SELECTMEN’S MEETING
January 27, 2021

6:00pm

1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER / PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

2. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR WEEKLY UPDATE

·     Land Use Notice – The Land Use Office is temporarily closed to walk in traffic until further notice. Business is still being conducted through the Town Clerk’s Office.

· Code Enforcement Officer Position Interviews – Interviews are scheduled for Thursday, January 28, 2021; first interview will take place at 5 pm. There are 5 candidates at 20 minute increments.

· Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA) Notices - Hearing notices for a new appeal on February 16 at 1:00 pm and the current appeal for February 27, 2021 at 12:00 pm have been mailed out to abutters. Due to volume of work, the Town Administrator’s personnel are assisting.

· Webinar Attendance – Through MMA offerings, the Town Administrator and the Treasurer have both attended a HR during COVID webinar and the Town Administrator and Deputy Clerk have attended a 30 A Town Meeting/Elections Webinar. The Town Administrator noted that most Town Meetings scheduled for March have switched to secret ballot.

· Assessing – The Town Administrator notified the Board that John from O’Donnell’s will be in the office on Friday, January 29, 2021 and will be working closely with him regarding the work which has come in during Dennis’s absence.

· CMP Notifications – Due to personnel changes, the Town Administrator has drafted a letter to advise CMP that Michael Gilpatrick has been sworn in as the Town’s Code Enforcement Officer. This documentation will give the Temporary Code Officer the authorization to work with CMP.

· Verification of MMA Insurance Information presented last week – The Town Administrator went back to the original email received from MMA Insurance and learned that the columns in question were received in chart form and more easily readable. The Town Administrator and Board proceeded to discuss the information presented.  The Town Administrator was asked to give information to O’Donnell’s to review to be sure the numbers are in alignment with what it would take to rebuild those buildings. The Board will review after they receive O’Donnell’s recommendations.

3. WARRANTS/BILLS - Signed

 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Selectmen David Winchell Jr. made a motion to approve the agenda; seconded by Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn. No discussion. All in favor.

5. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING 

Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn made a motion to approve the minutes of January 20, 2021; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell Jr. No discussion. All in favor.

 6. DEPARTMENT HEAD / COMMITTEE CHAIR UPDATES

Leslie Berlan approached the Board regarding the following updates:

· Article 43 – Eagle Road – The Road Committee reviewed all documentation and found it to be in order as well as the receipt of DEP letter. The Committee voted to recommend awarding the Road Association $3,000 for Eagle Road. All documentations along with DEP letter will be forwarded to the Board.

·     Bridge Construction – Mrs. Berlan indicated the Committee discussed the bridges and were preparing for any infrastructure grants that come available. Discussion ensued. The Board recommended that the Town consider putting money aside; this discussion will continue during the Warrant discussion process. Mrs. Berlan asked that the Road Committee be permitted to stay involved with any discussion that may occur referring to this topic. The Road Committee would also like to meet with Wakefield Board regarding Canal Bridge the 2^nd week in February and asked the Town Administrator to arrange; proposed date was February 10, 2021 to be placed on the agenda.

Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn indicated that Pamela Robinson (Wiggin) of the Historical Society was not involved with the bridge project plans but was now involved and thus the reason to meet with the full Board. The bridge is on the historical list; any information Mrs. Robinson passes along, the Road Committee would like to see it.

As for Rowe Bridge, the engineering report was passed on to the Road Commissioner with a proposal that the Canal Bridge solution might be feasible for Rowe Bridge as well. The Road Committee would like an opportunity to meet with HEB (original engineers who did the report); the Town Administrator will schedule via Zoom.

A warrant article may need to be written for Canal bridge.

Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn asked if Ms. Robinson should be invited; response was yes. Mrs. Berlan spoke up and indicated that she did not believe this was a priority for Milton Mills.

· West Shore Drive and New Bridge Culverts – Mrs. Berlan informed the Board that the Road Committee was looking into stream crossing grant applications which will be forth coming in September. There was expression of disappointment that New Bridge was just paved and culvert work will necessitate digging up a section.

