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Select Board Budget Workshop ~ January 30, 2017

2017-01-30 · Select Board · 2:25:00 · watch on YouTube →

This was a budget workshop rather than a regular meeting. Four selectmen worked line by line through the draft 2017 budget with the road commissioner, the fire chief and office staff, and took no formal motions, on the practice that votes wait until the warrant articles are drawn up. Public works took the first half of the meeting: a cost comparison for doing the Runaround Pond road work with town crews instead of a contractor, further trimming of equipment maintenance lines, agreement to hold off on a new road bond for a year, and a tabled decision on wash bay curtains pending a firmer price. Fire and rescue followed, including a request to authorise a new engine package at a price not to exceed $486,000 and three options for improving emergency response coverage, which the board agreed should go to voters as a separate warrant article. The administrative, animal control, donations, parks and recreation, solid waste and telecommunications lines were worked through in the last hour, with the board cutting back the animal control officer's requested increase and reshuffling the donations list while holding it at $3,000. The board agreed to reconvene Thursday at 6:00 to take up salaries in executive session.

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. 0:01
    Call to order and Runaround Pond cost comparison

    The chair opened the budget workshop with four of four selectmen present. The road commissioner, Calvin (?), presented a spreadsheet comparing the cost of doing the road work with town crews (labour, dump trucks and the excavator, depreciated over 15 to 20 years) against Crooker's price of about $100 a foot, which he said matched what was paid on the Brown project. The saving was given as about $759,680, though the same discussion also stated it as roughly $751,000, and members questioned whether the road commissioner's own salary for seven months had been prorated or had benefits added.

  2. 5:13
    Revised budget sheet and changes from the previous workshop

    A new overview sheet dated 1/30 was handed out reflecting changes made at the previous meeting: $2,000 out of line 4000 equipment maintenance, $2,000 out of line 406 tree cutting, $75,000 out of line 4510 road paving, and about $1,000 from a line the transcript renders as meteorology (4535). The public works road bond of $172,645 was pulled out onto its own line. Members compared their own totals against the sheet; the bottom-line figures are garbled in the recording, given variously as 1,431,490 and 1,499,490.

  3. 10:21
    Further cuts proposed to equipment maintenance

    Mark (?) proposed taking another $4,000 out of summer equipment maintenance and another $3,000 out of winter equipment maintenance (line 4533), which would drop the winter line from $20,000 to $17,000, on the grounds that the town has a newer truck than before. The road commissioner said maintenance on newer trucks is not necessarily cheaper, giving an oil change on a new truck at about $700 against $20 to $50 on an older one, though the comparison was then acknowledged to be between different sizes of truck. Another member said cutting to the bone risks broken-down trucks in winter and that unspent money returns to capital projects rather than disappearing.

  4. 10:21
    Paving line accounts for the whole budget increase

    A member observed that removing the increase in the paving line wipes out the entire increase in the budget. The paving line is up $143,500, and the total public works increase is a figure the transcript garbles as $143,46, so apart from paving the budget is flat.

  5. 15:35
    Summer and winter equipment maintenance settled

    The board settled on leaving winter equipment maintenance at $20,000 and reducing summer equipment maintenance by $2,500 to about $33,571, arrived at by taking the $32,071 spent last year and adding $1,500 for JD Link. JD Link is remote monitoring software that reports equipment faults to the road commissioner's computer, which members hoped would catch maintenance problems before they become expensive.

  6. 20:40
    No motions taken at this stage

    Asked whether a motion was wanted on the public works budget, the board said motions are not usually taken until the warrant articles are being prepared, and none was made.

  7. 20:40
    Public works capital funding and reserve balances

    Half the public works bond, a figure of $37,350 and the wash bay would be covered from the public works capital fund, whose balance the transcript gives inconsistently as $359,000 and as a figure garbled to 49,349. The $14,241 in the fund was identified as FEMA money from the blizzard. Members said about $198,000 was returned from the 2016 budget, of which $10,000 came from trading in the old plow.

