Town Meeting 2026

2026-06-13 · Town Meeting · 3:22:47 · watch on YouTube →

Durham's annual town meeting for fiscal year 2027, held June 13, 2026 and run by a deputy moderator after Curtis was sworn in as moderator. Joe Roy opened with a financial presentation showing the municipal tax levy down 9.3 percent but the overall increase at 13.7 percent once education, up 10 percent, and the county assessment, up 12.6 percent, are added. Nearly all the debate concentrated on employee wages, with the budget committee recommending lower figures in most departments and the meeting voting the select board's higher numbers for general government, public safety and public works. The meeting went against the select board on two money articles: it appropriated nothing to the municipal buildings capital reserve and, on a counted vote, took $350,000 rather than $500,000 from the fund balance, which Joe Roy (?) said raises the tax increase from 13.7 to 15.2 percent. It also adopted three sets of land use ordinance revisions, amended the property disposal article to exclude real property, and established a paving reserve account.

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. 0:33
   Opening and election results

   The fire department posted the colors and the meeting began with the pledge. The deputy moderator explained that Curtis had been sworn in as moderator and appointed him deputy. Election results were read: Joe Roy 883 votes and John Talbot 891 votes for select board; Anne Wear 1,126 votes for the RSU5 board; Milt Simon 819 and Donna Church 986 for three-year budget committee terms with a third seat to be decided by write-in; and Diana Demick 142 votes for a two-year term.

2. 0:33
   Introductions and procedure

   Select board and budget committee members introduced themselves: Debbie Oliver in her second year, Rebecca Pollster in her first, and John Talbot for the select board; Milt Simon as budget committee chair, with Neil Berry, Jeffrey Wakeman, Allan Purinton, Phyllis Brandon, Donna Church and Marc Derr. The meeting gave unanimous consent to use the 2021 edition of the Maine Moderators Manual and to dispense with reading the warrant articles word for word.

3. 5:40
   Budget presentation: what is being voted on

   Joe Roy (?) explained that the budget voted today is the municipal budget, with the school budget voted separately and the county tax set by the county, though both are built into the figures. Because last year was an 18-month budget, all comparisons are normalised to a 12-month equivalent, which is why the percentages do not match a straight subtraction of the two figures shown.

4. 5:40
   Department increases

   General government is up 7.8 percent, public safety 10.2 percent, public works 3.1 percent, community services 50 percent on a small line, debt service 16.2 percent, and transfers to reserve down 0.5 percent, for a total appropriation increase of 6.4 percent. Municipal revenue from permits, fees and registrations is up 15.7 percent and use of fund balance down 1.3 percent, leaving the municipal tax levy down 9.3 percent.

5. 11:02
   Education and county assessments

   Against municipal operations down 9.5 percent, education is up 10 percent normalised and county tax up 12.6 percent. Joe Roy (?) said education is about 73 percent of the total budget and the county assessment is approaching a million dollars, so increases there absorb savings found elsewhere. Combined, the increase is 13.7 percent normalised against last year.

6. 11:02
   Where the tax dollar goes

   Joe Roy (?) said about 79 cents of every property tax dollar goes to education and about 6 cents to the town, and that the municipal share of the bill has fallen from about 15 percent to about 12 percent while the county share has risen to about 9 percent. A later graphical slide gave the split as 76 percent school, 15 percent municipality and 10 percent county, so the two presentations of the same split do not agree.

7. 11:02
   Fund balance

   The town's fund balance is a reserve of accumulated unearmarked money, which the town began spending down four or five years ago. The town's accountant recommends a balance between $2 million and $3.3 million for a town with about $13.3 million of expenditures, and the select board proposes drawing it down to $2.5 million, which Joe Roy (?) described as the middle of that range.

8. 11:02
   Debt

   The town is taking on no new debt and, if that continues, should have no outstanding debt by 2031, with payments dropping off in 2029 and 2030. Joe Roy attributed this to the capital planning process.

9. 16:46
   Long-term capital planning

   Department heads set out expected capital needs over ten years and the town saves annually against them rather than borrowing, which allowed a front-end loader to be bought for cash this year. Joe Roy (?) said the approach also lets the town defer a purchase when equipment is still serviceable, or move quickly when a good price appears.

