Select Board Meeting ~ April 5, 2017

2017-04-05 · Select Board · 1:06:51 · watch on YouTube →

The Select Board's organisational meeting on April 5, 2017, following town meeting, with the chairman absent. The board elected officers, took the annual round of town, committee, election and fire department appointments, adopted the treasurer's disbursement policy and the 2017 property tax payment policy, and considered a rewritten job description for the town mechanic, amending the lifting requirement from 100 pounds down to 50. Fire chief Bill (?) reported at length on the apparatus committee, the engine and rescue replacement schedule, and how ISO rules and automatic aid agreements affect residents' fire insurance ratings. The road commissioner covered pothole patching, the 2017 paving bids, a DOT proposal for the Route 125 and Meadow Road intersection, road striping through a cooperative purchasing programme, and a pending DEP stream crossing grant. Ruth's administrator's report gave the revised budget picture after town meeting. Almost none of the votes taken produce an audible result in the recording, so most outcomes below are recorded as unclear.

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. 0:03
   Election of the chair

   With a new board starting, a member nominated Jeff Wakeman as chairman of the board of selectmen although Wakeman was away that night. The nomination was seconded and a vote called.

2. 0:03
   Election of the vice chair

   Mark Blake was nominated and seconded for vice chairman. He confirmed he was abstaining on his own election.

3. 0:03
   Agenda amendments and public comment

   No amendments were offered, with one item left to depend on whether a person turned up. There was little public present and no public comment.

4. 0:03
   Consent agenda

   The consent agenda, covering everything listed below it on the page including the treasurer's warrants, was moved and seconded as presented.

5. 0:03
   Treasurer's warrants explained

   New members were shown how the warrant works: the first page and a half describes what the payments are, backed by the bills and receipts behind it, and all of it is public information. A larger warrant was to be signed at the end of the meeting.

6. 0:03
   Safety boots and employee clothing

   A payment for safety boots was queried. Steel-toed footwear is required and comes out of a safety account so it is paid on the warrant rather than through payroll, while the town also provides a pants allowance, shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts and safety glasses.

7. 0:03
   Cell phone stipend

   Public works employees use their own phones because the radios do not reach parts of town and do not carry into the trucks there. The town does not pay their bills but gives a stipend of $20 a month.

8. 5:17
   Warrants already covered

   It was pointed out that the treasurer's warrant had already been accepted as part of the consent agenda, and that members could still ask questions about it.

9. 5:17
   Scholarship award held over

   The scholarship award item was set aside for the evening, being the item that depended on whether someone attended.

10. 5:17
    Revised mechanic job description

    The town is looking for a new mechanic and members were given both the current job description and a revised one. The current description is written for a mechanic working under a supervisor who is told what to do; the revised one is a management role, assessing and managing the fleet and reporting what needs doing.

11. 5:17
    Where the new description came from

    The road commissioner said he took the descriptions used by the town of Farmington and the city of Bangor, drew pieces from each and added some of his own. The aim was to be specific enough that the postholder could not say a task was not done because he was not told.

12. 5:17
    Lifting requirement questioned

    The third page said the employee must frequently lift or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally up to 100 pounds. Members said 50 made more sense and that a prior version had used 50, and agreed to change the figure.

13. 5:17
    What the mechanic would do

    The postholder would set the preventive maintenance schedule for the trucks rather than waiting for drivers to report problems, calling vehicles in for oil changes, inspection stickers or tires, and keeping a paper trail.

14. 5:17
    Whether the mechanic brings his own tools

    The town owns the tools. A member asked how they are accounted for and was told they sit in an open drawer the mechanic is responsible for, and that few replacement tools have had to be bought.

15. 10:31
    Debate over tool ownership

    A member said a mechanic is more accountable for his own tools and that most mechanics of this calibre have their own, but accepted it would be hard to switch now and that the town would have to work out what to do with the tools it holds. Against that, if the mechanic's own tools are locked up while he is sick or on holiday the town has none, and the arrangement had not caused a problem in about three years.

16. 10:31
    Whether the post is supervisory

    The road commissioner said the role manages the fleet rather than supervising staff, and would not supervise him. If people are assigned to help work on the trucks, the mechanic directs that work, described by a member as a lead tech.

