Board of Selectmen Meeting, December 1, 2003
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TOWN OF MOUNT DESERT, MAINE
Monday, December 1, 2003
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, Emily Damon Pascal, Patrick Smallidge, Jerry Suminsby; Town Manager Michael MacDonald; Public Works Director Tony Smith; Police Chief James Willis, Assessor John Brushwein, Code Enforcement Officer Brent Hamor, Fire Chief Chris Farley, Wastewater Cost Study Committee members Kathy Branch, Jim Bright, Jim Robinson, George Peckham 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 November 17, 2003.
Public Works Director Smith pointed to page 6, line 44 which should read that he said $10,000 is in the budget for the ramp, not for the road. On page 5, line 10 he said the roadway would be a maintenance nightmare not the ramp. Chairman Savage asked if the ramp is differentiated from the road. The response was yes. The road was built last year.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 17, 2003, as corrected, seconded by Selectman Suminsby. The vote was unanimous in favor.
III. Appointments and Communications
A. Michael Phillips offers a house located at 11 Sea Street for fire training exercises.
Town Manager MacDonald said at his request Mr. Phillips put his offer in writing and that Chief Farley indicated it would useful for town purposes but not this year. It is the house one up from the parking lot. Assessor Brushwein clarified that it is the house on the corner, the former Bobby Dodge house, not the Grey Cow ice cream stand.
B. Planning Board minutes of November 10, 2003.
These are for the record.
IV. Consent Agenda
None
V. Selectmen Reports
Chairman Savage noted the frequency of meetings in December because of budgetary matters. There will be one next week after the Special Town meeting scheduled for December 8 at 6:00 p.m. and then the regular meeting scheduled for December 15.
VI. Old Business
A. Reiterate holiday schedule, Town Office closed 12-25, 12-26, and 1-1-04, open 1-2-04.
This item was on the agenda for informational purposes.
VII. New Business
A. Provide direction to Town Manager on future activities concerning Rural Wastewater Support Program.
Selectman Suminsby asked if the Town had a written response yet from the Town Council regarding the issue of consistency with the Town Comprehensive Plan. Town Manager MacDonald said no.
Wastewater Committee member George Peckham said it is important to him to be clear about his vote against the committee’s recommendation. The April 21, 2003 Board of Selectmen minutes say they voted to form a committee to develop a system for paying for sewer costs. In his opinion, the proposal isn’t a fee and isn’t a source of funding for the sewer system. It is not fair. It isn’t equitable. It discriminates and raises taxes. It means that the sewer is still going to be funded by those people on septic systems. It is a political appeasement. Also their lawyer referred to a lawsuit in which a group of citizens and business people is suing the City of Portland for a scheme in which it wanted raise eighty-some cents per thousand dollars of assessed value on resident
properties to pay back all resident property owners whose property was assessed for no more than $400,000. The lawyer feels the City is in violation of Article 9 Section 8 in the Maine Constitution which says all taxes upon real and personal estate assessed by the authority of this State shall be apportioned and assessed equally according to the just standards thereof. In my opinion, Mr. Peckham said, we are in the same boat as Portland. We are raising taxes and turning around and giving money to a select group of people. People on septic systems have been discriminated against for the last 30 years. This proposal is doing it worse than ever. The way the State is structured, the only way that we are going to be successful here is to establish a fee or go to the legislature.
Jim Bright said basically the proposal is to keep the funding the way it is and add one more line item. One important part of the Portland bill is that it was written as a rebate. Some people are getting a rebate on taxes and other people aren’t. Our plan is based on the upkeep of the septic system spread out over 15 years. It is not a rebate. It is based on the replacement cost of the most expensive system. It is not based on valuation. We were steered away from that by our lawyer, he said.
Jim Robinson said their lawyer advised them that there isn’t anything you can do that even looks like a refund with the State constitution the way it is. The program helps year-round people who are paying for septic systems. It is recognition of the fact that their septic systems are part of our wastewater disposal system. The Town has a commitment to be sure they’re being taken care of properly.
Mr. Peckham cautioned that because the funding is going to be a budget item, it could be voted out at anytime.
Gerard Haradan thought the committee missed the point. They were appointed to come up with an alternative funding for the operation of the sewer system. They’ve left it solidly in place, probably more than ever. He didn’t think peace and tranquility would follow with this system.