  8. 25:55
    Wash bay curtains: price and electrical protection

    A member objected to spending $10,000 so crews do not spray each other while washing trucks inside, calling it a luxury and arguing waterproof GFI outlet covers would address the electrical concern. The quote in hand was $5,000 for one curtain across the end and one down the middle; members said curtains would also be needed down both sides, adding roughly a third. The discussion covered emergency lights, meter and generator panels, battery chargers, GFI outlets at the building that failed to trip when tested, and an unresolved question about whether the insurer or OSHA would accept curtains as sufficient protection.

  9. 31:10
    Road bond line and public works reserve

    The public works road bond line of $172,645 was described as a given. The board went over putting $100,000 into the public works reserve, matching last year, so that two years' worth of savings buys the next truck with cash rather than borrowing, on roughly a twelve-year rotation.

  10. 31:10
    Delaying a new road bond for a year

    The board was asked whether it favoured delaying another road bond for one more year because doing the work in-house costs significantly less, and members said yes. Figures of $100, $75 and $65 a foot were referred to on the sheet. A member said he did not want to put out a small bond and would rather wait a year and possibly combine two years of work.

  11. 36:15
    Explaining the road plan to residents and the budget committee

    Members said the plan would have to be explained at the budget committee because residents on roads including Davis, Meadow and one rendered as Bowie Hill are already complaining. The suggestion was made to use the paving budget for shims, overlay and grader work as a temporary measure on the worst roads, and to tell residents that anyone who wants more can propose it at town meeting.

  12. 36:15
    Fire and rescue operating expenses

    The largest increase in the fire budget is equipment maintenance, described as the same issue as with the roads. A line was added showing the percentage of the fire budget left unspent: near zero in 2014, 2 percent in 2015 and 1 percent in 2016.

  13. 41:33
    Hose testing contracted out

    The fire chief explained the roughly $2,950 line for annual hose testing, which the department currently does itself over about six evenings requiring six to twelve people each night. He described testing at half the manufacturer's original pressure as one of the more dangerous non-emergency tasks the department performs, and said the figure is an actual quote rather than an estimate.

  14. 46:50
    Fire capital improvement account request

    The request was $50,000 for the capital improvement account, up $5,000 from 2016. The chief put the replacement value of the apparatus fleet at about $2.1 to $2.4 million over a roughly 20 to 22 year cycle, meaning $200,000 to $300,000 a year would be needed to fund apparatus replacement outright, and said he would recommend increasing the contribution rather than holding it.

  15. 46:50
    Rescue revenue projection

    Rescue billing brought in about $72,000 last year. The chief said call volume is not on the same pace and that two or three patients with repeated medical situations contributed to that total, so his conservative estimate for 2017 is around $60,000 to $62,000, with $65,000 as a top figure.

  16. 52:22
    Station capital needs

    The chief said the station should be in reasonable shape after this year's paving, painting and floor work, but that the modular needs attention and the well and the septic system, in place since about 1982, should be assessed. He said nothing is pressing at present and those items could wait.

  17. 52:22
    New engine package, not to exceed $486,000

    The next article seeks authorisation to purchase a new engine package at a price not to exceed $486,000, with no payment due until 2018. Over a six-year term the payment was estimated at $90,000 to $95,000 a year, higher than the $80,000 in the capital plan because that assumed a purchase price around $450,000 to $460,000.

  18. 57:42
    Six-year financing and vendor quotes

    The chief explained that six-year terms were chosen when the capital plan was written around 2003, when some apparatus was approaching 40 years old, so payments would overlap and shuffle rather than committing the town to a single large payment of $140,000 or $150,000. Four vendors submitted prices ranging from the high $460,000s to about $519,000, with no vendor yet selected. Resale value on the existing engine is minimal, with about $10,000 assumed in the capital plan.

  19. 1:02:55
    Engine condition, lead time and the rescue behind it

    The engine's problem is rust rather than mechanical condition; it passed its pump test, sitting just under manufacturer specification. Lead time was given as about a year, varying from nine to fifteen months, so delivery would fall in 2018 and the first loan payment in 2019, and the chief described a prepayment loan with a performance bond that could cut the price by $10,000 to $20,000. He said the rescue is also showing its age and that if the engine is not bought now he expects to come back asking to replace both.

