Select Board Meeting ~ February 5, 2015

2015-02-05 · Select Board · 2:08:28 · watch on YouTube →

This was the select board's second workshop on the town budget, with the town administrator walking the board line by line through most of the town's accounts. The board covered administration, elections, legal and audit, county tax, donations, the Eureka building, parks, solid waste, septage and telecommunications, settling figures as it went; fire and rescue and roads were deliberately skipped for a later session. It agreed to raise the code enforcement officer's rate to $22 an hour, trimmed a number of small lines, and moved the front counter rebuild and the town hall interior painting out of the operating budget so they can be brought forward instead as a capital project. Administration finished at $331,522, a decrease of $7,145 or 2.11%. Two requests were left open: the historical society's $10,000 for church restoration, pending clarification of whether it wants new money or permission to spend what it already has, and the town report dedication, pending a check of the year's deaths. The board agreed to resume on Monday at 6:00 with Sean and the fire chief invited, and with all salaries pulled together onto one sheet.

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. 0:02
   Keys to town buildings

   Before the workshop was called to order the board noted that selectmen hold keys only to the town office and cannot get into any other town building, even for an alarm. One member said he wanted it put on a future agenda that at least one selectman hold a full set, or that a keybox with a code be installed.

2. 0:02
   Administration salary lines opened

   The chair called the second budget workshop to order and the administrator began stepping down the administration line items. The chairman's and selectmen's salaries were left flat, the tax collector and treasurer salary lines are expected to fall off in a year or two, and the clerk lines were built on a 3% raise, with the town clerk up about $500. The board agreed to leave the salaries as a group until the end and look at them together.

3. 0:02
   Code enforcement hours and rate

   Line 13 was flagged as not fitting the general formula. The original request was 24 hours a week plus two hours for meetings at $25 an hour; the version in front of the board used the same hours at $21.75.

4. 5:11
   Code enforcement officer's case for more hours and pay

   Paul, the code enforcement officer, said he and Ruth (?) had compared code salaries on the Maine Municipal Association site and taken roughly the average for towns of 4,000 to 5,000, which produced the $21.75 figure. He said permit fee revenue has risen 66% since he started in June, and that with a modest increase to permit fees and to violation penalties the position could be self-supporting. He also argued that closing the gap between code enforcement and assessing means new construction gets taxed promptly rather than the rest of the town covering it.

5. 10:31
   Code rate settled; insurance and workers compensation

   The board went to $22 an hour, putting line 13 at $26,496, and left FICA and Medicare to be recalculated once all salaries are set; line 14 was kept out of the general formula because a raise had already been given there after a 90-day review. Health insurance rose but the benefits block is down overall. General insurance from MMA is up on more vehicles plus a 10% rate increase, and workers compensation has been redistributed to public works and the fire department, with about $1,100 added for a payroll overrun the auditors are expected to charge for.

6. 10:31
   Computer replacement schedule

   The $1,500 hardware line is built on replacing two workstations a year, having skipped a year; Donna's and Shannon's machines were described as inadequate. John does the installations, and the town has begun buying direct rather than through a vendor that sets everything up.

7. 15:38
   Software, backup, Trio and the copier lease

   The software line had $500 requested although nothing has been spent since 2012; the board cut it to $200, citing a network switch replacement of about $250. It was unclear whether the Trio data is backed up offsite and John is to be asked. The copier is $144 to $145 a month, and the equipment lease line was brought down.

8. 20:48
   Publications and town manuals

   Publications was reduced, most manuals now being available online; the line still carries $750 for the state code manual for the code officer. A former official's elected officials manual has not been returned and the current holder has none.

9. 20:48
   Front counter height, plexiglass and accessibility

   Staff cannot reach across the counter, which was described as four to six inches too high and six inches too deep, and the cabinets are built so the base cannot simply be dropped. Making changes would bring in an accessibility requirement, and the board discussed removing the plexiglass while keeping some barrier for staff safety. It was said $1,500 would not cover it and that materials alone would run about $1,000 more, before labour.

10. 26:00
    Counter (?) proposed as a capital project; water fountain

    Rather than half-fund it, the board asked for a cost estimate within a few days for lowering the counter, closing it off and putting a handicapped-accessible section in the middle, so it can go forward as a capital project against the building fund, which holds $35,000. Separately, the water fountain is switched off because it leaks onto the floor; the board suggested at least having a plumber look at it.