· RSMS – Mrs. Berlan indicated the Road Committee also discussed RSMS. As Mrs. Berlan was unaware of last week’s program update, the Town Administrator recapped the details for her emphasizing there is missing roads which will need to be added into the program prior to training in March.

The Town Administrator invited Mrs. Berlan to come into the Town Hall and review the program with the Town Administrator whenever she wanted.

Mrs. Berlan next expressed that it be recommended that the Road Commissioners do all the data input; Road Commissioner District One was in agreement. The Town Administrator indicated that during downtime, staff can go backwards and enter information missing.

· Classes – Mrs. Berlan indicated the Road Committee was hoping to schedule classes (i.e., Erosion Control) with the Boards permission. Discussion ensued. As this is a Town related committee and topics relate to the Town, with adherence to COVID policies and limited attendance, the Board agreed. Mrs. Berlan explained the Snow & Ice class size is 10 people.

· Proposed Warrant Articles – Mrs. Berlan indicated that the Road Committee was interested in putting before the people two warrant articles separate from the Road Commissioners’ budgets. The first is crack sealing Town roads and the second is Fog lighting (white lines) on the roads to assist drivers.

Before starting the process the committee was seeking clarity as there was so much to be done on the roads that the committee did not want to take anything away from the Roads budget.

Discussion ensued. Selectmen David Winchell Jr. indicated that the Fog lighting might need to be two articles – one for expense of laying the white lines on the roads and the other for maintaining the lines as the wear out. Selectmen David Winchell Jr. further felt that the Road Commissioners should put these articles forward because they are the ones responsible for doing anything.

Further discussion ensued. District One Road Commissioner indicated he was ready to do these items at this time and rather see the monies be used to for paving. The Road Committee still thought it would be best to come from them.

The Town Administrator reminded all that budgets were due February 1, 2021 and that the Treasurer has only received 2 budgets to date.

7. OLD BUSINESS

A. Letter of No Action Update
Selectmen David Winchell Jr. reported that the Board of Selectmen met with the Temporary Code Enforcement Officer and both residents regarding their Letters of No Action. The outcome of the meeting was that the property owners would provide a survey in relationship to Shoreland Zoning and there will be no fines on actions to date. This item can come off the agenda.

Selectmen David Winchell Jr. made a motion to negate all fines on work done to date (January 27, 2021) for property owners Demers and Cibelli; seconded by Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn. No discussion. All in favor.

The Board will be meeting again once the surveys come back.

B. Eagle Road Article 43
Selectmen David Winchell Jr. made a motion to approve Article 43 for Eagle Road and award $3,000 once paperwork is received including DEP letter; seconded by Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn. No discussion. All in favor.

C. Drug Policy – Tabled; still in Attorney’s hands.

8. NEW BUSINESS
A. GIS Service Agreement

The Town Administrator presented the Board with a contract from GIS to convert and maintain assessing data. Current data is in an AutoCadd format and the new data will be converted to GIS format. Currently the Town is paying for update services once a year; this new contract is a one-time conversion of date and will allow for updates to be done 2 to 4 times per year. This cost is $2,400. The Town Administrator and Treasurer recommended the Board sign the contract.

Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn made a motion to accept the GIS Conversion and Service Agreement for $2,400; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell Jr. No discussion. All in favor.

B. Clarification/ W/F Committee - Town Employees / Minutes
The Town Administrator brought to the Board’s attention the Warrant & Finance’s meeting video of January 25, 2021 and cited that she and the Treasurer had reviewed the tape and needed clarity from the Board as to what was expected this budget season as they did not want to be the middlemen.

Currently all of the committees vote on what information they want to review. Then the Chairman of the Committee approaches the Town Administrator with the request for that information. The Town Administrator gathers said information and distributes it to all members and the Board of Selectmen.

Discussion ensued and many examples of why this policy was in enacted were cited including the power point presentation whereas a lot of work was done and not all the members were privilege to the information distributed.

For clarity of how the Warrant & Finance Committee felt this process should be handled, the Town Administrator played a portion of the meeting’s tape for the Board and reiterated that she and the Treasurer needed to know what procedures were to be followed this budget season as Committees needed to hear it directly from the Board so that there would be no doubts.

