Vassalboro Select Board
Minutes of the Meeting
January 6, 2011

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

Others Present: Mary Sabins, Nikki Wasilewski, Mary Grow, Mr. and Mrs. Lance Cloutier and child, John Picher, Rick Denico, Jennifer Fisher, and Gary Coull

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

2. Minutes – On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the 12/9/11 meeting as written.

3. New Business – a. Recreation program funding – Sabins explained that she and the recreation director had discussed the possibility of the town taking over the bookkeeping duties for the different sporting divisions of the town recreation department to eliminate the need for multiple checking accounts. Recreation director Nikki Wasilewski stated that she was in favor of the proposal because it would relieve her of many concerns, but some of her sports commissioners were not in favor of turning over their accounts. Much discussion was given about the possible change, but no official action was taken by the Board stating that they didn’t want to micromanage the department. Discussion was also given about the need for by-laws for the recreation department to operate by. Nikki provided a sample set of by-laws that she and the committee members had drafted. Selectman Browne stated that he had seen the by-law draft and did not approve of them in their present form. Amendments are still needed. The Selectmen encouraged the committee to make amendments to the by-laws as previously recommended to them by the Town Manager and to bring them back for another discussion and possible adoption by the Board. Also discussed was the need to improve the drainage around the recreation fields. Engineer John Picher presented a topographical map of the recreation fields created by Morin Land Surveying to which he had added the draft of the proposed changes for drainage improvements. Recreation Director Nikki Wasilewski requested approval from the Selectmen to write a grant for partial funding for the drainage improvements, which she received approval on a motion made from P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, and voted unanimously by the Board. b. China Lake dam repairs – Sabins explained that the wood in the China Lake dam gates have rotted and the gates need to be replaced. The roof in the gatehouse is also in bad condition and needs to be replaced. An estimate for the work has been provided by H.E. Callahan Construction of Auburn at $14,000. Audience member Rick Denico offered that he has experience with organizing dam repair work in the northern part of Maine and would be willing to call the contractor who performed that work to obtain another estimate for the China Lake dam. The Board and Sabins accepted the offer. Newly elected Kennebec Water District Trustee Gary Coull was present for the discussion and provided history on the dam operations and maintenance from his recollection and perspective. Once the estimates are in, the Selectmen agreed they would like to ask the Town of China and the Water District to come to a meeting to discuss financial assistance with the project, since those two parties have an interest in preserving the dam. c. Gravedigger application – Without discussion and on a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Brown, the Board voted unanimously to sign the gravedigger application for Fred Bragdon for the 2011 calendar year.

4. Other items (taken out of agenda order) – Rick Denico stated that he had learned recently through research that many years ago the Selectmen had adopted a policy to allow the Superintendent and members of the school finance committee to sign a warrant to approve payment for school expenses in lieu of Selectmen’s signatures on the warrant. The policy was supposed to be renewed annually, but had never been renewed. Rick is on the school finance committee and signs the warrant for school expenses every two weeks and requested that the Board renew the policy to cover him. Prior to tonight’s meeting, Sabins had been alerted to this problem and she prepared a draft policy for the Selectmen to review and adopt at the meeting if approved. After brief discussion and on a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to sign the policy as prepared.

5. Reports – a. Status report – The status report was reviewed and L. Titus gave a brief update to the other Board members about decisions made to make temporary changes to the streetlight near Jon Blumberg’s home as a result of his complaints. After discussion and on a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Status Report. b. Road report – On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Road Report as presented. c. Police report – On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Police Report as presented. d. Financial Report - On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the November Financial Report as presented.

6. Treasurer’s Warrants – On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to approve warrants #37 and #38.

7. Other items (continued) – 1. Sabins stated that the annual financial report was available from MMA risk pool insurance. No action taken. 2. Sabins updated the Board concerning the heat outage experienced in the town office on Monday of this week and the repairs to the air handling system that were needed. The building maintenance expense line will be overdraft as a result of the problem.

8. Executive session – On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously at 9:27 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 10:05 p.m. and took no formal action.

9. Adjourn – There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 10:05 p.m.

/mss

These minutes were read and accepted by the Select Board on 1/20/11 with the following amendments: None.