Selectman Suminsby said he gets hung up on the issue of consistency with the Comprehensive Plan which speaks to the high level of services the Town of Mount Desert enjoys without user fees. Services offered by the town should be periodically reviewed. Nothing here says the solution is to add more services to the tax base. It should go to the voters couched in a Comprehensive Plan change that says all services will be provided to all residents equitabably. He asked if the Board tried to reconcile with it or was not aware of it. He felt this is contrary to the rules we play by, the game plan. Don’t just ignore it, he said.
Chairman Savage responded to Public Works Director Smith’s question about whether or not taxes would go up if we had a true user fee. He thought it would because the total infrastructure for the existing sewers is already built into the total tax basis. He said he did not realize the conversation would go in this direction tonight because the Board had charged the sewer committee to make a recommendation to it. He understood there were some dissenting people on the committee; however the report was a majority report. He was very persuaded by it because the committee was made up of a broad spectrum of individuals in the town. The end result of a lot of work was something unexpected, a compromise, a coming together of minds of a group of people who represented the Town. He would accept it
because it’s the will of the people. Speaking to opponents, he said he believed they have the ultimate true position in opposition but he was not sure the voters will accept that.
Selectman Suminsby thought it was unfortunate for the committee to go one extra step with the political factor. He said the Board asked for a study of fees. They knew it was not politically the most popular thing. This, to him, got on a train wreck when the group decided to ask what the voters are going to go for. He said, we are still back to the issue that the Selectmen have the authority and some say duty to impose a sewer use fee. He thought what the Board was looking for was some support regarding which of the conventional systems were equitable, so that it had some ammunition to take to the voters.
Selectman Smallidge agreed that services offered by the Town should be periodically reviewed to determine which should be dropped and which should be paid by users in whole or in part. This perfectly describes this committee. He said maybe it’s the first service that we’re looking at like this but you have to start somewhere. He said it’s the Board’s duty as Selectmen to put this proposal out to the annual Town Meeting in March.
Jim Bright said the voters did review the fee system last year. If you had been at any of our meetings you would have seen a group as diverse, that had views that were the complete opposite of each other, do a thorough investigation of four plans from meters, valuation, bedrooms to leaving it the way it is, to fixtures. Nothing worked until this sort of bubbled to the surface. How are we going to help septic users? How best could we help them out to try to make it somewhat equitable? The plan is a giant step forward.
Mr. Peckham said the committee was handcuffed from day one by the State which says the Town is limited in how it can fund Town services, by our knowledge that we had a public that had turned down two or three previous attempts, and by you folks, in the sense that we did not know whether you would exercise your prerogative and just go with it per se or whether you would be going to the public. He did not think the Comprehensive Plan was ever thought of in their deliberations.
Chairman Savage said this committee did a task that the Board of Selectmen thought they could handle and they definitely couldn’t. So it assigned the Committee to do it. He was amazed at the results, the recommendation of a super majority. It would be remiss not to take the committee’s advice. If you want to, call it politics, he said but he had to accept the committee’s report. His personal recommendation would be that the Board take this to the Town and ask them to adapt it in the form of an ordinance.
Selectman Suminsby asked if the Board would consider deferring at least until it got an opinion about the Comprehensive Plan.
Chairman Savage said Selectman Suminsby was putting too much emphasis on the Comprehensive plan which is a philosophy that changes frequently. It’s not the town charter. We have to change the plan occasionally.
Selectman Suminsby said maybe we need to change that plan before we go and do something that’s contrary. This is what we just went through with the LUZO changes. This is exactly what the State told us to do. The Comprehensive Plan is something that gets approved by voters. You use it to guide the direction of your policy. Don’t make policy and then turn around and make a plan to match it.
Mr. Bright said last year the Town voted down the third review of the funding of the sewer system. Selectman Suminsby clarified that they voted on a sewer ordinance not a sewer user fee.
Chairman Savage called an end to the discussions because, he said, they were almost starting to go around again in the same direction.
Selectmen directed Town Manager MacDonald to prepare an ordinance for their review.
