Select Board Meeting ~ October 29, 2024

2024-10-29 · Select Board · 2:11:44 · watch on YouTube →

Regular Durham Select Board meeting of October 29, 2024, held at the fire station with a quorum and one member excused. The planning board chair and the town planner presented the resource protection ordinance work and a proposed moratorium on utility-scale battery energy storage, and the board voted to call a special town meeting on November 19 to put the moratorium to voters. The board also appointed seven members to a new agricultural committee, appointed election workers as a slate, and voted to move the town onto a July-to-June fiscal year. Sitting as the board of assessors, it approved the municipal valuation return and a property tax abatement. A generator for the Town Office, the state Paid Family and Medical Leave contributions, and replacement doors at the Eureka Center were all deferred to the November 12 meeting. After executive session the board voted to hire a new IT services provider.

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. 1:11
   Call to order and public comment

   The chair called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm with a quorum, one member (Joe Tom (?)) excused, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. No public comment was offered.

2. 1:11
   Resource protection update

   John Talbot (?), chair of the planning board, and town planner George Thebarge (?) presented joint work by the planning board and the Conservation Commission on resource protection. New state data takes some properties out of resource protection, and for those still in it a 100-foot buffer around the existing structure is proposed so owners can add a sunroom or expand a garage. A public information meeting was set for November 13 at 6:30 pm at the fire station; residents with questions about their own parcel were asked to contact the town planner instead.

3. 6:36
   Buffer mechanics, mailings and presentation materials

   The 100-foot buffer is measured from the edge of the existing building, and near streams and inland bird habitat an expansion may not move closer to the resource, producing a half-moon shaped buffer. Heather (?) asked when notice cards go to affected owners; they were to be mailed on the Monday after the election. A board member suggested changing the red shading on the example map to another colour so it is not read as a warning.

4. 12:15
   Battery energy storage moratorium

   The planning board chair described summer research on utility-scale battery storage and recommended a six-month moratorium on new applications, with a further six months the town could delegate to the select board. The town planner said the town attorney considers such a system to fall within the land use ordinance definition of essential services, so only site plan review standards could be applied, not conditional use standards. Companies have expressed interest in siting one in Durham.

5. 18:07
   Special town meeting called on the moratorium

   The chair moved a special town meeting on November 19; after the board established a time and place the motion was withdrawn and restated as 6:30 pm at the Eureka Center. The town clerk and town attorney had advised that seven days' notice is required, and that no separate public hearing is needed because the moratorium is adopted at a special town meeting.

6. 23:21
   Preparation of a battery storage ordinance

   The planning board chair asked the board to have the November 13 information session explain only the reason for the moratorium and its language. The planning board meets November 6 and will begin looking at draft ordinance language; how quickly it proceeds depends on the November 19 vote.

7. 29:05
   Historic district commission, Article 12 and section 5.14

   The board formally recognised receipt of the memo and the legal opinion on the historic district commission ordinance, alongside the markups submitted by the historic district commission. Drafting (?) proposed warrant language was scheduled for the November 26 meeting, with a public hearing early in 2025 and a town meeting vote in April; it will not go to the special town meeting.

8. 34:08
   Agricultural committee appointments

   The committee was set at seven members with two alternates, and seven applicants were before the board. All seven were approved: Steve Seni (?), David Coulson, Eric Goodrich, Claire Ross, Megan Grimes and Jonah Ferdigbird (?) were named.

9. 34:08
   Election worker appointments

   Seven election worker applications, including two reappointments, were taken as a single slate. The names read were Ann Wear (?), Wayne Clark, Julia Johnston, David Harris, Barbara Lelly (?), Colman (?) and Lois Kilby Chesley (?).

10. 34:08
    Change to a fiscal year

    The chair moved that the town move to a fiscal year, citing advice from the assessor and accountants and the fact that the town currently has to estimate the school budget, about 70 percent of its total, and the county tax. He argued the change should happen before the revaluation takes effect rather than being combined with it, and that waiting for an April town vote would push the change into 2026. The board discussed how to explain two tax collections over an 18-month transition, including a news blast, a website page and possibly a public information meeting.

11. 44:18
    Board of assessors: municipal valuation return

    The board moved into the board of assessors and approved the municipal valuation return prepared by Donna Hay, the state filing that reports the town's certified ratio, valuations and tax commitment. Board signatures were collected during the session.

12. 49:44
    Tax abatement, map 2 lot 28

    The assessor's recommendation was to abate $319.73 over roughly half an acre that may not be part of the taxable lot. The motion was restated to name the map and lot before the vote.

13. 49:44
    Manager report: Town Office generator

    Jerry (?) reported the town was awarded a $3,000 risk reduction grant through MMA toward a generator at the Town Office, and that the chief and Calvin had worked on two quotes, from Electrical Systems of Maine and from Milton CAT. The figures given in the transcript are inconsistent, citing $22,800 and $27,000, and the units are 38 kW and 45 kW against the existing 45 kW unit. The 20-year-old generator cannot be repaired because parts are no longer available; the manager recommended Electrical Systems of Maine and the item was placed on the November 12 agenda for a vote to spend from a reserve account.

