Town of Otisfield
Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes
August 7, 2013
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. ACTION ON MINUTES:
A. Meeting minutes from July 17, 2013. *Motion to accept minutes. HF /RM – Unanimous. LA abstained.
B. Henniger Park Reassessment Committee minutes from July 18, 2013. *Motion to accept minutes as amended. RM/HF – Unanimous.
4. SPECIAL EVENTS
A. “No Parking” signs placed at the intersection of Shore and Silvaqua Road. Discussion pertaining to a site walk by HF and RM resulted in the scheduling of a site walk that was held tonight @ 5:30 PM and ended at 6:30 PM. This site visit included all BOS, Fire Chief, Assistant Chief, Town of Otisfield tank truck and interested parties. *Motion that we prohibit parking on the traveled way within 100 feet of the traveled intersection. LA/RM. Discussion: As long as the vehicles don’t obstruct the intersection, then we don’t have a problem. LA suggests “No parking” in all 3 directions within 100 feet of the intersection. This would include all 6 sides of the traveled way. RM: Are you proposing “no parking” from center of road to
100 feet uphill? LA: Yes, the reason is, if there is a car parked there, it makes it tight. We don’t know what direction we need to turn and that’s not the biggest truck going through there. The problem to me looks like directly down the hill. RM: then why are we going 100 feet? LA: It’s a limited width road, if you are taking a left hand turn you need to pull to the right and left hand turn pull to the left. If there is an actual alarm no one is going through that spot in 1st gear. RM: Concerned about the 100 foot distance. Where we didn’t discuss it down there, it’s hard to say without measuring. HF: Footage can be modified. LA: I can live with 50 feet going up the hill. Truck is approx. 35 feet. Oxford’s ladder truck is even longer. Mike Hooker, Fire Chief: Would recommend 50 feet minimum. Typically that’s as tight as we want to get it. Both sides of the road recommended because you don’t know if you are going right or
left. David Hyer: Define for me, travel way and how it relates to this road. LA: My def. is where the heavy foliage stops. If you have consistent grass, that’s not the traveled way. HF: Very close to where the post used to be. David Hyer: So about 3 feet up hill from where the posts were? HF: I believe that to be correct. Gary Jackson: There has been parking there for 40 years and it wasn’t the travel way. LA: We have not been receiving complaints for 40 years. Our understanding has changed some. We are preparing for this one because of the terrain and width of the road. HF: Not to say others won’t be brought before us, but the town has an obligation to fix this, because of a complaint that came before BOS. Steve Jackson: Asks Fire Chief; are you mostly concerned w/ going down the hill on either side, or are you as concerned on both sides? Fire chief: I am concerned w/ both. It’s a 3 way intersection so it’s coming down in any direction. I have to
consider the intersection from all sides. Steve Jackson: Do you consider the distances? Fire Chief: I’m not a surveyor so I don’t know where the middle of the road is. Any vehicle within that intersection can prohibit the truck from getting through there. LA: If someone hears the sirens and pulls to the right and stops and there’s a vehicle there, we have a problem. You can’t know what is going to happen. Herb Olsen: When you come down over the hill and you have people standing there, you have time to think, but when its the point of where you park being more important than life, it’s time to take another look. The truck is 35 feet. I don’t think 50 feet is too far. I think it’s a good distance. The Fire Dept. is not going to come over the hill as slow as I was driving that tanker tonight. We don’t have that kind of time and if we have a structure fire, we are going to have Casco, Oxford, Poland, Norway, Harrison, Naples
and Raymond. Otisfield has a short tanker. The new ones are bigger and if we need a ladder truck down there, that’s not a lot of distance. I don’t want to be driving down there and have to push someone’s car out of the way. We have to respond quickly. Gary Jackson: Now you’re saying I’m compromising someone’s life. You need to clean it up, I’m getting offended. So the car we purposely parked today was ok? LA: If it’s behind the post, yes. HF: We have beat this to death, but we are trying to get it from all angles. Phil Corneliuson: I think the BOS has looked at this very thoroughly, if the cars are off the traveled way does that mean the snow will be left on the traveled way? LA: you will most likely need to talk to Road Commissioner, Richard Bean about that. We are all responsible for our own driveways. Richard is pretty accommodating and will push it back as far as he can. HF: It is a compromise, assuming vote passes, the ability to
park off- road is off- road, but still on Town property, so the Town is not requiring you to put your own driveway in. RM: For the record, as a caveat, the neighbors to the right and left have already done this. Richard Bean originally said it is Town property, the neighbors to the right and left put the fill in on their own. I would still agree they can, but we shouldn’t do it for them. There is a compromise, like everyone in the neighborhood, he is supportive of the Jacksons cutting some of the Town trees and putting fill on Town property.
