Vassalboro Select Board
Minutes of the Meeting
January 26, 2017

Members Present: Lauchlin Titus, Phil Haines, and Rob Browne (8:00 p.m.)

Others Present: Mary Sabins, Mary Grow, Bill & Roxanne Pullen, Holly Weidner, Steve Assante, and Frank Richards.

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 L. Titus, the Board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the 1/12/17 meeting as written.

3. Paul Vesel of Realterm Energy distributed proposal handouts to the Selectmen and to those present in the room who desired to follow along. He described his company, and the LED streetlight conversion projects his company has undertaken as well as a project currently underway in the Falmouth area. Paul described how the cost for the new streetlights would be paid back to the Town in cost avoidance savings in just over three years, not including the cost to buy-out the old fixtures from Central Maine Power. Discussion ensued over the next hour, with participation from the audience in attendance. The Board thanked Paul for attending the meeting. More research will be undertaken by the Town in the near future to see if this conversion is cost effective for the town.

Rob Browne arrived at the meeting at this time (8:00 p.m.)

4. Frank Richards stated that he is a newly elected Kennebec Water District (KWD) Trustee representing Vassalboro. Frank was looking for input from the Selectmen to bring to the table at the KWD meetings. Chairman Titus explained to Frank the contract history the town has with KWD to operate the China Lake Outlet Stream Dam. Discussion was given as to the Town’s support for the reintroduction of alewives into China Lake through financial support from the TIF revenues and also the Alewife Harvesting revenues. Frank would like to see KWD provide more financial support to the alewife restoration to China Lake project and he requested that the Selectmen send a letter to KWD in that regard. Chairman Titus agreed to send such a letter. General discussion was also given and references made to a Webber Pond and Sebasticook Lake water quality improvement handout provided by Mr. Richards.

5. Holly Weidner stated she would not speak tonight on the Route #32 issue, but rather the Board’s propensity to flat line budget for health and welfare issues. She would like to change the Board’s position on that. She described how the Town had spent over $500K in the last two years for fire trucks, but only a few thousand for Family Violence and other outside agencies. The Board explained how they try to keep the mil rate and taxes down, but they felt Holly had raised a good point to ponder. Chairman Titus suggested that Holly send an email to the Budget Committee Members stating her position on this matter prior to budget season.

6. Liquor License – Sabins reported that she had made the annual call to Investigator Craig McCabe, and Mr. McCabe stated that there was no issue with relicensing Natanis Golf Club for another year. On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by L. Titus, the Board voted two in favor, one abstained (R. Browne, club owner) to renew the liquor license for Natanis Golf Club.

7. Reports – a. Road Report - On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the report as presented. b. Financial Report - On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the report as presented.

8. Treasurer’s Warrants – On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to approve warrants #40 and #41.

9. Other – 1. Selectman Browne will not be available to attend the next meeting on Feb. 9th. The other two Selectmen will be available so we will have a quorum and therefore, no need to reschedule. 2. Sabins announced that a “Services for Seniors Fair” is being planned by the Senior Citizens Working Group. The event will be held on Thursday, May 25th from 12-4 at the town office.

10. Executive session – No executive session was called, since the applicant did not appear for this scheduled revisit. On a motion made by P. Haines, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to authorize Sabins to abate the remaining 2014 taxes, interest, and costs for applicant case #16-03 after the applicant’s final $300 payment is made in the first few days of February.

11. Adjourn – There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

/mss

These minutes were read and accepted by the Select Board on 2/9/17 with the following amendments: None.