Select Board Meeting ~ May 2, 2017

2017-05-02 · Select Board · 2:30:50 · watch on YouTube →

A long select board meeting on May 2, 2017 with all five members present. It opened with a resident challenging the reported cost per foot of the Runaround Pond Road and Rabbit Road reconstruction, and with an update on the Eagle Scout work at the veterans park, where one of the eight flag poles had tipped and needed its footing sorted before the brick walkway could be laid. The board pulled a parcel by the Durham Leisure Center off the consent agenda and voted to follow counsel's advice and prepare a release deed, accepted a resignation from the historic district commission and promoted an alternate to full member, assigned each selectman as liaison to a department or group of committees, and approved a per diem firefighter job description subject to the attorney's review. Ruth Glaeser presented a benchmarking of the town's employee health benefits against the MMA survey, which put Durham low on the single premium share and above the median on family, and mid-range as a package. The longest discussion was road commissioner Calvin Beaumier's road survey, which puts the cost of rebuilding roughly ten miles of failed road at close to $6 million, with Country Lane and Bowie Hill Road now bad enough that plow trucks get stuck.

What was discussed

1. 0:05
   Call to order

   Jeffrey Wakeman opened the meeting with all five selectmen present and led the pledge of allegiance. There were no amendments to the agenda.

2. 0:05
   Public comment on the cost per foot of the road project

   Michael Stewart questioned the figures given at town meeting for the Runaround Pond Road and Rabbit Road work, saying the per foot cost appeared to leave out traffic control, erosion control, riprap, seed and hay, and that the remaining ditching was quoted as three weeks' work without a length. Members answered that the $1.1 million paid from the bond covered the contractor, the flaggers and the materials, giving roughly $55 a foot, with the town's own share bringing it to about $61, and offered to print a breakdown.

3. 0:05
   Ditching on Quaker Meeting House Road

   The same resident asked when the town would return to Quaker Meeting House Road, where only one side was ditched after money had been spent on paving. Members confirmed it was on the road commissioner's list, having been deferred while other work was completed.

4. 5:22
   Getting more bids on road work

   The resident said Lisbon had just put out over a million dollars of road work and drawn four bids at low numbers, and that he had never seen the paperwork behind the Brown Road pricing the town keeps using as its benchmark. Members agreed anything going out now would be bid, noting a recent bid had come in below what they had been told to expect, and discussed neighbouring towns outsourcing reconstruction entirely to hold a contractor to a completion date.

5. 5:22
   Accounting for the road bond

   The chair handed round a list of the payments made from the bond over the last year, and members asked for and were given the remaining balance.

6. 5:22
   Eagle Scout project at the veterans park

   The scout troop's committee chair reported that Hunter is restarting work to finish the project and has contacted the brick company that offered last year to donate the bricks for the walkway, so the schedule now depends on when they can be delivered.

7. 10:41
   The leaning flag pole

   One of the poles at the park had tipped and was straightened over the weekend. The concrete footing holds a galvanized steel sleeve and the pole sits inside it packed with sand; the flashing was never sealed to the pole, so water got in, turned the sand to mud and let the pole lean. Unlike the six smaller poles, whose sleeves are open-ended, the large pole's sleeve has a welded plate at the bottom so water cannot drain out.

8. 10:41
   How to keep it from tipping again

   Members pointed out that repacking sand will not hold if water gets back in, and the installation details show either a waterproof grout in the top two or three inches or wooden shims tamped in as the sand goes in. Members agreed to look at the detail together at the site with the road commissioner before any bricks are laid, and one asked that the cap not be siliconed on so the sleeve can be inspected. The pole manufacturer appears to recommend a five by eight American flag where a six by ten had been flown.

9. 15:56
   Grading and spoil at the park

   A member noted the material dug from the walkway and stacked on the lawn must come off, or it will sit higher than the finished walkway and hold water. The troop chair said the walkway area had been dug out eight to ten inches because the ground was so holed a person could turn an ankle, and that finish grading would follow.

10. 21:20
    Budget for the Eagle Scout project

    The plan is engraved bricks for each branch of the military and one carrying the Eagle Scout symbol with Justin's and Hunter's names and years, at $275 to $300, plus $200 to $250 for edging and about $50 more of polymeric sand on top of what was donated. Loam and seed for the disturbed area had not been budgeted for at all. Hunter has $221 left from last year, $300 approved this year and a $250 donation, about $750 against an estimated $700.

