Select Board Meeting ~ February 9, 2016

2016-02-09 · Select Board · 2:51:08 · watch on YouTube →

A long Select Board meeting dominated by the 2016 budget, with two outside items in front of it. Representatives of the Tri-Town Track Project (?) asked Durham for a $25,000 warrant article toward a $3.2 million track and artificial turf field at Freeport High School, and the board agreed in principle to put it on the warrant without a recommendation and let voters decide. The fire chief's recommendation to end weekend walk-in burn permits at the station carried, effective May 1, along with acceptance of a $1,595 forestry grant. On roads, Calvin Beaumier reported that full depth reclamation would let the town rebuild Runaround Pond Road and Rabbit Road for about $1.066 million, and the board settled on presenting a $1.1 million bond to the budget committee. The rest of the meeting worked line by line through the budget, including making the code enforcement officer full time, pooling the 2 percent raises, halving the athletic booster club's softball field request to $3,750, and moving $1,000 from the legal line to fund a comprehensive plan committee, before going into executive session on a personnel matter.

What was discussed

1. 0:03
   Before the gavel: marijuana legalisation

   In conversation before the meeting was called to order, a member serving on the Maine Municipal Association legislative policy committee said he had been asked for an opinion on proposed legislation to legalise recreational marijuana on the Colorado model, which would give municipalities considerable control over licensing and independent taxation. Opinions round the table split: one was strongly against recreational use while accepting medical, another argued that if impairment can be tested for as with alcohol the revenue is worth having.

2. 0:03
   Call to order

   The chair called the meeting to order with four of five selectmen present and the board said the pledge.

3. 5:10
   Agenda amendments and consent agenda

   A BYOB permit application and correspondence from Diane were added to the consent agenda, which already carried two BYOB permits. No one offered public comment, and the consent agenda was moved, seconded and carried.

4. 5:10
   Tri-Town Track project: the problem

   Lisa Bog (?) of Durham and John Patterson, secretary and board member of the Tri-Town Track Project, presented aerial views of Freeport High School's athletic fields. The school was built in 1961 and sited before schools were planned around adequate field space, and its three fields, one of them dedicated to field hockey because the ball needs an undisturbed surface, are badly chewed up by five teams in the fall and six in the spring practising and playing daily.

5. 10:18
   What is proposed

   The plan puts a track behind the high school, which eliminates one field, and moves the baseball diamond onto what is now the field hockey field, leaving football, soccer and field hockey sharing largely one field. Because grass would turn to mud under that load, the proposal is for an artificial turf field. Total cost is $3.2 million.

6. 10:18
   How the project started

   John Patterson (?) said he and Fred Palmer, who mentor boys at risk together, went to the new high school principal Brian Campbell after the Freeport withdrawal vote to ask what private citizens could do for the schools, and Campbell's first answer was to build him a track and field. They found three earlier bond attempts, before and after the RSU, had all failed. Lisa Bog (?) described a working group reaching into Pownal, Freeport and Durham to raise private money and gift the finished facility to the RSU.

7. 15:48
   The case made for it

   Patterson circulated studies from the National Federation of State High School Associations showing that students who play sports have higher grade point averages, lower drug and tobacco use, lower absenteeism and higher graduation rates, and argued that for some students athletics is their only connection to school. He said Freeport is the only class A or B high school in western Maine without a track and one of only three in the state.

8. 15:48
   Fundraising position

   The group is running on out-of-pocket expenses of about $15,000 to $16,000 for the year with no paid consultants. Nike has pledged $1 million, every board member has contributed, and the towns are being asked for $100,000 from Freeport, a similar sum from Pownal and $25,000 from Durham, with community and family gifts apportioned by each town's prorated share of the RSU budget. Commitments so far stand at about $1.2 million.

