Select Board Meeting ~ March 1, 2016

2016-03-01 · Select Board · 46:28 · watch on YouTube →

The Select Board met on March 1, 2016 with all five selectmen present and gave almost the whole meeting to reading the draft town meeting warrant aloud, article by article. The board agreed at the start to make corrections as it went and to vote on the amended warrant as a whole at the end, which it did. Reading it aloud caught two errors: the raise amount on the public works article did not reconcile with the rest of the figures and was corrected to $267,680, and the public works building bond payment was labelled 2 of 10 when it should read 2 of 15. The board also recommended the $474,000 fire truck article on a 3-2 vote after having previously made no recommendation, reworded the alternative warrant committee's referendum articles so that the dollar threshold and the year can be set from the town meeting floor, and moved the start of interest on delinquent taxes from 30 to 45 days after commitment. The meeting closed with the chair reporting that the board had missed a joint meeting with the Freeport and Pownal boards and the RSU board the previous night, and asking Ruth to compose an apology letter. No written minutes accompany this recording and no attendance record confirms who was speaking, so speakers below are identified by role.

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. 0:06
   Call to order and consent agenda

   The chair called the meeting to order and noted a quorum, with all five selectmen present. The consent agenda held one item, a bottle club registration; the name of the organisation is garbled in the recording. It was moved, seconded and carried without discussion.

2. 0:06
   How the draft warrant would be reviewed

   Before starting, the board asked whether to vote on each warrant article as it was read or to gather corrections as it went and vote on the whole amended warrant at the end. Members agreed the second way was simpler, and the board worked that way for the rest of the meeting.

3. 0:06
   Articles 1 to 3: moderator, officers and the referendum question

   Article 1 chooses a moderator, and the board noted that Gary is expected to serve. Article 2 elects municipal officers, school committee members and budget committee members, and articles 2 and 3 go to secret ballot at the Friday election. Article 3 carries a referendum question whose wording came from the state; the town's attorney advised including the financial statement with it because the wording pledges the credit of the town in an amount not to exceed $50,000.

4. 0:06
   Rules of procedure, the written ballot threshold and a clerical correction

   The next article adopts the Maine Moderator's Manual rules of procedure, sixth edition. Article 5 would require any warrant article over $40,000 to be voted by written ballot, excluding items such as contracts and bonds the town has already entered into in good faith; the alternative warrant committee asked for it to appear on this year's warrant. Article 6 appropriates $195,587 from undesignated funds to correct a clerical error for budget year 2015, with a note on the warrant explaining it.

5. 0:06
   Departmental appropriation articles read in turn

   The board read through the appropriation articles for administration, animal control (article 8), assessing (article 9), cemeteries, conservation, social and community service agencies, and the Eureka Community Center, with the figures on each. Only the social and community service agencies article drew a question, and it was resolved without change.

6. 5:13
   Eureka Center sinkhole reimbursement

   An article would take money from the Eureka Community Center fundraising fund to reimburse the emergency fund, which had been used to repair the sinkhole at the Eureka Center.

7. 5:13
   Fire and rescue articles, and articles 18 and 19

   The board read the fire and rescue operating budget, the fire and rescue capital improvement account and the fire and rescue capital improvement projects articles. Article 18 is the annual loan payment on the fire station, payment five of five on the refinance, and article 19 is the annual bond payment on the Quint ladder truck. Members checked which payment article 19 is and settled on the third, noting the town paid about $40,000 in the first year; the payment count and the prior year's figure are garbled in the recording.

8. 5:13
   Article 20: fire truck purchase and bonding

   Article 20 would approve a fire truck project with a total anticipated cost of up to $474,000, appropriate $474,000 for it, and authorise general obligation bonds and temporary notes in an aggregate principal amount not exceeding $474,000, delegating the dates, maturities, interest rates and other terms to the treasurer and the chairman of the board of selectmen. A financial statement follows the article. This was the only article on which the selectmen and the budget committee differed: the budget committee recommended it and the selectmen had put forward no recommendation.

