TOWN OF TREMONT
REGULAR SELECTMEN’S MEETING
TREMONT COMMUNITY BUILDING
MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 2006
6:00 PM
1. CALL TO ORDER
The August 21, 2006 Regular Selectman’s Meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by Chairman Scott Grierson.
2. ROLL CALL
Present were Chairman Scott Grierson, Selectmen Charlie Dillon, Heath Higgins, Chris Eaton, Town Manager Millard Billings, Recording Secretary Debbi Nickerson.
Member of the public present were Mark Good – Islander, Felice Janes – The First, Scott Hammond – The First, Steve Parady – The First, Tony McKim – The First, and Laurie Schreiber – Bar Harbor Times.
3. ADJUSTMENTS/ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
None
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. MINUTES OF JULY 24, 2006
Motion made by Selectman Charlie Dillon, with second by Selectman Heath Higgins, to accept the minutes of July 24, 2006 as written. Motion passed by a show of hands 4-0.
B. MINUTES OF AUGUST 7, 2006
Motion made by Selectman Charlie Dillon, with second by Selectman Heath Higgins, to accept the minutes of August 7th as written. Motion passed by a show of hands 4-0.
Selectman Kathi Thurston arrived at 6:03 pm.
5. APPROVAL OF WARRANTS
Warrant 22 4,950.86
Warrant 23 4,868.21
Warrant 24 4,233.30
Warrant 25 4,728.75
Warrant 26 2,601.49
Warrant 27 20,658.71
Warrant 28 16,293.10
Motion made by Selectman Charlie Dillon, with second by Selectman Heath Higgins, to accept Warrants 22 – 28. Chairman Scott Grierson asked about Warrant 25. Town Manager Millard Billings explained he and Greg Johnston, of CES, had negotiated CES’ bill for the new town office from $7,742.90 to $4,728.75. Motion passed by a show of hands 4-0-1. Selectman Kathi Thurston abstained; she had just arrived and was looking the Warrants over.
6. NEW BUSINESS
A. REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE FIRST
Tony McKim outlined the types of accounts The First has for municipalities (see attached). He stressed that The First will waive all fees associated to the Town’s Accounts. Scott Hammond, the Trust side of The First, gave the Selectmen some printouts of the Trust’s performance (see attached). He went on to explain that the Trust side handles monies the municipalities want to invest for longer term then a NOW account. The Trust side of The First would charge fees of .50% for a money market account and the net interest rate would be around 5%. He said that they usually invest the money in Treasury Bonds or Federal Agency Bonds. Steve Parady offered that Scott Hammond and he work out of the Bar Harbor Office and would be available to the Town when ever
needed for presentations or answering questions. Town Manager Millard Billings asked the representatives why The First did not respond when asked about a loan for the Town last year. Tony McKim explained that that was when The First was going through a merger and there was some confusion as to who would be assigned the municipal desk. He assured the Selectmen that would not happen again.
B. UPDATE NEW TOWN OFFICE
Town Manager Millard Billings has approved five change orders to date (see attached):
Change Order 1 $353.87
Change Order 2 754.20
Change Order 3 683.00
Change Order 4 406.00
Change Order 5 348.50
For a Total of: $2,545.57
The Selectmen are happy with the cost and Chairman Scott Grierson thinks the new town office will be within the budget.
C. ACTION ON SALT/SAND BIDS
Salt/sand bids closed at 4:00 pm on August 21, 2006:
Dugas Construction $49,000.00
Doug Gott & Sons 47,250.00
John Goodwin, Jr. 27,825.00
City Line Sand & Gravel 34,125.00
Bert’s Dirt did not submit
Motion made by Selectman Heath Higgins, with second by Selectman Kathi Thurston, to award John Goodwin, Jr. the sand/salt bid for $27,825.00. Motion passed by a show of hands 5-0.
D. WHARF HOUSE RENTAL
The current tenants have put in their notice and will be moving by the end of September. An ad has been placed to rent the Wharf House.
Motion made by Selectman Heath Higgins, with second by Selectman Charlie Dillon, to set the fee for rental for $800.00 a month for year round rental plus utilities. Motion passed by a show of hands 5-0.
E. ADELPHIA/TIME WARNER BOND
Time Warner has requested the Selectmen sign a release for Adelphia’s bond. Town Manager Millard Billings suggests not signing the release until a representative of Time Warner comes to a Selectmen’s Meeting to discuss the town’s issues with our cable service. The Selectmen agreed and asked Mr. Billings to send Time Warner a letter advising them to come to a meeting before they sign the release.
F. TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT
1. On Tuesday, August 15, 2006, Town Manager Millard Billings met with a group of Gott’s Island residents to discuss their concerns:
a. Parking on the mainland
Town Manager Millard Billings reported that Gott’s Island residents asked if they make a contribution to the town if they could have parking reserved for them. The Gott’s Island Association wants to work with the town to resolve the parking issue equably. Town Manager Billings noted that there has been a serious effort by Gott’s Island residents to help alleviate the parking problem. Selectman Chris Eaton stated that he thinks the parking is under control. The Selectmen acknowledged this is an on-going issue that will need to be revisited. The Selectmen discussed options for the Reed’s Store Lot for blacktop and gravel.
b. Gott’s Island roads (see attached)
In the past the Town has maintained the right-of-ways by removing the wind-fall trees. Public Works has been working to drain the right-of-way and repair the ruts. And Town Manager Millard Billings asked the Selectmen to approve removal of a berm that is preventing water from reaching a ditch along the other Gott’s Island right-of-way.
