Androscoggin CountyMainePopulation 4,262Sourced from U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2013-2024
Durham in Data

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May 5, 2020 ~ Select Board Meeting

2020-05-05 · Select Board · 1:20:07 · watch on YouTube →

A Zoom meeting given over almost entirely to reworking the board's budget recommendations before the budget committee meets, and to when the town office should reopen. The recording begins part way through, after the bid awards the town's minutes record for the fire station well and the sewer system. Working line by line, the board moved a series of items onto transfers from capital and undesignated funds rather than raising them, cut the raise pool to zero on a 4-1 vote against one member who wanted residents to decide, and reduced the plow truck recommendation from $216,202 to $188,600. The result is a municipal budget about 2% below last year, which the chair expected to leave the total tax rate roughly flat. On reopening, a motion to open the office on May 11 was withdrawn and replaced by a 4-1 vote requiring the town administrator to bring a written opening plan to the May 12 meeting, aiming for limited hours from May 14.

Who was there. The town's written minutes record these people present: Kevin Nadeau, Rob Pontau, Todd Beaulieu, Marc Farrin, Richard George. Names in this summary are checked against that list.

What was discussed

  1. 0:02
    Fire department capital balance

    The board worked through a spreadsheet showing $54,550 in capital projects, which will rise because the well and septic came in above the $15,000 budgeted for them. Spending the $41,720 ambulance bond payment and the $54,550 from capital would leave a balance of $174,979, before any reimbursement from rescue funds, which came to about $32,000 last year and is expected to be higher this year because of Medicare back payments.

  2. 0:02
    Ambulance bond and the 2018 road bond

    Members confirmed they were content to fund the $41,720 ambulance bond payment from capital, and that this would need a vote because it changes how the article is funded. On the 2018 road bond, $50,000 had been taken from undesignated fund balance to cover part of the payment.

  3. 0:02
    Eureka Center and fire department budgets

    Nothing was found that could come out of the Eureka Center budget. The fire department budget was left alone on the view that in fairness to the chief any change should be discussed the following week when he could attend.

  4. 5:05
    Planning board and appeals

    The department had taken a significant decrease against last year's budget but was still up on actual spending. A $7,500 line understood to be for help writing marijuana ordinances had already been removed, since the ordinance questions would not be on this ballot and the money would not be spent in 2020 in any case. The board left the rest alone, noting $2,762 had already been spent hiring environmental consultants on resource protection lands.

  5. 5:05
    Public works and recreation organisations

    The public works figure reflected the reduced maintenance paving scenario worked through with Calvin, funded from undesignated. Members asked whether the $2,500 each going to Little League and Durham softball should be cut if there is no season, and were told softball at least intends to play; the money comes from recreational fees and undesignated, so removing it would not affect this year's taxes.

  6. 5:05
    Solid waste and telecommunications

    The board decided to stay with the plan of putting the solid waste contract out as a ballot question and accepting the bid prices for a three-year term. Ruth Glaeser (?) explained there is no advantage to a shorter term because the contract is structured to fluctuate with recycled material prices and accounts for prices falling. Telecommunications is funded entirely from franchise fees.

  7. 5:05
    The raise pool

    The question was whether to keep the 2% raise pool or impose a wage freeze for the year. Several members said they favoured a freeze. Rob Pontau said he was not opposed to a freeze but would rather the townspeople decided, and asked whether recommending zero removes the question from the ballot entirely; the answer was that it does, because there is no proposed spending.

  8. 10:10
    How many questions on the secret ballot

    Milt (?) asked how many questions would appear. Ruth Glaeser put it at about thirty, with separate questions for the two capital items, the plow truck and the big budgets, some smaller budgets combined, and the business articles taking up a large share. Members chose to keep the ballot as close to a normal town meeting as possible rather than consolidating, and established that the business articles cannot be voted as a block on a secret ballot as they have been from the floor.

  9. 10:10
    Whether the well and septic need a ballot question

    Richard George asked what happens if voters reject a capital question after the money has already been spent. Ruth Glaeser (?) explained that capital expenditures, other than bonds, do not need a warrant article, because the town has already voted the money into capital for that purpose. Members noted it has nonetheless been customary to put larger capital items such as trucks to a vote.

  10. 15:23
    Town manager search and severance

    Members agreed the town manager search question should not go out this year, on the ground that the timing has passed, the resources for a search may not be available and nobody knows what the process would look like. Severance was never going to be paid in 2020, and the chair said the right way to address it is for the board to adopt a severance policy setting out the town's position where a separation follows an organisational change through no fault of the employee.

