Select Board Meeting ~ February 27, 2024

2024-02-27 · Select Board · 2:22:19 · watch on YouTube →

The Durham Select Board met on February 27, 2024 to settle the Union Church question and to review the draft 2024 town warrant before it goes to the printer. A resident, Ryan McGee, opened with a request that the board look into contracting an Androscoggin County deputy assigned to Durham; the chair said the board would take it up at a future meeting. The board voted that the transfer of the Union Church to the Durham Historical Society, together with appropriated funds toward certain expenses, meets a public purpose, and accepted the two related warrant articles. The town manager reported the county tax bill came in above what was budgeted, and the board voted to use $668,000 of fund balance and lower the Solid Waste line to $389,000 to hold the property tax levy flat. Most of the evening went to the warrant: the board added an article allowing transfers between warrant-article budgets, amended Article 23 on spending from capital reserves, and dropped several articles, then accepted the draft warrant with the night's edits and adjourned at 8:45 pm.

What was discussed

1. 6:00
   Call to order and agenda amendment

   The chair called the meeting to order with a full quorum and led the pledge. The agenda was amended to add several budget items ahead of the warrant article review.

2. 6:00
   Public comment on police coverage

   Ryan McGee, a resident of over 20 years and a police officer in another community, asked the board to authorize the town manager to look into contracting Androscoggin County deputies assigned to Durham and not leaving town borders, as he said is done in Poland. He said the town pays for county services that include rural patrol rather than dedicated police coverage, listed Maine towns with smaller populations that have police departments, and said federal COPS grant funding exists. The chair said questions are not taken during public comment and that the board would put the subject on a future agenda.

3. 11:22
   Union Church transfer and public purpose

   The board returned to the Union Church, having received a letter from the town attorney stating that use of public funds must be for a public purpose and that it is for the Select Board to make that determination. Members cited a letter from the town planner, referred to as George, listing four possible public purposes, and the package submitted earlier by the chair of the Durham Historical Society. Heather Roy raised the draft article's wording that all expenditures would be approved by the Select Board, saying it leaves the Historical Society coming back to the board for money.

4. 27:58
   County tax bill and use of fund balance

   Jerry Douglass reported the county tax figure arrived that week at $742,140 against $698,000 estimated in the budget book. To hold the property tax levy at 0 percent, the town would use $673,000 of fund balance with the Solid Waste line at $394,000, or $668,000 with Solid Waste at $389,000, against the $633,475 previously planned. The recording gives conflicting figures for the size of the increase and the stated percentage is garbled; members spent some time reconciling them, and Marc Roy noted the levy is an estimate and that the mill rate depends on the April 1 valuation.

5. 38:28
   Workers' compensation audit and contingency funding

   Jerry Douglass reported a workers' compensation audit for 2023 leaving the town owing $5,997, plus a roughly $1,000 insurance deductible from damage to a fire truck, with no budget line to pay either. He offered two sample warrant articles from other towns: one allowing a percentage transfer between warrant-article budgets and one appropriating $25,000 for unforeseen expenditures. Josh Klein-Golden (?) favored a small contingency pool; Richard George (?) opposed appropriating additional money and preferred the transfer article; Marc Roy said the amount is immaterial, could be absorbed in either fiscal year, and advised against asking the town for a contingency that would likely be voted down.

6. 1:14:43
   Warrant format and article review

   Jerry Douglass presented two versions of the warrant, the traditional line-by-line layout and a new one grouped by budget category, and the board agreed to use the category version to match how the budget was built. Article 5, an overspent article carried from 2022, was left in on the advice of MMA attorneys for transparency; the overspend arose from grant matching money that did not come back.

7. 1:19:51
   Article 23, spending from capital reserves

   Article 23 would authorize the Select Board to spend from the town's capital reserve accounts as it deems necessary, tied to flat funding and the ten-year replacement plan. Members objected that the wording was open-ended, and discussed capping it, tying it to the ten-year plan, or requiring the town manager's request. The board also agreed the replacement schedules and an explanation of flat funding should be posted on the town website ahead of town meeting and presented at the meeting itself.

8. 1:47:47
   Article 24, property tax levy limit

   Marc Roy explained that the statutory property tax levy limit compounds from the prior year's limit rather than the prior year's actual levy, so towns are now far below it; he cited Franklin County, which he calculated could have raised 83 percent more than the prior year. He said the $1.8 million figure in the article is not calculated as the statute requires and that the article serves no purpose. The board agreed to take Article 24 out without taking a vote, noting it was also skipped last year.

9. 1:52:57
   Budget committee article and other corrections

   The article to reduce the budget committee from nine members was removed, since three candidates are running for the three open seats and the committee will be full. Article 28 on the overlay was removed after Marc Roy said the Select Board already has that authority under state statute. A year on the front page was corrected to 2023, and the board checked that the interest rate articles reference the maximum rate allowed by state law.

10. 2:03:53
    Fiscal year change and revaluation

    Jerry Douglass asked to pull the article on changing the fiscal year, saying he and Donna (?) do not want a revaluation and a fiscal year change happening at the same time. The revaluation is not expected to be complete until 2027, putting any fiscal year switch at 2028 at the earliest. Heather Roy argued town meeting is the best chance to survey residents and publicise informational sessions, but agreed to hold it as a stated goal instead.

