Selectmen present:
Steve Cross, Steve Bennett, and Wilson Hess.
Also present:
Lillian Phillips, Jon Willette, Thelma Ledden, Sallyann Hadyniak, Audrey
Williams, Julia Raven, Craig Overlock, Jim Waterman, Jay Guber, Pete and Marion
Bowers.
The meeting was
opened at
With these
corrections the minutes were accepted.
CORRESPONDENCE:
1. A credit has been received from US
Cellular from the phones in the trucks.
2.
Note the date for recyclables will be December 18th as posted
on the
door.
3.
Steve Bennett spoke about quick claim deeds. Attorney Carver has sent a form to Elton
Nason representing Newport Securities and he has signed off his right to the
Earthen Dam. He has been unable to
formalize these agreements with Polly Shyka and Grassi although they are willing
to do so: as is Ron Luhn. The Luhn’s have an address at the Brunswick Air
Base. He has been unable to
get in touch with Mr. Sadowski.
4.
Budget requests are coming in and are being but in a folder. We now have one from Unity or Quimby
Library and one from Midcoast Mental Health.
5.
A CD from Peoples Bank comes due in December.
6.
Union Trust would like all of our business.
7.
MRC, municipal review committee, from Hampden, has sent their financial
statement for 2003.
8.
Maine Townsman has a good article on sand and salt and problems relating
to ground water pollution.
7. DOT has sent a letter and an application
for a community gateway program with grant money of $500 to $10,000. It will be given to someone on the
planning board. It has ideas for parks, landscapes, gazebos, clean-up project,
etc. Jay thought the Freedom
Academy Lot would be a good site.
9.
Grant money available for efficient delivery of services. More regionalization of services
required.
10. Notice from Penny and Addison Chase as
to layout and taking of land.
SELECTMEN’S
REPORTS:
ABATEMENTS: WILSON
HESS
The assessors will meet next Tuesday afternoon to discuss some of the
remaining possible abatements.
Julian Raven talked about an on going
problem related to
property owned by her son and grandson.
These will be discussed at an assessors meeting on
Tuesday.
STEVE
BENNETT
TRIO was here last week from
TOWN
OFFICIERS:
JIM
WATERMAN, FIRE CHIEF
He congratulated
Wilson Hess for his help in obtaining the Federal grant in Brooks for
$158,000. With addition money it
became $176,000 and was used for a new pumper.
He pointed out
that to qualify for some of these grants you need to be in a designated growth
area, so judged in a comprehensive plan, for a community grant.
Freedom is still
in the running for a fire grant.
He also announced
that there is an on-line safety program done by MMA.
The Northern Waldo
Emergency Coordinating Team, NWECT, has monthly meetings headed by Dale
Roley. In our office our mitigation
reports for
Through MMA, there
is a safety grant for lockers at the fire station and at the town garage. This needs to be signed by the Selectmen
and returned to
The Towns of
Freedom, Thorndike, and Brooks do not have an agreement. He has put together a contract agreement
that covers various areas. He
presented it to the Selectmen for their consideration.
Jim Waterman is
currently working on the budget for next year. He has recently been able to
obtain some used articles for the fire department, coats, pants, helmets, and
aluminum air bottles.
When questioned
about pay, he stated that they usually go with a set amount of money for the
fire chiefs. He also spoke
about a mitigation report, which is a type of disaster plan, including a snow
removal plan.
CEO: JAY
GUBER
Permits:
1.
Ken Boulier, permit for CMP
for barn on
2. Also Jay asked him if he would take care
of the meter problem at the town garage.
3. Forest harvesting at 59 Burnham Hill,
Plan 1, Map 42, Mr.
Harold Christianson, 30 acres selective cutting.
Regarding the issue on the
OLD BUSINESS:
Jon Willette brought up the reason why some
of the November minutes have not been put on the Web. In both minutes,
November
16th and the 23rd names were
mentioned that should not have been, related to
Hearing: There will be a hearing on December
8th at
1. Shall the Town of Freedom, sell the land
and buildings known as the Town Garage lot on Skidgel Lane by putting the
property out to sealed bids with the right to reject any and all bids.
