Select Board Meeting ~ March 3, 2015

2015-03-03 · Select Board · 1:20:45 · watch on YouTube →

A working meeting with all five selectmen present, called solely to finalise the warrant for town meeting. The board went down the articles one at a time setting its recommendations alongside the budget committee's, changing course on several. It dropped its recommendation for the Union Church restoration from $10,000 to nothing for want of a plan, cut its own public works figure by about $6,000, reduced the Eureka Community Center capital recommendation after rejecting a larger one, and left the town hall capital projects article on the warrant with no recommendation from either body. It split the proposed public works capital reserve article in two, added two supplemental articles for 2014 overexpenditures at the front of the warrant, and, rather than put a citizen petition on the warrant, wrote a new article asking the town whether to authorise the selectmen to explore other means of voting on the budget. The meeting ended with the wording of an advertisement for a new animal control officer and the signing of a 46-article warrant.

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. 0:51
   Purpose of the meeting and the opening articles

   All five selectmen were present for a meeting called to go over the final warrant. Articles one and two, choosing a moderator and electing a municipal officer, must be in that order, and article three adopts the Maine Moderator's Manual rules of procedure.

2. 0:51
   Administration expenses

   The budget committee agreed with the selectmen's recommendation of $327,893, offset by $80,484 from designated funds and by permit, registration, town clerk and delinquent tax interest revenues. A member queried the $2,200 the budget committee had put in from telecommunications for printing the town report.

3. 0:51
   What franchise fee money can be spent on

   Asked whether the franchise agreement money was available and restricted, the answer was that several thousand dollars more came in than was spent last year and the same looks likely this year. There is no stipulation on how the designated fund is used; it has simply been spent on telecommunications-type things by convention.

4. 0:51
   Town hall capital projects

   The selectmen had recommended $5,000 transferred from the municipal building designated fund balance, with the budget committee making no recommendation for lack of information. A member objected that the board has denied other committees, including the historical committee, for the same reason and that all departments should be held to the same standard of producing a plan and estimates.

5. 6:04
   Leaving the town hall article open

   Members agreed the work is frustrating the office and that a plan and estimates might be assembled before town meeting. The solution settled on was to put the article on the warrant with no recommendation from either body, explain on the floor what is proposed and what estimates exist, and move zero dollars if no plan materialises.

6. 6:04
   Animal control, assessing, cemeteries and conservation

   Animal control was recommended at $14,172, with $501 transferred from animal control receipts and $13,671 raised. Assessing was recommended at $19,950, cemeteries at a figure the recording does not render clearly, and conservation at $2,150 transferred from the recreation fund. All were agreed by both bodies and moved without discussion.

7. 6:04
   Social and community service agencies

   Both bodies recommended raising $3,000, made up of $500 each to Community Concepts, Western Maine Transportation, Androscoggin Home Health, Seniors Plus, LifeFlight and one further agency the recording does not render clearly.

8. 6:04
   Eureka Community Center operating budget

   Both bodies recommended $4,854, with $1,915 transferred from the Eureka rentals designated fund balance and $2,939 raised.

9. 11:25
   The Eureka Center stove

   The selectmen had recommended $3,000 from the Eureka fundraising designated fund balance for capital projects and the budget committee $1,500. Discussion turned on whether the stove could be done for $1,500, since Paul had said the fittings and attachments cost more than half the price of the stove itself, which was around $1,000 to $1,100. Members questioned whether a centre used this little needs a commercial range, and suggested the existing one, installed in 2004, should be repairable.

10. 11:25
    Frustration with Eureka capital projects

    A member said he would like to see the centre actually complete something, noting the town has voted flooring money twice with nothing happening, though tables and chairs were bought two years ago. Others pointed out the money is transferred rather than raised, is money the centre itself fundraised, and comes back if unspent, and that the centre could still make its case on the town floor.

11. 16:28
    Fire and rescue operating budget

    Both the budget committee and the selectmen recommended $292,860 for the Durham Fire and Rescue operating budget.

12. 16:28
    Fire and rescue capital improvement account

    The selectmen had recommended $50,000 and the budget committee $40,000. Two members said they would be willing to join the budget committee at $40,000, one objecting to paving the fire department parking lot while the roads are in poor condition. It was explained that the new fire truck had been moved out a year and the parking lot paving pulled forward from 2017 and 2018 into 2016 at $40,000, which took $20,000 off next year.