*Motion for no parking on either side of the intersection and 50 feet going up the hill and 100 feet in either direction at the bottom of the hill measured from the center of the intersection.
Discussion: RM: are we going to measure and put up signs accordingly. HF: Yes and we need to clarify that we all agree that as long as they are off the road they are fine. LA/HF – Unanimous. (Up hill Silvaqua, each other direction being Shore Road)
5. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A. Ordinance Policy Review Committee - Nancy Lundquist term expired June 2013, *Motion to renew Nancy Lundquist’s term another 3 years, to expire on June 2016. TT will update web site. RM/LA – Unanimous.
6. DEPARTMENT HEADS:
A. Fire Chief, Mike Hooker: Regarding Norway/Otisfield antenna systems for fire & highway depts. Norway will split the cost of the system and the building structures with Otisfield. The final cost is $14,000. The biggest benefit will be on the north side of town. Bolsters Mills should have great coverage. It would have been a dead spot with the Scribner Hill Cell Tower Site. Frost hill will have a repeater. FD repeater is going to be on that antenna. This will be placed under the Fire Dept. budget to get it up and running. It is about $8,000.00. A check will be cut tomorrow and it will be placed on next warrant. *Motion that we pay the bill. HF/RM – Unanimous.
B. Town Sexton, Dan Peaco – Del Maxfield has provided the layout of South Otisfield Cemetery. DP does not think that 3 foot wide paths are wide enough, if someone goes into dig, they are going to go over someone else’s grave. BOS advised DP to contact Del and adjust as necessary.
C. Health Officer, Lenny Adler: There will be State trainings coming up which Lenny intends to take.
7: QUESTIONS/COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.
A. Kristen Roy would like to discuss something with BOS under Executive Session. HF: Not allowable, very specific requirements need to be met. You’re welcome to speak as a member of the public. Kristen: I sent you a 2nd email requesting to be on agenda. I want to know what the status is with the Verizon tower. HF: I have no idea what you are talking about. Kristen: I sent you an email August 15th 2012. You had a BOS mtg and dept. heads came and Fire chief spoke about a contract with Verizon and I’m wondering how the Verizon tower played into the repeater system. Mike Hooker: I never talked to Verizon about anything other than my municipal cell phone. Kristen: Really? Because I have you & Hal recorded and you were talking about the cell tower. I just am really concerned.
This is the quote from you and Hal at the mtg, “the contract with US Cellular is good to go and once everything goes through we are all set to build the tower and all set to move forward w/ Verizon, I think they are on hold depending on what’s going on w/ all of these things” then you both discussed “how this will affect the abortion rates”. I couldn’t hear the rest of what you said. Mike Hooker: We have NEVER talked about an abortion! Nor did we talk about the Tower. Kristen: I transcribed the mtg and that was in it. Mike Hooker: I don’t know where your quotes are coming from, I have never talked to Verizon and an abortion was never discussed in any mtg! I only talked to US Cellular once. My cell phone is through Verizon and that’s a municipal contract, perhaps that’s what you overheard? RM: Kristen, do you not find it alarming calling the Chair of our Select Board and our Fire Chief a liar and saying they are talking about
abortions? Can you not see the harm in this? Kristen: I never elected to be put in an adversary position in the Town, my personal belief that you made decisions about the cell tower based on the Fire dept. I believe the Town elected not to inform everyone. RM: I want to address you talking about the BOS calling all of us liars and talking about abortions and now you are telling both Fire Chief and HF, they are liars. Honestly, is it helping your effort calling people liars? Kristen: I have been called a liar by you on several occasions, but now I’m starting to get really upset. HF: We had a meeting where everyone was ready to bury the hatchet. We did that. Kristen: I’m trying to understand what happened? LA: ask the people who made the decision. As an individual in this town, not a BOS I want to say, when people want to make a call and it doesn’t go through, they think of you. When our fire, rescue and highway staff get dropped calls they think of you.
