Board of Selectmen Meeting, June 24, 2004
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TOWN OF MOUNT DESERT, MAINE
Monday, June 21, 2004
A meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held this date in the Community Room, Seal Harbor Fire Station.
Those present included: Chairman Rick Savage, Ernest Coombs, Patrick Smallidge, Jeff Smith; Acting Town Manager John Brushwein; Public Works Director Tony Smith; Recording Secretary Ellen Kappes and members of the public.
Call to order.
Chairman Savage called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
Minutes
A. Approval of minutes of Regular Meeting of June 7, 2004.
Selectman Smallidge corrected lines 24 and 25 on page 6. He had voted against the motion for an expenditure of $1,700 for part-time office assistance.
MOTION: Selectman Smith moved to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of June 7, 2004, as corrected, seconded by Selectman Smallidge. The vote was unanimous in favor.
III. Appointments and Communications
A.~~~~~~Confirm appointment of Ryan Dunbar as Seasonal Refuse employee, effective June 14, 2004 at hourly rate of $11.00.
B.~~~~~~Confirm appointment of Michael Mansolilli as Seasonal Refuse employee, effective June 14, 2004 at hourly rate of $11.00.
C.~~~~~~Confirm appointment of Jenifer Donovan as part-time refuse employee, effective June 18, 2004 at hourly rate of $11.00.
Chairman Savage asked for a motion to take the above items out of order in Executive Session. This is a personnel policy issue, he said.
MOTION: Selectman Coombs moved to take Items A. B. and C. out of order and put them in Executive Session subject to Title 1, MRSA Section 405, paragraph 6A in its consideration of employment, seconded by Selectman Smallidge. The vote was unanimous in favor.
D.~~~~~~Acknowledge receipt of Insurance Services Office, Inc., (ISO) publication of notice Town of Mount Desert “has not adopted formal building codes to enforce.”
Acting Town Manager Brushwein said ISO reviews each municipality’s building codes. Based on what it has for building codes, how those codes are enforced and documentation regarding enforcement, they determine a grade for each municipality. The grade is given to insurance companies and they set their rates based on that grade. This Town has no building code and therefore gets no grade. If it had a certified building code in place, that could help reduce insurance premiums for property owners. If the Town were to adopt a formal building code, the reduction would only apply to buildings constructed after the Town adopted the code. Already existing building owners could have an engineer look at a building to certify that it met the building code. He said the item was for information only.
Chairman Savage said 90% of the towns in the State don’t have a building code.
E.~~~~~~Acknowledge Town of Tremont letter of support for Acadia National Park Advisory Committee.
Chairman Savage noted the Selectmen have already stated they are on board for that.
F.~~~~~~Seal Harbor WWTP upgrade Weekly Construction Summary
IV. Consent Agenda
None
V. Selectmen Reports
Chairman Savage read a letter of resignation from the Board from Emily Damon Pascal.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to accept with regret the letter of resignation from Emily Damon Pascal, seconded by Selectman Coombs. The vote was unanimous in favor.
Chairman Savage asked the Town Manager to write a letter on the Board’s behalf expressing its sincere thanks and sorrow in accepting her resignation and its understanding of her personal hardship.
MOTION: Selectman Smith moved to have the above letter written, seconded by Selectman Coombs. The vote was unanimous in favor.
Chairman Savage said he would like all the Selectmen to sign the letter after it is written.
Chairman Savage said the Board has three options: 1. to hold a Special Town Meeting to fill the position; 2. to fill the position with its appointment; and 3. to take no action at this time. He made no recommendation at this meeting.
Selectman Smith said he needed to talk to the Town Manager about the Zoning Board of Appeals and its by laws. It is the only committee in Town that does not allow the spouse of a town officer to serve on it. He wants to get a clarification about it.
VI. Old Business
A.~~~~~~Comprehensive Plan Committee request for volunteers from other Town boards and committees
Jerry Suminsby said the Comprehensive Plan Committee has lost members because of hardships and health issues. The CPC thinks a lot of the seeds need to come from already established Town committees such as the Harbor Committee about marina plans, the Investment Committee about a strategy and the School Board about improvements. He wanted the Board to give a directive to boards, committees and the staff to agree to take on a review of Town services. Selectman Smallidge clarified that basically what was being requested was a statement from Selectmen to put on each committee’s agendas so that they would address the issues.
Mr. Suminsby agreed and said possibly there could be a liaison from each committee could come to a CPC meeting. The rough template developed asks what the visions are and where the Town want to be in 5, 10 or 25 years. A lot of the inventory has already been done.
Selectman Smallidge thought it would be helpful for the CPC to write a definition of what it wants from each department. The letters and the questions should be tailored to each board.
Chairman Savage suggested the CPC draft a letter to be sent to each board chairman.
Selectman Smith asked if the Town has reached the goals envisioned 15 years ago. Were did it fall short? How could the Board implement corrections?
Bobbi Williams said the first Comprehensive Plan was more of a broad description of the character of the Town. The model it is following now is a state model which is more specific so that the committees will have benchmarks to reach.
Chairman Savage said he was on the other CPC. It met for more than two years before it came up with any kind of statement. He thought the CPC should have a very broad mission. If it states specific goals, those goals could come back and haunt the Town.
Ms. Williams said every 10 years, the committee could take a look at the goals and change them if necessary.
