Select Board Meeting ~ November 22, 2022

2022-11-22 · Select Board · 1:04:44 · watch on YouTube →

The Select Board met on November 22, 2022 with four of five members; Todd Beaulieu was away meeting a new granddaughter. The board authorised up to $7,600 from municipal capital for a large format scanner requested by the code enforcement officer, and voted to sign a municipal quit claim deed returning a foreclosed property to its owner after back taxes were paid, though Richard George raised unresolved questions about whether the town had used the right kind of lien on what is a mobile home on rented land. After signing, the board found the deed needed a notary and that its signature page was not valid, so it will be done again at the next meeting. Long reports followed from the road commissioner on winter readiness and from the fire chief, whose account of mutual aid to Lisbon and of backfilling for private ambulance contractors took up much of the second half. The board approved the consent agenda, went into executive session on appointments, appointed two residents to committees, and adjourned.

What was discussed

1. 0:27
   Call to order and Pledge of Allegiance

   Kevin Nadeau opened the meeting and led the Pledge of Allegiance. He noted Todd Beaulieu was absent for something more important, meeting his new granddaughter. There were no amendments to the agenda.

2. 0:27
   Public comment

   The only member of the public present was a newspaper reporter. Nobody came forward to comment.

3. 0:27
   Public input on ARPA priorities

   This was the third scheduled opportunity for residents to say how the town's ARPA funds should be used, and again nobody attended. Kevin Nadeau read an email from Jim Sanborn offering two suggestions: return the money to the federal government to reduce the national debt, or put speed bumps on either side of Runaround Pond. Nadeau said returning the money is an option but would require a town vote.

4. 0:27
   Large format scanner: costs

   Alan Plummer had asked in the capital plan for a large format scanner, and the board had already agreed it made more sense to buy it now from the municipal capital account than to wait. He reported the cash price as $7,120, slightly higher than he had expected, with 36-, 48- and 60-month lease options and a separate annual maintenance cost of $395. Members preferred cash over the lease, which one described as more like rent to own.

5. 5:44
   Scanner demonstration and fit

   Plummer had asked for samples, received both hard copies and electronic scans of typical documents, and watched a video of the machine scanning. He said the speed and quality were good, the output an exact copy of the original, and that the machine feeds from the front and returns the sheet to the front, so it should fit in his office.

6. 5:44
   Setting the authorised amount

   The first suggestion was up to $7,500 for cushion. Members then asked whether the capital account could cover the $395 maintenance agreement, and settled on asking the vendor to put the first year of maintenance on the same invoice as the machine so it can be treated as capital. The figure was raised to $7,600 for the motion.

7. 5:44
   Municipal quit claim deed

   Kevin Nadeau explained the situation: a property had gone through automatic foreclosure for non-payment of taxes, the owner subsequently paid what was due, and the quit claim deed gives the property back. A receipt and supporting documentation were in the packet.

8. 5:44
   Richard George's objection: personal property, not real estate

   Richard George said he believed the property is a mobile home on rented land, so the town could be exposed to lot rent, removal or disposal costs if it kept the unit, and a 1964 pre-HUD home can be expensive to get rid of. He also thought the release looked wrong because it referred to a map and lot number on real property when this is technically personal property, a titled unit with wheels and axles under it.

9. 11:39
   Whether the lien was recorded against someone else's land

   George's second concern was that the tax liens, filed with a real estate description, may have been recorded against land owned by the park rather than the taxpayer, which would secure nothing but could still surface when the landowner sells or refinances. Members noted that a bill for the land and a personal property bill for the mobile home should go to different parties. George said the right instrument would have been a UCC lien or something similar, and referred to the arrangement as a chattel loan.

10. 11:39
    Front end versus back end of the process

    Kevin Nadeau agreed the questions were good ones but drew a line between how the town got the lien and what it does now: three liens for the 2019, 2020 and 2021 tax years existed, the taxes have been paid, and releasing them is straightforward. He asked George to write his questions out, by email to the town manager, so they could be researched or put to the town attorney. He also raised the former town dump site, which the town has for years declined to take ownership of because of possible environmental cleanup liability, as a comparison for when foreclosure should not simply be automatic.