17. 10:31
    Whether the mechanic plows

    A member asked whether it is common for the chief mechanic to be out plowing during a storm. The road commissioner said yes for a fleet of this size, unlike a larger city, though the mechanic is mostly inside given the amount of equipment.

18. 10:31
    Fourth mechanic in the post

    A member observed this would be the fourth person in the position in a short span. An interim person who had worked with the previous mechanic is keeping things going and may apply.

19. 10:31
    Advertising the vacancy

    Ruth wanted the position in the paper as soon as possible. A member questioned whether people still read job advertisements in the paper.

20. 15:49
    Motion on the job description

    The motion was restated as accepting the job description as amended, with the lifting figure reduced to 50 pounds, and the mover and seconder were identified, the second being Todd. It was noted the description can be revisited later if a need for change appears, as has happened in the past.

21. 15:49
    Annual appointments

    Even where the people are already employees, the town's appointed positions must be filled again each year. Rather than taking them one at a time, one motion was taken for all town and committee appointments as presented and another for the election clerks and registrars.

22. 15:49
    Fire department appointments

    The fire chief's report carried three further appointments: deputy fire chief, deputy EMS chief, and assistant chief and assistant EMA director. A separate motion was taken on those three positions.

23. 15:49
    Treasurer's disbursement policy

    Most bills go through the warrant every two weeks, signed by the board before checks can go out. The policy makes exceptions for revenue the town must remit to the state, covering motor vehicles, inland fisheries and vital records, and for payroll, so that a single board member can come in and sign without a meeting being held. Any member may do it; one member said he had been doing it because he tends to stop in on Fridays.

24. 15:49
    Property tax payment policy introduced

    The town's practice is to apply a payment to the oldest tax bill first. The reason given was that liens can foreclose, so the oldest bill must be cleared first; paying the current year while an older year stands unpaid can still cost a person the property.

25. 21:15
    Discussion of the tax policy

    A member asked why anyone would want their payment applied differently. Members said requests have been made and suggested the only situation they could think of was common land where one owner had not paid a back share, though the obligation itself does not change.

26. 21:15
    Whether part-time staff are appointed

    Fire chief Bill (?) asked whether the part-time employee he had listed appears on the appointment list and needs annual reappointment. He was told public works staff are hired rather than appointed, and the position is not a specific appointed one.

27. 21:15
    Apparatus committee meeting scheduled

    The chief has scheduled the eight-person apparatus committee, himself included, for the coming Monday; the time is given once as 7 o'clock and once as 10 in the recording. It is to review the outcomes of town meeting, start looking at the rescue and the engine situation, and revisit the response guidelines to see whether apparatus can be consolidated while still providing the same services.

28. 21:15
    The town's two engines

    The chief explained that engine is a catch-all for anything with a pump. One engine is set up for extrication and special hazard responses and backs up the other; the one the department has been trying to replace is designed for structural work, low profile, with everything accessible and a full hose load meeting NFPA requirements.

29. 26:33
    ISO requirements constrain consolidation

    The chief said ISO requires not just that a department exists but that it holds certain equipment and response capabilities, so any consolidation has to be checked against the town's rating. He warned a drop in rating would push insurance costs up substantially; the class numbers he cites differ at two points in the recording.

30. 26:33
    Whether to bring in outside help

    A member argued the question is broader than whether to replace one engine, noting the ladder truck and engine 21 both fall due in 2024 and that the town might need two engines but not the ladder. The chief said the internal work comes first, defining what services the guidelines commit the department to and how equipment could cover multiple functions, and that two or three apparatus salesmen live in Durham and have been willing to help.

31. 26:33
    Automatic aid and insurance ratings

    The chief said no community has enough equipment for a major incident alone, and that because ISO does not accept mutual aid agreements the town has put automatic aid agreements in place. Insurers require a property to be within five miles of a fire station or it is treated as unrated, which is why many camps cannot be affordably insured.

32. 26:33
    Which parts of Durham are beyond five miles

    The Auburn line on Auburn Pownal Road is the worst case at around 7.7 miles from the station, and parts of Shiloh Road and Day Road and a stretch of Route 125 are also beyond five miles by travel distance. Automatic aid with Pownal, the North Pownal station and Lisbon covers those areas.

33. 26:33
    Why structure fires draw so much equipment

    Without hydrants the main constraint is water, and the chief said 4,500 gallons on wheels goes quickly on a deep-seated room and contents fire. Automatic aid is toned out instantly so a neighbouring department arriving first starts work rather than waiting for Durham.

