MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN



Town of Greenwood

Regular Meeting of the Selectboard

June 21, 2006

1. Open Meeting – Chair Loretta Mikols called the meeting to order at 5:00pm with Selectperson Wayne Hakala, Selectperson Fred Henderson, Town Manager Kimberly Sparks, and Deputy Clerk Angela Lovejoy in attendance.

2. Pledge of Allegiance – Recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

3. Warrants – It was motioned and seconded to accept Warrant #24 ($14,241.04), and Warrant #25 ($84,927.81). Motion passed 3-0.

4. Minutes – It was motioned and seconded to accept the minutes of June 6, 2006 as written. Motion passed 3-0.

5. Comments from the Public – No one was present to make any comments.

6. Update on Fred Seger Driveway – Town Manager Sparks mentioned that Seger was not happy with his new address. Selectperson Henderson said that Seger did not want to have to change his mailing address on all of his personal accounts. He had decided to make the driveway for the second house come out on Spruce Lane instead of his driveway. That way he would not have to name his driveway and change his address. Selectperson Hakala motioned and Selectperson Henderson seconded to “do away” with their previous motion to accept Cedar Lane. Motion Passed 3-0.

7. Constable Position – Town Manager Sparks mentioned they needed to decide on a constable. Selectperson Henderson mentioned he thought Dick Fournier was a better candidate for the job. He was a lot more experienced, mature, and lived in Town. Selectperson Hakala agreed, saying the other candidate might be good in a future position. He thought Fournier would be willing to step up and do other things as well as constable. Selectperson Mikols agreed. Hakala made a motion to hire Richard Fournier to be Greenwood’s Constable. There was discussion on this motion. Mikols said she thought it was up to Sparks to hire the constable where he would be under her authority. Therefore she did not think there was a need for a motion. Hakala agreed and withdrew his motion. Henderson said he was concerned about the issue of the constable carrying a firearm. He said he thought the Board should do more research on what the liabilities were so which ever way they decided – to carry a firearm or not – they had backup for their decision. Mikols said they needed to clearly define the scope of the constable’s job. She said they were not looking for him to take care of criminal activity, just beach patrol, overweight violators, and such. She said she wasn’t in favor of the constable carrying a firearm, but maybe some pepper spray or something similar. Hakala agreed. If the situation got out of hand, the constable should back off and radio for help from other authorities. Sparks will check into the issue. She asked how the Selectboard wanted to pay the constable. Hakala said he was thinking $250 a year plus calls. Mikols said she was thinking more like $2,000 per year plus calls. She said there was a lot of danger involved and it was a skilled position. It was decided to pay Fournier a $1000 stipend and $10 per hour plus mileage. Hakala suggested making Fournier Fire Police also.

8. Resolution Regarding Travis York Property – Town Manager Sparks mentioned that she had received a letter from the Bethel Selectboard regarding the Travis York property on the town line. Previously, the property was taxed half in Bethel, and half in Greenwood. A survey was done and it was determined that the entire house was in Greenwood and only a very small parcel of land was in Bethel. The Selectboard signed the resolution agreeing that the Town of Bethel would assess .02 acres of the parcel in their town and the Town of Greenwood would assess the entire building and the remaining acreage in their town.

9. EMA Update – Selectperson Hakala mentioned that he had attended an Emergency Management meeting and was taken back at the amount of information passed out. He said none had been forwarded to the Selectboard in the past. The biggest issue facing the Town currently was the threat of a pandemic flu. He said the Selectboard needed to get the word out on preparing for a serious situation. Town Manager Sparks said she was passing out information that Hakala had given to her and had it available at the Office. Hakala said there might come a time when the Town Office was open only one day a week due to the flu. He said he was not sure if the Board had ever adopted an ordinance for Emergency Management. Deputy Clerk Lovejoy mentioned she thought that it was discussed in the past (3-4 years ago) that former Fire Chief Raymond Seames had been working on one but she wasn’t sure if he had finished it. Hakala said the ordinance would give the Emergency Director the ability to call an emergency. Selectperson Mikols asked Town Manager Sparks to research the issue. Hakala said meeting representatives at the EM meeting were encouraging Towns to provide laptops and radios to their Emergency Director and Hakala was enquiring on grants for these. Mikols mentioned the State recommended that the EM Director not be the Fire Chief and she was thinking the job might fit nicely with Town Constable. The Board agreed to ask the new Greenwood Constable if he was interested in the job.

