Vassalboro Select Board
Minutes of the Meeting
May 10, 2012

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

Others Present: Mary Sabins, Mary Grow, Dick Phippen, 19 Erskine Academy students, Sarah Sugden and her family.

1. Call to order – The meeting was called to order by Chairman Haines at 7:00 p.m. and he gave a brief overview of town government functions for the Erskine Academy students in the audience.

2. Minutes – Selectman Phil Haines requested the following grammatical change to the 4/26/12 minutes: On page two, section 7, a comma should be added between the words “present” and “within” in the last sentence of the paragraph. On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the 4/26/12 meeting as amended.

3. Sarah Sugden introduced herself and explained that her position with the Waterville Library gives her an opportunity to work with the Department of Corrections. Through her discussions with them, she has learned that a perception exists that the Town of Vassalboro has a big problem with delinquency and substance abuse among its young people, and Sarah wants to look at the issue. She stated that she loves Vassalboro and wants to dispel the reputation that Vassalboro is a “scuzzy” little town. Since the room was full of Erskine Academy students who were completing a school assignment by being in attendance, Sarah and the Selectmen sought the feedback of the students as to the statements made about delinquency and “bad stuff” happening in town. Most students in the room felt that Vassalboro students were blamed, but problems exist in other towns as well. When asked if the students were aware that the town had a curfew ordinance, about half of the students in the room acknowledged they knew about the ordinance. Officer Phippen stated that the ordinance is enforced when necessary. After Sarah inquired if the Board would be willing to allow a Community Forum to discuss the issue, the Selectmen asked Sarah to spearhead the forum, and Chairman Haines agreed to participate in the forum but stated he was unclear of the goal of the group. No specific instance of delinquency or “bad stuff” was cited during the 45-minute discussion.

4. Sign town meeting warrant – With little discussion and on a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to sign the Town Meeting Warrant as presented.

5. Selectmen’s summer meeting dates – After brief discussion, the Board members chose July 19th and August 16th as the summer meeting dates. Selectman Titus offered to host the summer picnic for the employees at his residence this year and it was decided to put the subject on the next meeting agenda to establish the plans for the event.

6. MMA Legislative Policy Committee – No action taken.

7. Reports – a. Status Report – On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the report as presented. b. Road Report - On a motion made by L. Titus, seconded by R. Browne, the Board voted unanimously to accept the report as presented. c. 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 #58 and #59.

9. Other – 1. Sabins informed the Board that the Recreation Department had raised funds for a used lawn tractor and that Sabins had helped them prepared bid specifications to obtain the tractor. The bid will be awarded at the Selectmen’s June 7th meeting.

10. 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 May 24, 2012 with the following amendments: None.