Vassalboro Select Board
Minutes of the Meeting
April 15, 2010

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

Others Present: Mary Sabins, Mary Grow, George Gould, David Jenney, Kent London, and Gene Field (7:05).

  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 unanimously to approve the minutes of the 4/1/10 meeting as written.

  3. New Business – (taken out of order from the agenda)
    c. Recreation Committee Appointments – On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to appoint Peter Howard, Christopher Target, Jennifer Fischer, Ed Wasilewski, and Scott Reynolds to the Recreation Committee to replace the former members who recently resigned or confirmed they were no longer interested in serving on the committee.
    a. Pave bid – Public Works Director Gene Field stated that he recommends that the Board award the bid to the low bidder – Pike Industries. After brief discussion, and on a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to award the paving bid to Pike Industries for their bid prices of $75 per ton for shim, $73 per ton for overlay, and $85.40 per ton for base.
    b. Barrows Road discontinuance – Discussion was given about past attempts by previous Boards of Selectmen to discontinue the short section of the Barrows Road that remains a town road. The current owner of abutting property, China Lake Associates, was notified by mail that this item was on the agenda for tonight’s meeting and they made no contact with the town manager. After brief discussion with the public works director, all Board members agreed to continue on with the discontinuance process.
    e. Rail fence at the China Lake Park – Sabins explained that PW Director Gene Field had made an inquiry about removing the dilapidated rail fence that lines Rt. #32 by the Historical Society Building. Removal of the fence would allow extra room to push snow banks back, and reduce fence maintenance costs. Historical Society President Kent London was present at the meeting and stated that the section of the fence in front of the Historical Society is maintained by the Society; the fence section by the park and monument was added on to the Historical Society’s section after-the-fact by the town and seems to be in disrepair. On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to authorize the PW Director to remove the town portion of the rail fence.
    f. Public works department updates – Before leaving the meeting, PW Director Field informed the Board that he had received two estimates from Webber Energy ranging from $14,652 for a hot water furnace to $16,281 for a propane furnace replacement for the public works garage. These estimates were obtained at the request of the budget committee for future planning purposes. Gene also informed the Board that the septic holding tank at the recreation field needs to be re-seamed with water plug around the perimeter of the tank. Groundwater is seeping into the tank through the leaking mid-seam and causing the tank to fill prematurely.
    d. MMA executive committee nominations – No action taken at this time.

  4. Reports – a) Status Report – Sabins reviewed the items on the status report and provided updates. b) Road Report – On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by P. Haines, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Road Report as presented. c.) Financial Report –On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to approve the financial report.

  5. Treasurer’s Warrants – On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by P. Haines, the Board voted unanimously to approve warrants #62, #63, and #64.

  6. Other – a.) After discussion, and by consensus, the Board members agreed to reduce their recommended proposed wage increase amount for the town staff to 1.5% to match the recommendation of the Budget Committee. b.) L. Titus gave an update on the Library Association meeting where changes were made to the Association by-laws. The number of trustees was reduced from 15 to 9. David Jenney made mention of who’s who among the trustees. c.) L. Titus expressed a desire to keep the revenue received in the Leo Barnett court action in a separate revenue account, rather than netting the revenue back against the legal fees expense account for historical tracking of legal expenses. The other Board members agreed. d.) David Jenney provided an update on the work that the Conservation Commission has accomplished in acquiring the boat launch site on Seven Mile Stream, and a new offer from Laurah Brown to give her piece of land on Dam Road to the town.

  7. Adjourn - There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:11 p.m.

/mss

These minutes were read and accepted by the Select Board on 4/29/10 with the following amendments: None.