Select Board Meeting ~ March 21, 2017

2017-03-21 · Select Board · 57:05 · watch on YouTube →

A select board meeting ten days before the March 31 elections, opening with a candidates' forum in which the four people running for select board seats and a candidate for the RSU 5 board introduced themselves. The board waived the town's share of building permit fees for a resident rebuilding after a house fire, and named Gary Wood as this year's Spirit of America award recipient for more than thirty years as unpaid town meeting moderator. It spent most of the meeting on code enforcement cover: rather than engage the proposed interim officer, whose rate and whose relationship to one of the selectmen both drew objections, it kept the work in house with road commissioner Calvin Beaumier as acting code officer while the administrator looks for other options. Calvin Beaumier then took the board through the 2017 paving plan and the joint RFP with Pownal, which was approved, and warned that four culverts on Auburn Pownal Road are close to failure with the DEP grant decision not due until after town meeting. The minutes record that after the recorded meeting the board went into executive session and then voted 4-0 to hire Carl Schafer as a full-time truck driver and labourer, to use him as interim mechanic at a dollar an hour extra, and to advertise the mechanic and operator position.

What was discussed

1. 0:05
   Call to order and consent agenda

   All four selectmen were present. The agenda was amended to add a second BYOB permit under the consent agenda, and there was no public comment. The consent agenda was moved, seconded and carried.

2. 0:05
   Candidates' forum: Todd Beaulieu

   Todd Beaulieu said he has lived in town since 1969, has been building houses here since he could swing a hammer with his father, married in 1984 and raised two children who still live in Durham. He described himself as fiscally conservative, said his own taxes had risen sharply since 2007 and that older residents are struggling, and noted he has been on the planning board since 2003 and chairman for three or four years.

3. 0:05
   Candidates' forum: Kevin Nadeau

   Kevin Nadeau, a University of Maine business graduate who has spent 20 years at L.L.Bean in outdoor equipment product development, said he moved to Durham 18 years ago looking for a small rural town and has never missed a town meeting. He is married to Ruth Dodge, the speech language pathologist at the community school, and has two children there.

4. 5:38
   Nadeau on growth, roads and the budget year

   He listed chairing an educational exploration committee appointed by the board in 2012, treasurer of Cub Scout Pack 145, budget committee member since 2013 and chairman of the comprehensive planning committee. He said that work had opened his eyes to the growth pressures coming, that the real work is implementing the plan, and that roads are an example of being penny wise and pound foolish. He also argued the town should look at its budget year, since it votes in April on a budget that began in January and is not funded by taxes until August.

5. 5:38
   Candidates' forum: Michael Stewart and Richard George

   Michael Stewart, an incumbent seeking another three-year term, said he says what is on his mind, is not a bobblehead, and finds balancing taxes against what the departments need genuinely hard. Richard George, a resident with his wife since 2003 and running for the one-year seat, said his reason for running is simply to be involved, that he brings business skills, and that he has no political agenda beyond being open to older and newer residents alike.

6. 11:25
   Candidates' forum: RSU 5 board

   Jennifer Galetta said she has lived in Durham 19 years, grew up in Brunswick, and has three children in the school system, one still at the community school and two at the high school. She began her career teaching in Brunswick public schools and moved to adult education, and now teaches and runs the library at the Cumberland County Jail. She said she is a strong supporter of the RSU and had spoken at length with Michelle Richardson about what the role involves. A member asked whether the forum could be cut out as a separate clip and linked from the town website.

7. 11:25
   Waiving building permit fees after a house fire

   The board acted on waiving the building permit fees for a resident rebuilding after a house fire. It had been raised several weeks earlier but there was no record of a vote. The state plumbing portion cannot be waived, so the motion covered the town's portion only.

8. 11:25
   Spirit of America award

   With no other suggestions received, the board proposed Gary Wood, who has been the town meeting moderator since sometime in the early 1980s, more than thirty years, and has never charged for it, and who also serves unpaid on the appeals board despite not living in town. The presentation will be made at town meeting alongside the scholarship award.

9. 16:36
   Cover for the code enforcement officer

   With the previous code officer gone and building season approaching, the board considered engaging an interim officer, but several members balked at the rate. It was put at roughly $800 a month, the same as the candidate charges Bowdoin at $10,000 a year, with a figure of $50 to $60 an hour including mileage and inspections also quoted, and members disagreed about how many hours it would actually take. Ruth Glaeser had also been reaching out to other code officers in the area and considering a retired officer on an interim basis.

10. 16:36
    Consistency and appearances

    A member said he wanted somebody physically available to talk to taxpayers rather than a form pushed through a window. Another (?) said his concern was consistency of interpretation and not repeating the hiccups of the last handover. A third raised an appearance problem: the process had been initiated by Michael Stewart and the proposed candidate is Stewart's boss, and even if nothing is wrong it looks bad.