  20. 1:08:05
    Options for improving emergency response and dispatch delay

    Three options were on the table plus option four, status quo. Under the current arrangement dispatch tones out, waits five minutes, then issues a second tone at which point mutual aid is called, which the chief said should mean no more than a seven to eight minute delay before another service is started, though it depends on the dispatcher. Members asked what would change if the Lisbon dispatch centre closed; the chief said regional dispatch would allow simultaneous mutual aid tones rather than a phone call to another centre.

  21. 1:13:26
    Mutual aid patterns and outsourcing EMS

    The chief said Durham is in Androscoggin County but does more mutual aid with Cumberland County towns (Freeport, Pownal and New Gloucester) than with Androscoggin, where Lisbon is the main partner, and noted Brunswick, Lewiston-Auburn 911 and the state police in Gray use the IMC dispatch system. He said he looked at eight options in total, including outsourcing, and the savings are not there: rescue revenue is two or three times the increase in cost, and the only way to drop the ambulance is to stop doing EMS entirely.

  22. 1:18:49
    Cost of full-time staffing and stipend figures

    Two people at the station around the clock would require four people per position per rotation, or eight people, at roughly $50,000 each with benefits (over $400,000) which is why it is not among the options presented. The figures used for the options were $25 for an evening stipend and $75 for a 24-hour weekend stipend; the department currently pays hourly for daytime coverage. The chief said he had people sign up for Christmas Day but nobody for New Year's Day, and closing the gaps would take roughly 50 percent more EMS personnel.

  23. 1:23:58
    Licensed provider rules and how the proposal goes forward

    The chief explained that only a licensed provider may begin patient care, so an unlicensed driver arriving first must stage down the road out of sight, and that responding to a scene without a licensed provider would put the town in violation of state law. The board then agreed the coverage proposal should go to the budget committee and onto the warrant as a separate article this year rather than being folded into the budget, with no option among the three chosen at this meeting.

  24. 1:29:06
    Salaries deferred and the administrative IT lines

    The board skipped the personnel, support and benefit lines in each department, saying salaries would be taken up together in executive session, and asked that department heads be notified promptly of decisions affecting them. IT support was placed in the telecommunications line on the advice of Jeffrey Leighton rather than under computers and networking. A member raised that a counter computer used by Shannon reports a corrupted startup and that the server is slow and probably not optimally set up.

  25. 1:34:19
    Replacing the failing counter computer, and how the server works

    Members agreed there was no need to wait for the budget to replace a failing computer, noting a desktop costs $500 to $700 against $100 an hour for outside help, and that the office already holds the Trio and other licences. The computer hardware line stands at $1,500, of which $500 is for a laser printer, and transactions can be run from other desks as a fallback. Alden (?) explained the server using a kitchen analogy, storage as cupboard space and RAM as counter space.

  26. 1:39:43
    Computer hardware line raised to $2,000

    The board agreed to raise the computer hardware line from $1,500 to $2,000, replace one counter computer now and the second later in the year if the money is not otherwise spent. Members noted nothing was spent on computers last year and that the working life of a machine is about four years.

  27. 1:44:57
    Generator maintenance, elections and legal

    Generator maintenance was confirmed at $600 after confusion over whether it had been set at $300 or $600, with a member noting almost $600 was expended last year. No new voting booths are being requested and the elections line is down because it is an off year. On legal, members said $2,500 is already committed and discussed a ceiling of $10,000, noting a large legal expense would require a special town meeting anyway.

  28. 1:44:57
    Code enforcement salary request

    The code enforcement officer's request is for $26 an hour, up from $22. Asked whether that reflects taking on planning work, the presenter said it does and referred to the work done on Runaround and on grants. A member asked that the substance be held for executive session.

  29. 1:44:57
    Town office building capital projects

    All the money in this capital budget comes from reserves and returns to reserves if unspent. The items are a roof, for which a quote is in hand, $20,000 for scaled-back renovations, $5,000 for painting to be done by a contractor after the renovations, and heat pumps to assist a combined heating and cooling system that is failing mostly on the cooling side.

  30. 1:50:28
    Roof, reserves and sequencing the building work

    The building dates from 1985 or 1986 and opened in 1987, and members said the shingles are at the end of their life and starting to show wear. The town office reserve holds $37,000, of which about $10,348 would be drawn, leaving roughly $27,000. Members raised bundling the roof and the renovation into a single contract for a better price, and rebuilding the reserve starting next year.