10. Ron Testa’s Septic on Maggie Ring Park – Town Manager Sparks mentioned that Mr. Testa was in and told her that his septic system had failed. The tank and the leach field needed to be replaced. He said the tank could go in the same spot, but the leach field had to be moved because the current spot was not in compliance. He said he had a new spot marked out. The Board decided to do a site review to make sure the new spot did not affect the proposed entrance or parking lot to the hiking trails. Selectperson Henderson mentioned that Testa should put up a fence around the leach field. Mikols said they should also keep Blaine Mills informed of what was happening.

11. Peter Gordon Trailer – Town Manager Sparks gave some of the history on the subject. She explained that the property the trailer was on was foreclosed on in year 2001. The Selectboard decided, for insurance purposes, to require that the trailer be moved off the property by the end of last fall. The trailer was never moved and the taxes were not paid, so the Town foreclosed on that also. It was determined that Gordon was possibly still living there, so this Spring the Town served them with an eviction notice. Selectperson Hakala drove past the property last week and found that the trailer had been moved up the road to Gordon’s grandmother’s property as well as the septic tank. The Town’s lawyer, Al Perry, suggested (to determine what Gordon still owed) comparing the value of the mobile home and amount of taxes owed to what it would have cost the Town to remove the trailer and septic tank and dispose of each themselves. Sparks would then send a letter to Gordon explaining what they had decided and tell him if he owed anything or not. The Selectboard agreed that it would cost about $235 to pump the septic tank, $250 to have it dug up, and $1,500 to $2,000 to have the mobile home moved off the property. They estimated the trailers worth at about $2,500.

12. Fire Chief Job Description and Want Ad – Discussed changes to the ad. Decided that they should advertise for a minimum of 15 hours a week. Sparks asked about a deadline. The Board agreed on a deadline of July 31, 2006. It was also decided to put the ad on the MMA and Maine Fire Academy websites and well as in the following newspapers: The Bethel Citizen, Advertiser Democrat, and Rumford Falls Times.

13. Update on John Gauthier – Town Manager Sparks mentioned that she had spoken to Gootsch on the phone and he told her he could now tie his shoes without being winded. She said he was supposed to be flying back from the State of Washington that evening, but she was not able to contact him on his cell phone to see if he was on his way. Selectperson Hakala mentioned that the Legion Hall was now available on July 1, 2006 to have the benefit for Gootsch. The cost of the Hall would be $100. He said he had corrected the ad in the newspaper to reflect this.

14. Update on Howe Hill Road – Town Manager Sparks said she received a letter from David Cole of the Department of Transportation on a packet the Town sent them regarding fixing a portion of the Howe Hill Road. Cole said he would be submitting an application for fixing the road from Route 26 to the second Mount Abram Lodge. Sparks said she was optimistic about the letter – that they were actually considering helping the Town. She said Cole was looking into other funding for the road also.

15. Gift to Highway Department from Scott and Mary Groves – Town Manager Sparks mentioned that the Groves were so happy with the job the road crew did on the Cross Road (ditching and enlarging the turn-around) that they offered the crew money or to buy them breakfast. Road Foreman Alan Seames told the Groves they couldn’t accept anything like that, so they settled on soda for the Town Garage. Sparks said the Town was allowed to accept food gifts.

16. Trash at Twitchell Pond Dam – Town Manager Sparks received a call from Edith Brainard stating that there was a lot of trash dumped on the side of the road near the Twitchell Pond dam. Selectperson Henderson said he would look at it and see if he could clean it up. It was mentioned that it was private property and if the trash was too far off the road, the owner of the parcel should be contacted before anything was removed.

17. Selectmen’s Meeting Date – It was mentioned that the next Selectmen’s Meeting fell on Independence Day – July 4, 2006. The Board decided to have the meeting the following evening – July 5, 2006 – at the usual time.

18. Adjourn Meeting – It was motioned and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 6:25pm. Motion passed 3-0.

Respectfully Submitted,

____________________________

Kimberly Sparks – Town Manager

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