Special Town Meeting - August 16, 2022

2022-08-16 · Town Meeting · 1:08:33 · watch on YouTube →

A special town meeting at the Eureka Community Center on Hallowell Road, called so that four short-term capital projects could be paid for out of Durham's American Rescue Plan money without waiting for the April town meeting. Voters elected William J. Schneider moderator, adopted the Maine Moderator's Manual, and by more than a two-thirds margin allowed a list of named non-residents to speak. All four spending articles passed: $23,230 for HVAC work at the fire station, $34,500 for HVAC at the town office, $45,000 for communication and information technology upgrades across the town office, public works and the fire station, and $16,000 for GIS tax mapping. The heating work was the reason for the meeting's timing, and the technology and mapping articles drew extended questioning about the absence of line-item detail, whether computers should be replaced in a batch or on a rotation, and what the GIS subscription will cost the town once ARPA money runs out. Residents were told roughly $300,000 of the town's ARPA allocation will remain, to be discussed at more open-ended public sessions in the fall. Incoming town manager Jerry Douglas was introduced, and interim manager Mitchell Berkowitz was thanked at the close.

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. 3:25
   Warrant (?) read and Article 1, choice of moderator

   The warrant was read, calling the inhabitants qualified to vote in town affairs to assemble at the Eureka Community Center, 606 Hallowell Road, on Tuesday August 16th 2022 at 6 p.m. to act on articles 1 through 6. William J. Schneider was nominated, nominations were closed, and he was elected by written vote and sworn in.

2. 3:25
   Moderator's introduction and rules of procedure

   The moderator introduced himself as living on Rough Rider Road on the west side of Durham, off the Stackpole Road, and noted the select board was seated to his right and the budget committee to his left, both having worked on the articles. He moved that the meeting adopt the Maine Moderator's Manual, described as similar to Robert's Rules but written for town meetings, as its guide to procedure.

3. 3:25
   Non-residents who might need to speak

   The moderator explained that residents can allow non-residents to speak by a two-thirds vote, and read the names of those who might have cause to speak: Mitchell Berkowitz, Robert Tripp, Calvin Beaumier, Alan Plummer, Janet Bowie, George Thebarge (?) and Jerry Douglas.

4. 8:50
   Vote to let the non-residents speak

   The motion was made, seconded and carried on a show of green cards. The recording does not identify an article 2 by number; the moderator moved from these procedural votes straight to article 3.

5. 8:50
   How the meeting would run

   Each article would be moved, seconded and then opened for debate. Speakers were asked to come to the microphone one at a time, wait to be recognised, and give their name and where they live. Questions were to be put to the moderator, who would refer them to the select board, the budget committee or whoever had the information.

6. 8:50
   Introduction of the new town manager

   The moderator introduced Jerry Douglas, hired as the new town manager, noting he had worked in Gardiner for some time and was due to start on the Monday following the meeting.

7. 8:50
   Explanation of the ARPA money

   Kevin, speaking for the select board, thanked people for coming and pointed to an information sheet published a few weeks earlier answering basic questions about what ARPA funds can and cannot be spent on. Durham received a little over $420,000, and the way the programme is structured most capital expenditure or costs of operating the government are likely to qualify. He said the articles that night were short-term items staff and the town manager judged could not wait until April, the most pressing being the heating situation at the town office, and that they would use somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of the money.

8. 8:50
   Plan for the rest of the money

   Kevin (?) said further public hearings would be held a couple of times in the autumn on the remaining roughly $300,000, which would be a more open-ended discussion of what residents would like to see done rather than the must-do items on that night's warrant.

9. 8:50
   Article 3 introduced

   Article 3 asked the town to appropriate $23,230 of coronavirus local fiscal recovery funds for HVAC work at the fire station. It was moved and seconded, and no one asked to speak on it.

10. 14:05
    Article 3 voted

    The moderator restated the article and called for a show of green cards, then declared it voted in the affirmative.

11. 14:05
    Article 4 introduced

    Article 4 asked the town to appropriate $34,500 of the same funds for HVAC work at the town office. It was moved and seconded and opened for discussion.

12. 14:05
    Question on lifetime cost of the HVAC systems

    A resident of the Stackpole Road (?) asked whether a cost analysis had been done covering not just purchase and installation but the cost over the life of the system, saying the question had gone unanswered at a previous town meeting. Mitchell Berkowitz answered that the heating and cooling load at the town office has not changed, so there is no increase in energy cost; the system is a little larger so there may be marginally more electricity used by the motor; and long-term maintenance should cost a good deal less than at present.