11. 16:46
    Correcting the deed date

    The deed carried March 2021 above the signature line. It was agreed the date could be crossed out and initialled and changed to November 22, 2022 at signing.

12. 22:07
    Signature page not valid without a notary

    After signing, the board realised the deed had to be notarised rather than merely witnessed, and that the member who is a notary had signed it himself and so could not notarise it. Only three signatures were required, so he could have abstained from signing. The board agreed the signature page was not valid and that the deed would be signed again at the next meeting with a notary present.

13. 22:07
    Road commissioner: winter readiness

    Calvin Beaumier said the trucks were ready for winter and staffing was in good shape, with CJ Larabee back driving for the town. Crews were out treating before morning traffic on Wednesday and back at 10 p.m. that night for black ice, and all the gravel roads in town had been graded and crowned before freeze-up.

14. 22:07
    Weather forecasting class

    Roger Griswold, chief meteorologist at WMTW, came in and taught the crew about forecasting, the difference between dew point and relative humidity, and predicting black ice. Beaumier noted black ice sometimes forms with no precipitation at all, from dew point or fog, so being able to anticipate it is useful.

15. 22:07
    Route 9 guard rails and the new warning lights

    MDOT installed guard rails on Route 9 where the culvert washed out, and the work is finished. Warning lights went in at the Route 9 and Swamp Road corner. Beaumier explained that people have been telling him there are no lights: they are embedded in the sign itself and are radar activated, so they do not flash unless traffic is coming.

16. 22:07
    Limits of the warning light installation

    The radar sensor sits further back than Beaumier would like because pine trees near a house closer to the hill prevented the solar panel from working there, so the lights flash for longer than intended. A member said he wished a set had been installed for traffic coming down over the hill from the Lisbon side, which he described as the drivers who go straight across and sideswipe others. It was also noted that vehicles pulling up against the guard rail there are facing the wrong way up the road and get ticketed.

17. 22:07
    Paving, budget and the new truck

    Crooker started paving Bowie Hill the previous week and broke down, with the work expected to finish Monday; the temperature was 46 degrees with 50 forecast for Monday. Beaumier had given the town manager his 2023 budget numbers that day. The new truck arrived in Westbrook, confirmed by a call in which the dealer said he was sitting in it, and Viking was being contacted about mounting the equipment.

18. 27:31
    Town manager's report

    Jerry Douglass said things had quieted down after the election. The CIP committee had received all its materials, with the first meeting set for November 30 and the hope of finishing in about three meetings. He was working on the 2023 budget and said it was in good shape despite the capital piece running late.

19. 27:31
    Durham Giving Tree

    The tree is up and awaiting tags. Tags can be picked up from December 6 at the Town Office, and this year the town is also collecting non-perishable food and new unwrapped gifts. Members asked how requests from families in need are being solicited after a lean year, when a former partnership lapsed and very few tags came in; the town manager said the information would go on the website.

20. 27:31
    Fire chief's return and live fire training

    Rob Tripp had stepped out for a call and reported on return that it was a single vehicle rollover, occupants out and being evaluated by EMS, with the Lisbon police chief on scene before Durham arrived. On Sunday, November 20 the whole department, about 22 people, spent the day at the Yarmouth burn building doing live fire training with six or eight fires. Durham pays $1,000 a year to belong to that training association, and there were no injuries.

21. 27:31
    Call volume figures

    The department responded to 35 calls in October and was at about 300 calls for service for the year, amounting to 416 responses across fire and rescue. A staff car is on almost 40 percent of every call, the ambulance was up to 214, and about 20 percent of the department's entire call volume is mutual aid, including 40 runs to Lisbon for Lisbon EMS.

