Select Board Meeting ~ April 22, 2025
A Select Board meeting held with three of the five members present; Joe Roy and Rebecca Per (?) were excused and there was no public comment. The board took up the minutes of April 8, a letter confirming the town's acceptance of the Durham Sawyer Cemetery, and the warrant and notice of election for the June 10 referendum, and heard about the tri-town school budget meeting set for May 14 at the Durham Community School. Jess gave the manager report, covering the roadside cleanup, a request from Androscoggin County for two residents per town on its budget committee, and a proposal to run a Civics 101 program with RSU 5. Board member reports raised internet service at the Eureka Center, the changed role of the Durham Historic District Commission, and the failure to send a town text message about the Pinkham Brook Road fire. After an executive session the board moved to hold the solid waste committee and board of appeals appointment applications until the May 27 meeting, when all five members are expected. The recording does not state the result of any of the votes taken.
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
- 0:39Call to order, attendance and minutes
The chair opened the meeting at 6:30 and noted that Joe Roy and Rebecca Per (?) were excused, leaving three members and a quorum. There was no public comment. A motion was made to approve the minutes of April 8, 2025.
- 0:39Sawyer Cemetery conveyance letter
The board reviewed a letter, requested by Miss Larby (?), formally confirming that the town of Durham voted to accept the conveyance of the Durham Sawyer Cemetery at the annual town meeting on April 5, 2025. A motion was made to accept the letter as written.
- 0:39School budget meeting and referendum warrant
The tri-town annual budget committee meeting is in Durham this year, on Wednesday May 14 at 6:30 at the Durham Community School, and is the meeting at which voters can change articles before the referendum. The referendum election is June 10 at the AMVETS, 1049 Royalsborough Road, from 8 to 8. The board discussed publicising the May 14 meeting by text message, news blast, Facebook and the website.
- 6:18Vote on the warrant and notice of election
The board did not need to vote on the school budget warrant itself but did vote on the warrant and notice of election calling the June 10 election.
- 6:18Committee appointment applications held for executive session
The chair said the board had held a lengthy executive session discussion of the solid waste committee and board of appeals applications at the previous meeting, and asked to return to executive session before discussing them in public.
- 6:18Manager report: roadside cleanup
Jess (?) reported that the roadside cleanup was underway, that bags would be handed out until the end of the week, and that Casella would stop collecting them on April 27. Calvin (?) would pick up any strays after that.
- 11:20Androscoggin County budget committee
Jess (?) reported that Androscoggin County is asking each town to put forward two residents for its budget committee, one of whom must be a municipal official. A caucus to elect the members is set for Wednesday May 21 at 6 p.m. at the county building. The board agreed to advertise for a letter of interest through the news blast and Facebook rather than the standard committee application.
- 11:20Civics 101 program
Jess relayed a proposal from Peter Wagner, who runs the RSU 5 community programs in Freeport, to run a Civics 101 course in Durham. The Freeport session was a two-hour format capped at 20 participants, which filled. Board members said they liked the idea and asked her to look into it further, noting Durham's format would differ because it has no library or police department.
- 16:24Board member report: Eureka Center and solid waste
Deb (?) asked what it would take to get internet at the Eureka Center, where the solid waste committee meets, noting an earlier estimate that involved trenching from the town office and cutting trees, and that a signal boost from the town office had also been raised. She also reported the automatic door at the Eureka Center closes too fast and that the changeover to automated Casella bins was confirmed for July of next year.
- 21:51Board member report: Historic District Commission and FOAA training
Heather (?) said the town meeting changed the name and role of the Durham Historic District Commission and asked that the change, including new deadlines around application reviews, be explained clearly to its members. She asked for an inventory of vacancies across all boards and committees, and that all boards and committees be invited to the attorney's upcoming FOAA training. David has three members on the commission including himself, with a meeting on April 24.
- 21:51Town text messaging and notification policy
The board discussed complaints that no town text message went out about the fire on Pinkham Brook Road, which happened around 8 p.m. when staff were off duty. Members said the town needs a written policy setting out who can send alerts and when, and raised whether the fire department's public communications officer should have access.
- 27:49Consent agenda and upcoming meetings
A motion was made to approve the consent agenda. Upcoming meetings were read out: conservation commission April 23, historic district commission April 24, planning board May 7, agriculture committee May 7, solid waste committee May 12, and the next Select Board meeting on May 13.
- 27:49Executive session
A motion was made to go into executive session under 405(6)(A). The recording during the session is not audible.