13. 14:05
    What is actually being installed

    Asked whether this was a heat pump or simply another furnace, Mitchell Berkowitz (?) said the town office work is two York air conditioning units, one furnace replacement and a smaller hot water heater that will save money rather than heating large volumes of water. At the fire station it is two Samsung units and one ducted through the offices. He summarised it as more efficiency for fewer operational dollars.

14. 14:05
    Question on the town office layout

    Debbie Oliver of Cottage Woods Road (?) asked whether the discussions about revising the town office arrangement and whether it suits the town's needs had been taken into account in sizing and costing this system, including future growth.

15. 19:08
    Answer on future space needs

    Mitchell Berkowitz (?) said that installing 2022 units buys good longevity and gives the community time to work out what space it needs to run local government and serve the public, whether that ends in additions or a complete teardown. Kevin (?) added that the changes discussed so far are minor reconfiguration, the largest being to use what is now the meeting space as office space, which makes no difference to heating or cooling.

16. 19:08
    Article 4 voted

    On a show of green cards for and against, the moderator declared the article passed by overwhelming majority.

17. 19:08
    Article 5 introduced

    Article 5 asked the town to appropriate $45,000 for communication and information technology upgrades for the town office, public works and the fire station. It was moved and seconded and opened for discussion.

18. 19:08
    Question on replacing every computer

    A resident of the Stackpole Road (?) asked whether the article proposed replacing all of the town's computers. He was told work was still being done on specific cost information, that the priority would be items such as firewall work and data security, and that a further question might come to the April town meeting if more was needed.

19. 19:08
    Argument for buying in waves

    The same resident argued from experience that equipment should be bought in waves rather than all at once, so the town is not hit for a large sum every few years, and suggested moving existing machines to lighter-use roles rather than replacing them all.

20. 19:08
    Disagreement over calling it bonus money

    Kevin (?) described the money as bonus money in the sense that it is not raised from local property taxes, and was interrupted by a resident objecting that it comes out of his pocket. Kevin agreed it is obviously tax money that came from the federal government at some point, but said it is a pool of money dropped in the town's lap with a use-it-or-lose-it deadline.

21. 24:41
    Setting up a replacement rotation

    Kevin (?) said the board had raised the same concern and wanted to do what was done with fire department gear a few years ago: replace a batch at once and then stagger the lives, some four years, some five, some six, so a small number is replaced each year afterwards. He argued that having the upfront cost fall outside local property taxes made this a unique opportunity.

22. 24:41
    Berkowitz on what else is in the article

    Mitchell Berkowitz (?) said the computers had become the lightning rod for the discussion, that not all computers will be replaced, and that the article also covers firewall protection and the communication hardware that gets information from meetings out to residents. He said the weakest point in the whole discussion had never been raised, namely the age and lack of capability of the town's phone system.

23. 24:41
    The IT officer's account

    Devin Garno (?) introduced himself as the town's information technology officer and stressed that not all of the money is for new computers. It is primarily for new phones and better internet connectivity at the town office, the fire station and the public works office, covering a little under half the total, with the rest going to mission critical computers, those at the counter windows being the priority because they get the most use. He said the existing machines were bought in bulk, so they are all old at the same time, and he wants to establish a replacement cycle the town does not currently have.

24. 24:41
    Question on leasing rather than buying

    A resident asked whether leasing computers had been considered and was told it had come up at the last board meeting and would be looked into. He replied that it should have been looked at before the article was put in front of voters. Kevin answered that the timing of the meeting was determined by the need to get the heating and ventilation work approved before winter, and that other critical infrastructure needs were added because the meeting was happening anyway.

25. 24:41
    Authorisation is for an upper limit

    Kevin (?) said the town does not have a line-by-line breakdown to the penny, that not every dollar must be spent, and that what is being sought is authorisation to use up to that amount for that purpose. Staff, the town manager and any outside contractors would then determine what is most important and start the work. The questioner replied it would have been wiser to separate the computers from the bare necessities.

26. 30:03
    Internet at the Eureka Community Center

    Todd (?) said part of the work would be to get internet capability into the building where the meeting was being held, because the town plans eventually to use it as meeting space.

27. 30:03
    Jane Rice on streaming meetings

    Jane Rice of Bowie Hill (?) said she was glad to hear it, having been disheartened that the building was left out when the spending was worked through. She said she had attended meetings that Heather streamed personally, which she found unacceptable as an arrangement even though she was glad it was done, and said she assumed getting the building up and running as a functional meeting place with streaming and records would be on the April ballot.

