Select Board Meeting ~ May 9, 2023

2023-05-09 · Select Board · 1:12:06 · watch on YouTube →

Select Board meeting of May 9, 2023, with all five members present. The board named GPCOG delegates ahead of that body's May 25 meeting and authorised the fire chief and town manager to draw up to $9,999 from the fire department's capital reserve to cover the shortfall on a rapid response vehicle after only one of five bid packets came back. Most of the meeting was taken up by two discussions: how an individual board member gets a policy item onto the agenda and whether the board can set priorities for the planning board, and the fact that a committee the board voted in 2021 to form on the future of the Old Town Hall and Union Church was never actually formed. The town manager said he, Lois Kilby-Chesley (?), George and the code enforcement officer would meet on the 16th to work out how to stand that committee up and advertise for members. The board approved the consent agenda and adjourned at 7:42pm.

What was discussed

1. 0:01
   Opening and public comment

   Joe Tomm opened the May 9 meeting with a full quorum and no amendments to the agenda. Lois Kilby-Chesley (?) of Runaround Pond Road (?) said the Historic District Commission had asked her to attend board meetings so the two bodies share information on historic resources, and noted that the town's email address bounces from cell phones because of the dash in it. A second resident, Stephen, introduced himself as having lived in town two and a half years and offered to help organise at the Historical Society.

2. 5:18
   GPCOG delegates

   GPCOG wanted names for its May 25 meeting. Members discussed why Durham belongs to the Greater Portland council rather than the Androscoggin one, and were told that grant money is open to members regardless of county, that Durham has had grant money from GPCOG, and that the town also uses it as a buying co-op for salt and fuel. Members noted the delegate role is essentially a once-a-year meeting.

3. 11:11
   Fire department rapid response vehicle bid results

   The fire chief reported that of at least five bid packets sent out only one came back, for a Ford F-350 with a utility body located in Wisconsin, and that the price is above the amount the town approved because automotive quotes hold for seven days rather than the seven months since the figures were set. He said the fire department's apparatus capital reserve holds $128,601, that the shortfall would leave about $121,000, and that the back of the truck could later be converted to a brush truck. Members confirmed that anything over $5,000 goes to RFP and that the board can authorise up to $10,000 out of an already approved capital account without returning to town meeting.

4. 16:41
   Recusal and conflict of interest

   Joseph Roy recused himself on the vehicle vote as a member of the fire department. Other members said they thought he was entitled to vote because he gained nothing personally, and one said he did not want the board ever to be in a position where anyone could accuse a member of self-dealing. Members noted this is a new board with a learning curve of five or six months.

5. 16:41
   How items get onto the select board agenda

   The board spent roughly half an hour on how a member gets a topic onto the agenda and whether the board should direct the planning board's work. One member, addressed as Joe, argued that as elected officials the board should be able to raise policy issues such as a solar ordinance rather than waiting reactively for residents or an unelected planning board to raise them. Others argued that requests should come from the public and that the board should not appear to be driving an item; Jerry Douglass said the practical problem is how to prioritise if several members and several committees each submit items in the same week.

6. 33:13
   Where the discussion landed

   Members agreed that any board member may email the town manager to ask for an item, that the town manager prioritises and schedules it, and that the member who asks for an item is responsible for explaining why. Richard George suggested a less formal workshop session to lay out everything on everyone's plate and build a road map of ongoing and new projects. Examples (?) raised included a solar ordinance, the trash contract, and a resident who has come repeatedly about a fireworks ordinance and been bumped behind resource protection work.

7. 44:39
   Old Town Hall and Union Church committee never formed

   Jerry Douglass reported that a committee the board voted to create in 2021 to look at the Old Town Hall and Union Church was never formed. He said he would meet on the 16th with Lois Kilby-Chesley (?), George and the code enforcement officer to work out how to stand it up and then advertise for members. Lois Kilby-Chesley (?) said the Historic District Commission has asked various people through staff turnover when it would start and has been put off each time, most recently until after this year's town meeting.

8. 49:57
   What the committee would be asked to do

   Members said the committee should produce a holistic plan for the Union Church rather than more piecemeal repair, answering what the building is for before money is spent on it. They distinguished between emergency work needed to keep the building standing, which is the town manager's and Calvin's responsibility now, and the long-range question of use, ADA compliance, power and heat. One member asked to sit on the committee as a non-voting ex officio member.

