Select Board Meeting ~ February 21, 2017

2017-02-21 · Select Board · 1:51:05 · watch on YouTube →

A Select Board meeting dominated by the loss of the code enforcement officer and by working through the town meeting warrant article by article. Three members of the Historic District Commission came in to say what Paul Bean's resignation would cost the town and to ask the board to try to get him back, at least as a consultant on their photographic survey of pre-1900 buildings. The board formally acknowledged the resignation and appointed road commissioner Calvin Beaumier as interim codes official so inspections and open permits would not stall. Two members of the comprehensive plan committee ran the board through their visioning questions. The board then set its recommendations on most warrant articles, recommending Pine Tree Waste for the curbside waste contract, raising its town office renovation figure to match the budget committee, cutting the wash bay curtain out of the public works capital article, and failing on a tied vote to recommend the fire truck purchase.

What was discussed

1. 0:03
   Call to order and consent agenda

   The chair opened the meeting with all four selectmen present, led the pledge, and added a historic district commission item to the start of action and discussion items. There was no public comment. The consent agenda was moved, seconded and voted.

2. 0:03
   Historic District Commission on the loss of Paul Bean

   Mary Fallon, Anita Sellars and Candace deCsipkes came to say how much help the code enforcement officer Paul Bean had been to the historic district commission, the planning board and the comprehensive planning committee, and to ask whether the board could reach out to him. They described his combination of code enforcement, planning and historic architecture knowledge as unusual and hard to replace.

3. 0:03
   Photographic survey of historic structures

   The commission is photographing every structure in town built before 1900 to create an archive and educational material. Community volunteers have been trained and divided the work in half, then meet as a group to complete forms on the historic aspects of each building, with Paul Bean attending to supply the architectural knowledge. The commission asked to use the $500 training line in the 2017 budget to keep him working with the group.

4. 5:15
   Why the commission valued the position

   Members argued Durham is an unusual historic case, having grown quickly and then stopped, and that cataloguing the housing stock to a standard usable outside Durham needs the expertise they had. They also said Paul Bean had shown the committee how much building was happening and pushed them to think differently about zoning and the risk of building without a plan.

5. 5:15
   The board's answer on the resignation

   Board members said they shared the disappointment but that the town had not let him go, he resigned voluntarily and abruptly on his own account, so there was nothing to rescind. One member noted he did not even wait for town meeting to see through the request he had brought forward, and concluded the reasons must be personal. The board said it would have to discuss whether to reach out, and thought it unlikely he would return given how the resignation happened.

6. 10:59
   The gap that has to be filled

   The board acknowledged the town is at a point of transition with the comprehensive plan and needs to work out what the position should be, code enforcement, planner, or some combination, and write a job description for it. It also flagged shorter-term obligations to residents in the middle of building projects with open permits. Asked about the Maine Historic Preservation Commission as an alternative resource, the commission said its trainer already works with them but at more cost than using Paul Bean.

7. 16:12
   Comprehensive plan committee visioning

   Steven Seni (?) and Sarin Seni (?) introduced themselves and said they were going round as many groups as possible before town meeting to build a rough draft vision statement, asking three questions of each. They wrote down responses as the board answered.

8. 16:12
   What members like about Durham

   The answers were the rural nature of the town, and that it is rural yet convenient, about twenty minutes from services.

9. 21:14
   What Durham should be like in ten years

   One member said the town needs to expand its tax base or property taxes will keep rising, through a balance of controlled business and residential growth done in a way that does not end up looking like a highway strip. Another wanted a more defined town centre, recalling the fireman's musters, the fireworks behind the old school and Old Home Days, and argued a centre would help rebuild a sense of community across a town with a large land area and scattered clusters of people.

10. 21:14
    Growth pressure and doing it deliberately

    A member said growth is coming whether the town plans for it or not, and that without deliberate choices residents will wake up to a filling station on the corner because the money is there and nothing can stop it. The committee's answer was that the comprehensive plan is where the community makes those definitions clear, marking out business and rural districts.

11. 26:29
    Aging population and affordable housing

    Members raised the risk of pricing lifelong residents on fixed incomes out of the community as greater Portland, Lewiston and Augusta expand. The suggestion was to look at some higher-density housing and rentals so that not everything in town is a single family home on several acres, which was also tied to the fire chief's difficulty attracting young families who would volunteer.

