Town of Buxton
Minutes for September 17, 2014 Selectmen’s Meeting
Prepared by: Beverly Gammon
Members Present: Clifford L. Emery, Jean C. Harmon, Penny J. Booker, Peter E. W. Burns, Dennis P. Santolucito
Others Present: Chad Poitras
Selectmen’s Meeting Agenda
The meeting was called to order at 7:03 PM.
Chairman Emery led the recital of the Pledge.
- Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes
Selectmen Meeting Minutes September 10, 2014
Approved 4-0-1
- Discussion held between 5:00 & 7:00 p.m.
Selectmen Harmon, Selectman Booker, and Selectman Burns discussed our Personnel Policy, some of the changes they talked about previously, and when they are going to implement those. They also talked about holiday pay for part time employees as that is not clear in the Personnel Policy.
The Police Chief came in and discussed several items with the Board and some things they wanted information or clarification on.
The Board went into Executive Session at 6:23 PM on a personnel matter, per 1 M.R.S.A. 405 (6) (A). The Board came out of Executive Session at 6:30 PM.
The Board had some discussion on the lighting pattern on the Canal Bridge. Selectman Booker talked about a change in the number of lights on the bridge and an agreement with the Maine Department of Transportation that just came in. None of the Selectmen have had a chance to read that yet. She said they will be looking at the agreement over the next few days and they will have to set up a meeting with D.O.T and Hollis to go over everything.
- Email from Lisa DiFedele, Field Epidemiologist, York District, Maine CDC – Re: Presence of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus (EEE) confirmed in Buxton
- Press Release from Maine Board of Pesticides Control – Re: Free Disposal of Banned, Unusable Pesticides. Register by September 26, 2014. The contact person is Henry Jennings at 207-287-2731 or henry.jennings@maine.gov
- Maine Public Health Alert – Re: Severe Respiratory Illness Associated with Enterovirus D68 – Multiple States, 2014
Selectman Harmon stated that there have been no confirmed cases of the Respiratory Illness or the Triple E Virus here in Maine.
- Review of Projects and Issues
Selectman Santolucito said he has been taking a close look at the Bridge contract with the State. He said it is interesting to see how they want to lay the lighting out for an area that does not get a lot of foot traffic and the winter maintenance on the bridge sidewalk. He thinks the meeting with the State should help clarify some of those issues.
Selectman Harmon has been collecting information on carry forwards and copied the rest of the Board on what has come through so far. She said there are still a couple of departments she needs to hear from as to whether or not they want to carry-forward any money from the last fiscal year. Selectman Harmon said as soon as the Board gets that information they may need to have a workshop to talk about administration accounts they may have money left over in that they want to carry forward.
Selectman Booker said one thing she has been paying attention to is information that has come in on the bridge. She will be reviewing that more tomorrow. Another thing on her list of things to do is to start researching electricity rates. She has done a bit of research just to get a feel for how many suppliers there are for small business which is the category we are in. She said the Board will need to talk about how they want to narrow that down then have them put some rates together and see what looks reasonable.
Selectman Burns reported that last Thursday he went to Standish Town Hall to look at the video equipment they have. The Board wants to do basically the same thing they did, and the same as SAD 6 where someone can do a PowerPoint presentation and project it onto a screen. He made calls to several technical people to get more information and to find out some of the questions to ask when he is talking with vendors. Yesterday he met with a representative from Headlight Audio Visual Company in Portland. The representative took measurements, checked out the equipment that we have and has gone back to put together a proposal. Selectman Burns expects to have that in the next week or two.
Selectman Burns reported spending some time yesterday helping Chet Ouellette finish fixing windows at Town Office that had broken springs. They also removed another one of the side doors that weigh about 100 pounds each, and took it over to Public Works building so Chet can sand and refinish it.
Selectman Emery has been working out of town all week. He made several phone calls, talked with a couple of Department Heads on some issues, talked with one of the Selectmen to keep up with things that are going on, talked with the Town’s attorney today about an ongoing issue that we have, and spent time catching up on things when he came in this afternoon.
Demolition of old Town Garage – Selectman Emery talked with Tom Kennie several times and he is extremely busy. Finding two or three days in a row to work on this project is a problem right now. The Board will wait and see how it goes.
Davis Road – No additional information at this time. Selectman Emery is going to get in touch with Fred Farnham this week to find out if he has heard anything from the owner.
Selectman Harmon said she talked with Fred about a week ago and he had heard nothing at that time.
