Select Board Meeting ~ June 11, 2024

2024-06-11 · Select Board · 1:27:38 · watch on YouTube →

The Durham Select Board met on June 11, 2024, with a quorum; Joe Roy was recorded absent. The board awarded the town's legal services contract, and completed the quitclaim deed transferring the Union Church and the adjoining land to the Durham Historical Society after two meetings of discussion about access and deed wording. It then held a first discussion of goals for the board and the town manager, covering law enforcement coverage, a possible move to a fiscal-year budget, storm and public safety planning, the fee structure for town services, reducing the tax burden, and homestead exemption sign-up. The town manager reported on tax liens, the tax commitment date, the new website, the solid waste contract, and a grant the town did not receive. A board member reported resident feedback about the steering committee plan and taxes. The consent agenda was approved and the meeting adjourned.

What was discussed

1. 0:10
   Call to order

   The chair called the meeting to order, noted a quorum, and said Joe Roy had something come up and could not attend. The board stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

2. 9:20
   Agenda review and public comment

   A board member asked whether the select board goals item should be taken up with Joe Roy absent. The chair said Joe Roy had been asked to send anything he wanted discussed and had sent nothing, and asked the town manager to also put the same topic on the June 25 agenda so Joe Roy could add to it. There was no public comment.

3. 9:20
   Old business: award of legal services

   The board discussed the two firms that had presented at an earlier meeting. One member said she favored Skelton Taintor & Abbott (?); others said they preferred Preti Flaherty (?), citing that firm's work with other municipalities, its depth of expertise, and how it set out its fee structure. The town manager said he called three references for one firm and two for the other, including code enforcement staff as well as managers.

4. 14:36
   Quitclaim deed of the Union Church: contents inventory

   Tia Wilson, chair of the Durham Historical Society, joined the table. The society had supplied a list separating the contents of the Union Church between the town and the society, credited to Emily Alexander (?), who was not present; the board accepted it as the official record. The chair said the questions being raised were about protecting the town and were not meant as an attack on the society.

5. 24:47
   Deed wording: "purposes" or "mission"

   A board member proposed changing the word "purposes" in the final paragraph of the deed to "mission", pointing to the society's 1976 mission statement and to its January 11, 2024 statement of intent of use for the Union Church. Others said a mission can change and discussed adding a date or using both words. The town attorney had advised against adding terms to the deed; the town manager said he would instead strike "purposes" altogether, since the transaction is a transfer of the building.

6. 36:03
   Town meeting warrant articles 27 and 28

   The warrant was read out. Article 27 authorises the select board to transfer the property to the Durham Historical Society by quitclaim deed; article 28 authorises spending the Union Church restoration reserve account with the society for repairs and maintenance. Tia Wilson said the restoration money will never be in the society's possession because checks will be made out directly to the vendor. A board member then moved to accept the deed with the word "purposes" removed, and it was seconded.

7. 41:22
   Public access and turnover of the society's board

   Tia Wilson said the museum has been open about one weekend a month since it opened in the 1980s, usually the third Saturday, plus special occasions such as the Memorial Day parade and the Fourth of July, and that new society members would be told of the deed and the access arrangements. A board member said the risk to the town is low, the reversion clause protects it, and no second deed or agreement is needed. The chair said his concern was that nothing in the deed keeps the building open to the public if the organisation changes. The motion to remove the word "purposes" was then withdrawn.

8. 46:53
   New business: goals for the select board and town manager

   The board worked from a flip chart list of goals it can act on without using other boards' time. Law enforcement coverage was the first item; Chief McGee (?) cannot attend the June 18 workshop, but asked that it go ahead with the sheriff and deputy sheriff and said he would come to a later meeting. The fee structure for town services is set for the June 25 meeting, when the code enforcement officer will bring recommended fees for the board to adjust.

9. 52:20
   Moving to a fiscal-year budget

   The board discussed switching from a calendar-year to a fiscal-year budget. The town manager said MMA suggests public education followed by a non-binding warrant article to see whether the town is interested, and that he would bring Donna and Mark to an August meeting to work through whether the transition would be an 18-month budget or a six-month plus a year. Members said aligning with the school, county and state calendars would make revenue estimates more reliable.