9. 5:13
   Debate on recommending the fire truck

   The chair asked directly whether any member wanted to change the board's position. One selectman said the information from the recent budget meeting had changed his mind: waiting another year could add $20,000 or more to the cost, and the first payment would not fall due until the fire station loan is finished, most likely in 2017 and possibly 2018. Another compared it to the price difference the town saw between town trucks bought two years apart. One member said he would stay at no recommendation.

10. 10:21
    How the 3-2 split is recorded

    A staff member taking the minutes asked how the divided recommendation should be written up. The answer was that the warrant itself will read that the selectmen and the budget committee recommend, and that the 3-2 split will appear in the minutes and nowhere else on the warrant. The chair noted the split can be discussed at the town meeting itself.

11. 10:21
    Articles 21 to 26: general assistance through public works

    The board read the appropriation articles for general assistance, parks and recreation (article 22), the planning board, appeals and historic district commission, public works (article 24), the public works capital reserve fund and, at article 26, the public works annual bond payment, payment 2 of 10. The capital reserve article appropriates rather than raises, because the money came from FEMA.

12. 10:21
    Figures on article 24 do not reconcile

    A member stopped the reading because the numbers on the public works article did not add up: the article showed $1,555,439 recommended from designated funds against a raise amount that could not produce that total, and the raise figure as spoken is garbled in the recording. The cause was that the raise amount had never been reduced after two bond payments came off the article. Working from the budget book, the board subtracted the two bond payments and arrived at a raise amount of $267,680.

13. 15:38
    Article 27 bond payment mislabelled

    The public works building bond payment on article 27 was written as payment 2 of 10, and a member said it should read payment 2 of 15. Another (?) said he had already put a question mark against it.

14. 15:38
    Truck and snowplow package, and the road paving bond

    One article covers the purchase of a new truck and snowplow package. The next would approve a road construction and paving project, including all engineering and associated costs, with a total anticipated cost of up to $1,100,000, appropriate that amount, and authorise general obligation bonds and temporary notes not exceeding $1,100,000, with the terms delegated to the treasurer and the chairman of the board of selectmen. A financial statement follows it.

15. 15:38
    Solid waste, telecommunications and the tax levy limit

    Appropriation articles for solid waste and for telecommunications were read without comment. A further article would increase the maximum property tax levy limit set by state law in the event that the municipal budget approved at town meeting produces a tax commitment above the limit otherwise allowable. That article requires a written ballot.

16. 15:38
    Land use ordinance rewrite

    An ordinance article, coming immediately before article 34, would repeal the 2005 land use ordinance together with its later town meeting amendments, the backlot development ordinance enacted in 1988 and later amended, and the groundwater protection ordinance enacted in March 1988, and adopt in their place a single land use ordinance incorporating subdivision, backlot development and groundwater protection. It is proposed by the planning board, and members confirmed two public hearings had been held and that a true copy of the text will be available. The list of amending years is garbled in the recording.

17. 15:38
    Article 34: historic district ordinance

    Article 34 would repeal the historic district ordinance enacted by town meeting in 2005 and adopt the historic district ordinance as proposed by the historic district commission. Members confirmed this one had been through hearings as well.

18. 15:38
    Article 35: referendum on larger warrant articles

    Article 35 would recommend holding a secret ballot referendum election under Title 30-A and Title 21-A, to be held after town meeting 2017, to approve all warrant articles in excess of $50,000. It would exclude contracts and bonds the town has already entered into in good faith, and would not include any initial votes to approve bonds.

19. 21:09
    Threshold, scope and standing of article 35

    Members could not settle from memory whether the figure in article 35 should be $40,000 or $50,000, noting that article 5 uses $40,000 and applies only to this year's town meeting, and that Terry had raised no objection when the matter was discussed. The article is advisory and does not bind the selectmen, because the town has no charter, and the three articles that follow depend on it. Members also observed that as drafted it authorises the referendum for one year only, so it would have to be brought back to continue.

