Town of Buxton
Minutes for March 11, 2015 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: Scott Warchol
Selectmen’s Meeting Agenda
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM.
Selectman Emery led the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes
Selectmen Meeting Minutes March 4, 2015
Approved 4-0-1
- Discussion held between 5:00 & 7:00 p.m.
At 4:30 the Public Works Director came in and went over his budget with the Selectmen.
At 5:30 the Treasurer was in to discuss some finance issues.
At 5:35 the Town Clerk met with the Board and they went over the front office budget.
At 6:00 the Police Chief met with the Board to talk about some issues in his department, some things going on around town and a couple of personnel issues.
- Weekly Legislative Bulletin #8 from Maine Municipal Association
- The Board received an email from Representative Don Marean asking if they would be interested in a Tri-Town Budget Forum with Hollis and Limington. The Board thanked Rep. Marean and told him they feel that such a meeting would be unproductive at this time. Selectman Emery said they just started looking into budgets, the State has no information to give them, and the Board has no final numbers to discuss. Selectman Emery said if the Board wants to have a discussion at a later date, they will get back in touch with Don Marean.
- Email message from SAD 6 Business Office – Re: Budget Advisory Committee Meeting tomorrow night at 6:30 PM at Central Office
- Review of Projects and Issues
Selectman Burns reported that he has been in every day. Last Thursday he went to the SAD 6 Budget Advisory Committee Meeting. Monday night he attended the Twelve Town Group Meeting in Waterboro and last night the Board met with the Fire Chief to go over the Fire-Rescue budget. Most of Selectman Burns’ time has been spent in meetings and working on budgets.
Selectman Booker reported that she has been out of the office with a cold but she has not missed any of the budget meetings. She was in last Wednesday but went home just before the televised meeting.
Selectman Harmon also attended the Workshop last night where the Board reviewed the Fire-Rescue budget. This morning she was here to meet with a representative from the Maine Revenue Service who comes in every year for the municipal valuations and goes over our Abatements and Supplements to make sure we are on track.
Selectman Harmon said unfortunately she did not come to the Planning Board Meeting Monday night where they were reviewing some Ordinances that are being proposed. One of those is an Ordinance that the Board would like to see go forward. She reported that she has been in touch with the Town’s attorney and said the Board is going to move forward with that once they get the language straightened out.
Selectman Santolucito reported that he is continuing to attend the SAD 6 Budget Advisory Committee Meetings on Thursday nights. He said there are a lot of special requests coming in with varying costs. A lot of them look like good investments to him but he said they are going to have to look at what the bottom line is going to be for the budget. He said there is obviously a wish list that will have to be reduced to reality based on what people can afford.
Selectman Santolucito urged people to go online to the SAD 6 website and see what is being proposed. Selectman Santolucito went on to report that he has also been attending the budget workshops.
Selectman Emery reported that he has been in, working on projects that need to get done, working on budgets, and attending some of the same meetings the other Selectmen have talked about. He said the Department Heads have done a good job bringing budgets forward to the Board and the only budgets they have left to go over are Police, Dispatch & Animal Control which they are going to do next Monday afternoon at 4 o’clock.
None
None
E.O. 14153005 – An order to approve 8 hours of vacation time for Tom Kennie
Approved 5-0
E.O. 141503006 – An order to approve an Application for Exemption for the widow of a Veteran for [Map 2, Lot 96]
Apprtoved 5-0
E.O. 141503007 – An order to approve a Victualer’s License for Fish N Skip’s located at 292 Narragansett Trail
Approved 5-0
- Executive Orders by Initiative
None
- Accounts Payable and Payroll Warrants
E.O. 141503003 – An order approving expenditures as documented in the Accounts Payable Warrant #080
Approved 5-0
The amount of the Accounts Payable Warrant is $62,700.01
E.O. 141503004 – An order approving expenditures as documented in Payroll Warrant #079 Approved 5-0
The amount of Payroll Warrant is $48,168.54
- Next Meeting of the Board
SAD 6 Budget Advisory Committee Meeting Thursday, March 12 at 6:30 PM at Central Office. An additional meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 19 at 6:00 PM. Administration and Department Managers will be attending to answer questions on Supplemental/Capital requests.
Board of Selectmen Meeting for Workshop Monday, March 16 at 4:00 PM
Buxton Budget Committee Meeting Tuesday, March 17 at 6:30 PM
Board of Selectmen will hold a Public Hearing at Town Hall Wednesday, March 18 at 7:00 PM on a proposed Charter Amendment
Board of Selectmen Meeting Wednesday, March 18 at 7:10 PM or immediately following the Public Hearing
The Planning Board will hold a Public Hearing Monday, March 23 at 7:00 PM on Ordinance Amendments. Copies of the Amendments are available in the Code Enforcement Office.
