Select Board Meeting ~ July 22, 2025

2025-07-22 · Select Board · 1:47:52 · watch on YouTube →

Regular Select Board meeting on July 22, 2025, held at 6:30 with no working sound system. The board interviewed two applicants and appointed them to the planning board and the conservation commission, approved the consent agenda and the previous minutes, and received the town manager's written report. The bulk of the meeting was the board's second annual goal-setting workshop, in which the solid waste committee, conservation commission, Durham Agricultural Committee and planning board each presented two priorities for the year, and the town planner presented a strategic overview tying those projects to the next comprehensive plan. The board voted to have the town planner work with GP COG on an application for a $20,000 energy planning grant with a July 27 deadline. In its own discussion the board settled on three objectives for the year: downtown planning, economic development, and the municipal budget process, with a written version to come back in SMART goal format at a later meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:16.

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. 1:12
   Agenda amendments, public comment and minutes

   A motion moved the conservation commission and planning board appointments out of the consent agenda into old business and moved new business to after the consent agenda. There was no public comment. The minutes of the last meeting were approved.

2. 1:12
   Interviews with two applicants

   Brian, an applicant for the planning board, said he is an IT architect by trade and was encouraged to apply by a neighbour. Todd Chadry (?) of Snow Road, a resident of about three years, said he is a professional ecologist with a doctorate and over 25 years of experience and applied to the conservation commission.

3. 6:30
   Appointments and consent agenda

   The board voted on the two appointments as submitted, then approved the rest of the consent agenda. The motion on the consent agenda was made by Josh and seconded by Rebecca.

4. 6:30
   Town manager report

   Jerry submitted his report in writing and the chair read it out. It covered the August 12 tax commitment and review, a draft employee handbook coming from the human resources consultant, the selection of GP COG as consultant for the conservation commission's open space plan under a fully grant-funded contract, and the manager's attendance at the town and city managers conference on August 13 and 14.

5. 6:30
   Board member and department reports

   Deb (?) acknowledged fire and rescue community service work, including the Memorial Day and Moxie Day parades, traffic help in Lisbon, a car show and a touch-a-truck at a daycare. Rebecca (?) thanked Calvin and the public works crew for cutting back brush along the roads. The chair noted two current openings in the public works department after a recent hire left, and thanked the fire department for a day with three calls.

6. 12:14
   Goal-setting workshop and solid waste committee goals

   The chair explained the workshop process, now in its second year: each board and committee presents two priorities, the select board asks questions, and the board then discusses its own goals. Juliet Cassander (?), chair of the solid waste committee, gave the committee's goals as recommending strategies to reduce waste tonnage through recycling and composting and determining a long-term solid waste plan. Three options are under review: continue with Casella, find a site and build a transfer station, or partner with a neighbouring community; the deliverable is a cost-benefit analysis to the select board.

7. 17:25
   Conservation commission: open space plan grant

   The conservation commission representative reported the town received the open space and conservation strategy community action grant, with $72,000 going to the consultants GP COG and FB Environmental and further funds for mapping, printing and community events. The work is a two-year process; first steps are a stakeholder list, an inventory of existing town mapping resources, and community events for resident feedback. The commission's second goal is to review and comment on development proposals before the planning board.

8. 22:52
   Publicising the grant and grant timeline

   Board members asked the commission for an early statement explaining the plan and the award so it can go into the news blast and Facebook page, noting the total is around $94,000 in outside funding and that GP COG is contributing $14,000. There was discussion of whether the 24-month period in the application requires funds to be spent or only committed, which the commission will clarify with its contacts. A select board member offered to attend the kickoff meeting with GP COG, with the caveat that attendance by more than half the board would require a public notice.

9. 28:10
   Durham Agricultural Committee

   Dave Coulson, co-chair, said the committee formed at the end of 2024, has seven members, meets monthly and is assisted by a staff person from the Maine Farmland Trust. Its work is a set of definitions on agriculture that could be inserted into the town ordinance, which it hopes to bring back in the fall or early winter. The board advised connecting with George on the timeline, since ordinance language changes require public hearings and a set process before town meeting.

10. 33:10
    Planning board priorities

    John Talbert (?), planning board chair, said the board is at full strength with its fifth member and that its first priority is keeping up with conditional use applications, subdivisions and other submissions in a timely way. Its second priority is codification, a reformatting of the land use ordinance, split into technical and legal corrections and areas where the town ordinance does not conform to state law.

11. 38:11
    Codification and state housing law

    The planning board chair said tiny homes and trailer parks must be brought into line with state law, but the affordable housing changes are not required until July 1, 2027, and he recommended waiting for guidance from the Department of Economic and Community Development rather than getting ahead of the state as the town did last time. There are also 14 minor policy items, covering things such as sprinklers, back lots, private roads and the division between the appeals board and the planning board. The board will break the codification into several public information meetings, with a final draft going before the town next June.

12. 43:20
    Comprehensive plan funding

    The planning board chair said the comprehensive plan is 10 years old in 2029 and updating it is a multi-year process, so funding will likely be requested in the 2026 budget with a second portion in 2027 to spread the cost. A special committee would be formed as was done for the 2018 plan. The chair noted that the open space plan and codification work may reduce the cost of the comprehensive plan update.