2.
Shall Freedom purchase the
land and buildings currently known as the Beth Young Lot, currently 1 acre, on
Rt. 137 and
3.
Shall the Town of
Steve Cross mentioned that he had spoken to
some one that if there is a resignation of a road commissioner we could appoint
one until a town meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
TRIO has a workshop on December 16 and or
17 costing $50. The purpose of this is to learn how to close out the year. It was agreed by the selectmen that both
Cindy and Hilary should attend A motion was made and seconded for them to
attend. All approved this.
A motion was made
to approve Craig Overlock to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Jim
Waterman, as the EMA, emergency management agent. This was seconded and approved by
all. He will need to come in to the
town office and be sworn in by the town clerk. This term runs to March of 2005.
A motion was made
to approve Lillian Phillips to the vacancy on the planning board created by the
resignation of Tony Neves, until March 2006. This was seconded and approved by
all. She will need to come in to
the town office to be sworn in by the town clerk.
FINANCIAL
WARRANTS:
Motion was made to approve and second the
following warrants:
1.
Payroll: $715.81.
2.
Recyclable waste contractor
for $250.
3.
The Waldo County Tax was not
approved and will have to wait. This was for $52, 664.94
Jon Willette suggested that time cards be
turned in on a weekly basis when it comes to the road department. It would be easier to keep track of when
they were driving.
OPEN SESSION:
Dave Bennett had Howard Fairfield come out
and he was told that a single cutting edge was to be put on the truck. What they had on it was wrong. Jon
talked with the Lee Brothers in relationship to the plows. They stated that a plow needs only one
cutting edge. Two blades do hold
the plow closer to the road, but creates other problems. Jon had put a single edge on the plow
and it has recently been changed to a two edge taking twice the length of
time. His question was, whom do we
listen to? Jon approached Mr. Hess
and Mr. Cross about his findings.
He wanted to know why Clint did it.
Secondly, the list of truck inspections
that Dave had made up are not being done prior to the trucks being taken out by
the drivers.
Thirdly, no hourly meters are in the trucks
even though they are supposed to be, so Jon has ordered some.
Also the trucks had lots of personal
trash. Jay Guber also saw the
condition of the trucks and stated that it looked like someone lived in
it.
Jon has not been called.
The selectmen had sort of put Dave Bennett
in charge but didn’t want to show favoritism. There followed a discussion as to
who was doing what.
Pete Bowers, again mentioned, the need for
a sign in and out sheet. Steve
Bennett thought it was a good idea.
Steve Cross has not been given the time
cards to sign as had been requested.
Jay Guber suggested that there be another
meeting to reinforce what the rules are. Egos are being stroked. Steve Bennett
didn’t think that we needed another meeting.
A motion was made and seconded that the
selectmen acting as road commissioner designate Dave Bennett for the balance of
the open term through March 2005 as our agent and recommend to him the draft
duties and responsibilities of the road commissioner as a guideline. This was
approved by all. Steve Bennett will
speak with Dave tonight. Wilson
Hess will no longer be checking on the roads unless asked to.
There will be a road committee meeting
tomorrow night at
Sallyann Hadyniak wanted to know if there
was gravel still available about the price the town could get it for. If so she would be interested.
There is still a problem in that not all
the computers are networking with TRIO.
They thought they had someone who could fix the problem.
A motion was made authorizing the town
clerk to call TRIO to get them here ASAP to get all three computers networking.
Some recruiting needs to be done to get someone to do some computer work out
front, while some one does computer on the back computer.
Thelma Ledden wanted to know that if we
only had an acre of land with a well on it, how we could build a salt and sand
facility on it. With the type of
containment facility that we could build it could be done, however it really
would be to our advantage to get the second lot. At the new site it wouldn’t
even have to be covered.
