Select Board Meeting ~ March 28, 2023

2023-03-28 · Select Board · 53:21 · watch on YouTube →

Select Board meeting of March 28, 2023, the last before the town's annual election and town meeting that weekend. Two representatives of the Freeport High School Scholarship Foundation presented their program and asked Durham for a $30,000 gift and for help recruiting mentors; the board said it has no authority to appropriate, so the earliest a gift could go to voters is the April 2024 town meeting, and offered publicity in the weekly newsletter instead. The board settled the Durham ball field question by authorizing the town manager to contract with Durham Youth Baseball for up to five years, after the two youth organizations reached their own arrangement. Reports followed from the fire chief, public works and the town manager, including spending against the funds voted at the special town meeting. The board approved the consent agenda and adjourned, thanking departing members Kevin and Todd.

No written minutes could be matched to this meeting. The transcript records that the speaker changed but never who was speaking, so any name attached to a statement below is inferred from context and is marked (?).

What was discussed

1. 0:07
   Call to order and public comment

   The chair opened the March 28 meeting with all members present and said this would be the only opportunity for public comment, rather than the workshop format used the previous week.

2. 0:07
   Freeport High School Scholarship Foundation: history

   Kim Wing, a board member, and Fred Palmer, a founding board member, introduced the foundation. Fred Palmer (?) described looking at the Mitchell Foundation, the USM Promise programme and scholarship funds in Oxford Hills and Brunswick before designing Durham's programme around a meaningful multi-year award plus mentoring.

3. 5:46
   How the scholarships work

   The four-year college award is $5,000 a year for four years and the vocational award $4,000 a year for up to four years, both with volunteer mentors. Kim Wing (?) said the foundation is a 501(c)(3) established in 2021 for RSU 5 students, that applications are reviewed with Freeport High School principal Jen Gulko (?), and that the number of applications last year was given first as 29 and then as 26.

4. 5:46
   The foundation's two asks

   Kim Wing (?) asked the board to consider a $30,000 gift, either one-time or as a multi-year pledge, and to help find mentors and a Durham board member, noting the foundation has no Durham representative. She said the goal has been raised from $1 million to $2 million and that about $1 million is in hand in cash and pledges.

5. 11:26
   Investment returns

   Fred Palmer (?) said the funds are invested with Bath Savings Trust Company (?) with a target return of 7 percent and a payout of 4 percent. Because the 7 percent has not been achieved in the current market, the foundation will stay at two students a year until the market turns.

6. 11:26
   Board's response on timing

   The board said Durham is on a calendar-year cycle, town meeting is that Saturday, and the board has no authority to appropriate money, so the earliest a $30,000 article could go to voters is the town meeting a year later. The chair suggested approaching the town manager in the fall budget season, and offered the town's weekly email newsletter and a table or handouts at town meeting.

7. 16:40
   Mentoring questions

   Board members asked what mentors do and when awards are made. Fred Palmer (?) said one award goes to a senior and one to a junior so mentoring can start before the final year, and Kim Wing (?) said mentors meet with students monthly and act as a general resource; Jen Fox (?) handles mentors for the foundation.

8. 16:40
   Durham ball field: status of the old lease

   The chair recapped the previous week's requests from Durham Youth Baseball and the tri-town little league, and reported the town attorney's opinion that the lease signed by Durham Youth Softball is no longer valid. A letter from the former head of that organization also released any claims under it.

9. 22:14
   Arrangement reached between the two organizations

   Rich (?) said he had asked both organizations' presidents to work out scenarios themselves rather than have the board choose between them. Under the arrangement, Durham Youth Baseball drops its claim on the RSU 5 field and plays at the town field, while the softball organization plays on the RSU 5 softball field, with either free to use the other's field when it is not in use.

10. 22:14
    Contract term for Durham Youth Baseball

    The chair proposed authorizing the town manager to enter a three-year contract with renewal clauses, saying he did not want a repeat of the 99-year lease from years ago. Rich (?) suggested a longer term because the organization may invest in the field, moving fences and replanting grass, and the motion was amended to up to five years with negotiated renewals.

11. 27:15
    Whether the incoming board is bound

    A member of the public asked whether the new select board elected that Saturday would be bound by the lease decision. The chair said the vote authorized the town manager to make the contract, and it would take a later vote of the board to rescind that.