12. 26:29
    Acting on the resignation

    The code enforcement officer's resignation was received on February 9. A member moved that the board regretfully acknowledge it, and it was seconded and voted.

13. 26:29
    Options for covering the position

    The board separated the short term from the long term. Short-term options were borrowing a code officer from a neighbouring town, with Brunswick, Pownal, North Yarmouth and Lisbon (?) mentioned, or using Calvin Beaumier, who is already a licensed code officer on the town payroll. Members were clear they did not want to load the work permanently onto the road commissioner.

14. 31:39
    The workload waiting

    There is a large subdivision coming on Swamp Road from Mike Cop (?), a subdivision application from Barry Baldwin, a good deal of land use work and four or five open building permits, with appeals board meetings and variances coming up. The estimate given was about one day a week for what is currently in hand, not counting what arrives. It was suggested Dennis, the code officer in Lisbon, might do interim work as he has Fridays off.

15. 31:39
    Timeline to fill the post

    The board expected four or five weeks to write the job description properly, then advertising and interviews, putting the total at three months and possibly more, perhaps three to six. Sarah Hall said she would like it filled faster than that given the spring and summer building season. A job description might be ready to vote on at the next meeting.

16. 37:16
    Code officer or town planner

    It was argued the two are different jobs, that a combined post would attract candidates wanting $65,000 to $75,000 with a four-year degree, and that development and community plans can be contracted out to AVCOG or GPCOG, who largely adapt work already done for similar towns. The counter-argument was that the state's own job description for a code enforcement officer touches all of those functions and that the officer is the liaison holding the boards together.

17. 37:16
    Why the comprehensive plan needs oversight

    The reason Durham's existing comprehensive plan was rejected by the state was that the town had no capacity in place to follow and monitor its implementation. An example was given of the city of Auburn proposing to close discontinued roads in direct conflict with its own plan, which state law forbids, and members noted Durham's ordinances have the same problem of one page contradicting another.

18. 42:16
    Interim appointment

    The board established that Calvin Beaumier could not legally do the work without being appointed, and moved to appoint him interim code enforcement officer while an interim or permanent replacement is sought.

19. 42:16
    Warrant walkthrough begins

    The board took the budget discussion and the warrant together, working down the articles. Articles one to three are formalities; Joshua Klein-Golden, a lawyer in town with a practice in Lisbon who observed last year's town meeting, is proposed for article one.

20. 42:16
    Article 4: curbside waste and recycling contract

    Two bids were received for the town's curbside waste and recycling contract, which would run from July 1 to June 30, 2020. Neither the board nor the budget committee had voted a recommendation.

21. 47:35
    Recommending a waste hauler

    A motion was made for the selectmen to recommend Pine Tree Waste. In discussion members asked that the article carry the price and contract terms, and that MMA be consulted on the wording, since it may need to be two articles voted up or down separately rather than one with an alternative. Both companies will be invited to town meeting, and whoever presents will explain the differences and the reason for the recommendation.

22. 47:35
    Article 5: administration, and the code books

    Administration was recommended at $351,047 by both the board and the budget committee. Members asked whether money was included for the code books, priced at around $3,000. The town ordinance requires three sets kept at the town office, though members noted the ordinance needs amending. Calvin Beaumier offered to drop off his own copies as a short-term fix, with one set bought this year and the rest next year.

23. 52:50
    Articles 6 and 7: town office capital projects

    The budget committee split the capital projects into renovation and a second article covering the roof, painting and heating. On renovations the budget committee recommended $30,000 against the selectmen's $20,000, its reasoning being that this is a designated building fund, so nothing extra is raised and anything unspent returns to the same fund. Members agreed $20,000 looked thin for a rehab.

24. 52:50
    Articles 8 to 13

    Animal control was corrected to $12,573.34, with the animal control officer's own proposed figure still unresolved though he continues to answer calls. Assessing was $20,150, cemeteries $4,200, and conservation $2,100 transferred from the recreation fund. On social and community service agencies at $3,000, the budget committee substituted Tri-County Mental Health for Androscoggin Hospice, which dropped its home care service suddenly in December; the board left the choice to town meeting. A typo in the Eureka Community Center article was noted, where 504 should read 540.

25. 58:05
    Articles 14 to 16: fire and rescue

    The fire and rescue operating budget was recommended at $321,680 all raised, the fire and rescue capital improvement account at $50,000, and the annual bond payment on the Quint ladder truck transferred from the capital improvement fund. The budget committee had agreed with the board on each.