11. 26:22
    Why the town's $300 lapsed

    The troop chair objected that the $300 the town allocated last year disappeared because the donations were spent first, and asked that the scout not be short changed. Members explained that the budget year has closed and the money cannot be recovered, and that the reason for spending donations first is that money raised for a project must be spent on that project, whereas an unspent town allocation simply returns. They noted money is budgeted again this year and, if anything is left after the gazebo work, more might be found.

12. 26:22
    Scholarship presentation

    On behalf of the scholarship committee and the select board, the chair presented this year's recipient with the 2017 town scholarship award of $1,000.

13. 31:23
    The old school district 9 parcel by the Durham Leisure Center

    A member asked for the background on a consent agenda item. A very small parcel beside the leisure center once held a schoolhouse, discontinued at least fifty and probably sixty years ago; the deed names Durham School District 9, from the era when the town had up to thirteen districts each taxing its own residents for a schoolhouse and teacher. The leisure center wants the parcel because setback rules from it hinder their plans, and members recalled it had also been used as a small dumping area.

14. 31:23
    Counsel's advice on the parcel

    The town attorney recommended searching the old records and, failing that, giving a release deed, which members confirmed is the same thing as a quitclaim. Members reasoned that doing the release now and researching afterwards keeps the abutter moving, and that if the town's ownership were later established a warranty deed could follow. The item was pulled from the consent agenda for a separate vote.

15. 36:26
    Consent agenda

    With the leisure center parcel removed, the consent agenda was approved as amended. Members noted it also carried the select board and animal control pay rates voted at town meeting.

16. 36:26
    Assigning selectmen as liaisons

    Following the previous week's workshop, each member was to take a department or group of committees: the office, the fire department and public works, one group covering the planning board, appeals board and comprehensive plan committee, and another covering the historic district commission, the Eureka Center, the historical society, the cemetery and the Memorial Day parade. Members sorted the assignments in discussion and agreed no vote was needed.

17. 41:42
    Historic district commission membership

    Richard Hodges submitted his resignation because he is moving out of town, and the commission asked that Anita Sellars, currently an alternate, be moved up to full membership.

18. 41:42
    Benefits benchmarking: what other towns offer

    Ruth Glaeser presented figures from the 2016 MMA salary and benefits survey, filtered to the 21 communities of 3,000 to 5,000 people with valuations between $200 million and $500 million, Durham's being about $330 million. Of those, 95 percent offer health insurance to single employees, 86 percent life insurance, short-term disability and family health coverage, 71 percent dental, and 38 percent long-term disability, which Durham does not offer. Durham does offer a buyout of $100 a month to an employee who proves other coverage, as 79 percent of respondents do.

19. 47:02
    Where Durham sits on premium share

    Durham pays 80 percent of the single premium, which puts it in the lowest few percent of the filtered group, where the median is 100 percent, and in the ninth percentile for Androscoggin County against a median of 89 percent, with medians of 90 percent in Cumberland and Sagadahoc counties. On family coverage the position reverses: Durham is at the 75th percentile against a median of 50 percent among comparable towns, and at the median for both neighbouring counties. Dental is above the median for single coverage and above the 75th percentile for family.

20. 52:13
    The package taken as a whole

    Glaeser's conclusion, which members said matched what they found three or four years ago, was that taken together the town's benefits sit close to the middle. Members noted that any change to the split between single and family coverage had previously been contemplated only for new hires, on the view that it would be wrong to change what current employees have, and that Durham depends on a household tax base and tends to serve as a training ground for employees, so the package has to stay competitive.

21. 57:18
    Plan choice and a high deductible option

    The town buys through MMA to get a group rate and could offer up to three plans but currently offers one, a POS plan with a $200 deductible and 80/20 coinsurance. A high deductible plan with the town putting money aside was examined a couple of years ago and rejected: with only eight or nine employees on insurance the savings were minimal and one bad year could drain the fund. Members noted a family plan costs the town roughly $16,000 to $17,000 and a single plan $8,000 to $9,000, with about four employees on each.

22. 1:02:36
    Direction on the benefits review

    The board asked for a comparison of what plans other towns actually offer, updating a list the office had compiled by telephone for the 2016 budget year, and asked that the presentation be shown to the budget committee. A member suggested asking employees what they would want if the package changed, and offering a choice of plans at different deductibles and possibly different employer shares.

23. 1:02:36
    Apparatus committee

    The fire chief reported the committee meets again on May 8 and has been working through what services the town expects and what apparatus those require, deliberately looking at the services first with the apparatus list withheld. Reviewing the services changed nothing, and every consolidation concept the committee developed leads to replacing two vehicles with a single larger and more expensive one, which he said is not well suited to a rural town with narrow driveways.

