Members Present: Rob Browne, Lauchlin Titus, and Phil Haines
Others Present: Mary Sabins, Mary Grow, Lori Fowle, Peter Allen, Ray Breton, Darrell Gagnon (7:20), and abatement applicant.
1. Call to order – The meeting was called to order by Chairman Haines at 7:00 p.m.
2. Minutes – On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the 7/16/15 and 8/4/15 meetings as written.
3. First Responders’ Policy and Procedure Manual – New First Responder Assistant Chief Peter Allen introduced himself to the Board. Sabins explained that the policy presented tonight contained a lot of the contents from our existing Employee Handbook, plus rules added pertaining to protocols for patient care and responding to emergency calls. This is the second version of the policy with typos and grammatical errors corrected; the first version was reviewed almost a year ago. After brief discussion, and on a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to approve and sign the First Responders’ Policy and Procedure Manual as presented. Peter gave the Board an update on the number of calls the Service has responded to, and the Board members thanked Peter and his fellow First Responder members for their service and volunteerism.
4. Ray Breton explained that the Town’s Shoreland Zone Ordinance is stricter than other towns and allows for only a 15% increase in building footprint where other towns around us allow for a 30% increase. He explained that work done under a camp in the Town of China is not considered expansion, but in Vassalboro it is. Ray has a planned project on his property in the North Village Area that is in the Shoreland Zone, and he needs the larger increase size allowance to complete his project. Ray asked the Board to consider asking the Planning Board to begin the process to amend the Town’s Shoreland Zone Ordinance to allow a 30% increase, and to not consider underground work in the calculation formula. Chairman Haines wondered if the new Code Enforcement Officer Dick Dolby is on board with the proposed changes, and asked Sabins to ask the CEO to provide his recommendation on the issue for the next Board meeting. The Board took no formal action on this item tonight, but will take it up again at the September 10th meeting for further discussion.
5. Volunteer recognition event (Taken out of agenda order while waiting for Darrell Gagnon to arrive at the meeting.) Sabins reintroduced the idea of a cookout to recognize town volunteers to possibly be held at the recreation fields. This subject was discussed at the last Board meeting, but no decision was made because not all Board members were present. After discussion, the Board agreed to give the event a try, and to schedule Sunday, September 13th at noon as the event day. Lori Fowle suggested the school might also be a good venue for the event. Sabins will make some calls to the recreation director and try to put a plan together and will provide progress reports to the Selectmen.
6. Darrell Gagnon asked the Select Board to consider extending his current one year $7,900 contract to mow the recreation fields, to a three year contract. He provided a price of $7,925 for 2016 and $7,975 for 2017. Selectman Browne stated that the ball fields look good and he thought Darrell has done a nice job mowing them this year. Darrell stated he had also repaired the grub spots on the soccer field to improve the looks and the grass growth. After brief discussion, and on a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to approve Darrell’s ball field mowing contract extension for two more years.
7. Reports – a. Road Report - On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the report as presented. b. First Responders’ Report - On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R .Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the report as presented, with acknowledgment from Lauchlin Titus that the graphic picture of the remains of an automobile after extrication of a patient included on the report was very impactful. c. Financial Report - On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the report as presented. d. Police Report - On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the report as presented.
8. Treasurer’s Warrants – On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to approve warrants #10 and #11.
9. Other – 1. Sabins read an email from PW Director Gene Field that he had received from Mudget Hill Road Resident Randy McKiel requesting the speed limit on his road be lowered from 35 mph, which he felt was too high. Speed limits for all town roads are set by the Maine Department of Transportation after written request by the Town. After discussion, and on a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to authorize the Town Manager to send a letter to the Maine Department of Transportation to request a speed limit survey on Mudget Hill Road. 2. At the end of the meeting, one member of the public in the meeting room requested a children playing sign near his home on Main Street. He is concerned a child crossing the street to get to the play and swim areas in the North Village area is going to get hit by a car that is moving too fast.
10. Executive Session – On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted at 7:56 p.m. to enter into executive session pursuant to 36 MRSA Section 841 to consider an abatement request. The Board returned to open session at 8:10 p.m. and, on a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to grant an abatement for the 2013 taxes, interest, and costs to date on the account which they considered in executive session.
11. 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 9/10/15 with the following amendments: None.