26. 58:05
    Article 17: fire truck purchase

    The article covers a fire truck purchase with a total anticipated cost of up to $486,000 in principal. The budget committee recommended it; the selectmen had not. A motion to recommend moving forward was made and seconded, and the chair stated the motion fails.

27. 58:05
    A new article on additional staffing

    The board wanted an article inserted for additional station coverage, and discussed the wording. Because the shortfall is primarily in EMS rather than fire, but the staff would be dual role and would also maintain the apparatus and station, the wording settled toward EMS with fire attached. Three options would be set out.

28. 1:03:18
    Getting the staffing options in front of residents

    Members did not want a decision of this size handed out on the morning of town meeting. A public hearing is already planned ahead of town meeting on the budget committee's recommendation. The chief's explanatory document has grown to what will likely be five or six pages, too long for the town report but suitable as a handout distributed at the same time, with copies at the town office, online, and with the town reports left at the Durham get and go.

29. 1:08:42
    What the staffing options would look like

    The chief described the $135,000 option as seven twelve-hour days covering full-time positions, structured to fit a firefighter schedule averaging up to 45 hours over 28 days without overtime. He said he would prefer 14 or 15 hour days because a 7 to 7 schedule still leaves a gap in the early morning, and that evening coverage currently cuts off at four. A PowerPoint was suggested for the public hearing and town meeting.

30. 1:13:52
    No recommendation on staffing for now

    Members were not prepared to recommend one of the three options before the public hearing, on the view that the hearing will surface questions and information. The board can still change its position and make a recommendation from the floor at town meeting.

31. 1:13:52
    Article 18: general assistance

    The selectmen had recommended $3,000 and the budget committee $2,000. A motion was made to conform to the budget committee. Afterwards members looked at the history, which had been $5,000 for many years and rarely approached, with expenditures of $2,700 in 2010 and $5,400 in 2011 before reimbursement, and about $400 last year. State reimbursement was around 50% and is now 70 to 75%, and the governor's budget proposes removing town reimbursement altogether. The mover said she was less comfortable with her motion in light of the older figures, but the line can be overspent from undesignated funds without a further town meeting.

32. 1:19:04
    New article: grant matching funds

    The board wanted a new article raising $10,000 for grant matching funds. The account holds $12,378, so this would bring it to $22,378, with another $10,000 contemplated next year; it used to hold around $30,000. The budget committee has not seen it and will take it up on Monday.

33. 1:19:04
    Articles 19 to 22

    Parks and recreation was recommended at $14,220 by both bodies. The planning boards, appeals and historic district commission article had not yet been seen by the budget committee. The public works capital project article stood at $47,000, including $9,660 for the wash bay curtain.

34. 1:24:19
    Cutting the wash bay curtain

    The revised quote for the curtain came back several thousand dollars higher than the $9,660 budgeted. A motion was made to take that amount out, which would leave the article at $37,350, on the basis that the remaining balance could achieve much the same thing if the board still wanted to proceed.

35. 1:24:19
    Article 23: public works capital reserve

    The article proposes $100,000 into the public works capital reserve fund toward a truck. Members were unsure whether they had formally agreed the figure and moved it to be sure.

36. 1:24:19
    The plow truck replacement cycle

    Calvin Beaumier said he was struggling with paying around $47,000 to $48,000 for a truck and getting only about $10,000 back a year later, and asked how that would sound to taxpayers, while accepting the trucks have to be replaced and preferring reserve funding to a bond. With six or seven trucks plus a spare on roughly a twelve-year cycle, a purchase every two years is expected. Members noted there is no market for used plow trucks because they are specced differently and rust out from salt.

37. 1:24:19
    Articles 24 to 27: bonds and solid waste

    The public works equipment bond is at payment three of ten and the building bond at payment three of fifteen at $91,120, neither of which the budget committee had reviewed and neither of which can be changed. The road bond is payment one of seven at $172,645, made up of $90,000 transferred from public works capital and $82,645 raised. The solid waste article covers half the current contract and half the new one.

38. 1:29:34
    Warrant ordering and article 28

    Members agreed the waste contract article and the solid waste money article should sit next to each other on the warrant rather than being separated, the original separation having been to spare the bidders sitting through the whole meeting. Telecommunications was recommended at $53,663 by both bodies.