9. 21:01
   The $800,000 the project wants from the RSU

   The high school renovation bond was $14.4 million and included $600,000 designated to tear up and rebuild the grass fields. The project has asked the RSU to repurpose that toward the track and turf, along with up to $200,000 more if the renovation bids come in under estimate, for a total of $800,000. A legal opinion requires an RSU-wide referendum before bond money can be repurposed; the board has not voted but has postponed accepting bids on the grass field work.

10. 21:01
    Whether it affects taxpayers

    Patterson (?) said repurposing the $600,000 has no tax effect because the borrowing and the obligation to repay already exist, but a member pressed on the $200,000: any renovation surplus would otherwise not be borrowed or would pay down principal, so using it does have a financial effect on the communities. He conceded that and said the group may be overly optimistic about a surplus existing at all, since some items cut from the renovation, including badly needed bathrooms, are likely to go back in.

11. 26:13
    Life and maintenance of the turf

    The presenters put the life of an artificial field at around twelve years in a northern state, with replacement somewhere in the four to five hundred thousand range from memory. They suggested the school committee put the savings on grass maintenance into an annual sinking fund to cover replacement, and explained the field is porous with subsurface drainage so blood or rain drains through as it would on a dirt field.

12. 26:13
    Crumb rubber and the health question

    Asked about reports linking artificial turf infill to cancer, Patterson (?) said a committee chaired by Pat Palmer, a former principal of the high school, did a literature search and found no study showing a risk from crumb rubber, only anecdotal reports including one carried on NBC news. Because concern exists, the group will make it a condition of the gift that the school use Nike Grind, made from sneaker manufacturing waste, which two other fields in Maine use while Yarmouth, Greely and Bowdoin use crumb rubber. Nike's contingency applies only to the track, but they intend to use Nike Grind on the field as well.

13. 31:14
    The field the project takes away

    A member noted the presentation opened on a shortage of field space and the project removes another field. Patterson (?) said the Hunter Road fields are toward the small end of permitted dimensions, that Freeport gives community organisations first priority so they would not be free on a Saturday, and that busing eats practice time, as the track team already loses about an hour a day travelling to Bowdoin. He suggested the athletic director, Craig Sickles (?), was the right person to ask about managing the fields.

14. 36:33
    How the new facilities would be shared

    Football would keep practising on Pownal Road, and each team would be allotted roughly a ninety-minute slot on the turf field, in the way the gym is divided between five basketball teams. Durham Community School students would have time on the track, which would be eight lanes and able to host regional meets, and lights and bleachers are hoped for so evening games are possible. The track would be open to the public outside school hours.

15. 36:33
    The request to Durham

    The presenters asked the board to put a warrant article before town meeting for a $25,000 appropriation, in addition to soliciting individual donations in town, and argued that Durham's prorated share of a $3.2 million bond issue would cost far more per capita than $25,000 given voluntarily.

16. 41:40
    The board's reaction

    Members said the town is in its budget process facing several major increases, that the withdrawal fight had left a lot of people bruised and another withdrawal vote is on this year's agenda, and that the request would probably not be warmly received. Patterson (?) said they had not come naive about the dynamics and were not seeking a vote or an endorsement. The board's inclination was to put the article on the warrant without a select board recommendation and leave the decision to voters.

17. 46:44
    Practical arrangements and refunds

    Members suggested the group leave handouts for voters to pick up on the way into town meeting on Saturday April 2, and explained that a non-resident needs the meeting's permission to speak, which is normally granted en bloc. Asked what happens if the goal is missed, Patterson (?) said most of the money is in pledges, including Nike's, and that donations would be refunded less a prorated share of the group's roughly $15,000 of expenses.

18. 51:52
    Agreement to put it on the warrant

    The board agreed it should go on the warrant, with one member wanting to discuss some points before the final warrant is assembled and another noting it must go into the budget packets so the budget committee can see it. Members said they were not against letting the townspeople make the decision.

