SELECTMEN’S MEETING
February 10, 2021

6:00pm

1.         CALL MEETING TO ORDER / PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

TOWN REPORT DEDICATION –
The Town Administrator read aloud a heartfelt dedication of the Town Report in honor of Joseph Letourneau posthumous; Joe’s wife Mary Letourneau was present to accept. Town Reports were handed out to all guests.

Selectman Ed Walsh thanked the Letourneau family for allowing the Board to do this presentation.

2.         TOWN ADMINISTRATOR WEEKLY UPDATE

· Ordinance Numbers - February 3, 2021 was the deadline for ordinance numbers; Land Use Secretary informed the Town Administrator that the Planning Board is looking at approximately five ordinances.

· Budget workshop – A budget workshop with the Treasurer has been scheduled for February 18, 2021 at 4:30 pm to review budgets. 

· Video Error - The Town Administrator was going to comment that she received a note from APAT Department Head that the Board of Selectmen’s meeting last week was not filmed due to an error, however is now confused since Mrs. Berlan indicated she watched said meeting.

Mrs. Berlan spoke up and stated that she has a friend who tapes the live sessions and watched it from that video.

That being said, this confirmed there was an error on the 2/3/2021 meeting tape and no video produced; the Town Administrator asked if there may be a way to connect the APAT Director and Mrs. Berlan’s friend together to get a copy of the taping for upload. Mrs. Berlan will ask.

· School Budget - The Board was informed via email that the School Committee has scheduled a Zoom meeting for this Thursday, February 11, 2021 5 pm to review their budget.  

· Holiday – Monday, February 15, 2021 is President’s Day and a holiday listed in the Personnel policy; the Transfer Station will be closed.

· Training - The Town Administrator will be attending a Maine Municipal training class on running effective Zoom meetings on February 11, 2021 from 9 am to 12 pm.

· Planning Board Meetings - The Planning Board has added an extra meeting this month to the schedule; February 25, 2021.

· Nomination Papers – A posting will be forth coming regarding nomination papers for the following openings: 1- Board of Selectmen seat, 2- School Board seats and the District Two Road Commissioner’s position.  The first calculation will be February 26, 2021.

· State of Maine – The State of Maine has announced that all next week in the State of Maine there is free fishing. 

3.         WARRANTS/BILLS - Signed

4.         APPROVAL OF AGENDA –

            Selectmen Ed Walsh made a motion to approve the agenda; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell Jr. No discussion. All in favor.

5.         MINUTES OF LAST MEETING  - Tabled

6.         DEPARTMENT HEAD / COMMITTEE CHAIR UPDATES 

· Dennis Long, Warrant & Finance Chair announced that he has scheduled a Warrant & Finance Committee meeting for March 1, 2021 at 6 pm based on Town Hall availability; Town Administrator confirmed Town Hall was available. The Town Administrator will list meeting on the Town’s website and emails will be distributed to all committee members.

· Leslie Berlan, Road Committee Chair approached the Board with comments and thoughts based on the previous week’s discussions relating to the Road Committee being inappropriate in bringing forward two warrant articles that the committee thought appropriate for the Town’s people to vote on. Mrs. Berlan wanted to remind everyone that the Road Commissioners were both on the Road Committee and in attendance at the meeting where these articles were voted upon to move forward to the Board of Selectmen. There was no discussion when asked if anyone had anything to say and the vote was all in favor.

That being said, there should be no surprise to the Road Commissioners that these were being addressed. Mrs. Berlan related there also seemed to be some confusion as to whether the related money should be in the Road Commissioner(s) budget or not.  The Road Committee presented this as it should not be in the Road Commissioner(s)’ budgets but as separate line items; thus the separate articles. The plan was for these articles to not take away from the Road Commissioner(s)’ budgets.