11. 2:09:03
    Revaluation bids and ordinance articles

    Of seven firms approached for the revaluation, one declined and two bid with a 2027 completion date, so the bid was resent to the other four with a 2027 date rather than 2026. The board then reviewed the land use ordinance articles supplied by the town planner, covering accessory structures and lot sizes and the amendments codifying certain permitting fees, and confirmed the earlier change from setting fees periodically to annually is in the draft amendment document the article references rather than in the article text.

12. 2:14:12
    Warrant vote, manager report and consent agenda

    The warrant has to go to the printer on Friday, and the budget committee will need to meet again, possibly by email, to update its use of fund balance for the new county tax figure. The board agreed to place the budget articles before the ordinance articles at town meeting, noting last year's ordinance articles ran from 9 until 1. Jerry Douglass reported he has moved into the boardroom and Jessica is moving into his former office.

13. 2:19:44
    Committee appointments and upcoming meetings

    Appointments to the Durham scholarship committee and of a deputy warden and election warden were handled in the consent agenda, with thanks to the volunteers. Upcoming meetings named were a Select Board workshop on March 5, regular business on March 12, and fire station planning on March 6. No executive session was held.

What was decided

• 22:09
  That the transfer of the Union Church to the Durham Historical Society, and the appropriated funds to help with certain expenses, meet a public purpose (moved by Joe Roy, seconded by Heather Roy; the minutes record 5-0)passed
• 22:09
  Accept the two Union Church warrant articles as written (moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George; the minutes record 5-0)passed
• 38:28
  Use $668,000 of the fund balance toward the 2024 budget and lower the Solid Waste line to $389,000, matching the budget committee's number and holding the property tax levy at 0 percent (moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Joe Roy; the minutes record 5-0)passed
• 1:09:24
  Add the first article example on the Select Board notes to the 2024 warrant, allowing up to 5 percent of one warrant-article budget to be moved to another (moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Josh Klein-Golden; the minutes record 5-0)passed
• 1:36:43
  Motion to include Article 23 with the edit adding "upon the request of the Town Manager" after the words appropriate funds; the mover withdrew it in favour of an amendment motionoutcome unclear
• 1:41:50
  Amend Article 23 to read that the town will authorize the Select Board to appropriate funds upon request from the town manager from the town's reserves as they deem necessary for expenditures in accordance with the purpose of the reserves (moved by Joe Roy, seconded by Heather Roy; carried unanimously)passed
• 2:14:12
  Accept the draft 2024 Durham Town Warrant with the edits made tonight (moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Joe Roy; the minutes record 5-0)passed
• 2:14:12
  Accept the consent agenda as presented, including the committee appointments (moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Joe Roy; the minutes record 5-0)passed
• 2:19:44
  Adjourn the meeting at 8:45 pm (moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Joe Roy; the minutes record 5-0)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 sb_meeting_minutes_02_27_24.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.

• the transfer of the Union Church to the Historical Society and the appropriated funds to help with certain expenses meets the criteria for public purposecarried 5-0

  Moved by Joe Roy, seconded by Heather Roy

• accept the two (2) warrant articles as writtencarried 5-0

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George

• the town use $668,000 of the fund balance towards the 2024 budget and lower the Solid Waste line to $389,000carried 5-0

  Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Joe Roy

• add the first article example on the Select Board Notes to the 2024 Warrant Articlecarried 5-0

  Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Josh Klein-Golden

• Article 23 with the proposed edit “to include upon the request of the Town Manager” after the word’s appropriate funds, be included in the 2024 Warrant Articles

  Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Josh Klein-Golden; no outcome recorded

• Amend Article 23 to state “to see if the town will authorize the Select Board to appropriate funds upon requests from the town manager from the town reserves as they deem necessary for expenditures in accordance with the…carried 5-0

  Moved by Joe Roy, seconded by Heather Roy

• accept the Draft 2024 Durham Town Warrant with the edits made tonightcarried 5-0

  Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Joe Roy

• accept the consent agenda as presentedcarried 5-0

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Joe Roy

• adjourn the meeting at 8:45 pmcarried 5-0

  Moved by Heather Roy, seconded by Joe Roy

Worth knowing

• 6:00
  Ryan McGee (?) said he requested the Sheriff's Office calls for service for Durham: about 1,000 calls in 2023, of which 132 were motor vehicle stops, for a town of 4,173 residents by the 2020 census. He said Durham is the furthest south town in the county, that deputies drive through several towns with their own police to get here, and that he has heard the fire chief ask for police assistance on the radio and be told none was available.
• 27:58
  The county tax came in at $742,140 against $698,000 estimated in the budget book. The recording gives conflicting accounts of the increase, variously about $30,000, $44,000, $50,000 and $67,000, and the prior year figure and percentage are garbled; to hold the levy flat the board raised planned use of fund balance from $633,475 to $668,000.
• 48:46
  The town owes $5,997 from the 2023 workers' compensation audit plus about a $1,000 deductible on a damaged fire truck, roughly $7,000 unbudgeted with the year only two months old and no budget line to pay it. Members noted a contingency or discretionary fund has been proposed to the town before and was voted down, and Jerry Douglass warned that overspending and asking the town afterward can, under the MMA manual, expose the board personally if the town refuses.
• 2:14:12
  The warrant must go to the printer on Friday, and the budget committee will have to meet again before then to update its use of fund balance for the new county tax figure. The board agreed to put the budget articles ahead of the ordinance articles at town meeting, noting last year's ordinance articles ran from 9 until 1.

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 9 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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