PRESENT: Chairman Olson, Councilor Perkins, Councilor Bagley, Councilor Friedman, Councilor Parker, Town Manager J. Hayes, Assistant Clerk A. Blethen, Police Chief Mark Leonard, Fire Chief Gerry Martin, Public Works Director B. Stoyell, Members of the Public.
ITEM 1. The July 16, 2012 Veazie Town Council meeting was called to order at 6:32PM.
ITEM 2. Roll Call
Chairman Olson, Councilor Bagley, Councilor Perkins and Councilor Parker were all present. Councilor Friedman arrived at 6:40 PM.
ITEM 3. Pledge of Allegiance
ITEM 4. Consideration of the Agenda
Add Payroll Policy under Item 8B.
Councilor Parker requested to discuss what is an excused absence for a councilor at the next meeting.
ITEM 5. Approval of the June 18, 2012 and July 2, 2012 Council Meeting Minutes
June 18 - Item 5: motion was to engage RHR smith. Councilor was spelled wrong.
Councilor Perkins made a motion to accept the June 18, 2012 minutes as amended. Councilor Bagley seconded no further discussion. Voted 5-0 in favor.
July 2 - Item 6: Sewer District not Water District. Superintendent Gary Brooks not member of public.
Councilor Parker motion made a motion to accept the July 2, 2012 minutes as amended. Councilor Perkins seconded no further discussion. Voted 5-0 in favor.
ITEM 6. Public Comments
None.
New Business:
ITEM 7. Election of MMA Vice-President
Election of 3 Directors for MMA
Councilor Parker made a motion to allow Manager Hayes to vote on behalf of the council for both MMA Vice-President and 3 MMA Directors for 2012. Councilor Bagley seconded no further discussion. Voted 4-0 in favor, Councilor Friedman had not arrived yet.
ITEM 8. Forestry Contract for the Conservation Commission
Authorize the Town Manager to sign the contract on behalf of the Town
Councilor Perkins asked if Dave Wardrop was willing to work on a per diem basis without a retainer. Dave said he already does and that his time commitment is much larger than reported. Councilor Parker asked if any of fees are still covered by grants. There are no pending grants at this time but they come and go. Councilor Perkins asked if we can work out a yearly contract billed based on duties not on time and without a retainer. Dave said it
would be too much, as a full time commitment.
Councilor Perkins made a motion to sign the contract with Golden Forestry, Inc. Councilor Bagley seconded no further discussion. Voted 5-0 in favor.
ITEM 8A. Department Reports
No comments or questions.
ITEM 8B. Payroll Policy
Councilors agreed that a minimum of 3 councilors need to sign for payroll on the Monday when payroll falls on a week without a meeting. No further action is needed. A phone call will be made that Monday morning as a reminder.
Old Business
ITEM 9. RSU Withdrawal Committee update
Chairman Olson reported that all negotiable items have been negotiated and there has been preliminary approval on every item except for a tuition agreement. We want an agreement guaranteeing placement for any student wishing to attend Orono high school from AP to special ed. Veazie would pick up the tab but wants guaranteed placement. They began discussing this last week. There are many concerns and questions from the RSU Board. No options are off the table yet as they are also discussing with other schools. Councilor Friedman asked “what are they looking into?” and Chairman Olson responded, “I believe the biggest concern is space.”
ITEM 10. Recommendation by the Community Center Committee regarding the bids for furnace
Don McKay reported that there were 4 bids covered under the Efficiency Maine grant, 2 for upgrading 2 for complete replacement. We still did not receive a bid from one and didn’t get the other in writing. The remaining two were basically the same but also have expired as they were for 30 days. He recommends to the council to go with Osbourne. William’s bid was $15520 and Osbourne’s was $15418 and they are willing to add in programmable thermostats for $155, which Efficiency Maine recommends. Osbourne is well known and the proposal has the most heft. Don suggests that the council allows Manager Hayes to go back and ensure that the bids will be honored. If one isn’t then select the other.
Councilor Parker requested operational costs for propane vs #2 to make sure it’s going to fit in the budget.
Award bids for the furnace
Councilor Perkins made a motion to authorize Manager Hayes to contact all of the vendors, see if they’re willing to honor their bids and if everything checks out then go with Osbourne. Seconded by Councilor Friedman. Councilor Parker thinks we need to see operational costs first. Councilor Parker expressed legal concern about agreeing to go with Osbourne, but still asking for others to confirm bids. If Osbourne goes up, put it back on the agenda. Councilor Bagley wants it on the next agenda any way to be safe because we are talking federal money and bids. We have adequate time to make our decision before October 31st. Councilor Perkins withdrew motion if all councilors agreed to make a decision at the next meeting.
ITEM 11. Discussion of the Town Meeting budget cuts
Property and casualty was $5,000 less than we thought.
Recommend cutting trash, but that won’t be bid out until December.
Road paving bids for Main Street came in lower than expected, between $103,291 and $151,000. Originally budgeted 189,000.
