Members Present: Rob Browne, Lauchlin Titus, and John Melrose

Others Present: Mary Sabins, Mary Grow, Mike Poulin, Mike Levesque, Paul Mitnik, Shane Cole, Shawn Bragg, Mike Vashon, George Hamar, Linda Titus, Cathy Coyne, Debbie Johnston, and Jean Poulin

1. Call to order – The meeting was called to order by Chairman Titus at 6:28 p.m.

2. Minutes – On a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the 6/11/20 meeting as written.

3. Intern Mike Levesque introduced himself and gave his educational background. He explained that he is working as a summer intern through the Margaret Chase Smith Internship Program and is helping to compile an electronic database of our cemetery burials. He has begun his work in the Cross Hill Cemetery on June 1st and is nearly complete with that cemetery. His next project will be the North Vassalboro Village Cemetery. The Board welcomed Mike and thanked him for his efforts.

Immediately after the meet-and-greet with summer intern Levesque, a meeting recess was taken so staff could spend a few minutes to thank Lauchlin Titus for his 12 years of service as a Selectman. This was his last official Board meeting. Gifts, well wishes, and funny stories were exchanged, followed by light refreshments.

4. CEO Paul Mitnik explained to the Board an enforcement issue that he has been working on at property owned by Jason Garfield. He has issued a notice of violation and is working to get the site cleaned up. Chairman Titus stated that a resident had mentioned to him that the Charette junkyard property is also out of compliance. CEO Mitnik stated he was aware of the problem and warned Mr. Charette that if he didn’t clean up the property, Mr. Mitnik would not recommend renewal of his junkyard permit.

5. Carry forward amounts into next fiscal year – The Board reviewed a spreadsheet prepared by Sabins containing proposed dollar amounts to be carried forward into next fiscal year to be combined with the new fiscal year budget for planned expenditures that were not yet completed in the current fiscal year. Sabins reviewed each line item and discussion was given. After discussion and on a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to approve items 1-4 and 7-12, changing line #7 to “balance at year end”. The list of these carry forward items will be attached to and become part of these minutes. Line item #6 on the spreadsheet represented the carry forward amount request for the Fire Department (FD). Fire Department member Mike Vashon was present at the meeting for discussion and requested that the Selectmen carry forward unexpended money from the FD budget for pagers. After discussion, and on a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to carry forward up to $2,000 from the fire department budget into next fiscal year to purchase FD pagers for its members. Item #6 on the spreadsheet represented carry forward funds for large culvert replacement work on the Gray and Cross Hill Roads. On a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to carry forward up to $25K from the public works budget for the Cross Hill and Gray Road culvert projects. Please click here to see carry forward spreadsheet.

6. Quit Claim Deed – Without discussion and on a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to sign the quit claim deed to return tax-acquired property located at 75 Whitehouse Road to prior owners Maryanne Livingstone and Nicholas Melanson after payment of all three years of taxes owed.

7. Annual appointments – The Board reviewed the list prepared by Sabins of all the annual appointments needing reappointment. The list also contained committee and board vacancies needing new appointments. The Board considered the vacancy on the Appeals Board and decided to add Steve Assante to one of the vacancies on that Board on the list. After discussion, and on a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to approve the list of needed appointments as amended, with the removal of Phil Allen from the Trail Committee who requested not to be reappointed. Other vacancies not filled will be listed on the town website seeking volunteers. The list of appointments has been included with and become a part of the meeting minutes. Please click here to see appointments.

8. Treasurer’s Warrants – On a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to approve warrants #67 and #68.

9. Reports – On a motion made by J. Melrose, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Road and Financial Reports as presented.

10. Other – 1. The culvert replacement project on the Cross Hill Road was discussed. An Army Corp of Engineers permit has been applied for by Jim Foster but Jim was told it could take up to three weeks for them to process the permit application and make a decision. Meanwhile the company sought to build the culvert says it will take them up to 10 weeks to build the culvert. Given that the DEP has set a narrow window when work can be done in the water, there may not be enough time to install the culvert before the deadline. The Board is hesitant to order a $50K+ priced culvert that may not be permitted by the Corp. After discussion, the Board agreed by consensus not to take any action on ordering the culvert at this time. 2. J. Melrose stated that for this year only, the County tax bill is due in two smaller installments, rather than one large one in the fall. 3. A brief discussion was given about the Municipal Review Committee’s upcoming zoom meeting during which Sabins plans to watch and learn any update on the possible reopening of the Fiberight Plant in Hampden for solid waste disposal. Currently, the plant is closed and our solid waste is being deferred to a landfill site in Norridgewock.

11. Adjourn – There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.

/mss
These minutes were read and accepted by the Select Board on 7/23/20 with the following amendments:

J. Melrose noted that in Section 5, a correction is needed where reference is made to “Line item #6” while referring to the Fire Department (FD) budget carry forward money on the spreadsheet. The FD budget was actually listed as item number 5 on the list, not six.

Prior to noting this error, R. Browne had made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, but then accepted J. Melrose’s suggested correction to Section 5 as a friendly amendment. The motion was then seconded by J. Melrose and approved by the Board. (B. Redmond abstained as she was not a member of the Board at the time of that meeting.)