11. 16:36
    What happens when the joint road commissioner post ends

    With Pownal not intending to continue the shared road commissioner arrangement past June, the board noted it will have to work out how to move Calvin Beaumier from a part-time road commissioner into some other position. He is certified and is a licensed MUBEC inspector, so keeping code enforcement in house was seen as offering consistency while that is sorted out.

12. 21:51
    The burden on the town office

    Ruth Glaeser confirmed the arrangement is a burden, though largely because the filing system is archaic: there may be three files for the same map and lot in three different places. She and Beaumier had sat down with Donna on Monday to go through the paperwork and are reorganising the files. Beaumier said the reorganising work would fall to the office whoever the code officer was.

13. 26:53
    Permit forms and who answers questions

    The application forms are already on the website but were described as convoluted for a homeowner, with much of it not applicable and questions about live and dead loads and spans that stop people. Members noted the previous officer did everything himself and would not let office staff hand out permits, and agreed the normal arrangement is that office staff hand out forms and take fees while questions go to the code officer. The practical fix agreed was to put the code officer's phone number on the forms, with public works on four ten-hour days leaving Beaumier available on Fridays.

14. 31:56
    Keeping code enforcement in house for now

    Members settled on keeping the work in house rather than engaging the interim officer, with Ruth Glaeser to put out more feelers and Beaumier to say if it becomes too much. If someone were added it would be as an interim assistant with Beaumier remaining acting code officer, since members recalled that when a fill-in covered last year the interpretations were completely different.

15. 31:56
    Fire department

    The chief was excused. His one item was that the department had held its elections for deputies and both incumbents, Lisa Groves and Keith Russell, were re-elected. A member asked that Engine 22 be parked out front at town meeting so voters can see what they are voting on.

16. 31:56
    Road commissioner report

    Beaumier said turnout at the information session on the fire department and trash was disappointing, though the presentations are online. Storm Stella hit hard and the crew kept up with it, plowing lines that filled in again within fifteen minutes in the wind. Pothole patching is the March routine, with one large one on Old Brunswick Road to be looked at with reclaimed asphalt.

17. 31:56
    The 2017 paving plan and joint RFP

    Beaumier brought the paving plan and a joint RFP with Pownal for shim, chip seal and overlay work (an inch and a half of cold mix with a chip seal surface) with bid tabs for each road, including Libby Road, Stackpole and Cedar Pond. He included an alternate line so a bidder can offer a price on hot mix or another method for the board to consider. Pownal signed off the night before and he wanted it out the next day, on the basis that the earlier bids go out the better the prices.

18. 37:18
    Cash flow against the paving deadline

    A member noticed the RFP requires the shim to be placed by July 14 (it has to be down 30 days before chip sealing) and pointed out the town does not commit taxes until near the end of June and may not have the cash by then, particularly if the school budget does not pass. Beaumier said he had not thought about it, that in practice the bill arrives a couple of weeks after the work and then carries 30 days, and that he would be upfront with bidders about it. The RFP already carries wording allowing a different date by agreement between the director and the contractor.

19. 42:33
    Auburn Pownal Road culverts and the DEP grant

    Beaumier expects to hear from DEP on the stream crossing grants in the first two weeks of April, after town meeting. Four culverts on Auburn Pownal Road are close to failure, with the bottoms gone and road material washing through the holes; the job is around $90,000 to $100,000 and the grant would cover about half. If they fail it would be an access problem for fire trucks as well as an expensive repair. Since the money would come from the capital fund and would not need a tax increase, members concluded it was better to wait for a definite answer and call a special town meeting than to ask the town floor for an extra $100,000 with nothing in hand.

20. 47:50
    RFP authorised

    A motion was made to have the road commissioner put out the joint RFP for shim, chip seal and overlays, seconded and carried.

21. 47:50
    Earth Day at River Park

    Ruth Glaeser proposed an Earth Day event at River Park on Saturday April 22, since the last inspection report said the trails are overgrown, with volunteers working the trails and perhaps painting the benches. She hoped public works staff might help with equipment from the garage, and members were clear they should be asked to volunteer and be paid, taking hours back during the week, not told to swap a Thursday for a Saturday. Members suggested involving the conservation committee and the comprehensive plan committee, and said somebody would need a plan of the work so volunteers can be assigned rather than milling about.

22. 53:10
    MaineDOT and Meadow Road

    Glaeser has a meeting the following week with MaineDOT, which wants to discuss closing or barricading the Meadow Road end at Route 125 because that intersection is very blind and there have been accidents. She asked them to bring the legal position; whether it would be a discontinuance or simply blocking within the DOT right of way. Members said it would affect several homeowners and would need public hearings, questioned whether traffic pushed to another intersection would be any safer, and one suggested the town might trade agreement for repaving Meadow Road, which draws some of the most complaints in town.

23. 53:10
    Announcements

    Regular select board meetings were announced for Tuesday April 4 and Tuesday April 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the town office. Elections for the select board, budget committee and school board are Friday March 31 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Durham Community School, with absentee ballots available until Monday March 27 at 4:30 p.m. and due back by the close of the polls. Town meeting is April 1 at 9 a.m.; town reports are at the town office and the Get and Go, and the warrant can be downloaded from the website. Glaeser apologised that work would keep her from town meeting.