28. 30:03
    Whether the money can be given back

    Nate Ledger of Brianna Drive (?) asked whether the town could simply return the money. He was told the Maine Municipal Association guidance is that it could be given back but would probably require a town vote, and that it would not end up back in anyone's paycheck. Kevin (?) added that the town did not apply for or ask for the money; it simply arrived.

29. 30:03
    Nate Ledger on the missing line items

    He said the $23,230 and $34,500 were straightforward because the town had said what would be installed, but that the $45,000 was a flat figure with no itemisation, and asked whether it was a guess. Devin Garno answered that he had finally obtained a quote to replace every computer and it exceeds the amount, so that is off the table; that phones, internet, firewalls and new cabling come to $20,000 to $25,000; and that the remainder goes to mission critical computers until April.

30. 30:03
    Concern about knowing what is left

    Nate Ledger (?) asked how the town would know at what point the money is exhausted and how much would go back to be spent elsewhere. He identified himself as a member of the American veterans club down the road, which he said had been set back by 2020 in its fundraising, and said residents would be seeing a lot of him. He said the article seemed to him to have a lot of grey area, given the tension between a 2024 deadline and the claim that the work is urgent.

31. 35:36
    The ARPA deadlines explained

    Kevin (?) explained the town has until December 31st 2024 to say what the money will be spent on and two further years to actually spend it. He committed to bringing an update in April showing what had been done, what it cost, what still needs doing and what was estimated. He said he honestly did not think anything would be left over from the $45,000 and thought the eventual figure would be higher, particularly once bringing the Eureka Center up to live streaming and recording is considered, which he described as a separate matter.

32. 35:36
    Reporting and unspent funds

    Mitchell Berkowitz (?) said computer hardware is last on the priority list and will expand or contract around the higher priorities, and that the town manager reports progress to the select board, so residents will not have to wait until April to learn where things stand. He said any unexpended funds from these articles go back to the ARPA fund, which is kept separately on the books, and not to the tax general fund.

33. 35:36
    Catherine Curtis in support

    Catherine Curtis of Brianna Drive complimented the board for considering use of the Eureka space rather than turning the town office into what she called a Taj Mahal. She said she had been in the town office late at night counting ballots and knows the space is small and that staff do need more room, and that the requests being made were reasonable.

34. 35:36
    Heather Roy's clarification

    Heather Roy of Hallowell Road, speaking as a budget committee member, wanted it clear that the $45,000 does not cover bringing the Eureka Community Center up to speed for meetings and streaming, which will come back separately. She also thanked residents for pressing for detail, saying she is usually the one on the budget committee asking for those numbers and gets a hard time for it.

35. 40:56
    Question on project accounting

    A resident asked what the accounting would look like at the end of each project. Mitchell Berkowitz (?) described it as a starting amount, itemised expenditures by contract service and invoicing, and a balance remaining, noting the town cannot go over what was authorised and that this becomes public knowledge and is reported to the select board. Kevin (?) added that the ARPA programme itself carries rigorous documentation requirements to establish eligibility.

36. 40:56
    Article 5 voted

    On a show of green cards for and against, the moderator declared that an overwhelming majority had voted to appropriate the $45,000.

37. 40:56
    Article 6 introduced

    Article 6 asked the town to appropriate $16,000 for GIS tax mapping work. It was moved and seconded and opened for discussion.

38. 40:56
    Question on licensing versus a third party

    A resident asked whether the town was buying an Arc licence, and if so whether it was single or continuous use, or whether a third party would digitise the data layers. Mitchell Berkowitz (?) said it would be a third-party vendor and that the price includes two years of updating rather than acquisition alone. He tied accurate maps to zoning, code enforcement and tax billing, arguing that delays in tax billing caused by out-of-date records put cash flow out ahead of cash flow in, and noted the town could answer realtors' parcel questions from its website.

39. 46:27
    Why Durham has no current tax maps

    Alan Plummer, the code enforcement officer, explained that until 2020 the town used mylar tax maps, literally sheets of plastic drawn on and erased, maintained by John O'Donnell and Associates. The person who did that work is ill and will no longer be doing it and the company is stopping, so there have been no tax map updates since; the mylars are rolled up in a case in the office while map changes continue to occur on a daily basis. Between fifteen and twenty towns that used the same company are all now looking for mapping services.