B. Respond to Michael Phillips fire training exercises offer.
Fire Chief Farley said he had walked around the house and talked to Mr. Phillips
Chairman Savage asked if taking on this task would open the Town to any possible liability. Fire Chief Farley thought the plus factors would outweigh the risk factors. Probably because of the proximity of other buildings it would not be burned down. Mr. Phillips originally wanted it done this year but now he wants to do it in the spring. All he wants us to do is use the building for training possibilities. Ben Moore will be there that day.
Town Manager MacDonald suggested that Fire Chief Farley and he explore this further with Mr. Phillips and get a letter of understanding addressing some of the liability and clean up concerns. Code Enforcement Officer Hamor noted that Mr. Phillips has a proposal before the Planning Board to put a building back there. Fire Chief Farley said paper work will have to be done first.
Mr. Robinson said the house is surrounded by a bunch of very old trees. He was concerned about them as well as the utilities running along there. Fire Chief Hamor said he had noted the trees when he walked around the building and had taken them into account.
Town Manager MacDonald will get a letter of understanding with more details.
C. Authorize payment of $275 for Jean Bonville retirement gift and $104.63 for appreciation plaque. ~Payment to be made from Selectman's contingency account #0403-2903.
MOTION: Selectman Suminsby moved to authorize the above payment, seconded by Selectman Smallidge. The vote was unanimous in favor.
VIII. General Issues
A. Consider Annual Town Meeting Warrant Article(s) -
1. Sewer Ordinance.
Chairman Savage said this is not what had been discussed previously in the meeting. But it is similar to what was presented last year.
Town Manager MacDonald said Article 10 has been removed from the ordinance. It had indicated that the voters would approve a fee structure. There is now no reference to fees, other than connection fees.
Kathy Branch asked who has the authority to determine hook up fees and if the ordinance is in line with the Comprehensive Plan.
Town Manager MacDonald said the Selectman would eventually have the responsibility of setting what the unit price would be for a connection fee.
Selectman Suminsby believed the ordinance is in line with the Comprehensive Plan.
Selectman Damon Pascal moved to recommend that Selectmen adapt the Sewer Ordinance and put it on the Warrant for the Town Meeting, seconded by Selectman Smallidge. The vote was unanimous in favor.
2. 5-year lease with Great Harbor Museum
Town Manager MacDonald said Sydney Roberts Rockefeller had asked what she could do to get the lease extended. She would like to continue with the Museum but it makes operation difficult not knowing if they actually would have the building.
Chairman Savage gave the reasons for the one-year lease. The Town had requests from at least two parties who had other interests in the building. The Board determined that we would send this back to the Planning Board asking for a recommendation about what we were going to do with this building.
Selectman Suminsby reported that the Ordinance Review Committee said it’s part of the long term planning process. All of the assets are being reviewed. Until that goes through that process, which is several years out, there would be no recommendation to liquidate any town assets. The five year issue has come before the Board. His committee took no formal vote because it didn’t have enough members present at any one time, due to health reasons.
Chairman Savage said that’s not going to cut it. The Board asked for a recommendation for this Town Meeting. If the Board adopts this new lease without their recommendation, it’ going against what it asked them to do.
Selectman Suminsby asked if the vote could be done with a phone consensus.
Chairman Savage wanted a letter that either the Board has a recommendation or that it can’t come to a consensus. He said it’s not fair to us to put this on the Warrant as it exists. We already postponed two other parties last year because we wanted a report.
Selectman Suminsby said you have the consensus of the Ordinance Review Committee as it meets.
Chairman Savage said for the Board to prepare a proper warrant, it has to have a written report on that particular building.
Selectman Suminsby said the Selectmen were given a review of all Town properties. A review of one specific property is not the same thing.
Selectman Smallidge said he would like to have some documentation before we jump. He did not wish to leave Ms. Roberts hanging for another year. It is very hard to run a Museum that’s based on donations if you don’t know you’re going to be there from year to year. Information on what to do with the building was requested. He did not believe it has ever come back.
Town Manager MacDonald did not recall whether or not there has been a response from the Planning Board. Chairman Savage recalled that there hasn’t. Ms. Roberts Rockefeller thought we should all do a little research and find out where it all went.
Chairman Savage said it is not imperative for this to get acted on tonight. A report by the Selectmen’s December 15 meeting would be fine.