39. 1:29:34
    Two new housekeeping articles

    Ruth Glaeser had found two articles in the town meeting manual not previously used. The board dropped the first, on spending from the emergency fund, on the view that the town already has an emergency fund policy and this would be seen as a way around it. The second, on authority to pay tax abatements, was left open pending Ruth Glaeser sending members the relevant page, with members doubting the town could be barred from granting abatements since residents must have a way to challenge.

40. 1:29:34
    Finalising the warrant

    The board agreed to hold a special selectmen's meeting immediately after the budget committee meeting on Monday February 27 to finalise the warrant, so it can go to the printers, with the board reading and approving the printed warrant as usual.

41. 1:34:49
    Article 31: exceeding the levy limit

    If the budget passes as presented the town is over the state levy limit by $151,621. Ruth Glaeser explained the calculation: last year's levy limit, the local growth rate from new taxable valuation combined with the state growth rate, with an adjustment because municipal revenue sharing went up. She also explained that voting to increase the limit resets it permanently at the higher figure, while voting to exceed leaves the same limit in place for the following year, and that last year's vote had been handled the wrong way.

42. 1:40:00
    Putting the levy limit in context

    Members worked through the 2015 and 2016 figures, noting the calculation always runs a year behind. It was pointed out that residents should be reminded that not all of the roughly $3 million town budget is raised by taxation, so comparing the levy limit of just over a million to the whole budget is misleading.

43. 1:40:00
    Fire chief's report

    The hazard mitigation meeting cancelled by a snowstorm has been rescheduled for March 9, which the chief can attend but must leave by 6:30. Diana sent in the form seven information on the storms, with a possible request for a disaster declaration covering the period, though the chief doubted one would be granted for multiple snowstorms rather than a single major event. A county firefighters association course starts the following night and runs into early May.

44. 1:40:00
    Road commissioner's report

    Calvin Beaumier reported constant plowing, averaging over ten hours a day the previous week, followed by chasing snow drifts in the wind and treating refreeze after warm days; he had covered the on-call work himself Friday through Sunday to spare the crew. Salt ran dangerously thin because orders now go through a distant system rather than being delivered on request, and the town stretched supply by spraying sand with magnesium chloride until the last delivery arrived.

45. 1:45:55
    Patching, paving and hydrants

    Many roads badly need patching after the storms and crews go out the following morning with the on-call staff helping. The 2017 paving plan is still in progress after a meeting had to be abandoned mid-way for a storm, and DEP grant news on the stream crossing is expected in March. A resident reported an uncleared hydrant on the New Gloucester Road, which Calvin Beaumier thought had since been done, and a hydrant on Brown Road was broken off accidentally and will be repaired.

46. 1:45:55
    Wash bay curtain

    Calvin Beaumier said he could not recommend the curtain at the revised price. His concern was the open light fixtures above a wash bay, and he said he would want an engineer to certify it safe before proceeding, not having the credentials to do so himself. The alternatives of washing in the unheated back building with no drain, or insulating and heating a room there, were discussed and left.

47. 1:45:55
    Upcoming meetings

    The town administrator had nothing further. Meetings were announced for Tuesday March 7 and Tuesday March 21 at 6:30 pm, with a budget committee meeting on Monday February 27 at 6:30 pm.