10. 16:46
    Reserve balances

    The municipal building reserve holds $147,144 with a $5,000 contribution recommended; the public works reserve holds $289,000 with $250,000 recommended annually; and the fire and rescue reserve holds $567,000 with $140,000 recommended. Joe Roy showed graphs of level funding against spending that peaks in some years, arguing steady contributions avoid tax spikes.

11. 16:46
    Other reserves

    A revaluation reserve has been built up because the revaluation now under way takes three or four years to schedule and carries a large bill. The Union Church Restoration Reserve holds $6,743, the grants matching reserve $25,776, and the contingency reserve $550,000.

12. 22:14
    Control of reserve spending and the scholarship

    Joe Roy (?) said reserve accounts are planned by the town manager and department heads but cannot be spent without select board approval at a meeting, with quotes presented. The town scholarship was awarded to Sean Gangway, who was not present and will be recognised at a future select board meeting.

13. 27:39
    Rules for debate and non-resident speakers

    The deputy moderator asked that speakers introduce themselves, address him rather than the room, and keep remarks brief. After a member of the public asked who they were and why they were relevant, the meeting voted by more than two thirds to allow Robert Tripp the fire chief, Calvin the road commissioner, Jerry Douglas the town manager, Tia Wilson (?), George Thebarge and Glenn Shedd (?) to speak.

14. 32:56
    Article 4: default budget

    The article authorises raising the 12-month equivalent of the 2026 municipal budget for the same purposes if any budget article fails. Joe Roy (?) explained this reverts to the previous operating budget, the 18-month figure divided by 1.5; the deputy moderator said that if this article and a budget article both failed, a special town meeting would be needed. Diana Demick attempted to move that voting shift to a November ballot but was ruled out of order as a motion was already on the floor and the subject was not germane.

15. 32:56
    How articles may be amended

    Asked by Neil Berry to explain, the deputy moderator said motions can be amended from the floor after being made and seconded, and that the amendment is voted before the main motion. He confirmed the figures in the warrant act as a cap, so amounts can only be amended downward, on the principle that someone who read the warrant at home and was content with the cap need not attend.

16. 38:12
    Article 5: budget committee's reasoning

    Jeffrey Wakeman (?) said the budget committee's lower figure for general government removes the text messaging service at about $4,000 and $2,500 for select board tablets, reduces the human resources consultant line, removes a new unemployment line as something contingency could cover, and adjusts town manager compensation. He said the board approved a mid-year raise for the town manager exceeding 10 percent, above his contract, and that such decisions should be made in a budget presented to the town. He noted total employee compensation is up 20 percent on last year normalised.

17. 43:47
    Residents speaking for the staff

    Katherine Curtis of 56 Brianna Drive (?) said town employees have been underpaid for years, that the increase is a one-off correction, and that reducing it risks losing staff and the maintenance of town facilities. Roberta Brazinski (?) of 52 Quaker Ridge Road (?) said staff are overworked and underpaid, that this is a statewide problem, that the town has had chaos in the office in past years, and that she values the text alerts for emergencies.

18. 48:48
    Select board response on wages

    Joe Roy (?) said the text messaging service is a three-year contract entered into after residents asked for better communication, and that tablets would cut several hundred pages of printing per meeting and ease freedom of access requests. He said a compensation study comparing towns of similar size and location, such as North Yarmouth and Cumberland rather than Portland or Bangor, found staff consistently in the bottom 25th percentile, which caused turnover and ten months of understaffing, and the proposal brings them to a little below average with a wage table projecting the next eight years.

19. 48:48
    The cost of the difference

    Joe Roy (?) said that taking the lower number on every article would save about $93 a year, or $7 a month, on a home valued at $400,000, and about $46 a year on a home valued at $200,000. He asked whether that is worth the risk of losing staff, and said contractual obligations cannot simply be cut so the shortfall would fall on services or town office hours.

20. 53:59
    Objections from the floor

    Neil Berry (?) said it is insulting to say the town manager is underpaid and overworked when he receives five weeks of vacation and $128,000 a year, more than the managers of comparable towns on the survey list. Diana Demick, a town employee for 25 years, said raises were often two percent or nothing and that she does not believe people are leaving over pay. Joe Roy (?) replied that the aim is the median of the surrounding range, and that Durham's manager also serves as tax collector without an assistant town manager or administrative assistant.