3. 10 year lease with Cranberry Island
Town Manager MacDonald said basically this is a 10 year lease on the 123 parking places commonly known as the Cranberry Island lot. It codifies what the Town is doing now and eliminates the necessity of coming to this Board every year to decide upon an appropriate parking fee. One change in the agreement allows the Town of Cranberry Island to charge up to 25% more than this Town is receiving. It is for paperwork overhead.
MOTION: Selectman Damon Pascal moved to recommend that the Board adopt the 10 year lease with Cranberry Island and to put it on the Warrant, seconded by Selectman Smallidge. The vote was unanimous in favor.
Steve Smith brought up the issue of a requested ramp in Otter Cove. He said the road needs another culvert, that we should finish the bottom of it, and that we should go along with what the Park lease says and either use gravel or dirt or loose stone and finish it off down there. In the landing area where the ramp is, he said we should just go along and get the archeological survey needed. Part of the $10,000, we have set aside to finish this. Then put the rest in gravel.
Public Works Director Smith said $2,000 is estimated for the archeological survey. There will be some additional costs for the engineer. He did not have a firm budget on it.
Chairman Savage asked what it would take to keep the gravel ramp usable.
Mr. Smith did not think it would have to be done every year or to, that it was just a matter of preparing it. It is way over due. He recalled the history of its discontinuance in 1936 at the request of John D. Rockefeller and the village’s decision 20 years ago that it wanted it back. Public Works Director Smith said we need the park’s definition of loose stone.
Mr. Smith said it’s just grass and mud there now.
Public Works Director Smith said before we spend any of the $10,000, maybe we should get an estimate of what it would cost for construction. If we could at least get a permit for this year, we could carry over the balance to next year
Chairman Savage wondered if the money could be used for the road if the Town gives up the ramp and Mr. Smith did not see why we would do that.
Selectman Damon Pascal did not understand why we couldn’t just go ahead. She thought we should.
Chairman Savage explained that the Board decided not to go ahead because of a letter about the impact and environmental costs.
Town Manager MacDonald said at the last meeting the Board took a vote not to proceed any further with the ramp. If it wants to proceed, it would have to overturn that vote.
Selectman Suminsby said he would like to inspect the area.
Mr. Bright said this started as a $3000 project. He thought Jeff Smith said it very well at the last meeting, that it’s suitable for kayaking only. It’s just a waste of taxpayers’ money.
MOTION: Selectman Smallidge moved to recommend that Public Works Director Smith look into the permitting costs and give a recommendation, seconded by Selectman Damon Pascal. The vote was unanimous in favor.
Public Works Director Smith said it would also be necessary to convince the DEP of the need for the ramp in Otter Creek because there is one in Northeast Harbor 5 or 6 miles away.
4. Land Use and Zoning Ordinance (LUZO) and Sub-Division Ordinance amendments.
MOTION: Selectman Damon Pascal moved to recommend adoption of the ordinance and amendments and that the Board put them on the Warrant, seconded by Selectman Smallidge. The vote was unanimous in favor.
IX. Other Business
A. Continuing budget deliberations.
Police Chief Willis referred to Line item 2200, saying he is requesting a substantial increase for uniforms and equipment, primarily for bullet proof vests which have a life expectancy of three to five years, gun belts, holsters, handcuff cases, while looking at hiring two new officers and providing gear for them. Line item 2904 is up because the Town has to adhere to a minimum mandatory training requirement that includes 40 hours of training every two years. In line item 2905, funding would be for sending three officers for Academy Training next year. None of seventeen applicants for the vacant officer positions are academy graduates. He also included funding for polo shirts for the dispatchers so they would look more professional.
Fire Chief Farley noted $25,000 is in the budget for repairs on the Seal Harbor firehouse.
Selectman Damon Pascal asked about raises for Selectmen. Chairman Savage suggested she come up with a proposal, calculating her hours and figuring possibly a minimum wage.
Chairman Savage asked Board members to be prepared to discuss the budget at the December 8 meeting. He would like to have it pretty well under control by the first week in January.
Town Manager MacDonald thought it might be necessary to eliminate some programs. Even if the bonds pass at the Town Meeting, the Town will still have to come up with another $600,000.
X. Treasurer’s Warrants
Signed as presented.
XI Executive Session
None requested
At 8:15, Selectman Smallidge moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Selectman Suminsby. The vote was unanimous in favor
Respectfully submitted,
Emily Damon Pascal
Secretary
| 
