Select Board Meeting ~ June 28, 2022

2022-06-28 · Select Board · 1:46:56 · watch on YouTube →

The Select Board met on June 28, 2022 without chairman Kevin Nadeau, who had an excused absence. It set the 2022 tax rate first, holding the mill rate at $20.70 for a second year on the strength of $10 million in new taxable value, and signed the commitment. The Swamp Road stream crossing was effectively abandoned for the season after the contractor's revised bid came in at $259,175, leaving a $41,675 shortfall with no time to raise it before the work window closes, and the board voted 3-1 to have the road commissioner chase the next round of funding and ask town meeting to carry the appropriation over. Interim town manager Mitch Berkowitz took the board through a Ubiquiti AirFiber link to the Eureka Center, which was conditionally approved, the coming Comcast franchise renegotiation, a $1.5 million tax anticipation note, and a proposed policy on occupancy of foreclosed property. Keith Russell asked in public comment for 50 new flags for the poles along the main road, which the board supported but tabled to July 12 while a funding source is found.

What was discussed

1. 2:04
   Call to order and agenda change

   Everyone was present except chairman Kevin Nadeau, whose absence was excused, and a quorum was declared before the Pledge of Allegiance. The board then moved item seven, setting the tax rate, ahead of item three so it would be taken before the fire chief's and road commissioner's reports.

2. 2:04
   Setting the 2022 tax rate

   Donna Hays, the town's assessor, said she was presenting only one option rather than the usual low, medium and high. The town picked up $10 million in new value this year from a combination of CMP's New England Clean Energy Connect, new houses and new subdivisions, so holding the rate exactly as last year would still produce a $135,000 overlay, against $107,000 last year and a usual range of $100,000 to $125,000. The town assesses at 80 percent of market value, the homestead exemption is $20,000 and the veterans exemption $4,800, and the current mill rate is $20.70.

3. 2:04
   The case for holding the rate

   Mitch Berkowitz said keeping the rate steady still increases what the town takes in, because property value has risen, while letting the board tell residents the rate has not moved. He argued it leaves room for discounts and abatements under appeal, replenishes the undesignated fund balance as a reserve against a catastrophe, and gives the town some capacity for energy costs. He cited Calvin's recurring experience of an appropriation buying seven and a half miles of road instead of ten.

4. 7:12
   Fire chief's report: active shooter protocol

   The chief said the department had implemented NFPA 3000, the active shooter hostile event response protocol, and trained on it, stressing there had been no threats and no chatter and that this is preparedness rather than a response to anything. The following Thursday the department walked through the school after a recent alarm there, going over the panel, strategies and tactics, the trucks and the sprinklers.

5. 7:12
   Safety committee and public works

   The department's safety committee is led by retired chief St. Michel, covering policies and procedures and gear inspection. The chief also asked to thank Calvin and public works on the record for repainting the yellow lines in the bays, which is what lines the trucks up and keeps them from going through the back wall.

6. 7:12
   Unclaimed money recovered

   One of the department's members pointed the chief at the state's unclaimed money list, where two entries stood under the Durham Fire Department totalling $619.86. Claiming it as a fire chief without a personal address took notarised paperwork, but the money came back in two cheques and went to Janet for the general fund. The chief noted it was set against a $1,000 diesel bill.

7. 12:14
   Trek Across Maine and recruiting

   The department put one extra person on for the Trek Across Maine and had no issues. It continues to attract new members, having just taken one from the conservation commission, which the chief credited to the townspeople. Coming up are the Moxie Fest parade in Lisbon on about July 9, where Durham sends an engine company for coverage, and a fishing derby the next day above and below the dam, with Lisbon and Topsham boats on standby.

8. 12:14
   Stream crossing: the legal question answered

   Calvin (?) reported back on whether the town could spend the whole appropriation on a single culvert. The town attorney's associate said yes but would not put it in writing until Jack returned from vacation, and MMA's legal department gave the same answer, saying towns across the state are in the same position with money raised for a two-part project that will now only cover one. MMA distinguished this from moving the money to an unrelated intersection, which would be different.

9. 12:14
   The revised bid

   The contractor sent a revised bid that day of $259,175, another $39,650 on top of a previously reported $54,500 increase, driven by engineering changes and by prices moving while no contract had been signed. The contractor would hold it only five days. The shortfall the town would have to cover went from about $2,000, which Calvin could have found in house, to $41,675, which he could not.

10. 17:37
    No time this year

    Calvin (?) said covering the gap would mean a special town meeting, and there is no time: the in-water work window runs only from July 15 to September 30 and the bridge needs ten weeks of lead time to order. DEP (?) told him that morning the project could go on the list for August when a new round of funding opens, and that as a shovel-ready, permitted and designed project he thought it would go near the front of the list, though asking again will probably cost more.