19. 51:52
    Disposal of rabid animals

    The animal control officer had written after dealing with a rabid raccoon and incurring costs. He raised that wild animal calls should go to the warden service rather than to him, since the ACO is responsible for domestic animals, and was concerned that public works staff handling roadkill need a defined procedure so they do not contract rabies. He had called the warden service, was given a long explanation of why they would not take it and judged they would take too long, so he dealt with it himself.

20. 57:03
    Where the animals go

    The officer had suggested contracting with an incinerator in Auburn or Lewiston, but the CDC contact said most municipalities bury them and that rabid animals should not be transported out of town. Burial has to be deep enough that another animal cannot dig them up, a couple of feet at least. Recent cases in town were a bat and two raccoons, and the board decided to hold the question of a policy until after the budget.

21. 57:03
    Public hearing on the RSU5 withdrawal vote

    The hearing has to fall at least ten days before the vote, assumed to be a referendum on April 1, which puts the latest date at February 22, a regular board meeting night. Because interest is high and the Eureka's capacity is around 40 to 50 with tables or perhaps 75 with chairs only, the board preferred the school and settled on trying February 15 at 7 p.m., falling back to the 22nd if the school is not available.

22. 1:02:10
    What the withdrawal vote actually does

    Members agreed the board's job at the hearing is to explain the statutory steps clearly and then let people advocate either way. Passing the article is a vote to pursue withdrawal, after which negotiation and planning follow, the state has to approve a plan, and the town votes again on that plan; if it is voted down the status quo stands. Passing it also commits about $50,000 in legal fees and expenses, a figure other towns have used and which Freeport appropriated and very nearly spent. It is a single warrant article with wording supplied by the state.

23. 1:07:32
    Fire department reorganisation

    The chief reported changes intended to make membership more workable rather than anything the public would see. EMS coverage moves from four companies on a rotation to a single EMS provider and driver picking their own shifts within a required number of weeknights and weekends, with no money attached to coverage, which he said members recognise and are receiving enthusiastically. Mentors are being assigned to members taking firefighter one and two classes and to new members through their probationary period.

24. 1:07:32
    Emergency management and grants

    On EMA the chief said the town has no staff for sheltering: in an event like the ice storm the shelter was staffed by a different group, and today only he and Bill Long are assigned, so he could not focus on sheltering during a disaster. People have expressed interest and Bill Long is working with county EMA. The outstanding homeland security grant of roughly $10,168 has now arrived, the check having been in process. The chief also asked the board to accept the forestry grant now that the revenue is in place.

25. 1:13:06
    Burn permits: the numbers

    Durham issued 701 permits in total, 159 of them free electronic permits through Warden's Report since mid-July, with a $75 annual membership on the warrant that the chief called a good investment. Weekend walk-in staffing runs 9 to 11 in the morning and costs the town roughly $2,000 a year, working out at about $3 per permit across all permits and over $4 for each paper permit issued; officers are paid between about $16 and $28 an hour to give up their weekend mornings. Diane emails anyone who buys a $7 state permit to point them at the free site.

26. 1:13:06
    Drawbacks of electronic permits

    The class day rating behind an online permit is set for the whole state zone, so local wind and fuel moisture conditions may differ, and the state site can be shut down when nobody is available in town while Warden's Report cannot. The chief has raised that and the site's two-adult requirement, stricter than state law, with Gary who runs the site. Permits are meant to be printed, though members agreed showing one on a phone would probably suffice, and the department can reprint any of the 159 issued.

27. 1:24:02
    Setting the date and the motion

    The chief wanted a decision in time to publicise it in the town report and give a month or two of notice. June 1 was floated first, then May 1, and the motion was amended to that date: from May 1 walk-in burn permits will not be issued at the fire station on weekends, people being directed to Warden's Report online where they remain free of charge. Paper permits stay available on weekdays, and anyone catching staff at the station during an emergency call could still be issued one.