11. 26:00
    Office supplies, discretionary and general maintenance

    Office supplies includes per-copy charges beyond the contract allowance and rose about $900 last year without an explanation the board could identify. Selectmen's discretionary, which pays for flowers for funerals, a student award and the town logo, carries a 3% increase. General maintenance includes generator servicing, which was not done last year.

12. 31:02
    Heating system servicing, propane and telephone

    One furnace was repaired when it broke down but the board could not establish whether either unit has actually been serviced since before Janet's time, and agreed the system should be cleaned yearly. Telephone was left flat and propane was lowered; the propane contract lapsed when Janet left and has not been renewed.

13. 31:02
    Mowing contracts and the end of contracted plowing

    Buildings mowing is $4,800 and the contract is up this year, with the board noting it will have to go out to RFP or the town meeting will object. Cemeteries and parks are mowed on separate lines, and the plowing line is no longer needed because public works now does it.

14. 31:02
    Town hall painting, repairs and electricity

    The interior painting was pulled out of maintenance and folded into the counter capital project, on the point that a capital item cannot be described as maintenance. The remaining maintenance and repair line was set at $800 to cover furnace servicing and small jobs. Electricity was held flat despite a forecast 13% drop in rates, the board saying it was not sold on the forecast.

15. 36:09
    Street lights, traffic control and Union Church

    Street lights were budgeted flat and traffic control repairs, which cover the blinking light at the Quaker meeting house, have been moved out. The Union Church security, electricity and telephone lines were all held at what was spent; the phone line exists only to serve the alarm.

16. 36:09
    Election payroll and voting booths

    This is an off year with the town meeting and a June school referendum, whose costs the school is believed to cover. Against $2,739 spent in the last comparable year and nearly $6,000 in a presidential year, the board settled on $3,100 to leave room for a special election. Election expenses carry $2,000 for eight additional voting booths, the town being twelve short of the state's requirement for its number of voters; cheaper $25 tabletop privacy screens were rejected as suitable only as spares.

17. 41:25
    Legal expenses and the audit fee

    Legal has run $18,000 three years ago and about $10,000 two years ago, with last year small; the board weighed cutting back to $10,000 but kept the higher figure, including the $2,000 allowed for code enforcement legal work, on the grounds that the code officer doing the job properly may turn up more that needs the attorney. MMA dues include general legal advice at no extra charge but only in general terms. The auditor's fee was confirmed at not more than $11,000.

18. 41:25
    Regional dues and tax billing

    MMA dues rose. The town has moved from AVCOG to GPCOG, which costs about $1 per capita instead of about $1.50 and offers more bulk purchasing, particularly for public works. Tax billing came down because there was no insert in the bills last year.

19. 46:48
    State revenue sharing proposal

    A member reported hearing the mayor of Auburn on the radio using Durham as an example: the town receives about $134,000 in revenue sharing, which the governor proposes to eliminate, against a claimed collective income tax saving to Durham taxpayers of $1.4 million, plus a tripling of the property tax fairness credit. The board agreed it is premature to build anything into this budget while the matter is undecided in Augusta, and noted the town does not pre-spend revenue it has not yet received.

20. 46:48
    Town report printing quotes

    The lowest quote for 600 copies at 84 pages, which is the report without the commitment, was $1,842 from Quality Copy in Augusta; adding the commitment to make 116 pages costs about $216 more. Seven hundred copies at 84 pages was quoted at $2,195 by Lincoln County Printing. The budget committee had previously suggested copying the reports at Kinkos, which Janet checked and found substantially more expensive.

21. 51:59
    Town report print run, cover and dedication

    With the commitment going online as a searchable PDF, the board opted for 700 copies at 84 pages and $2,200, with a two-week lead time and a note in the report telling residents the commitment is online or can be picked up at the town office. Past practice puts a new town building on the cover and the board favoured the new public works building. A dedication had been suggested by Russ for a Mr. Acriman (?), but the board wanted the year's deaths reviewed first and asked Shannon to do that.

22. 51:59
    Dues, training and mileage

    The line rises sharply and includes $1,500 for code enforcement and $400 for recertification training. Janet had split convention costs with Bowdoinham and, in some fashion, the county, so past figures are not comparable. The board was firm that training cannot be cut, particularly for someone new to the position, and one member noted a single training he must attend costs $800.

