Select Board Meeting ~ March 10, 2026

2026-03-10 · Select Board · 3:22:20 · watch on YouTube →

The Select Board met on March 10, 2026 with two large items: a visit from RSU5 Superintendent Tom Gray on the school budget and possible reconfiguration of the district, and a decision on whether to move to a pay-as-you-throw trash bag system. Gray took questions for about 45 minutes on budget tiers of 6, 7 and 8 percent, on the state requirement that districts serve three- and four-year-olds in special education by July 2028, and on three scenarios for using buildings differently. The board then opened an extended public comment period on trash, in which residents questioned the cost of bags, the loss of trash tags, enforcement, winter pickup and whether the new expense amounted to double taxation. The board voted to adopt the bag system at $1.80 for a 13-gallon bag and $3 for a 33-gallon bag beginning August 1, and to stop requiring trash tags effective March 10, leaving about five months in which neither tags nor bags are required. The meeting closed with a first read of the draft capital improvement plan and FY2027 budget, and the discussion of appointing elected members to committees was tabled to the next meeting.

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. 2:57
   Call to order, agenda change and minutes

   The chair called the meeting to order at 6:30 with a quorum and said vice chair Josh Klein Golden would arrive late. The board moved the RSU5 superintendent discussion to the first item after the minutes. No one spoke during general public comment, and the previous meeting minutes were approved.

2. 8:14
   RSU5 budget tiers

   Tom Gray (?) said a status quo budget for next year would be an increase of over 10 percent, and that holding the increase to recent years' levels would require cutting almost $2 million, about 17 teaching positions. He said the RSU5 board asked him for options at 6, 7 and 8 percent, that about 85 percent of the district budget is wages and benefits, and that he recommends the 7 percent tier. The RSU5 board is due to adopt a budget on March 25.

3. 13:22
   District reconfiguration scenarios

   Gray (?) described three scenarios he presented to the RSU5 board on February 11: keep buildings as they are; turn Powell into a district-wide early childhood center, moving Powell K-6 to Durham, Durham grades 7 and 8 to Freeport Middle School, and Freeport sixth graders back to Mast Landing; or bring all district sixth graders together at Powell. He said the current setup gives Durham middle school students less access to STEM and world language and a schedule that conflicts with sports.

4. 19:05
   Early childhood mandate and enrollment numbers

   Gray (?) said a state law shifts responsibility for special education for three- and four-year-olds from Child Development Services to school districts by July 2028, and that RSU5 chose to start early, taking four-year-olds next year and three-year-olds the year after. He said the district anticipates 128 pre-K students next year, 25 of them with IEPs, and that there is no space for the three-year-olds. He also said hiring speech language pathologists and other specialists is difficult and waiting a year would mean other districts hire them first.

5. 29:27
   Facility study

   Gray (?) said the RSU5 board authorized spending up to $100,000 on a facility study paid from capital reserve, with a draft request for proposals going to the facilities committee the following evening. He said the study would cover transportation, demographics, renovation needs and building systems, would be kept broad rather than pointing at a predetermined outcome, and is not expected to be finished until December of next year.

6. 39:38
   Administration and where school cuts would fall

   Asked whether administrative positions are on the table, Gray (?) said the district's ratios are typical and the central office is small. He said the reductions in his proposal are mostly at Freeport Middle School and Freeport High School, including a math teacher, one of two Latin teachers, a printing clerk position and reducing a community outreach position to half time. He said elementary schools in Freeport and Durham have taken cuts in recent years.

7. 45:13
   Pay as you throw: background

   The chair opened old business by explaining that the town's trash contract went out to bid and Casella was the only bidder, and that the contract includes a switch partway through to automated pickup with a mechanical arm. Because no one will be pulling trash tags off bags any more, the board has been considering a pay-as-you-throw bag system to replace the tags.

8. 50:32
   Bag proposal economics

   The chair said trash tags generate about $30,000 a year and the new trash contract is an increase of over $80,000, rising each year by 5 percent or the consumer price index, whichever is higher. Bags priced at $1.80 were estimated to bring in about $120,000, and he said dropping the bags and raising that $120,000 in taxes instead would be about a 1 percent increase in the total budget.

9. 55:33
   Bag supplier, sizes and single bidder

   The board said Waste Zero, which works with about 300 municipalities, would supply 13-gallon and 33-gallon bags through supermarkets such as Hannaford, Shaw's and Market Basket at no storage fee. Asked whether a single bidder is normal, the board said the request for proposals ran about three weeks and that the previous round drew two bids, one from a company without the trucks or staff to do the work. Rebecca (?) said Casella bins, one for trash and one for recycling, will be delivered to every household the week of April 6.

10. 1:00:38
    How the trash contract is structured

    The board explained the contract has a service component and a tipping fee charged by the ton, so total cost rises with tonnage. Figures quoted for the tonnage were inconsistent during the exchange, with the solid waste budget given as $521,000 and roughly $80,000 attributed to service. The board said Waste Zero reports about a 30 percent reduction in tonnage in the first couple of years in towns that switch.

11. 1:10:54
    Double taxation objection and equity

    Several residents argued that the trash contract is already paid through property taxes and that charging for bags is a second charge for something already bought. Board members said the 26 free tags are themselves a cost carried by the tax base and that a usage-based charge spreads the expense according to how much trash each household produces. The chair asked for calm after the exchange became heated.

