Select Board Meeting ~ October 24, 2023

2023-10-24 · Select Board · 2:14:52 · watch on YouTube →

Regular Durham Select Board meeting of October 24, 2023, with three members present. Reports came from the road commissioner and the fire chief, whose mutual aid figures led to a discussion of how much fire and rescue coverage Durham gives to neighbouring towns. The board raised the Eureka Community Center rental fee from $70 to $100 effective immediately, after an argument over whether the number should have been set from cost data first. It reviewed the year's capital improvement requests before sending them to the CIP committee, and used that review to work through how urgent needs, replacement schedules and committee requests enter the process. It also approved a restatement of the vacation accrual policy in hours worked rather than days, appointed the wardens for the November 7 election, and accepted the consent agenda with the October 10 minutes held over.

What was discussed

1. 9:47
   Opening and amendment to the agenda

   A quorum was established. The chair removed the 12 Rabbit Road setback violation from the agenda, saying the matter is going to the appeals board, that the appeal date is not yet set, and that the board would get involved only if it is not resolved there.

2. 9:47
   Public comment: two ordinance proposals

   Neil Barry (?) asked the board to consider an ordinance letting the select board spend from the town's emergency fund, saying access to it currently has to be placed on the warrant each year and was last voted at the 2020 town meeting under Article 7. He also asked for an ordinance banning commercial solar farms, stating his view that there is no climate crisis, and left written material with the board.

3. 15:29
   Road commissioner report

   Calvin Beaumier reported work on gravel roads, with more potholes than usual after a wet year, and barricades and posts set to keep motorized vehicles off newly grown grass at a field. Winter sand has been delivered and stored, the crew attended an MDOT snow and ice control class through Maine Local Roads, a posting for seasonal plow drivers is on the town website, and plow gear and spinners have been fitted so the trucks are ready for a freeze or snow event.

4. 15:29
   Fire chief report

   Rob Tripp said the fire department is deeding a 2004 public education trailer, obtained on a FEMA grant and unused for about a decade, to public works for road signs and barricades, with the fire department still able to use it. He reported the October 14 open house, work on deficiencies found in the Union Church inspection including new exterior numbers and a fire alarm certification appointment that Thursday, and renewal of the rescue service licence through State EMS, which carries the medical control contract with Dr. Gerson (?) of Mid Coast.

5. 21:19
   Mutual aid figures

   The fire chief walked the board through the mutual aid table in the packet, explaining that six entries under fire mutual aid received are the same six incidents counted by department, and that most of the bottom of the list came from the Meadow Street fire. Heather Roy asked whether the imbalance was being raised to open a wider conversation, since mutual aid is neither charged nor billed; the chief said the figures were not aimed at any agency. Joe Tomm said he had requested the information, and that his concern was the burden on Durham's department from towns that have contracted out their EMS. The chief said relationships are being built, including with Lisbon EMS, and that Durham has said no to mutual aid requests when it lacked staffing.

6. 26:56
   Old business: Union Church structural report

   Jerry Douglass said the town received the grant for the structural engineering report and has notified Eric (?), the engineer, so the inspection and report should arrive in a couple of weeks. He said the engineer's informal view, from looking at the building without climbing it, is that there is nothing structurally wrong. Heather Roy pressed on whether the inspection had already happened and whose opinion the soundness assessment was.

7. 31:56
   Union Church: district commission, committee and building use

   The town manager said he will meet the historic district commission on Thursday about its legal obligation to meet if a permit is pulled and about who would chair it; Brad Miller of Maine Preservation would moderate at $100 an hour if the commission will not, and the board would have to appoint him. He said the Union Church committee is meeting and waiting on the structural report, and that the church is classed as an assembly use building, which would need a second means of egress before the historical society could meet there without exposing the town to liability.

8. 37:31
   New business: Eureka Community Center rental fee

   Jeanne Costigan and Pearl Scribner asked the board to raise the hall rental fee from $70 to $100, citing rates at other halls and saying they had decided against separate resident and non-resident rates. Rentals have risen to about 35 so far this year; nonprofits and scout groups are not charged; insurance obtained through the town costs about $110 to $119 and renters may instead carry their own. Applications are processed through the town office.

