SELECTBOARD MEETING MINUTES
Monday December 19, 2011
4:30 PM
ATTENDANCE: David King, Dale Chadbourne, Todd McPhee & Lloyd Coombs, Road Commissioner Jack Shaw, Senator Seth Goodall, Representative Peter Kent, Deputy Commissioner of MDOT Bruce Van Note and several members of the public
WORKSHOP WITH MDOT: Bruce Van Note, Deputy Commissioner of MDOT received comments from the public and the Selectpeople regarding the condition of the Middle Road. There was a lot of discussion, complaints and suggestions of what needs to be done to the Middle Road. Basically the road needs a lot of repair and/or reconstruction but the State doesn’t have any money to accomplish that. None-the-less, he knows how the town’s folk, Selectpeople and the Road Commissioner feel about the Middle Road. It is due to be hot topped next summer. Mr. Van Note assured us that he would be responsive to our situation unlike his predecessors who have not been real forthcoming at times with information regarding the Middle Road. He says his email address is bavan@maine.gov if we want to contact him that way. The workshop ended at 5:30.
6:00 PM
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Prior to the beginning of the regular Selectboard Meeting, the Administrator, Lynette Eastman, led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country.
SPECIAL GUEST: Michael Jenkins, RD, USDA was invited to speak with the Selectboard regarding what sort of financing is available to the Town from the USDA. Woolwich qualifies for Rural Development funding as we are a community with less than 10,000 in population and they lend money for community facilities. Our proposed addition to the town office qualifies as a community facility. The current interest rate for such a loan is 3.75% fixed rate for the duration of the loan. The interest rate is reviewed quarterly but averages around 4%. We can choose to have a monthly payment or just one annual payment and there is no prepay penalty. They will work with the architects, engineers, etc. They do a site walk once a month and make sure the project is timely and being done properly. There is a competitive bidding process and the lowest bidder receives the contract. The contractor has to be insured and bonded. The building must be ADA compliant. We should contact Michael after the first of the year to start the process. There are no fees and no penalties for applying or withdrawing.
PREVIOUS MEETING’S MINUTES: It was moved, seconded and voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the December 5, 2011 Selectboard meeting as written.
SELECTMEN’S COMMENTS: Lloyd commented that the Woolwich School 7th & 8th graders will be doing their annual stroll to the Town Office on behalf of the food bank. They will arrive about 10:15 AM at which time the Recreation Committee will be serving them hot cocoa and cookies. Lloyd also commented that this is Todd’s last Selectboard meeting and that it’s been an honor and pleasure to sit next to someone who has done so much for the town during his tenure. Todd said that he attended a jail authority meeting. There’s the same problem that been going on. The State wants prisoners in there but doesn’t want to pay to keep them there. They want us to fund it, and we are. The State is paying $22.00 a head but it costs about $40.00 to fund it. Right now only about 42% of the prisoners are from Lincoln and Sagadahoc Counties. The remainders are from other counties. Todd said that it would seem we built a jail for the state and other counties and we should be patting ourselves on the back for it.
Dave also commented that it had been a pleasure to serve with Todd. At this time, Dave awarded Todd with a plaque recognizing his years of service to the Town of Woolwich. David also commented that thanks to the loan of a power lift from Kennebec Equipment Rental, he and Lloyd were able to put new lights on the tree in front of the Municipal Building.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Jason Shaw said that the Reed Road Bridge is now complete. David said that he rode across it the other day and it looks very nice. Dave is bemused by the fact that MDOT wants to spend over $400,000.00 on the Dana Mill Bridge but doesn’t have any money for the Middle Road.
ROAD COMMISSIONER’S REPORT: Jack said that there are no issues to report. He had spoken with a man about his culvert but will wait until spring to fix it. Todd asked Jack if they had to sand Route 1 at all. They had not.