21. 53:59
    Milt Simon's wage handout

    Milt Simon referred to a colour graph distributed that morning showing town hall staff wage increases of 60.46 percent in 2024, 5.29 percent in 2026 and a proposed 15.05 percent for 2027. He argued the 13 percent overall increase is only that low because $500,000 is being withdrawn from the fund reserve under article 14, and that if residents want the increases they should pay for them in taxes rather than draw down savings.

22. 59:19
    Defence of the select board budget

    A member said withdrawing from reserves to fund capital accounts earns interest and avoids paying 6 to 10 percent borrowing costs later. He said the budget was compiled with the town manager, department heads and the accountant, and that the accountant reviewed and supports it. Milt Simon countered that the accountant's own recommendation was $300,000, not $500,000. A member said cutting to save $93 on a $400,000 home, or $233 on a million-dollar home, would mean cutting services including town office hours.

23. 1:05:10
    Residents against the increase

    Claire Ross of Oak Ridge Road (?) said the discussion had become divisive and objected to arguments based on fear of losing services and employees, saying employees had been separated rather than lost, and that Durham is in Androscoggin rather than Cumberland County. Paul Reed of Firewood Lane (?) said $93 comes on top of hundreds added in previous years and that he feels he is renting his own house.

24. 1:05:10
    Scale of the town workforce

    A resident said the town has 13 employees and lost at least three in the last six months, two of them town residents, which she attributed to salaries, and that public works was short-handed over the winter. She said any business losing three of 13 would be concerned, and that savings should be found elsewhere in the budget.

25. 1:10:51
    Joe Roy on staff losses and the handout

    Joe Roy (?) said the fund balance cannot be spent on emergencies by the select board and that the town has lost staff, with people plowing 80 hours a week and the road commissioner covering vacancies unpaid on top of a salaried position. He said the budget committee's wage handout was not seen by the select board or the town accountant until that morning, that he had already found figures in it he believed inaccurate, and that a large 2024 increase illustrates how far below average pay had fallen.

26. 1:10:51
    Budget committee clarification

    A budget committee member said article 5 covers administrative staff only and does not include the public works employees who have been leaving, which the committee addressed separately in article 7. He noted the code enforcement officer did leave this year for a position further down the coast.

27. 1:16:00
    Fire chief's intervention

    Robert Tripp (?) said seven people had turned up to decide his raise, that wages are not why tax bills are rising, and that step increases, cost of living raises and county and school staff increases sit outside this article. Milt Simon (?) raised a point of order that the chief had been permitted to speak in connection with the fire department budget rather than the administrative budget, and that his remarks were out of line.

28. 1:16:00
    Question on staff tenure

    Spencer Reed of Firewood Lane (?) asked what the average length of employment is. A resident who manages about a dozen people said three years is typical in his sector, that employees leave regardless of pay, and that raising wages to stop someone walking out does not fix anything. Another resident replied that the town should want institutional knowledge rather than reinventing the wheel every three years.

29. 1:21:36
    Race to the middle

    Joe Roy (?) said the town cannot win a race to the top against neighbouring municipalities, the county or the bus drivers, and that the proposal aims at roughly the 50th percentile, leaving most positions still below it. Asked whether the motion includes a pay rise, the mover of the budget committee's figure said it contains 7.5 percent for staff and 6 percent for the town manager; Joe Roy disputed that, saying increases vary by employee and classification under the new wage table.

30. 1:21:36
    Buxton example

    A resident said his son is a police officer in Buxton, where the lowest-paid force in the county received a raise that brought them just below the middle and were back at the bottom by April. He said this shows the town cannot chase the market and that the increase is not a solution to the problem.

31. 1:27:10
    Article 5 decided

    After the question was called and carried, the meeting voted on the budget committee's figure of $763,039 for general government, which failed. A motion was then made for the select board's recommendation of $821,165, which carried. The deputy moderator noted the meeting had spent over an hour on the article with 30 warrant articles to get through.

32. 1:32:37
    Article 6: public safety

    The select board's figure of $776,090 was moved. The budget committee had recommended a reduction of $36,625, taking an across-the-board approach to wage increases, proposing 6 percent for the fire chief against social security and federal benchmarks of 2.8 to 3.8 percent, 8.2 percent for part-time staff, and phasing the wage scale over two years. Under the committee's number fire department wages rise 22.5 percent; under the select board's, 30 percent.

