Town of Otisfield
Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes
March 16, 2011
1. CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM. Hal Ferguson, Chairman, Rick Micklon & Lenny Adler present.
2. FLAG SALUTE
*Audience and Board members saluted the flag.
3. SECRETARY’S REPORT:
A. Meeting minutes from March 2, 2011. *Motion to accept minutes. HF/LA– Unanimous. ~
4. SPECIAL EVENTS
A. None.
5. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A. Planning Board: Tanya Taft submitted a memo on behalf of the PB Re: Shoreland Zoning Ordinance: Page 29, section 15, Paragraph P,3; Removing the verbiage from ordinance that reads “or ten thousand (10,000) square feet, whichever is greater” CEO sent proposed ordinance change to Michael Morse, Maine Department of Environmental Protection for review where it was given their approval. Now the PB would like to have it go before the towns people prior to town meeting. LA would like to see this go before the Ordinance Policy Review Committee (OPRC) for review. TT will pass it on to them.
6. DEPARTMENT HEADS:
A. ~Frank Blauvelt – Otisfield’s EMA Director –
1) Frank has been talking to Scott Parker, director of the Oxford County Emergency Management Agency. There are one thousand (1,000) cases of water being donated to the towns in Oxford County. It’s being divided up to the town’s Rescue, FD, Police (if applicable) and Town Office. Frank will be going to pick up the water for Otisfield this week. It breaks down to (12) cases per department. It will be kept by the FD and handed out as they deem necessary.
2) Emergency Telephone system: The County is putting on a review training at the Paris FD on March 22nd from 1-4 PM. This is information provided regarding a “city-wide warning system”. The telephone system is connected to the county and will allow towns, schools, and county to place phone calls to the town residents so they are informed in a faster fashion, in the event of an emergency. For example: if they need to evacuate, or stay inside they will be notified ASAP. The cost of the system is being picked up by the county and there is a fee of 10 cents per call. BOS and town staff are invited to attend.
3) Otisfield Community School: The school had an “active shooter drill” this week, provided by Scott Parker director of the Oxford County Emergency Management Agency,in conjunction w/ the Sherrifs Dept. They ran the staff through the thought process of what they should do if this incident should occur. This was specific to the incident and helped the teachers know how to communicate and how to react. FB said it went very well.
B. Tom Moore, SAD 17 Board of Directors: Monday, March 14th, Superintendent Colpitts met and discussed the MSAD # 17 transportation budget. Currently, elementary students are bused together to and from their schools, and middle and high school students are bused separately to theirs. The District’s Board of Directors gave school officials the go-ahead Feb. 7 to look into having students of all ages ride together to help fill an estimated $1.2 million to $2 million budget gap in the fiscal year that begins July 1. The move would save an estimated $393,000.00. Governor Paul LePage said he was going to more fully fund the Dept. of Education, but we are still in the hole. Tom will keep the BOS informed of any new developments.
7. QUESTIONS/COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC:
A. None.
8. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ITEMS:
A. Letter from State Planning Office concerning Comp. Plan was submitted into public record. The 22nd of next month is when the Public Forum will be held. The Comprehensive Plan will be reviewed by the SPO in 2 phases. They have 35 business days to complete the first phase. Then they will move on to phase two.
B. Wireless network for committees update. There is a total one-time fee of $175.00 for the system hardware/software. David Hyer made a secure set up, that is password protected and put up a firewall so that financial or personal records are not compromised. The password for the wireless network will be given to board and committee member Chairs.
C. Tax maps /assessing discussion. MIM said the tax maps are being decreased in size and copied on to 11 x 14 pages and that seems to be working fine. The office has sold a few copies already. Price discussed was $2.00 first copy made and $1.00 for each additional copy
D. Credit cards acceptance discussion. Rick and MIM are researching “Munici-pay” and “Maine Pay-Port” as a new way to pay for taxes, registrations, etc using a credit card. A fee will be assessed to the taxpayer, but can be accounted for within the bill. MIM’s concern is that it will not work correctly w/ Trio, but is currently looking into that. The municipality will not pay anything for this service. The tax payer will be charged a flat fee of 2.5% for this service. The office staff intends to go to the town of Raymond to see how it works.
E. Automated External Defibrillator (AED): BOS discussed getting one for the Town Office and having all town employees trained on this. MIM said Beth Damon, took it upon herself to find out if there is a grant out there to purchase an AED for the town. An AED, battery, adult pad, a child pad and a 5 year battery pack was looked into and Beth found a price of $698.00. The manufacturer suggested you have it in a locked cabinet or case. (This price does not include the case) *Motion to approve up to $1,000.00 to be taken from the contingency fund to purchase an AED if needed once the grant money is received. HF/LA – Unanimous.
F. Allen Hill Animal shelter: MIM is talking with Robert Larrabee, ACO, regarding the possible closing of the shelter. Robert will keep MIM informed of the update as it occurs.
