Town of Buxton
Minutes for March 27, 2013 Selectmen’s Meeting
Prepared by: Beverly Gammon
Members Present: Dianne M. Senechal, Clifford L. Emery, Penny J. Booker.
Robert C. Libby and Jean C. Harmon were absent.
Others Present: Representative Don Marean, Michael Grovo, Peter Burns.
Meeting Agenda
The meeting was called to order at 7:01 PM.
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes
Selectmen Meeting Minutes for March 13, 2013. No vote was taken because there was not a quorum.
- Discussion held between 5:00 & 7:00 p.m.
At 5:00 the Board had a discussion with the Treasurer and our Public Works Director about some work that is contracted out.
Our Treasurer also talked with the Board about tax liens and a Certificate of Deposit that is coming due.
A resident came in and met with the Board to discuss debris in a yard.
- Weekly Legislative Bulletin from Maine Municipal Association.
- Email from Dave Francoeur, Acting Director, York County Emergency Management Agency – Re: Disaster Declaration for Maine.
- Email from Dave Francoeur, Acting Director, York County Emergency Management Agency – Re: Code Red Press Release.
- Review of Projects and Issues
Selectman Booker went to the budget meeting for SAD 6 on Saturday. She said it was a lengthy meeting and she picked up a lot of information about their budget.
Selectman Booker reported that she attended the Budget Committee meeting here last night. She has been discussing various budgets, doing some research for the Town Report, mail, having discussions with some Department Heads and going through mail for the week.
Selectman Emery also attended the SAD 6 budget meeting. He said the meeting started at 9:00 AM., and went until almost 2:00 PM. He said they are whittling the budget down to what it is going to be and it is going back to their Budget Committee to look at one more time.
Selectman Emery was here last night for the Town Budget Meeting and said that went very well. He has been coming in every day going over budgets, and talking to some of the Department Heads. This morning he went to the Transfer Station for awhile and last week he went down to Public Works and talked with Tom Kennie about what they have going on there and the need to start interviews to fill the open position. Selectman Emery said he has been focusing on people coming in, answering questions for them and dealing with all the correspondence that comes in.
Selectman Senechal reported that she has been working on the budget making sure all the numbers came out. She said all of the budgets have been turned over to the Budget Committee so t hey will start getting the final presentations in. In addition to that she has been working on the annual report and taking care of all the other things that come up during the week while she is here.
The Personnel Policy is being reviewed by our attorney.
None.
E.O. 121303020 – An order to approve an Application for Veteran Exemption for [Map 7, Lot 61-B-1]. Approved 3-2.
- Executive Orders by Initiative
None.
- Accounts Payable and Payroll Warrants
E.O. 121303018 – An order approving expenditures as documented in Accounts Payable Warrant #84. Approved 3-2.
E.O. 121303019 – An order approving expenditures as documented in Payroll Warrant #83.
Approved 3-2.
- Next Meeting of the Board
Budget Committee Meeting Tuesday, April 3, 2013, at 6:00 PM.
Board of Selectmen Meeting Wednesday, April 3, 2013, at 7:00 PM.
The Board of Selectmen will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, at 7:00 PM on a new Liquor License Application for Julie C. Hagerman & R. Shiloh Hagerman, D/B/A CHAPS, LLC located at 1301 Long Plains Road, Buxton, Maine.
Nomination Papers are available from the Town Clerk’s Office for the following positions:
- Two – Selectmen, Assessors and Overseers of the Poor for 3 years
- One – Director, Maine School Administrative District No. 6 for 3 years
- Three – Planning Board Members for 3 years
- One – Planning Board Member for 1 year
- Three – Budget Committee Members for 3 years
- One – Budget Committee Member for 1 year
All candidate nomination papers must be filed in the Town Clerk’s Office by 4:30 PM, Monday, April 29, 2013.
The Buxton Community Days Committee is now accepting applications for the annual Buxton Community Days Festival which will be held Friday July 19 & Saturday July 20, 2013. The rain date is Sunday July 21 if it rains on Saturday. Events this year will include a road race, parade, demos, kid activities, music, carnival, and fireworks.