14. 54:47
    Paid Family and Medical Leave Act

    Jerry (?) reported the new state act takes effect January 1, 2025, with a 0.5 percent contribution from employees and 0.5 percent from the employer, about $5,000 each in total at current wages. The chair said he would be inclined to have the town cover the full one percent for staff and asked that it go on the November 12 agenda as new business, with feedback gathered from surrounding towns.

15. 1:00:19
    Eureka Center doors and ARPA funds

    Only one estimate could be obtained for three commercial doors, the front double door, a side door and a back double door: $12,758 for parts and $5,800 for labour. The $9,130 of remaining ARPA money allocated for Eureka upgrades must be obligated by December 31, 2024, meaning a contract or purchase order in place, and the balance would come from the Eureka or buildings reserve account. Heather (?) said the doors have appeared in the budget every year she has been involved without the work being done; the item was moved to the November 12 agenda.

16. 1:11:32
    Manager report: elections and software

    A sheriff's deputy was hired at the school on Election Day. The town's new software, referred to as Trifecta, has had the chart of accounts and vendor list uploaded, and assessing data will be migrated with the revaluation software effective January 1. Jerry and the board thanked office staff for the workload during early voting, and a resident email praising the operation was read aloud.

17. 1:17:02
    Board member reports

    Deb (?) noted the fire chief's appointment to a Fire Marshal's committee, one of eight statewide, the lack of lights at the Eureka Center parking lot, and the apparel impact bins notice in the newsletter. The board discussed a communication policy covering push notifications, and agreed that Jerry would reply to resident emails to the board acknowledging receipt, with an automatic reply considered if volume increases.

18. 1:23:01
    Policy inventory and Municipal Center Vision survey

    Deb (?) volunteered to help inventory existing town policies and identify gaps, with the chair asking that the work not add to staff load before budget season and suggesting it be taken up in December or early 2025. Heather (?) asked about the timeline for the Municipal Center Vision survey, which was said to conclude in November; the chair said it would be reported on at the November 12 meeting, and that the board's role is to receive the steering committee's recommendations.

19. 1:28:18
    Consent agenda and upcoming meetings

    Upcoming dates were read: the general election November 5 at the Durham Community School 8 am to 8 pm, planning board November 6, select board November 12 and 26, the public information meeting on resource protection and the battery storage moratorium November 13, and the special town meeting November 19 at the Eureka Center.

20. 2:08:17
    IT services contract after executive session

    Coming out of executive session, the board voted to hire Burgess for IT services. The chair explained that the town's current IT provider is terminating its contract, and that the selected package adds security coverage the prior fix-and-repair arrangement lacked.

What was decided

• 18:07
  Hold a special town meeting on November 19, 2024 at 6:30 pm at the Eureka Center for voters to consider a moratorium on battery storage (a first motion setting only the date was withdrawn and restated to add time and place)passed
• 34:08
  Approve all seven applicants as members of the agricultural committeepassed
• 34:08
  Approve all election worker applicants, appointments and reappointments together as one slatepassed
• 44:18
  Move the town to a fiscal year running July through June, beginning with the next budget cyclepassed
• 44:18
  Sitting as the board of assessors, approve the municipal valuation return prepared by Donna Hay for filing with the statepassed
• 49:44
  Approve the abatement of $319.73 on map 2 lot 28passed
• 1:28:18
  Approve the consent agenda, including the agricultural committee and election clerk appointments; the transcript records the motion and second but no voteoutcome unclear
• 1:28:18
  Enter executive session at 8:00 pm under M.R.S.A. 405(6)(A) and (F); the board came out at 8:37 pmpassed
• 2:08:17
  Hire Burgess for the town's IT services under the second option quoted, with an annual cost given in the transcript as $36,660passed
• 2:08:17
  Extend the meeting until 9:30 pmpassed
• 2:08:17
  Return to executive session at 8:40 pm under M.R.S.A. 405(6)(A), with the camera off and any later action to be recorded in written notes filed with the town clerkpassed

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

• 12:15
  The town attorney advised acting before April because she reads a utility-scale battery energy storage system as an essential service under the current land use ordinance, which would limit the planning board to site plan review standards written for commercial office development. Companies have already asked about siting one in Durham.
• 34:08
  The fiscal year change was made by board vote without a town meeting vote. It creates an 18-month transition with two tax collections, and the chair wanted it separated in time from the revaluation. The school budget, about 70 percent of the town budget, is currently estimated each year.
• 54:47
  The state Paid Family and Medical Leave Act starts January 1, 2025 with a 0.5 percent payroll contribution from employees and 0.5 percent from the town, roughly $5,000 on each side. The chair said he would propose the town pay the employees' share as well.
• 1:00:19
  The $9,130 of ARPA money set aside for Eureka Center upgrades must be under contract by December 31, 2024 or be lost. The only estimate obtained for three commercial doors was $12,758 in parts plus $5,800 in labour, and Heather (?) said the door work has been in the budget repeatedly over four years without being done.

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 11 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

← 2024-10-08 Select Board2024-11-12 Select Board →All meetings