Select Board Meeting ~ December 10, 2024

2024-12-10 · Select Board · 1:44:24 · watch on YouTube →

Regular Select Board meeting held December 10, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. at the fire station. The board reviewed the Solid Waste Committee's charter and bylaws, decided that public education about the coming automated trash collection is the board's job rather than the committee's, and withdrew a motion to approve the bylaws pending guidance on whether the board is the body that approves them. It authorized replacing the seven-year-old town server with ARPA funds supplemented by the telecom reserve, which required a signature before December 31. Most of the meeting was a discussion with the Durham Historic District Commission about the scope, cost and timing of an architectural survey, with the board asking for a written proposal by mid-January so it can be considered in the 18-month budget. The manager report covered the Giving Tree, holiday closings, junkyard hearings and a required public hearing on increased general assistance maximums, and the meeting ended by moving into executive session on two personnel matters.

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. 3:04
   Call to order and agenda amendment

   The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. at the fire station with the Pledge of Allegiance. New business item 5, a Paid Family and Medical Leave Act update from Jerry, was moved to executive session because it concerns town policy related to personnel. No public comment was offered.

2. 3:04
   Solid Waste Committee charter and bylaws

   Deb, standing in for the committee chair and co-chair, read the committee's stated purpose: recommend strategies to reduce waste tonnage through recycling and composting, and compare long-term options: keeping the status quo with Casella, a town-owned transfer station, partnering with neighboring communities, town-run collection and hauling, or residents hiring their own service. She said the committee has five voting members and one alternate although the bylaws provide for two.

3. 8:32
   Who educates residents about the automated collection transition

   Deb (?) asked whether the Solid Waste Committee should handle communication about the switch to automated Casella collection, scheduled for July 2026. Board members said no, so the committee stays focused on the long-term options and is not made the target of frustration over a change the town has already committed to; the education work falls to the board. Jerry (?) noted that trash tags will no longer be used after the transition and that the lost tag revenue will have to be made up.

4. 13:39
   Motion on the charter, and whether the board approves committee bylaws

   Deb (?) moved to accept the charter as written; the motion was seconded. Discussion turned to whether the board should be voting on it at all, since the document says it may be amended by three-fifths of the committee. Josh (?) argued the committee should adopt its own bylaws while the board sets the purpose; others said board approval keeps a committee's bylaws in line with the task it was given.

5. 18:56
   Town server replacement

   The IT company recommended replacing the town server, which is about seven years old and running an operating system nearing end of support. Jerry (?) said he needed authorization to sign, that remaining ARPA funds would be returned to the federal government if not committed by December 31, and that the telecom reserve holds a little over $88,000.

6. 24:26
   Historic district commission: architectural survey scope and cost

   David, vice chair of the Durham Historic District Commission, sat in for Lois and gave a status update on the proposed architectural survey. He described a reconnaissance survey (exteriors only, photographed and documented, then entered in the state CARMA database) covering the whole town rather than just the historic district, using the 50-year industry standard. He put the cost at roughly $10,000 without grant funding; the transcript gives the number of properties 50 years or older as both 340 and 350.

7. 35:14
   Why the survey, and the 2018 comprehensive plan

   The board tied the request to the 2018 comprehensive plan, which identified the lack of historic and archaeological survey work as a gap in the town's planning tools. Discussion covered whether the scope is architectural only or also archaeological, and whether it includes barns, outbuildings, school houses, cattle pounds and markers.

8. 46:24
   GPCOG as a resource

   The comprehensive plan lists GPCOG, the Greater Portland Council of Governments, as the responsible party on all three related tasks, with timeframes of one to two years and three to five years from 2018. Board members noted the town already pays dues to GPCOG and that it has municipal staff experience, facilitation services and access to community grants. Jerry was to email GPCOG to connect it with the commission.

9. 51:43
   Grant funding for the survey

   David (?) said the state offers grants for this work, that applications are due around October and this year's deadline has passed, and that a grant could reduce a $10,000 project to roughly $3,000 for the town. The board said it would budget the full cost rather than assume a grant, with any award coming back to the town later.

10. 56:59
    Budget timeline and what the board wants in writing

    The board asked for a written proposal covering why, scope, geographic area, level of survey, timeline and cost, following the Maine Historic Preservation Commission's planning outline, by mid-January. Budget planning starts with department heads on December 17, the board frames a budget in January, hands it to the budget committee the first week of February, and the town votes in April. The commission was tentatively put on the agenda for the board's second January meeting.

11. 1:07:53
    Overlap with the town revaluation

    A board member asked whether the survey work could be folded into the town revaluation, since that contractor will photograph and record every building anyway. The catch is timing: revaluation data would not be available until 2027, so the choice may be paying about $10,000 now or a smaller amount two years later. Jerry was to ask the assessing company whether it will identify and pass on files for the 50-year-old properties, and at what cost.