- 53:04Appointment applications tabled and adjournment
The board returned from executive session at 7:19. The chair asked for a motion to table the solid waste committee and board of appeals applications, along with others already tabled, until the May 27 meeting, when all five members are expected to be present. A board member asked that applicants be encouraged to attend the committee meetings in the meantime. A motion to adjourn followed.
What was decided
- 0:39Motion to approve the minutes of April 8, 2025outcome unclear
- 0:39Motion to accept the Sawyer Cemetery conveyance letter as writtenoutcome unclear
- 6:18Motion to accept the warrant and notice of election calling the June 10 electionoutcome unclear
- 27:49Motion to approve the consent agendaoutcome unclear
- 27:49Motion to go into executive session under 405(6)(A)outcome unclear
- 53:04Motion to table the solid waste committee and board of appeals appointment applications, and the applications already tabled, until the May 27 meetingoutcome unclear
- 53:04Motion to adjournoutcome unclear
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
- 6:18Two figures were given for the school budget in the same exchange: $3.65 million, and $3.5 million as the amount raised in assessments, against a reference to Durham's portion being $9 million. The transcript does not reconcile them.
- 6:18Attendance at the tri-town budget meeting was given as 21 registered Durham voters when it was held at the school a couple of years ago, and about six when it was in Freeport last year.
- 11:20Residents interested in the Androscoggin County budget committee were asked to send a letter of interest by 5:00 on Tuesday May 13; the county caucus is May 21 at 6 p.m.
- 21:51No town text alert went out about the Pinkham Brook Road fire because it happened at 8 p.m. when staff were off duty. Board members said a notification policy has been discussed for a long time and still does not exist.
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: 7 passages of motion language, against 7 decisions summarised.
Show the 7 passages
- 3:55Um, right. No public comment. There's nobody here. Um, so approve the meeting uh minutes from April 8th, 2025. I'll make a motion to approve. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? No. All in favor? the Sawyer Cemetery conveyance letter. Uh, this is a letter that, um, Miss Larby needed us to sign. It just says, "This letter is to formally confirm that the town of Durham voted to accept the conveyance of the Durham Sawyer Cemetery at the annual town meeting held on April 5th, 2025. We appreciate your efforts and contributions in facilitating this process. And we look forward to continuing t · vote language: all in favor
- 4:58accepting the letter. Any edits or anything? Motion. I'll make a motion to accept the letter as written. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Nothing. All right. New business. referendum warrant and notice of election. So that is do you want to talk about that? Sure. So um so this is the give · vote language: all in favor
- 9:23read it out loud, or are we okay? I think if as long as this I mean I'm sure that's on the school website, but we'll put this on definitely put the numbers on there. Okay. So I think it's fine. Okay. Uh is there a motion to uh accept this order? So move. Second. I'll · vote language: all in favor
- 28:44moment. There was something else I wanted to raise, but I can't remember. So, uh, consent agenda. Um, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? So, move and a second. And I'll second. All right. Uh, all those in favor? · vote language: all those in favor
- 30:494056 A executive session? I'll make a motion to go into executive session. Second. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? All right, we'll go in. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Hello heat. · vote language: all those in favor
- 53:04is 7:19. who just came out of executive session. Um the uh issue still on the agenda is the solid waste and board of appeals appointment applications. Um and so I am looking we we started a discussion at our last meeting uh with all five of us here about about appointments. Um and there were oh sorry there were some um questions raised and some uh discussion topics that we were going through. Um, and so in fairness to the two members who are not here, uh, I would I I'm I'm looking for a motion to table, uh, these three applications and the applications that were tabled until tonight. Um, there · vote language: all those in favor
- 54:26Um just that we're going to contact the applicants and encourage them to attend whatever committee Yes. meeting uh they're applying for as a resident just to to to continue to be in the know of what's happening at those committees um until the discussion is had. Yes. And and so I'll just add uh I think this is an issue that we need to address and it's just the timing of it is unfortunate uh with uh with absences and there's nothing obviously nothing we can do about that. But uh in fairness to all the members, I I think I think it's the right thing to do. I'd agree. Yeah, I agree too. So if the · vote language: all those in favor
Elsewhere
Source & method
Town of Durham meeting recordings, YouTube auto-captions, and the town's written minutes
Captions cleaned into timestamped transcripts; topics and motions found by pattern matching; summaries written by a language model and required to cite the second each item begins. Every name attached to speech is checked against the attendance list in the minutes, and marked (?) where no record confirms it
https://www.youtube.com/@durhammaine/videos
Summary written by claude-opus-5. No minutes matched.
Data as of 25 August 2026 (the date of the newest recorded meeting in the index); retrieved 2 September 2026.