12. 27:15
    Fire chief's report: Bowdoinham ambulance contract

    The fire chief described Bowdoinham's contract with a private ambulance company, quoted at $50,000 annually, and a January request for a much higher figure, given in the transcript as $67,000 a month and later as a per-run figure. Bowdoinham terminated with 90 days' notice and Lisbon EMS may pick up the contract, which the chief said could pull mutual aid coverage away from Durham.

13. 33:00
    Durham call volume and department business

    The chief said Durham is over 100 911 calls this quarter and on pace for record call volume, attributing it to an aging and growing population, and that the per diem 7-to-7 shift has been covered every day. He also reported a battery backup system installed on the radio system, RFPs being prepared for capital improvements pending Saturday's vote, and training conferences attended.

14. 33:00
    Recognition of departing board members

    The fire chief thanked Kevin and Todd for their support of the fire department over the years.

15. 38:39
    Public works report

    Calvin (?) reported crews responding to storms and black ice, and patching gravel roads until they dry enough to grade in May. The Swamp Road stream crossing project bid opening was set for the next day at 10 o'clock, and seasonal road postings would be pulled Friday morning, in step with Pownal, Freeport and Brunswick.

16. 38:39
    MMA assessment and training

    Calvin (?) said a Maine Municipal Association assessment of public works, fire and the town office scored well on compliance and safety. He will receive the Road Scholar award at the APWA annual training conference on April 6, and the fire department will run the annual fire extinguisher training for public works.

17. 44:17
    Town manager's report on insurance and MMA

    Jerry (?) said the MMA visit should help the town's experience modifier, with savings expected after September and a goal of at least a 5 percent reduction. He confirmed the assessor had been the police chief of a municipality where he previously worked.

18. 44:17
    Spending against the special town meeting articles

    Jerry (?) reported $119,230 committed at the special town meeting for HVAC at the town office and fire station, ceiling insulation, computers and phones, and GIS mapping. HVAC was estimated at $57,730 and cost $46,284; computers and phones were estimated at $45,000 and cost about $30,000 for two laptops and seven desktops with cabling and software; the digitizing work is $12,500 plus about $2,000 a year of updates.

19. 49:26
    Disagreement over the remaining balance

    Board members went back and forth over whether the roughly $25,637 returning from the HVAC and computer lines was already inside the $328,620 shown as remaining. The figures were not reconciled in the meeting, with $49,000 and $354,000 also raised, and one member said the numbers were not laid out in a way that could be followed.

20. 49:26
    Consent agenda, upcoming meetings and adjournment

    The consent agenda was approved. The chair listed the annual election on Friday March 31 at the Eureka Center from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., annual town meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Durham Community School, the planning board on April 5, and select board meetings on April 11 and April 25. Board members thanked Kevin and Todd for their service before adjourning.

What was decided

• 11:26
  Publicise the Freeport High School Scholarship Foundation in the town's weekly email newsletter and allow it a table or handouts at town meeting; no money could be committed by the boardpassed
• 27:15
  Authorize the town manager to enter a contract of up to five years with Durham Youth Baseball for the use of the Durham ball field, with negotiated renewal clauses, and allow the organization to begin scheduling and preseason work pending signaturepassed
• 49:26
  Approve the consent agenda as presentedpassed
• 49:26
  Adjournpassed

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.

Worth knowing

• 11:26
  The scholarship foundation asked Durham for $30,000, but the board said only town meeting can appropriate it and Durham's meeting was that Saturday, so the earliest a vote could happen is the following April.
• 33:00
  The fire chief said Durham is already over 100 911 calls this quarter and on pace for record call volume, and pointed to Bowdoinham losing its private ambulance contract on 90 days' notice as a risk that could pull mutual aid away from Durham.
• 44:17
  Of the $119,230 voted at the special town meeting, $93,593 had been spent, with about $25,637 returning to the fund. Board members could not agree during the meeting whether that amount was already counted in the $328,620 shown as remaining.
• 38:39
  Seasonal road postings come off Friday morning, at the same time as Pownal, Freeport and Brunswick, and the Swamp Road stream crossing bids open the next morning at 10.

Motion language found in the transcript

Located by pattern matching, with no model involved: "I move that", "I'll second", "all those in favour". This is an independent check on the summary above: 1 passage of motion language, against 4 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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