24. 53:10
    Executive session

    A motion was made to go into executive session under 1 M.R.S.A. 405(6)(A) on public works personnel matters, seconded and carried. The recording ends there.

What was decided

• 0:05
  Approve the consent agenda as presented, amended to add a second BYOB permit. Moved by Sarah Hall and seconded by Michael Stewart; the minutes record it carried 4-0.passed
• 11:25
  Authorise waiving all of the town's portion of the building permit fees for a resident rebuilding after a house fire, with the exception of the state plumbing fees, which cannot be waived. Moved by Sarah Hall and seconded by Michael Stewart; the minutes record it carried 4-0.passed
• 11:25
  Name Gary Wood as this year's Spirit of America award recipient, for more than thirty years of unpaid service as town meeting moderator and for his service on the appeals board. Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman and seconded by Sarah Hall; the minutes record it carried 4-0. The presentation will be made at town meeting.passed
• 31:56
  The board did NOT engage the proposed interim code enforcement officer. No motion was made on the offer; members were uncomfortable with the rate and with the appearance of the proposal having been initiated by a selectman whose employer the candidate is, and left it with Ruth Glaeser to put out further feelers for an interim assistant while the matter is reviewed again at a later meeting.tabled
• 31:56
  The board agreed to keep code enforcement in house for now, with road commissioner Calvin Beaumier continuing as acting code officer, to print his telephone number on the permit forms, and to route code questions to him rather than have office staff answer them. Any additional person would come in as an interim assistant with Beaumier remaining the acting code officer.passed
• 42:33
  On the Auburn Pownal Road culverts, the board agreed NOT to put an article on the town meeting warrant while the grant outcome is unknown, and instead to wait for the DEP decision in early April and call a special town meeting to appropriate the town's share from the capital fund if needed.passed
• 47:50
  Approve the joint RFP with Pownal for shim, chip seal and overlays as amended, and have the road commissioner put it out to bid. Moved by Mark Blake and seconded by Sarah Hall; the minutes record it carried 4-0.passed
• 47:50
  Hold an Earth Day volunteer day at River Park on Saturday April 22 to clear the overgrown trails and paint benches, publicised as widely as possible including on the website, with public works staff asked to volunteer and be paid rather than directed to work the Saturday, and the conservation and comprehensive plan committees invited to take part.passed
• 53:10
  Move the board into executive session pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. 405(6)(A), personnel, public works. Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman and seconded by Mark Blake; the minutes record it carried 4-0.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 select_board_minutes_3-21-171.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.

• Approve the Consent Agenda as presentedcarried 4-0

  Moved by Sarah Hall, seconded by Michael Stewart

• authorize waiving all of the Town's portion of building permit fees with the exception of State Plumbing fees that cannot be waivedcarried 4-0

  Moved by Sarah Hall, seconded by Michael Stewart

• name Gary Wood for his service to the Town as a Moderator for more than thirty years and for his years of service on the Appeals Boardcarried 4-0

  Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Sarah Hall

• Approve the Joint RFP for shim/chip seal and overlays as amendedcarried 4-0

  Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Sarah Hall

• the Board into Executive Session Pursuant to Title #1, M.R.S.A., ss. 405(6)(A) – Personnel – Personnel Matters preceded by a brief recess at 7:30 p.mcarried 4-0

  Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake

• at 7:53 p.m. to hire Carl Schafer as full time truck driver/laborer. Also hire as interim Mechanic with $1.00/hr., extracarried 4-0

  Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake

• at 7:54 p.m. to put mechanic/operator position out for advertisementcarried 4-0

  Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Michael Stewart

• Adjourn at 7:55 p.mcarried 4-0

  Moved by Michael Stewart, seconded by Mark Blake

Worth knowing

• 16:36
  The proposal to bring in an interim code enforcement officer foundered on two objections: the rate, quoted at roughly $800 a month, the same as the candidate charges Bowdoin at $10,000 a year; and the appearance of the arrangement, since the process was initiated by the selectman whose boss the candidate is.
• 42:33
  Four culverts on Auburn Pownal Road are close to failure, with the bottoms gone and road material washing through. The job runs around $90,000 to $100,000 with a DEP grant expected to cover about half, but the grant decision is not due until the first two weeks of April, after town meeting, so the board expects to call a special town meeting rather than ask the floor for the money blind.
• 53:10
  MaineDOT wants to discuss closing or barricading the Meadow Road end at Route 125, because that intersection is blind and has seen a number of accidents. The board said any such change would affect several homeowners and would require public hearings, and questioned whether pushing traffic to the other intersection would be any safer.
• 53:10
  Elections for the select board, budget committee and school board are on Friday March 31, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Durham Community School, with absentee ballots available until 4:30 p.m. on Monday March 27 and due back by the close of the polls. Town meeting follows on April 1 at 9 a.m.

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: 3 passages of motion language, against 9 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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