Select Board Meeting ~ March 24, 2026

2026-03-24 · Select Board · 2:45:12 · watch on YouTube →

The Select Board met on March 24, 2026 and spent most of the meeting on a section-by-section review of the draft FY27 budget, with the town manager, the town accountant and both department heads present to answer questions. Before the budget the board settled two other matters: it voted 4-1 to leave the Budget Committee vacancy unfilled until the next municipal election rather than appoint someone, and it approved the pay-as-you-throw bag contract, choosing purple bags carrying the town seal. The budget review covered capital reserves, revenue estimates, state revenue sharing, the effect of not having revalued for 15 years, wages and benefits, paving, solid waste and bulky waste day, ending with the FY27 totals and the mill rate scenarios. No changes were made to the draft; the board agreed to make its adjustments at the next meeting, when the chair and vice chair of the Budget Committee will attend to ask questions. The board also appointed election clerks and wardens, rescheduled the 2024 audit presentation, and discussed how the Budget Committee's meetings will be recorded now that the committee has moved them to the Eureka Center.

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. 4:48
   Opening and approval of minutes

   Joe (?) called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. with a quorum. There were no amendments to the agenda and no public comment, and the board moved to approve the draft minutes of the March 10 meeting.

2. 4:48
   Budget Committee vacancy

   The board took up whether it should appoint someone to the Budget Committee vacancy. Town legal counsel had advised that the Select Board is legally required to fill vacancies on the School Board and on the Select Board, but that all other boards and committees are at the Select Board's discretion. Rebecca (?) said it was not the board's role because the seat is elected; Josh (?) agreed in principle but said the timing was wrong in the middle of budget season and that in future the board should call for applications as soon as a vacancy opens; John (?) said he disagreed, noting that Mark Blake and Ron Stinson had been appointed to the committee about four years ago and that the town had voted down a proposal to reduce the committee's size. Joe (?) said appointing members to a body that acts as a check on the Select Board was counterintuitive. Eight of the committee's seats are currently filled.

3. 15:14
   Pay-as-you-throw bag contract

   Jerry (?) asked for authorisation to sign the bag contract. John (?) asked whether the attorney had reviewed it (he had), noted that there is nothing in it about the vendor doing quality control, and pointed out the inflation clause; Jerry (?) said the vendor had originally proposed the CPI index plus 3% and agreed to drop the extra 3% when he asked. Rebecca (?) asked whether a logo or advertising could be added mid-contract; the answer was that it would need advice from town counsel and would be a 2028 budget question. Members compared bag thicknesses, with the contract bag at 1.5 mil against 0.8 mil household bags, and a member reported that a friend in Brunswick using 1.5 mil bags has not had one break with cat litter.

4. 20:30
   Bag colour, start date and the budget review process

   The board settled on purple bags with the Durham seal as the artwork, and the chair repeated that the programme does not start until the first week of August. Joe (?) then set out the budget process: the board would go through the draft section by section with department heads and the town manager present, the Budget Committee chair and vice chair would attend the next meeting to ask questions, and the board would then finalise its first draft and send it to the Budget Committee before it becomes warrant language. This is a 12-month budget, following the 18-month budget.

5. 26:20
   Public works capital

   Jerry (?) said infrastructure has been added to the public works capital plan rather than equipment alone, including a $100,000 placeholder for a bridge on Mill Pond Road where water running between the logs as well as through the culvert is eroding the structure; Calvin has asked E.J. Prescott for a quote and guardrails or Jersey barriers may be needed. Culverts on Pass Brook, Collins Way and New Gloucester Road are set for 2028 and 2029 with money being put aside now. The public works reserve is funded at $250,000 in 2027, rising in later years.

6. 31:55
   Fire capital, grants and the Eureka Center building

   Calvin (?) said that although the fire capital plan lists items as purchases, about half are rehabilitations of trucks that are older but low mileage, which he said makes more sense than buying a million-dollar truck. Josh (?) noted the rescue boat was grant funded this time but is still budgeted because grants are not guaranteed, and asked why building improvements are only slated for 2040 when the rec centre lighting and the town office space have been under discussion. Calvin (?) reported that CMP has the parking lot light on its list, and that Northeast Heat Pumps found the building's 36,000 BTU units were short-cycling because the louvers pointed down; adjusting them and adding a thermostat in the middle of the room fixed it.

