Select Board Meeting ~ July 14, 2026

2026-07-14 · Select Board · 2:01:04 · watch on YouTube →

The Select Board met on July 14, 2026 with a quorum. Public comment ran roughly twenty minutes and was almost entirely about gravel pits and heavy truck traffic on Rabbit Road, Hallowell Road and Route 9, with residents asking the board to post Rabbit Road against through trucks, seek a Maine DOT safety review of the Rabbit and Hallowell intersection, and apply the same operating hours to all active pits. The chair said the board could not act on pit policy that night because it was not on the agenda, and committed to bringing near-term next steps back at an upcoming meeting. The board awarded the Durham Community Scholarship, voted to waive permit fees for non-permanent hoop houses and high tunnels while still requiring the permit, and voted to establish an economic development committee to oversee a state-funded study of the Cushing/Hallowell/Brown Road area. It also considered a National Fitness Campaign grant for an outdoor fitness court, heard the manager's report on pay-as-you-throw bag retailers and an expected overrun in the administration budget, and heard board reports on road safety and the bandstand renovation before approving the consent agenda and adjourning.

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. 3:27
   Call to order and agenda amendment

   The chair opened at 6:30 with the pledge and asked to move the scholarship presentation up to before old business. A motion was made and seconded and the chair called for the vote.

2. 3:27
   Public comment: Rabbit Road trucks and pit hours

   A Rabbit Road resident asked the board to post Rabbit Road as no through trucks for heavy industrial traffic, to request a Maine DOT safety review of the Rabbit and Hallowell intersection, and to hold all active pits to the hours written into recent permits: Monday to Friday 7 to 7, Saturday 7 to 5, no processing before 8 a.m. and no Sunday operations. She said older grandfathered pits operate without those conditions, and referred to the Jackson Kirker pit reactivation and to a planning grant to study the Hallowell/Cushing CMP corridor.

3. 8:29
   Public comment: enforcement, water and road damage

   A second resident said code enforcement at the Jaden Pit had been ineffective, citing expansion to four times the original size and a $15,000 fine. She raised PFAS in well water from firefighting spray, a refueling pad she said lacked required containment, road damage from loaded trucks, and blind driveways on Route 9 and Hallowell Road. She contrasted this with the Dugas Pit, which she said notifies neighbors and manages its own truck routes.

4. 13:51
   Public comment: road history, posting and operating hours

   A resident who bought on Rabbit Road in 1976 said driveways there had gone from about 10 to nearly 30 and asked for a truck weight posting and a four-way stop at the west end of the road, describing a near miss with a gravel truck at his driveway. Brian (?) said pit hours should end at 5, asked for unannounced monthly inspections by the code enforcement officer, and said posting Rabbit Road would push traffic past the school and fire department. Jeff (?) of Pine Mill Drive (?) asked whether anything prevents a new gravel pit from opening, and another resident said towns can adopt a moratorium and asked what benefit the pits bring to Durham.

5. 24:58
   Board response on pits and next steps

   The chair said public comment cannot be a back and forth and that the board cannot discuss policy, moratoriums or permits from the floor when it is not on the agenda, and that comments would be passed to the code enforcement officer, town manager and town planner. The board agreed to bring next steps back at one of the next few meetings and to pass the intersection concern to Calvin to raise with Maine DOT. The chair noted agendas are posted by end of business on the first and third Thursday and meetings are the second and fourth Tuesday.

6. 24:58
   Minutes of June 23

   The minutes of the June 23 meeting were moved by John, seconded, and voted with no opposition.

7. 24:58
   Durham Community Scholarship

   The board awarded the Durham Community Scholarship to Sean Gastonway (?), who attended with his mother. The citation listed swim team captain, Skills USA competition and a Maine gold medal in diesel equipment technology, student of the quarter at Region 10 technical high school, and recognition through the Freeport school. He will attend the Florida Institute of Technology to study mechanical engineering.

8. 30:21
   Agriculture committee request on hoop house fees

   Jonah (?) of Celebration Tree Farm, co-chair of the agriculture committee, and Eric Day (?) asked the board to eliminate permit fees for hoop houses, which they said are charged at commercial building rates and are out of line with other towns. They cited Warren and Auburn with no building permit fees and Bowdoinham with no fee for hoop houses and high tunnels, and gave the example of a 30 by 70 hoop house of 2,100 square feet at a fee of about $1 per square foot against a structure cost of seven or eight thousand dollars. Christa Chapel (?) prepared the information packet.

9. 40:45
   Definitions and utilities

   John (?) said he supported waiving the fee for the structure only, and would still charge for electrical and water inspections where power or plumbing is run. The board and presenters worked through the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry definitions of low tunnel, high tunnel and greenhouse, and agreed to cover both hoop house and high tunnel wording and to work with the planner so the definitions match the land use ordinance. The code officer asked, through staff, that the permit still be required for zoning oversight even if the fee is waived.

10. 46:06
    Economic development committee resolution

    Town planner George Tarage (?) said the town received a $75,000 state grant for a study of an area of about 860 acres bounded by Cushing Road, Hallowell Road and Brown Road, held by about 13 owners, containing existing gravel pits, an aquifer and the CMP transmission corridor. He said the study, to be run by the Greater Portland Council of Governments, would look at repurposing pit land for solar and at agricultural processing capacity, and asked the board to adopt a resolution establishing an interim committee to oversee it.

11. 56:47
    Committee composition

    The chair said committees are perceived as hard to join and proposed adding at-large seats. After discussion of voting numbers and alternates, the board settled on one member each from the select board, agriculture committee, planning board and conservation commission, two at-large members, one at-large alternate, and an alternate for each board. A board member also objected to the committee being called interim.

