Board of Selectmen Meeting, January 3, 2005
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TOWN OF MOUNT DESERT, MAINE
Monday, January 03, 2005
A meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held this date in the Meeting Room at the Town Office, Northeast Harbor, Maine.
Those present included: Chairman Rick Savage, Selectmen Ernest Coombs, Patrick Smallidge, Jeff Smith; Town Manager Michael MacDonald; Public Works Director Tony Smith; Police Chief James Willis, Harbor Master Will Boddy, Finance Director Brent Hamor, Code Enforcement Officer Kimberly Keene, 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 December 20, 2004.
Selectman Smallidge noted that on page 2, line 9, Trying is capitalized. The line should be corrected with a period after much money. Trying should remain capitalized.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of December 20, 2004 as amended, seconded by Selectman Smith. The vote was unanimous in favor.
III. Appointments and Communications
A.~~~~~~Approve appointment of James R. Bright to County Services Committee.
MOTION: Selectman Smith moved to approve the above appointment, seconded by Selectman Smallidge. The vote was unanimous in favor.
Town Manager MacDonald said the Town has received the first piece of information, the audit, from the County.
B.~~~~~~Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection retirement notice for Seal Harbor II (Sand Filter)
Town Manager MacDonald said this was the sand filter that had a discharge problem. A pump station was put at that location. The above is a notice that the DEP is discontinuing the license for the sand filter.
C.~~~~~~Municipal Review Committee PERC Tipping fee schedule and Projected Cash Distribution.
Town Manager MacDonald said this update on the tipping fees would affect the EEMR and PERC disposal line items amounting to about a $28,000 increase over last year’s budget.
D.~~~~~~County Services Committee information request letter to County Treasurer, Ms. Sally Crowley.
Town Manager MacDonald said Ms. Crowley has indicated she is not the person handling this information and has forwarded the request to other people.
E.~~~~~~Warrant Committee request to reconsider 3rd party funding requests
Carmen Sanford and Donna Beals represented the Warrant Committee. Chairman Savage said he had a slight problem with the request because of the timing. The Selectmen were trying to be really firm about the deadline for requests.
Ms. Sanford said the Warrant Committee was not going to be able to entertain 3 of the requests because Selectmen had not put them on the warrant. That was not clear until the last Warrant Committee meeting. This year they wanted those 3 put back in the warrant so that they could be considered.
Ms. Beals said they were not asking for anything that came in after the deadline. She thought it would be considerate and only fair for Selectmen to state when the applications were sent out if their policy was to be that they would not entertain any new third party requests. She also wanted to know how some of the parties were given raises while new ones were not considered.
Chairman Savage said Selectmen voted to keep the funding the same as last year except for two parties. Selectman Smallidge said that the services being funded to the Seal Harbor Village Improvement Society would probably have had to be picked up by the Town. They split the difference in the request with the Mount Desert Nursing Association.
Ms. Sanford thought it should be the Town’s vote.
Chairman Savage said it is the Selectmen’s job, not the Warrant Committee’s job, to prepare the warrant. He thought they gave everything a fair discussion.
Discussion ensued about whether or not and to whom the Town sends out requests to third parties for requests. Town Manager MacDonald said applications are sent to those on the list from the previous year and to those new ones who request money.
Chairman Savage said it was very easy to plead for a legitimate cause and to appeal to the Town saying it would only add a penny to one’s taxes. Third party requests have mushroomed in the last few years. They used to be only from organizations in the Town. Asking for money has become a science. There is a limit to what the Town can do. He suggested letting townspeople give on their own to organizations.
Ms. Sanford that Hospice served 35 residents. She thought it was unbalanced for Selectmen to give to the Seal Harbor VIS when it would not even consider Hospice. Ms. Beals
Selectman Smith said the Board had already compromised when it made its recommendation.
Ms. Beals said she found it discouraging that the Town can give an extra $4,000 for greener grass in Seal Harbor but can’t give $500 to an organization that helps people who are dying.
Selectman Smallidge said an inordinate amount of time is spent on a small percent of the budget. Chairman Savage thanked Ms. Sanford and Ms. Beals for their efforts.
F.~~~~~~Olver Associates Weekly construction Summary for Seal Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade for December 17, 2004,
Public Works Director Smith said everything is under control. The pressure line on the Otter Creek side is completed but they will wait until spring to test it.
IV. Consent Agenda
None
V. Selectmen Reports
None
VI. Old Business
Chairman Savage asked about cardboard collection. Public Works Director Smith said one of the dumpsters in Seal Harbor has been modified for cardboard only. “Violators will be prosecuted” signs have been posted. Selectman Smith wondered if an ordinance would be necessary and suggested putting some teeth in the policy that the town will not pick up corrugated cardboard. He, Public Works Director Smith and Police Chief Willis discussed the idea of considering cardboard put in the wrong place as litter. Public Works Director Smith said that some businesses have made no effort to separate cardboard from their regular trash and that he would speak to the owners.
VII. New Business
A.~~~~~~Authorizing the issuance of the General Obligation Wastewater Bond and signing related documents
Town Manager MacDonald said this converts a temporary loan into a permanent one. Selectmen decided to sign the documents at the end of the meeting.
MOTION: Selectman Smith moved to authorize the above, seconded by Selectman Smallidge. The vote was unanimous in favor.
B.~~~~~~Set date and time for Budget Appropriation Public Hearing.
Town Manager MacDonald suggested Monday, January 10, 2005 at 6:46pm for the above. He said revised budget numbers would be available at that time.