11. 17:37
    Where the cost increase came from

    Members recalled saying that if the DEP had driven the increases the DEP should pay for them. Calvin (?) said it was not the DEP, which does not even require a permit here, but the Army Corps of Engineers, and that when the Corps steps in the DEP's and DOT's hands are tied. The $125,000 that looked adequate when the project started a couple of years ago is now less than half what the work costs.

12. 17:37
    Safety of the site in the meantime

    Asked whether anything needs doing to protect the public, Calvin (?) said the crossings are functioning and that the road floods there regularly, as it has for 50 years, most recently in late winter; it and Route 125 are among the first spots under water in a significant flood. He said the riprap is holding up, and that after a previous flood the crew put more rock along the edge of the pavement. The flooding history is part of what scored the permit application highly.

13. 22:49
    What to do with the appropriation

    Berkowitz proposed a motion directing staff to keep watching for funding, and to bring a recommendation to the next town meeting to carry the appropriation forward so the shovel-ready project could go in summer 2023. Members noted the existing grant goes away, that unspent money reverts to undesignated unless earmarked, and that earmarking it in reserve would honour the spirit of the town meeting vote.

14. 22:49
    Objection: it is not the project voters funded

    One member argued the money was raised for two crossings and the work has since become one, with the Army Corps requiring one to become a bridge at the twenty-foot threshold while the other stays below it, so what voters approved no longer exists. He said he would be hard pressed to carry the money forward for something different and could not see how to amend the motion, since it is the project that has changed. Berkowitz answered that MMA and the town attorney treat it as one Swamp Road article even though it was split in two, so the motion still had life.

15. 28:33
    Paving: fewer miles

    Calvin (?) reported paving costs up about $62,000 since the spring, which turns roughly three miles into about two and a half at around $135,000 a mile, so a road has to come off the list. The candidates were a section of Bowie Hill from the pit to Stackpole, Stackpole up from Route 136, Hunter Hill, and two others the recording renders as Ada and Patriots, with members saying the through roads in worse shape should keep priority.

16. 28:33
    The Crooker contract and its escalator

    Durham is in the second year of a multi-year price agreement with Crooker. A member asked about the escalator; Calvin (?) explained it is not a flat percentage but a formula, with the unit price for placing the material fixed and the liquid asphalt component floating with a weekly market price. Crooker is absorbing higher wages, trucking and diesel costs but cannot absorb the liquid asphalt, which is what every town is exposed to.

17. 33:37
    Crooker cannot get here until August

    Crooker (?) told Calvin it is down to one crew and will not reach Durham until August, and that when it does the work will likely be done by a subcontractor. Asked whether the 2.5 miles will still get done, Calvin (?) said the contract guarantees it, that Crooker will send a sub, and that they have never let him down yet.

18. 33:37
    Heating and cooling quotes

    Contractors were being met to quote on heating and cooling, with a July 1 deadline. Berkowitz said quotes must include an electrical supplement, since the fire station needs a whole new service entrance: the wiring beyond the box is fine but the panel is out of slots. He noted how the work will be paid for is a separate discussion, because ARPA money was part of the plan and all ARPA-related spending needs town meeting approval.

19. 38:50
    Heat pump availability and timing

    Contractors (?) reported long lead times on heat pumps, with Mitsubishi units hard to get and Samsung more readily available, so the priority was locking units in. On the August 1 completion date in the request for quotes, Berkowitz said the board could be flexible provided the work is done before it snows, and that in the meantime he might buy pedestal fans, noting the building heats quickly and he was concerned for staff.

20. 38:50
    Town meeting needed for ARPA

    A member pressed on whether a town meeting date was in motion, since the money to pay for the project depends on it. Berkowitz agreed the member was right to push, said an August town meeting would not help much, and that the board needs to move ahead and let the public know. He also noted the second ARPA tranche had been received and that having roughly $440,000 on hand was helping cash flow and had postponed borrowing for a week or two.

21. 38:50
    Internet and phone: the AirFiber proposal

    Devin Garneau presented a quote from BEK for a Ubiquiti AirFiber link, a one-time installation charge of a little over $3,000 which also requires faster internet, making it ARPA eligible. Option one is the AirFiber link, with a large one-time cost and significantly lower annual cost; option two is having Comcast install separate service at the Eureka Center. Berkowitz said a dedicated Comcast line at Eureka would not be sensible because the space will not be used enough to justify it.