13. 48:50
    Town planner's strategic overview

    George (?) said the town's current exemption from the growth management act's growth area requirements, and the goal of keeping Durham rural through large-lot, low-density zoning, could be affected by the new state housing legislation. He had gone back over the select board's June prioritisation discussion, found five of the eight topics were land use related, and prepared a chart showing seven tracks of work and where each board and committee plugs in. He has completed the codification technical review and the town's response is due next week.

14. 54:03
    Economic development and energy grant opportunity

    George (?) said he and Jerry have been meeting with GP COG on economic development, and that Christina (?) at GP COG identified about $10,000 through the economic development administration and a $20,000 national renewable energy laboratory opportunity for strategic energy planning that closes on July 27. He described a concept for an agriculture and energy economic development district near Cushing Road, an area with gravel pits, wood processing and little residential development, and asked the board for a green light so GP COG could prepare the application.

15. 1:04:36
    Discussion of the proposed district and motion

    Board members questioned whether naming a district would rule out alternative energy elsewhere in town, and George (?) said the grant work could be more generic. He argued Durham's economic development options are limited by having no public sewer or water and about 4,000 residents, and pointed to agriculture and energy examples such as Springworks in Lisbon and Backyard Farms in Madison. A motion was made for George to work with GP COG to apply for the grant, with members noting that applying and accepting are separate decisions.

16. 1:09:40
    Select board discussion of its own goals

    The chair recapped each member's goals from an earlier meeting, covering committee consolidation and community engagement, economic development and grants, committee training, communication, HR policies, downtown visioning, open space planning, the budget process and gravel pits. The board agreed the committees' plates are full and that the planning board should take the first pass at prioritising the codification list before bringing it back.

17. 1:21:00
    Select board oversight of committees

    Members discussed a stronger and more consistent liaison presence at board and committee meetings, and one member offered to put together a matrix and discussion paper for an upcoming meeting. There was also discussion of arranging department tours, such as public works, open to members of other boards and committees.

18. 1:26:02
    Budget process and downtown community space

    The chair said the elected budget committee has no legislatively approved bylaws and that the joint meeting process has been carried on by word of mouth, and asked that this be rectified. The board also discussed next steps on the downtown community space, noting a community group's report should not sit dormant and that this year's deliverable could be an estimated cost.

19. 1:31:30
    Communication and outreach

    The chair said local newspaper coverage of town meetings has largely disappeared and relayed a GP COG suggestion that it could hire a small municipality outreach director shared across several towns for a set number of hours each. Another member said the town should be strategic with its own communication rather than spend money on that, and the discussion turned to reaching residents ahead of votes.

20. 1:36:40
    Staff workload

    Josh (?) said his first priority is economic development but raised concern that George is borderline overworked and that this is the biggest long-term issue the board faces. Other members agreed staff time is the limiting factor on how much can be taken on.

21. 1:41:51
    Objectives set, next steps and adjournment

    The board settled on three objectives for the year: continue downtown planning, explore economic development, and address the municipal budget process, with communication treated as running through all three. A member will write them up in SMART goal format for the meeting after next, alongside the committee oversight matrix. The chair said she would email the budget committee about the budget process goal, listed upcoming meetings including the select board on August 12 for the tax commitment and employee handbook, and the meeting adjourned at 8:16.

What was decided

• 1:12
  Amend the agenda to move the conservation commission and planning board appointments to old business and move new business after the consent agendapassed
• 1:12
  Approve the minutes of the last meetingpassed
• 6:30
  Accept the two appointments as submitted: Brian to the planning board and Todd Chadry (?) to the conservation commissionpassed
• 6:30
  Approve the rest of the consent agenda as presentedpassed
• 1:09:40
  Have George work with GP COG to apply for the national renewable energy laboratory energy planning grant, with acceptance of any award to be decided separatelypassed
• 1:09:40
  Let the planning board take the first pass at prioritising the codification items before bringing the list back to the select boardoutcome unclear
• 1:41:51
  Set the select board's objectives for the year as downtown planning, economic development and the municipal budget process, to be written up in SMART goal format for a later meeting; no formal vote was takenoutcome 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

• 22:52
  The open space and conservation strategy grant was described as about $94,000 in outside funding, with $72,000 going to consultants GP COG and FB Environmental and $14,000 contributed by GP COG, over a 24-month period.
• 54:03
  The national renewable energy laboratory funding opportunity is $20,000 and closes July 27, five days after the meeting, which is why the town planner brought it forward that night.
• 12:14
  The solid waste committee is working against the town's five-year Casella contract and aims to have its cost-benefit analysis of the three options ready around January, ahead of the next town meeting; building a transfer station was described as a multi-year endeavour.
• 1:36:40
  Board members repeatedly identified town planner George's available time as the limiting factor on all of this work, with one member saying he is borderline overworked and that few people could do the job at the same level.

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: 4 passages of motion language, against 7 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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