FIRE CHIEF’S REPORT: Geoff was unable to attend and did not submit a report. David said that he received a call from Dana Lindsey on Saturday or Sunday morning letting him know that the office was open and unlocked. He viewed the surveillance video and saw that the cleaning lady had closed and locked the doors behind her Friday night. It also showed that a person came in to use the copier during the weekend and left without closing the door behind them. It looked like it might be Geoff and David just wanted to speak with him to make sure. If it wasn’t Geoff then David wants to know who it would have been. Todd expressed his concern about how traffic was being handled during a rerouting for an accident. The Fire Dept. person was directing Todd to turn when there was still a vehicle coming from the other direction. The person directing traffic wasn’t happy about Todd not moving but if he had turned he would have been “cleaned out”. Todd questioned whether the Fire Dept should be directing traffic or if it should be the Sheriff’s Dept. David has also seen some close calls in the past. He wondered if they ever have any training in traffic control. Arthur Brawn said that they use to have training but he doesn’t think anything is happening now. Dave said we should look into it and see what’s going on. Jason Shaw commented about not having representation from the Fire Department at several of the Selectboard meetings recently. He questioned why the Chief wasn’t at either of the meetings with MDOT regarding the Dana Mill Road Bridge or the Middle Road. David said that he had asked to have FD representation at both meetings. Jason said he saw a couple of fire fighters here for the Dana Mill Road Bridge meeting. David was surprised that nobody from the FD was here for the Middle Rd meeting as that road must present as much of a problem for them as anyone else. Jason’s point was whether or not the Selectboard knew beforehand that the Chief wasn’t going to be here. Geoff sent an email to Lynette at 11:51 PM Friday saying he would not be able to attend but that he would send a report. He never sent a report. David received the email when he came in for the MDOT meeting today. David will try to get him to attend the first meeting in January and they will address it then.
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER’S REPORT: Things are going along smoothly. He received an answer on the State’s position regarding the Montsweag Roadhouse septic system issue. Jim Jacobson has written to Pine Tree Engineering. They had requested of the State to be able to use the old system two days a week as necessary at their discretion. Mr. Jacobson’s response was that it wasn’t in the cards and there is no supporting documentation numbers. They (the State) will be opening a new investigation as to why that would be necessary. Mr. Jones, whose failing septic system was discovered by DEP, has a contractor repairing it today and it should be done by tomorrow. Bruce received a call from Mr. Bachelder that the alarm on his system was going off. He directed him to call Affordable Well Drilling which was the contractor who installed the system. Bruce stopped by Mr. Bachelder’s today and he was expecting the contractor to show up that afternoon. Bruce followed up on a complaint of the guy living in a camper in the right of way down by Sasanoa Road. The person wasn’t at home so Bruce left him a card asking him to call.
OLD BUSINESS:
a. Recap of Dana Mill Bridge Meeting: Jason felt that we got positive feedback from that meeting, unlike today’s meeting.
b. Revisit January Selectboard meeting Schedule: Lynette thought that to avoid both Monday holiday’s in January, the Selectboard could hold their meetings on the 2nd and 4th Monday’s of that month. Dave has talked to Alison. She cannot make it to the meeting if it is changed to Monday the 9th. However, Lloyd is unable to make it to the meeting if it is held on Tuesday January 3rd. They agreed that Wednesday January 4th would be good for all parties involved for the first meeting in January. The second Selectboard meeting will be on Tuesday January 17th.
c. Nequasset Road Parking: Dale thinks that we should be taking advantage of roadside parking on the Nequasset Road now instead of waiting for the addition on the building. We currently experience problems with not having enough parking when we have sizable meetings and events. David asked Jack if there is money in the budget to do that. Jack said it wouldn’t cost a whole lot. The Town’s right of way is about 33 feet from the center of the road. One space could be marked as a “no parking” space to allow Phil Baker access to his property. Todd said that Phil Baker should be contacted to have him there when the road is measured. It’s not sure if the road is a 3 or 4 rod road. The state thinks it is a 4 rod road but without historical records it’s better to consider it 3 rods. Jack will get an idea where the boundary is before we have a meeting. Todd recommended having an agreement with Mr. Baker.
d. Other: Lloyd asked again whether the town would be charged to use the school. Lynette had called the Superintendent’s office and had spoken with Allison. She said that Bath isn’t charged to use the Jr. High and Phippsburg is not charged to use the school. She assumed that we would not be charged either. Lynette is to call the Superintendent’s office to see if he can come to a Selectboard meeting after the first of the year. Lynette will find out if there is a written policy. The school allocation is supposed to be examined every three years. We should have Tim Harkins and Robin Buczkowski come in with the Superintendent as well, to discuss this.
NEW BUSINESS:
a. Wiscasset Recreation Dept: No representative showed up. Charlotte Hagan said that the Wiscasset Recreation Dept was going to offer a free two week membership to everyone in Woolwich. Flyers will be mailed out soon.
b. Review Planning Board Member Applications: The consensus is to wait until after the first of the year when there is a full Selectboard seated.
c. Sales Analysis Report: It was moved, seconded and voted unanimously to approve the Sales Analysis Report. The report was signed by the Selectpeople.
d. New Business Other: Jason said he had seen an email about the Stoney Creek Drive Property that the Town is selling. David explained that the Selectpeople agreed to sell at the recommended price as long as they don’t have to do any of the septic surveying and that sort of thing.
David recognized Todd who then made the motion to adjourn.
Adjourned 7:00 PM
Lynette R. Eastman,
Administrator
Approved:_____________________
cc: Selectboard/Staff