34. 32:09
    Rescue replacement

    The rescue will be 12 years old in 2019 and the committee is to make a recommendation for the 2018 town meeting. Most communities replace a rescue between five and ten years, some on a rolling lease-purchase cycle; the chief said Durham takes good care of its equipment and he judged 12 years achievable on low mileage, but that the vehicle is getting tired and the department is on borrowed time.

35. 32:09
    Why the engine was requested first

    The engine was scheduled for replacement at 20 years old and has been bumped out for about three years. One year it did not reach town meeting, and it has been put to town meeting the last two years without succeeding, which has put ripples in what had been an even savings plan.

36. 32:09
    Per diem staffing and stipends

    Equipment checks are now set for the first Thursday of each month, and the chief and the three senior officers just appointed are to start meeting on per diem staffing and stipends. The chief and the part-time person, Diana, will adjust their schedules to cut their overlap to four or five hours a week.

37. 32:09
    Timetable for per diem recruitment

    The stipend part is internal and largely covered by an existing process, so recommendations can come forward quickly; the per diem part requires advertising and recruitment outside the department. The chief aims to bring recommendations to the first meeting in May and to be ready to start by the end of May or early June, sending pieces over electronically as they are settled.

38. 37:10
    Hazard mitigation plan

    The town submitted its updated project list. The chief explained hazard mitigation as, for example, raising a road that floods every year rather than repairing it repeatedly, and said it is a grant programme with funds available twice a year, but only for projects already in the plan.

39. 37:10
    What is on the hazard mitigation list

    The chief thought there were roughly 12 or 15 projects, all ballpark estimates that are only refined once a project is put in for and awarded. He recalled something on Auburn Pownal Road and the dam at Runaround Pond, and said the list has been submitted and cannot now be changed, with AVCOG compiling the electronic version. Members noted the town has always had placeholders in the plan but does not believe it has ever drawn hazard mitigation funds.

40. 37:10
    Fire department training

    A member of the department completed Fire Officer I and II, a Pro Board accredited state certification that becomes a national one, involving nine weeks of work and nine days in Belfast for the final week. Internally the department is running a basic fire officer class for Androscoggin County with eight students registered and seven still in it.

41. 37:10
    Pothole patching

    The road commissioner reported near non-stop pothole patching, which he said is especially bad this year because of the frost and frost heaves.

42. 37:10
    2017 paving RFP

    The paving RFP has been posted, with bids due Thursday at 10:00 a.m. and to be opened at 11:00. Durham is early relative to towns whose town meeting is in June, which was described as an advantage because prices rise as contractors fill their books.

43. 42:34
    Route 125 and Meadow Road intersection

    The road commissioner met DOT the previous Thursday and told them he wanted a traffic engineer's report showing the benefits before going further. One idea discussed was barricading the end of Meadow Road where it comes out onto Route 125; DOT's alternative is to bring the intersection back about 200 feet closer to the farmhouse to fix the line of sight, which is close to zero looking right.

44. 42:34
    Talking to residents before any closure

    The road commissioner said he would speak to the people living on that road first to see whether they objected, and that the decision would ultimately be the select board's and subject to a public hearing. He said he did not think they would be happy with a closure.

45. 42:34
    Fire chief on the intersection's accidents

    Bill agreed the intersection is dangerous and blind, but said most of the crashes the department responds to there are caused by excessive speed rather than by drivers pulling out blind. He offered to supply the accident location data for the DOT report.

46. 42:34
    Road striping through cooperative purchasing

    The road commissioner has requested GPCOG's cooperative purchasing programme for centre line paint. He said residents email repeatedly asking why Durham has no lines when Brunswick, New Gloucester and Auburn do, and that both Pownal and Durham are going ahead this year, with enough budget for about six and a half miles.

47. 48:17
    Which roads and which line

    The proposed corridor runs Runaround, Rabbit and Quaker Meeting House through to Brunswick, with Pownal doing Pickett Road to the New Gloucester line. Members discussed white fog lines on either side instead of a double yellow, preferring white as easier to follow when blinded by oncoming headlights and as keeping drivers away from deep ditches; the cost comparison quoted, about a penny more per foot for two whites, is partly garbled in the recording.