Another point cited on the tape was the lack of Warrant & Finance minutes on the tape. The Town Administrator verified that the January 20, 2021 emails were on the website and the minutes that were not there were because they were not provided to the Town administrator.

Selectmen David Winchell Jr. reiterated to the Department and Committee Heads that the Board set these parameters for a reason and that when more than one person floods the Town Administrator or Treasurer for information there is a tendency to miss parties who need that information too.

Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn stated the Board will review the tape and revisit the discussion as she would also like to have Selectmen Ed Walsh weigh in as well.

Mr. Dennis Long approached the Board to comment on the discussions going into a dissertation that if the tape was listened to its conclusion, it would have been heard that he indicated this was a new year and what is past is past using an analogy of a green tree with fresh new green leaves until they become brown to express his point. He further reiterated that the committees have been told to go through there liaisons and he mentioned that he was waiting for Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn.

In summary, the Town Administrator indicated to the Board that this only proves why these discussions were brought up and that direction was needed from the Board, otherwise things will continue as they did last year. Now clarity regarding liaison discussions versus requests will need to be included in the Boards directives.

C. Executive Session Personnel Matter – 405 6-A-1

Selectmen David Winchell Jr. made a motion to go into Executive Session pursuant of M.R.S.A. 405 6 A 1 Personnel matter at 7:06 pm; seconded by Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn. No discussion. All in favor.

Selectmen David Winchell Jr. made a motion to come out of Executive Session pursuant of M.R.S.A. 405 6 A 1 Personnel matter at 7:35 pm; seconded by Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn. No discussion. All in favor.

After returning from the Executive Session the Board decided to increase a Transfer Attendant employee’s rate of pay. Letter of recommendation was read aloud; budget can support increase.

Selectmen David Winchell Jr. made a motion to move the Fill-in T/S Attendant to full time increasing rate of pay from $13.50 to $14.00 per hour; seconded by Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn. No discussion. All in favor.

The Town Administrator asked the Board for consideration to raise the rate of pay for the Town’s two office Assistants $1.00 based on positive reviews, certifications and increased responsibilities.

Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn made a motion to increasing rate of pay $1.00 for the two Town Assistants making the $15 rate $16 and the $16 rate $17; seconded by Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn. No discussion. All in favor.

The Town Administrator next informed the Board that some Department Heads are asking for guidance as to what should be put forward this year that the Board will support.

Selectmen David Winchell responded that the numbers should be submitted and then the Board will look at them for consideration; if there are issues, they will look further into it.

D. Land Use Hourly Rate Clarification

The Land Use Secretary received a promotion taking on E911, July of 2019 and at that time the rate of pay went from $14.00 to $15.50; performance was to be reviewed at 6 months. There was no increase at this 6 months mark; the Supervisor did not go back to the Board and request it. There may have been discussions regarding an increase but the Department Head never asked for an increase and the rate stayed.

Selectmen David Winchell Jr. made a motion that the rate stated at last week’s meeting for $2.00 per hour would take effect on January 20, 2021 and there would be no retroactive pay back to the 6 months review because there was no vote in 2020 as the Supervisor never came forward ; seconded by Kimberly Stacey-Horn. No discussion. All in favor.

       9. PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Rollin Water House asked the Board had yet developed a job description and duties for the Capital Improvement Committee.

Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn responded that she had worked with the Treasurer and settled on a guidance book that would meet their needs; a copy will be distributed soon to each member. As for a meeting, one will be set up once all members are sworn in.

      10. ANNOUNCEMENTS – listed on the website

· Recreation Department Meeting via Zoom, March 1, 2021 at 5 pm.

· The CEO position will stay posted until filled.

      11. MEMBERS PRESENT
Selectmen Kimberly Stacey Horn, Selectmen David Winchell Jr., Town Administrator Jennifer Roux; Selectmen Ed Walsh was absent.

      12. ATTENDANCE

Dennis Long, Joyce Bakshi, Will Langley, Leslie Berlan, Rollin Waterhouse, Mike Long, Virginia Deboer and Cheryl Drisko.

Selectmen David Winchell Jr. made a motion to adjourn at 7:43 pm; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell Jr. No discussion. All in favor.