Town of Buxton
Minutes for October 31, 2012 Selectmen’s Meeting
Prepared by: Beverly Gammon
Members Present: Dianne M. Senechal, Clifford L. Emery, Robert C. Libby, Penny L. Booker
Jean Harmon was absent.
Others Present: Mike Grovo, Jack Hanna.
Meeting Agenda
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM.
Open Bids for Septic Replacement –
Contractor Bid
1. |
Peter Pinkham |
$4649.00 |
2. |
Roberts Construction |
$4985.00 |
3. |
Kowalski Excavation. |
$4071.81 |
4. |
Gorham Sand & Gravel |
$5800.00 |
5. |
Dearborn Construction |
$4400.00 |
6. |
Emery Aggregates & Excavation, |
$4312.00 |
Dianne Senechal said the Code Officer will assist the Board and they will make a final decision on the bids this week.
- Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes
Selectmen Meeting Minutes October 17, 2012. Approved 3-2
Penny Booker was not present at that meeting.
Selectmen Meeting Minutes October 24, 2012. No vote taken because there was not a quorum.
- Discussion held between 5:00 & 7:00 p.m.
The Board talked about carry forwards, the Special Town Meeting that is going to be held on November 14, 2012, and a personnel issue.
- Email from Greg Heffernan – Re: Trash and brush due to the recent storm.
- Health Alert from Maine Public Health – Re: First ever case of West Nile Virus in a Maine resident.
- Review of Projects and Issues
Dianne Senechal started by thanking Chief Grovo and his crew for doing a fabulous job during Hurricane Sandy, pre-planning and getting all the details; Fire Chief, Nate Schools, who coordinated with EMA; and our Public Works Director, Tom Kennie; and the Selectmen who were in on conference calls with York County Emergency Management. She was extremely pleased with the way everybody pulled together.
Bob Libby has been out on vacation but he was back in this morning working on some abatements, Veteran Exemptions, and phone calls.
Cliff Emery provided great details on a meeting he attended last week in Kennebunk that was made up of 12 communities that send their trash to MERC. The MERC people gave a presentation of how our solid waste would be handled if the MERC plant is closed and what they would hope to be able to do. They talked about questions and some of the issues. He suggested that the Board go into an Executive Session next week to discuss some of the planning issues that are not public. Cliff said there are plans to hold another meeting before Thanksgiving and there will be a public hearing probably after the first of the year that is expected to be lively and dramatic as it will deal with the Juniper Ridge issues. Juniper Ridge is the landfill in Old
Town.
Selectman Emery talked about meeting with Chief Grovo, Chief Schools, and Tom Kennie in the Fire Chief’s office for a conference call with York County Emergency Management regarding the storm and Penny Booker listened in from the Selectmen’s Office. Our EMA Director was out of state through the weekend. Cliff said they talked about what they might do and agreed to meet again on Saturday. Cliff gave a very detailed report on the planning and preparation for the storm and the early decision they made to open the Shelter and where everyone was throughout the storm and up until the power came back on.
Cliff said in the midst of checking things out he discovered that DOT was replacing the culvert they promised to fix on Route 112. He and Tom Kenny went over to look at it to make sure the culvert was in good shape. They watched until it was dug out and determined that it looked really good.
Cliff thanked everyone who helped during the storm; the person who ran the shelter and stayed up all night, the firemen who were there, the rescue that was over to Groveville, the officers who were out all night long, fire people and highway people. He said Tom Kennie was out most of the night and everybody did a great job. He said the community should be very proud of how the people worked for them.
Penny Booker reported that she has been in every day and talked about what she has been doing. She sat in on the EMA conference call Friday. Monday morning and afternoon she went over to the EMA building for conferences and spent much of the day here at the office.
Dianne Senechal said she listened to the EMA phone calls from home and there was not much change from Friday to Sunday. She said they were all at the EMA office Monday morning. She said Cliff Emery did a fantastic job and he has a lot more experience with that. Selectman Senechal said we are fortunate to have the continuity of selectmen that have been through major catastrophes. She said she talked with Tom Kennie and was very pleased to see how everything was handled in town.