7. 37:45
   Town office planning, gazebo and apparatus replacement

   Josh (?) argued the town needs a plan for the town office building because of a lack of room for staff and the public. Joe (?) said there is no fiscal note for this cycle but pointed to the downtown planning input, grant opportunities and a route through the second congressional district office for federal spending package requests, with GPCOG already contacted. On the gazebo and bandstand, $30,000 has been allocated and the disagreement is over whether it should be replaced or restored; the chair said the historical society had been in touch and the matter would be taken up after the budget. On apparatus, all items are being saved for as rebuilds except the 2030 ambulance and a Pierce Saber Pumper, and the ten-year plan adds 3% inflation a year, so a $150,000 item is budgeted at $159,000 and the pumper at $900,000 now is projected at 1.48 or 1.49 million in 2044.

8. 43:18
   Speed signs and start of the revenue review

   The board confirmed the gazebo money needs to appear properly in this year's warrant article. Rebecca (?) asked about radar speed signs; the town has two and plans to keep two, and Calvin is applying for a grant for a third. Jerry then began the revenue section, with revenues estimated to be up 15.3% overall.

9. 48:21
   Pay-as-you-throw revenue estimate and other revenue

   Jerry (?) said the $125,000 pay-as-you-throw line is a guess, against the contractor's figure of about $150,000 for a full year, and that the programme starts a month late. Joe (?) put the arithmetic on the record: about 1,600 households, one small bag a week at $1.80 gives $93.60 a year per household, or about $147,000 at full compliance. John (?) said he would go with $125,000 or $130,000 rather than cut further and add to the tax, and the board agreed to leave it at $125,000. Excise taxes are estimated up 12.1% and permits and fees up 86.5%.

10. 53:29
    State revenue sharing and valuation

    Members asked why intergovernmental revenue had fallen from about 680 two years ago to 613. Mark (?) explained the two tiers of state revenue sharing: every town gets the first, based on valuation and population, while the second depends on the town's mill rate against a state figure, and Durham no longer qualifies. Members noted that the most expensive house built in Androscoggin County was in Durham and that continued high-value residential building will keep changing these numbers.

11. 58:38
    Revaluation, certified ratio and category increases

    Because Durham has not revalued for 15 years its certified ratio has fallen, so residents receive only part of the homestead exemption; the ratio is given in the recording both as 54% and as 57%. Mark (?) said this is a common problem now and that there is talk in Augusta of increasing the homestead exemption, which would make revaluing more important. Joe (?) credited Mr. Purinton, in the audience, with raising whether the town should do a smaller revaluation every five years. John (?) asked whether code enforcement fees include penalties; the answer was that only courts set penalties, so they are not budgeted, though a missed permit can be charged at double the fee.

12. 1:03:51
    What the board can and cannot change

    Joe (?) set out that the budget is made up of the school, the county and the municipal portion, and that the board can only pay the school and county bills. Fixed costs are 77.4% of the total, up from 75.6%; wages and benefits are 14%, up from 13%; discretionary costs are 8.6%, down from 11.4%. He said residents with a concern about the 77% need to take it to the school board, which he said reports receiving no public comment when it sets its budget.

13. 1:09:07
    Wages and benefits

    John (?) objected to the wage line, describing it as a 19% increase plus benefits, and said the wage scale had been presented as a $160,000 increase and is now over $200,000; he said the overall increase, given at various points in the meeting as 10.9%, 10.3% and 15%, is a large amount to put on taxpayers. Calvin (?) said he lost two employees in the past year, one going from $20 to $35 an hour and the other from $22 to $40 an hour in other towns, and that these are adjustments to compete, not raises. Others said the town went seven months with an unstaffed public works department during storm season with staff working 80-hour weeks, that a pay study still puts the town 20% below surrounding communities, and that Durham's wages and benefits are about 14% of its budget against 20% to 40% in neighbouring towns.

14. 1:15:14
    Auditor and legal lines

    The auditor line is up 34.6% because the town has no auditor at present; Mark (?) suggested about $22,000 as a placeholder. Total administration is $608,070, a 13% increase in that part of general government. John (?) asked whether the town avoids using its lawyer because of cost; Jerry (?) said simple process questions go to MMA and the lawyer is used where there is real liability, that the town spent almost $12,000 in one year and the line has been raised to $15,000.

15. 1:20:30
    Assessing and information technology

    Assessing totals $26,800, including $2,000 of maintenance for assessing software that came with the revaluation, and the assessor reported that data has been moved off Trio into the new program and residents will start getting notices of visits. Information technology is up 7.1%, including a new $4,000 line for the text messaging service that had previously sat elsewhere. Joe (?) said the board could take the $4,000 out at the next meeting if it chose.

