SELECTMEN’S MEETING

January 2, 2018

1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Elise Miller called for a motion to approve the agenda, Kim Stacey- Horn made the motion, motion approved.

2. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING: Elise made a motion to approve the minutes from December 19, 2017; Kim Stacey- Horn seconded the motion. Motion approved.

.

3. DEPARTMENT HEAD / COMMITTEE CHAIR UPDATES:

A. Forest/Conservation

Tom Cashin represented the Forest and Conservation Committee. He read a copy of a letter that the committee is hoping to send to residents whose property abuts the Hebo Hybo Rd. In the letter he was asking the residents for support in moving forward with a public access trail off the Hebo Hybo Rd. Mr. Cashin asked the Board for approval to send out the letter, as well as information from Joe Lenkowski

on the size of the width of the easement on the road. The Board gave their approval of the letter and asked the Town Administrator to contact Mr. Lenkowski for information.

4. OLD BUSINESS:

A. 18 - 19 Deadlines

The Town Administrator asked the Board for guidance on what the Board would like included in the memo that will be sent to department heads and 501C3s regarding the 2018/19 budget. Elise Miller said that the for the Departments, the Board would like to see level funding, not to exceed 1.5% increases for department operating budgets and that special projects should be kept separate. She added that for 501c3s, the Board would also like to see level funding, not to exceed 1.5% increases of what was granted last year.

B. Personnel Policy

The Town Administrator contacted Maine Municipal Legal Services to follow up to a comment at the last meeting Susan Meehan believed that any changes to the Town personnel policy needs to be brought to a town meeting so that voters could decide. The issue was brought up after the Board approved paid bereavement and snow days in the personnel policy. Maine Municipal Legal Services responded that as long as the Town has appropriated sufficient funds in the budget, the Board has the ability to enact these changes without voter approval.

Brenda Charland asked to speak to the Board regarding the personnel policy. She started by expressing to the Board her appreciation of the recent change to pay employees for bereavement and snow days. Brenda talked about how hard it is for the hourly employees to accumulate time, and when the Town Offices are closed on a day that is normally a scheduled work day, it creates a hard situation for the employee. She said accumulating PTO time takes a very long time, and it's hard when the employee uses it for days they didn't choose not to work. She asked the Board to look at the personnel policy again, and consider this point and possible think about making a change to that as well. Elise Miller asked for time to look at the personnel policy and get back to Brenda at a future meeting.

C. Town Clerk/Tax Collector/Registrar of Voters & Town Administrator Job Description

The Board discussed line by line changes to the Job Description of the Town Clerk/ Tax Collector/Registrar of Voters & Town Administrator. During the Boards' discussion Mr. Meehan announced that the Selectmen were putting the Town in a vulnerable position by putting all these responsibilities on one person. Additionally, Mr. Meehan stated this detailed work should be done in the back room and not in a public meeting and wasting everyone's time that was present. The updated Job Description will be presented at the next Selectmen's meeting for review.

D. Sign Full Time Fire Fighter Policy

The Board approved and signed the Full Time Fire Fighter Policy as presented.

E. Old Patrol Car

Acton and Shapleigh have expressed interest in going out to sealed bid on the old patrol car after calling surrounding towns and not receiving any interest in purchasing the car. The Town Administrator reached out to The Sheriff's office to see if they could possibly send some pictures as well as information on the car to include with the sealed bid. Sheriff King responded that he believed there was a miscommunication. He said the Sheriffs office believed that the towns of Acton and Shapleigh had no interest in the car so they put about $600 in parts into the car to put it into their fleet. The Sheriff's dept. said they will make it right. Shapleigh had suggested a starting bid of $1000. The Town Administrator said she will talk to Shapleigh and get back to the Board.

F. Use of Town Hall Policy - Continued

The Board reviewed the Use of Town Hall Policy and made some changes. The Town Administrator will present it to the Board after she makes the changes.

G. Fund Balance Policy - Continued

The Board discussed some minor changes to the Fund Balance Policy; the Town Administrator will make the changes and present it to the Board at a future meeting for signing. At the same time, the Board showed interest in having the Treasurer present as they discussed her job description next.