Respectfully
submitted,
Marion Bowers
Attachment
MINUTES: SELECTMEN’S MEETING,
Selectmen present:
Steve Bennett, Steve Cross and Wilson Hess.
Also present:
Audrey Williams, Betty Sienkiewicz, Thressa Abbott, Sallyann and Wassey
Hadyniak, Pete and Marion Bowers.
Steve Bennett
opened the meeting at
Minutes
of the last meeting were read and approved with the following
modifications.
1. Page 3, in relationship to who would be responsible if something
happened to Earthen Dam, Wilson Hess felt that it was a hypothetical question
and therefore the answer would be unknown.
2. Page 3, Corrected spelling, Rod Luhn, not Loon.
3. Page 4. Corrected
spelling, Mr. Nickless, not Nichols.
Change the word, reprimand to criticized related to the
books.
4. Page 6. Add the words, on Ron Price’s land in relationship to the
tower.
5. Page 7. Questioned if the amount related to the vendor warrant for
October 14th was corrected. Later in the meeting it was verified that
it was correct.
Thressa Abbott wanted to know more about the letter from George
Spurlick.
CORRESPONDENCE
1.Read Brugger had e-mailed the Selectmen a
letter stating that he was resigning his position with the school board
effective immediately. The Town
will have to appoint someone to fill out the balance of his term. There is a difference of opinion as to
when his term would expire. The
Superintendent feels it goes through 2006.
Mr. Brugger believes that it would end in March of 2005. The Town clerk will be asked to check
this out. Steve Cross had some
information, but it did not answer the question. According to his research it would not
cover the school board vacancy.
This vacancy would be filled according to Title 20-A, Section 2305. Currently we need more information
related to this. Steve Bennett will
follow up on this with MMA. Wilson
Hess felt that it was necessary that we have a representative, particularly now
with all that is going on with a huge project, building a new school. Read Brugger had been chair of the
building committee for the new school. There is a possible replacement that
Steve Bennett has spoken with and will be discussed under new business.
2. Letter related to Jim Waterman’s
resignation with EMA.
3. Better Roads magazine subscription. This is free, so we will continue to
receive this if we verify the correspondence.
4. A check
from MRC for $657.21; profit sharing that arrived on November 10th.
5. A notice
related to law books concerning Fisher law books, concerns
6. Unity
recycling report, available
7. Three
organizations that are soliciting for funds for next year, Midcoast Mental
Health Community Action, WCCA and UCB.
Steve Bennett has put them in a folder to consider at a latter date for
the 2005 budget.
SELECTMEN’S
REPORTS
WILSON HESS
Abatements report: The
Assessors met and considered ten abatement requests.
One was denied.
Two were put on hold; need physical evidence.
Seven were approved with a total abatement of
$1,209.56
Eleven other inquires or complaints. Of those three or four will probably
be considered as abatements.
According to the Town report last year,
there were thirty-four abatements.
Betty Sienkiewicz inquired as to whether
the applicants had made out the information in the center of the Town report.
This was not true in all cases, but there was sufficient information to consider
them.
KVCOG report:
1. Brown
field grants are for waste or water treatment facilities. The Town does not have one or any
surrounding towns with the exception of the town of Unity might have one.
2. Revolving
loan fund will hold a forum in January 2005 with all municipal officers from
western
There is an inclination of the majority, 5
to 4, to cut spending. The purposed
budget has a 2.2% increase overall with a 3.3% increase in the salary line. The committee voted 5 to 4, in three
instances to cut expenses. It is
roughly a six million dollar budget. It appears to Wilson Hess that salaries
will have to come down as well as some other costs. He feels that the goal is to cut
salaries down lower than the 3.3%.
It appears that they aiming for a level budget.
Steve Bennett wanted to know that when
salaries were mentioned if this applied to those that work in the Court
system. The answer was affirmative.
What is driving this was that when the
communication center was taken over by the County, that office had been shared
with
KVCOG felt that there was uncontrolled
spending in the school districts.