Selectman Senechal spoke about a Warrant for a Special Town Meeting that will be held November 14 at 7 PM to reconcile accounts that were overdrawn. She expects that the Board will approve carry forwards next week. There will be print outs available at the Special Town Meeting that will show what caused the accounts to be overdrawn.
Personnel Policy – In process.
Internal Control Document.
- New Business
- Executive Orders
E.O.121310036– An order to approve changes to the Treasurer’s Job Description to increase the weekly hours to 40 at a pay rate of $21.60 per hour effective October 29, 2012. Approved 3-1-1. Robert C. Libby did not vote.
E.O.121310037 – An order to approve a Veteran Exemption for [Map 1, Lot 150].
Approved 4-1.
E.O.121310038 – An order to approve a Veteran Exemption for [Map 1, Lot 144].
Approved 4-1.
E.O.121310039 – An order to approve a Veteran Exemption for [Map 8, Lot 16C].
Approved 4-1.
E.O.121310040 – An order to approve a Veteran Exemption for [Map 7, Lot 54-14].
Approved 4-1.
E.O.121310041 – An order to approve a Veteran Exemption for [Map 9, Lot 2-9].
Approved 4-1.
E.O.121310042 – An order to approve Tashia Pinkham’s attendance at the Northern New England Recreation Conference. Approved 4-1.
E.O.121310043 – An order to approve Krystal Dyer’s attendance at the MMA Customer Service Excellence Workshop. Approved 4-1.
E.O.121310044 – An order to approve Abatement of Real Estate Taxes in the amount of $113.05 for [Map 1, Lot 185-1]. Approved 4-1.
- Executive Orders by Initiative
None.
- Accounts Payable and Payroll Warrants
E.O.121310034 – An order approving expenditures as documented in Accounts Payable Warrant #39. Approved 4-1.
E.O.121310035 – An order approving expenditures as documented in Payroll Warrant #38.
Approved 4-1
- Next Meeting of the Board
Board of Selectmen Meeting Wednesday, November 7, 2012, at 7 PM.
Special Town Meeting Wednesday, November 14, 2012, at 7 PM.
Rabies Vaccination Clinic Saturday, December 1, 2012 from 1 PM ~3 PM at the Buxton Public Works Garage. The cost is $8.00 per vaccination – Cash Only. All dogs must be on a leash and all cats must be in carriers.
None
- Public Comments and Questions
Mike Grovo reported statistics on the 356 calls that came in to dispatch during the last week.
He talked about dog licenses and reminded people that dogs can now be licensed for 2013. Chief Grovo said licenses expire December 31st and dogs are required by law to be licensed by January. A late fee will be added to the cost of licenses starting February 1.
Chief Grovo reported that Mary Jane Road is closed. CMP needs to bring a crane in to take care of a tree that is hanging up high over the wires across another tree. Someone took all the barricades and signs down and was driving through there. Tom Kennie has gone over to put them up again. If the tree comes down it will take out all the wires and could kill anyone who is underneath it. Chief said this is serious and that is why it is barricaded off.
Chief Grovo read a letter from his communications officer, Andy Ward explaining t he nature of the calls dispatch received from Monday through 2 PM today. He thanked Fire Chief Nathan Schools and Public Works Director Tom Kennie for their part in helping keep the department organized during the stressful time of the storm. He said that Tom Kennie kept them up to speed on what roads were open and what was closed as CMP does not report in when roads are reopened. He said that alone made it easy for Dispatch to keep Fire and Police up to speed on travel conditions, damage, and road closures. Chief Grovo said everyone worked together from the Selectmen to the citizens and it has been like that every time we have had a natural disaster. He
said he is proud to be part of this town.
None.
Motion made and seconded to adjourn the Meeting at 7:45PM. Approved 4-1.
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