This festival is a great way to raise funds and awareness for your organization. If you plan on participating, application forms together with payment must be returned to Buxton Community Days no later than June 14, 2013. After that there will be an additional fee of $25 per space. Spaces are limited.
- Public Comments and Questions
Our Legislative Representative, Don Marean, introduced himself and thanked the Board for giving him the opportunity to speak. He gave us an update on what is going in Augusta and an overview of why the State is in the condition it is in. He explained that the state is required to balance its budget. Since 2010 the State of Maine is down $600 million from the Federal Government because they are not going to fully fund all of the things it mandates the States to do. Mr. Marean said one thing that costs us a great deal of money is Medicaid coverage that we are required by Federal law to provide for certain people in certain tax brackets. The loss of federal funding for Medicaid, and dry up of stimulus funds has left the State of Maine
with a hole of approximately $400 million dollars to fill, The State’s revenue is projected to be less in 2015 than it was in 2008.
Rep. Marean said the Legislature is far from making any kind of agreement on where they are going with the budget the Governor has proposed. He talked about various committees and parts of their budgets that are going to siphon some money from the Town’s commercial excise tax, send 50% of teachers’ retirement cost back to the schools, may result in loss of the Homestead Exemption for some, change the Circuit Breaker refund and Revenue Sharing that can mean a loss of about $366,000 for Buxton. Legislative committees are looking at other sources as well such as increases in sales tax and the lodging and use tax.
Representative Marean advised the Board to prepare for the worst.
Selectman Emery shared his frustration and explained that the Board has to prepare a budget that has to be sent to the printer this month so the Town Report and Warrant can be printed; yet they have no idea at this time how to build that budget. He said worst case means that a whole department may have to be eliminated. The government has the ability to raise taxes for the whole state but the town does not.
Representative Marean asked the Board if they build revenue sharing into their budget. The Selectmen answered in the affirmative. He said that the Committee will be taking up revenue sharing a week from this Friday and as soon as he gets any indication which way they are going to go he will let the Board know. He committed to keep us posted.
Peter Burns thanked Penny Booker, Cliff Emery , and Jean Harmon for attending the SAD 6 budget meeting with school officials, and the Budget Advisory Committee of which he is a member. He said they got to see what the change in teachers’ retirement funding means to the school budget. He said based on what we have for information now we know roughly what the tax increase will be for Buxton but if the State changes anything that affects the school it is going to mean something else.
Mr. Burns mentioned that some residents are concerned about a vehicle that is riding around the neighborhood and stopping to take pictures of houses. There is nothing on the side of the vehicle to identify who it is which made people very uncomfortable. He recommended that the appraiser put a magnetic sign on his vehicle or find some way to identify himself to ease residents’ concerns.
Peter Burns spoke briefly about Time Warner negations that are not going well. He said they are hung up on money and dragging their feet. The original contract expired five years ago; they are still collecting all of their money and complaining about giving us money to start the next contract. He is going to discuss it in more detail with the Board. He said he thinks we will prevail eventually but right now nothing is going to change. We are still waiting for a date for when they change over from analog to digital.
Chief Mike Grovo spoke about the Code Red calls that York County Emergency Management Agency made. He said they will notify us prior to doing a Code Red again. This last time they did not put out a teletype and the Police Department received a lot of calls from people wondering what it was about. He said the calls will take place again and it is beneficial to the community.
Chief Grovo went over statistics for the 688 total calls that came in during the last two weeks. He also provided statistical information on more serious crimes that are classified as crimes against persons, society and property and he reported that the trend is more active with crimes and burglaries. He is going to try to make people more aware when certain areas in town are getting hit. Chief Grovo also reported that the white truck that was going around scamming is out of Old Orchard Beach. It is well known to area departments and they have had no issues since.
None.
Motion made and seconded to adjourn the Meeting at 7:55 PM.
Approved 3-2.
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