22. 44:06
    Line of sight and tree work

    The AirFiber link needs a clear line of sight from the town office to the Eureka Center, so some trees have to be cut, with about six feet of clearance suggested to keep branches out of the beam in bad weather. Members asked whether Calvin's crew can do it or whether it needs an arborist with a bucket truck, and suggested limbing the trees up and running the beam underneath the canopy rather than felling them. Garneau said BEK's $3,000 includes installation, and the annual saving pays the cost back in about a year and a half.

23. 44:06
    Conditional approval

    Berkowitz suggested conditional approval so the project could start moving without returning to the board, with the condition that if the tree work cannot be done in house they get a quote and come back. He also raised building the first year's operating cost into the payment, which would be allowable under ARPA and would avoid raising taxes for that year. A member noted the existing phone system is failing and getting worse.

24. 49:16
    Comcast franchise renewal

    Comcast has notified the town it is time to renew the franchise. Berkowitz reported MMA does not take a lead role and knows of no consortium of towns that negotiates with Comcast, so the town faces a narrow negotiation on its own, with roughly $44,000 a year in franchise fees at stake. He recommended escalators and other strategies, said a laundry list should be worked up in executive session, and asked for one or two members, short of a quorum, available in daytime to sit with him.

25. 49:16
    Preparing for the negotiation

    A member said nobody on the board had been through a franchise negotiation in their tenure and asked whether Berkowitz could find someone who had, for a list of do's and don'ts. Berkowitz said he had negotiated with Time Warner in other communities, would look closely at the existing contract and put written recommendations to the board, and had already been contacted by Jay Summers. Members had noticed crews running new lines around Durham, believed to be phone, and noted broadband can run on it.

26. 55:04
    HVAC procurement approach

    Berkowitz explained the town went out with a request for quotes rather than a formal request for proposals to expedite matters, relying on industry standards for the cubic feet being heated or cooled and the electrical requirements. Calvin had been contacting people and there was interest. Quotes are due July 1 and will be reported at the July 12 meeting.

27. 55:04
    New counter clerk

    A part-time counter clerk has been hired, freeing Janet to catch up on other work including learning how to set the tax rate. Berkowitz said she has a master's degree, is well versed in IT and has patience with customers, and that the office dynamics changed immediately. Her hours will be pulled back once the intense period passes, and the eventual goal is to open on Wednesdays.

28. 55:04
    Old town hall and Union Church

    A repair was made to the old town hall and Union Church roof, and unofficial quotes were coming in for replacing the whole roofing system including the sheathing. Berkowitz put a set of policy questions to the board rather than asking for a decision: what return on investment does the town expect, what are the building's potential future uses, or will it hang around the town's neck as a monument that drains the treasury. He noted other towns are disposing of smaller buildings whose only return is visual and historical.

29. 55:04
    Board's answer on the old buildings

    A member said the plan had been that once a town manager is seated a committee would be formed on these buildings, covering how to address, maintain and repair them, and agreed the question was legitimate. He noted the town transferred one of the churches to a non-profit a few years ago, which now maintains it, so disposal is not out of the realm. Members thought this building's historical value is probably the highest in town.

30. 1:01:18
    IRS mileage rate

    The IRS changed its mileage reimbursement rate mid-year, effective Friday, July 1, from 58.5 cents to 62.5 cents. Berkowitz explained the rate also accounts for depreciation and wear, so it is a short-term remedy for fuel costs, and that one employee had raised the question with a second affected. His recommendation was to keep following the IRS rate rather than treat anyone differently, because paying above it raises questions of taxable income and employer tax, and members agreed.

31. 1:06:50
    Tax anticipation note and cash flow

    Berkowitz was assembling a package with the town's bond attorney and contacting banks about terms, having run a cash flow through the end of December. The town now pays the school district $462,000 a month, up from $455,000 before July 1, with payroll of $12,000 to $18,000 and $19,000 when EMS is included, putting monthly expenses at $600,000 to $700,000. Against about $1.5 million in the bank, that is roughly two months, with a large county tax payment due by September 1, so he wanted the note out sooner and the tax bills out sooner.

32. 1:06:50
    Whether there is an alternative

    Asked whether there was any alternative to borrowing, Berkowitz said the real answer is a fiscal year: on January 1 the town would need four and a half to five million in the coffers from the previous year's collections. He is a proponent of both a fiscal year and a twice-a-year tax bill, and described the transition as a six-month fiscal year followed by a twelve-month one. A member said the tax anticipation note is standard practice for a town whose money comes in in August while it appropriates in January, and another noted the change has been raised many times but never fully discussed.

