non-profit foundation based in Intervale, the Ski Touring Association promotes the sports of cross country skiing and snowshoeing in the Mount Washington Valley. Sires alerted selectmen that a draft policy for handling information-sharing in crisis situations remains under legal review in Conway School District. A document crafted by a committee outlines ways to share personal information while not violating individual privacy rights in the instance of an imminent threat or danger in the community, such as bomb threats or gang-related activity. Conway School Board and Conway Selectmen plan to hold hearings on the document to garner public input.