MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008
TOWN OF PITTSFIELD
HOUSING STANDARDS AGENCY
Town Hall, 85 Main Street
Pittsfield, New Hampshire

Present – Ch. Elkins, VCh. Hast, Mr. Provencher, Lt. Abell, HSA Board, were present. Bob Elliott (Planning Board), Fred Okrent, HSA Administrator, was also present.
Public Present:
Mike Purtell
Steve Aubertin
Meeting called to order at 7:12 PM at the Town Hall by Ch. Elkins. Chairman Elkins introduced Bob Elliott, planning Board Rep.

1) Meeting Minutes;
a) Lt. Abell made a motion that the minutes of the meeting of 3/25/08 be accepted as presented. 2nd by VCh. Hast. Motion passed 4-0.
2) Appointments
None
3) Old Business
a) Meeting Schedule: A reminder that the Board’s Meeting Schedule has been changed to the 1st Monday of the month, same time, due to the schedules of other groups.
b) The last letter sent by Leon satisfied Mr. Condodemetraky and he sent a check, License issued.
4) New Business:
a. Progress Reports
i. Lambiris successful
ii. Magliozzi status: has fallen behind on payments, has not had reinspection after fire. Board want to schedule a hearing on revoking license. The hearing will be posted and noticed for 7:00 PM, May 5, 2008. The question of the goal of court actions came up and it was explained that the goal of legal proceedings was to gain compliance, i.e., inspection, licensing and payment of fees.
b. No Shows
i. Rudolph, but was scheduled close in, in time, and we would wait for results before proceeding with any action.
c. The question of whether or not anyone was living at 20 Berry Ave. was raised. The answer was no to the best of anyone’s knowledge, but it was coming due for inspection. Question also raised about 256 Berry Pond Rd; status of what it will become is still up in the air. Reported building collapse at that address was a shed, inconsequential.
5) Public Input:
Steve Aubertin asked about the predominant violations/failure modes on current inspections. Was told that most failures, currently, were bad GFCIs, bad Smoke Detectors, and Fire Extinguishers. Discussion as to whether or not we should increase the inspection interval or make it random or proceed on a complaint only basis. The comment was made that we had improved quite a bit and that the success ruled out the need for an aggressive program. The point was made that consistency in the inspection program engendered consistency in rental maintenance.
Additional discussion centered on the procedures tenants should follow when voicing complaints to their landlords.
6) Motion to adjourn: Lt. Abell, 2nd by VCh. Hast. Motion passed 4-0. Meeting adjourned at 7:50 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Fred M. Okrent