  11. 15:23
    Transfer to the emergency fund

    The chair wanted to keep the $10,000 transfer to the emergency fund, which is funded from undesignated and has no effect on the tax rate, since the account currently holds less than $10,000 and without it the town would have to call a special town meeting to fund an emergency. Milt (?) said the budget committee had voted against the line because questions were left unanswered, and asked that a board member attend its meeting on the 11th to explain.

  12. 20:39
    Capital items and the plow truck

    The remaining capital items were $54,550 from fire department capital reserves and $188,600 for a plow truck from public works reserves, neither of which affects this year's tax rate. Members were content to leave the fire capital off the ballot as money already committed and largely spent, but were clear the truck should go to the town. One said he would not buy a truck of that value without a public vote, unlike an expired item such as breathing apparatus where the case makes itself.

  13. 20:39
    Whether the truck price will hold

    Members described the price as very good and doubted it could be matched next year, though one thought dealers are aggressive enough at the moment that it might improve. It was also noted the town has spent a lot of money on two older trucks for only a couple of years of service.

  14. 25:52
    Effect on the tax rate

    Everything cut was funded from undesignated, so the changes did not move the tax rate. The municipal budget being brought forward is 2% below last year, with the school currently estimated at 1.7% and a small overlay, giving a total of about 0.5%. The chair expected the school figure to come down and the total assessed valuation to rise, which would bring the rate to flat or slightly below.

  15. 25:52
    Homestead exemption and reassessment

    The homestead exemption will be larger this year, though not the full 25% because the town is at 87%, so some bills will fall on that alone. Discussion turned to the gap between the state's estimate of total town valuation, which keeps rising, and individual assessments that have not kept pace, which the chair said is why a reassessment is needed.

  16. 31:28
    The revenue side and next year

    Ruth Glaeser (?) explained the town budgets off last year's revenue, so with about $950,000 of excise tax collected last year, any shortfall this year comes out of undesignated in December. The state was holding firm on its 2020 estimates for school aid and revenue sharing. The chair said the real pain is expected in next year's budget when revenue decreases show up, and that he did not want to cut too deeply now because it would magnify the year-over-year increase later.

  17. 31:28
    Roll call votes on the budget recommendations

    With the board content with the scenario, the chair went back through the items needing a formal change and took roll call votes on each, so the adjusted recommendations would be on the record for the budget committee meeting the following week.

  18. 37:24
    Keeping the raise pool question on the ballot

    After the vote to recommend zero, members debated whether the question should still go to voters. On a secret ballot there is no chance to amend from the floor, so voters could only accept or reject a figure. The chair floated a multiple choice question listing the selectmen's and budget committee's recommendations and other options, but Ruth Glaeser (?) said MMA advises a closed-ended article, and that there must be an option allowing voters to reject both recommendations. The decision was left open.

  19. 42:24
    What happens if voters reject an article

    Members noted that if a budget article is voted down there is no automatic fallback, and discussed an article placed early in the warrant providing that the budget for such an article reverts to last year's figure. Failing that, the article would have to be rebudgeted and put to another vote, as happens with a rejected school budget.

  20. 47:25
    How the warrant articles are worded

    Ruth Glaeser had drafted every article as raise and appropriate, with a single article at the end transferring a lump sum from the revenue fund, which she said is how many towns do it and avoids article-by-article confusion. Members were uneasy that residents have been trained to read raise as tax money and transfer as not, and asked her to draft it the other way as well so both versions could be compared.

  21. 47:25
    Tax anticipation note

    Ruth Glaeser (?) said the vote could wait until the following week. She had prepared a new cash forecast showing the difference in the note depending on whether taxes are committed at the end of July or later in the year, the note simply increasing the later the commitment. The doubled outflow in August was explained as the month the county tax is paid.

  22. 52:40
    Road commissioner's report

    Calvin (?) reported the state's work on Route 9 is going as planned with no issues. Potholes on Route 9 at a corner the recording does not render clearly and in a couple of other places keep being reported to DOT with no response, and members agreed the town should not set a precedent by fixing state road potholes itself, but should explain publicly that DOT and the town maintain different roads. The speed enforcement sign has arrived and a small trailer has been bought and is being retrofitted for it.