The Board thanked Mrs. Berlan for the clarity.  Selectmen David Winchell Jr. commented he understood that at the last meeting but when Mrs. Berlan invited the Road Commissioner up, that Road Commissioner was asked one question and his response opened up a can of worms; not Selectmen David Winchell Jr. However, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who puts forward the budget, it’s who spending the budget and the Road Commissioner(s) would be spending the budget and that is why Selectmen David Winchell Jr. believes it should be a part of the overall budget.  In turn, the Road Commissioner(s) can ask for a special project which doesn’t have to be a part of his general maintenance. So, as stated last week, if the Road Committee wants to see the Road Commissioner(s) put these article through (because the Road Commissioner(s) is the one spending the money; the Road Committee is not),  the authorization falls on the Road Commissioners.

Discussion ensued regarding authority and putting the articles forward. Mrs. Berlan stressed safety and purpose for bringing this up rather than who is bringing it up.  Selectmen David Winchell Jr. stressed the question was who is putting it forward. Selectmen Ed Walsh explained as far as projects moving forward, the group comes up with a plan and respective Road Commissioner(s) than brings it up as a special project; not the Road Committee. It would become part of the Road Commissioner(s) budget after the Town votes on it; the Road Committee does not have any budgets to put anything forward with.

The next subject Mrs. Berlan clarified was that the Engineering report costs were free and the potential problems presented were the permitting piece.

After Mrs. Berlan completed her statements, the Board invited the Road to the podium and asked if they had included these specials in their budgets. The Road Commissioners responded, “No”. Selectmen David Winchell Jr. stated if the Road Commissioners were still interested to add; there were place holders on the Warrant if numbers were to be provided. There is a workshop scheduled with the Treasurer next Thursday and if the Road Commissioners were ready they could present the numbers then,  Discussion ensued whereas the Road Committee was provided the costs as 0.07 per mile; the Road Commissioners will get together a list of roads and miles proposed to receive white stripping.      

7.         OLD BUSINESS

A.        HEB Meeting

The Town Administrator confirmed there will be a Zoom meeting on 02/25/2021 at 6:00pm.

B.         Canal Bridge Meeting with Town of Wakefield   

The Town Administrator confirmed there will be a Zoom meeting on 02/18/2021 at 6:00 pm and asked that the Historical Society representative be notified.

8.         NEW BUSINESS

A.        Resignation – Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA)

Mr. Robert Anderson has decided to retire from the Zoning Board of Appeals on 2/7/2021; open position will be advertised.  The alternate on the committee for the longest will move up leaving an alternate position open. If both have been appointed on the same day, the choice will be alphabetical.

Selectmen Ed Walsh made a motion to accept Robert Andersons letter of resignation from the Zoning Board of Appeals with regret; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell Jr. No discussion. All in favor.

The Board thanked Mr. Anderson for all his dedication to the Town.

B.        Right to Redemption Letters
The Board technically foreclosed on three out of four properties. These letters are public but there are two people living in these homes so the addresses will not be divulged. The Town has handled everything on their end including insurances, etc. These properties are M/L 234-047, 260-015 and 230-011 (vacant property). These all will be given the option to repurchase the property giving them through Tuesday, March 30, 2021 that they pay in full.  Attached is also an account detail of all three years through Tuesday, March 30, 2021plus the $250 administration fee added on; these monies can be submitted by cash, check or money order by that Tuesday so that by Wednesday night the Board can quickly sign the Quit Claim deeds back on the tax roll for April 1, 2021. The Board signed the drafted letters.

The Town Administrator does have additional information from the Treasurer if for any reason these properties would need to be sold.

Selectmen Ed Walsh commented that this was the first time there has been three foreclosures; Board unfortunately cannot trump but will do everything they can to help.

            C.        IWORQ Service Agreement –

IWORQ is a web base software program that the new Code Enforcement Officer recommended as useful for the Land Use Department to track all items pertaining to code enforcement. The cost is $5,000 the first year; $3,500 for each subsequent year.  This software is a web based program backed up by an Amazon business account and does not affect the Town Hall’s server. This program will track all business conducted, would allow for online permit applications, scheduling of inspections, confirm schedules via emails and track statuses; it also reports assessing information (everything O’Donnells would ever need) and financials providing checks and balances of what is collected versus what the Treasurer has to coincide with the Town Report and audit numbers.

