Town of Buxton
Minutes for April 15, 2015 Selectmen’s Meeting
Prepared by: Beverly Gammon
Members Present: Jean C. Harmon, Penny J. Booker, Peter E. W. Burns, Dennis P. Santolucito Clifford L. Emery was not present.
Others Present: David Harmon
Selectmen’s Meeting Agenda
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM.
Selectman Harmon led the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes
Selectmen Meeting Minutes April 8, 2015
The Board was unable to vote this week because one of the Selectmen who was here for that meeting is absent and there is no quorum. Selectman Emery is attending a York County Budget Committee Meeting this evening.
- Discussion held between 5:00 & 7:00 p.m.
Tom Kennie, our Public Works Director came in and talked with the Board about an opening in the Public Works Department and advertising for the position.
Chief Grovo updated the Board on where he is with hiring an Animal Control Officer and said he will be re-posting for that.
Selectman Harmon mentioned that Selectman Burns will give an update on the Twelve Town Group Meeting he went to the other night and the discussion regarding Broad Band.
The Board also spent some time adding up the numbers for the Warrant and Selectman Harmon said she will read the non-budgetary Articles tonight so the Board can get the Warrant signed next week.
- Email from Peter Brown, Maine DOT – Re: Bar Mills Bridge Project Progress Meeting Tuesday, April 21, 10:00 AM, at the project field office which is the old Saco River Tel & Tel building at 63 Bar Mills Road
- Legislative Bulletin Vol. No. 13 from Maine Municipal Association – Selectman Harmon explained this is an update of what is happening in the Legislature at this time, bills they support and those they do not support. She said there is nothing new to report at this time.
- Two emails from Maine Municipal Association – Re: Internship Grant Program and the Edward F. Dow Student Scholarship Award – Selectman Harmon read information on these two new Grants.
- Multiple Emails from Dave Francoeur, Deputy York County EMA Director – Re: Press Release – Spring is on the way; River Flow Advisories – Selectman Harmon said the messages are notifying us about what is happening with the snow melt and increasing flood potential with warmer weather. There is also notice of a teleconference that will take place tomorrow at 10:00 AM.
- Review of Projects and Issues
Selectman Burns reported that he has been in every day. He attended the joint meeting last Thursday with the Budget Committee to go over recommendations from The Board and from the Budget Committee. They were in agreement on most of the Articles and he said the meeting went very smoothly.
Selectman Burns constructed testimony to be presented for LD 1082 for which there is a Hearing this afternoon at 1:00 PM. There are actually three Bills to take up at that one Hearing. He said he met with Representative Don Marean Sunday and gave him the copies. Don Marean was actually working on testimony himself and was agreeable to take our testimony and read that as well if he had the chance to do so. If not, it would be given to all of the members of the Committee.
Selectman Burns went on to talk on the 12 Town Group Meeting in Waterboro that he attended on Monday night. He said the bulk of the meeting was to discuss Broadband, what it means and how important it is state-wide to bring us into the 21st century for many businesses, the film industry, the medical field, and people needing more and more Broadband. One statistic he noted was that 60% of existing fiber today is used for Netflix. That is how much it consumes of the existing fibers. He said Broadband is important because everybody is streaming today on the Internet. There is a lot of activity, a website www.broadbandcoalition.com, and more than 30 Bills in Legislature today concerning this. The big cable companies are lobbying to ban towns from being able to set up their own systems that kind of cuts them out of the loop. There are three hearings this week that are being supported by this coalition. Bonnie Pothier who is Senator King’s York County Representative told us that Senator King has one
staff member who does nothing but work exclusively on this issue. Selectman Burns continued sharing more details and talked about information some people have shared in regards to what has to be done to get ready for Broadband. It is a long, extremely expensive process to get involved in. It costs about $50,000 per mile to extend the lines to the towns.
The group has some money and wants to work toward getting an initial survey for the towns to see if there is interest and we will vote on that at the next meeting. They will be talking more about that at the next meeting and hopefully can get some money together to get a matching grant from either State or Federal. Selectman Burns said it will take time to get but businesses, people working from home, and many others will benefit greatly from this. He said it is extremely important; there are a lot of bills in the Legislature, a lot of time being devoted to this, and hopefully it will move forward.
Selectman Booker reported that she attended the meeting in Hollis to hear the presentations from Senator Valentino and Rep Marean on the Governor’s budget. She said they went through bullet points and there was not a lot of time for discussion but some people did get up and ask questions.
Selectman Booker shared some details about the D.O.T. pre-construction meeting she attended on Monday. There were representatives there from Brookfield, CMP, Time Warner, the construction manager and other people needed to coordinate the construction. She said she learned that there may be a delay in some of the work due to lines that will be down from Buxton to Saco until late August but they are going to be working on drainage, and there will be another meeting next Tuesday.
Selectman Santolucito said he attended the meeting in Hollis two weeks ago that Selectman Booker attended and it was interesting to learn more about the budget process; the Governor’s proposal and the Democratic proposal that they will have to work out. He said something has to be ready for June 30. He said it looks like it is going to be a challenge; a lot of proposals on the table and a lot of impacts.