  23. 52:40
    Reopening the town office

    Ruth Glaeser (?) proposed opening by appointment only, possibly the following week or the week after, for necessary transactions and for higher risk residents who would rather not queue, then opening fully around June 1 with social distancing protocols, in line with when most other town offices are opening.

  24. 57:41
    How a soft opening would work

    Members went back and forth over allowing one customer at a time with a queue outside, cones for spacing, and which door people should enter and leave by so that nobody crosses through the building. Ruth Glaeser (?) said the constraint is staffing: Becky has not yet done much counter work and Pam will be helping her, so running two windows straight away is not realistic.

  25. 57:41
    Whether to wait until June 1

    Rob Pontau argued there was no point solving these problems now when restrictions would ease by June 1 and asked whether there was any real public outcry. Others said the phone is ringing constantly and residents are asking. It was noted the governor has allowed people to drive on expired or temporary plates for thirty days after the emergency is lifted, so the pressure is not a legal deadline; the aim of opening early by appointment is to clear the most complicated transactions, new registrations, before a general opening and avoid a rush.

  26. 1:03:16
    Limited hours as a way in

    The chair suggested not opening for all the office's hours at first, perhaps 10 to 2 or noon to 4, or two days a week rather than four, as a ramping-up strategy that would leave staff time for other work. Milt (?) questioned why one customer at a time would overwhelm the staff; the answer was that unlike a normal day there may be no gaps in the queue at all when the office first opens.

  27. 1:08:54
    The reopening vote

    Todd Beaulieu moved to open on May 11 with the town administrator working to the state recommendations, for limited hours two days a week to start and a full week from the 18th. Kevin Nadeau said he would vote no because he wanted staff to have the rest of the week to lay out a plan the board could approve or reject, and Todd Beaulieu withdrew his motion so a different one could be put.

  28. 1:08:54
    Consent agenda

    The consent agenda contained only the minutes of the previous week's meeting and was moved without discussion.

  29. 1:14:03
    How the ballot questions will be structured

    Milt (?) asked whether there will always be a third option where the two recommendations differ, and what happens where they agree. Ruth Glaeser believed a reject option is required in either case. The chair explained the plan to put an article early in the warrant asking voters to agree that where neither recommendation passes, that article reverts to last year's figure; without it, a rejected article would go through a rebudgeting process and a further vote.

  30. 1:14:03
    Budget committee logistics

    Ruth Glaeser will send the Zoom invite for the budget committee meeting along with the spreadsheet showing the board's recommendations, and was asked to request replies so attendance is known in advance. Members also asked that the invitation make clear that under the state of emergency the terms of committee members that appeared to have expired are still running, since some may have mentally tuned out. A meeting without a quorum can be called to order and hold discussion but cannot vote.

  31. 1:14:03
    Softball and the Runaround Pond outhouse

    Richard George asked whether the town would impose any restrictions beyond the governor's on the softball organisation using the field it leases from the town, since it wanted to be sure before committing to a season. Members said they would not. The chair then raised the outhouse at Runaround Pond, still locked from when people were taking the toilet paper, and said it should reopen now that use of the pond is increasing with the weather.

  32. 1:19:25
    Announcements and adjournment

    The budget committee meets Monday May 11 at 6:30 by Zoom, publicised in the same way as the board's meetings, and Ruth Glaeser was asked to send the invitation to all board members. The next regular board meetings are May 12 and May 26.

What was decided

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.

Motions the minutes record

The town's own written account of what was decided, taken from select_board_5-5-20.pdf_final_0.txt. It owes nothing to the recording or to a model: the clerk typed it, with the vote. Where the summary above claims a decision this list does not carry, the summary is the part to doubt.

Worth knowing

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 17 decisions summarised.

Show the 2 passages

Elsewhere

← 2020-04-28 Select Board2020-05-12 Select Board →All meetings

Source & method

Town of Durham meeting recordings, YouTube auto-captions, and the town's written minutes
Captions cleaned into timestamped transcripts; topics and motions found by pattern matching; summaries written by a language model and required to cite the second each item begins. Every name attached to speech is checked against the attendance list in the minutes, and marked (?) where no record confirms it
https://www.youtube.com/@durhammaine/videos
Summary written by claude-opus-5. Attendance from select_board_5-5-20.pdf_final_0.txt.
Data as of 25 August 2026 (the date of the newest recorded meeting in the index); retrieved 2 September 2026.