33. 1:12:30
    Agenda format

    Berkowitz proposed a more formal, numbered agenda with an old business heading, so recurring items can be tracked and retrieved by date and number, and the board can see how many times something has come back without action. Members liked it, especially for the historical record, but said the chairman should bless it, and settled on running it as a trial at the next meeting. A member also asked that public comment move back toward the front of the agenda, since residents were waiting an hour or more to speak.

34. 1:12:30
    Public comment: the flags

    Keith Russell of 284 Swamp Road came forward as, in his words, the flag guy. He explained the flags along the main road started 15 or 20 years ago through the fire department and the Memorial Day parade committee, at 15 or 20 flags and rising to about 50, and that Chief St. Michel handed the job to him as deputy chief eight or nine years ago. The Memorial Day committee always maintained the flags, but that lapsed with COVID and there was effectively no committee this year, although Joe Howe tried to restart it.

35. 1:18:03
    What the flags would cost

    Russell wants a flag on every pole from Davis Road to the AmVets hall, down Newell Brook Road and up to the school entrance on Hallowell Road, which is 66 poles. The town has 26 flags, about half of them faded enough that etiquette says they should be replaced, and one recently fell down near the store. A quote from a sign works in Auburn for 50 flags, with a 15 percent discount and the stock on hand, would bring the working total to about 70, giving a ten-year cycle and then about ten flags every two or three years; the amount at issue is around $3,000.

36. 1:18:03
    How to pay for the flags

    Members were unanimously in favour and the only question was funding. Berkowitz suggested looking at the undesignated fund balance and anything in public works, but said he was not sure $3,000 qualifies against the energy costs the town is facing. It was unclear whether the Memorial Day fund still exists: members recalled merging a number of separate funds into one about three years ago, with the last known purchase being Joe Howe buying eight flags and ten brackets for around $500.

37. 1:24:04
    Private sponsorship

    Berkowitz raised the possibility of private sponsorship and noted that when funds contributed under conditions are amalgamated, those conditions may still bind, so the history of the merger matters. Russell said several businesses in town had talked about contributing but nobody wanted to be first. A member offered to work with Russell over the next fortnight to approach businesses, with the town supplementing whatever is raised.

38. 1:29:42
    BYOB permit

    A BYOB permit was requested for a wedding shower at 45 Stackpole Road on July 15, 2022. Members noted this is not a liquor licence but a routine permit someone takes out when holding a large party, as required by the state's bureau of alcoholic beverages.

39. 1:29:42
    RSU 5 results

    The board returned to an item it had skipped, which turned out to be simply the results of the school budget meeting. Berkowitz said it matters for the record because 70 cents of every dollar collected in Durham goes to the school, leaving 30 cents to cover the county and the town's own operations. A member said the results are public record and easily accessible online and did not need reading out.

40. 1:34:57
    Policy on occupancy of foreclosed property

    Berkowitz introduced a draft policy drawn from his experience elsewhere. Towns forced into foreclosure have to decide whether to take the property, and taking it can mean liability: he gave pre-1976 double-wide trailers with asbestos as an example, alongside the human problem of an elderly occupant nobody wants to evict. The policy would not displace the state law on tax liens but would give the board a defensible way to decline occupancy.

41. 1:34:57
    Board's reaction to the policy

    Members said the board has historically followed the law and its attorney's advice case by case, and that in their tenure the town has never actually taken a property, though it has negotiated with owners who came close. A member cautioned that having a policy means having to follow it, which may remove the flexibility to refuse something like the old town dump. Berkowitz agreed no action was needed and said it could return as old business.

42. 1:40:40
    Old town hall roof: urgency and colour

    The contractors who looked at the roof said not to wait, because the shingles are brittle and falling apart. Only one quote was in hand and members agreed a decision has to be made at the next meeting. Since shingles from 1944 are not available, the colour will change; the board agreed to ask the historical community what colour would be acceptable, with black or charcoal suggested, and to have that answer back for July 12.

43. 1:40:40
    Consent agenda and town news

    The consent agenda was accepted as written with no items pulled. The town manager hiring committee meeting was corrected from June 30 to Wednesday, June 29 at 6:00 p.m. at the town office, in executive session for personnel matters.

44. 1:46:10
    Oath of office for the new clerk

    The board was asked to authorise swearing in the new part-time counter clerk as deputy registrar and deputy clerk so she can handle the full range of counter work. Berkowitz described the hiring process, in which staff set the format, ran the interviews, brought in three candidates paid for two hours each, worked as a trial by fire, and made the selection themselves, which he then affirmed. Members praised the staff for it.

