Town of Buxton
Minutes for August 18, 2010 Selectmen’s Meeting
Prepared by: Beverly Gammon
Members Present: Jean C. Harmon, Peter E. W. Burns, Clifford L. Emery and Dianne Senechal. Selectman Robert C. Libby was absent.
Others Present: Daniel Collomy.
Selectmen’s Meeting Agenda
The Meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes
Selectmen Meeting Minutes August 11, 2010.
Approved 3-1-1. (Selectman Emery was absent last week & Selectman Libby is absent this week).
- Discussion held between 5:00 & 7:00 p.m.
At 5:30 David Pinkham, Public Works Director, came to talk with the Board about hiring a temporary employee. The Board also had the Treasurer come in to talk with them in regards to FMLA which is the Family Medical Leave Act regarding an issue the Board needs to look into. The Board also discussed some foreclosed property that the Town has now acquired.
- Health Alert from Maine Public Health—Re: Hepatitis A Cluster in Waldo County.
- Email from Kat Beaudoin from Maine DOT—Re: Maine DOT Newsletter.
- Email from Melissa Carver from Maine Municipal Association—Re: Nominations for Maine Fire Chief of the Year Award.
- Email from Theresa Chavarie from Maine Municipal Association—Re: Election Results for 2011 MMA Executive Committee.
- Email from Cathy Patnaude from Home Health Visiting Nurses of Southern Maine—Re: Scheduling flu Clinics for 2010.
- Email from The Maine Commission for Community Services—Re: Scholarship Deadline.
- Review of Projects and Issues
Selectman Burns reported that on Monday night he and Cliff Emery attended the Twelve Town Group meeting in Waterboro. He said it was a very interesting meeting. They had two State Representatives, Richard Nash and John Courtney, and most of the discussion was about communication from the representatives to the towns. They would like to see more representatives in the towns communicating to them so that they can know how we feel about things. He said they had a lively discussion that went on and on and could have gone on all night about funding and cuts the State has made which has forced the towns to pick up more of the slack and caused taxes to go up. Selectman Burns said they went back to them asking “why don’t you
consider this tax, or that tax, and they said “oh, we could not sell that,” or “oh, it is hard to get everybody on board with this”. He said they went back and forth but it was obvious that the representatives in the room, the representatives of the towns, felt that the State was pretty much taking advantage of the towns by pushing all this stuff down on us. The representatives said “well, you don’t have to pass it on in tax increases”. That is easy for them to say but it was a good discussion and Selectman Burns said he is glad they had it and they certainly know how we felt and hopefully it might do some good or plant some seeds. He said he would like to see more of these discussions take place at the Twelve Town Group.
Selectman Emery said he has known the two gentlemen for a long time and he said it was good that they were very candid in their responses and in the questions they asked. He said no one held anything back; they did not have a problem telling us what they thought were the issues on this level and we had no problem telling them what we thought were issues on their level, and everybody agreed what the problems were on their own level. Selectman Emery said the meeting went from 6:30 to about 9:00 p.m. He said both of those gentlemen have attended those meetings before and they are real informative. He said Richard Nash has been there about sixteen years. Selectman Emery said he was on vacation last week. He said there is not much
going on right now other than some tax issues. He said the Board will work those out and move forward.
Selectman Senechal thanked Tashia Geaumont for hosting the Blood Drive for the Red Cross on Saturday morning. She said we had fifty people that donated blood and the Red Cross is very happy any time there is more than thirty donors. They will be hosting another one here in January. She said she gave blood and also worked here on the cookie table. She said there was a lot of discussion about the map behind her which was very timely because we now have confirmation that September 7, 2010 is the date for the DOT Public Hearing for the Route 112 re-build. She said the hearing will take place in this room from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Selectman Senechal said a lot of people looked at this map and she was concerned that it has been there too
long but she said it is actually good. She also wanted to
notify the public that the Charter Commission met last week and every single item that was brought up by the public at the Public Hearing was discussed. She said they did not leave anything out and a lot of changes were made as a result of things that were brought to their attention at the Public Hearing. She said the Commission has not sent a copy of the new Charter yet. She said they will be meeting tomorrow night to finalize the Charter. She said they will be meeting with their attorney and he will be giving them advice. Hopefully if things go well, it will be on the November ballot. She said she, like everybody else, is happy to see that wind down.
Selectman Harmon said it has been quiet. It is summer time; there are not a lot of issues. She reported that she has been working on some foreclosure issues that need to be straightened out and she said there are issues with those issues. She said she wanted to remind all the parents out there that it is now time to sign up for soccer. The deadline is September 1, 2010 and no registrations will be taken after September 1. The cost to register your child is now $55. She said we offer reduced cost if you sign up in June and as you get closer to September the increments go up. She encouraged anyone who has not signed up for the Rec. Soccer programs to do it now. She said she was asked to remind everybody to do that. She
said soccer is one of the very successful programs we have here in the Town of Buxton. She said we are very pleased with the program and it runs very smoothly.
Sick Bank Policy—The Board needs to have another Workshop soon. Selectman Harmon will be on vacation next week and the week after so they will wait until after Labor.Day and schedule a Workshop to sit down, hash out the issues, and get it resolved.
Tax Collector’s Job Description—The Board members have all seen the job description. They will wait until Selectman Libby gets back. Selectman Harmon said they have not heard anything back from John Myers or Sue Myers regarding any changes that have been made to the second draft so hopefully they can get that finalized within the next couple of weeks. Selectman Emery asked if they can do it next Wednesday and the other Selectmen present agreed that would be great.
None.
E.O.101108013 – An order to allow Thomas Kennie to carry forward 49 hours of Vacation Time to be used before November 1, 2010.
E.O.101108014 – An order to approve 12 hours of Vacation Time for Fred Farnham.
E.O.101108015 – An order to approve 16 hours of Vacation Time for John Myers.
E.O.101108016 – An order to approve a Poverty Abatement for Case Number PA 10-003.
- Executive Orders by Initiative
None.
- Accounts Payable and Payroll Warrants
E.O.101108011 – An order approving expenditures as documented in Accounts Payable Warrant #07-11..
E.O.101108012 – An order approving expenditures as documented in Payroll Warrant
#07-11.
- Next Meeting of the Board
Charter Commission meeting Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Planning Board meeting Monday, August 23, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Selectmen’s Meeting Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Maine Department of Transportation Public Hearing to be held at Buxton Town Office, Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.
None.
- Public Comments and Questions
There were no comments or questions from the public but there were comments from the Board. Selectman Harmon said tonight will be Jeremy Harmon’s last night operating the camera as he is leaving for school. Selectman Senechal said we would have had cake and ice cream and Selectman Burns wished him good luck. Selectman Harmon said that is where she is going next week, to take junior off to school. She said the Board is still looking for someone to be our camera operator for a couple of hours a week. You will be trained and it does pay. If anyone is interested please contact Bev, the Board’s assistant. Selectman Harmon said we would love to hear from you.
None.
Motion made and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 7:20 p.m. Approved 4-1.
_________________________ Jean C. Harmon, Selectman
|
________________________ Robert C. Libby, Selectman
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_______________________________ Clifford L. Emery, Selectman |
____________________________ Dianne M. Senechal, Selectman |
_______________________________ Peter E. W. Burns, Selectman |
Date Signed: _________
Videotaped by Jeremy Harmon
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