48. 48:17
    Permitting and record keeping

    Working with Ruth and the assessor, the code office has consolidated the files: a book now lists all permits so the assessor can find them, where previously the same property could have separate preconstruction, construction and post-construction files. Calvin is temporarily serving as interim code officer alongside public works.

49. 48:17
    Stream crossing grant

    An answer from DEP on stream crossing grants is expected this month, hopefully by mid-April, for two sinking culverts on Auburn Pownal Road given as four or five foot. The grant is up to $95,000 against a total cost given as about $195,000, leaving roughly $100,000 to the town; the figures are restated several times in the exchange before settling. If the grant comes through a special town meeting would be needed, the item having been kept off the town meeting warrant because there were no firm numbers.

50. 48:17
    Holes on a recently sealed road

    Holes had been appearing, which members attributed to the compactor loosening things when the chip seal was done. Another patch has gone in and the problem appears to have slowed.

51. 48:17
    DOT personnel management training

    The road commissioner will be in Augusta Tuesday and Wednesday for personnel management training tailored to DOT and public works issues, with a three-day part two on May 15, 16 and 17. He applied in January, heard nothing, and reapplied last month adding Ron; his own application was accepted, Ron's was not because the class was full, and Ron is third on the waiting list.

52. 53:46
    Accidents at the Route 136 and Rabbit Road intersection

    A member asked about roughly three accidents within two days there. The road commissioner recalled putting a stop sign back up on the Friday night, and Bill (?) said the first was not at the intersection but further up past the power lines near 1355 Royalsborough Road, with the next two at the intersection and neither of them major.

53. 53:46
    The corridor's accident record

    Bill (?) said the bad accidents used to be over by the Quaker meeting church, where three rounds of work have reduced their severity without stopping them, and estimated that 50 to 75 percent of the serious accidents in his career have been somewhere on that corridor. Members described near misses with drivers who did not appear to know where they were, and frequent passing in both directions.

54. 53:46
    What causes them

    Bill attributed the crashes to driver inattentiveness, speed and weather rather than road conditions, and pointed to the pattern of two long straight stretches followed by a bad corner in a town with no regular law enforcement patrol. He said people drive through Durham because it is a shortcut where time can be made up, even where it is not the shortest distance.

55. 53:46
    Stop-ahead striping

    Asked whether stop-ahead markings would help, the road commissioner said stencils have been obtained and will go down this year. Some was done from Runaround through to Route 9 before it got too cold, and the remaining intersection will wait until the surface pavement goes down.

56. 59:03
    DOT work at a Route 9 intersection in Pownal

    DOT is putting a signal in at an intersection on Route 9 in Pownal near the store, making it a four-way stop; the cross street name is garbled in the recording. Members noted DOT (?) asked Pownal to pay the light bill.

57. 59:03
    How DOT learns about accidents

    Members were unsure how DOT hears of crashes on state-numbered roads. The road commissioner said he does not notify them, that he routes damage reports through the town office, and that he would ask the traffic engineer when they meet; DOT monitors accident numbers and steps in when an intersection has had too many.

58. 59:03
    GPCOG intersection study

    A request came last summer to study the Route 125 and Pinkham Brook Road intersection, and research on it is under way. The Pownal intersection was one where DOT simply decided to install the light.

59. 59:03
    A corner on Route 9

    A member asked whether there had been any research on a corner on Route 9 that others called among the worst in town; its name is garbled in the recording. No one had heard of any, though DOT has extended the dotted line further around the corner so drivers are meant to come around before committing. Motorcycles were said to be the worst affected, catching gravel on the corner and ending up in the guard rails.

60. 59:03
    Administrator's report and the mill rate

    Ruth handed out a revised budget overview reflecting the town meeting votes. Last year's total mill rate was 18.8, of which the municipal portion was given as 3.44, and the increase this year is 0.15, corresponding to about $15 per $100,000 of valuation, subject to change with state reimbursements and what the RSU does.

61. 1:04:27
    County and school figures

    The county figure was given as 4.8. For the schools, Ruth (?) said the combined figure across all towns is in the five range but that once broken out by town, because of how valuation is figured, Durham is estimated at about 3.05. She said school board representative Brian Pike (?) told her the figure assumes zero state aid from Augusta towards administration, which is not expected to hold, so it may come down marginally.