9. ADJUSTMENTS TO AGENDA:
A. None.
10. UNFINISHED /SCHEDULED BUSINESS:
A. Redesign of Town Office: Annex update: (Plans were submitted into public record) BOS hired architect David Hart, Fish Street Designs, out of Fryeburg, and he has provided a preliminary design for the town. RM: An update with last meeting edits were reviewed. Dave does not think it’s a good use of funds to rebuild the roof, so he recommended two smaller roofs for the exterior door exits. That will not eliminate snow from walk ways, but the town already has a contract for snow removal so this will not be an issue. The accessible wheelchair lift discussed at last meeting has multi directional doors, and they design the lift to the floor plan that you have. Access to the basement area will be available, but they will be changed to fit floor plans. The occupancy for the new annex area is 7 sq. ft. per
chair. An occupancy rate will be given by the Fire Marshall once the seating plan has been submitted. A hard surface is necessary to be at the bottom of all exterior walkways and will need to be put in. The walk way itself has to be a hard surface. If the BOS have no changes, Dave will submit it to the Fire Marshall’s office and then BOS would get another set of plans for a last time review. All BOS agree to get the plans and continue on. Once that is done it will be placed out to bid to find out what this project will cost.
B. Town auditor: BOS would like this on the BOS calendar to review in June. It will start in July as the fiscal year. TT will add to calendar.
C. Town projects: LA is suggesting we complete one project at a time. He feels the BOS is starting a lot of projects and this could become very expensive for the tax payers. The potential town garage is a concern as well as the FD roof that will need to be replaced, the Community Hall and now the Town Office. These are expensive projects. HF: The town garage will need to be bonded and other items depending on price may need to be as well. RM feels the Community Hall and Town Office projects are within the budget and can most likely be finished using taxes already appropriated.
11. SELECTMEN’S ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED & VOTED ON:
A. *Motion to sign Warrant # 17 to pay the town bills. HF/RM – Unanimous.
B. Transfer Station: HF: Ice has been building up on the roof and creating damage. Suggests extending the roof out 6 feet to get it far enough away from the building where hopefully it will get the snow and ice away from the roof over the compactor. Electrician is needed. All BOS agree to have Flanders look at it. MIM will call Flanders and RM will look at the roof. All agree this is not an emergency as long as it is looked at before next winter. Materials can be purchased from Record Lumber through town office.
C. CEO: An email was sent from Richard to the BOS regarding a lap top. RM feels it is more practical for the CEO to have a smaller “flip screen pad” rather than a lap top, because it would be more practical to bring in the field. CEO and RM are looking into the price before making any final decisions.
12. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD:
A. Old copying machine: MIM will ask Danny Peaco to have this removed.
B. Emergency Situation: RM reminded MIM that the BOS needed to have an official phone list in the event of an emergency w/ everyone’s cell phone numbers on it distributed to each BOS member, office staff, and FD officers. MIM will get a list together asap.
C. Motion detector camera’s: RM met W/ Richard Bean, Otisfield Road Commissioner and someone unplugged the town trucks as a prank. It has happened on two separate occasions and the need for a motion detector camera is needed at the transfer station and sheds. All BOS agree that this is a good idea. RM will research how much they are. All agreed to order one if under $200.
D. Check signing procedure: Currently the town needs to vote annually to allow only one Selectman the ability to sign checks for paying required State payments. There may be a State law passed eventually where this will not be needed to vote on annually.
*Motion to approve. LA/HF – Unanimous.
E. High Speed Internet: LA: Was talking to Peter Arnsten and Peter would like to get high speed internet at his home. He is within the distance to get it, but Fairpoint told him there is no room on the circuit. LA would like to call and find out what can be done to change this. BOS Agree. LA will report back at next meeting.
F. Heniger Park Lease Extension; LA would like the standard verbiage about leasing added “The Town of Otisfield makes no representation that the lease will be extended beyond the expiration date”. Or a disclosure statement stating this will be the last time. All agree.
G Finance Committee: HF: the Finance Committee will be meeting this month and would like some contact information for the Salvation Army as they continue to assist the Fire Department. They are always there to help the FD in the time of need. All BOS agree, this is a great organization.
H. Saturday Pond: RM: No more information from Saturday Pond associations at this time re: horse power limits. The state recommended that the town and the residents come together to discuss the issues. RM believes that it’s an enforcement issue and that Inland fish & Wildlife will need to have a stronger presence this summer.
I. Town meeting: The town meeting will be held at the Community Hall this year so that the mold mitigation can be addressed at the school. RM will be taking care of the speakerphone arrangements. HF will see if the Spurr’s Corner Church or the Fire Department Association will provide breakfast refreshments.
13. Upcoming Dates:
A. Board of Selectmen Meeting, April 6, 2011 @ 7:00 PM
14. ADJOURNMENT:
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM. HF/RM – Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Tanya Taft, Secretary
Approved by:
Hal Ferguson, Chairman
Rick Micklon
Lenny Adler
Approved on: April 6, 2011
| 