C.~~~~~~January second regular meeting (1-18-05) conflicts with Warrant Committee final meeting, re-schedule date or time?
Chairman Savage suggested combining the Jan. 18 meeting with the Jan. 10 meeting. He did not think Selectmen should meet about the budget after the Warrant Committee’s final meeting. The rest of the Board agreed.
Town Manager MacDonald said he had the print bids for the Town Report and Warrant. The apparent low bidder was Bangor Letter Shop.
MOTION: Selectman Coombs moved to award the bid for printing the Town Report and Warrant to Bangor Letter Shop for $3,581.90, seconded by Selectman Smith. The vote was unanimous in favor.
VIII. General Issues
A.~~~~~~State of financial affairs presentation by Finance Director Hamor.
Finance Director Hamor said this is the first time since 1999 that reserve accounts have gone below $2 million. The Town has taken out double what it put into the account.
Code Enforcement Officer Keene reviewed a recent Planning Board activity.
Harbor Master Boddy reported he had received about 50% more requests for reservations than he had at this time last year but that last year was lower than usual.
Police Chief Willis said reviewed recent officer training. Responses to his letters to people who have had false alarms have been positive. He has found they want to work with him. He has told the alarm companies that they will have to monitor their own alarms and they will need to remove the monitors from the municipal building by spring. After discussion with Selectmen, he said he will contact the companies tomorrow informing them of a March 1 deadline.
Public Works Director Smith said he is one person short at a treatment plant and will advertise to fill the position.
B.~~~~~~Continue Budget discussion, Code Enforcement, Fire Department, Solid Waste, Marina/Harbors Reserve accounts.
0406 Code Enforcement: It was noted that $9,000 needed to be added to the budget for this department to in order to double the salary for assistant Bobbi William’s replacement. Part of her work had been as a volunteer.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to approve a $72,372 budget for this department, seconded by Selectman Smith. The vote was unanimous in favor.
0422 Fire Department: Town Manager MacDonald said he had spoken with Fire Chief Farley who had already purchased tickets for his vacation. He had given him a copy of the capital improvement plan. If the requested $150,000 a year for fire engine reserve were reduced to less than that, the plan could be put off by a year.
Selectman Smith did not object to the amount of money but he did object to the lack of communication between the Fire Chief and the Selectmen and the Warrant Committee. He wanted an explanation from the expert.
Chairman Savage agreed with the idea of putting the money in reserve but wanted convincing about how it was going to be spent.
Selectman Coombs said he thought the results of the plan would probably be seen 10 or 15 years down the road as helpful financially.
Responding to Chairman Savage, Town Manager MacDonald said if $150,000 were added to the reserves, they would total about $424,000 or about $60,000 away from purchasing the truck. The purchase would probably be in 2006.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to approve the requested $337,580 budget for the Fire Department, seconded by Selectman Coombs. The vote was unanimous in favor.
0433 Solid Waste: Town Manager MacDonald and Public Works Director Smith explained the increase in the EMR and PERC disposal rates. Public Works Director Smith said it is necessary to budget for a higher amount because the MRC credit, which lowers the tipping rate, has to go into the general, not back into the solid waste, account. He noted the tonnage collected has increased this year.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to approve a $398,862 solid waste budget, seconded by Selectman Smith. The vote was unanimous in favor.
0461 NEH Marina: Town Manager MacDonald said appropriation to the Capital Improvement Reserve Account was set at $18,000. The account has a balance some purchases will be coming out of that. Harbor Master Boddy said probably $100,000 would need to be spent before reimbursement through state grants. He did not have all estimates yet.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to approve a $309,995 budget for the NEH Marina, seconded by Selectman Smith. The vote was unanimous in favor.
Responding to Chairman Savage, Town Manager MacDonald said Assessor Brushwein had just emailed to him some Land Use Zoning Ordinance Planning Board changes voted on by the Planning Board for addition to the Warrant. Selectmen do not need to vote on them.
Town Manager MacDonald said there would be some tweaking in the budget before the final meeting next week but they would have 0 effects on the bottom line.
Harbor Master Boddy said he had checked the electricity expenses for his department Almost $29,000 has been spent this year with only 11 payments and he expected that amount to go up next year. He thought the $27,000 line item should be increased from $27,000 to $32,000.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to approve an amendment to 0461 NEH Marina to a total budget of $314,995, seconded by Selectman Smith. The vote was unanimous in favor.
IX. Other Business none
None
X. Treasurer’s Warrants
Approve Treasurer’s Warrant #126 for $125,625.05
Signed Warrant #126 for $125,625.05, Warrant #128 for $248,350.16, and Warrant #129 for $16,203.17 as presented.
XI Executive Session
Executive Session – 1 MRS-A Ch.13 §405.6.A Personnel
MOTION: At 7:52 pm, Selectman Smallidge moved to go into executive session pursuant to MRS-A Ch.13 §405.6.A Personnel, seconded by Selectman Smith. The vote was unanimous in favor.
At 8:05 pm, Sally Merchant left the Executive Session.
MOTION: At 8:58 pm Selectman Smith moved to return to regular session seconded by Selectman Coombs. The vote was unanimous in favor.
No action was taken.
Adjournment. ~
MOTION: At 8:58 pm, Selectman Smith moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Selectman Coombs. The vote was unanimous in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Smith
Secretary
The next regularly scheduled meeting is January 10, 2005 at 6:30 P.M. in the Town Office Meeting Room, Northeast Harbor.
| 
