SELECTMEN’S MEETING
September 9, 2020

6:00pm

1.         CALL MEETING TO ORDER / PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

2.         TOWN ADMINISTRATOR WEEKLY UPDATE

· Mr. Richard Neal, Mary Grant Committee wrote a letter to Lowe’s asking for a donation of picnic tables and received two picnic tables; he also donated another.  This will give Mary Grant 3 picnic tables to use. The Board appreciates this effort and work.

· Tax bills were mailed out. Dennis Berube, Assessor was in and worked with residents who had inquiries.  The resident’s consistently commented they appreciated that the tax rate was not raised.

· The Treasurer is looking to reuse Budget books; the Town Administrator will send out an email reminder.

· Mr. Bob Anderson wanted to thank the Board and Town for the flowers.

· The three Article 43 fund checks approved last week were cut this week.

· The State of Maine is now issuing recreational use marijuana licenses. They currently have issued 8; Acton would have had to vote to opt in.  Maine Municipal is offering a related Zoom class.

· Town Administrator informed the Board there was a Department of Labor Zoom training class, Friday morning from 9 to Noon which she and the Treasurer would be attending.

· Cleaning protocols were confirmed with Maine Municipal legal.

o Checklist is being followed. Every building is different and treated as such.  Since the Town has a regular cleaning schedule we are in compliance and meet COVID guidelines. 

o Bathrooms – downstairs bathroom is not for public use. Of the two bathrooms upstairs, one is staff only. 

o All products were checked and those being used meet the standards set forth.

o The Town Administrator ordered 4 small tables to be placed at Town entrances which will be equipped with masks, gloves, wipes, and sanitizer; this allows for disinfecting in and out.

o APAT was asked not to put out table cloths.

o An email was sent out to all Department Heads and Committee Chairs that we have plenty of supplies available, they only need to ask.

o Selectman Ed Walsh asked that the podium be removed and not used for meetings; replace with a microphone stand. The Town Administrator will touch base with the APAT Director.

· Planning Board emails have been reassigned. All new members now have access.

· Mary Grant will be holding a meeting on Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 10 am; the liaison Selectmen David Winchell was asked to be in attendance.

· The Road Commissioner and Treasurers’ meeting has been postponed until the vacant Road Commissioner position has been filled.

· Code Enforcement is proposing to do roughly $4,500 in work downstairs.  There is possibly $1,500 in the equipment budget line. If approved, how will it be paid for? Using earned comp time was considered, however, Comp time would have to be time and a half and that is not a good fit. There are options to rearrange desk set up with plexiglass until the project is approved or presented at the Special Town Meeting. 

· The Treasurer is concerned due to decrease in revenue, state revenue sharing has dropped, paid leave, Special Town Meeting costs, general assistance costs and some of the FEMA expenses not being covered. Also provided update expense and revenue expenses for review.

3.         WARRANTS/BILLS  - Signed.

4.         APPROVAL OF AGENDA

A motion was made by Selectmen David Winchell approve the agenda as written; seconded by Selectmen Ed Walsh.  No discussion. All in favor.

5.         MINUTES OF LAST MEETING – Tabled.           

6.         DEPARTMENT HEAD / COMMITTEE CHAIR UPDATES

7.         OLD BUSINESS

            A.        Town Hall Cleaning Update / Stations

The Board was updated during the Town Administrator update.

B.         Meeting Room Use
The Town Administrator asked the Board what their thoughts were concerning the use of the Town Hall and the concerns brought before them last week.  Currently there is only 1 outside class scheduled for use of the Hall.

    Discussion ensued.

The Board decided to shut the Hall down to everything except Town business. Chair’s will

 be responsible to have their committees responsible for maintaining 6 feet apart, masks

 and adherence to guidelines. The Board further authorized that a cleaning person could be

 paid 1 hour to clean up after each committee meeting.

C.        Personnel Policy
The Town Administrator read aloud the old  versus revised Personnel Policy where the extended holiday breaks was removed. The following line in the policy was questioned as it made the policy inconsistent.  To make the policy consistent, the Board has 2 options:

· Can take out the inconsistent line (line following); or

· leave the line in and put extended holidays back in.

The Board discussed extended holidays, holidays and how to word the policy for consistency.

The Board chose not to make a decision tonight and think about how they want this laid out; there are many components to consider.

            D.        Tanker Truck

                        No update; waiting on Fire Chief.

8.         NEW BUSINESS

            A.        General Assistance Public Hearing

The Town Administrator presented to the board the need to hold a General Assistance public hearing. There have been some changes in the program. The Public Hearing has been scheduled for September 30, 2020 at 6 pm with the Board of Selectmen meeting following.