24. 1:08:21
    Rescue replacement timing

    The rescue is scheduled for replacement in 2019 in the apparatus plan, so this is the year to start planning a recommendation. The chief expects to use a similar format to previous recommendations but with a specific vehicle and a specific price, and hoped to have the committee's position by the end of the month.

25. 1:08:21
    Fire department meeting schedule for the liaison

    The chief set out the department's Thursday routine: equipment checks on the first, the monthly and corporation meeting on the second, officers' meeting or training on the third depending on the month, and training on the fourth, with explorers on the first and third Tuesdays. He said meetings are not closed, that members like a selectman turning up because it shows someone outside the department cares, and offered to forward the monthly calendar.

26. 1:13:47
    Per diem firefighter job description

    The chief presented a job description built from an existing part-time description and meetings with the deputies, and asked to advertise it both internally and on fire service websites. Members raised overtime, and the chief explained firefighter schedules are computed on a 42-hour average over a 28-day cycle rather than a 40-hour week, and that separate job descriptions permit separate pay rates and schedules, though members asked that it be checked.

27. 1:18:52
    Whether the pay rate will attract anyone

    A member questioned a starting rate around $13 an hour as too light. The chief said his research put a career firefighter at intermediate level around $16.30 an hour and the top of his scale, for a firefighter paramedic, at about $18, which is competitive at the high end if not the low. He expects most applicants at the basic and intermediate end, people wanting to break into a career who will stay two or three years while they finish their certifications, and argued the town should embrace being a training ground.

28. 1:18:52
    Building the per diem pool

    The chief put the pool at ten to fourteen people, expecting five to eight from inside the department, so four to nine would come from outside and would need background, licence and driving checks, medical clearance, fit testing, orientation and safety equipment. He expects weekends and holidays to remain the hard shifts to fill.

29. 1:24:32
    Stipend shifts

    The stipend programme now covers 39 shifts, created by splitting weekend days into a day and an evening shift, and sign-up has improved a little. Evening shifts fill more readily than days, with Friday, Saturday and Sunday the gaps. The chief said the stipends suit people just starting out or retired members rather than established residents, and that members can have stipend pay applied against their tax bill.

30. 1:29:45
    Training and compliance

    Seven members are finishing a fire officer class, an advanced cardiac life support class was hosted at the station and opened to surrounding communities, hazmat comes later in the month and a basic pumps class runs to the end of June. Letters went out last week to about seven members behind on required training, who must be compliant by May 31, since non-compliant personnel put the town as well as the department at risk.

31. 1:29:45
    ISO rating and property insurance

    The chief reported two calls that week from insurers about the town's ISO class rating, and said Durham is a class 9. He was told that a property more than five miles from the station that cannot be covered by an aid arrangement falls to a class 10, which he was told is about 50 percent higher insurance, so the town must be careful not to jeopardise the nine and should try to improve it. Whether apparatus consolidation would affect it is part of the committee's research.

32. 1:34:51
    How often department heads attend

    Members proposed the fire chief attend the first meeting of the month and the road commissioner the second, with neither required at a third, and written reports otherwise. The chief said he had no objection but pointed out that presenting in person is one of the few chances the departments get to put information before residents watching the meeting, so members suggested posting the written reports on the town website.

33. 1:40:17
    Road commissioner's report

    Calvin Beaumier reported spring cleanup, patching, shoulder repairs and work on the gravel roads with Cushing Road left for the next day, plow gear coming off the trucks now that a late storm looks unlikely, the excavator serviced and a 2,000 hour service done on the loader. The engineer would be on site Thursday surveying the stream crossing for the grant work, with the state's permitted construction window still to be confirmed, often July 15 to the early autumn to stay clear of the spawning season.

34. 1:40:17
    The lifted pavement on Runaround Pond Road

    A section of the westbound lane just before the curve by the park lifted over the winter and cracked in both directions. The contractor offered ground penetrating radar for $300; Beaumier said he has to dig it up regardless, so he will box cut roughly one lane by twenty to fifty feet, find whether it is a boulder, a spring or ledge, and deal with it before the surface course goes down.

35. 1:45:21
    Questions about the box cut

    Members pressed on how much road was being taken out and what a box cut means, and Beaumier explained he will start at the failure and may cut back to twenty feet or less, that the cracks either side are probably collateral damage, and that springs are routinely found under roads with no sign at the surface. He noted the base in that section had been built up nearly a foot of reclaim over the existing material, and that out of 3.89 miles this is the only such spot.