Motion made by Selectman Chris Eaton, with second by Selectman Heath Higgins, to authorize Millard to do what ever has to be done to fix the fire road. Motion passed by a show of hands 5-0.
c. Fire Protection
Town Manager Millard Billings has requested that Fire Chief Brad Reed contact Gott’s Island Residence to talk about fire protection and training. The Selectmen agreed shovels and Indian Pumps should be available for fire fighting and thought maybe paint or labeling would prevent most vandals from stealing them.
2. A Town Employee has submitted their resignation. Town Manager Billings is starting a search for a Public Works Employee with mechanical abilities (see attached).
3. Bids were closed on August 14, 2006 to survey and lay out vacant lots at Rich Cemetery. There were no bids submitted. Town Manager Billings discovered DEP considers a concrete vault to be a structure which will require a 75 foot setback from the normal high water mark and tree removal will need to meet harvest standards for Shoreland Zone. The Cemetery Committee met on August 16, 2006 and voted to postpone any action in regards to the Rich Cemetery.
4. The Cemetery Committee requests authority to develop a Lot Sales Ordinance.
Motion made by Selectman Heath Higgins, with second by Selectman Charlie Dillon, to authorize the Cemetery Committee to develop a Lot Sales Ordinance. Motion passed by a show of hands 5-0.
5. Cemetery Committee requests authority to consider Crockett Point Cemetery their next priority and use money from Rich Cemetery Lot Survey to survey Crockett Point Cemetery.
Motion made by Selectman Heath Higgins, with second by Selectman Charlie Dillon, to authorize the Cemetery Committee to have the Crockett Point Cemetery their next priority and use the money from the other survey (Rich Cemetery) to this survey. Motion passed by a show of hands 5-0.
6. Town Manager Millard Billings met with Jessica Daman, with the DEP, on August 18, 2006. The DEP has decided the Army Corp of Engineers can file for the maintenance dredging and the town only needs to file for the extended dredging rather then the entire project. The cost is $119.00.
7. DEP has scheduled the public hearing for the Dredging project for August 31, 2006 at 6:00 pm. The Selectmen agreed they should be there, but members of the audience.
8. The Rec Board has written a letter to thank all who helped with the Back Side Blast (see attached).
Motion made by Selectman Charlie Dillon, with second by Selectman Heath Higgins, to table 7. A. and go to OTHER.
7. AGENDA ITEM 9. OTHER
Chairman Scott Grierson asked if Jon Collins had looked at the culvert along the Flat Iron Rd, but he is not expected until next week.
Chairman Grierson asked Town Manager Millard Billings to look into repairing the Alwife Fishway.
The Selectmen discussed snowplowing this winter and who would be the one to call out the drivers. The part-time drivers will be offered $15.00 an hour with no benefits. The back-up drivers, who own their own trucks, will be offered $35.00 an hour and only be called out if there is a problem with the town trucks. It will cost $600.00 per truck for radios and the base station should be installed into the new town office building. Selectman Charlie Dillon volunteered to call someone to call the drivers, but not call the drives himself. Selectman Chris Eaton volunteered to call out the drivers and listen to the radio in case the drivers need help. MMA or the Town Attorney needs to be contacted to make sure it would be legal to have the Selectmen doing that.
8. AGENDA ITEM 10. SET DATE FOR NEXT MEETING
September 11, 2006, 6:00 pm
9. AGENDA ITEM 7. OLD BUSINESS A. DISCUSS ACQUISITION OF REAL ESTATE
Motion made by Selectman Heath Higgins, with second by Selectman Kathi Thurston, to go into executive session pursuant to Title 1 Maine revised statute annotated Section 405 Subsection (6) Paragraph (C) to discuss the acquisition or disposition of real property. Motion passed by a show of hands 4-1. The Selectmen went into executive session at 7:43 pm.
Motion made by Selectman Heath Higgins, with second by Selectman Kathi Thurston, to close the executive session and return to the regular meeting. Motion passed by a show of hands 5-0.
10. AGENDA ITEM 8. SUGGESTION/COMMENTS FOR NEXT MEETING
Selectman Kathi Thurston suggested Town Manager Millard Billings to contact DOT about a stop sign on the Steamboat Wharf Rd. Chairman Scott Grierson suggested a cross walk at Bass Harbor Campground.
11. ADJOURN
Motion made by Selectman Heath Higgins, with second by Selectman Chris Eaton, to adjourn. Motion passed by a show of hands 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 7:32 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Debbi Nickerson
Recording Secretary
_________________________ ___________________________
Scott Grierson Charlie Dillon
__________________________ ____________________________
Heath Higgins Katharine Thurston
__________________________
Chris Eaton
| 