The Board of Selectmen will also hold a Public Hearing on an Ordinance Amendment right after the Planning Board Hearing. Copies of the Amendments are available in the Code Enforcement Office.
There will be a Blood Drive at Buxton Town Hall Monday, March 16 from 1:00 ~ 6:00 PM. Call 1-800-RED-CROSS to make an appointment.
- Public Comments and Questions
Mr. Scott Warschol, a resident, went to the podium to speak. He asked if the Ordinance Amendments the Planning Board is hearing could be posted online.
Selectman Harmon said the Board can ask the Code Enforcement Secretary about that but people would have to understand that the copy they are having the Public Hearing on could have changes made to it because it is not the final draft.
Mr. Warschol asked for information on the proposed Charter Amendment.
Selectman Emery had the Public Hearing Notice and said he would read it after Mr. Warschol finishes speaking.
Mr. Warschol thanked volunteers, firefighters & EMTs, snow plow operators, the crew at the Transfer Station, and the Selectmen, for their service to the town. He went on to share his opinions and suggestions regarding the weekly selectmen meetings. Mr. Warschol would like to see the Board expand on their discussions so people listening have a better understanding and it is not so generalized. He would like to see quarterly updates from some departments and Chief Grovo’s statistics on the Police Department’s web page.
After Mr. Warshol finished speaking, Selectman Emery read the Public Hearing Notice for the Charter Amendment and explained in detail what the change does and why the Board wants to increase the limit for having to get bids from $5,000 to $10,000.
Selectman Burns added that the last time that part of the Charter was updated was in 2003. He explained that the Board has had difficulty trying to get bids for such a small amount of work and many places will not bid on anything less than $10,000 so to ask for bids for such a small job does not work today.
Selectman Emery talked about the Public Hearing the Board of Selectmen are going to hold after the Planning Board’s Hearing on March 23 for an upgrade of our Road Ordinance. The Board has discussed this with the Public Works Director, specifically materials used and how the roads are built. Selectman Emery said this is about the way we build roads in the Town and upgrading to a much better scenario for longer lasting roads.
Mr. Warschol talked about having a small escrow with the developer and the Board explained that we do that now.
Selectman Emery said the Board is not changing the whole ordinance, just the process and materials used in building the roads.
Mr. Warschol expressed his opinion that this is a good addition and he hopes it passes.
Selectman Emery said the Board feels it is for the betterment of the whole community. We are the ones having to pay for the roads when they start breaking down so the longer the roads hold up, the better it is for everybody.
Selectman Emery then talked in detail about the budget process and the meetings the Board has with Department Heads to go over their budgets. All Budgets are televised when the Budget Committee meets on Tuesday nights and all Workshops are open to the public unless there is an Executive Session.
Selectman Emery stressed that the Board is trying to look at a lot of things, trying to think outside the box, and working hard for the town to try to keep things in line.
Selectman Harmon talked about the fact that it was easier in past years to reduce budgets than it is now because the town is faced with loss of revenue and the Board has to look at whether we can still provide the service. She said now we are faced with loss of revenue and the school budget that is killing us.
After more discussion between the Board and Mr. Warschol, Selectman Emery talked about the Board’s philosophy and changes in how they look at the budget. He talked about the great job town employees do and the Board’s role in running the town.
Mr. Warschol shared a personal example of a quick response he received from Public Works when he had an issue on his road.
Selectman Burns talked about the school budget and expects to have more numbers to give us on that soon. He talked about the uncertainty facing the town and the school not knowing how much it will get from the State because of the proposed State budget and proposed legislation. He shared some specifics on what he has seen so far from the school, talked about the significant increases we have seen in the school budget over the last two years, and what we are facing for an increase this year. He said if they approve all of the supplemental budget and the building requests, Buxton’s mill rate will go up $1.10 just for the school. He said there are 3 members from this Board who are going to those meetings now and they will certainly be making our views known because those kinds of
numbers are not acceptable. Over 66% of our tax bill is going to the school. School registrations are going down and the cost keeps going up and it cannot be sustained; the State has to do something. For the first time school officials and Town officials met with Legislators and before that the Board of Selectmen met with our Representatives. He urged people to contact their Legislators and Representatives and encourage them to support Revenue Sharing.
There were no additional comments or questions.
None
Motion made and seconded to adjourn the Meeting at 7:47 PM
Approved 5-0
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