13. 21:42
    Fire capital projects and the painting quote

    Three thousand dollars was recommended for the hood and the cameras, the selectmen present at a meeting the previous Thursday having decided not to include painting as a capital project. A member asked whether the county jail work crew Janet had arranged for the gazebo could paint the fire station instead of the $6,000 quote, and was told it was worth exploring.

14. 21:42
    Fire station loan and ladder truck bond

    Payment four of five on the refinanced fire station loan was recommended at $39,510 transferred from the fire capital improvement fund. Payment two of six on the Quint ladder truck bond was set at the lower of the two figures discussed, around $33,000, because the board could not guarantee the town would approve the larger capital improvement figure that the higher payment depended on.

15. 21:42
    General assistance

    Both bodies recommended raising $5,000 for general assistance.

16. 21:42
    Union Church restoration

    The selectmen had previously recommended $10,000 and the budget committee zero. A member noted the two questions left at the last vote were whether the historical society was looking to appropriate money it already holds and whether it had a plan, and that the answer to both was no. The society holds somewhere around $56,000, which members thought would not come close to the scope of the restoration, and although a contractor and others have looked at the building nobody has put forward a formal plan.

17. 27:00
    Parks and recreation

    Members worked through the difference between their own earlier figure and the budget committee's, establishing after some confusion that the budget committee had added about $1,600 on top of the $3,500 the selectmen had already added, and that roughly $5,000 within the article is for the flag project. One member said he would like to see electrical service run to the bandstand if funds allow.

18. 32:10
    Late request from the Athletic Booster Club

    An email had arrived that afternoon from Jake Webb of the Durham Athletic Booster Club, a volunteer nonprofit that now runs Durham softball with 39 children. He asked for $5,000 this year and $1,500 to $2,000 annually thereafter for equipment, insurance and field repairs, noting the town used to fund softball and still funds Cal Ripken. Members thought the request was detailed and reasonable but had arrived too late to go before the budget committee.

19. 32:10
    Planning board and appeals

    Both bodies recommended $14,190, with $750 transferred from the planning and appeals applications designated fund balance and $13,440 raised.

20. 32:10
    Supplemental article for the appeals budget

    An article was included to appropriate $1,297.66 from undesignated fund balance to the appeals budget, covering unanticipated expenses from workshops for ordinance review and training. This is a supplemental budget article making up an overexpenditure from last year.

21. 37:17
    A second supplemental article and renumbering

    A second supplemental article was created for $12 to cover the 2014 parks and recreation deficit. Both supplemental articles were placed at the front of the warrant as articles four and five, on the reasoning that they can be explained and disposed of before the year's own articles, which pushed every following article down by two and caused confusion with numbering for the rest of the meeting.

22. 37:17
    Public works operating budget

    The selectmen's recommendation was $1,037,798, of which $53,364 is URIP money and a further sum auto excise, leaving $252,484 raised. A member noted he had identified about $6,000 that could come out of the road commissioner's salary and other lines, and said that having raised it he thought the board should make the cut.

23. 42:30
    Creating a public works capital reserve fund

    An article proposed by a member of the budget committee would create a public works capital reserve fund and appropriate all unexpended public works operating funds at year end into it annually. A member wanted more discretion, so that in a year like this one, where nearly $100,000 went unspent, the board and the town could decide how much goes to capital and how much elsewhere.

24. 47:38
    Whether a separate reserve cuts across a town-wide fund

    Members noted a long-standing aim of bringing all the town's capital reserves under one umbrella, and that creating another separate fund makes that harder. The counter-argument was that the town is already far down the road with separate funds, the roughly $96,000 will likely be spent on a new truck next year anyway, and folding a small fund in later would not be difficult. The board decided it was not ready to pull the trigger on a town-wide fund.

25. 52:53
    Putting the 2014 surplus into the new reserve

    A further article appropriates $96,466 of unexpended 2014 budget funds into the newly created public works capital reserve fund. Asked why there was money left over, the explanation given was underexpenditure on labour and on salt.

26. 52:53
    Public works bonds, solid waste and telecommunications

    Payment one of ten on the public works equipment bond was recommended at $141,524 and the public works building bond at $91,120 all raised. Solid waste was recommended at $191,825, with $14,308 transferred from the solid waste tags designated fund balance and $177,517 raised, and telecommunications at $28,659 taken entirely from franchise fees.

