Town of Otisfield
Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes
January 15, 2014
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 January 2, 2014. *Motion to accept minutes. LA/RM – Unanimous.
4. SPECIAL EVENTS
5. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A.
6. DEPARTMENT HEADS:
A. Fire Chief: The Fire Dept. re-elected Mike Hooker as Fire Chief in January. *Motion to accept the unanimous decision of the FD and re-appoint Mike Hooker as Fire Chief. HF/RM – Unanimous. MIM will contact MH to come in and get sworn in. HF: Mike is requesting maps/names be posted on walls at FD. HF will coordinate to get MH what he needs.
B. David Hyer: (2) new printers set up in new offices. Old CEO printer will be installed and set up as a printer, fax and copier at Town Garage. Phones: There was a phone outage in part of Otisfield that knocked all phones lines, except MIM’s off line. Issue has been resolved, but no explanation as to why MIM’s remained active.
7. QUESTIONS/COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.
A. David Hyer: While meeting in the Annex a non staff individual was asked to walk outside and around the building to get to the upstairs office. She was told it was per the BOS. David believes this to be too restrictive and would like to know what the policy is for accessing the stair well through the old CEO office to avoid outside access. RM: Spoke to our assigned Fire Marshall inspector who said the state won’t restrict employees from using inside stairwell, but because it’s not handicap accessible, we cannot pick and choose which ones we allow to use it because that would be considered discriminating. The Town has been advised that the only way to have access up and down to everyone is to put an elevator in so it’s completely accessible to all. The State’s position is the same as the
Federal position and the Town has chosen to abide by it. David thanked the BOS for clarification and now that he understands the reasoning behind it, he will explain to the individual who was asked to walk around. Rick said he will re-contact the Fire Marshall’s office for clarification and ask for it in writing if possible.
8. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ITEMS
A. New CEO & Admin. Assist. office moves are under way. Files are still in the process of being moved.
B. Great Falls monitor set up & low temp alarm for Annex complete. This is being done through the alarm system. The fire alarm has been triggered twice. RM would like MIM to contact Todd from Great Falls Security and let him know about this.
C. Executive sessions for staff evaluations scheduled for February 4th starting @ 7:00 PM this will include (4) office personnel and will be conducted in 15 min increments.
D. Town Reports: Town Garage picture should be pictured on it and this year’s dedication should be decided. All agree.
E. Boston Post Cane: Meeting (the soon to be announced individual) Friday, January 24th. All BOS will attend.
F. Dental Coverage: Self payment for employees: No minimal amount of employees needed to participate; you can opt out if not interested without affecting others. Town eligibility requirements for medical coverage are 32 hours/week, but for this plan the company may not have a min. Prices vary per plan. BOS would like MIM to do a little more research on possible restrictions. HF: For now, those that make enough to cover expenses can be added. MIM will have rep. come to next BOS mtg. to answer any questions.
G. Department heads and committee reports for the Town Report need to be in by January 20th. MIM will send reminders.
H. Rabies clinic will be held on January 25th at Norway Fire Station
9. ADJUSTMENTS TO AGENDA
A. None.
10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. Performance Appraisals: Every employee will be brought in with BOS~in executive session. *Office personnel scheduled for February 4th.
B. Updating the Employee Handbook.
11. SELECTMEN’S ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED & VOTED ON
A. Town Warrant: *Motion to sign Warrant #13 to pay the town bills. LA/RM - Unanimous.
12. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD
A. Ross Cudlitz P.E., of Engineering Assistance & Design, Inc sent RM an email drafting basics of his fee schedule based upon defined work items. RM never received email so Ross intends to send again. Information should be received by next meeting and RM will report to Board with findings and/or Ross’ proposal.
B. Great Falls security: LA: Todd Olfene will come out and move monitor to a location that Fire Chief is happy with at SCFS.
C. Heating Oil Collection Jar: LA: Raymond has a collection jar used to help people w/ heating oil that do not meet GA requirements. He would like to consider doing something similar in Otisfield. MIM: Some donations are currently being received. BOS all agree that a collection jar is an excellent idea if it will help individuals who need it.
D. Sand Shed: LA: A sand loading shed may be needed to store smaller portions of sand for individual use. Currently Richard is taking loader and putting a scoop outside of building and people are helping themselves. If he is not concerned with doing it this way, then BOS agree it will be left as is. The town is using more sand/salt currently because of weather conditions, but no abuse is happening that anyone is aware of. RM spoke to Richard regarding the policy and current usage and Richard is still on board. RM outlined the policy to the public and press.
E. Winter Carnival: HF: Will be held on February 15th this year. The Community Hall will need to be opened up for sled making the prior Sunday Arts and crafts will likely be held at the Annex. The Spaghetti dinner will be at the Community Hall the evening of the 14th. *Motion to open up the Community Hall on Friday the 7th. MIM has asked that Porta Potty be delivered on the 14th.
F. Time Warner: HF will be meeting w/ them tomorrow.
13. ADJOURNMENT. *Motion to adjourn at 8:35 PM. HF/RM-Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Tanya Taft, Secretary
Approved by:
Hal Ferguson, Chairman
Rick Micklon
Lenny Adler
Approved on February 5, 2014
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