20. 21:09
    Making the referendum articles amendable from the floor

    The board worked through what town meeting can actually change: amounts can be amended where an article says 'to see what sum', but the wording of an article generally cannot, and members doubted a new article could be proposed from the floor. The conclusion was to leave the dollar threshold and the year out of the text so both can be filled in by motion at the meeting, with the alternative warrant committee's recommendation of $50,000 noted below the article, and to check the exact wording with MMA.

21. 26:25
    Article 36: date of the 2017 town meeting

    Article 36 would move town meeting to the third Saturday in March 2017 to accommodate the referendum vote. The board decided to treat it the same way as article 35, keeping the third Saturday in March but leaving the year blank so it matches whatever the meeting settles on.

22. 26:25
    Articles 37 and 38: spending authority until a budget passes

    Article 37 would authorise the selectmen to spend up to an average of the past three accepted annual budget amounts, for those budgets to be voted on by referendum, public works excepted, until a budget is passed. Article 38 does the same for public works using an average of the past two accepted public works budgets, because there are only two years of figures. A member asked whether these were advisory like article 35; the answer was that as written they would be binding, though they set a ceiling rather than a required amount.

23. 31:31
    Objection to the interim spending averages

    A member argued at length that averaging past budgets would usually land below the previous year's budget, giving department heads a reason to build extra into their requests so the average still covers them, and leaving the town running on a shortfall for the six months before it commits taxes. Others answered that both the selectmen and the budget committee still review every request, and that the real fix would be changing the fiscal year so town meeting comes before the year starts. The 4/12ths spending article was confirmed not to apply here. No motion was made and the two articles stayed as the alternative warrant committee had recommended them; members noted the town's attorney had not recommended any of this, only advised on wording so the bonds would be valid.

24. 31:31
    Article 39: grants and whether a public hearing is required

    Article 39 would authorise the selectmen, after public hearing, to seek, accept and distribute grant funds from private, state and federal agencies for the purposes designated in each grant. A member said the wording appears to require a genuine public hearing, which the town has not been holding, and asked for an opinion on it. Others noted a hearing needs at least seven days' notice and would have to be authorised at a prior meeting, which is awkward for grants with a short turnaround, and that they did not recall the phrase appearing in previous years' warrants.

25. 36:33
    Article 40: interest on delinquent taxes

    Article 40 as drafted makes taxes due when committed, starts interest on unpaid taxes 30 days from the date of commitment, and sets the rate at 7% per annum. A member pointed out that the town commits about two weeks before the tax bills go out and the due date runs 30 days from the mailing rather than from the commitment, so the two do not line up.

26. 36:33
    Articles 41 to 48: standing authorities

    The board read through the recurring authorisation articles: leaving appointments of standing committee members and minor officials with the selectmen (article 41); disposing of town property no longer needed or usable (article 42, where the spelling of 'usable' was checked); selling tax-acquired real estate on such terms as the board deems advisable and executing quitclaim deeds (article 43); setting interest paid by the town on abated taxes at 3% under 36 MRSA section 506; authorising the tax collector or treasurer to accept prepayments of taxes not yet committed; authorising the board to settle disputes with parties adverse to the town where no public funds are spent or budgeted funds are sufficient; authorising spending of up to 4/12ths of each budget category from January 1, 2017 to the close of the annual town meeting; and authorising the treasurer and administrative assistant to borrow on notes countersigned by at least three selectmen to pay operating costs.

27. 41:39
    Adoption of the amended warrant

    After settling the article 39 public hearing wording, a member asked about a percentage figure and was told it had been dropped to around 15%, with a note that it would have to be looked at again; what the figure refers to is not clear from the recording. The board then moved and carried acceptance of the warrant as amended during the meeting.

28. 41:39
    Missed joint meeting with Freeport, Pownal and the RSU

    The chair reported that the board had missed a joint meeting the previous night with the Freeport and Pownal select boards and the RSU board. He said he had forgotten it, it had never reached his calendar and a reminder was not passed on, that it reflected poorly on the board, and that he had asked Ruth to compose an apology letter to the other boards. Members distinguished this meeting, which was to bring the full boards together, from an earlier one attended only by the heads of the boards.