STEVE
BENNETT
Earthen dam: He recently had a conversation with Mr. Nason, who gave a
history of the dam and he told the Selectman that he is willing to sign off on
the dam.
Rod Luhn will also sign off. Mr. Bennett also said that Mr. Sadowski has
not been spoken to as yet regarding signing off of the property. The State also has to sign off. The
metes and bounds along with a description still need to be done.
Land negotiations: Property on Route 137
and
Pete Bowers questioned as to salt
contamination of wells. If the
facility were built on the far corner of the second lot, it would give more than
200 feet from the well on the first lot or corner lot. It also has to be 300 feet from the
abutters well, which it would be,
since it would be 700 or 800 feet from the abettors property line. Wilson Hess
said that the containment pad with a structure around it would be entirely
compliant to minimize any potential contamination from
salt.
Wilson Hess asked Jay Guber if a well
across the street would be a problem.
His response was that he didn’t think it would be with the potential Salt
and Sand facility being built in the previously mentioned
area.
There would be 600 feet road frontage. Of this amount 210 feet are on Route
137.
A motion was made and approved to go into
executive session regarding this possible purchase. After doing so, there was no
report, so no action was taken.
TOWN OFFICERS:
CEO
1. Jay Guber has received a building
application from Competitive Energy, which seems to be Maine Energy Aggregation
Company, LLC, out of
Steve Bennett had done some research in
relationship to this. Mars Hill has
a project. These wind towers are
250 feet tall at the hub. The
blades reach just under 400 feet high.
They are enormous. The base
is made of steel and 15 feet in diameter.
They are 600 to 700 feet high.
He then went on to read from an article
from the largest company nation-wide that erects wind towers. Their mission
statement reads “Evergreen wind power was founded on the promise that
responsible wind power development begins with community outreach and
support. At the outset of any
project initiative, Evergreen personnel meet first with local business and
political leaders to ensure that the host community is receptive to and
supportive of a purposed project.
Additional work continues only after there is a clear expression of
interest. Informational meetings
are held subsequently and local citizens are invited to participate in the
dialog. Evergreen has been careful
to select only those sites which are already partially developed and do not
present any special environmental concerns, benefit strong local support and
bring the maximum number of regional economic benefits.
Steve Bennett wonders why this company that
is involved locally hasn’t done as the mission statement from
Evergreen.
Wilson Hess feels we should look at this as
a potential business.
Jay Guber will be finding out more
information from the State and other permits that may be required before
erection of this tower. He has also
requested that they fence in the area.
Steve Bennett also wanted to learn when
they plan to meet with the Town and inform us as to what is going on. It was suggested that they come to a
Selectmen’s meeting to do this. Wilson Hess said that he would like this with
any potential new business that was considering coming to Freedom.
3. Permit to John Ingraham for a trailer on
Trash on
Steve Bennett spoke about the trash, which
included garbage, mattresses, and dog feces. According to him, it was awful. The Town
does not have an ordinance related to trash.
Jay will follow up on this with
DHS.
A seminar will be put on by the NFPA,
National Fire Protection Association, related to life and safety and building
codes on Dec 1st and 2nd. Jay Guber will pay for it himself until
it can be put on a warrant. The
cost is $50. The selectmen support
his attending.
COMPREHENSIVE
PLANNING
Theresa Abbott reported on the slow
progress they are making. They
could really use some help. They
are rewriting the new Comp plan from the one previously done. The State requires a mapping program for
the state to pass it. They have
been unable to find the one previously done. They are aware that it would require
updating. Wilson Hess felt that a
student from the college could be helpful.
Jay Guber has some maps of the
wetlands.
Steve Bennett felt that the Planning Board
needs to be more active and also the need for them to work with the
Comprehensive Board. There is a
great need for more ordinances. The Planning Board meets the 1st Wed
in December and he feels the Comprehensive Board should attend one of their
meetings.