Kristen: The Wireless Ordinance needs to be fixed. BOS: As we have told you many times in the past, the OPRC meets again in Sept. Kristen: When the town re-writes the ordinances, can I make suggestions. HF: Absolutely and we have told you that many times. If you have some input, put it in writing, attend the meetings.
8. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ITEMS (MIM Not in attendance) Anne Pastore is filling in.
A. Office Computers, David Hyer: New quote submitted into public record. Planning to purchase (3) new computers, this includes the tower and monitor. CEO’s computer will be rebuilt and relocated to the Town Garage. (2) Monitors will be purchased for the front office. This quote includes the office productivity suite software. That adds another $440.00, (2) total for $1990.00 with Microsoft Office software updates. BOS agree he should move forward.
B. GFI @ Town Garage: RM: Building Solutions has resolved the issues, and everything has been brought up to code.
C. Lazy L Kennel Contract: This service is provided only to Otisfield residents. BOS agree that they will pay the State licensing fee. If she worked for other towns, BOS wouldn’t feel obligated to pay Licensing fee.
D. Quit Claim Deeds: *Motion to sign Quit Claim Deed release from the Town of Otisfield to the Secord’s. RM/HF – Unanimous. *Motion to sign Quit Claim Deed release from the Town of Otisfield to Valerie J. Trust and Joseph Nelson. RM/HF – Unanimous. * Motion to sign Quit Claim Deed release from the Town of Otisfield to Valerie J. Trust and Joseph Nelson. RM/HF – Unanimous.
E. Community Hall Rental Agreement: This agreement has been updated and the fees have been incorporated. The verbiage “renters/users must make the appropriate arrangements to set up and take down tables & chairs ” and has been added to agreement. Letter G: “State Fire Marshall’s requirement” has also been added. All BOS agree with updated agreement.
F. 3R’s – Ruth’s Reusable Resources: Sharon: This is a Non-profit organization in Portland; you can take what you want for free. Original intent was for teachers/school stuff, but it can be applied to the town as well. You can let them know what you need and they will call you when/if it arrives. Membership fee of $500.00/year. Items are donated from big businesses. Sharon is going to look into this and report back to the BOS.
9. ADJUSTMENTS TO AGENDA
A. None.
10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A.
11. SELECTMEN’S ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED & VOTED ON
A. Town Warrant #1 (Reprinted after TRIO error was fixed)*Motion to resign warrant # 1. LA/HF – Unanimous. *Motion to sign Warrant #2 to pay the town bills. HF/LA - Unanimous.
B. Otisfield Cove Road, parking area: Court paperwork found in files and submitted into public record. How does the town enforce this? It’s open to the public. It’s an easement so the Town can’t put a sign up. The people who live down there are part of the public. It does say it’s made for launching boats. This was considered a civil matter way back. Three parking places at this site. It states in the court-order that it’s only to allow people to get their boat in and out of the water. It is not for trailers. They are to be parked in a different location. There is nowhere to park without parking in the road. RM: The area is broken down into sections. A launching area, bathing area and parking area. It is not deeded to the town of Otisfield, it’s to the public. Recent
complaint was that there were no parking spaces available. RM; We don’t want BOS to become the enforcers. Maybe we could send a letter to all the people who own property down there letting them know the intention of this site. BOS agree. Anne will work on the letter and present to BOS at later date. HF: Put on unfinished business.
C. Flanders Electric Contract: the town has three choices with maintaining the generators. We have had the standard contract before and that seems to be all that is needed. BOS signed contract and agreed that standard contract will work.
12. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD
A. Office Computers, David Hyer: Recap: Planning to purchase (3) new computers, this includes the tower and monitor. We are going to rebuild the CEO’s computer and relocate it to the Town Garage. (2) Monitors will be purchased for the front office. BOS agree this has already been discussed and David can move forward.
B. Henry Hamilton, is requesting his web site link “The Maine Fun Farm” be put on the website under the "Visiting Otisfield” section. Currently it is under the home page tab “Businesses & Accommodations” and he would like it in both locations. TT will update website.
13. ADJOURNMENT. *Motion to adjourn at 9:25 PM. HF/RM-Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Tanya Taft, Secretary
Approved by:
Hal Ferguson, Chairman
Rick Micklon
Lenny Adler
Approved on August 21, 2013
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