36. 1:50:30
    Paving schedule and other work

    Rabbit Road is ready and could be paved as soon as the following week, while Runaround Pond Road still has about three weeks of cleanup and ditching plus the box cut. Riprap placed where water came out of Barry Baldwin's driveway and washed the side out has held with no further trouble. The sign vendor has not responded to calls, voicemails or email, so Beaumier will look for other vendors.

37. 1:50:30
    Repairing the gazebo

    After three weeks looking for a builder, Beaumier has a plan: support the posts, cut them off at floor level, set pressure treated bases boxed in with cedar so the columns are wider at the bottom, and add molding at the top, with a sketch being drawn for free by another tradesman. The posts are soft enough to take a jack knife and the benches have fallen off, which he believes is why the roof racks, and he warned a big wind could put it on the ground.

38. 1:55:47
    Gazebo cost, approvals and the roof

    A rough figure of $1,200 to $1,300 plus materials was floated pending the builder's estimate, and members said that depending on the amount a special select board meeting might be needed under the purchasing policy, and that historic district commission approval may be required, with Beaumier to contact its chair Candy. The roof shingles are too dry and cupped to walk on, so painting would need a lift. Members noted the original gazebo dates from the mid-1800s and has been rebuilt many times, with the current design close to the old photographs.

39. 2:01:10
    Special town meeting on the culvert work

    Members considered setting a date for a special town meeting on the culvert replacements. The Eureka Center holds only 40 people and the school now charges for custodian time on weekends, so an evening meeting at the school was preferred. Since the engineering information was not expected until the next meeting, the board agreed to hold off scheduling.

40. 2:01:10
    The road survey spreadsheet

    Beaumier handed round his road list, with this year's scheduled work separated out from what still needs doing. He is working the sheet into a capital plan, with a ten-year maintenance cycle for shim and overlay and a twenty-five year cycle for rebuilds, to come back as two tabs at the next meeting.

41. 2:06:23
    The cost of rebuilding the failed roads

    Rebuilds are priced at about $100 a foot, covering grinding up what is there, building on top and pipes, and the list comes to nearly $5.5 million, which Beaumier expects to be closer to six or six and a half million once Shiloh moves out of the shim and overlay category. That is against the $1.1 million bond that rebuilt about 3.9 miles of Runaround Pond and Rabbit Road at roughly $61 a foot, with an annual payment of about $170,000 over seven years.

42. 2:06:23
    Country Lane and Bowie Hill Road

    Beaumier described Country Lane as imploded, with the crown gone so water sits in the middle, boulders working up through the surface, and plow trucks getting stuck, so the town has resorted to sanding it like a gravel road. He said residents are livid. Members raised the prospect of telling residents their roads cannot be plowed, and pointed out that whether a fire truck can get down them makes it a life safety question.

43. 2:11:45
    How to pay for it

    Members discussed bonding the rebuilds and compressing them into about three years, noting the last bond came in under 2 percent and rates are more likely to rise than fall, and that the road crew could not do the work at that pace so it would have to be bid, possibly to several contractors. The alternative discussed was a cheaper three inch overlay at roughly a fifth of the cost, perhaps $120,000 a mile, buying maybe seven years on strategic sections. Members also noted the standing advice that the annual maintenance budget must never be raided to pay for rebuilds.

44. 2:16:56
    Engineering lead time and prioritising

    Members asked how far ahead engineering has to be commissioned so that a construction window is not missed, and Beaumier said not every road needs it but Country Lane, having lost its crown and needing ditching and elevation work, probably does, and that Davis Road and Shiloh were surveyed last year. On priorities he said the rebuild list is simply the roads that are gone, that ranking matters more within the shim and overlay list, and that criteria include traffic counts, the number of taxpayers affected and emergency vehicle access, with the fire chief having helped pick the main corridors last year.

45. 2:22:07
    Town administrator's report

    Ruth Glaeser circulated a record of the goals set at the previous week's workshop, with members agreeing these are topics to bring back rather than commitments already adopted, and noting the liaison assignments and the health insurance comparison were two goals already under way.

46. 2:22:07
    Website

    The vendor builds the site and transfers 50 pages, after which the town maintains it. Some transferred pages are already out of date, still showing the previous road commissioner on the public works page. Glaeser, Shannon and Diana are trained to update it, Alden is being set up with a login and the road commissioner wants training so that he can post.

47. 2:27:13
    Budget sheets, registrations and tax liens

    Glaeser circulated budget sheets ahead of the next meeting along with figures for a full-time road commissioner for the rest of the year, correcting a mislabelled line. The office begins using a newly purchased laser printer for motor vehicle registrations this week, and liens go on properties on Friday, so 2016 taxes must be paid by close of business Thursday to avoid one.