  31. 1:55:38
    Animal control officer's request

    The animal control officer asked for roughly a 100 percent increase, to about $11,000, benchmarked against Brunswick. Members said the town previously paid Lisbon $8,600 for a dispatched service and that going back to a contract would be worse. His report showed 66 incidents last year, 14 of them wildlife referred to the warden, leaving 52, which the board worked out as roughly $100 a call at the current figure; the total animal control line was given as $12,573, including a $500 mileage allowance for about 1,000 miles at 54 cents.

  32. 2:00:46
    Animal control coverage and a future comparison

    Members raised that the current officer does not always respond when he is in the middle of something, unlike the dispatched service Lisbon provided, though one member said a single complaint is not how he weighs the decision. The board agreed it would be worth getting a contracting comparison again next year, and having a sense of alternatives in case the officer declines the offered figure.

  33. 2:00:46
    Assessing, cemeteries and conservation

    These lines were passed over quickly with no changes proposed. Assessing is mostly contracted and conservation is essentially unchanged.

  34. 2:00:46
    Donations requests reviewed

    The changes column showed Seniors Plus asking $327 more than last year, Tri County asking $500 after two years without funding, Health Equity Alliance asking $500 and Oasis Free Clinic asking $700. Red Cross stopped being funded in 2014 and did not request this year; Western Maine Transportation and LifeFlight were added in 2015.

  35. 2:05:49
    Donations reshuffled within a $3,000 total

    The board chose to recommend specific groups rather than list everything and let town meeting pick, which one member said becomes a circus. LifeFlight was dropped in favour of Oasis Free Clinic at $500, Seniors Plus was set at $500 rather than the $827 requested, and the Health Equity Alliance and Tri County requests were struck. Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, Community Concepts and Western Maine Transportation were kept.

  36. 2:11:02
    Outstanding request, general assistance and parks and recreation

    Western Maine Transportation had not submitted a written request, and a member said he would want to revisit the donations list if it does not arrive before the budget is finalised. An email from Hunter asking for $300 was expected to fit within the war memorial park projects line of $5,340, most of it about $5,000 rolled over for the gazebo, with the flag pole also needing attention. State park and recreation fund receipts were quoted but are garbled in the recording; $5,500 of unspent gazebo money was returned to the recreation fund.

  37. 2:11:02
    Planning board, appeals and comprehensive plan

    Ordinance review was brought down to $500, with $500 for public hearings and money added for the comprehensive plan, a total increase of $2,600. A comprehensive plan visioning session was scheduled for the following night at 6:30 in the school cafeteria. Members disagreed about whether the larger comprehensive plan cost falls next year or spreads over time.

  38. 2:16:02
    Solid waste contracts

    Updated sheets compare two haulers, one of them Pine Tree, with projections through 2020. Members said the cheaper option carries risk and that both contracts should go to the town to decide, with unresolved questions about whether recycling would remain single sort and what materials would be allowed.

  39. 2:16:02
    Telecommunications line

    The telecommunications bottom line was given as $53,221, including the IT support Josh obtained quotes for. Franchise fees brought in $41,615 last year, and a member said the town should not continuously spend more than it takes in on that line. Close to $10,000 of the line is one-time cost, including about $5,700 for the server and part of the website expense, which is already contracted.

  40. 2:21:20
    County budget and next meeting

    An estimate of the county budget's impact was handed out, with an increase referred to as almost 8 percent, though the actual percentage had not yet been received. The board set Thursday at 6:00 to take up salaries in executive session, noting a historic district commission meeting at 6:30 that night, and moved to adjourn.

What was decided

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

Elsewhere

← 2017-01-26 Select Board2017-02-07 Select Board →All meetings

Source & method

Town of Durham meeting recordings, YouTube auto-captions, and the town's written minutes
Captions cleaned into timestamped transcripts; topics and motions found by pattern matching; summaries written by a language model and required to cite the second each item begins. Every name attached to speech is checked against the attendance list in the minutes, and marked (?) where no record confirms it
https://www.youtube.com/@durhammaine/videos
Summary written by claude-opus-5. No minutes matched.
Data as of 25 August 2026 (the date of the newest recorded meeting in the index); retrieved 2 September 2026.