SELECTMEN’S MEETING

June 23, 2016

5:00pm

Election of Chair: Bill Shields nominated Ed Walsh to serve as Chairman of the Board of Selectmen; Elise Miller seconded the nomination which passed 2-0-1.

Mr. Walsh thanked Ted Kryzak for his six-years of service on the Board of Selectmen and welcomed Elise Miller as the newly elected Board Member.

Meetings / Workshops: Consensus of Board Members was to continue meeting on Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m. During the month of July, the Board will meet every week. The Board will review the need to meet weekly after working together for a month.

Board members discussed the idea of one selectman being present at the Town Hall on Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. to be available to residents who have issues to discuss or questions to ask. Consensus of Board Members was to proceed with this idea and Mrs. Roux will develop a schedule so that each Board Member will know which Thursday to be at the Town Hall. She also noted that this interaction should not be used by Department Heads; they should contact and work with their designated liaison when they have issues or questions.

Liaisons: Mrs. Roux stated that the role of the Selectmen liaison is to act as the first point of contact for Committee Chairmen / Department Heads, to attend as many of the committee meetings as possible, to keep a good line of communication between their designated Chairmen / Department Heads and to be available to work with their committee / department when the need arises. She requested that if a Chairman / Department Head contacts one of the Selectmen other than their designated liaison, that they be directed to their specific liaison in order to maintain the chain of command continuity and good communication.

Board Members decided to divide the committees / departments between the three Selectmen as follows:

Bill Shields: Transfer Station, Mary Grant / Recreation Committee

Ed Walsh: Fire Department, CEO / Planning Board, Forest / Conservation Committee

Elise Miller: School Committee, Warrant and Finance Committee

Mrs. Roux stated that a memo will be sent to Committee Chairmen / Department Heads informing them who their Board of Selectmen liaison is and what the role of the liaison is.

Larissa Crockett asked if a committee needs to request information from MMA, should the Chairman of the Committee work through the liaison. Ed Walsh expressed the opinion that the liaison should have the authority to direct the Town Administrator to send the request to MMA. Mrs. Roux noted that she always copies all the Board Members on any correspondence that goes to MMA.

1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Moved by Bill Shields, seconded by Elise Miller, to accept the agenda as presented. The motion passed 3-0.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF LAST MEETING: Moved by Bill Shields, seconded by Ed Walsh, to accept the Minutes of the Meeting of June 14, 2016 as written. The motion passed 2-0-1.

3. DEPARTMENT HEAD / COMMITTEE CHAIR UPDATES

A. Fire Rescue Commission: William Williams reminded the Board that the Commission originally received thirteen applications for the position of Fire Chief. Six of those applicants were interviewed; three of which were selected for final consideration. However, one of those three finalists was discovered to have been dismissed from his previous position. Finalist number two failed to pass the background check. The last finalist declined the offer based on the fact that he felt the compensation offered was too low. Therefore, the process was restarted and five new applicants plus the candidate from the initial process applied. He noted that the Commission will reconvene and interview two of the current applicants and the candidate from the first round. Mr. Williams requested that because the Commission’s mandate expires at the end of the current fiscal year, the Board extend the mandate for a period of six weeks. He noted that the required agility tests and the background checks take time and the process could feasibly go on that long.

B. Recreation Committee: Mrs. Roux introduced and thanked Jana Robichaud, who has worked on the Recreation Committee for three years, organizing every sport herself from sign ups, delegating coaches and splitting up the teams. Mrs. Robichaud is stepping away from the Committee as her kids are getting older and she'd like to move along with them. Mrs. Robichaud outlined the current status of the committee and noted that Tracy Lizotte is willing to do the Basketball program. Soccer has typically drawn little interest in the past but this year there were fifty sign ups but there is no one to organize the age four to sixth grade program. Consensus of the Board was to put a notice in the Smart Shopper that volunteers are desperately needed to organize and serve on this committee.

Elise Miller expressed the opinion that the Recreation Department should offer programs other than sports. Mrs. Roux suggested that the Board discuss at a later meeting using some of the existing funds to hire even a part-time Recreation Director.

C. Warrant and Finance Committee: Larissa Crockett, reminded Board Members that the Town Meeting did not grant authority to the Board to put forward funds nor accept revenues, so she encouraged the board to hold a Special Town Meeting to address that vote. Mrs. Crockett requested that the Selectmen consider also including a request on the Warrant to raise $1,000 for the Southern Maine Veteran's Association which was voted down at the recent annual town meeting.

4. OLD BUSINESS:

A. Gym: Mrs. Roux noted that the company that originally sold the card scanning system that is used for access to the gym is no longer in business and the company that bought it out is unable to support the system. Mrs. Roux, therefore, suggested that a key system be used instead, which admittedly does not provide monitoring who is using the gym but it will be a lot less costly and easier to administer. Ed Walsh suggested changing the lock and distributing new keys to the members. Consensus of the Board was that the new lock will be installed by July 7^th and Mrs. Roux will post notices so that members can sign up for the new key prior to the lock change.

B. Foreclosure Properties, Tax Sale: Mrs. Roux reported that the Town Assessor reviewed the two properties in question and advised the following:

• Map 248, Lot 015 – The property is 2.3 acres on Foxes Ridge Road with an assessed value of $30,250. The Assessors and the Code Enforcement Office question that the lot is buildable and may only have value to an abutting property owner. A perspective buyer could possibly work with the Planning Board to determine a building envelope but that is not assured. The Assessor’s suggested minimum bid is $5,000.

• Map 229, Lot 046- The property is 39 acres on H Road with an assessed value of $90,750 and should be offered for sale as one lot. The suggested minimum price would be $40,000.