23. 57:06
    Advertising, abatements and the administration total

    Advertising ran $2,400 last year on the public works hiring; with the road commissioner post to advertise, the board set $1,800 rather than the lower figure first proposed. Members welcomed a new line showing taxes abated, while noting the overlay is what actually covers abatements. Administration came out at $331,522, down $7,145 or 2.11%, and the board expected the budget committee to ask about the workers compensation moved out to other budgets.

24. 57:06
    Capital projects cannot sit in the operating budget

    A member asked whether a bond payment could be absorbed into the paving budget and was told a capital project has to be separate from the operating budget. Cutting paving to make room would mean cutting maintenance on roads that are currently in good condition, and a check had already been made of whether there was room between the old contract cost and current spending.

25. 1:02:12
    Animal control

    The line is close to flat apart from the salary. The board discussed dropping the Lisbon arrangement, which requires notice by April 15, and advertising the town's own officer at about $4,500 plus a gas stipend; a candidate already working for a neighbouring town at $3,600 a year was said to be interested. Durham is about two and a half times the size of that town and takes close to double the calls.

26. 1:02:12
    Cemeteries and perpetual care

    Cemetery mowing is $3,500 and is kept on its own line, the board noting cemeteries are labour intensive because of the trimming. Perpetual care money can only be used for capital-type work and not for mowing; about $2,000 offset the line last year, but nothing has been requested for this year.

27. 1:07:21
    Conservation and county tax

    The conservation request is unchanged and is mostly dues plus a scholarship sending a fifth grader to camp, paid out of the recreation fund rather than property taxes. The corrected county assessment is $383,875, up 3.82% or $14,125; it is not put on the town meeting warrant because it is an assessment the town has no vote on.

28. 1:07:21
    County commissioners' raises and possible legal action

    A member asked whether money should be set aside in case Durham joins other Androscoggin County towns in legal action against the county commissioners over their raises and their treatment of the budget committee, and was told the $12,000 legal line should absorb it. The commissioners have sent a four-page letter, which will go in the next packet. The board wants the county commissioner to come in, and to invite Paul Chase and Garrett Mason, since a state official can request an investigation where a town cannot.

29. 1:12:32
    Donations: what each agency does for Durham

    The board recalled the budget committee's position that charitable giving is for individuals and that using taxpayer money for it is inappropriate, and worked from the handouts on what each group does for residents. Community Concepts (?) reported roughly 65 to 70 services in town, including 40 fuel assistance and 19 transportation cases; the Red Cross (?) reported 148 people county-wide with no Durham breakdown; Tri-County (?) reported 20 residents; Western Maine Transportation (?) reported 195 trips totalling 12,587 miles for six Durham residents.

30. 1:17:54
    Donations settled; Eureka building operating lines

    The total stays at $3,000, split six ways at $500 each. At the Eureka building electricity is flat, propane was cut by $500 with a possible new gas stove expected to use less, repairs were left around $750 to cover a service call, cleaning was raised to $1,272 to reflect a full year plus 3%, and supplies were cut to $150, leaving the building down $125 overall.

31. 1:23:16
    Eureka capital request

    The building association asked $3,000 for a replacement stove but wants a commercial unit on the view that the building will eventually have a commercial use, while commercial propane stoves were found advertised at $750. The board said inspecting the existing stove is a repair and cannot come out of capital, and that a dishwasher request has been tabled. It insisted on seeing a plan and preliminary numbers before the budget committee, and that the floor work depends on a hoped-for donation from Home Depot.

32. 1:23:16
    Eureka rentals and insurance

    The hall was rented last weekend for a reception after a funeral. It costs $50 to rent plus a $50 refundable deposit, but renters must either get a $400,000 rider on their homeowner's insurance, which many insurers no longer write for a single day, or buy TULIP coverage at $72, putting the real cost at about $125 for up to 45 people. Alcohol is not covered and requires the renter's own insurance and a state permit.

33. 1:23:16
    General assistance

    The line stays at $5,000, as far back as anyone could see. The programme is state mandated and the town currently gets half of what it spends back, although the board noted the reimbursement percentages are under review and smaller towns currently do better than cities.

34. 1:28:57
    Historic district commission budget

    The commission has been in abeyance for several years. Rather than keep its own budget, $200 for maps goes into administration publications and $200 for postage into the planning board line, which is to be retitled to cover the planning board, appeals and the historic district commission, with the change flagged to the budget committee and at town meeting.