12. 1:16:05
    Bins, winter pickup and roads

    A resident on Pound Road (?) said elderly neighbors already carry bags to the end of the road in winter and asked what happens with a wheeled bin. The board said the standard bin is 65 gallons, that Casella will provide a smaller bin on request, and that Casella drove the routes and will contact households whose pickup is changing. The board said bins will now be allowed on either side of Routes 125, 136 and 9.

13. 1:21:25
    Requests for free bags or credit, and storage

    Residents asked that the town hand out a set number of bags as it does tags, or trade tags for bags. The board said printing 26 tags per household costs about $3,000, while buying 26 bags for roughly 1,600 households would cost about $70,000 in bag cost and lost revenue, and that there is no space at the town office to store roughly 30,000 bags. The board also said Freeport and Brunswick transfer stations were considered but would carry their own disposal charges.

14. 1:37:27
    Enforcement and compliance

    The board said Durham would have its own bag color, that drivers sticker and then skip bins that are out of compliance, and that Waste Zero does spot checks by following the truck as part of its contract. An artificial intelligence camera system used by some towns costs about $20,000 a year, which the board said it wants to avoid.

15. 1:47:36
    How bag revenue affects the tax rate

    In response to a question about where the money goes, the board explained that all revenue goes into one fund and is subtracted from expenses before the mill rate is set. The board said the 26 free tags represent an opportunity cost of about $128,700 across roughly 1,650 households, about $78 per house.

16. 2:14:25
    Final resident comments on pay as you throw

    The chair took a last round of comment. Most speakers who declared a position supported the bag system, several asking for a grace period or credit for tags already bought, while one resident predicted people would burn or dump trash to avoid the cost and another said neighbors already share a private dumpster.

17. 2:29:49
    Board vote on pay as you throw

    After extending the meeting to 9:45, the chair moved to adopt the bag system at $1.80 and $3 with a start date of August 1 and to stop trash tags immediately, describing the gap as credit for tags residents already hold. One board member said starting in August rather than with the fiscal year on July 1 costs the town roughly $10,000 to $12,000 in revenue but did not press the point. A suggestion to sell advertising space on the bags was raised for later study.

18. 2:40:23
    Capital improvement plan first read

    The town manager, Jerry Douglas (?), walked the board through the capital plan, which now includes public works infrastructure projects and tandem axle plow trucks spread over three years. Proposed reserve transfers total $395,000, including $250,000 for public works, $5,000 for buildings and $140,000 for fire. The fire chief said pushing the ambulance purchase out a year after the UTV purchase saved $40,000 a year in capital.

19. 2:50:43
    First (?) read of the FY2027 budget

    The town manager said wages and health insurance drove increases, with health insurance up 9 percent, public works wages up about 35 percent after nine months without a full crew, and county tax up 12.6 percent. Education is budgeted at a 7 percent increase pending the RSU5 board's decision. He also reported the code enforcement officer resigned and that Calvin Bulmier (?), a certified code officer, will take that role, with a new administrative assistant split between codes, public works and the town office.

20. 3:06:24
    Bulky waste and budget summary

    The town manager said he removed bulky waste, about $18,000, from the draft because only 270 residents used it last year while everyone pays for it. Katherine Curtis (?) of the solid waste committee asked the board to put it back, saying the committee is working to reduce tonnage. The summary shows total funding requirements up 11.5 percent, funding sources up 15.3 percent and the tax levy up 10.9 percent, with $100,000 equal to about 1 percent and $4,000 equal to about one cent on the mill rate.

21. 3:16:42
    Committee appointments tabled, reports and wrap-up

    The discussion of appointing elected members to committees was tabled to the next meeting and will be taken up before the budget. Board members reported on a GPCOG meeting and an open space committee meeting, the consent agenda was approved, and upcoming meetings were listed: the RSU5 board on March 11, a public hearing on proposed land use ordinance changes March 18, the Select Board March 24, and the budget committee March 30.

What was decided

• 2:57
  Move the RSU5 superintendent discussion to the first order of business after the minutes; moved by Rebecca, seconded by Johnpassed
• 2:57
  Approve the previous meeting minutes as presented; moved by Deb, seconded by Johnpassed
• 2:29:49
  Extend the meeting past its usual 9:00 end to 9:45passed
• 2:29:49
  Adopt the pay-as-you-throw bag system at $1.80 for the 13-gallon bag and $3 for the 33-gallon bag beginning August 1, and discontinue trash tags effective March 10passed
• 2:35:12
  Take the first read of the budget ahead of the discussion on appointing elected members to committees, because paid staff were presentpassed
• 3:16:42
  Table the discussion of appointing elected members to committees until the next meeting; moved by Rebecca, seconded by Joshtabled
• 3:16:42
  Approve the consent agenda; moved by Josh, seconded by Johnpassed

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

• 8:14
  A status quo RSU5 budget would be an increase of over 10 percent; holding it to recent years' levels would mean cutting almost $2 million, about 17 positions. The RSU5 board adopts its budget March 25.
• 50:32
  The new trash contract is an increase of over $80,000 and trash tags brought in about $30,000 a year. Bags at $1.80 were estimated to raise about $120,000; without them the town would have to raise that amount in taxes, about 1 percent of the budget.
• 55:33
  Casella trash and recycling bins are to be delivered to every household the week of April 6, and households whose pickup location changes are to be contacted by mail.
• 3:06:24
  The draft budget removes bulky waste, about $18,000, which 270 residents used last year. As drafted, total funding requirements are up 11.5 percent and the tax levy up 10.9 percent.

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 7 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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