16. 1:25:51
    Code enforcement, admin assistant hours and fire wages

    Planning and code enforcement is down 16.3% after the full-time code enforcement officer post was eliminated and Calvin took on both that role and public works, with the cost split between the two budgets, and mileage removed because he has a truck. John (?) asked whether the administrative assistant post, budgeted at $33,000 for 32 hours, could be set at 28 hours to avoid health insurance costs, and the board agreed to discuss it next meeting. The fire chief said EMT pay is $18 an hour, that he is proposing $20, and that surrounding towns including Lisbon pay $25, meaning $7 would be needed for parity.

17. 1:31:23
    Animal control and fuel

    Animal control, which sits under public safety, is up 16.9% and costs about $22,600 a year under a contract with the Lisbon animal control officer and the Humane Society, payable whether or not animals are picked up; public safety overall is up 9.7%. On fuel, diesel and heating oil are locked in on contract but gasoline is bought at rack price plus 20 cents, and Jerry budgeted about $3 a gallon and added $5,000; only three vehicles run on gasoline.

18. 1:37:06
    Paving plan and asphalt prices

    The draft pays for about 1.25 miles of road against the 2.5 to 2.75 miles done in recent years, and members asked for a plan to catch up. Calvin (?) said that if the price comes in around $130 a ton he would recommend not paving at all, against about $82 or $83 a ton last year, and Jerry (?) suggested a warrant article that would let unspent paving money go into reserve rather than be raised again. Josh (?) argued for paving anyway on the grounds that delay is what created the town's road problem, while others said Stackpole Road, the next road due, is not a main thoroughfare and could wait a year.

19. 1:42:12
    Municipal buildings, cemetery and solid waste

    Municipal buildings are up 11.7%, with the electricity increase attributed to the heat pumps. Members clarified that the cemetery the town took over is covered here for stone cleaning and restoration while public works mows it. Solid waste, on page 17, is up 5% on the 2026 actual.

20. 1:47:38
    Bin management and bulky waste day

    Joe (?) corrected a claim circulating that the $80,000 bin management line means the town is buying the bins, saying buying them would cost about $495,000 and that the vendor owns them, which gives it a reason not to break them; solid waste totals $501,000. Jerry took the $18,000 for bulky waste day out of the draft on the grounds that participation is about 15% while everyone pays for it, with 247 loads counted. John disputed that figure, arguing many vehicles carry more than one household's waste, and said cutting the day two years ago had been a failure; restoring it would add about 0.2% to the projected property tax levy.

21. 1:52:48
    Proposed user fees for bulky waste day

    John circulated a two-sided spreadsheet comparing per-item and per-vehicle charges with Lisbon, Freeport and North Yarmouth, and estimated it might raise about $3,000 to $3,500. Joe (?) noted that $18,000 over about 250 loads is $72 a load, which he thought too high, and suggested budgeting a smaller sum and recovering the rest through a flat fee of around $25 a vehicle. The board asked staff to look at the options before the next budget meeting and asked that the spreadsheet be marked as a draft before it goes in the packet. Jerry also said he had told the contractor to stop taking the town's scrap metal, which the town was not being paid for, and has arranged separate bins.

22. 1:57:58
    Assessments, reserves and interest

    General assistance stays at $1,000, of which the state reimburses 70%. The county tax is $918,788 as voted this year, and education is entered as a 7% increase on last year's assessment, which Jerry cautioned is not final because the school's assessment formula may not track its overall budget increase. Transfers to reserves are $395,000, down half a percent. Members said saving in reserves avoids interest expense, which was given as $43,000 this year.

23. 2:03:08
    Recreation fund and the FY27 totals

    No money is being added to the recreation fund, which has a balance of $19,742, and the board discussed whether requests from the baseball team and the snowmobile club should be met from that balance or raised. Members noted the snowmobile registration refund the town receives is roughly the same size as the club's grant and could be tied to it by policy. The FY27 budget totals $13,058,601 against revenue of $2,895,141, with $500,000 to be taken from undesignated fund balance, leaving a tax levy of $9,656,460.

24. 2:09:01
    Fund balance, valuation and the mill rate

    Mark projected the undesignated fund balance at about $3 million, down from $3.2 million at the start of the fiscal year, and warned against drawing it much below the recommended range. The draft uses last year's taxable valuation, which Mark (?) described as a worst-case basis; on that basis the mill rate increase is 10.7%, and about 8.5% if valuation rises 2%. John (?) asked whether the assessor could give a valuation figure before the June 13 town meeting; the answer was that she does not do that work until June and the number is not settled until the August commitment. Members noted that moving the levy by 1% means finding about $100,000, and that last year the budget assumed 3.5 and the rate was set at 2.9.