27. 57:54
    Wording of the levy limit article

    Three alternative wordings had been prepared for the article on exceeding the property tax levy limit. Members compared them and chose the one closest to what the town normally uses, without a dollar amount written into it.

28. 57:54
    Historic district ordinance amendment

    An article would amend the town of Durham historic district ordinance to add two associate members to the Historic District Commission. The full ordinance text was not read out.

29. 57:54
    Accepting Sand Hill Drive phase 2

    An article asks the town to accept Sand Hill Drive phase 2, associated with the Sylvester Woods subdivision plan, as a town way. Members confirmed the road is in the growth district, where the town is allowed but not obliged to accept roads, and that it has been inspected and found up to code.

30. 1:03:00
    The petition on how the budget is voted

    A citizen petition had been submitted seeking a different method of voting the town budget, and the board had an opinion from the town attorney. Members said the petition as written is vague and impossible to enforce, leaving unanswered what happens when an article is voted down, how a referendum result reconciles with a town meeting floor vote, and how the town would meet contracted obligations such as solid waste if a figure were rejected.

31. 1:03:00
    What the petitioners want

    A member said the petitioners are less concerned about the amounts than about being able to vote at all, wanting polling hours during the day rather than a single town meeting they cannot attend. Others argued that a floor vote on a $4.5 million budget by around 100 people is itself a problem, but that making the change properly would require a town charter, which Durham does not have; without one, the selectmen determine the method of voting.

32. 1:08:21
    A new article on exploring other means of voting

    Rather than put the petition itself to a vote, the board wrote a new article asking whether the town will authorise the selectmen to explore other means of voting in the town budget. The reasoning was that a discussion needs an article to hang on, that this gives a clear indication from the floor, and that public hearings and a committee could follow. Members asked that the petitioner be told this is the action being taken so those who signed can attend.

33. 1:08:21
    Housekeeping articles

    The remaining articles, numbered 36 through 45 after the renumbering, are the standard housekeeping articles and were taken and voted together.

34. 1:13:45
    Advertising for an animal control officer

    A quote from the Sun Journal for the advertisement as originally written came back at over $300, which members said would blow the budget. They rewrote it down to a short notice reading that the town of Durham seeks an animal control officer, with a phone number for more information and EOE for equal opportunity employer. The application deadline is 4:30 pm on March 20; the listing has already gone out through MMA and a couple of applicants have come forward.

35. 1:18:47
    Signing the warrant

    Members reviewed a printed copy to check the numbering after the renumbering, arriving at 46 articles, and a clean copy with a signature page was printed for signing.