5. NEW BUSINESS:

A. 12/15 Marijuana Meeting

The Town Administrator indicated a resident had asked why the 12/15 Marijuana Meeting was not available to watch. The Town Administrator contacted the APAT Director and he explained that about 10 minutes into the meeting there was a glitch and the memory failed. He said he believes the problem has been fixed and hopefully will not happen again.

B. Deputy Code Enforcement Officer

The Town Administrator stated that the CEO would like to increase the hourly rate for the Deputy Code Enforcement Officer, Steve McDonough in Shapleigh, while he is covering in Acton. After gathering information from the Treasurer, it was determined the current rate for Mr. McDonough is $20.00 in Acton. The Board talked about raising the amount that is paid to ensure he would work with Acton if we needed him. The raise was approved.

6. PUBLIC COMMENT:

Cindy Hart spoke to the Board about scheduling a Snow and Ice Prevention Class presented by the Local Road Committee. She said they should be getting an email notification, explaining the class and that it can be taught at the individual towns. She said they have openings in the next few weeks and suggested Acton invite the Planning Board, W/F, Road Committee and anyone else that plows for the Town. The Board agreed this class was a good idea and supported scheduling it. The Town Administrator asked if we could open up the class to surrounding towns to see if they would like to participate. Ms. Hart said yes. Cindy will look into scheduling the class for Tuesday, January 16th at 9 am.

Mike McCrumb asked a question about the Marijuana Meeting on 12/15. He wanted to know if the APAT Director was aware of the glitch while filming or if it wasn't detected until after the meeting had finished. The Town Administrator responded that he did not know, and furthermore the camera operator was actually told by the Director.

William Williams asked for some clarification on the Job Description for the Town Administrator. He also made a few suggestions in the wording to legally protect the Town Administrator and Board.

Brendan Meehan said that he attended the Marijuana Meeting on 12/15, he said there is nothing democratic or objective being done with that committee.

Richard Nass stood on behalf of the Marijuana committee; he said that the meeting on 12/15 included voting and conversation. He said the results of the voting will be presented to the Board, but there will be another meeting with voting Friday, January 12.

Karen McManus made a request to keep ordinance updates on the agenda.

Greg Vermette said he also believes ordinance updates should remain on the agenda. He believes things are not getting done and residents should be aware of what is going on.

William Williams spoke again; he agreed that unresolved business on the agenda.

Rollin Waterhouse requested a time for residents to speak and ask questions before a policy is signed and in place.

Mike McCrumb agreed with Rollin Waterhouse, in the request for time to ask questions before a policy is signed in place. He also asked why a town the size of Acton needs to have a Deputy CEO, he said there are larger towns in the area doing the job with fewer people.

Greg Vermette spoke again about the Code Enforcement Officer. He said he doesn't believe the Board knows what the CEO does all day. He said that he believes a letter should be put into his personnel file.

Elise Miller addressed a few of the concerns spoken about during public comment. First, she indicated that there are too many ordinance updates to discuss every week. Additionally, regarding the speaking time of the public, she reminded them that policies are often changed more then once and she sees no reason to change the way the public comment is.

7. ANNOUNCEMENTS:

2005 Ford Ambulance Bid - Jan 16

8. UPCOMING MEETINGS:

01/04/2018 Planning Brd 7pm

01/05/2018 Marijuana 6pm

01/09/2018 BOS 5pm

01/16/2018 BOS 5pm

01/18/2018 Planning Brd 7pm

01/23/2018 BOS 5pm

01/30/2018 BOS 5pm

9. MEMBERS PRESENT: Elise Miller, Kim Stacey-Horne

10. OTHERS PRESENT: Eric Dewalga, Cindy Hart, Greg Vermette, Karen McManus, Brendan Meehan, Susan Meehan, Richard Nass, Mike McCrumb, Rollin Waterhouse, Tom Cashin, Brenda Charland, Jennifer Roux