33. 1:32:37
    EMT coverage

    Joe Roy (?) said 24-hour EMT cover is provided in two 12-hour shifts and that the rate offered was so far below what a local fast food job pays that 30 percent of shifts went unfilled, which has fallen below 10 percent since the increase was applied in the last month. Robert Tripp (?) described a call last month with nobody at the station: the EMT arrived at 05:12, an ambulance took 19 minutes 46 seconds to reach a patient with chest pain, 11 minutes to get him out of the house and 58 minutes to reach hospital. He said nobody was signed up for that night, offered his own raise to the EMTs, and said the money is for the responders rather than for him.

34. 1:38:19
    Response from the budget committee chair

    Milt Simon (?) said he would accept the chief's offer to redirect his raise to EMS staff, and that with 30 years on the fire department he can assure residents that members will respond to any call even without a per diem signed up. He cited the handout figures of a 5 percent raise for the chief in 2024, 3.5 percent in 2026 and a proposed 17.47 percent for 2027, with 13.61 percent proposed for department volunteers.

35. 1:38:19
    Calls for civility

    A resident said the town has had three suicides and three deaths in the past year and that those calls are hard on responders. Another, who runs a behaviour classroom, told the meeting the exchanges were uncalled for and that members should take a break if needed. A further speaker thanked the budget committee for its scrutiny while supporting the select board's approach.

36. 1:43:42
    Statewide context and the stipend

    A resident said property taxes are rising across Maine because of school budgets, inflation and state funding shifts rather than small local pay increases. Joe Roy (?) said the 17.47 percent figure for the fire chief is not a straight salary increase because a stipend he was already receiving was rolled into the same line. A budget committee member repeated the concern that the board created a full-time position and applied a new wage table mid-year, committing future budgets before the town could vote.

37. 1:48:52
    Articles 6 and 7 decided

    After the question was called, article 6 passed at $776,090 for public safety. Article 7, $1,979,352 for public works, was then moved.

38. 1:48:52
    Article 7: the reorganised code position

    Marc Derr (?) said the budget committee proposed no reduction to public works staff wages and supported a salary increase for the road commissioner plus extra for his code enforcement duties, but recommended reducing a newly created position from full-time to part-time, a four-hour weekly reduction. Joe Roy (?) explained the vacant code enforcement officer post was reposted as a code and planning administrative assistant at about $7 an hour less and two hours a week less, with code enforcement responsibilities moved to the road commissioner, who is a certified code enforcement officer.

39. 1:54:13
    Paving reduced

    John Talbot (?) said the town has paved three to four miles a year in the past and will do about a mile and a quarter under this budget, which against 40 miles of road stretches the repaving cycle from about 10 years to 40 plus. He noted the solid waste line does include a trash day next year. Joe Roy (?) said asphalt tonnage costs are high and the crack sealing line was increased to buy time. Article 7 carried.

40. 1:54:13
    Articles 8, 9 and 10 introduced

    Article 8, $1,000 for community services, and article 9, $624,111 for debt service, both carried without substantive discussion. Article 10, $140,000 for the fire department capital reserve, was moved; the budget committee recommended $40,000, a reduction of $100,000, on the reasoning that the fire department's need falls in 2029 while public works needs money in 2027.

41. 1:59:42
    Debate on the fire capital reserve

    Joe Roy (?) said saving for a ten-year purchase requires contributing every year, that skipping a year has to be made up, and that money set aside earns interest and avoids borrowing. Milt Simon agreed with the principle but said the contribution is partly funded by the $500,000 withdrawal in article 14, comparing it to paying one credit card with another. Joe Roy (?) said the distinction is that the fund balance is tax money already collected being allocated to a future purpose.

42. 1:59:42
    Fire department equipment timeline

    Asked by Deb Blair (?) for the replacement schedule, Robert Tripp (?) said the next expense is refurbishing a 22-year-old pumper truck in 2029, then a new ambulance in 2030, and that he is not seeking to buy new pumper or ladder trucks. Joe Roy put the refurbishment at about $159,000, having earlier been given as about $150,000, and the 2030 ambulance at $710,000.

43. 2:05:07
    Articles 10 and 11

    The vote on article 10 at $140,000 was taken but the result is not stated in the recording. Article 11, $250,000 for the public works capital reserve, carried.