35. 1:28:57
    Church restoration request

    The historical society asked for $10,000 toward the Union Church and the Methodist church. Ben Love of a local building and renovation firm visited with an engineer, and the finding was that foundation drainage on the left side of the building must be dealt with before any interior work, with roofing at seven to ten years. The society already has about $56,821 set aside, and the board could not tell whether it is asking to spend that or for a further appropriation.

36. 1:34:15
    Parks lines and the Runaround Pond toilet

    The parks salary has moved into public works, with Pat Morse kept on part time for parts runs, cleaning the parks and plowing. The portable toilet at the pond keeps being tipped over and the town pays to have it reset; a permanent facility to the state's specifications was found prohibitively expensive, and the state contract requires facilities be provided. Park plowing of about $1,000 also shifts to public works, and one park maintenance line was cut from $200 back to $100.

37. 1:39:42
    War memorial flag pole and the parade

    The board wants more in the flag upkeep line but has no firm number; guesses of two to three thousand dollars were floated and the fire chief is thought to have looked into it. An Eagle Scout who came in that evening may fundraise toward it as part of his project. The parade committee asked $750 again, having only started meeting at the end of January; the gazebo was painted last year by a county jail work crew using paint bought two years earlier for $482.

38. 1:39:42
    Planning board and the comprehensive plan

    The planning board line was built on 16 meetings, one a month, plus four more for a possible start on a comprehensive plan. The board said the comprehensive plan is four or five years overdue and needs to move to the front burner. The board secretary's requested raise was left to the general personnel discussion.

39. 1:44:51
    Solid waste contract and automated pickup

    The trash figures are contract amounts under a three-year agreement running July to July, which started lower and works out roughly level over its term. The hauler has proposed automated pickup with bins, presented as potentially a wash financially while moving the town from 26 tags to 52-week pickup, but the board has unanswered questions about who pays for damaged bins and how it fits a tag system, and is waiting for the hauler to come back. The FICA and Medicare on special pickup labour is to be folded into public works.

40. 1:49:52
    Septage and household hazardous waste

    The town pays $250 so that haulers pumping septic tanks in Durham have somewhere to dump, but nobody at the table was certain who it is paid to, and one member said Durham takes septage from everywhere and is the cheapest around, so the line may be unnecessary; he undertook to check. The hazardous waste line has $1,000 against $684 spent; the facility changed how it operates, only two to four residents a year use it, and the board could not recall what it decided last year and suggested calling Janet.

41. 1:49:52
    Networking the fire and public works buildings

    Nothing was budgeted to connect the fire station and public works building to the town office network. A member said it could be done for perhaps $600 by putting a firewall appliance in each building and running a site-to-site VPN, and that John should be asked; the board took its absence from the budget as a sign it was not pressing.

42. 1:54:58
    Telecommunications budget and franchise fees

    The committee secretary line was cut to about $600 because the committee rarely meets and the cable franchise work is nearly finished, channel master is dropping off, PEG Central access channel expenses are about $4,000, and postage and supplies came down to $500. The whole budget is paid for out of franchise fees, and a member noted that spending had been running close to franchise revenue with nothing left over for upgrades, whereas this year it is about $4,000 to $5,000 below what came in. No other company is likely to bid because the incumbent's infrastructure cannot be reused.

43. 2:00:14
    Town email addresses and public meeting law

    The increase in the telecommunications budget is largely 35 town email addresses, added after a meeting with the town attorney, Jack, about the use of personal email. The board discussed a single forwarding address per board instead, the risk that emails among members become an unnoticed illegal meeting, and the attorney's point that members should not correspond with each other or with an applicant about a pending application outside the meeting. It also noted that mail arriving at a town address is held on the town's servers, which keeps discovery off members' own computers.

44. 2:00:14
    Next workshop and the salary review

    The board decided to break rather than take up salaries, asking instead for every salary to be brought together on one sheet with the performance reviews, some of which will be discussed in executive session. Fire and roads are to be revisited with Sean and the fire chief invited.

45. 2:05:16
    Cemetery mowing equipment

    The board discussed buying a mower for the cemeteries rather than contracting the work, needing a machine in the 48 to 60 inch range plus a trailer, a push mower and a trimmer, and naming Chad Little, Hammond and Cub Cadet as possible sources. The suggestion was to write specifications and put it out to bid as was done with the other public works equipment, or else take a one-year contract and leave the decision to the incoming road commissioner, since it also turns on having a part-time person to run it.