28. 1:24:02
    Forestry grant and dispatch

    The board accepted the forestry grant of $1,595 toward a lightweight portable pump and suction, a 50/50 match paid up front and reimbursed. On dispatch the chief said he had a 9 a.m. meeting the next day with representatives of the Lisbon communications centre including Chief Brooks, intending to look forward rather than rehearse past issues, with no room to move financially. Lisbon has written offering a three-month extension at the new rates, and the chief's cost report should be about 90 percent complete.

29. 1:24:02
    Whether to cut the fire budget

    A member asked whether ending weekend permit staffing meant about $1,000 could come out of the fire budget. The chief said it was the board's option but he would not recommend it, pointing to payroll against a call volume already at 42 or 43 for the year and trending above one a day, and the board left the line alone.

30. 1:29:09
    Roads: full depth reclamation

    Calvin Beaumier had gone out and physically measured every road, and set out in option one what each needs. Having walked the roads with Crooker and others in the industry, he concluded they are in better shape than assumed, with a lot of gravel under them and forty years of service, and are prime candidates for full depth reclamation: grinding the existing pavement into aggregate, adding reclaim, compacting, shaping and repaving. An alternative in the engineer's report, foam injection through a pug mill, is more expensive and nobody local is doing it; core samples had been taken but not yet studied.

31. 1:34:34
    What the corridor would cost

    Reclaiming and paving the two sections of Runaround Pond Road with four inches of reclaim comes to about $700,000, and doing the whole corridor including Rabbit Road and Quaker Meeting House, roughly four miles, to about $1.066 million. These are Crooker's numbers and close to what the town's own crew would cost; the difference is that the crew would take far longer, and Beaumier said their labour is better spent ditching so the rebuilt roads last.

32. 1:34:34
    The road inventory grew

    The town had believed it maintained about 46 miles of road. Beaumier's measurements give 52.62 miles, having found two or three roads that were not in the database or the road network at all, and that figure does not yet include roughly half a mile running from Swamp Road to Route 125 or any other roads he has not yet caught.

33. 1:39:53
    Shim and overlay priorities

    With about $225,000 for shim and overlay, Cedar Pond Road at 1.83 miles would use most of it. Beaumier explained the zeros in his priority column mean a road needs doing now or it will need a full rebuild within a year, and that a road losing its profile holds water, which compounds the damage. A member said she would have to abstain on any Cedar Pond vote because she lives there, but had been surprised how rapidly it had declined.

34. 1:39:53
    Sizing the bond

    The work needs the contractor back in the second season for the finish coat, and members wanted that included rather than risk stopping halfway. The finish coat for each 6,100-foot section of Runaround Pond Road is $83,656, about $167,000 for the two. The board landed on presenting a bond of about $1.1 million covering Runaround Pond and Rabbit Road including the second-year surface, and raised the idea of a draw-down bond working like a line of credit so the town is not back at every town meeting for another one.

35. 1:45:13
    Price movement, trees and drainage

    Crooker will honour a contract from two or three years ago and apply the asphalt escalator, so the falling liquid asphalt price should come off the quote, and doing all three sections at once avoids a second mobilisation and should cut the cost further. Some trees will have to come down; Beaumier is comfortable with those inside the stone wall and will talk to owners where trees are in a front yard, and where there is no ditch at all he may need an underdrain. About $4,000 is in the budget for that work and the crew is cutting this winter.

36. 1:50:25
    What the bond costs and why it cannot wait

    A ten-year bond on $1.1 million is $110,000 a year before interest and probably nearer $130,000 with it, and members thought a shorter term might be better and asked whether MMA has a recommendation, since a bond should not run longer than the life of the asset. Members acknowledged the tax hit but argued that deferring is a compound problem: a road that has lost its profile holds water and fails faster, and rough roads cost the town in plowing and salt and residents in vehicle repairs.

37. 1:55:39
    Replacing a plow truck

    About $230,000 sits in the capital fund. The approach discussed was to take $100,000 out of it and raise $100,000 in taxes rather than bond, then put $100,000 into the fund every year, effectively buying half a truck a year and putting the seven-truck fleet on a two-year replacement cycle. The updated quote came in at $204,000 against $185,000 given over the phone, and a second dealer offered about $20,000 in trade for the old spare truck, which would bring it back toward $185,000.