What was decided

• 0:06
  Consent agenda approved: a bottle club registration, moved and seconded with no discussion. The chair announced that the motion carried.passed
• 0:06
  The board settled on reading the draft warrant straight through, gathering corrections as it went, and voting on the amended warrant as a whole at the end rather than voting article by article. This was agreed by assent, with no motion and no vote; the board then worked that way for the rest of the meeting.passed
• 10:21
  Motion to recommend that article 20, the fire truck project of up to $474,000 with bonding up to the same amount, go forward. The chair called for those in favour and those opposed and announced that the motion carried; it was recorded as a 3-2 recommendation, with the warrant itself showing only that the selectmen and budget committee recommend.passed
• 15:38
  Motion to change the raise amount on article 24, public works, to $267,680, after the board found that the raise figure had never been reduced when two bond payments came off the article. The chair announced that the motion carried.passed
• 15:38
  Motion to correct article 27 so that the public works building bond reads payment 2 of 15 rather than payment 2 of 10. The chair announced that the motion carried.passed
• 26:25
  Motion to reword article 35 so that the dollar threshold and the year are left open for town meeting to fill in by motion, with the alternative warrant committee's recommended figure of $50,000 noted below the article, and to confirm the wording with MMA first. The motion was made and seconded and the chair called for those in favour, but no result is audible on the recording. It is taken here as having carried because the board immediately applied the same treatment to article 36 and then included the change in the amended warrant it adopted at the end of the meeting.passed
• 26:25
  Motion to treat article 36, moving town meeting to the third Saturday in March to accommodate the referendum vote, the same way as article 35, removing the fixed year so it can be set at the meeting. The chair announced that the motion carried.passed
• 36:33
  Motion to amend article 40 so that interest on unpaid taxes begins to accrue 45 days from the date of commitment instead of 30 days, to accommodate the roughly two weeks between commitment and the mailing of tax bills. The chair announced that the motion carried.passed
• 41:39
  Motion that, in the event state law does not require a public hearing before the town accepts grant funds, the words 'after public hearing' be struck from article 39. The motion runs in that direction only: the phrase comes out if no hearing is required, and stays in if a hearing is required. The chair announced that the motion carried.passed
• 41:39
  Motion to accept the town meeting warrant as amended during this meeting. The chair announced that the motion carried.passed
• 41:39
  The board agreed that an apology letter should go to the Freeport and Pownal boards and to the RSU board for missing the previous night's joint meeting, with Ruth (?) asked to compose it. This was settled by assent after the chair asked whether everyone was comfortable with it; no motion was made and no vote was taken.passed
• 41:39
  Motion to adjourn, seconded and put to a voice vote. The chair announced that the motion carried.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

• 10:21
  The fire truck article asks town meeting to approve a project of up to $474,000 and bonding up to the same amount, and it was the only article where the selectmen and the budget committee disagreed. The board reversed its no-recommendation position on a 3-2 vote, persuaded that waiting another year could add $20,000 or more to the cost and that the first payment would not fall due until the fire station loan is paid off. The warrant will show only that both bodies recommend; the 3-2 split appears in the minutes and nowhere else.
• 15:38
  Reading the warrant aloud caught a real error. The public works article showed $1,555,439 from designated funds against a raise amount that had never been reduced after two bond payments were taken off the article, so the figures could not add up. The raise was recalculated during the meeting to $267,680.
• 21:09
  The alternative warrant committee's referendum article is advisory only, because Durham has no charter, and as drafted it would authorise the referendum for a single year. The board could not agree from memory whether the threshold should be $40,000 or $50,000, and left both the figure and the year blank so town meeting can set them from the floor.
• 31:31
  A selectman objected that the interim spending articles would cap departments at an average of past budgets while the town waits for a referendum result. Because budgets usually rise, that average would typically come in below the previous year's, giving department heads a reason to pad their requests, and the town does not commit taxes until halfway through the budget year. He said the underlying fix would be changing the fiscal year so town meeting comes before it starts.

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: 5 passages of motion language, against 12 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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