44. 2:05:07
    Article 12: municipal buildings capital reserve

    Milt Simon (?) moved the budget committee's recommendation of $0 in place of the $5,000 proposed. Allan Purinton (?) said the account already holds enough to cover planned projects for the next five years. Joe Roy (?) replied that without annual contributions the town would face a catch-up at the six-year mark, citing a $57,000 fire station roof six years out.

45. 2:10:08
    Articles 12 and 13 decided

    The vote on article 12 was close enough to require counting; 41 were recorded against and the deputy moderator declared the motion to appropriate $0 carried. Article 13, reducing the amounts to be raised in taxes by $3,651,770 in municipal revenues, carried.

46. 2:15:44
    Article 14: fund balance

    Jeffrey Wakeman (?) said the budget committee recommends $350,000 rather than $500,000 because overuse of the unassigned fund balance caused problems in years when he was a selectman, that the accountant's recommendation was $300,000, and that $350,000 leaves about $2.7 million, near the centre of the recommended range. Joe Roy (?) said the accountant described $2.5 million as the bottom of the safe range and that the lower withdrawal takes the tax increase from 13.7 percent to 15.2 percent.

47. 2:15:44
    Whether this is the last year of the fund balance

    Neil Berry (?) said this is likely the last year the fund balance can be used and that he voted for the lower figure hoping to restore the paving money cut by half, having been told for decades that four miles a year is needed. Joe Roy (?) said the vote would not restore anything to the paving budget. Milt Simon (?) said an April select board meeting had established that withdrawing $500,000 means next year's taxes already rise 5 percent.

48. 2:20:44
    Balances (?) explained

    In answer to a question from Russ Kohl (?), the reserve was given as about $3 million, with the select board's figure leaving $2.5 million and the budget committee's leaving $2.65 million. A resident argued a savings account exists to level out bumps and that this year's increase is exceptionally high; Milt Simon (?) replied the bump will be larger next year if the balance is spent now.

49. 2:26:09
    Article 14 decided

    The vote was counted and the budget committee's $350,000 passed. A resident asked for a recount or secret ballot given how close it was; the deputy moderator said a secret ballot could be requested, or a recount if seven others agreed, and the speaker withdrew the request.

50. 2:26:09
    Article 15: land use ordinance policy changes

    Brian Lanoie, chair of the planning board, said the next three articles are the result of over a year's work and four public meetings. Article 15 covers back lots and private ways, with code officer approval for single back lots, planning board approval for private ways serving multiple lots and the single back lot driveway width reduced from 20 feet to 16; expansion of non-conforming structures; subdivision road buffers; fire protection water supply, removing water storage systems and allowing fire ponds, existing water sources or residential sprinklers; cannabis cultivation definitions prohibiting aggregated growing operations exempt from state permitting; manufactured housing and accessory apartments brought into line with state law; and how road frontage is measured on curved and corner lots and turnarounds. The article carried.

51. 2:31:16
    Article 16: administrative changes

    Brian Lanoie (?) summarised ten items: subdivision road standards updated to current engineering practice; driveway standards and sight distances; zoning boundary interpretation assigned to the planning board; a letter of readiness to serve for solid waste collection plans in subdivisions; reduced planning board review scope to avoid duplicating state permitting; adjusted submission deadlines and fewer printed copies; delegation to the select board of non-substantive text corrections; proof of payment of taxes with any application; a conditional use submissions checklist reviewed by the town attorney; and clarification that clearing trees before final approval is a violation. The article carried.

52. 2:36:37
    Article 17: codification

    Brian Lanoie (?) said a third-party review checked cross-references and grammar with no substantive change. The deputy moderator noted the text refers to warrant articles X and Y and should read 15 and 16. The article carried.

53. 2:36:37
    Grouping the business articles

    After some negotiation over which to hold out, the meeting gave unanimous consent to take articles 18 through 29 together, with articles 21 and 27 voted separately and article 30 kept for the end.

54. 2:41:40
    Articles 18 to 29 approved together

    The block covered transferring snowmobile registration money to the Penguin Snowmobile Club, accepting and disbursing grant funds, fixing the interest rate on delinquent taxes, selling property acquired by tax lien, setting interest on abated taxes at 2 percent, accepting prepayments of taxes, resolving disputes not involving public funds, moving up to 5 percent of unexpended budget lines, transferring proceeds of capital asset sales into capital reserve funds, and setting the term of newly elected school board members to begin June 30 following the municipal election. All were approved.