Based on the Code Enforcement Officer’s recommendation, the Board if interested can sign the agreement tonight. When the Town Administrator was asked if O’Donnells was in agreement, the Town Administrator indicated they were not asked. O’Donnells currently receive copies of all the building permits and since this program provides electronic data, there should be no issues in exporting the permits and emailing them to O’Donnells instead of photocopying.

The Board agreed this program will help streamline processes and take the workload off the small stuff and in the end save the Town money; a paper trail is also ensured. The Board is in favor of purchasing the IWORQ service.

Selectmen David Winchell Jr. made a motion to accept the IWORQ’s Service Agreement for one year at $5,850; seconded by Selectmen Ed Walsh. No discussion. All in favor.

The Town Administrator recapped that in the 20 years IWORQs has been in business the $3,500 yearly renewal fee has not gone up.  The implement piece was $2, 350; remove that and the remainder is $3,500.  Part of implementation included is backup and training of staff.

            D.        Maine DOT Flashing Beacons

The State of Maine Department of Transportation (MEDOT) is offering the Town one set of flashing crosswalk beacon units for crosswalks at no charge; application and pictures of crosswalk areas are required if interested. The goal is to improve pedestrian safety at established crosswalks.

Discussion ensued; it was determined there were no crosswalks in Acton where this offer could be utilized.

E.         5 Member Board of Selectmen

Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn asked the Board if they were interested in a 5 member Board. Selectmen Ed Walsh indicated there was no advantage to doing that as the Town is not big enough to accommodate.  Selectmen David Winchell Jr. stated at one time he thought it was a good idea, however after sitting in the seat and reviewing the people who generally run for the seat, it just was not feasible; the Town votes in who they want and those not voted for might win by default if there is no one to run against them. Discussion ensued. The Board was not interested in pursuing; any citizen who is interested can put together a Citizen’s Petition.

9.         PUBLIC COMMENT

· Dennis Long approached the Board to state that the only person he knew who ever brought forward the five member board was Robin Ham and that he was sticking up for Mr. Ham as Mr. Ham in general was not a complainer.  Selectmen Kimberly Stacey-Horn stated Mr. Ham was not the only person to bring up this subject to the Selectmen; there was a group of people in Acton who also approached the Board on this topic.

There is no problem with a three member board. The Board believes that if the wheels are going to be changed in the Town of Acton that it should be decided upon by the Town of Acton. If someone is complaining about the three Board Selectmen changing everything and running a show, then the Board would be saying yes, let’s do it.

Mr. Long indicated that Selectmen David Winchell Jr. keeps attacking him but he was only defending Mr. Ham. Mr. Ham is not a person who is trying to find fault.

· Rollin Waterhouse approached the Board and asked if the new CEO was going to be announced by the Board of Selectmen.  The Selectmen responded the new CEO is Michael Gilpatrick and expressed their reasoning behind the hire.  Mr. Gilpatrick was a full time Code Enforcement Officer in Limerick and also did part time work in Waterboro. Out of the six applicants, Mr. Gilpatrick was ready to go with all certifications in place and experience. On top of that Mr. Gilpatrick presented some good ideas moving forward and impressed the Board when working under the  temporary CEO assignment issue.

10.       ANNOUNCEMENTS

· Selectmen David Winchell Jr. thanked the Fire Department for handling his dad’s chimney fire quickly.

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

12.       ATTENDANCE

Dennis Long, Rollin Waterhouse, Robin Ham, Will Langley, Leslie Berlan, Adam Doliber, Mary Letourneau and Mike Demers.

Selectmen Ed Walsh made a motion to adjourn; seconded by Selectmen David Winchell Jr.  No discussion. All in favor.