PRESENT: Chairman Friedman, Councilor Hathaway, Councilor King, Councilor Parker, Councilor Perkins, Manager W. Reed, CEO A. Thomas, Fire Chief G. Martin, Deputy Clerk K. Humphrey, Town Engineer Travis Noyes, Member of the Public Joseph King Jr.
ITEM 1. The November 24, 2008 Veazie Town Council meeting was called to order at 7:00PM.
ITEM 2. Consideration of the Minutes
Motion By: Councilor Perkins—to accept the November 10, 2008 meeting minutes as written. Seconded: Councilor Parker, Voted 3-0-2 in favor. Councilor King and Councilor Hathaway abstained due to their absence.
ITEM 3. Consideration of the Agenda
Member of the Public Joseph King Jr. was present to discuss the cemetery. He provided pictures of the cemetery and noted that mowing was not being done in a timely manner, headstones were being chipped by the big lawnmowers and flags were being knocked over and broken. He outlined that he and his wife had brought down a basket of flowers to put on his father’s grave and when they returned hours later it had been run over by a mower.
Mr. King stated that for the last three or four years the cemetery has not been in the best shaped. He himself has even gone over and weedwhacked areas. He outlined that he did not think a big riding lawnmower should be used in the cemetery.
Manager Reed outlined that Public Works mows on a fairly consistent basis.
Chairman Friedman stated that he would like Public Works to come to the next meeting to discuss issues and whether it might be time to start contracting certain services out.
Councilor Perkins stated that he appreciated Mr. King coming in. He would like to see more people coming to meetings whether with positive or negative comments.
Councilor Hathaway stated that it is a question of priorities. He outlined that he didn’t think the Town has done enough at the cemetery. He added that the Town isn’t sensitive enough to the needs of the residents sometimes. There are a lot of residents who have family in the cemetery.
Chairman Friedman stated he would like a policy made up regarding personal projects and the storage of personal items.
Councilor Parker stated he would like to see Superintendent Free attend a meeting here and there. He outlined that the Council has been discussing highway projects at the last three meetings and Mr. Free has not been present.
ITEM 4a. Assessment Review Report
An assessment review was included in the Councilor’s packets for their review. Assessor Allan Thomas outlined that the Town’s valuation went down. He added that last year the Town’s valuation went up.
Assessor Allan Thomas stated that the State gave the Town a quality rating of 8. Manager Reed added that anything less than a 10 is very good.
ITEM 5a. Capital Infrastructure Projects Update
Manager Reed stated that Travis Noyes has taken over being the Town’s Project Manager. Mr. Noyes was present to go over an updated highway projects list. He outlined that Veazie Street was removed from the list because it did not score highly as a road that needed work. Oak Grove and the parking lot at the Salmon Club was added to the list.
There is roughly $850,000 worth of work and that does not include engineering fees. There was discussion on doing some probing work to find out what materials lie beneath some of the roads.
Councilor Hathaway stated that he was hesitant to do bonding with the current status of the economy. He would like for the Town to be ready to when the time comes to do work on the road, he was in favor of doing some “prep” work such as probing and design work.
The Council asked for Mr. Noyes to come back to a meeting in December with a more formalized list and the probing results.
ITEM 6. Comments From The Public
Fire Chief Martin outlined that the Town’s new pumper was out in the bay. The new truck will last the Town 25 years or so. He outlined that the Mac is out back and there has been discussion on possibly storing the truck in the quonset-hut at the Casco Bay Energy power plant.
ITEM 7. Manager’s Report
a. The Town Council reviewed a copy of a letter from the Department of Education accepting the Reorganization Plan for Veazie, Glenburn and Orono.
ITEM 8. Requests for Information and Town Council Comments
Councilor Hathaway stated he had a copy of the Penobscot County budget if anyone wanted to look at it.
ITEM 9. Warrants: Town Warrant 11 & 11A, Town Payroll Warrant 11, School Lunch Warrant 11 & 11A, School Warrant 11 & 11A and School Payroll Warrant 11 were circulated and signed.
ITEM 10. Adjournment: Motion: Councilor King—to adjourn the November 24, 2008 Town Council Meeting. Seconded: Councilor Hathaway—there was no further discussion. Voted 5-0. Meeting adjourned 8:35 pm.
A true record, Attest:
Karen Humphrey
Deputy Clerk
Town of Veazie
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