55. 2:46:53
    Article 21: disposal of town property

    A resident asked what process would apply to selling town-owned land, noting she abuts town land where Bates College students recorded bear, bobcat and coyote, and that the Conservation Commission is developing an open space plan. Joe Roy (?) said the article has been used for items such as a traded-in front-end loader and that he could not see the board listing land without a robust public process. Katherine Curtis (?) moved to amend the article to read except for real property so the position is explicit.

56. 2:52:08
    Debate on the amendment

    John Talbot opposed it, saying the town is accumulating parcels that pay no tax and he would rather see them reviewed and returned to the rolls. A resident asked about open space in developments turned over to the town, and Joe Roy (?) said the amendment would stop the town selling such land. Another speaker said the amendment leaves no mechanism at all for the town ever to sell real property and that this should be addressed. Members noted the article is renewed annually so the position could be revisited next year.

57. 2:52:08
    The bandstand

    Asked whether disposal would cover the bandstand at the veterans park, Joe Roy (?) said the parcel is town-owned and could not be sold as amended, and that $30,000 has been allocated to repair the structure, with the Durham Historical Society developing a plan alongside local volunteers and a select board member. The amendment carried and article 21 as amended carried.

58. 2:57:38
    Article 27: paving reserve account

    Joe Roy (?) said that if paving costs make it sensible to defer work, this article lets the unspent money go into a dedicated paving reserve rather than back into undesignated fund balance, so the town has it available when it plays catch-up. The article carried.

59. 2:57:38
    Article 30: Maine PERS plan change

    The article adopts regular plan AC for eligible full-time employees and appointed officials from July 1, 2026, for future service only. Joe Roy (?) said the current pension provides no cost of living adjustment, that staff do not pay into social security and the town offers no 401k, so this is their only retirement provision. Neil Berry (?) asked whether the cost was in the budget; Joe Roy (?) said it was, at generally one to two percent more on that line.

60. 3:02:59
    Objections to the timing

    Paul Reed (?) said the pension change is an added benefit that should have been raised alongside the wage articles, and that the vote might have gone differently had people known. Joe Roy (?) said the warrant format puts budget articles before business articles so the budget had to assume the article would pass, and that the material was posted in advance. Josh Klein-Golden (?) said it was discussed at meetings from January onward.

61. 3:08:14
    The chief on the pension

    Robert Tripp (?) said this is not an added benefit but the correction of an error: after more than a decade he only learned through the town's HR adviser that he would never receive a cost of living adjustment in retirement, and that had he known he would have gone to another town. He said very few towns still have the current plan and it dates from when the town had two part-time employees. Another resident said a retiree under the present plan would receive the same amount for 15 or 20 years.

62. 3:13:45
    When the warrant was published

    Asked by a resident when the warrant was posted, the answer given was June 2, about two weeks before the meeting, with proposed language public about a month before that. Joe Roy (?) said the town is statutorily required to post final warrant language seven days before the municipal election, and committed to drawing attention during budget articles to related business articles later in the warrant so people can take them into account.

63. 3:19:26
    Cost of the pension change and adjournment

    Joe Roy (?) said the town's contribution is about 1.2 percent higher than last year, that the rate is somewhere around 16 to 19 percent of salary, and that the total impact was discussed at a recorded meeting as a few thousand dollars against a $13 million budget, though he could not recall whether it was about $2,000 to $3,000 or $9,000. The vote on article 30 was taken but the result is not stated in the recording. The meeting then adjourned.

