Town of Otisfield
Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes
September 18, 2013
1. CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting was called to order at 7:01 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 September 4, 2013. *Motion to accept minutes. LA/RM – Unanimous.
4. SPECIAL EVENTS
A. Town Office Boiler Bids opened at 7:15PM - (3) bids received.
1) Charlie Bradbury, Bradbury Plumbing & Heating: Presented his proposal. Overview & Discussion. Propane: total cost of this installation is $20,700.00. Oil: total cost of this installation is $19,900.00
2) J. Palmer & Sons Plumbing & Heating: Presented his proposal. Overview & Discussion. Propane & Oil total cost of this installation is $12,000.00 either way with a Biasi system /*this allows the option to change fuels form propane to oil. Total cost of installation is $14,500.00
3) James Reid Heating, Inc.: Not present. Overview & Discussion. Propane total cost of this installation is $9,500.00 & Oil total cost of this installation is $10,400.00
Discussion: RM: For background: The boiler is inefficient and costing the Town a lot of money. RM recused himself from tonights voting proceeding. He has no conflict of interest as he will not be earning any money, but it could be perceived as bias because Jim Reid has done work with him through his own company, Maine Building and Development. Therefore RM would like the decision to be with the other 2 BOS. LA & HF agree and remind everyone that tonight is a fact finding mission & no decisions will be made. *Tabled until next meeting.
B. Lee Dassler, Western Foothills Land Trust - Potential Community Forest in Otisfield. There is acreage in Otisfield around Twin Bridges. The owner wants to see his working forest lands maintained and there are approx. 252 Acres. There is plenty of development potential with this. Community Forest is an Old New England concept. There will be trails offered for community use. Access to the crooked river would be provided. Approval for one grant which will be used for the purchase of the land and preparing to do future grants for other necessary trail/community usage work. Bob Carlson wants full money amounting to $600,000.00 for the land, so several grants are needed. Currently the Land Trust owns the parcel. They are asking the Town for tax forgiveness and offering to work towards a shared agreement with the
forest parcel for cutting of timber. The Land Trust is looking for the Towns support. RM: Would like to see the financial aspect of this regarding income and expenses in order to see the best interest of the Town before committing to anything. Lee will report back with more information at a later date.
5. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A. Job Description Review Committee – Upcoming meeting, Wednesday, September 25th 1 – 3:30PM.
B. Heniger Park Reassessment Committee – Upcoming meeting, Thursday, September 26th @ 7:00 PM.
C. Ordinance Policy Review Committee – Upcoming meeting, Thursday, October 10th @ 7:00 PM.
Agenda Items:
1. Wireless Telecommunications Facility Siting Ordinance, as well as Site Plan Review, (does it stand alone or connect to Wireless Ordinance) OPRC Chair, Joe Zilinsky: What areas are problematic? HF suggests having CEO, BOS and PB join in on this discussion and have an initial exploratory mtg.
2. Double Wall Oil Tank Ordinance: LA would like this to be reviewed. *BOS agree
Discussion: Kristen Roy: I have been Studying Ordinances for last year and a half and in Maine you are allowed to have all your Land Use Ordinances as one and the advantage to that is with the tower ordinance you would have it connected to the Appeal process. HF: We try not to micromanage the boards. What they suggest we will stand behind. You can attend any public mtgs. TT will send an email reminder of upcoming meeting.
6. DEPARTMENT HEADS:
A. Emails/Phone System updates, David Hyer:
1) A list of all the email accounts that are associated w/ the Town have been updated and given to the BOS. The BOS emails have been modified to reflect that they are town emails, and not personal. TT has added these email accounts to the Town Web Site. Town currently had (1) inactive account. It was given to TT, but Fire Chief would like an account as well so TT offered to keep the one she has been using over the years and allow Mike Hooker to take the remaining account David just set up for her. David will make the change ASAP. David did look into adding an additional email account for $9.99 a month, but at this time it’s not necessary.
2) The phone system that was salvaged had some limitations so David is looking into doing a swap or getting a quote on a new system with (5) desk phones and (1) cordless phone. He thinks Voice Sonic would be a good fit for the Town and will get a price. *Tabled until an upcoming mtg.
7. QUESTIONS/COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.
A. None.
8. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ITEMS *MIM not in attendance
A. MMA Insurance Dividends 2012 W/C $1,111 PC $1,357 *Tabled until an upcoming meeting.
B. MMA convention: October 2nd and 3rd. Due to staff attendance; Thursday October 3rd Town Office closed.
C. BOS Calendar: TT gave the BOS a run-down of what’s to be reviewed for the following month.
9. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. Renovation Project: RM met w/ Dick Record, and a narrative of carpentry work has been put together. This job will create (2) offices and (1) meeting room upstairs. BOS would like this work completed by December. Material will be purchased by the Town through Record Lumber. Electrical will be done by Taplan Electric and include all new lighting, outlets, and a new exit sign at the front door. (3) new AC units will be installed. The framing, carpentry labor/sheetrock labor will be done by Glenn Snow, Hardwood Floor refinishing will be done by Mark Demaris and David Hyer will take care of data wiring. *BOS all agree they can move forward with this. Capital Improvement money should be used, and if not enough, Buildings and Grounds money can be used. *Motion to have RM contact contractors to move forward.
LA/HF – Unanimous.
B. Tax Acquired Property- U11/028 Baribeau 0.9 Assessed at $32,250 – Vacant land. BOS will put minimum bid out in the newspaper. LA suggests checking w/ MMA on returned certified mail notices. Minimum bid should be $15,000 with the right to reject any and all bids. RM: we need to find out if we have water rights. HF will discuss with MIM and have it placed in the paper. *Bids to be opened October 16th BOS Mtg @ 7:00 PM.
C. Tax acquired property: Town sent letter stating September 10th is the due date for tax money owed or BOS will be forced to take action. *The $4,500.00 for outstanding taxes, plus the Taxes for one year in advance have been paid on the day it was due. *Motion to sign the quick claim deed giving the property back. LA/RM – Unanimous.
D. Community Hall Winter usage: Last year we kept it open and heated to see how much it would cost us. That has been done. This year LA suggests closing December 1st and then opening it the week before Winter Carnival through the rest of the season. This will allow it to be closed for what could be the coldest part of winter. All agree.
10. SELECTMEN’S ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED & VOTED ON
A. Town Warrant: *Motion to sign Warrant #5 to pay the town bills. LA/HF - Unanimous.
B. Lazy L Kennel – *BOS signed contract between Otisfield and Marie Gagnon Proprietor of Lazy L. Kennel.
11. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD
A. CN Brown location RT 121 and RT 26 is no longer taking purchase orders from the FD for fuel. They will only take credit card. Lampron’s General Manager says they may be willing to take purchase orders. This will be for (3) FD vehicles. (The Forestry, Squad and Jeep).
B. American Flags: Board agreed at a prior meeting that flags will be placed from the Town Office to the Community Hall and will be put up the weekend before Memorial Day and taken down around August 15th. HF requesting they be left up until Veteran’s Day this year. The flags will then been taken down and stored in the old kitchen area for safe keeping.*All agree.
C. Junkyard hearing will be scheduled for next meeting on October 2nd. Permits expire on October 1st
12. ADJOURNMENT. *Motion to adjourn at 8:59 PM. HF/RM-Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Tanya Taft, Secretary
Approved by:
Hal Ferguson, Chairman
Rick Micklon
Lenny Adler
Approved on October 2, 2013
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