What was decided

• 2:04
  Move item seven, setting the tax rate for 2022 billing, ahead of item three so it is taken before the fire chief's and road commissioner's reports. Put to the board and agreed.passed
• 7:12
  Maintain the current tax mill rate of $20.70 for the 2022 billing, on the assessor's recommendation, producing a $135,000 overlay. The chair called for those in favour but the recording carries no count; the board went straight on to signing the commitment.passed
• 22:49
  Direct the road commissioner to review all possible grant and matching opportunities for the Swamp Road stream crossing, and to ask the next town meeting to hold the appropriation over so the permitted, shovel-ready project can go ahead in a later season. The chair announced the result as 3-1, one member voting against on the ground that what voters funded, two crossings, is no longer the project.passed
• 44:06
  Conditionally approve option one, the Ubiquiti AirFiber system linking the town office to the Eureka Center, as set out in the town manager's memo. The approval is conditional on no further costs arising to complete the project, in particular on the tree clearing being done in house rather than contracted out. The chair announced 4-0.passed
• 1:06:50
  Authorise the town manager to apply for and receive a tax anticipation note of about $1.5 million through a local municipal bank of the town's choice, using the town's bond attorney. A motion was made and discussion invited, but the recording moves on to another subject without any result being announced.outcome unclear
• 1:12:30
  Run the town manager's more detailed agenda format, including an old business section, as a trial at the next meeting, on the understanding that the chairman will say if he objects. Agreed in discussion; no motion was made.passed
• 1:12:30
  Move public comment back toward the front of the agenda, so residents do not wait an hour or more to be heard, keeping the three-minute limit. Agreed in discussion; no motion was made.passed
• 1:24:04
  Table the purchase of 50 new flags to July 12, so a funding source can be identified and local businesses approached about sponsoring part of the cost. Members were unanimously in favour of the flags themselves. A motion to table to July 12 was made and the chair called the vote; the recording does not carry the result, but the item was subsequently treated as carried over to the next meeting.tabled
• 1:29:42
  Authorise a BYOB permit at 45 Stackpole Road, Durham for Carrie Washburn on July 15, 2022 for a wedding shower. The motion was made and seconded and discussion invited, but the recording turns to another agenda item without any result being announced.outcome unclear
• 1:34:57
  Take NO action tonight on the proposed policy on occupancy of foreclosed property. The board agreed to think it over and have it return as old business at a later meeting if members want to take it up.tabled
• 1:40:40
  Ask the historical community what colour the old town hall roof may be changed to, since 1944 shingles are not available, and bring the roof back for a decision at the July 12 meeting. Agreed in discussion; no motion was made.passed
• 1:40:40
  Accept the consent agenda as written, with no items removed. Moved and seconded; the chair announced 4-0.passed
• 1:46:10
  Authorise the oath of office for Cynthia Ferragi (?) as deputy town clerk and deputy registrar. The motion was made and seconded by Joe Tomm and discussion invited, but the recording carries praise for the hiring process rather than any announced result.outcome unclear
• 1:46:10
  Adjourn. Moved and seconded; the chair closed the meeting without a stated count.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.

Worth knowing

• 2:04
  The mill rate stays at $20.70 for a second year, but the town collects more, because $10 million in new taxable value came on from CMP's New England Clean Energy Connect, new houses and new subdivisions. Holding the rate produces a $135,000 overlay against $107,000 last year. The town assesses at 80 percent of market value, with a $20,000 homestead exemption and $4,800 for veterans.
• 12:14
  The Swamp Road stream crossing will not be built this year. The contractor's revised bid came in at $259,175, another $39,650 on top of an earlier $54,500 increase, turning a shortfall the road commissioner could have absorbed in house into $41,675 he cannot. The in-water work window is July 15 to September 30 and the bridge needs ten weeks lead time, so there is no time for a special town meeting. The $125,000 appropriation was a sound number two years ago and is now less than half the cost, the increases tracing to Army Corps of Engineers requirements rather than the DEP.
• 28:33
  Paving costs are up about $62,000 since the spring, at roughly $135,000 a mile, so Durham will pave about two and a half miles instead of three and a road has to come off the list. Crooker, whose multi-year price agreement carries an escalator tied to the weekly market price of liquid asphalt, is down to one crew, cannot reach Durham until August, and expects to send a subcontractor.
• 1:06:50
  The town is borrowing to bridge its cash gap again, with a tax anticipation note of about $1.5 million and interest estimated at $39,000 to $44,000, to be repaid by December 30. Durham pays the school district $462,000 a month, up from $455,000 before July 1, against total monthly expenses of $600,000 to $700,000 and about $1.5 million on hand, which is roughly two months. The town manager said the underlying fix would be moving to a fiscal year and a twice-yearly tax bill.

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: 8 passages of motion language, against 14 decisions summarised.

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