38. 1:55:39
    Debt capacity and the tax picture

    Asked about a debt limit, the answer given was 7.5 percent of state valuation, which at a state valuation of around $359 million would allow roughly $26 million of borrowing. Members noted the town has never set money aside for road bonds, so the payments have to come out of taxes, and that for four or five years money was taken out of the overlay to hold the rate down. They accepted that this year's request would be a severe hit but said the work had been deferred too long already.

39. 2:00:39
    Road bond settled for the budget committee

    The board agreed to put forward a $1.1 million bond covering Runaround Pond Road and Rabbit Road for the budget committee to review, with the formal vote to come when the full warrant is assembled. Members said the reclamation numbers were far more palatable than what they had been looking at before and leave the crew free to do the ditching that has to accompany the work.

40. 2:00:39
    Code enforcement officer to full time

    The board discussed making the codes officer full time, with members saying he is being worn out and cannot finish what he needs to, that revenue through his office has increased markedly, and that the position could become a town planner and codes officer to lead the comprehensive plan. The proposal was to strip the 2 percent raise from his line on the basis that the health benefits coming with full-time status are the raise, putting the salary at $37,180, since he would not go full time until after town meeting.

41. 2:06:18
    Pooling the raises

    Rather than carry a 2 percent raise on every line, the board agreed to take the raises out and put the total into a single raise pool at the bottom to be allocated afterward. The secretary, who was not present, had asked for 30 cents an hour, just under 2 percent, worth about $107.86 across the two departments she is paid from, and her request excluded elections.

42. 2:11:26
    Justifying the codes position

    Members observed that virtually the whole increase in the administration budget is the part-time to full-time change, alongside about $654 of workers compensation and roughly $4,000 more election payroll for a big election year, neither of which the town controls. Contractors had said it would help to have the officer available more days than the current three, and he had asked to work some hours on Wednesday when the office is closed so paperwork gets done. The board supported it but said it would have to be justified on the town meeting floor with the permit history, which had been assembled going back four to six years.

43. 2:16:41
    Budget lines run through

    Animal control, the assessor and cemetery were left as they stood. On conservation, Joe (?) reported nothing needed doing on cemetery restoration this year, though a member said the cement work at one cemetery looked to be falling apart when she was out with the scouts placing flags. Donations follow last year except for a reduction to Seniors Plus; the Eureka Grange is reimbursing the emergency fund; capital projects was amended to $1,650.

44. 2:16:41
    Softball field request

    The group the board had been calling the town rec league, properly the Athletic Booster Club of Durham, asked for $7,500 to rehabilitate the softball field, having secured donations of material and lumber for everything but the fencing. Members praised the service it provides, noting that soccer in Freeport cost $75 a child and drew few Durham kids while at $40 a child in Durham 130 signed up, but said the figure should be treated as one-time rather than annual.

45. 2:22:08
    The school club request

    A club at Durham Community School, the outing club, had asked the town for about $700 because the school would not fund it. A school board member had explained that individual club budgets are decided by the principal and never come before the school board. Members said school groups should not be coming to the town for money, particularly for an activity open only to that school's students, and decided to take it out.

46. 2:27:17
    Settling on half

    The board weighed the full $7,500, the $1,500 that Cal Ripken receives, and half at $3,750, working through the applicant's itemised breakdown so that a partial grant would still complete something rather than leave everything half done. Rod of the Cal Ripken league confirmed by email that his teams use the DCS softball and baseball fields most nights, which is why the booster softball cannot. The board settled on $3,750 and noted the applicant can seek an amendment on the town meeting floor.