22. 33:20
    Whether mutual aid is balanced

    Asked whether there is a limit, Tripp said he had been talking to other chiefs and cited Topsham, which went to one community about 50 times and received eight in return. Durham's 40 runs to Lisbon against roughly 30 received back he considered equitable, and there is an understanding between the two EMS chiefs that neither bills the other. He said it is up to town government rather than an industry standard to decide when the exchange stops working.

23. 33:20
    Effect on the department and on Durham coverage

    Tripp said mutual aid helps morale, because with only two structure fires in Durham this year it gives crews training and experience while helping a neighbour, and Durham needs surrounding towns to come without question when it does have a fire. His caution was that he does not want to miss an important call in Durham because the rescue is in another town; he cited being sent to back up Lisbon on a motor vehicle accident while Durham's rig was already out of town.

24. 33:20
    Backfilling for private ambulance contractors

    Richard George said his larger concern is not helping another town but covering for a private for-profit service a town has contracted with, where the contractor cannot meet its obligation. Nadeau suggested a threshold could be written into an arrangement so that if the imbalance passes some point the town starts charging, noting 40 against 30 is well within reason but 80 against 10 would not be. Tripp said the valley standard is that towns do start charging when it gets out of balance.

25. 38:47
    Regulation of private ambulance services

    Asked whether the state requires minimum staffing or vehicles for a private contractor covering a given population, Tripp said there is no such regulation, and gave his opinion that for-profit operators economise on labour because that is where the margin is. He said another private ambulance service in the area appears to be heading the same way, and that Lewiston has a contract specifying numbers of ambulances, paramedics and basic trucks, though he has not seen it.

26. 38:47
    Data on why mutual aid is requested

    Asked whether he can tell from the call whether Durham is covering for a contract shortfall, Tripp said a reason code is entered for mutual aid but he seldom gets a real answer about whether the other service was on a second call, tied up at the hospital, or simply unavailable. He said he would bring the full breakdown by town and by fire or rescue at the end of the season so the board could make informed decisions.

27. 43:57
    Revenue and fire-based EMS

    Tripp said a town that contracts out also loses the $40,000 to $60,000 of ambulance revenue, which the private contractor collects instead, and gave his view, from having been an EMT and firefighter in three states, that the service is worse and the wait longer. He argued fire-based EMS is the cost-effective model because a per diem is a dual role firefighter and EMT already standing next to the pumper. Every shift was covered for the month of November and December was being worked on.

28. 43:57
    Safety committee and return to duty policy

    The fire department safety committee has merged into the town safety committee, has already met with the road commissioner taking part, and the town manager will join quarterly. As part of that work a return to duty policy was established and updated, which Tripp flagged so the board knows when a policy changes.

29. 43:57
    Grants and training

    A quarter of a million dollar assistance to firefighters grant application for radios is being prepared: the department has five different portable radio types on different systems, Lewiston and Auburn have just upgraded, and coverage across 39 square miles of hills is patchy. Another Maine Municipal grant cycle was submitted along with a $5,000 wildland equipment application, and hiring continues for EMS per diem shifts. A resident donated a house on Hallowell Road he is tearing down, which the department used for roof ventilation, ladder truck work, rescue training and breaching walls, and which happened to put crews a mile from a major accident last Friday.

30. 49:09
    Consent agenda

    The consent agenda was taken up and accepted as presented.

31. 49:09
    Upcoming meetings and the resource protection information session

    Select Board meetings were noted for December 13 and December 27 at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, and a planning board meeting for December 7. The Conservation Commission holds a public information meeting on December 6 at 6:30 at the Eureka Center on proposed changes to the town's resource protection map, following up on a question voters did not approve at last year's town meeting; it will cover both adding and removing properties. Nadeau said it is not the formal public hearing, which comes later, and that postcards had gone out to affected owners.

32. 49:09
    Executive session and appointments

    The board went into executive session on board and committee appointments and returned to appoint two residents. Nadeau thanked both for stepping up to serve.