OLD BUSINESS:
Proposal for Road Committee: The Town needs to vote to have the road
commissioner
appointed versus an elected position; a job description would need to be
done. A special Town meeting
is needed 90 days before the regular Town meeting. Years ago it was an appointed position,
for example, Red Mitchell, but in the last few years, it has been an elected
position. Steve Bennett felt that
research needs to be done to see how the position was filled and if the Town
ever voted on it.
Wilson Hess believes that an advisory came
down, that the Road Commissioner should not also be a Selectmen.
NEW BUSINESS:
The date for a special town meeting needs to be set. A motion was made to have December
14th for this special Town Meeting. This was seconded and approved.
Wilson Hess’s feeling regarding an
appointed road commissioner has softened over time, but not to the point that he
would hold this up going before the Town for a vote. He also wondered if the
Selectmen would want to or could serve as Road Commissioner.
Items for the special town meeting agenda
will be discussed next week, such as a land acquisition and Jay Guber suggested
a junkyard ordinance and also to increase the building permit fee.
Steve Bennett has talked with Lynn Hadyniak
regarding the school board vacancy and she is interested and enthusiastic about
the possibility of serving. She has
been involved with several school activities.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS:
The checkbook statement for the month of
September was given to Steve Bennett, but is missing the
reconciliation.
Wilson Hess feels that it appears that the
computer balance or statement balance agrees with the banking statement
on October 31st. Without
further review he would not want to make any comment about that checkbook
balance. The outstanding balance
does not seem correct. Steve
Bennett will not sign off on this.
Wilson Hess wants to be convinced it is correct. No action was taken regarding the
financial checking reconciliation for October.
Also in the Audits, in the Town, it was
stated that we should separate, the receivables, from the payroll
work.
Wilson Hess made a motion that in the
checking reconciliation sheet, the checking statement appears to reconcile. This is not a motion to accept the
checking reconciliation. It was seconded and approved by Wilson Hess and Steve
Cross. Steve Bennett opposed the
motion. It was not
signed.
A reprint from the October 19th
warrant which was not voted on, for payroll of $627.80 will be voted on
tonight. The original is missing
and it was mistakenly shredded.
Wilson Hess made a motion that in the absence of the original of the
October 19th warrant, we accept the reprint. This was seconded and
approved by all.
Reprint of the October 14th vendor warrant
was ratified last week.
November 16th warrant for
payroll $962.21. No accounts
payable are included. A motion to
pay this was made and seconded and approved by Wilson Hess and Steve Cross. Steve Bennett did not vote for it.
Cindy will not be available for the next
few weeks and Hilary Fleming will be doing the work. Hilary Fleming has shown signs of
understanding the accounting functions well. She would be more apt to notice the
difference in the numbers.
Board Policy Ordinance: “ In accordance
with 30-A, Section 5601-5603 of the Maine Statutes, the Town Treasurer will
disburse money only on a warrant for that purpose approved by the muncipal
officers by a majority vote at a public meeting and signed by a majority of the
Selectmen. A motion was made to
approve it as read and seconded
There shall no exception.”
Wilson Hess had a problem with the last
five words. He would like to have a
procedure which payroll can issue warrants without a public meeting. .
There was a discussion regarding payroll
warrants as an exception, an example being the special Town meeting set for
December 14th, a Tuesday night. There will be no opportunity to issue
payroll checks that week; it produces an undue hardship on Town employees.
Jay Guber stated that some people live
paycheck to paycheck.
Wilson Hess offered an amendment to strike
the last five words; there shall be no exception. Steve Cross seconded it. Steve Cross and Wilson Hess approved the
amendment. The original motion as
amended was made seconded and approved by a two to one vote. The policy now stands that there shall
be a public meeting on every warrant.
Wilson Hess pointed out that the only
exceptions that can be allowed by State law are school warrants and payroll and
only if we take action on them. He also stated that payroll warrant on December
14th would have to be decided upon.
Wilson Hess offered Craig Overlock the
emergency management position, EMA.
This was a motion, which was seconded and approved by
all.
OPEN SESSION
Jay Guber recommended that Bob Norwood, who
lives off the
The auditor, Craig Costello, recommended
TRIO. He again stated you need all
three financial reports before you sign off on the warrants.