What was decided

• 0:03
  Approve the consent agenda as presented. The town's minutes record it as moved by Sarah Hall, seconded by Mark Blake, carried 4-0, and the chair stated the motion carries.passed
• 26:29
  Regretfully acknowledge the resignation of the code enforcement officer, received February 9. Moved and seconded, and the chair stated the motion carries.passed
• 42:16
  Appoint road commissioner Calvin Beaumier as interim codes official, so that he can lawfully carry out inspections while a longer-term arrangement is found. The town's minutes record it as moved by Sarah Hall, seconded by Michael Stewart, carried 4-0.passed
• 47:35
  The selectmen recommend Pine Tree Waste on the curbside waste and recycling contract article, with the wording to be checked with MMA and possibly split into two articles voted separately. The town's minutes record it as moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Sarah Hall, carried 3-1, and the chair stated the vote as three to one.passed
• 52:50
  Change the selectmen's recommendation for town office renovations from $20,000 up to $30,000, in agreement with the budget committee. The town's minutes record it as moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Sarah Hall, carried 4-0.passed
• 58:05
  A motion that the selectmen recommend moving forward with the fire truck purchase of up to $486,000 in principal. Moved by Mark Blake and seconded by Jeffrey Wakeman; the chair stated the motion fails, and the town's minutes record the vote as 2-2. The article therefore goes to town meeting carrying the budget committee's recommendation with no selectmen's recommendation.failed
• 1:13:52
  Make no recommendation on the new article for additional EMS and fire staffing at this point, with the board free to meet after the public hearing and change its position, or to make a recommendation from the floor at town meeting. No motion was offered.tabled
• 1:13:52
  Change the selectmen's recommendation for general assistance downward from $3,000 to $2,000, matching the budget committee. The chair initially misspoke and said three thousand and was corrected; the recommendation stands at two thousand. The town's minutes record it as moved by Sarah Hall, seconded by Mark Blake, carried 3-1.passed
• 1:19:04
  Insert a new article raising $10,000 for grant matching funds, bringing that account to $22,378, with the budget committee to take it up at its Monday meeting. Agreed without a formal vote.passed
• 1:24:19
  Remove the $9,660 allocated for the wash bay curtain from the public works capital project article, changing the recommendation to $37,350. The town's minutes record it as moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Michael Stewart, carried 4-0, and the chair stated the motion carries.passed
• 1:24:19
  Recommend raising $100,000 for the public works capital reserve fund, toward the next plow truck. The town's minutes record it as moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Sarah Hall, carried 4-0, and the chair stated the motion carries.passed
• 1:29:34
  Do not include the proposed new article authorising spending from the emergency fund, on the view that the town already has an emergency fund policy and the article would be seen as a way around it. Agreed in discussion.passed
• 1:29:34
  Move the waste hauling contract article so it sits next to the solid waste money article on the warrant.passed
• 1:29:34
  Hold a special selectmen's meeting immediately following the budget committee meeting on Monday February 27 to finalise the warrant.passed
• 1:45:55
  Do not proceed with the wash bay curtain for now. The road commissioner said he could not recommend it at the revised price without an engineer certifying it safe given the open light fixtures, and the board agreed to work through without it and revisit later.tabled

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_2-21-171.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 4-0

  Moved by Sarah Hall, seconded by Mark Blake

• Appoint Road Commissioner Calvin Beaumier as Interim Codes Officialcarried 4-0

  Moved by Sarah Hall, seconded by Michael Stewart

• the Selectmen recommend Pine Tree Wastecarried 3-1

  Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Sarah Hall

• recommend $30,000 for Town Office renovations along with the Budget Committeecarried 4-0

  Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Sarah Hall

• go forward as presentedcarried 2-2

  Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Jeffrey Wakeman

• change their recommendation to $2,000.00 in agreement with the Budget Committeecarried 3-1

  Moved by Sarah Hall, seconded by Mark Blake

• remove the amount allocated for the curtains which would change the recommendation to $37,350.00carried 4-0

  Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Michael Stewart

• raise $100,000.00 for the Public Works Capital Reserve Fundcarried 4-0

  Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Sarah Hall

• the Board into Executive Session Pursuant to Title #1, M.R.S.A., 405(6) (A) – Personnel – Personnel Matters preceded by a brief recess. Chairman Wakeman Announced the Board came out of Executive Session at 8:54 p.m. ACTI…

  Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, no seconder recorded; no outcome recorded

• Adjourn at 8:54 p.mcarried 4-0

  Moved by Michael Stewart, seconded by Mark Blake

Worth knowing

• 31:39
  The town is without a code enforcement officer. The board expects three to six months to appoint a replacement, and meanwhile faces a large subdivision on Swamp Road, another subdivision application, four or five open building permits and a run of appeals board variances, with the road commissioner covering as interim about one day a week.
• 58:05
  The selectmen's motion to recommend the fire truck purchase of up to $486,000 in principal failed. The town's minutes record the vote as 2-2, so the article reaches town meeting with the budget committee's recommendation and no recommendation from the board.
• 1:34:49
  If the budget passes as presented, the town will be $151,621 over the state property tax levy limit, which is why an article asks residents to increase it. The town administrator also explained that voting to increase the limit resets it permanently at the higher figure, while voting to exceed it does not.
• 1:40:00
  The town came close to running out of road salt during a run of storms, because salt can no longer be ordered for delivery a few days out. Crews stretched supply by spraying sand with magnesium chloride until the last delivery arrived, and many roads are now in poor condition awaiting patching.

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: 6 passages of motion language, against 15 decisions summarised.

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