Mr. Suminsby said the CPC members are not the best ones to say what the big problems are facing the infrastructure, for example, of the harbor. The committees are the best ones to throw the first pitch. The big ticket items were what he was concerned about.
Chairman Savage noted that if the Town does not adopt something, it will be adopting the State’s automatically. They will be dictating to the Town what its long term goals will be.
Ms. Williams said the CPC wanted go to the committees instead of dumping something in their laps that they are not going to be interested in and, as a result, get a broader based input from the Town. Responding to Chairman Savage, she said the group had 8 members.
Selectman Smallidge reiterated his request for giving committees specific guidelines for what is wanted from them.
Responding to Chairman Savage, Mr. Suminsby said perhaps the CPC should draft a letter first for the Board to send out.
Acting Town Manager Brushwein suggesting holding a meeting of the CPC and inviting all these people to it, getting them together in the same room for a discussion with them.
Responding to Chairman Savage, Mr. Suminsby said the CPC thought it would be more effective to have a directive coming from the elected officials rather than having members of an ad hoc committee go to each board with their appeal.
B. Dennis Smith said his earlier request about Upper Hadlock Pond seemed to have run into stumbling blocks. He said he is working on another issue regarding Long Pond. He has put together for Selectmen in both Mount Desert and Southwest Harbor a joint resolution which he handed to Board members. He is part of a statewide group working with the Governor on policies to make the State’s fisheries much more than they are now. The idea he was presenting came from Fish and Wildlife Research. He explained the limit being requested. He wanted the Selectmen to endorse the resolution or at least bring it up at the next meeting. The Commissioner would still have to hold a public hearing. If an individual tried to petition for it, the process would be long and involved.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to endorse the resolution.
Acting Town Manager Brushwein suggested putting the item on the agenda for the next Selectmen’s meeting before supporting the resolve in case people want to comment on it.
Selectman Smallidge withdrew his motion. Chairman Savage agreed the item should be posted as part of the agenda for the next meeting and put on the Town’s web site.
VII. New Business
A.~~~~~~Respond to request from Department of Interior to place water depth monitoring wells on Town owned property at Long Pond.
Acting Town Manager Brushwein said they were looking for a water depth and quality analysis. They are trying to get a handle on where wetlands are and where they will be in the future. The area across the road from Long Pond is a particular kind of wetland that does not exist in the Park. A discussion followed about what could happen if the tests found something negative. Chairman Savage suggested requesting more information. He agreed with Acting Town Manager Brushwein that it would be a good idea to ask Park Chief Biologist David Manski to attend the next meeting.
VIII. General Issues
Chairman Savage explained that Darcy Ingersoll, an operator of the Somes Sound Campground, explained that she wanted to reinstall blue signs at either end of Hall Quarry Road but the State told her she needed approval from the Selectmen. Mrs. Ingersoll said she had already been before the Planning Board.
MOTION: Selectman Smith moved to approve replacement of the signs, seconded by Selectman Coombs. The vote was unanimous in favor.
At Mrs. Ingersoll’s request, Selectmen signed the necessary form.
IX. Other Business
1. Acting Town Manager Brushwein reviewed three bids he had received for septic pumping for non-residents or those who don’t qualify for Homestead exemptions. The high bidder was Haslam Septic Service who did the job for the past three years. The low bidder was Action Septic Service in Trenton at $.20 per gallon. Based on last year’s volume, the savings would be about $1,800 to the Town.
MOTION: Selectman Coombs moved to accept Action Septic Service at $.20 per gallon, seconded by Selectman Smallidge. The vote was unanimous in favor.
2. Public Works Director Smith said MacQuinn was supposed to be finished with the Route 3 work on June 14 but, under directions from the DOT, is doing permanent pavement repairs now before they shut down. The DOT is paying for the curbing on Route 198. The curbing and work being done by Bangor Hydro was discussed
3. Acting Town Manager Brushwein said the benches donated by the Northeast Harbor VIS are in place. Chairman Savage asked him to make a note of the Board’s thanks.
X. Treasurer’s Warrants
Signed as presented.
XI Executive Session
MOTION: At 7:22 pm, Selectman Smith moved to go into Executive Session Title 1, MRSA Section 405, paragraph 6A consideration of employment, seconded by Selectman Smallidge. The vote was unanimous in favor.
MOTION: At 7:33 pm, Selectman Smallidge moved to come out of Executive Session, seconded by Selectman Coombs. The vote was unanimous in favor.
~
~A.~~~~~~Confirm appointment of Ryan Dunbar as Seasonal Refuse employee, effective June 14, 2004 at hourly rate of $11.00.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to confirm the above appointment, seconded by Selectman Coombs. The vote was unanimous in favor.
B.~~~~~~Confirm appointment of Michael Mansolilli as Seasonal Refuse employee, effective June 14, 2004 at hourly rate of $11.00.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to confirm the above appointment, seconded by Selectman Coombs. The vote was unanimous in favor.
C.~~~~~~Confirm appointment of Jenifer Donovan as part-time refuse employee, effective June 18, 2004 at hourly rate of $11.00.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to confirm the above appointment, seconded by Selectman Coombs. The vote was unanimous in favor.
At 7:35pm Selectman Smallidge moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Selectman Coombs. The vote was unanimous in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Smith
Secretary
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