47. 2:32:37
    War memorial, flag poles and gazebo

    A member proposed moving about $2,500 of the war memorial flag upkeep and maintenance line out of the recreation fund and onto taxation, because the fund is being depleted too quickly. An Eagle Scout project is planned there and members wanted fundraising to form part of it, perhaps an engraved brick walkway, but agreed the fifth flag pole has to happen and something has to be done about the gazebo, which Paul put at $3,000 to $5,000 just to replace the posts. Adding a National Guard or merchant marine pole was raised, and members agreed to place the new pole so a sixth could be added later without spoiling the symmetry, working with the scouts on placement.

48. 2:37:38
    State of the recreation fund

    With those changes $10,320 would come out of the recreation fund, plus $2,150 for conservation, against a balance of just over $16,000 and only about $4,600 coming in last year. A member questioned why the town draws only $2,400 from park fees when it received about $4,500, a figure that exactly matches the Runaround Pond Park request, and asked Ruth Glaeser to find out whether the draw has to be matched to a specific park expense.

49. 2:37:38
    Planning and appeals

    A raise pool of about $46 needs adding for the planning board secretary, whose hours the 2016 budget increases, and members raised whether the cleaner should get a raise as well, leaving the allocation to the later discussion of the pool.

50. 2:42:52
    Money for a comprehensive plan committee

    A member pressed for some money in the planning line so that a comprehensive plan committee, once convened, has funds for advertising, mailings, maps or copies rather than sitting idle for want of $200. Ruth Glaeser put a full comprehensive plan at roughly $20,000 over two years, most of it falling in the later years, aiming for adoption at town meeting in April 2018, with Paul suggesting the committee convene in early summer so a survey could be run at the elections.

51. 2:47:55
    Funding it from the legal line

    With the planning line already up 16 percent, the board agreed to move $1,000 out of the legal line into a comprehensive plan expense line rather than add to the total, on the reasoning that it keeps the bottom line the same and gives the committee a start.

52. 2:47:55
    Budget wrap-up and notices

    Solid waste and telecommunications were already done, and Ruth Glaeser will produce fresh copies for the board, the department heads and the budget committee so meetings can be set up. Next regular meetings are Tuesday February 23 and Tuesday March 8 at 6:30; nomination papers remain available for two selectmen, three budget committee members and one school board member, due February 16 at 4:30; the office is closed February 15 for Presidents Day; and the preliminary school budget is available at the town office and online.

53. 2:47:55
    Executive session

    The board moved into executive session on a personnel matter concerning the treasurer, and the recording ends there. The town's minutes record adjournment at 9:10 p.m.