What was decided

• 5:44
  Authorize expenditure of up to $7,600 for the purchase of the large format scanner, funded from the municipal capital account, the extra amount above the $7,120 cash price intended to let the first year of the $395 maintenance agreement go on the same invoice. Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Joe Tomm. The chair announced four in favour, none opposed.passed
• 11:39
  Richard George to write out his questions about how the tax liens were filed and how the foreclosure proceeded, by email to the town manager, for research or referral to the town attorney. Agreed in discussion; no motion was made.passed
• 16:46
  Sign the municipal quit claim deed without covenants as presented, with the date on the deed changed from March 2021 to November 22, 2022. Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George. The town's minutes record it carried 4-0; the recording of the vote itself is indistinct.passed
• 22:07
  Sign the deed again at the next meeting. The board found the signature page was NOT valid, because the deed required notarisation and the member who is a notary had signed it and could not notarise his own signature. Agreed in discussion; no motion was made.tabled
• 49:09
  Consent the agenda as presented. Moved by Richard George, seconded by Josh Klein-Golden. The town's minutes record it carried 4-0; the recording moves on before a result is stated.passed
• 49:09
  Move the board into executive session pursuant to 1 MRSA 405(6)(A) for the purpose of considering board and committee appointments. Moved by Kevin Nadeau, seconded by Joe Tomm. The town's minutes record it carried 4-0.passed
• 49:09
  Appoint Neil Berry as an alternate to the Board of Appeals and Michael Friendly (?) as a member of the Durham Conservation Commission. Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Joe Tomm. The town's minutes record it carried 4-0.passed
• 49:09
  Adjourn. Moved by Joe Tomm, seconded by Josh Klein-Golden. The town's minutes record it 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 bosminutes_11_22_22_1.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.

• the Board authorize expenditure of up to $7,600 for the purchase of the large format scannercarried 4-0

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Joe Tomm

• the Board sign the municipal claim deed (change deed date from March 2021 to November 22, 2022)carried 4-0

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George

• consent the agenda as presentedcarried 4-0

  Moved by Richard George, seconded by Josh Klein-Golden

• move the Board into Executive Session at 7:21 pmcarried 4-0

  Moved by Kevin Nadeau, seconded by Joe Tomm

• Motion not recorded in wordscarried 4-0

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Joe Tomm

• adjourncarried 4-0

  Moved by Joe Tomm, seconded by Josh Klein-Golden

Worth knowing

• 0:27
  This was the third public input session on how to spend the town's ARPA money, and no member of the public attended. The only input was an email from Jim Sanborn suggesting the town either return the money to the federal government to reduce the national debt, which the chair said would require a town vote, or spend it on speed bumps either side of Runaround Pond.
• 11:39
  Richard George argued the town may have handled a tax foreclosure wrongly. The property is a mobile home on rented land in what he believes is the town's only mobile home park, making it personal property rather than real estate, and the liens filed for 2019, 2020 and 2021 carried a real estate description that may have attached to land the taxpayer does not own. He said a UCC lien would have been the right instrument, and warned the town could have been left liable for lot rent, removal or disposal had the foreclosure been completed. The release was still signed and the process questions were referred on for review.
• 27:31
  About 20 percent of the fire department's entire call volume is mutual aid, including 40 runs to Lisbon for Lisbon EMS against roughly 30 received back. The chief's concern is less the balance between towns than that Durham is increasingly covering for a private for-profit ambulance contractor that cannot meet its obligations, with no state regulation setting minimum staffing or vehicles for such a contractor. He said a town that contracts out also loses $40,000 to $60,000 in ambulance revenue.
• 49:09
  The Conservation Commission holds a public information meeting on December 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the Eureka Center on proposed changes to the town's resource protection map. It follows a question voters did not approve at last year's town meeting and will cover both adding and removing properties. Postcards were mailed to affected owners; the formal public hearing comes later.

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: 2 passages of motion language, against 8 decisions summarised.

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