9. 48:03
   Debate over how the fee should be set

   Heather Roy asked that no amount be set until expenses, staff time and surrounding town fee structures were reviewed, citing $4,457.37 spent on the building last year against $220 in rental fees collected. Others argued that without a vote the fee stays at $70, that it could be revisited and raised again after the homework was done, and that the fee covers cleaning and electricity rather than the upkeep of the building. The committee said the floor, heat pumps and doors need repair and that they would be back with those requests; the board asked the town manager to schedule a separate Eureka discussion.

10. 53:25
    Vote on the rental fee

    The board voted to set the fee at $100. Existing bookings were treated as grandfathered at the old price, and the insurance cost is to appear as a separate optional line item rather than being folded into the rental figure.

11. 58:32
    Audit cost

    The town manager shared an email from the auditor asking for more money because of the time spent preparing the town's financial statements. Board members asked for the starting figure, the new figure and the justification. Figures given in the recording do not reconcile: $12,400 for 2022, a 2023 figure spoken as "155" and described as a 25 percent increase on a new quote, about $20,000 with the addition, and separately $2,000 remaining with $3,000 more requested. The town manager expects the cost to fall once the town's own finance contractor prepares the statements, and said the 2024 audit should be done by the end of January 2024 rather than August.

12. 1:03:41
    Capital improvement requests forwarded to the CIP committee

    Requests from public works, fire and administration were put before the board before going to the CIP committee, which meets the following night. The town manager said he vets them with department heads and saw nothing that failed the criteria; the ten-year replacement schedule and reserve amounts are being sent to the committee as well. Board members also raised a concern about the appearance of the town's finance contractor and the auditor being connected, and were told they are separate firms.

13. 1:09:36
    How urgent capital needs are handled

    Heather Roy asked what happens when something not on the replacement schedule becomes urgent. The answer given was that an emergent issue would come before the board, which would decide what to put to the town, while the CIP committee rates and ranks requests independently against roughly twenty criteria scored zero to ten.

14. 1:14:42
    Runaround Pond RFP

    Heather Roy questioned whether requesting $60,000 pushes the project to 2025 given that contractors are said to be two years out. Jerry Douglass said $60,000 is already in reserve and the new request would make $120,000, and that he intends to put the RFP out this fall, working with Donna, so the town knows the bid price and can add the balance later. The project name is garbled in the recording, rendered as "the rebound"; it appears to be Runaround Pond.

15. 1:20:00
    Replacement schedules and what they cost

    The town manager said the road commissioner's ten-year equipment replacement schedule totals about $1.9 million, roughly $200,000 a year, before fire equipment or buildings are added, and that those are today's costs. Board members described the schedule as fluid and noted that borrowing is now more expensive than in past years, which makes capital planning matter more. The town manager wants to bring Mark to a second CIP meeting to run asset-funding projections.

16. 1:26:00
    Eureka technology upgrades and where the town will meet

    Heather Roy said she was surprised the Eureka Center technology upgrades were not among the capital requests, because the stated plan had been for that building to become the town's meeting space, and raised concerns about parking and calls if meetings moved to the fire station. Jerry Douglass said he does not think a community center is the right place for public meetings, that the fire station is ADA compliant and lit and needs a camera, and that Eureka would need substantial money spent before it could be used. The board asked for the question to return as an agenda item.

17. 1:31:40
    Who may submit CIP requests, and policies out of date

    The CIP policy was read out: applications are submitted by department heads for their departments, the town administrator may submit applications, and town committees may submit applications following a review of completeness by the town administrator. Board members said committees such as Eureka appear not to know this and go to the board instead, and that the policy language still refers to a town administrator and needs rewriting for the town manager form of government. Committee requests could still be accepted this cycle.

18. 1:37:25
    Vacation accrual policy

    Jerry Douglass proposed restating accrual by hours worked rather than by four- or five-day weeks, because staff work 34, 36 and 40 hour weeks. He said the accrual rates themselves do not change, that new employees' accruals had not been entered into Trio correctly and are being recalculated back to hire date, and that there is a 90-day wait before vacation may be taken, with accrual retroactive to day one. Sick leave stays at one day a month.

19. 1:42:42
    Discussion of 2024 state leave changes

    A board member asked whether the policy aligns with the Department of Labor and state earned paid leave changes coming in 2024, and whether the town should move to combined paid time off. The town manager said they would check it, and that the change proposed tonight only reflects what is already being done.

