Vassalboro Select Board
Minutes of the Meeting
April 1, 2010

Members Present: Rob Browne, Lauchlin Titus, and Phil Haines

Others Present: Mary Sabins, George Gould, Mary Grow, Lee Field “The Lawn Guy”, and Mike Vashon (7:07).

  1. Call to order – The meeting was called to order by Chairman Browne at 7:00 p.m.


  2. Minutes – On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted 2-0-1 (R. Browne who was absent from the 3/18/10 meeting) to approve the minutes of the 3/18/10 meeting as written.

  3. New Business
    a .Lawn mowing bids – Sabins explained that the Town received 13 mowing bids. Bidders were given the option to provide a separate price on mowing lawns and cemeteries, and/or a combined price for both. The low bidder in the cemetery category called and retracted his bid on Monday morning stating he missed the large cemetery in the North when he prepared his bid, and that he could not perform the work for the low price he had submitted. The next lowest bid was from Lucas Jones of Lawns by Lucas, with a combined mowing price of $15,000. Sabins stated she had checked his references and all seemed happy with Mr. Jones’ performance. Mr. Jones indicated to Sabins that he planned to perform the mowing tasks by himself, without employees but that he felt certain he could do the work. Based on that information and after expressing concerns about the work load for one person, Sabins recommended to the Board that the mowing contract be awarded to the low bidder Lucas Jones. Brief discussion was given and some concerns were expressed about the amount of mowing work to be done by only one person. After discussion and on a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to award the mowing bid to Lucas Jones of Lawns by Lucas.

    b. Energy Committee appointments – On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to appoint Barry Bernier and Rick Denico as two additional members to the Community Energy Planning Committee.

    c. Shoreland Zone Mailing list – At the request of the Code Officer and on a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to certify the mailing list of those notified of the public hearing on the Shoreland Zone Ordinance changes by signing the document prepared by the Code Officer.

    d. Mike Vashon appeared at the meeting and asked the Board to put an article on the June town meeting warrant to require voter approval for any indebtedness beyond the current fiscal year. Selectman Titus stated that such an article won’t prevent mistakes in the future since the lack of such an article didn’t prevent such action in the past. Vashon stated that he was acting at the request of the Budget Committee and the Budget Committee is making the request. Chairman Browne expressed concern and questioned if such an article may ham-string management in case of emergency. No official action was taken.

  4. Reports - a) Status report – Sabins reviewed the three items on the status report and provided updated information on the Leo Barnett and Jonathan Blumberg cases. b) Road report – On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Road Report as presented. c) Police report – On a motion made by L .Titus, seconded by P. Haines, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Police Report as presented.

  5. Treasurer’s Warrants – On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by P. Haines, the Board voted unanimously to approve warrants #58 and #59.


  6. Other – a) At the request of the Town Clerk, and on a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to approve the list of election clerk appointments as presented by the Town Clerk. b) The Town Report dedication was discussed and the Board made a selection for the dedication. c) A quit claim deed was signed for Shane Willett. d) At the Code Officer’s request, Sabins informed the Board that the Code Officer plans to apply for a State Grant to assist a local mobile home park owner with his septic system replacement. e) Each member of the Board completed and signed required paperwork to decline membership in the Defined Benefit plan. f) L. Titus gave an update on the work of the new Energy Committee.

  7. Executive session – On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by P. Haines the Board voted unanimously at 7:47 p.m. to enter into an executive session pursuant to 1 MRSA, Section 405, subsection 6(A) to discuss a personnel matter. The Board returned to open session at 8:20 p.m.

  8. Adjourn – There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

/mss

These minutes were read and accepted by the Select Board on 4/15/10 with the following amendments: None.