Select Board Meeting ~ April 23, 2024

2024-04-23 · Select Board · 48:08 · watch on YouTube →

Josh Klein-Golden chaired in Joe Roy's absence. The recording begins part way through public comment, and the earlier portion was lost because the microphone was not working. The board finished its review of the draft select board bylaws, agreeing to email grammatical corrections and vote on adoption at the May 14 meeting. Steve Sinisi presented a draft charter for an agricultural working group, drawn from the 2018 comprehensive plan's unmet goal of a farming and forestry advisory board; the board welcomed it but said it would prefer to establish the committee itself, with a set number of appointed members, as it did for solid waste and the Union Church. The town manager reported that the town attorney is retiring and his firm closes on May 31, and the board agreed a timetable to get a legal services RFP out and hear presentations at its May 28 meeting. The clerk reported the RSU 5 recount produced the same result.

What was discussed

1. 7:27
   Public comment

   The recording picks up part way through a resident's remarks about a decision taken at town meeting, which he said had dealt long-standing landowners a bad blow and had moved fast on misinformation, adding that once a vote is done it cannot easily be undone. The subject of the complaint is not stated in the recorded portion, and the microphone was not working for the earlier speaker.

2. 7:27
   Select board bylaws and policies

   The board took its final review of the draft bylaws and policies. Members said they were comfortable with the content and the wording after earlier changes, with only grammatical corrections left, which would be emailed round. The intention is to review those and vote on adoption at the May 14 meeting.

3. 7:27
   Agricultural working group charter

   Steve Sinisi, who owns and operates Old Crow Ranch (?) on Davis Road and chairs the board of the Androscoggin Valley Soil and Water Conservation District, presented a draft charter. He sat on the 2018 comprehensive plan committee representing agriculture, and said the plan's goal of creating a farming and forestry advisory board has not been acted on. Two open meetings have been held with about 20 people at the first, and the draft was modelled on Winslow's agricultural committee, another town's charter, and parts of the Durham Conservation Commission.

4. 12:47
   What the group would do

   Sinisi said the aim is to give owners of agricultural land a voice on how ordinances are drafted and to act as a sounding board that the planning board and select board can bring questions to. He gave agritourism as the example that prompted it: there is no definition in the ordinance, and he spent an hour and a half with the planning board, which did not know how to deal with his proposal. He also noted his is the first conserved farmland in Durham, with limits placed on it in perpetuity.

5. 18:07
   Board response on structure

   A board member said the charter should say members are appointed rather than approved, to match the town's application and appointment process, and that the select board should establish the committee itself rather than have a working group form first, so it follows the pattern used for the solid waste committee and the Union Church committee and meets what the comprehensive plan asks. Another member said he did not like the range of 5 to 12 members and would prefer a set number. Members compared it to solid waste, which has five voting members and two alternates while still allowing wider participation.

6. 18:07
   Direction on the committee's early work

   Asked whether the group already has recommendations, Sinisi said they had run an exercise marking up parts of the comprehensive plan and narrowed it to about three topics of interest, including establishing definitions in the ordinance, but had no formal suggestions yet. Members noted the timing is good because the town has just voted to codify the land use ordinance.

7. 23:24
   Getting the group's ideas into the May 7 workshop

   Rather than seat the group at the table at the May 7 workshop with board and committee chairs, the board asked that its three priority ideas be sent to Jerry Douglass and John Talbot in advance so they can be presented there. Sinisi was encouraged to attend as an observer to see how the process works, and said they would get the items in well before the deadline. Once the board authorises the committee, an appointment form and a call for participants would go on the website and in the newsletter.

8. 28:43
   Following up the public comment

   A board member asked staff to obtain contact details for the two public speakers and to ask them to put their statements in writing, since the audio failed and she had not caught the detail. Another (?) said she would like public comment prefaced with an explanation that it is not a back-and-forth exchange, because it is hard not to respond to people who come in feeling strongly.

9. 28:43
   RSU 5 recount result

   Jessica (?) reported the recount produced the same result, so Stacy Howard is appointed to the RSU 5 board. The count was 184 for Stacy Howard and 179 for Michael (?), with five other write-ins, 12 blanks and 11 disputed ballots that were pulled out and did not affect the outcome. She noted the recount had to be balanced between Title 21-A and Title 30-A because the town has no recount policy or ordinance.