Executive department: Cut in salary line of $6200 before the Town Manager raise
Processing fees – all banks are pointing to Informe to handle, would be 2.5% over $40. $1 charge less than $40
Training – cut $200
Audit cut of $500 based on what they gave us for price
Telephone has potential to be $3500 savings
Cell phone changes – possible $1200 savings
EAP switch - savings in 6 months.
Chief Leonard expressed concerned about comparing EAP services first. Councilor Parker agreed. Though the council had discussed doing that; however, letter was sent out first. There are a number of questions from department heads. Sometime before 6 months is up would like to do a comparison.
Councilor Friedman asked about saving with changing to Trio. Manager Hayes explained we could probably save $4,000 to $5,000 over the course of a year, but current year it will cost us.
Councilor Perkins requested to put department head budgets on the agenda a month in advance next year.
Fixed costs: Looking at $5,000 reduction in GA and it could be more.
Conservation commission - $1,000
Comp plan - $2,000 reduction
Community center – met with Brian Ahern, getting final approval for TIF from Corporate. We had budgeted $25,000 and that will come back from the TIF.
Veazie EMA - $2,000
Fire reserve - $2,000
Community center - $2,000
Road paving – “whatever you decide to do.”
Councilor Olson asked, “What is the plan to let the residents know about the credit card fees?” Manager Hayes answered, “When tax bills go out and in a newsletter.”
Manager Hayes also noted that he is calculating bulk paper to save a couple hundred dollars from office supplies.
Councilor Parker suggested taking Manager Hayess raise back to $3,000 instead of $4,000.
Trio discussion: Councilor Perkins thinks that the merits outweigh the concerns. Councilor Parker heard that other municipalities do use ADS. He is concerned that we end up doing school stuff again in the town office. “Can we use ADS until November and see what happens?”
Motion by Councilor Perkins to authorize Manager Hayes to purchase Trio accounting software as outlined in his memo. Seconded by Councilor Friedman. Councilor Parker said he doesn’t think it’s the right time to be doing it, spending money we don’t have in the hopes of saving more. Voted 3-0, with Councilor Bagley and Councilor Parker voting no.
Chairman Olson suggested putting $1,000 less into a reserve account and making it up next year if needed.
Possible savings in electricity with Maine Power.
Motion by Councilor Perkins to accept the changes to the executive budget, the fixed costs and the capital budget as suggested by Manager Hayes. Councilor Parker would like to table for Manager Hayes to organize and present at next meeting. Councilor Perkins redid motion but added “for a total of $100982.37 as suggested by Manager Hayes and the council as disicussed in the July 16th meeting contingent that the cuts equal $100604.18.” Councilor Parker made amendment that
document be named and referred back to. Seconded by Counclor Friedman, no further discussion. Voted 4-1, Councilor Parker voted no.
ITEM 12. Award Road Paving bids
Motion by Councilor Perkins to award paving of Main Street from State Street to B&B Paving. Seconded by Councilor Bagley. Councilor Parker concerned about bids being opened at the appropriate time. All were opened at 11 am. Voted 5-0 in favor.
ITEM 13. Manager’s Report
Manager Hayes reviewed his report.
Requested to be authorized to enter into a contract to get rid of universal waste at no charge to the town.
Confirmed that David King is responsible for the costs associated with the recount, legally, for $43.82, which is 50% of the cost of the recount. Needs to call MMA to be sure and clarify state statute for municipalities to see if it is a mandate to bill him.
Councilor Parker asked if Glen Kennedy is still a month behind on his rent and if we could do an arrangement like we do with zumba so the town can get its rent money.
Councilor Friedman asked if we could charge AA for their use of the facility. Councilor Parker suggested coming up with a contract where they get billed if Brian has to clean up after them and also if we don’t know who is responsible then they can’t use it anymore. We need a name and number for contact.
ITEM 14. Comments from the Public
None
ITEM 15. Requests for Information and Town Council Comments
Councilor Perkins wants to address the cat issue as there will probably be quite an expense involved and need to discuss how it will be handled in the future. Manager Hayes is talking to CEO John Larson about codes. Chief Leonard said its been 3 years dealing with this. A citizen took it on as a project, getting assistance from outside agency, but didn’t receive the assistance. Residents of the area and police became frustrated and formulated a plan under the radar. What caused the explosion was a fictitious
message on Facebook saying that they were going to go down and capture and kill the cats and to contact Chief Leonard to stop it. Without that message it wouldn’t have been in the public eye. The situation should be all wrapped up and have costs by end of month. Manager Hayes mentioned trying to pass on costs to the park owner.
Chief Leonard has spoken to the owner and explained that a bill may be forthcoming. He believes there will be an issue with this.
ITEM 16. Review & Sign of Town Warrant 28, 2 & 2A and Payroll 2
ITEM 17. Adjournment
Motion by Councilor Perkins to adjourn the July 16, 2012 Council Meeting. Seconded by Councilor Friedman. No further discussion. Voted 5-0 in favor at 9:48 PM.
A true record, Attest:
Amanda Blethen
Assistant Clerk
Town of Veazie
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