12. 1:01:47
    Select board representative and application timing

    The board took up who would represent it on the committee and set a closing time for at-large applications before the July 28 meeting, when nominees and the resolution establishing the committee are both to be taken up. The planning board had already selected Julia Kepler (?) and Brian (?), and the chair asked that the conservation commission and agriculture committee be invited to name theirs.

13. 1:07:03
    Solar project and contract zoning

    John (?) asked how a solar farm on the planning board's agenda relates to contract zoning. He was told the project site is 11 acres, below the acreage threshold that would channel large solar projects through contract zoning. It was also confirmed the goal setting meeting is in August, not July 28.

14. 1:07:03
    Fitness court grant

    The chair described the National Fitness Campaign, which offers a $20,000 to $30,000 grant toward an outdoor fitness court with no match required and help pursuing other sponsors. Total cost was given as around $200,000, leaving about $170,000 to raise, and the suggested site was the end of the town hall parking lot near the baseball field. The chair said the grant is non-binding, that he sought approval only to start the process at zero fiscal impact, and that any cost would come back to the board.

15. 1:22:35
    Manager report: pay-as-you-throw bags

    In the manager's absence the chair read Jerry's update listing retailers that agreed to carry the bags: Durham Get and Go, Hannaford in Topsham, Food City in Lisbon Falls, Market Basket in Topsham, Hannaford on Spring Street in Auburn, Shaw's on Center Street in Auburn, Hannaford on Elm Street in Brunswick, Shaw's in Freeport, Hannaford on Sabattus Street in Lewiston and Shaw's on East Avenue in Lewiston. Ordering is now up to store managers, with a stated turnaround of an order placed Wednesday arriving Friday. The board asked for a dedicated pay-as-you-throw tab on the website with bag prices and a retailer list, and noted the vendor no longer offers online sales it had earlier said were available.

16. 1:33:18
    Administration budget overrun

    The chair relayed that the administration line will be over budget because a staff member changed a benefit election from cash in lieu, at $1,200, to family coverage, at $33,000, which was not budgeted. He said the town typically spends about 99.6 percent of budget, so absorbing the difference is unlikely, and that an overrun would have to be covered the following year.

17. 1:33:18
    Board reports: road safety and enforcement

    Josh (?) said a prosecutor who drove through Durham for a conference told him the town should ask the state to lower speed limits, and reported another accident involving an overturned gravel truck on 125. He said speed and inattention, not weight limits, drive the crashes and called for a workshop with business owners, the public, the sheriff's department, DOT, Calvin and the fire chief, held outside a 6:30 meeting. A board member pressed for permanent solar radar speed signs like those on Main Street in Lisbon, said MDOT has not answered the town in six months, and the chair raised the idea of a public safety committee to pursue grants and petition for four-way stops. Members also noted that posting Rabbit Road would move traffic onto other roads and past the school.

18. 1:49:50
    Bandstand renovation

    Deb (?) reported meeting with historical society leads Tia and Emily. Volunteers will do the renovation work, a resident with a construction company will help prepare a material list, and the purchasing policy and quote process will be followed through the town office before a plan comes back to the board. She said an Eagle Scout may take a lead role and that an awareness campaign is planned; money is already set aside in the budget for the project.

19. 1:54:54
    Tablets, consent agenda and upcoming meetings

    The chair reported he had exhausted grant options for board tablets, having checked with GPCOG and with Representative Kilton Webb (?), and found nothing available. The consent agenda was approved, and upcoming meetings were listed: conservation committee July 15 at the Eureka Center, select board July 28 with Josh running it in the chair's absence, planning board August 5 at the fire station, and the ways committee August 10 at the Eureka Center.

What was decided

• 3:27
  Amend the agenda to move the scholarship presentation ahead of old businessoutcome unclear
• 24:58
  Approve the minutes of the June 23 meeting, moved by Johnpassed
• 46:06
  Waive the building permit fee and the $35 admin fee for non-permanent hoop houses and high tunnels while still requiring the permit, with electrical work treated as it would be under a building permit; moved by John, seconded by Joshpassed
• 1:01:47
  Establish an economic development committee made up of one member each from the select board, agriculture committee, planning board and conservation commission, two at-large members from the community, one at-large alternate, and an alternate for each standing boardpassed
• 1:01:47
  Assign John as the select board's member on the economic development committee and Rebecca as the board's alternate; one member stated an abstention and no result was announced on the recordingoutcome unclear
• 1:22:35
  Begin the National Fitness Campaign grant process for a fitness court, with no fiscal note attached and any cost to come back to the board; no result was announced on the recordingoutcome unclear
• 1:54:54
  Approve the consent agenda, moved by Josh and seconded by Johnpassed
• 2:00:28
  Adjournpassed

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

• 8:29
  A resident said the Jaden Pit expanded to four times its original size and was fined $15,000, which she described as about three busy days of revenue for the operation.
• 24:58
  The chair said no action on pit hours, truck postings or a moratorium could be taken because the subject was not on the agenda, and committed to returning with next steps at one of the next few meetings; agendas are posted the first and third Thursday for meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday.
• 1:27:52
  The first week of August is the start date for pay-as-you-throw bags, with compliance inspections ramping up through August and September; the vendor has told the town it cannot sell bags online after earlier saying it could.
• 1:33:18
  The administration budget is expected to go over by roughly $32,000 because a staff benefit election changed from cash in lieu at $1,200 to family coverage at $33,000.

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: 7 passages of motion language, against 8 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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