Public Protection Committee
Minutes of 10:00 A.M., May 13, 2009 Meeting
Town Office Meeting Room
Abbreviations Description Abbreviations Description
BOS Board of Selectmen PS Pump Station
FD Fire Department PT Part-time
FF Fire Fighter SWH Southwest Harbor
FT Full-time WC Warrant Committee
MDWD Mount Desert Water District WWTP Wastewater Treatment Plant
MMA Maine Municipal Association
I. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at approximately 10:05 A.M. by Chief Bender.
II. Roll Call of Members
Attendance Present Attendance Present
“Voting Members (9 total)” Pub. Works Dir. Tony Smith (TS) Yes
Citizen Rep. Mary-Lee Bayne (MLB) Yes Police Chief Jim Willis (JW) Yes
Citizen Rep. Katie Bell (KB) Yes “Non-voting attendees/at large”
Fire Chief Mike Bender (MB) Yes Town Mgr. Mike MacDonald (MM) No
Harbormaster Shawn Murphy (SM) Yes BOS Liaison Rick Mooers (RM) No
NEHA Joanne Robbins (JR) Yes MDWD Mgr. Paul Slack (PS) No
Citizen Rep. Dennis Shubert (DS) Yes
Newly elected Selectman Marilyn Damon was in attendance as a member of the public.
III. Discussion/Approval of Minutes
Minutes of April 8, 2009 approved. 6-0 (DS-JR). Members SM and MLB arrived late and did not vote.
IV. Unfinished Business
A. BHE Procedures: Tabled until ML-B is in attendance (the issue was discussed after the regular meeting was adjourned with MB, TS, MLB, MD, JW and KB in attendance with each leaving when they saw fit).
V. New Business: Items taken out of order.
A. Resignation: Recently elected Selectman Damon’s resignation from the PPC was accepted. The Committee thanked her for her efforts on behalf of the Town while she served.
B. Committee Membership/Size: Applications to the Committee from Sharon Gilley and Kathy Branch were acknowledged. The minutes of the meeting of December 17, 2008 were read aloud related to numbers of members on the PPC, how selected, etc. as follows:
“The issue of minimum and maximum number of Committee members was discussed. It was agreed that the Committee would be more efficiently managed with a maximum number of 10 members which would include up to four (4) citizens. General discussion ensued as to whether or not Committee members should review all applications and, should the applicant state three (3) reasons why they should be added to the Committee and, they should be required to attend a BOS meeting and asked why they will be an attribute to the Committee. It was agreed that the following will be the Committee’s recommendation to the BOS regarding prospective appointees:
• “We welcome any citizen participation as appointed by the BOS up to four (4) citizens. (5-0: DS-TS)”
A motion was made and approved that MB would send the BOS a memo stating that we have one open seat and two applications for the seat. If the BOS sees fit to appoint both individuals, we would welcome filling the seat vacated by Selectman Damon and filling a tenth seat (TS-JW 8-0).
DS and JR pointed out that members of any town committee serve at the pleasure of the BOS and, if the BOS see fit, they can increase or decrease the number of members to any they wish or, a committee can be dissolved.
Meeting Attendance: Meeting absenteeism and a means to encourage more regular attendance by our members was discussed. It was agreed to maintain the status quo – come when you can.
C. Project Worksheets: DS distributed and discussed the project worksheet scores. It was once again pointed out that the PPC was to identify deficiencies and prioritize corrective action to remedy them followed by a recommendation to the BOS. At this time, we are not to concern ourselves with costs or funding sources.
JW pointed out that we have identified the problems; we must now identify potential solutions to them. It was noted that each problem might have more than one proposed solution.
MLB was concerned that on the score sheet the highway garage was rated a low priority for corrective action even though the general consensus was it needed work. DS explained that the reason for this was likely due to the scoring of two of the criteria on the worksheets – enhancement of the town’s image and creating community. It was generally accepted that most members scored these low versus the other identified problems resulting in pulling the entire highway garage score down. It was agreed that we are not bound by the scores - we can move items around if we see fit.
The top three priorities were validated by a vote (DS-TS 8-0) as being:
• 1) Police Department Privacy/Safety
• 2) Improve Volunteer Fire Department Pay/Benefits and Provide Fire Department Facility to support fulltime/volunteer fire fighters
• 3)Public Works Facility
followed by the fourth and fifth priorities as 4) fire department egress and 5) increased town office space. It was agreed that the town should maintain the status quo with maintaining the FD and PW equipment and rolling stock replacement schedules and to continue the sanitary sewer upgrades and maintenance.
DS reiterated the PPC charge as “identify and recommend” (problems and solutions). He also recommended that our next step should be a written interim report to the BOS. It was agreed that DS and MB would work on the report.
VI. Adjournment:
The next meeting is scheduled for 10:00 A.M., June 17, 2009 at the Town Office meeting room. The meeting was adjourned at 11:56 (TS-SM).
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