Select Board Meeting ~ November 29, 2016

2016-11-29 · Select Board · 14:17 · watch on YouTube →

A short Select Board meeting on 29 November 2016 with three of the five selectmen present. Chairman Jeffrey Wakeman was present but unwell and handed the gavel to the Vice Chairman, Sarah Hall (?), to run the meeting. Because only three members were seated, the board noted that a two-to-one split would not carry and that most business needed a majority of the full board, so it amended the agenda to take up only two items and tabled action items A through D to the next meeting. The board heard a public comment from a campground owner asking the town to convey a small triangle of land it turns out to still own, appointed Anita Sellars as an alternate to the Historic District Commission, and approved a $790 flooring bid for the fire station. Before the gavel, the board discussed fraudulent charges on a town credit card and the difficulty of getting the card replaced.

What was discussed

1. 0:01
   Fraudulent charges on the town credit card

   Before the meeting was called to order the board discussed a fraud on a town credit card: equipment was billed to the town but shipped somewhere in California, with power washers turned in and a washing machine obtained. Home Depot was said to be aware of it, the card was cancelled, and a replacement was being issued.

2. 0:01
   Difficulty obtaining a replacement town credit card

   Ruth Glaeser described what a new card required: the last two years of audit and an up-to-date financial statement. "It's very hard to get a credit card. Who knew?"

3. 0:01
   Plan to amend the agenda and table most business

   The board agreed in advance to amend the action and discussion section to add the appointment of Anita Sellars as an alternate to the Historic District Commission and the fire station flooring proposal, and to table essentially everything else. Department heads had been excused for the evening.

4. 0:01
   Quorum and the majority required to act

   With three of five selectmen seated, the board confirmed that a two-to-one vote would not pass; anything acted on needed a majority of the full board, so all three present had to agree.

5. 0:01
   Request to revisit some appraisals

   A selectman said he would like to revisit a couple of the town's appraisals at a future meeting, saying he wanted to be sure the board had been fair. No date was set and it was noted this would not happen in the next couple of meetings.

6. 0:01
   Call to order and Pledge of Allegiance

   The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. The board noted three of the five members were present and rose for the Pledge of Allegiance.

7. 5:14
   Amendments to the agenda

   The chair stated the amendments: an item E to appoint Anita Sellars as an alternate member of the Historic District Commission and an item F to review the flooring bid for the fire station. Public comment was taken before the vote on the agenda.

8. 5:14
   Public comment: request to acquire a triangle of town land

   Kenneth Huot asked whether the town would convey a small triangular parcel bordering his property, a little under an eighth of an acre that was once an old schoolhouse lot. He said the parcel blocks a couple of campsites because of setback distances, describing being 57 feet from it where 100 feet is required.

9. 5:14
   Deed research on the schoolhouse parcel

   He said he had researched the parcel at the registry of deeds and found a deed dated 16 October 1881 showing the school district as owner, and that the purchase price was around $9. The board noted the search had to go through Cumberland County because Androscoggin County was not formed until later, and that nobody at the town had realised it still owned the piece until he raised it.

10. 5:14
    Whether the deed restricts the land to school use

    The board wanted to check state law on property given for school purposes, saying there used to be odd laws about that type of land. The prior owner's family was said to have understood the lot would revert to the main parcel once it ceased to be a school, but the deed contains no such reverter language.

11. 10:36
    Conditions and process for any transfer

    The board said it generally had no objection but needed to complete the research and comply with municipal law, which would take some time. Any expense of transferring the parcel would be borne by the applicant, and the work would be routed through Paul Baines and Ruth Glaeser, starting Thursday.

12. 10:36
    Condition of the parcel

    Asked what was on the land, the applicant described old dirt piles, debris and barbed wire strung tree to tree that would have to be cleared. The deed apparently required a workable fence around the area when it was a school lot, which would no longer apply after transfer.

13. 10:36
    Consent agenda and tabling of action items A through D

    The board approved the agenda and the chair stated the understanding that action items A through D were tabled until the next meeting.

14. 10:36
    Appointment to the Historic District Commission

    Anita Sellars was described as already volunteering to assist with the commission's photo survey project, and a request had been made to vote her in as an alternate member.

15. 10:36
    Fire station meeting room flooring bid

    The fire chief submitted a bid for tile installation as part of the repair of the meeting room at the fire station and asked the board to vote on it formally. There was some discussion beforehand about whether the flooring had already been approved along with the concrete work; the chief did not think it had, and the amount remained under his capital allowance.

16. 10:36
    Reports tabled

    Department and committee reports were tabled for the evening. A written report was received from the fire chief.

17. 10:36
    Next meeting dates and adjournment

    The next meetings were set for Tuesday 13 December 2016 and Tuesday 27 December 2016, both at 6:30 p.m., and the board adjourned.

What was decided

• 10:36
  Approve the consent agenda as presented, as amended to add the appointment of Anita Sellars and the fire station flooring bid. The minutes record the motion by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake, carried 3-0.passed
• 10:36
  Action items A through D held over to the next meeting. The chair stated this as the board's understanding rather than putting it to a separate recorded vote.tabled
• 10:36
  Appoint Anita Sellars as an alternate member of the Historic District Commission. The minutes record the motion by Mark Blake, seconded by Jeffrey Wakeman, carried 3-0.passed
• 10:36
  Accept the tile bid for the fire station meeting room in the amount of $790 as submitted, from Mike's Flooring. The minutes record the motion by Mark Blake, seconded by Jeffrey Wakeman, carried 3-0.passed
• 10:36
  Adjourn. The minutes record the motion by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake, and that it carried.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_11-29-20161.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 3-0

  Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake

• Appoint Anita Sellars as an Alternate member to the Historic District Commissioncarried 3-0

  Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Jeffrey Wakeman

• Approve Mike's Flooring proposal of $790.00 as submittedcarried 3-0

  Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Jeffrey Wakeman

• Adjourn at 6:42 p.mcarried 5-0

  Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake

Worth knowing

• 0:01
  A town credit card was used fraudulently, with equipment billed to Durham but sent to California. The card was cancelled; getting a replacement required the last two years of audit and an up-to-date financial statement.
• 0:01
  With only three of five selectmen present, a two-to-one vote would not carry. Anything decided needed all three to agree, which is why most of the agenda was tabled.
• 5:14
  The town did not know it still owned the small schoolhouse parcel until the abutting campground owner researched the 1881 deed himself at the registry of deeds.
• 10:36
  The fire station meeting room tile bid was $790, and the board had to work out whether it had already been approved as part of the earlier concrete work.

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: 1 passage of motion language, against 5 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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