            B.         Catering Application / Liquor

The Town Administrator presented a single day liquor license for the Board to sign for

 Above and Beyond Catering. Insurance paperwork was received and in order.

Selectmen Ed Walsh made a motion to grant the license to Above and Beyond Catering for a one day function; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell. All in favor. 

            C.        Appointments

· Mary Grant – Jennell Zarba

A motion was made by Selectmen Ed Walsh to appoint Jennell Zarba to Mary Grant until 06/30/2021; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell.  No discussion. All in favor.

· Planning Board Alternate Member – Frank Krunkle

A motion was made by Selectmen Ed Walsh to appoint Frank Krunkel to the Planning Board as an Alternate Member until 6/30/2021; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell.  No discussion. All in favor.

9.         PUBLIC COMMENT: 

Robin Ham approached the Board. (Verbatim) Mr. Ham commented that the Town of Acton is going to hell because when you ask a friend to do something you ask for you…we have people out there that always want to….I don’t know, back stab a person or whatever, it is really sad that you can’t ask a friend to do something for you and we have a lot of people out there that’s you know that does a lot for this Town and asking a friend to do something for me is..you know, and….I put that person in a spot and I don’t feel comfortable with that and there is a lot of people out there that wants to stab everybody and that’s why we don’t have volunteers for these committees to serve on anything because there’s people out here that always wants to stab somebody in the back and I apologize to the friend for putting that person in that predicament and I hope these Town people will think about what they’re doing to our friendships..you know..in this whole Town and I’m very upset went on last week. Thank you.

Selectmen David Winchell stated he would like to comment on Mr. Ham’s comment. Selectmen Winchell stated he felt Mr. Ham’s frustration there was no need for him to apologize to anybody. The Town of Acton is generally a good place. Unfortunately what happens is you get the same people who complain, nitpick and this and that and it makes Acton…the last meeting was embarrassing. We had people from other Town’s here, someone who wanted to be a State Representative, a Selectmen from another Town, and it was an embarrassment what happened, the circus that happened last week, the Town of Acton is generally a good place except when you have a group of people who seem to think that they’re doing good by stirring the pot all the time, and you know, when I ran for Selectmen here, I saw the Town going in a direction I didn’t like and I’ve come up here  and I’ve tried  to be as good as I can be. I’m very opinionated. I don’t like some of the people who come up to the podium because of this…it would be a nice thing to be able to come up to a meeting without somebody stabbing someone in the back with their alternative motives, nitpicking, it would be awful nice and you don’t deserve… you don’t have to give the Town of Acton an apology.

Mr. Ham responded it hurt him very badly last week for that friend of mine to go through that and I just think we are all in this Town, we are all neighbors, we are all trying to do the best for this Town and if we can’t help each other to do something, you know I’m out. If a vehicle slides off the road and I’m on the Town’s time, it makes me feel that I have to go around them because I can’t jeopardize the Town of Acton, spending money on pulling somebody out of the ditch. That’s my opinion.

The Town Administrator, in light of past conversations, asked the Board if it was okay for her to start another fund raiser for an Acton family. The Board of Selectmen stated yes. The Town Administrator asked, does that violate that line in the policy? No conflict. The Board stated if anyone has a problem, they are welcome to come to the podium to discuss. The board was in total agreement there was no issue with the fundraiser.

D.         Executive Session 1 - 405 6 A Personnel Matter

A motion was made by Selectmen Ed Walsh to go into Executive Session pursuant of Title 1 405 (6)(a) personnel matter at 6:42 pm; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell.  No discussion. All in favor.

A motion was made by Selectmen Ed Walsh to come out of Executive Session pursuant of Title 1 405 (6)(a) at 7:08 pm; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell.  No discussion. All in favor.

A motion was made by Selectmen Ed Walsh to reject all applications for District 2 Road Commissioner at this time and instruct the Town Administrator to repost; seconded by Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn. Selectmen David Winchell abstained. All others in favor.

The Town Administrator will repost the job posting changing the deadline to September 23, 2020 at 3 pm.

10.       ANNOUNCEMENTS:

            Mary Grant, September 19, 2020 at 10 am

            Planning Board, September 12, 2020 for a site walk.

Projector for the Election Hall was discussed and will be considered in the future.

11.       MEMBERS PRESENT

Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn, Selectmen Ed Walsh, Selectmen David Winchell and Town Administrator Jennifer Roux.

12.       ATTENDANCE (screen names as designated on Zoom)

Dennis Long, Robin Ham, Joe Ruma, Mike Long, Rollin Waterhouse, Will Langley, Richard Neal and Cheryl Drisko

A motion was made by Selectmen Ed Walsh to adjourn at 6:42 pm; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell. All in favor.