SELECTMEN’S MEETING

October 11, 2018

7:00pm

1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Selectmen Elise Miller made a motion to approve the agenda; seconded by Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn. No discussion. All in favor. Agenda approved.

2. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING: Tabled

3. DEPARTMENT HEAD / COMMITTEE CHAIR UPDATES: Tabled

4. OLD BUSINESS: Tabled

5. NEW BUSINESS:

1. Executive Session pursuant to M.R.S.A. 405 Title 1 Section 6A

Selectmen Miller made a motion to move into Executive Session pursuant of M.S.R.A. 405 Title 1 Section 6A; Selectmen Stacey-Horn seconded. All in favor. None opposed. Board moved to Executive Session at 7:05 pm.

Selectmen Miller made a motion to reconvene after Executive Session; Selectmen Stacey-Horn seconded. All in favor. None opposed. Board reconvened at 7:35 pm.

2. Road Commissioner Resignation

Selectmen Walsh addressed the public and stated due to the attendance at the meeting, he trusted it was regarding the District 2 Road Commissioner resignation, he would like to move public comment to the beginning of the meeting. The other Selectmen agreed. However he stated that their would be guidelines:

• Everyone one will be given 3 minutes to speak

• There will only be 1 repeat allowed.

• If it gets out of hand, he will shut the Public Comment section down.

Public Comments:

David Winchell approached the Board to recap that he resigned on public TV last Tuesday. He did this because he had big concerns of things going on for the last year and there are too many chiefs running the department. He never had deadlines before and would not expect any now. There are too many agenda's underlining how and when work gets done. Mr. Winchell commented that due to the fact that he covered another project in another district under a deadline, as instructed by the Board, he opened the door for that to become procedure and it was then turned on him.

David Winchell Sr. approached the Board in support of the Road Commissioner and related historical support and longevity. He commented that this Road Commissioner knows what he is doing.

Greg Vermette approached the Board to agree with what Mr. Winchell Sr. was saying and to show his support of Mr. Winchell Jr. as the Road Commissioner. He related that there were others here that act like they know everything but will not get up in the middle of the night to do the job.

Nancy Ruma approached the Board to comment that she was surprised the Board was permitting public comment on Town personnel or staff. Selectmen Walsh indicated he resigned in public and he was an elected official.

Lois Michaud approached the Board to comment that micromanaging needs to cease and all need to work together. The Town needs to find out how collectively we got to this point and end it for future proceedings.

Bill Gannon approached the Board in support of the Road Commissioner and the good work he does realizing he takes on more work than he can handle and deadlines can be an issues. He prays the Town can work it out.

Suzanne Doyle approached the Board to comment in support of the Road Commissioner. These are good people who do good jobs and when the town was asked 4 years ago to have something done it was not addressed. Now since she pushed to have this work done and Mr. Winchell accommodated, she felt it was her fault this was happening. She repeated that people need to give more respect.

Ken Smith approached the Board to comment in support of the Road Commissioner and recap that the Road Commissioner doesn't know how to say no and with the loss of him, the Taxpayers will be the ones to suffer.

Ian Spaulding approached the Board to comment on the doings of weather and construction. He indicated these do not work well together and that deadlines are missed. Construction is always running in backlogs. Safety is going to be the primary concern, what if it snows next week.

The Road Commissioner David Winchell Jr. came back up to the podium to address the Board that he was concerned about the role of a Road Commissioner and policy of what the job parameters were and the authorizations entitled to go along with those parameters. He stated he did the Town a disservice by resigning last week and not thinking that we were heading into winter. He stated he would be willing to consider rescinding his resignation but to do that, he had criteria to be met and a statement from the Board that he can do his job as he deems fit and with proper support, not constant answering to the Board.

A resident of 13th Street approached the Board and commented that the Board ask everyone to get along with the 13th Street issues they need to put that in practice and do it for this situation too. Get along.

Joyce Bakshi approached the Board to comment that public comment should not be taking place here and should be ceased. It is getting repetitive.

Selectmen Miller commented that the Board tried to get the Road Commissioner to work with them and that should not have been treated in the manner it was executed when he was asked a question about his projects and its timing.

Selectmen Walsh stopped comments as he did not feel that they should not be going the direction this conversation was headed. He stated they should move beyond hindsight and go forward. Selectmen Walsh's concern was the Town of Acton and how the roads are left to be taken care of in the interim of replacing the Road Commissioner, especially if it snows during that time period.

Both Selectmen Miller and Selectmen Stacey-Horn disagreed.

Selectmen Miller made a motion to accept David Winchell's Jr. resignation; Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn seconded. Discussion: Selectmen Walsh indicated that he hoped the other 2 Selectmen had a plan for the next 2 months. The motion carried 2/1 with Ed Walsh opposed.

7. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Tabled

8. MEMBERS PRESENT:

Selectmen Ed Walsh, Selectmen Elise Miller, Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn and Town Administrator Jennifer Roux.

9. OTHERS PRESENT:

David Winchell Jr., Shannon Winchell, Joyce Winchell, David Winchell Sr., Greg Vermette, Brendan Meehan, Susan Meehan, Carol Ward, Jay Ward, Rollin Waterhouse, Dan Archambault, Joyce Bakshi, Lois Michaud, Robin Ham, Virginia Deboer, Ken Smith, Bill Gannon and Ian Spaulding.