July 5, 2011

1. Meeting called to order by Chairman Bill Thompson at 7:00 PM. Present were selectmen Kent Burdin, Michael Dexter, Rick Lander, and Peter Martell and guests Bill Pearson from the Piscataquis Observer and Paul Zimmerman from The Red Maple Inn, along with several members of the public attending the bid openings.

2. Motion made by Lander, seconded by Burdin to approve minutes of the prior meeting. Unanimous.

3. Balance sheets distributed and accepted.

4. Manager presented brochure for 64th Annual Property Tax School registration to board members. No action required.

5. Letter of resignation from Planning Board received from Tony Davis read. Motion to accept “with regret and appreciation” made by, Martell, seconded by Lander; carried by unanimous vote.

6. Letter from Guilford Economic Partnership read thanking the town and its crew for the great job done on the access road to the food pantry. Chairman Thompson thanked them for their letter and expressed gratitude for the time commitment and the very positive effort put forth by Al and Laurel Hunt at the food pantry.

7. Tax acquired property bid openings: 

• Parcel #1, Water Street land; three bids; high bid of $5,123.00 awarded to Ingo Pfotenhauer on a Burdin motion and Dexter second. Unanimous.
• Parcel #2, 9 Morse Avenue; no bids. Motion made by Martell, seconded by Burdin to approach neighbors to check their interest and negotiate sale. Unanimously voted.
• Parcel #3, Elm Street, one bid; awarded to Guilford Economic Partnership for $2,500.00 with tank salvage money accruing to the town following a Burdin motion which was seconded by Dexter. Unanimous.
• Parcel #4, 294 Water Street, land and buildings; six bids; high bid of $41,119.80 awarded to Lori Dumont subsequent to a motion from Lander, seconded by Dexter, and unanimous vote.

8. Engagement letter from newly selected audit firm read and reviewed by board. Language appeared to be standard and manager signed and returned as required.

9. A public hearing was held as required for Rhoda Storen, d/b/a The Covered Bridge Riverside Restaurant for a Class A Restaurant liquor license. Motion made by Lander, seconded by Dexter to approve the application. Unanimous.

10. Manager recounted the process to select the 2011 mil rate which was finally set at .01320, a 37 cent increase per thousand dollars of value over last year.

11. A revision to the personnel policy was presented for board review. Amendments including Simple IRA contributions and clarifying compensatory time were included among the updates. Burdin requested language be inserted to ensure compensatory time was at the employee’s option and this was accordingly done. It was moved by Dexter, seconded by Martell to accept the revisions and adopt this as the 2011 Version. Manager stated he would distribute copies to all personnel.

12. Manager expressed concerns over the recent developments at the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s office regarding overtime and part time budget issues. The Sheriff has been told in no uncertain terms that any warrants for payroll in excess of the budgeted amounts (which have already been reached,) will not be signed. Letters from the County Manager also went out to all deputies advising them that they may wish to refuse overtime assignments as they would not be compensated for same. It may well be that police protection and coverage is limited in months ahead, as the department must now choose how to allocate its limited funds and may have to choose to ignore certain types of calls or complaints. It was noted that the Town would have been in a bad position had we accepted the ill conceived contract offered by the County a few months back.

13. There were no assessor’s issues raised at this meeting.

14. Under Other Business, Paul Zimmerman was introduced and he presented a change request to his amusement permit to allow the use of a mechanical bull on the grounds of his establishment, the Red Maple Inn. Lander moved to accept the change, Dexter seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. The Beer Tent concession at the River Festival was discussed and it was voted to place the Red Maple in second position, as a back-up plan, in the event the prior and current vendor decides not to participate. This was moved by Dexter with a Lander second and followed by a unanimous vote.
 
15. Following a motion from Burdin and a Lander second, the meeting was adjourned at 8:17 PM.