Last week he attended a meeting with Maine Municipal Association that was for newly elected town officials and some information on the Freedom of Information Act. He said it was very useful and he picked up a lot of good information and learned a lot.
Selectman Santolucito said he is planning to attend the SAD 6 Budget Advisory Committee Meeting Thursday night and added that last week he attended the meeting with the Board and the Budget Committee. He said although everything has not been finalized yet, the way the budget looks is a testament to the way the town works, the Boards work together, and the way the Committees work together. He said people came with their wish lists and they worked through it. The Board worked well with the Department Heads and at least on the municipal side when people see the budget he believes they will be happy with it. He said the school side is unknown right now but we will know in the next 30 days. In closing he added that this was his first time looking at the budget from the
Selectmen’s side. He said he watched Selectman Burns looking at a thousand here and a few hundred there and wondered if it would really make a difference. He said in the end he realized it does make a difference because what came out of the process was a lean budget that delivers everything that the town needs. He said that was because the Board, the Department Heads and the Budget Committee worked together to fine tune it and really define what was needed.
Selectman Harmon reported that she was here for the meeting between the Board and the Budget Committee. She had been working on the Warrant, tweaking it, making sure the Board had the right numbers, catching some of the mistakes that we all make. She thanked Selectman Burns for going over the Warrant and catching the mistakes and anyone else who had the opportunity to look at it and point out any errors that were made. She said what the Board has in front of them now is hopefully the completed Warrant. She said the Board is working on a deadline to get it into the Town Report and asked the Board to let Bev Gammon know by Friday if anyone sees something that needs to be corrected.
Selectman Harmon was here Monday night for the Planning Board meeting because they had to set a date on the Public Hearing for the Warrant Article that the Board wants which will prohibit single-family dwellings in a commercial business zone. They set the date for that Public Hearing for May 11. Selectman Harmon said she was also there to make sure one of their proposed ordinances that dealt with function halls had any changes to what zone it would be allowed in. When the Planning Board had their Public Hearing there were some questions about what zone function halls should be allowed in. She wanted to make sure they changed that so that when they have the Public Hearing on the 11th it will also include the Function Hall Zoning Ordinance along with the
single-family dwellings being prohibited in a commercial business zone.
None
Selectman Harmon reminded people taxes are due April 20 but since the 20th is a holiday; Tuesday, the 21st is the date property taxes are due.
Selectman Harmon mentioned that there was a fire early this morning at Frugal Farmers Farm Stand. She said we are thankful no one was injured and the damage was limited to a storage building and one greenhouse. They have asked us to spread the word that they are still open for business. Selectman Harmon said we are glad they are safe and everyone is okay over there.
E.O. 141504021 – An order to approve the hire of Amanda Nguyen as a full-time Dispatcher starting April 22, 2015, at a pay rate of $16.91 per hour
Approved 4-0-1
E.O. 141504022 – An order to approve 40 hours of vacation time for Thomas Kennie
Approved 4-0-1
E.O. 141501023 – An order to approve 56 hours of vacation time for Fred Farnham
Approved 4-0-1
- Executive Orders by Initiative
None
- Accounts Payable and Payroll Warrants
E.O. 141504019 – An order approving expenditures as documented in the Accounts Payable Warrant #090.
Approved 4-0-1
The amount was $580,514.71.
E.O. 141504020 – An order approving expenditures as documented in Payroll Warrant #089.
Approved 4-0-1
The amount was $50,792.91.
- Next Meeting of the Board
SAD 6 Joint Budget/Budget Advisory Committee Meeting Thursday, April 16, 6:30 PM, at Central Office. There will also be a meeting on Thursday, April 30 at 6:30 PM at Central Office that Municipal Officers & State Legislators will be asked to attend to discuss State issues and impacts on school and local budgets.
Board of Selectmen Meeting Wednesday, April 22 at 7:00 PM
Twelve Town Group Meeting Monday, April 27 with Governor LePage at the Waterboro Fire Station starting at 6:30 PM
Buxton Town Hall will be closed Monday, April 20 for the Patriots Day holiday, and the Transfer Station will be closed Tuesday, April 21. There will be no change in the curbside pickup schedule.
Leavitt’s Mill Free Health Center will be having an Annual Spring Concert, “An Afternoon of Pops”, on Sunday May 17, at 2:30 PM, at the Saco River Theatre. A Silent Auction opens at 1:00 PM at the White Church next to the Theatre, and there will be an Open House & International Cheese Bar from 1:00 – 2:00 PM at Leavitt’s Mill around the corner from the Theatre. You can purchase tickets online at www.Purplepass.com or call Donna for
reservations at 929-6455.
Selectman Harmon announced that she was going to read the non-budgetary warrant articles. This is required before the Board can sign the Warrant. Selectman Harmon explained that most of the Articles she is reading have to do with the Zoning Ordinance changes.
Selectman Harmon read the Articles and gave an explanation. Before starting to read Selectman Harmon said that copies of these will be available either from the Board’s Secretary, Bev, or Krystal Dyer in Code Enforcement.
- Public Comments and Questions
None
None
Motion made and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 7:40 PM
Approved 4-0-1
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