Town of Otisfield
Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes
December 16, 2015
1. CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM. Chairman; Hal Ferguson, Lenny Adler & Rick Micklon present.
2. FLAG SALUTE: Audience and Board members saluted the flag.
3. ACTION ON MINUTES:
A. Meeting minutes from December 2, 2015. *Motion to accept minutes. LA/RM – Unanimous.
4. SPECIAL EVENTS:
A. Oxford County Soil and Water; Michelle Windsor came in to provide update on Crooked River Grant. They are currently in phase 1, This River flows through 8 towns. Norway, Otisfield, PWD and Land Trust got together for grant sites that will be awarded through Maine DEP, 319 clean water act. “The overall objective of the Maine Nonpoint Source Management Program is to prevent, control, or abate nonpoint source pollution to lakes, streams, rivers and coastal waters so that beneficial uses of those waters are maintained or improved.
MDEP uses Section 319 funds and state funds, to support a variety of Nonpoint Source Pollution (NPS) projects to help achieve this objective”. Otisfield has been a partner in this project to reduce sedimentation in the River Watershed. Pamphlets will be available to the Towns at the end of this year. Michelle thanked Rick Micklon and CEO for their proactive support in this project.
5. BOARD & COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A. Ordinance Policy Review Committee: HF: Tax acquired property task has been sent to the OPRC. Joe has received it and will be setting a time to meet w/ the committee after the holidays. HF: I mentioned the Board would like to include this policy for consideration at a special town meeting we might have in February/March.
6. DEPARTMENT HEADS:
A. Fire Dept: Chief Jordan: Silvaqua Association had a dry hydrant installed in 2012. Back in 2009, Prior Chief, Mike Hooker had discussed what his intentions were and we have implemented them in writing. Kyle has written up an agreement on maintenance and repairs/financial obligation with this hydrant so that should something break in the future, it is clear who is responsible. Plowing for this location is currently being contracted by the Association and Kyle would like to add it to this agreement tonight so that in 10 years from now,
there is no confusion. Repairs for the last 6 months have been picked up by the town, but only included the labor. Tonight he is requesting the BOS give their blessing to formalize this procedure so that if something happens moving forward, it’s not at the cost of the Town. *Motion that we sign the document with Silvaqua Association which shall include the Association plowing the hydrant area as they have been doing over the years. HF/LA – Unanimous.
7. QUESTIONS/COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC:
A. None.
8. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ITEMS:
A. Audit: December 28th they will be coming to do audit.
B. Update on electrical work: Seth Field should be done by next week.
C. Check received from Social Outreach for Community Hall in the amount of $500.00
D. Holiday week: Next Tuesday lunch for office staff / road crew @ 12:00 PM
E. MMEHT: Maine Municipal Employees Health Tank is increasing their price 6.25% next year.
F. 2nd fuel tank at Community Hall has been installed and filled.
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 # 11 to pay the town bills. LA/HF - Unanimous.
B. Town Website: RM: Would like Webmaster, Tanya Taft and Admin. Assistant Anne Pastore to look into upgrading website. New options and proposals will be discussed and BOS would like to know who has recently had this upgrade and what their thoughts are. HF would like TT to remove all of the old news and announcements from website. All agree.
C. Tax abatement: There is an acreage difference for 56 Bolsters Mills Road requiring an abatement. *Motion to grant the abatement for Frances E. & Donna J. Chickering of 56 Bolsters Mills Road. The Otisfield assessors have reduced the assessed value by $1,890.00 and granted an abatement of $24.38 for the 2015/2016 year.
D. Discuss moving Heniger Park lease and signing fee revenue to General fund. Lot 4 in Heniger Park is owned by the Town. The Town put it out to bid and a bid of $57,500 was received. Tax acquired funds can be used at the discretion of the BOS. Auditor said it was correct. The BOS thought a second opinion was in order so HF agreed to contact the town attorney. The Attorney confirmed and said those funds are at the discretion of what the BOS want to spend the money on. All had previously agreed on a second fuel tank at the Community Hall and a roof over the tanks, which is necessary if the town attorney agreed with the auditor. An estimate for the suppression system has been received. It’s approximately $2,500.00. Herb Olson: How much is in the Undesignated Surplus account at this time? HF: it is over 900,000.00
which is the working capital. HF the plan is to get it back over 1,000,000 which should be achieved with the additional revenue from the new Heniger Park Lease s. HO: before we buy something we should have a long term plan. LA: I have no problem w/ a long term plan, as long as we are not locked in. RM: I have 3 areas I would like to see addressed at some point 1) Community Hall lighting should be looked at, (safety concern) 2) An electronic sign for the front of this office (having employees go out during winter is dangerous) and 3) The website can use some updating. HF: I agree with what you have mentioned, but would also like to carry 10k into the next year to put into the Contingency Fund. LA agrees.
E. ATV Policy: Discussion: Public meeting was held. The pro’s outnumbered the cons, but valid points were made on both sides. Discussion to authorize and allow ATV use on public roads with a 1 year condition. This would be a policy, not an ordinance, therefore BOS would set the policy and if it’s abused, they won’t grant it again. Suggested ATV season is May 15th – October 15th. Casco’s season in May 15th – December 15th. Hours of operation and the roads we are granting access to will be
specific. BOS have the right to rescind at any time if it’s not going well. *Motion to give them a season to try it. LA/HF – Unanimous.
F. An additional outside light at the Community Hall needs to be installed for more parking area lighting. Annie will call Seth Field tomorrow.
G. FD Association: HF: The association obligated $500 to (3) families in town and Annie and Lisa went shopping for them. They did a great job and really stretched the money for the families in need. HF thanked Annie and Lisa and also wanted to thank Dan Fogg and Brendan Beddell for the lights they put up for the tree.
12. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD
A. Cobb Hill Road update: HF: The guard rail has been put up and completed.
B. Winter carnival: HF: The cardboard sled construction will be held Sunday February 7th 2016 and the Winter Carnival will be held on Saturday February 13th, 2016. The Community Hall will need to be opened up a couple of days before. Arts and crafts will likely be held at the Annex. Spurr’s Corner Church will be having breakfast with lunch and dinner being held at the Community Hall on February 13th.
C. Banking: AP became aware of better interest rates @ Northeast Bank. Would like to consider changing the money market account of $771,000 from TD to Northeast. RM: The math is quite substantial. Instead of the approximate $600/ year we would make in interest at TD, we could make almost $6K more at Northeast. All agree they should see if TD can match it or beat it. *Motion that we authorize Annie to move the money to Northeast Bank if TD cannot beat the price. LA/RM – Unanimous.
13. EXECUTIVE SESSION:
A. Motion to enter into executive session pursuant to MSRS. *Motion to close executive session by___ 2nd___, All Y-N. Discussion: *There was no executive session held at this mtg.
14. ADJOURNMENT. *Motion to adjourn at 8:35 PM. HF/LA -Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Tanya Taft, Secretary
Approved by:
Hal Ferguson, Chairman
Rick Micklon
Lenny Adler
Approved on January 6, 2015
| 