62. 1:04:27
    Code enforcement officer position

    Mark Blake (?) asked whether the code enforcement officer's job would be put out to bid. Ruth (?) said there had been several different ideas about it and that she would bring members up to date in executive session rather than in open session.

63. 1:04:27
    Upcoming meetings and executive session

    Regular select board meetings were announced for Tuesday, April 18 and Tuesday, May 2, both at 6:30, with the public welcome to attend and ask questions. The board then went into executive session on personnel.

What was decided

• 0:03
  Nomination of Jeff Wakeman as chairman of the board of selectmen, made and seconded while he was absent. A vote was called but the recording does not state a result; the exchange immediately afterwards treats him as chairman.outcome unclear
• 0:03
  Nomination of Mark Blake as vice chairman, made and seconded. A vote was called and Blake (?) confirmed he was abstaining on his own election, but the recording gives no tally or statement of the result.outcome unclear
• 0:03
  Accept the consent agenda as presented, including the treasurer's warrants. The vote itself is not audible, but a few minutes later members state plainly that it had already been accepted.passed
• 5:17
  Set the scholarship award aside for the evening, it being the item that depended on whether a person attended. Agreed in discussion; no motion was made and no vote was taken.tabled
• 15:49
  Accept the revised mechanic job description as amended, the amendment reducing the occasional lifting and moving requirement from 100 pounds to 50 pounds. Moved and seconded, with Todd named as the seconder, and a vote called; the recording does not state the result, though the board moved directly on to advertising the position.outcome unclear
• 15:49
  Make all the annual town and committee appointments as presented in one motion, rather than taking them individually. Moved and seconded and a vote called; the recording does not state the result.outcome unclear
• 15:49
  Make the appointments of election clerks and registrars as presented. Moved and seconded and a vote called; the recording does not state the result.outcome unclear
• 15:49
  Accept the three fire department positions of deputy fire chief, deputy EMS chief, and assistant chief and assistant EMA director. Moved and seconded and a vote called; the recording does not state the result.outcome unclear
• 15:49
  Approve the treasurer's disbursement policy, allowing a single board member to sign warrants for state fees covering motor vehicles, inland fisheries and vital records, and for employee wages, without a meeting being convened. Moved and seconded and a vote called; the recording does not state the result.outcome unclear
• 21:15
  Accept the 2017 property tax payment policy as presented, under which a payment is applied to the oldest outstanding tax bill first so that a lien is cleared before newer taxes are paid. Moved and seconded and a vote called; the recording does not state the result.outcome unclear
• 42:34
  Take no action yet on the Route 125 and Meadow Road intersection, pending a traffic engineer's report from DOT comparing the proposed new intersection against closing Meadow Road, and pending the road commissioner speaking to residents on that road. Agreed in discussion; no motion was made and no vote was taken.tabled
• 1:04:27
  Hold the discussion of the code enforcement officer's position in executive session on personnel rather than in open session, and go into that session at the close of the meeting. No motion or vote on entering executive session is audible in the recording.outcome unclear

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

• 32:09
  The fire engine the department has been trying to replace was scheduled for replacement at 20 years old and has been deferred about three years, having been put to town meeting the last two years without succeeding. The rescue will be 12 years old in 2019 against a typical replacement age of five to ten years, and the chief said it is getting tired and the department is on borrowed time.
• 26:33
  Because ISO does not accept mutual aid agreements, Durham relies on automatic aid agreements, which matter directly to residents' insurance. A property more than five miles from a fire station is treated as unrated, and the Auburn line on Auburn Pownal Road is about 7.7 miles out, with parts of Shiloh Road, Day Road and a stretch of Route 125 also beyond five miles; automatic aid with Pownal, the North Pownal station and Lisbon covers them.
• 48:17
  A DEP decision on a stream crossing grant for two sinking culverts on Auburn Pownal Road is expected by mid-April. The grant is up to $95,000 against a total cost given as about $195,000, leaving roughly $100,000 to the town, and if it is awarded the board would have to call a special town meeting.
• 59:03
  Last year's total mill rate was 18.8, of which the municipal portion was given as 3.44. The budget approved at town meeting raises the municipal rate by 0.15, which Ruth put at about $15 per $100,000 of valuation, though the final figure depends on state reimbursements and the RSU.

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

Elsewhere

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