9. 55:35
   Reports from committees and the condition of the Union Church

   A member asked that all boards and committees send an update roughly every six weeks, in email form if necessary, because attending several evening meetings a week is not possible. On the building itself, members said the sill has a hole you can put an arm into and that the foundation shoring, walkway and stairway repairs do not meet Department of the Interior standards for a building on the National Register. Lois Kilby-Chesley (?) said Christopher Claus (?), then of Maine Preservation in Yarmouth, did a full evaluation of the Union Church in 2015 and of the Western Methodist Church in 2017, and that the Maine Preservation Commission in Augusta has also looked at the buildings.

10. 1:00:40
    Getting a repair plan in front of voters

    Members said the town needs to get out of the Band-Aid business: identify the historic content of the building, formulate a plan and the repairs required, price it, and present that to the town rather than improvising at town meeting as happened last time. A member said the plan would justify whatever the figure turns out to be by showing what the community gets for it. Work from the committee would then be considered for capital improvement through the town manager.

11. 1:05:55
    Consent agenda and meeting logistics

    A member asked when to raise a correction to draft minutes and was told to reply by email before the meeting, or raise it at the meeting so the board can act on it. The consent agenda was approved with one member recusing herself because she had not attended the previous meeting. Upcoming meetings were listed as a select board meeting on May 23 at 6:00 at the public works department; the board also discussed, without voting, stopping paper packets, with members saying they would bring laptops.

12. 1:11:09
    Adjournment

    The board adjourned at 7:42pm. The recording continues briefly with off-agenda conversation.

What was decided

• 5:18
  Nominate Joe Roy and Joe Tomm as GPCOG delegates and Heather Roy as alternate, moved by Josh Klein-Goldenpassed
• 11:11
  Authorise Chief Tripp and the town manager to transfer up to $9,999 from the fire department capital reserve for the purchase and outfitting of the rapid response vehicle, moved by Josh Klein-Golden and seconded by Richard George; the minutes record it carried 4-1-0 and on the recording Joseph Roy recused himself as a member of the fire departmentpassed
• 1:05:55
  Approve the consent agenda as presented, moved by Josh Klein-Golden and seconded by Heather Roy; the chair on the recording called it four to nothing with one recusal, while the minutes record 4-1-0passed
• 1:11:09
  Adjourn the meeting at 7:42pm, moved by Josh Klein-Golden and seconded by Richard Georgepassed

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 sbmeetingminutes_05_09_23.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.

• nominate Joe Roy and Joe Tomm as Delegates and Heather Roy as ancarried 5-0

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, no seconder recorded

• authorize the Chief Tripp and the Town Manager to transfer up to $9,999 from the Fire Department Capital Reserves to complete the purchase and the outfitting of the vehiclecarried 4-1-0

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George

• approve the consent agenda as presentedcarried 4-1-0

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Heather Roy

• adjourn the meeting at 7:42pmcarried 5-0

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George

Worth knowing

• 11:11
  Only one of at least five bid packets for the fire department's rapid response vehicle came back, and the price had gone above what the town approved because quotes in the vehicle trade hold for seven days, not the seven months since the figures were set. The fire department's apparatus capital reserve holds $128,601. The shortfall is given on the recording as $7,214 in one place and 2,214 in another, so the exact figure cannot be stated; the board authorised up to $9,999 to cover it.
• 44:39
  A committee the board voted in 2021 to create, to decide the future of the Old Town Hall and Union Church, was never formed. The Historic District Commission said it has asked repeatedly through several staff turnovers and been put off each time, most recently until after this year's town meeting.
• 55:35
  The Union Church sill has a hole in it large enough to put an arm into, and members said the foundation shoring, walkway and stairway repairs already done do not meet Department of the Interior standards for a building on the National Register. The last full professional evaluation was in 2015.
• 16:41
  The board disagreed at length over whether a select board member may put a policy topic such as a solar ordinance on the agenda and ask the planning board to work on it, or whether such items must come from residents. It ended with agreement that any member may email the town manager, who prioritises, and that the member raising an item must explain why.

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 4 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

← 2023-04-25 Select Board2023-05-23 Select Board →All meetings