40. 46:27
    Choosing the vendor

    The town planner, George Thebarge (?), researched GIS companies and found two that were more reasonable than the rest, Spatial Alternatives Inc. and a company out of Portland whose name the speaker was not certain of. The tax assessor, Alan Plummer and the planner reviewed what each offered and chose Spatial Alternatives as the better fit, since the other had features the town might never use and saw no reason to pay for.

41. 46:27
    What the town gets for the money

    The vendor applies Durham's tax maps to its existing data and satellite layers, adjusts them and hosts them on its website, with two years of updates submitted at set points in the year. The town would still get printed paper tax maps to view at the office and PDFs online, and residents could look at a satellite view showing where a house sits relative to its property lines. Alan Plummer (?) said staff would also be able to identify abutters and their addresses far more quickly than the slow manual method he found on arriving in Durham.

42. 46:27
    Joe Roy (?) in support

    A resident of Pinkham Brook Road (?) said he uses GIS mapping every single day, fully supports digitising the data, and was glad to hear a third party would do it, because the licensing is very expensive and there is a very large learning curve to doing it in house.

43. 51:32
    The subscription becomes a budget item

    Heather Roy (?), again as a budget committee member, said she is an advocate of the project but wanted residents to understand that once the two covered years are up the subscription cost can no longer be paid from ARPA funds and becomes part of the town's annual budget. She then asked, as a resident, whether GIS would produce more accurate acreage, citing a recent planning board application where a lot taxed as 41 acres came back from survey at 52 acres.

44. 51:32
    Vendor comparison and accuracy

    Mitchell Berkowitz (?) said a third vendor had quoted $21,000 a year including annual subscription, for comparison. He said the office gets five to six calls a day from realtors across the country about properties, and that GIS lot lines are understood to be accurate to within a few inches. He tied the whole question back to issuing tax bills quickly and accurately, which affects cash flow and may save the town from having to borrow on a tax anticipation note.

45. 51:32
    What was deliberately left out

    Alan Plummer (?) said analysing deeds and putting those measurements into the map was excluded entirely to keep the cost down, and could be advocated for later as additional spending. He said satellite imagery will be stretched to match the town's contours and roads so the maps will be more accurate, and that from the start of the contract new parcels arriving with a deed will have their deed measurements scanned and carried onto the GIS layer, which he called a huge step, since none of the deed measurements currently transfer to the tax maps.

46. 51:32
    Whether ARPA could prepay the subscription

    A resident asked what the annual subscription is and whether ARPA money could pay ten years in advance so the cost never falls on Durham taxpayers. He was told two years of subscription is already added to the roughly $10,000 preparation cost, and that prepaying further is unlikely because ARPA funds will be well exhausted by 2026 and the cost will then be carried by local taxes. The annual figure varies with how much subdivision and new lot activity there is.

47. 56:58
    Flexibility in light years

    Alan Plummer (?) said that in a year with little subdivision activity the town can ask the vendor to take a section of town and do the extensive deed research to add parcel measurements instead, so the annual payment still buys work.

48. 56:58
    Clarification that this only digitises existing data

    A resident of Pinkham Brook Road sought confirmation that the project digitises the existing maps rather than doing deed research, reassessing or redeveloping them, so that errors in existing surveys carry through. This was confirmed. The cost structure was restated as roughly $10,000 initially with $1,000 to $3,000 annually depending on activity, the first two years of subscription being built into the $16,000.

49. 56:58
    Comparison with what the town already pays

    It was pointed out that Durham already pays a fairly substantial amount to John O'Donnell to pencil in the mylar maps, probably on a par with the new annual cost. Alan Plummer (?) added that if the annual cost rose the town could build it into its fee structure, for instance in subdivision application fees.

50. 56:58
    Extending GIS beyond tax maps

    Brian Lanoie (?) of Robert Road (?) asked whether extending the GIS beyond tax maps to town utilities had been considered, as it might help public works. Kevin (?) said the public works director and town manager had discussed it but it had not been brought before the board, that the aim was to get the foundation in place and leave the rest to future leadership, and encouraged him to contact the select board or raise it at the autumn sessions on the remaining ARPA money. Alan Plummer (?) added that the software package supports additional layers that could serve public works.

51. 56:58
    Question about zoning and resource layers

    A resident of Pinkham Brook Road, describing GIS as a huge iceberg of which the town is using a snowflake at the tip, asked whether the project also digitises the resource protection and zoning layers currently drawn on the tax maps.