What was decided

• 5:10
  Accept the consent agenda as presented, with a BYOB permit application and correspondence added at the start. Moved by Joshua Libby, seconded by Mark Blake; carried 4-0.passed
• 51:52
  Agreed in principle to place the Tri-Town Track Project's request for a $25,000 appropriation on the town meeting warrant, without a select board recommendation, so that voters decide. The formal vote comes when the full warrant is assembled, and the request goes into the budget packets for the budget committee.passed
• 57:03
  Establishing a policy on the disposal of rabid animals was held over until after the budget process.tabled
• 57:03
  Agreed to hold the public hearing on the RSU5 withdrawal vote on Monday February 15 at 7 p.m. at the school, falling back to February 22 if the school is not available.passed
• 1:24:02
  As of May 1, 2016, walk-in burn permits will not be available at the fire station; permits will be issued online free of charge through Warden's Report. Moved by Sarah Hall, seconded by Joshua Libby; carried 4-0. The discussion was directed at weekend staffing, with paper permits remaining available on weekdays.passed
• 1:24:02
  Accept the forestry grant of $1,595 toward a lightweight portable pump and suction, a 50/50 match paid up front and reimbursed. Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake; carried 4-0.passed
• 1:24:02
  The board raised but did NOT cut roughly $1,000 from the fire department budget to reflect the end of weekend permit staffing. The chief said it was the board's option but that he would not recommend it given payroll and call volume, and the line was left unchanged.passed
• 2:00:39
  Agreed to present a road bond of about $1.1 million to the budget committee, covering full depth reclamation and paving of Runaround Pond Road and Rabbit Road including the second-year finish coat. The formal warrant vote follows later.passed
• 2:00:39
  Agreed to carry the code enforcement officer's move from part time to full time in the budget presented to the budget committee, and to remove the 2 percent raise from that line on the basis that the health benefits coming with the full-time position are the raise, giving a salary of $37,180.passed
• 2:06:18
  Agreed to strip the 2 percent raises out of the individual salary lines and put the total into a single raise pool at the bottom of the budget, to be allocated in a later session.passed
• 2:27:17
  Agreed to fund the Athletic Booster Club of Durham at $3,750, half of the $7,500 sought for rehabilitating the softball field, as a one-time rather than annual amount, leaving the group free to seek an amendment on the town meeting floor.passed
• 2:27:17
  Agreed to remove the roughly $700 requested by the Durham Community School outing club, on the ground that it is a school activity open only to that school's students and should be the school's responsibility. With the booster change, the net reduction is $4,450.passed
• 2:32:37
  Agreed to move about $2,500 of the war memorial flag upkeep and maintenance line out of the recreation fund and onto money raised by taxation, leaving $10,320 to come out of the recreation fund.passed
• 2:47:55
  Agreed to move $1,000 out of the legal line into a comprehensive plan expense line so a comprehensive plan committee has funds to work with, rather than adding to the budget total.passed
• 2:47:55
  Go into executive session pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. section 405(6)(A), personnel matters, treasurer. Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake; carried 4-0.passed

An outcome reads "unclear" where the recording does not state it plainly. The recogniser drops short words, and "the motion does not carry" is one missing word from its opposite.

Motions the minutes record

The town's own written account of what was decided, taken from select_board_minutes_2-9-20161.txt. It owes nothing to the recording or to a model: the clerk typed it, with the vote. Where the summary above claims a decision this list does not carry, the summary is the part to doubt.

• accept the Consent Agenda as presentedcarried 4-0

  Moved by Joshua Libby, seconded by Mark Blake

• as of May 1st 2016, walk-in permits will not be available at the Fire Station. Burn permits will be issued on-line free of charge via the Warden's Reportcarried 4-0

  Moved by Sarah Hall, seconded by Joshua Libby

• accept the Forestry Grant for a lightweight portable pump and suctioncarried 4-0

  Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake

• the Board into Executive Session pursuant to Title #1, M.R.S.A., ss. 4-5(6)(A) – Personnel Matters – Treasurer at preceded by a brief recess at 8:50 p.mcarried 4-0

  Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake

• Adjourn at 9:10 p.mcarried 4-0

  Moved by Joshua Libby, seconded by Mark Blake

Worth knowing

• 36:33
  The Tri-Town Track Project (?) asked Durham for a $25,000 warrant article toward a $3.2 million track and artificial turf field at Freeport High School, with $1 million already pledged by Nike. The board agreed to put it to voters without a recommendation, warning that coming so soon after the RSU withdrawal fight it would probably not be warmly received.
• 21:01
  The $14.4 million high school renovation bond included $600,000 earmarked to rebuild the grass fields. The project has asked the RSU to repurpose that plus up to $200,000 of any surplus, which requires a referendum across the RSU; without it the presenters said raising the full $3.2 million would probably be beyond them.
• 1:34:34
  Full depth reclamation would rebuild Runaround Pond Road for about $700,000 and the whole corridor with Rabbit Road for about $1.066 million, far cheaper than the rebuild figures the board had been working with. The board will ask for a $1.1 million bond, which on a ten-year term costs roughly $130,000 a year with interest.
• 1:13:06
  Weekend walk-in burn permits at the fire station end on May 1; permits remain free online through Warden's Report. The town issued 701 permits over the year, 159 of them electronic, and weekend staffing cost roughly $2,000, more than $4 for each paper permit issued.

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