What was decided

• 10:31
  Set the code enforcement officer's rate at $22 an hour rather than the $21.75 proposed, putting line 13 at $26,496, with FICA and Medicare to be recalculated once all salaries are settled.passed
• 15:38
  Reduce the computer software line from the $500 requested to $200, on the basis that nothing has been spent since 2012 and the most recent purchase was a network switch of about $250.passed
• 15:38
  Set the equipment lease line for the copier at $1,750, against $144 to $145 a month.passed
• 26:00
  Take the front counter work out of the operating budget and develop it as a capital project against the building fund, cutting the furnishings and equipment line from $1,500 to $125, with a cost estimate to be produced within a few days.passed
• 31:02
  Remove the town hall interior painting from the maintenance line and add it to the counter capital project, and set the remaining maintenance and repair line at $800 to cover servicing the heating system and small jobs.passed
• 36:09
  Set election payroll at $3,100, above the $2,739 spent in the last comparable off year, to leave room for a special election.passed
• 36:09
  Keep the $2,000 in election expenses for eight additional voting booths of the style the town already uses, rather than buying cheaper tabletop privacy screens at $25 each.passed
• 41:25
  Leave the legal expenses line at the higher figure rather than cutting it back to $10,000, keeping the $2,000 allowance for code enforcement legal work for this year and reviewing how it goes.passed
• 46:48
  Set the tax billing line at $2,100, the level of a year without an insert in the tax bills.passed
• 51:59
  Print 700 town reports at 84 pages for $2,200, leaving the commitment out of the printed book and publishing it online as a searchable PDF, with a note in the report telling residents where to find it and that copies can be picked up at the town office.passed
• 51:59
  Put the new public works building on the cover of the town report, following past practice of featuring a new town building.passed
• 51:59
  Hold the town report dedication open, with Shannon (?) asked to review the year's deaths before the board settles on the suggestion that had been made.tabled
• 57:06
  Set the advertising line at $1,800, above the lower figure first proposed, to cover advertising for a road commissioner.passed
• 1:02:12
  Leave the animal control line as it stands for this year rather than cutting it, so that the town keeps the option of either continuing the current arrangement or hiring its own officer.passed
• 1:17:54
  Keep donations at $3,000 total, given as $500 each to six organisations, adding Western Maine Transportation and LifeFlight and dropping the Red Cross and Tri-County from the list funded last year.passed
• 1:28:57
  Eliminate the historic district commission's own budget, moving $200 for maps into the administration publications line and $200 for postage into the planning board line, and retitle that line to cover the planning board, appeals and the historic district commission.passed
• 1:28:57
  Hold the historical society's $10,000 church restoration request until it clarifies whether it is asking to spend money from the fund already set aside for it or for a further appropriation, and what the foundation and drainage repair is expected to cost.tabled
• 1:34:15
  Cut a park maintenance line from $200 back to $100, nothing having been spent last year.passed
• 1:44:51
  Fold the FICA and Medicare for solid waste special pickup labour into the public works budget rather than keeping it on the solid waste line.passed
• 2:00:14
  Whether every member of every town committee gets an individual town email address. One member said plainly that they should not, the board discussed a single forwarding address per board instead, and the conclusion recorded was to leave the individual addresses in for now while seeking more clarification.outcome unclear
• 2:00:14
  Continue the budget workshop on Monday at 6:00, revisiting fire and roads with Sean and the fire chief invited, and bring all salaries together on one sheet with the performance reviews, part of which will be taken in executive session.passed
• 2:05:16
  A motion to adjourn the workshop was made and the chair called for those in favour.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

• 5:11
  The code enforcement officer said permit fee revenue is up 66% since he started in June, and that with an increase to permit fees and violation penalties the position could pay for itself. He argued the bigger effect is on assessing: when new construction goes untaxed for years, the rest of the town covers it.
• 46:48
  The governor's proposal would end municipal revenue sharing, worth about $134,000 a year to Durham. The board decided not to build anything into this budget while it is undecided in Augusta, noting the town does not pre-spend money it has not received.
• 51:59
  The printed town report will no longer contain the commitment book, which lists property valuations; it goes online as a searchable PDF instead. The board agreed to print a note telling residents they can still pick up a copy at the town office.
• 1:07:21
  The county assessment on Durham is $383,875, up 3.82% or $14,125, and does not go on the town meeting warrant because the town has no vote on it. The board discussed joining other Androscoggin County towns in action over the county commissioners' raises and wants the commissioner, and legislators Paul Chase and Garrett Mason, to come in.

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: 1 passage of motion language, against 22 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

2015-02-09 Select Board →All meetings