25. 2:19:51
    Department head reports and election workers

    Joe (?) said the draft is the Select Board's budget rather than the town manager's, since the board asked for it to be prepared as lean as possible and any changes are policy decisions for the board. Members noted the front-end loader chosen has 20% better fuel efficiency. The board then moved to approve the election clerks and wardens in the packet as a slate; the names were read out, with the warden and deputy warden given as Katherine Curtis and Nancy Swinton.

26. 2:24:55
    Manager's report: scheduling the 2024 audit

    Jerry (?) said the auditor was booked to present the 2024 audit at the April 14 meeting and offered to move it because of the budget. Members noted the presentation would already be 14 to 16 months after the year end and that the audit is posted online. After several amendments over dates, the board settled on asking the auditor to attend May 12 and keeping April 14 if she is not available.

27. 2:30:02
    Auditor RFP, hiring, snowmobile club and a food sovereignty ordinance

    The RFP for a new auditor closes April 30 and Jerry has put the selection on the May 12 agenda. The administrative assistant post is out and drawing interest. Joe (?) said he was willing to give the snowmobile club the $1,500 the town has given year after year from the recreation reserve but wanted it voted at the next meeting rather than tonight, since it was not on the agenda. He also reported a resident's request that the town consider a local food sovereignty ordinance, which would let people sell home-made cottage products without a state permit; the agriculture committee was asked informally to look into it.

28. 2:35:32
    Fire corporation plaque and consent agenda

    Joe (?) reported that the fire corporation, which dedicated the building to a former chief before the town had a fire department, wants to replace a vandalised plaque and asked whether it needed Select Board approval. He said a dedication carries no fiscal or policy impact and needs no board action, while changing the name of a town building would require a process, and he raised it at the meeting rather than answering by email so as not to create an illegal meeting. The board then approved the consent agenda.

29. 2:40:36
    Budget Committee meeting location and recording

    The Budget Committee has decided to hold its meetings at the Eureka Center rather than the fire station, which members said reflects a philosophical disagreement about using that space. Because the recording equipment is at the fire station and the Eureka Center is not a secure space, the chair said he would write asking the committee to meet at the fire station until a plan is worked out, phrased as a request since the committee is elected. Members said the Select Board, Budget Committee, Planning Board and appeals board at minimum should be recorded, and that the Conservation Commission's open space work had not been. Upcoming dates given were the Budget Committee on March 30, the next budget meeting on April 14 with the Budget Committee chair and vice chair present, documents to the Budget Committee on April 16, further review on April 28, recommendations back on May 7, and April 15 as the due date for the second tax payment.

What was decided

• 4:48
  Approve the draft Select Board minutes of March 10passed
• 15:14
  Leave the Budget Committee vacancy unfilled, to be filled at the next municipal election, moved by Rebeccapassed
• 20:30
  Approve the pay-as-you-throw bag contract, with purple bags carrying the Durham sealpassed
• 1:52:48
  Leave bulky waste day funding unresolved and ask staff to look at a partial user-fee model before the next budget meetingtabled
• 2:24:55
  Appoint the election clerks and wardens in the packet as a slatepassed
• 2:30:02
  Ask the auditor to present the 2024 audit at the May 12 meeting, keeping the April 14 date if she is unavailablepassed
• 2:30:02
  Hold the $1,500 request from the snowmobile club over to the next meeting rather than vote on it tonighttabled
• 2:30:02
  Agreed informally, without a vote, to ask the agriculture committee to look into a local food sovereignty ordinancepassed
• 2:35:32
  Approve the consent agendapassed
• 2:40:36
  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

• 20:30
  Pay-as-you-throw does not start until the first week of August. The bags will be purple and carry the Durham seal, and the contract carries a CPI escalator after the town got the vendor to drop an additional 3% a year.
• 1:03:51
  Fixed costs the board cannot change, mainly the school and county assessments and debt, are 77.4% of the budget, up from 75.6%. Discretionary spending is 8.6%, down from 11.4%.
• 1:09:07
  John and Calvin (?) disagreed openly over wages. Calvin (?) said two employees left in the past year for other towns, one going from $20 to $35 an hour and the other from $22 to $40, and that the town went seven months without a full public works crew during storm season. John (?) said the increase, put variously at 10.9%, 10.3% and 15%, is more than taxpayers can carry.
• 2:09:01
  The draft FY27 budget is $13,058,601, with a tax levy of $9,656,460 and $500,000 drawn from fund balance. Using last year's valuation the mill rate rises 10.7%; a 2% increase in valuation would bring that to about 8.5%. Moving the levy by 1% means finding about $100,000.

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: 4 passages of motion language, against 10 decisions summarised.

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