Board Members requested that the CEO, Ken Paul, be present at the Board Meeting on July 5^th to help advise the Board as to the value of each lot.

5. NEW BUSINESS:

A. Planning Board Resignation: The Chairman read a letter of resignation from the Acton Planning Board affective June 14, 2016 from Jessica Donnell. Moved by Bill Shields, seconded by Elise Miller, to accept the resignation with regret. The motion passed 3-0.

Mrs. Roux reported that Walter Scott is the alternate with seniority and therefore should be designed as the permanent member. She will post the Planning Board opening.

B. Directory: Mrs. Roux suggested that finalizing the directory should be postponed until the Fire Chief is hired.

C. Appointments:

Moved by Bill Shields, seconded by Elise Miller, to appoint Walter Scott as a full member of the Planning Board. The motion passed 3-0 and the appointment document was signed.

Moved by Bill Shields, seconded by Elise Miller, to appoint David Langley as the interim Fire Chief for thirty days until July 31, 2016. The motion passed 3-0 and the appointment document was signed.

Moved by Elise Miller, seconded by Bill Shields, to appoint Norman Lambert, Harold Smith and Bill Catansye as the Fire Department Representatives to the Fire and Rescue Commission until July 31, 2017. The motion passed 3-0 and the appointment document was signed.

Moved by Elise Miller, seconded by Bill Shields, to appoint Steve Benotti as the Retired Active Member to the Fire and Rescue Commission until July 31, 2017. The motion passed 3-0 and the appointment document was signed.

The Chairman noted that the Warrant and Finance Committee has not met to appoint a member to the Fire and Rescue Commission; therefore, the Board of Selectmen will appoint the current member, William Williams, for thirty days until that Committee meets again.

Moved by Elise Miller, seconded by Bill Shields, to appoint William Williams as the Warrant and Finance Committee Representative to the Fire and Rescue Commission for thirty days until July 31, 2016. The motion passed 3-0 and the appointment document was signed.

Moved by Elise Miller, seconded by Bill Shields, to appoint Robert Nolan as the Commission’s representative to the Fire and Rescue Commission until July 31, 2017 contingent on the approval of the Commission at their next meeting. The motion passed 3-0 and the appointment document was signed.

D. MAINEPERS Administration Authorization Form: Mrs. Roux explained that this document is to appoint administrative authorization for the employee retirement programs that was approved at the Annual Town Meeting. Consensus of the Board was to designate Michelle Rumney and Jennifer Roux as the administrators of the program and the document was signed.

E. LRAP Program: Mrs. Roux explained that this is the Local Road Assistance Program allocation form. Mr. Walsh noted that last year $25,146 was spent on Young's Ridge Road and $25,146 was spent on Goose Pond Road which represents a slight decrease. The document was signed by all three Board Members.

F. Special Town Meeting Date: Mr. Walsh noted that without the authority to put forward the undesignated funds, taxes will double, therefore a Special Town Meeting must be scheduled to address the issue. Mrs. Roux stated that Warrant and Finance will need to meet to review the warrant article and the warrant must be posted. She asked if Board Members want to include the article suggested by Larissa Crockett to request the $1000 for the Southern Maine Veteran's Association. All three Board Members expressed the desire to include that request.

The Board set the date of July 28^th at 6:00 p.m. at the Town Hall to hold the Special Town Meeting regarding the two articles.

G. Employee Time Off: Board Members approved Sara Hewitt’s request for six hours off on July 5^th.

H. 2017 Tax Map Proposal: Mrs. Roux explained that this proposal is made by Cardiographics, who is the company that plots structures within the town, maintains the website maps, etc. The proposal runs from April 1, 2016 through March 31, 2017 and is for $2900 an increase of $100.

Moved by Elise Miller, seconded by Bill Shields, to approve Cardiographics’ proposal to manage the Town’s property information on the website from April 1, 2016 though March 31, 2017 for a fee of $2900. The motion passed 3-0 and the contract was signed by all three Selectmen.

I. Warrant and Finance Resignation: The Chairman read a letter from Elise Miller in which she notifies the Board that she wishes to resign from the Warrant and Finance Committee. Moved by Bill Shields, seconded by Ed Walsh, to accept the resignation with regret. The motion passed 2-0-1.

J. End of Fiscal Year: Mrs. Roux requested that the Board approve closing the Town Hall on Thursday, June 30^th so that the staff can close out the fiscal year 2015 / 16 and set up for the new fiscal year 2016 /17. Moved by Bill Shields, seconded by Elise Miller, to close the Town Hall as requested. The motion passed 3-0.

6. OTHER BUSINESS:

7. PUBLIC COMMENT: Paul Poyant spoke to the Board regarding their meetings. His concern is that the School Board meets on Tuesday evenings as well, so there may be a conflict. He requested that the Board explain to the public why the meeting days were changed. Mrs. Roux explained that the reason that the meeting was changed was because she must attend the Selectmen’s Meeting as Town Administrator and she does not have an assistant to cover the Town Clerk / Tax Collector’s Office on Thursday evenings. Consensus of the Board Members was that Mrs. Roux will keep the agenda to a minimum on the evening that the School Committee meets so that anyone that wishes to also attend the School Committee meeting can do so.

8. ANNOUCEMENTS: Ed Walsh reminded everyone that there will not be a Board of Selectmen Meeting on June 28^th.

9. MEMBERS PRESENT: Ed Walsh, Bill Shields and Elise Miller

10. OTHERS PRESENT: Jennifer Roux, Paul Poyant, Larissa Crockett, William Williams