Town of Otisfield
Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes
September 3, 2014
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 August 20, 2014. *Motion to accept minutes. RM/LA-Unanimous.
4. SPECIAL EVENTS
A. Furnace bids to be opened at 7:15 PM (3) bids received.
1) Charlie Bradbury, Bradbury Plumbing & Heating:
Total cost of this Oil Boiler is $13,200.00
Total cost of Propane Boiler is $14,500.00
Hot water Heater, recommending (2) for $1600.00
2) J. Palmer & Sons Plumbing & Heating:
Total cost of this Oil Boiler is $13,000.00
Total cost of Propane Boiler is $15,200.00
Hot water Heater recommending (2) but didn’t list a price.
3) James Reid Heating, Inc.:
Total cost of this Oil Boiler is $8,600.00 + $1,800 for oil tank and zone = $12,600.00
Total cost of Propane Boiler is $12,500.00
Hot Water Heater recommending (1) for $650.00
Discussion: RM: For background: The boiler is inefficient and costing the Town a lot of money. RM recused himself from tonight’s 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. Discussion: HF & LA ruled out combination and would like to go with Oil only. *Motion to go with Charlie Bradbury’s Oil fired bid in the approx. sum of $14,000.00, plus the cost of an additional oil tank and with only one hot water heater, not two as stated in bid proposal. LA/HF – Unanimous. (RM recused himself) RM will notify all three bidders.
B. Generator bids to be opened @ 7:45 PM – (2) bids received.
1) Flanders Electric; $6,700.00
2) Field Electric; Seth Field, $7,125.00
Discussion: RM: I hesitate to not go with Flanders Electric because they’ve done the other three generators in town and they’ve always been there as our town electrician. I would prefer using an in-town contractor most of the time. HF: Seth has assured me that he can fully repair and warranty the generator and he’s a few hundred dollars less than Flanders and I don’t see how we can say no based upon that. LA: I agree. RM: Did you check with Seth to see if he can offer the same free 5 Yr warranty that Flanders offered (after they submitted their bid)? HF: I did and he said it was a special offer that isn’t available to him *Motion to go with Field Electric in the amount of $7,125.00. HF/LA – Unanimous. HF will contact Seth and look into extended warranty.
5. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A. None.
6. DEPARTMENT HEADS:
A. Town Sexton, Dan Peaco: DP & RM toured the cemeteries and looked at erosion control. All agree this needs to be addressed soon. RM discussed with Richard Bean and he is going to look at Bell Hill and Oak Hill Cemeteries, both are allowing road sand / ditching sand to flow into the cemetery and onto the plots. This is eroding the cemetery. Richard Bean will look at this weekend, but these two locations are considered tough because of the topography. The South Otisfield Cemetery rear fencing issue: cedar fence vs vinyl vs trees/shrubs will be quoted and discussed at an upcoming meeting.
7. QUESTIONS/COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.
A. None.
8. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ITEMS
A. MMA Insurance Dividends $2,700 as a result of its good loss experience & loss prevention programs. Workers Comp $1,304.00 & Property & Casualty $1,396.00
B. OCRSWC letter updating the changes and to address a concern the Board of Directors has identified. (Submitted into public record)
C. Schedule Junkyard hearing for Sept. 17, 2014 at 7:15pm.
D. Assessor commitment tomorrow, would like to meet at 5:00 PM instead of 7:00PM.
9. ADJUSTMENTS TO AGENDA
A. None.
10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. None.
11. SELECTMEN’S ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED & VOTED ON
A. Town Warrant: *Motion to sign Warrant #4 to pay the town bills. HF/LA - Unanimous.
12. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD
A. Pleasant Lake Dam Inspection report from Miran Protosky, 15 page report. Long term fix as opposed to short term fix. Nothing is catastrophic. No monetary figures attached to report. Very comprehensive. (Submitted into public record) A joint meeting with Casco officials will be held soon. Original quote is $1,000.00, final bill was $1,600.00. *Motion to raise an additional $300.00 for this report for Otisfield’s share of the fee. HF/RM - Unanimous
B. Swampville Property: RM: Would like this to be on an upcoming agenda with a site walk held prior to a BOS meeting. Possibly make it a workshop night so that a plan can be developed regarding the use of the property because of its being in the TIF District. There’s a lot of potential for the property regarding tree cutting, educational tours due to the use as the original Town Farm, etc. All agree. HF: Swampville Road was discussed with Richard Bean. All larger stumps will be removed. Only improvement will be to widen road so that town plows can get through without any hassle and it will be a year round road. LA: A survey is needed if it hasn’t been done already. RM: Its been done by two surveyors (Del Maxfield and maybe Fred Huntress?) Needs to check with MIM and Del regarding the details.
C. Kiosk – HF: 2nd Kiosk has been installed, this one at Heniger Park. HF installed with Richard Bean & Builder, Glenn Snow last Saturday. Discussion on locked cabinet design/material. *Tabled until Board decides what would work best.
D. Signs: HF Heniger Park Sign installed at foot of Jacobs Way. RM: Heniger Park sign at entrance to Jacobs Way is too small and should maybe be put on the Kiosk and a larger sign should be ordered and placed in that location. Hal will look into it further.
E. Heniger Park review: RM: We have received numerous positive feedback with the ditching and culvert work by the highway department that was done down there.
F. Current house cat/feral cat controversy: RM: Due to recent articles in the press; for clarification, Otisfield’s Animal Control Officer (ACO) picks up dogs and cats as needed. Dogs are taken to a licensed facility in Otisfield. They do not accept cats. Cats are taken to Responsible Pet Care (RPC) in South Paris. Otisfield pays RPC per cat as long as the ACO and Marianne Morin and/or one of the BOS are aware the cat is being taken to RPC. This is to ensure people don’t take domesticated house cats, or their cat’s babies, to the RPC because they no longer want them or can afford them. We should consider a policy to clarify between domestic and non-domesticated animals. All agree.
G. American Flags: HF will be taking them down now that Labor Day has passed.
H. No Parking sign at Silvaqua/Shore Road has been re-installed.
I. Concealed weapons permit: HF: would like MIM to look into how this will be handled.
13. ADJOURNMENT. *Motion to adjourn at 8:45PM. HF/RM-Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Tanya Taft, Secretary
Approved by:
Hal Ferguson, Chairman
Rick Micklon
Lenny Adler
Approved on September 17, 2014
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