What was decided

• 0:51
  Recommend $327,893 for administration expenses, matching the budget committee. Moved, seconded and the chair stated the motion carries.passed
• 6:04
  Present the town hall capital projects article as written with no recommendation from the selectmen, matching the budget committee's no recommendation for lack of information, and move zero dollars from the town meeting floor if no plan and estimates are produced before then.passed
• 6:04
  Recommend the articles for animal control at $14,172, assessing at $19,950, cemeteries, conservation at $2,150 from the recreation fund, social and community service agencies at $3,000, and the Eureka Community Center operating budget at $4,854. Each was moved, seconded and carried without discussion.passed
• 11:25
  A motion that the selectmen recommend $3,000 for Eureka Community Center capital projects. The chair called for those in favour and then those opposed and stated the motion fails.failed
• 16:28
  Recommend $2,000 for Eureka Community Center capital projects, transferred from the Eureka fundraising designated fund balance, in place of the selectmen's earlier $3,000 and the budget committee's $1,500.passed
• 16:28
  Recommend $292,860 for the Durham Fire and Rescue operating budget, matching the budget committee.passed
• 21:42
  Keep the selectmen's recommendation of $50,000 for the fire and rescue capital improvement account rather than joining the budget committee at $40,000, despite two members saying they would prefer the lower figure. The chair called for and against and stated the motion carries.passed
• 21:42
  Recommend $3,000 for fire and rescue capital improvement projects, transferred from the fire capital improvement fund, covering the hood and the cameras but not the painting, which had been put back on the maintenance budget.passed
• 21:42
  Recommend the fire station loan payment at $39,510 and the Quint ladder truck bond payment at the lower of the two figures considered, both transferred from the fire capital improvement fund, and general assistance at $5,000 raised.passed
• 21:42
  Change the selectmen's recommendation for the historical society's Union Church restoration from $10,000 down to zero, matching the budget committee, for lack of any plan, but keep the article on the warrant so the society can make its case and put a figure before town meeting from the floor.passed
• 32:10
  Adopt the budget committee's recommendation for parks and recreation in place of the selectmen's earlier figure, which leaves roughly $5,000 within it for the flag project.passed
• 32:10
  Do not add the Athletic Booster Club's request to the warrant, because it arrived too late to be put before the budget committee. The town administrator was asked to write back saying so and inviting the club to bring a motion for funds from the town meeting floor.passed
• 32:10
  Recommend $14,190 for planning board and appeals, and appropriate $1,297.66 from undesignated fund balance to the 2014 appeals budget for unanticipated expenses from ordinance review workshops and training.passed
• 37:17
  Add a second supplemental article appropriating $12 from undesignated fund balance to the 2014 parks and recreation budget, and place both supplemental articles at the front of the warrant as articles four and five, renumbering everything that follows.passed
• 37:17
  A motion to recommend the public works operating budget as written at $1,037,798, with $252,484 raised. The chair called for and against and stated the motion fails.failed
• 42:30
  Recommend $1,031,798 for public works, with $246,484 raised, cutting about $6,000 from the road commissioner's salary and other lines against the figure originally recommended.passed
• 47:38
  Split the proposed public works capital reserve article into two: one article creating the fund, and a separate article on transferring unexpended funds into it each year. The earlier motion and second on the combined article were withdrawn.passed
• 47:38
  Recommend the article creating a public works capital reserve fund, which the budget committee had also recommended, members accepting that the town is not yet ready to bring all its capital reserves under a single town-wide fund.passed
• 47:38
  Recommend the article asking the town to vote to automatically transfer all unexpended public works operating funds as of year end into the public works capital reserve fund, the wording being reworked during the meeting to say automatically transfer rather than appropriate.passed
• 52:53
  Recommend appropriating $96,466 of unexpended 2014 budget funds into the newly created public works capital reserve fund, the underspend having come mainly from labour and from buying less salt than expected.passed
• 52:53
  Recommend the public works equipment bond payment at $141,524, the public works building bond at $91,120, solid waste at $191,825 and telecommunications at $28,659 from franchise fees.passed
• 57:54
  Use the town's usual wording for the levy limit article, without a dollar amount written into it, rather than either of the two alternative versions prepared.passed
• 57:54
  Put on the warrant an article amending the town of Durham historic district ordinance to add two associate members to the Historic District Commission, and an article accepting Sand Hill Drive phase 2, associated with the Sylvester Woods subdivision plan, as a town way.passed
• 1:08:21
  Do not put the citizen petition on the warrant as submitted. Instead add a new article asking whether the town will authorise the selectmen to explore other means of voting in the town budget, and notify the petitioner of this so that those who signed can attend town meeting.passed
• 1:08:21
  Take the remaining housekeeping articles, numbered 36 through 45 after renumbering, and vote them all at once.passed
• 1:13:45
  Cut the animal control officer advertisement down to a short notice giving the town's name, the position, a telephone number for more information and EOE, after the Sun Journal quoted over $300 for the longer version.passed
• 1:18:47
  Approve the warrant, coming to 46 articles after the additions and renumbering, for signature, and adjourn.passed

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

• 21:42
  The board dropped its recommendation for the Union Church restoration from $10,000 to nothing. The historical society holds somewhere around $56,000 already but has produced no plan or estimates, which members said is the same standard other committees have been held to. The article stays on the warrant so the society can make its case at town meeting.
• 42:30
  The selectmen voted down their own public works recommendation and replaced it, cutting about $6,000 from the road commissioner's salary and other lines to recommend $1,031,798 with $246,484 raised. Separately, $96,466 left unspent in 2014, mostly on labour and salt, is proposed to go into a new public works capital reserve fund.
• 1:03:00
  A citizen petition to change how the town budget is voted will not go on the warrant as written. The town attorney's opinion and the board's own view was that it is vague and unenforceable, leaving no answer to what happens if an article is voted down or how a referendum result would reconcile with a town meeting floor vote, and members noted that doing it properly would require a town charter, which Durham does not have.
• 32:10
  The Durham Athletic Booster Club, which runs softball for 39 children, asked the afternoon of this meeting for $5,000 this year and $1,500 to $2,000 annually thereafter. The request came too late to be put before the budget committee, so the club was invited to move it from the town meeting floor instead.

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: 3 passages of motion language, against 27 decisions summarised.

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