10. 57:25
    Public safety, storms and other goals

    Further goals listed were road planning, comp plan and zoning changes, meeting order of operations, RFP processing, permits for applicants with delinquent taxes, and select board liaisons to committees. A member said this year's flooding, storms and power outages showed the town has no system for checking on elderly residents or getting water to people, and asked whether a committee should be formed. The chair proposed tying this to law enforcement coverage and county emergency management. The chair said the list would be discussed further at future meetings or workshops rather than voted on tonight.

11. 1:03:13
    Tax burden and long-range planning

    A member asked for a board goal on reducing the tax burden and looking for ways to offset spending, giving an industrial park as an example; others noted the town is zoned residential and agricultural, which ties this to the comp plan and zoning goal. There was discussion of setting one-, three- and five-year goals so direction carries across changes in board membership. The chair cautioned that the goals are meant not to consume other boards' resources.

12. 1:08:41
    Homestead exemption and raising revenue

    A member proposed finding out what share of residents claim the homestead exemption and running a communication campaign toward full participation, including a Saturday session with laptops for residents who need help with the form. The town manager said Donna will be in on the 25th and can explain how the exemption works with the town's ratio, and that the two ways to affect local taxes are efficiency and revenue. He said he and Joe attended a GPCOG summit and that GPCOG could be brought in to explain revenue options.

13. 1:08:41
    Building permits and delinquent taxes

    A member said two subdivisions are in the works whose developers have owed taxes for multiple years, and that building permits should not be issued for their lots while the taxes are unpaid. This was distinguished from the existing process for collecting delinquent taxes.

14. 1:14:26
    Town manager report

    The town manager said the solid waste contract should be in hand for the June 25 meeting, the 2023 tax liens have been filed at the registry of deeds, the new website should go live by July 1, and a new cleaning person starts next week. He said the 2022 liens had been missed but the town is now caught up, and that properties in foreclosure will be brought to the board. He also said the town did not get the open space grant, taxes will be committed on the 26th, and he will be out one day on the 20th and the first and third weeks of July.

15. 1:14:26
    Board member report on communications

    A member said residents had told her personally and on the town Facebook page that the steering committee plan would raise taxes, and that she explained it is funded by a GPCOG grant the town manager secured and will make the town eligible for more grants. She asked that grant funding be stated up front in any communication, since residents do not watch the full meetings.

16. 1:19:35
    School board vacancy

    One application had been submitted for the school board opening as of that day. The deadline for applicants is the 25th.

17. 1:19:35
    Consent agenda, upcoming meetings and adjournment

    The consent agenda was moved, seconded and approved. Upcoming meetings listed were the workshop at the fire station on Tuesday June 18 at 6:00 (corrected from 6:30 during the meeting), the regular meeting on June 25 at 6:30, the planning board at the fire station on July 10 at 6:30, and a solid waste meeting on July 15 at 6:30. No executive session was needed and the board adjourned.

What was decided

• 14:36
  Award the town's legal services to Preti Flaherty (?), on a motion and second. The chair, Josh Klein-Golden (?), abstained, saying he knows attorneys at both firms.passed
• 46:53
  Accept the quitclaim deed transferring the Union Church and the adjoining land to the Durham Historical Society as written, with no change to the wording, after the earlier motion to strike the word "purposes" was withdrawn. The board asked that the minutes record its discussion of the access concern.passed
• 1:19:35
  Approve the consent agenda.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

• 52:20
  The town manager said the state revenue sharing figures issued on May 7 contain no tier two allocation for Durham because of the town's valuation, a difference of about $98,000, and that the state may or may not adjust it.
• 1:14:26
  Taxes are to be committed on the 26th, and interest starts 45 days from that date.
• 1:14:26
  The town did not receive the open space grant. Asked why, the town manager said the grant was not filled out.
• 1:19:35
  Only one application had been received for the school board vacancy; the deadline is the 25th.

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 3 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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