What was decided

• 27:39
  Allow the named non-residents, including the fire chief, road commissioner, town manager and town planner, to speak at town meeting; recorded as more than two thirds in favourpassed
• 32:56
  Article 4: authorise raising the 12-month equivalent of the 2026 municipal budget for the same purposes if any budget article in the warrant is not approvedpassed
• 1:27:10
  Article 5: raise and appropriate the budget committee's recommendation of $763,039 for general governmentfailed
• 1:27:10
  Article 5: raise and appropriate the select board's recommendation of $821,165 for general governmentpassed
• 1:48:52
  Article 6: raise and appropriate $776,090 for public safety, the select board's figurepassed
• 1:54:13
  Article 7: raise and appropriate $1,979,352 for public workspassed
• 1:54:13
  Article 8: raise and appropriate $1,000 for community servicespassed
• 1:54:13
  Article 9: raise and appropriate $624,111 for debt servicepassed
• 2:05:07
  Article 10: raise and appropriate $140,000 for the fire department capital reserve, against a budget committee recommendation of $40,000; the vote was taken but the result is not stated in the recordingoutcome unclear
• 2:05:07
  Article 11: raise and appropriate $250,000 for the public works capital reservepassed
• 2:10:08
  Article 12: raise and appropriate $0 for the municipal buildings capital reserve, the budget committee's recommendation in place of the select board's $5,000; counted vote with 41 recorded againstpassed
• 2:10:08
  Article 13: reduce the amounts authorised to be raised in taxes by $3,651,770 in municipal revenuespassed
• 2:26:09
  Article 14: authorise the select board to appropriate up to $350,000 from the general fund balance, the budget committee's figure rather than the select board's $500,000; carried on a counted vote and a request for a recount or secret ballot was withdrawnpassed
• 2:26:09
  Article 15: adopt the land use ordinance revisions covering back lots and private ways, non-conforming structures, subdivision road buffers, fire protection water supply, cannabis cultivation, manufactured housing and accessory apartments, and road frontagepassed
• 2:31:16
  Article 16: adopt part two of the land use ordinance revisions, the administrative changespassed
• 2:36:37
  Article 17: adopt part three of the land use ordinance revisions, the codificationpassed
• 2:41:40
  Articles 18 through 29, excluding 21 and 27, taken and approved togetherpassed
• 2:52:08
  Amend article 21 to add the words except for real propertypassed
• 2:52:08
  Article 21 as amended: authorise the select board to dispose of town property except for real property that it determines is no longer needed or usablepassed
• 2:57:38
  Article 27: establish a paving reserve accountpassed
• 3:19:26
  Article 30: change the town's Maine PERS plan to regular plan AC for eligible full-time employees and appointed officials from July 1, 2026 for future service only; the vote was taken but the result is not stated in the recordingoutcome unclear
• 3:19:26
  Adjourn the meetingpassed

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.

Where the minutes and the recording disagree

Two independent records exist for this meeting: the town's written minutes and the video. For the items below they do not agree, or neither one settles the question. Both accounts are given as they stand. This site has no standing to decide which is right (the minutes are the legal record, the recording is what happened in the room), so the conflict is stated rather than resolved, and nothing here says the town got anything wrong.

• 2:05:07Article 10, $140,000 for the fire department capital reserve: the vote is called on the recording and no result is audible. The outcome is not recoverable from the video.
• 3:19:26Article 30, changing the town's Maine PERS plan: the vote is called on the recording and no result is audible. The outcome is not recoverable from the video.

Worth knowing

• 11:02
  Joe Roy (?) said about 79 cents of every property tax dollar goes to education and about 6 cents to the town. Even with the municipal tax levy down 9.3 percent, education up 10 percent and the county assessment up 12.6 percent take the overall increase to 13.7 percent normalised. A later slide gave the split as 76 percent school, 15 percent municipal and 10 percent county, which does not match the earlier figures.
• 1:32:37
  Robert Tripp (?) described a call last month with nobody at the fire station: the EMT came in at 05:12, an ambulance took 19 minutes 46 seconds to reach a patient with chest pain, 11 minutes to get him out of the house and 58 minutes to reach hospital. He said nobody was signed up for that night, and offered to give up his own raise if the money went to EMTs. Joe Roy (?) said unfilled shifts have fallen from 30 percent to under 10 percent since the wage increase was applied.
• 2:26:09
  On a counted vote the meeting took the budget committee's $350,000 from the fund balance rather than the select board's $500,000, which Joe Roy (?) said raises the tax increase from 13.7 percent to 15.2 percent. It was close enough that a resident asked for a recount or secret ballot before withdrawing the request.
• 1:54:13
  John Talbot (?) said paving drops from the usual three or four miles a year to about a mile and a quarter under this budget. Against 40 miles of road that stretches the repaving cycle from roughly 10 years to over 40. Joe Roy attributed it to asphalt costs and said the crack sealing line was increased instead.

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: 9 passages of motion language, against 22 decisions summarised.

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