10. 28:43
    Manager report: attorney retiring

    Jerry Douglass reported that the town office ran smoothly during his vacation and praised staff, particularly Jessica for the recount, noting the town received an email from the Republican Party complimenting her work. He also reported receiving a letter that day: the town attorney is retiring and the firm closes on May 31, after which the town has no representation. He has an RFP for legal services ready, assembled from examples used by other municipalities.

11. 34:34
    Timetable for hiring legal counsel

    Josh Klein-Golden said waiting would be a mistake and that being a town without an attorney is a bad position. The only pending matter with the current attorney is the Union Church transfer, which the manager said the attorney could complete quickly before leaving. Members discussed whether they could give input by email without it constituting a meeting, and agreed the bylaws ought to address email voting.

12. 39:52
    RFP process agreed

    The manager will send the draft RFP the next day with the sections needing board input highlighted, take comments at a short business meeting at 6 p.m. on May 7 before the workshop, and post it on May 8 or 9. Rather than the usual 14 days, a 10-day response window was suggested so firms have time to prepare presentations for the May 28 meeting, and the RFP would be sent directly to firms on the Maine Municipal Association list as well as posted.

13. 39:52
    Question on the code enforcement report

    A board member asked about the monthly code enforcement officer report, which she recalled showed four single-family building permits with total construction value of $568,000. She said four new houses at that total does not make sense and asked for an explanation of how the figure is arrived at.

14. 39:52
    Consent agenda and upcoming meetings

    The consent agenda was accepted. Upcoming meetings are the planning board the following night, a continuation of its April 10 meeting, at 6:30, and again on May 1 at 6:30; a select board business meeting at 6 p.m. followed by a workshop at 6:30 on May 7; and a regular meeting on May 14 at 6:30. Bulky waste day is May 18 at public works from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., running as it has previously.

What was decided

• 7:27
  Circulate the remaining grammatical corrections to the draft select board bylaws and policies by email, and bring the document back for a vote on adoption at the May 14 meeting; agreed without a formal motionpassed
• 23:24
  Ask the agricultural working group to send its three priority items to the town manager and the planning board chair ahead of the May 7 workshop rather than presenting in person, with a representative attending as an observer; agreed without a formal motionpassed
• 39:52
  The town manager will circulate the draft legal services RFP by email, take board input at a 6 p.m. business meeting on May 7, post the RFP on May 8 or 9 with a shortened response window, and invite firms to present at the May 28 meeting; agreed without a formal motionpassed
• 39:52
  Accept the consent agenda as presented; moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Deb Oliver, carried 4-0passed
• 45:37
  Adjourn the meeting at 7:13 p.m.; moved by Joe Tomm, seconded by Heather Roy, carried 4-0passed

An outcome reads "unclear" where the recording does not state it plainly. The recogniser drops short words, and "the motion does not carry" is one missing word from its opposite.

Motions the minutes record

The town's own written account of what was decided, taken from sb_meeting_minutes_04_23_24.txt. It owes nothing to the recording or to a model: the clerk typed it, with the vote. Where the summary above claims a decision this list does not carry, the summary is the part to doubt.

• accept the consent agenda as presentedcarried 4-0

  Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Deb Oliver

• adjourn the meeting at 7:13pmcarried 4-0

  Moved by Joe Tomm, seconded by Heather Roy

Worth knowing

• 28:43
  The town attorney is retiring and his firm closes on May 31, after which Durham has no legal representation. An RFP goes out in early May with firms asked to present at the May 28 select board meeting. The only matter pending with the current attorney is the Union Church transfer.
• 28:43
  The RSU 5 recount produced the same result: Stacy Howard 184 votes, Michael (?) 179, five other write-ins, 12 blanks and 11 disputed ballots that were set aside and did not change the outcome. The town has no recount policy of its own.
• 12:47
  The town has no definition of agritourism in its land use ordinance, and the applicant said the planning board spent an hour and a half with him without knowing how to handle his proposal. The 2018 comprehensive plan's goal of creating a farming and forestry advisory board has still not been acted on.
• 39:52
  Bulky waste day is May 18 at public works from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., running the same way as in previous years.

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: 1 passage of motion language, against 5 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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