20. 1:47:44
    Town manager report: policy workshops

    Jerry Douglass suggested holding workshops, noticed for specific policies, rather than working through policies inside regular business meetings. Board members agreed and said the priority should be bringing existing policies up to the town manager form of government, with the framework drafted by MMA or another municipal source rather than by the board itself.

21. 1:53:20
    Solid Waste Committee kickoff

    The committee held its first meeting, elected a chair, vice-chair and secretary, and has the current contract and extension. The first order of business is a trash collection RFP, which the town manager wants out just before Thanksgiving with three weeks to bid so the numbers are available for budget season. Discussion covered tonnage as the cost driver, composting, the collapse of the recycling market, a figure of just under $300,000 paid over the last two years, and the need for the planning board to consider space for trash cans and dumpsters in new subdivisions if automated collection arrives.

22. 1:58:52
    December 26 meeting and a budget workshop

    The town manager wants to bring Mark in for a workshop explaining undesignated fund balance, prompted by questions from residents, with budget committee members invited. Board members said the week of Christmas is a poor choice and suggested the week before or January; no date was set, with the matter left until the full board is present.

23. 2:04:16
    Agenda items requested for the next meeting

    Heather Roy asked for an item on the plan for town office and meeting space and how it fits the budget, a schedule of policy and procedure workshops, a written remote participation policy, and a discussion of the fee schedule. She noted the board allowed remote participation once during budget season without a written policy.

24. 2:09:27
    Consent agenda, election wardens, upcoming meetings and adjournment

    The October 10 select board minutes were taken out of the consent agenda because Heather Roy had not attended that meeting. The board appointed the election wardens and accepted the remainder of the consent agenda, including payroll and warrant articles. Upcoming meetings were listed: CIP committee the following night at 6pm, select board on 11/14 and 11/28 at 6:30, and planning board on November 1 at 6:30, all at the town hall. There was no executive session.

What was decided

• 53:25
  Raise the Eureka Community Center rental fee from $70 to $100, effective immediately, with existing bookings grandfathered at the old price. Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Joe Tomm.passed
• 1:47:44
  Approve the changes to the proposed vacation accrual as presented by the town manager, restating accrual by hours worked. Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Richard George.passed
• 2:09:27
  Hold approval of the October 10 select board meeting minutes to a later meeting, removing them from the consent agenda, because a member present had not attended that meeting.tabled
• 2:09:27
  Appoint Catherine Curtis and Nancy Swinton as Warden and Deputy Warden for the November 7, 2023 election. Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Richard George.passed
• 2:09:27
  Accept the consent agenda, including payroll and warrant articles, with the October 10 minutes removed. Moved by Richard George, seconded by Heather Roy.passed
• 2:09:27
  Adjourn. Moved by Richard George, seconded by Heather Roy.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.

Motions the minutes record

The town's own written account of what was decided, taken from sb_meeting_minutes_10_24_23.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.

• raise the rental fee from $70 to $100 dollars, effective immediatelycarried 3-0

  Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Joe Tomm

• approve the changes to the proposed vacation accrual as presented by the Town Managercarried 3-0

  Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Richard George

• appoint Catherine Curtis and Nancy Swinton as Warden and Deputy Warden for the November 7th, 2023 Electioncarried 3-0

  Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Richard George

• accept the consent agenda as presentedcarried 3-0

  Moved by Richard George, seconded by Heather Roy

• adjourn at 8:44pmcarried 3-0

  Moved by Richard George, seconded by Heather Roy

Worth knowing

• 21:19
  Mutual aid figures: Durham has provided 42 mutual aid rescues and received 26, and has been called out of town 28 times for fire, 19 mutual aid fires plus 9 station coverages, while 24 outside fire responses have come into Durham. None of it is charged or billed either way.
• 48:03
  Heather Roy said the town spent $4,457.37 on the Eureka Community Center last year and collected $220 in rental fees, and asked that the new fee be set from that kind of data. The board set $100 that night, with agreement to revisit it.
• 58:32
  Audit costs are rising. The 2022 audit was $12,400; the 2023 figure was spoken as "155" on a new quote described as 25 percent higher; with the auditor's additional request the total was put at about $20,000. The recording also mentions $2,000 remaining and $3,000 added, so the figures do not reconcile.
• 1:20:00
  The public works ten-year equipment replacement schedule totals about $1.9 million in today's dollars, about $200,000 a year to fund, before fire equipment or town buildings are counted.

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 6 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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