Selectmen Minutes

Town of Newburgh

DATE: 02-1-2016

CALL TO ORDER:Meeting called to order at 6:12 p.m.

ROLL CALL: __X__ Leonard (Bud) Belcher, _Absent___ Renee O`Donald,

__X__ Stanley (Skip) Smith, __X___ Cindy Grant

WARRANTS:AP# 101 = $1,183.00, AP #102 = $3,714.29, AP #103 = $2,526.00,

PY# 104 = $3,692.40, AP#105=$112,904.81, AP#106=$5,104.50

Selectman Belcher made a motion to accept the warrants as written, Selectman Smith seconded, motion carried 2-0

MINUTES: 1-19-2016 – Selectman Belcher made a motion to accept the minutes as written, Selectman Smith seconded, motion carried 2-0

DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

  1. Fire- Linda Hamilton reported for Fire for January. There were 4 Accidents, 1 chimney fire, 1 car fire, 2 Mutual Aid calls for Carmel and traffic control for flooding on Kennebec Road. Mrs. Hamilton also wanted the Board to be aware of how some of the auxiliary funds were spent: She reported that 11 families were helped at Thanksgiving and 17 children were given gifts at Christmas.
  2. Rescue- No one was present to report
  3. Roads- Town Manager Grant reported that she is working with Unitel regarding the storm damage in January. Unitel is submitting an insurance claim for damage done during the rain storm. Damage was done on the North Road due to tree cutting that was done by Unitel. Cindy will be submitting a bill to Unitel to include with their claim for our cost of the repairs on that road. Selectman Smith questioned when we will be posting our roads. Town Manager Grant said that she will get this going this week.
  4. Recreation – No Report
  5. Library – Nothing to Report
  6. Town Managers –
  • School Meetings - Town Manager Grant and Selectman Belcher attended the last school board meeting. Cindy reported that all towns in the district will be meeting with the superintendent on 2/25 to go over budget issues for the upcoming budget vote. There is a construction project in the works which will affect each town’s budget for upcoming years as well as possible increased pay/benefits for teachers. The four towns have agreed to meet a week ahead of this meeting to review the information and prepare for the meeting with the superintendent.
  • Water Testing – The Hampden Water District has always done our water testing for free. However, due to insurance reasons, etc. they will now be charging for the testing which is done quarterly. Due to the need to pay for this service now, an RFP has been distributed. Cindy will meet on Thursday at 10 a.m. with the potential new testing company and RSU representatives to determine who will be hired.
  • Fire Extinguishers – The fire extinguishers are not inspected in the building. Cindy met with the fire extinguisher company this week to review what is required for the building. Guay Fire Equipment, Inc. will certify the extinguishers that meet the requirements and provide new extinguishers as needed to meet current requirements for the Town and Pre-school. We will be required to pay for half of this cost. These need to be texted once monthly.
  • Digitizing Tax Maps – Cindy and Assessor Robbins have discussed doing this, but it is very expensive. Town Manager Grant’s recommendation in to wait until after Jacki has completed the four year re-evaluation process is completed. The Board agreed to wait on this.

OLD BUSINESS:

  1. MRC & PERC update – PERC Meeting at Jeff’s Catering, Contracts – Town Manager Grant attended an informational meeting held by PERC. She reported that PERC has agreed to pay for

a legal review of their contract as MRC/Fiberight had done for their potential contract. MRC has already presented their final contract and expects municipalities to sign off in the very near future. Brewer has already signed on with MRC/Fiberight. Cindy is not confident that MRC is the right choice for Newburgh. There are too many unforeseen charges that could be added on later, but once you are in the contract, there will be no choice but to accept the additional charges. EcoMaine has come into the picture as well as they do trash disposal as well as recycling. Both MRC and PERC have had independent studies done. PERC’s results are on their website; however MRC’s information is not available for viewing.

Town Manager Grant suggested that the Board can meet with PERC and MRC to review options and discuss what each can offer to Newburgh. Ultimately, this will be a Town Meeting vote.

NEW BUSINESS: None

TABLED UNTIL SPRING:

  1. Road Paving Project –
  2. Paving North County Rd-.
  3. Fire Pond Dry Hydrant -

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Linda Hamilton questioned when a newsletter will be sent out. Cindy responded that the newsletter budget is just about gone, so we are holding off until closer to Town Meeting. Cindy noted that the E-newsletter goes out weekly and is received by over 200 households.

SELECTMEN’S COMMENTS:

ADJOURN: Selectman Belcher made a motion to adjourn, Selectman Smith seconded, meeting adjourned at 7:46 P.M.