48. 2:27:13
    Upcoming meetings

    Regular select board meetings were announced for Tuesday, May 16 and Tuesday, May 30 at 6:30 p.m., with the planning board on May 10, the historic district commission on May 11 at 6:30, bulky waste day on May 20, and the three-town school board meeting at Freeport High School on May 24 at 6:30, where the school budget is voted.

What was decided

• 36:26
  Approve the consent agenda as amended, the amendment being the removal of the school district 9 parcel by the Durham Leisure Center for a separate vote. Moved by Kevin Nadeau, seconded by Mark Blake, carried 5-0.passed
• 36:26
  Follow town counsel's recommendation and prepare a release deed for the former school district 9 parcel next to the Durham Leisure Center. Moved by Richard George, seconded by Mark Blake, carried 5-0.passed
• 36:26
  Assign each selectman as liaison to a department or group of committees, covering the town office, the fire department, public works, the planning and appeals boards with the comprehensive plan committee, and the historic district commission with the Eureka Center, historical society, cemetery and Memorial Day parade. Settled in discussion, with members agreeing no vote was needed.passed
• 41:42
  Accept the resignation of Richard Hodges from the historic district commission with regret, he having moved out of town. Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Kevin Nadeau, carried 5-0.passed
• 41:42
  Appoint Anita Sellars, currently an alternate, as a full member of the historic district commission. Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Kevin Nadeau, carried 5-0.passed
• 1:24:32
  Approve the per diem firefighter job description as presented, pending the attorney's review and any recommendations he makes, so that the chief can advertise without returning to the board. Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake, carried 5-0.passed
• 1:34:51
  Reduce how often department heads attend: the fire chief at the first meeting of the month, the road commissioner at the second, neither required at a third, with written reports otherwise and the possibility of posting those reports on the town website. Agreed in discussion, without a recorded vote.passed
• 2:01:10
  Hold off setting a date and venue for the special town meeting on the culvert replacements until the next meeting, when the engineering details are expected.tabled

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_minutes_5-2-171.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.

• Approve the Consent Agenda as Amendedcarried 5-0

  Moved by Kevin Nadeau, seconded by Mark Blake

• follow Counsel's recommendation and prepare a Release Deedcarried 5-0

  Moved by Richard George, seconded by Mark Blake

• accept the resignation of Richard Hodges with regretcarried 5-0

  Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Kevin Nadeau

• Appoint Anita Sellars to full member of the Historic District Commissioncarried 5-0

  Moved by Mark Blake, seconded by Kevin Nadeau

• approve the job description given here pending attorneys review and recommendationscarried 5-0

  Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Mark Blake

• the Board into Executive Session pursuant to Title #1, M.R.S.A., ss. 405(6)(A) – Personnel – Personnel Matters at 9:03 p.m., followed by a brief recesscarried 5-0

  Moved by Jeffrey Wakeman, seconded by Richard George

• Adjourn at 11:14 p.mcarried 5-0

  Moved by Richard George, seconded by Todd Beaulieu

Worth knowing

• 2:06:23
  Rebuilding the roads on the road commissioner's list is priced at about $100 a foot, coming to nearly $5.5 million and probably closer to six or six and a half million once one more road moves into the rebuild category. For comparison, the $1.1 million bond rebuilt about 3.9 miles of Runaround Pond and Rabbit Road at roughly $61 a foot, on an annual payment of about $170,000 over seven years.
• 2:06:23
  Country Lane and Bowie Hill Road have deteriorated to the point that plow trucks get stuck, and the town has been sanding Country Lane like a gravel road rather than plowing it. Members treated whether fire apparatus can reach those homes as a life safety question and discussed either bonding the rebuilds over about three years or buying time with a cheaper overlay at roughly a fifth of the cost.
• 1:29:45
  Durham holds an ISO class 9 fire insurance rating. The chief said a property more than five miles from the station that cannot be covered by an aid arrangement drops to a class 10, which he was told means roughly 50 percent higher insurance, so the town should be careful not to jeopardise the rating.
• 47:02
  Benchmarked against the MMA survey, Durham pays 80 percent of the single health premium, among the lowest of comparable towns where the median is 100 percent, but sits at the 75th percentile on family coverage where the median is 50 percent. Taken as a package the town is close to the middle, and any change was contemplated only for new hires.

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 8 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

← 2017-04-25 Select Board2017-05-16 Select Board →All meetings