Selectman Booker congratulated “LeeAnn” Pratt who is our Tax Collector on receiving Certified Clerk of Maine status from the Maine City & Town Clerks Association. The certification is good for five years. Selectman Booker said she has been working on that for over a year now. She is also now a Buxton Deputy Town Clerk.
Selectman Emery gave a “shout out” to Greg Heffernan and the Public Works crew. The Board had a very serious matter up in the northern end of town with some property the town has taken for unpaid taxes. This was a pretty bad situation and Selectman Emery said they worked very hard and diligently day after day on it. Other than the house itself, all of the major issues and materials surrounding the property have been cleaned up. Selectman Emery said the neighborhood is very appreciative of the hard work that everyone put into that.
E.O. 141509022 – An order to approve John Myers’ attendance at a Voter Registration & Title 21-A Elections Workshop
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509023 – An order to approve John Myers’ attendance at the Maine Municipal Association Annual Convention
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509024 – An order to approve John Myers’ attendance at the New England Association of City & Town Clerks Annual Conference
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509025 – An order to approve 7.5 hours of Bereavement Leave for Elizabeth Pratt
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509026 – An order to approve a Supplemental Tax Warrant and Certificate for tax year 2012/13 in the amount of $71.40 for [Map 9, Lot 6C]
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509027 – An order to approve a Supplemental Tax Warrant and Certificate for tax year 2013/14 in the amount of $75.00 for [Map 9, Lot 6C]
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509028 – An order to approve a Supplemental Tax Warrant and Certificate for tax year 2014/15 in the amount of $299.72 for [Map 9, Lot 6C and Map 9, Lot 6-24]
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509029 – An order to approve the hire of Colt Marston as a part time Transfer Station Attendant starting September 20, 2014 at a pay rate of $10.15 per hour
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509030 – An order to approve an Application for Veteran Exemption for [Map 7, Lot 64-13]
E.O. 141509031 – An order to approve an Application for Veteran Exemption for [Map 8, Lot 6-3]
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509032 – An order to approve an Application for Veteran Exemption for [Map 9, Lot 6C-9
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509033 – An order to approve an Application for Veteran Exemption for [Map 9, Lot 11-3
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509034 – An order to approve an Application for Veteran Exemption for [Map 5, Lot 46]
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509035 – An order to approve an Abatement for Real Estate Taxes for fiscal year 2014/15 in the amount of $75.00 for [Map 9, Lot 6C]
Approved 5-0
- Executive Orders by Initiative
E.O. 141509036 – An order to accept the resignation of Stephen Heroux from the position of School Board member effective October 10, 2014
Approved 5-0
- Accounts Payable and Payroll Warrants
E.O. 141509021 – An order approving expenditures as documented in the Accounts Payable Warrant #026
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141509022 – An order approving expenditures as documented in Payroll Warrant #025
Approved 5-0
- Next Meeting of the Board
Planning Board Meeting Monday, September 22, 2014 at 7:00 PM
Board of Selectmen Meeting Wednesday, September 24, 2014 at 7:00 PM
Selectman Harmon said John Myers asked her if the Board had anything they wanted to go on Secret Ballot. Selectman Emery asked each of the Selectmen and they agreed they do not have anything for the November Ballot.
A reminder that this is the third year of a four-year plan approved at Town Meeting to update all property tax cards within the town. Thus far we have completed half of the tax maps and we will do another quarter this year. As part of this process, you may see an appraiser from Parker Appraisals looking at your property. The appraisers have identification tags with them and if you have any questions, please feel free to call Town Hall at 929-5191.
Hazardous Waste Day will be Saturday, October 4, 2014 from 10:00 AM ~ 2:00 PM at the Buxton Transfer Station. This is for Buxton residents only. For more information you can contact Greg Heffernan, Transfer Station Manager, at 929-3913.
- Public Comments and Questions
Chad Poitras introduced himself as Buxton’s Public Health Officer. He talked about an email message received today from the Maine CDC informing us that the Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus, commonly referred to as Triple E, has been found to have a presence in the Town of Buxton. Mr. Poitras talked briefly about the testing that the Maine Center for Disease Control does in every community and talked about the precautions people can take including using insect repellent, eliminating any standing water that is not needed around homes and avoiding being outside at dusk and dawn when there are apt to be more mosquitos around.
Mr. Poitras noted that there have been no confirmed cases of this virus in Buxton. He said we just need to be aware of its presence and take extra precaution to try and avoid contact with mosquitos. He said that once we get a freeze, if there is not a substantial warm-up afterward it should take care of the problem for the rest of this year.
None
Motion made and seconded to adjourn the Meeting at 7:28 PM
Approved 5-0
paste minutes here
| 