52. 1:02:04
    Whether the digital map becomes the official town map

    Asked whether a zoomable digital map would become the official town map that ordinances refer to, the answer was that it would be subject to a town vote, as with the updated town map accepted at a previous town meeting. The official map at present is the one voted on, signed by the clerk and hanging on the wall, and there was uncertainty about which would govern if an anomaly appeared.

53. 1:02:04
    Limits of any map

    Kevin (?) said even the official map is only a starting point and often lacks the detail needed for decisions, so on-the-ground survey work is required to confirm what the map appears to show, comparing it to trying to build a house from a crayon sketch. Mitchell Berkowitz (?) added that GIS does not relieve a seller's or buyer's surveyor of the duty to measure lot lines accurately and do the necessary research, and that in court GIS may be part of the evidence but the weight of it comes from work on the ground.

54. 1:02:04
    Who owns the data

    A resident asked whether the initial $10,000 of work would belong to the town if it later moved to another company. He was told that the map produced each year becomes the town's property and the data is the town's, with the company retaining no rights, though if the vendor's software is proprietary a new company would have to convert it, so a change may not be easy.

55. 1:02:04
    Article 6 voted

    On a show of cards for and against, the moderator declared that a large majority had voted to appropriate the $16,000 for GIS tax mapping work, and that this brought the business of the meeting to an end.

56. 1:02:04
    Thanks to the interim town manager

    Kevin (?) thanked Mitchell Berkowitz, saying it had been a very tough period for Durham with a learning curve still ahead with the new town manager, that Berkowitz had been a godsend, and joking that the experience had probably finished him off for taking any further interim town manager assignments.

57. 1:07:26
    Adjournment and a visitor

    The moderator noted Mitchell Berkowitz had put in far more time than the town had contracted for and that Durham owed him a great debt, then called a vote to adjourn. He mentioned that a candidate for the Maine Senate, Betty Sheets (?), was at the back of the room and would be happy to speak with anyone.

What was decided

• 3:25
  Article 1: choose a moderator to preside. William J. Schneider was nominated, nominations were closed, and he was elected on written votes and sworn in.passed
• 3:25
  Adopt the Maine Moderator's Manual as the guide to procedure for the meeting. The moderator moved it, it was seconded, and he declared it adopted because no one objected.passed
• 8:50
  Allow the named non-residents to speak at the meeting: Mitchell Berkowitz, Robert Tripp, Calvin Beaumier, Alan Plummer, Janet Bowie, George Thebarge (?) and Jerry Douglas. Carried on a show of green cards by more than the required two-thirds margin.passed
• 14:05
  Article 3: appropriate $23,230 from coronavirus local fiscal recovery funds, the American Rescue Plan or ARPA funds received from the federal government, for HVAC work at the fire station. Declared voted in the affirmative.passed
• 19:08
  Article 4: appropriate $34,500 of ARPA funds for HVAC work at the town office. Declared passed by overwhelming majority on a show of green cards.passed
• 40:56
  Article 5: appropriate $45,000 of ARPA funds for communication and information technology upgrades for the town office, public works and the fire station. Declared carried by overwhelming majority on a show of green cards.passed
• 1:02:04
  Article 6: appropriate $16,000 of ARPA funds for GIS tax mapping work. Declared carried by a large majority on a show of cards.passed
• 1:07:26
  Motion to adjourn the special town meeting. The moderator called for the vote but the result is not stated on the recording, which continues into closing remarks.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

• 8:50
  Durham received a little over $420,000 in American Rescue Plan funds. The four articles at this meeting use somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of it, leaving around $300,000 that the select board said would be the subject of more open-ended public sessions in the autumn.
• 35:36
  The town has until December 31st 2024 to formally allocate its ARPA money to specific purposes and until the end of 2026 to actually spend it, or lose it. The select board said it did not expect anything to be left over from the $45,000 technology article and thought the eventual cost would be higher.
• 46:27
  Durham's tax maps have not been updated since 2020. The mylar maps were maintained by John O'Donnell and Associates; the person who drew them is ill and the company is stopping the work, leaving fifteen to twenty towns looking for a mapping service at once. Map changes continue to occur on a daily basis.
• 51:32
  Once the two years of updates built into the $16,000 GIS article are used up, the subscription becomes an ongoing item in the town budget paid from local property taxes. Residents were told ARPA money cannot be used to prepay it further because the funds will be exhausted by 2026.

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 8 decisions summarised.

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