12. 1:13:46
    Manager report: Giving Tree, holiday closings, Eureka doors

    Jerry (?) reported the Giving Tree in the town office has tags residents can take to buy gifts for local children, with gifts due back by the 16th and about a dozen tags left. The office closes 11:30 to 1:30 on Thursday the 19th for a staff holiday lunch, and doors for the Eureka building have been ordered and are expected in January.

13. 1:13:46
    Junkyard hearings

    The code enforcement officer, Allan (?), asked whether the board wants to hold junkyard hearings, which the ordinance permits but does not require; there are two junkyards in town. The transcript is contradictory about status, saying first that he has already renewed the permits and later that he has not approved them yet. The board agreed a hearing is worth doing but should come before approval, and asked that it be flagged on the calendar for next year.

14. 1:18:55
    General assistance maximums and public hearing notice

    DHHS has increased its general assistance maximums, and state law requires the town to hold a hearing on them; the town typically budgets about $600 for general assistance and receives state reimbursement. The board wanted the hearing on December 17 but concluded the seven-day public notice could not be met unless the notice went up immediately and the hearing started after 8:00 p.m.

15. 1:24:44
    Budget requests from committees

    A board member asked whether committees and boards had been invited to submit budget requests before budget season. After discussion of whether committees need their own printing and postage lines, the board settled on sending the capital improvement form to committee chairs and inviting them to the December 17 meeting if they have a financial request.

16. 1:29:44
    Board member report: agricultural committee onboarding

    A board member reported the agricultural committee members have been sent introductory email and are being set up with town email addresses through Devin (?), and that she would serve as liaison for the first couple of months. She planned to follow up next week to confirm members can log in, and to schedule the committee for a meeting early next year to discuss its charter and goals.

17. 1:35:31
    Budget outreach and town-owned land inventory

    The board discussed explaining the move to an 18-month fiscal year to residents; Jerry (?) said the town is already working with GPCOG on a brochure and a scripted video, with a target of end of January, and that a board member would appear in it. A board member also raised reviving the inventory of town-owned parcels started by the Conservation Commission years ago; Jerry (?) said it exists in a binder in the office and offered to copy or send it to the board.

18. 1:35:31
    Consent agenda

    The board took up the consent agenda. There were no questions on the motion.

19. 1:41:02
    Upcoming meetings and executive session

    Announced: a special planning board meeting December 11 at the fire station on land use policy with no public input, related to direction the planning board received after a moratorium (the transcript garbles which); a select board meeting December 17 that begins budget discussion, with the budget committee invited to attend but not to take part; town offices closed December 24 and 25; planning board January 8, 2025; and a historic district commission meeting on the 12th at 6:00. The board then moved into executive session on two personnel matters.

What was decided

• 18:56
  Motion by Deb, seconded, to accept the Solid Waste Committee charter as written; withdrawn during discussion. The board instead recorded its agreement with the content and left the question of whether the board or the committee approves the bylaws for guidance from the Maine Municipal Association or town counsel, with a vote possible at a later date.tabled
• 24:26
  Motion by Josh, seconded by Joe, to purchase the new town server as recommended using ARPA funds primarily and supplementing with the telecom budget line. The chair stated it passes unanimously.passed
• 1:24:44
  Board agreed not to hold the required public hearing on the increased DHHS general assistance maximums on December 17, because the seven-day notice could not be met, and to hold it on January 14 instead after checking whether an October deadline applies.tabled
• 1:35:31
  Motion to approve the consent agenda. The chair stated it passes unanimously.passed
• 1:41:02
  Motion by Josh to enter executive session at 8:11 p.m. under 1 M.R.S.A. 405(6)(A) for two personnel matters. The transcript is contradictory about who seconded, naming first Deb and then Joe, and does not state the result plainly.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

• 8:32
  The switch to automated Casella collection is scheduled for July 2026. Trash tags will no longer be used after that, and Jerry (?) said the revenue they generate will have to be replaced.
• 18:56
  The town's telecom reserve holds a little over $88,000, and Jerry (?) said the remaining ARPA money would go back to the federal government if nothing was signed before December 31.
• 51:43
  The architectural survey was put at roughly $10,000 without grants. A state grant could cut the town's share to about $3,000, but applications are due around October and this year's deadline has passed.
• 56:59
  The historic district commission has until mid-January to get its written proposal to the board. Josh (?) said he would support the budget line, but not if the information had not arrived by the board's vote on its recommended budget at the end of January.

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: 2 passages of motion language, against 5 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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