There were other comments, such as using
Quicken. However the State or the
Auditor does not recommend this system since you can change entries. TRIO puts a check and balance on the
program.
The meeting
adjourned at
Respectfully
submitted,
Marion
Bowers
Attachment: Board
policy.
No Meeting on November 2, 2004 due to
Election!
MINUTES 0F OCTOBER 26, 2004
SELECTMEN’S MEETING
Selectmen present:
Steve Bennett, Steve Cross, and Wilson Hess.
Also present:
Thressa Abbott, Sallyann Hadyniak, Betty Sinkiewicz, Lillian Phillips, Jay
Guber, Dottie Chase and Marion Bowers.
Steve Bennett
called the meeting to order 6:01 p.m.
The minutes of the
meeting were read and approved after corrections in
spelling.
1. Hilary is the correct spelling.
2. Correspondence is the correct spelling.
CORRESPONDENCE:
Neither Steve Cross nor Wilson Hess had any
correspondence.
1. Steve
Bennett had received an invitation to a workshop, which Peter Coughlin will be
presenting. He will give it
to someone on the Road Committee.
2. KVOG has
requested an update on the selectmen and officials. This was made out today and
faxed.
Dr. Lee was to
have been to the meeting tonight, but is not present or will be late. He never
did show up.
SELECTMEN’S
REPORT:
Steve Cross had none, but was welcomed back after his absence.
Wilson Hess has been working on the
municipal valuation return, which is typically due on November 19th, or 30 days
from the commitment.
He expects to have this done by November 19th.
No one from the Road Committee was here so Wilson Hess spoke on their
behalf.
It is his understanding that the salt and sand is pretty much up and we
have received a bill for 2/3s of it and will be receiving a bill for the balance
soon.
So far there have been
five abatements to process. He
would like to have the Selectmen {Assessors} meet and review the requests. A date of November 5th around
9 a.m. was set. Perhaps there will be more requests by
then.
According to the
computer there are 682 parcels of real estate, which is
Significantly
larger than told to the Selectmen. The reasons for this maybe due to
subdivisions, an inaccurate number previously reported, and a few that maybe
missing. There were five new
parcels and or buildings in 2004.
Steve Bennett questioned if the subdivision of Mike Turner’s on the
Greeley and
Albion Rd had turned up.
Wilson Hess felt that he had recently seen it along with Cindy in the
passed couple of weeks. He will
look for it.
Steve Bennett wondered if the CAMA program was ever loaded in a
meaningful
way. Wilson Hess stated that
it was loaded into Lotus-Smart Suite.
Steve Bennett spoke
about Workers Comp coverage. We
have to cover each firefighter at the cost of $500 each. Jim Waterman let him know that
there were a total of eleven of them from the Town, five from Montville, five
from Knox. Exceptions are made if
we have an agreement with the other towns for mutual-aid agreement, if so we do
not have to cover them. We do have
an agreement with Montville, so they cover their five firefighters. We cover those from Knox. In our files, we have agreements with
Unity, Albion, Montville, and Thorndike.
Jim Waterman had given him two other towns, which were Palermo and
Brooks, but there are no agreements in the files for them. So we have sixteen firefighters to
cover.
Our estimated workers comp works out to slightly less than $82,000. This is close to what it was two years
ago.
Wilson Hess inquired as to the cost of this. Steve Bennett guessed that it would be
around $3,500.
TOWN OFFICERS:
CEO: Jay Guber
Steve Bennett requested that Jay Guber approach the Selectmen’s table, he
then proceeded to present Jay with a Boston Red Sox’s cap. Jay is a Yankees fan.
Jay Guber stated that
there is an urgent need to do something about the hazardous electrical meter box
and wire at the Town Garage. Ken
Boulier had been asked for an estimate to rewire the entire garage. None was received. Steven Bennett made a motion to
authorize Wilson Hess to contact Ken Boulier as soon as possible to mount a
meter box and the wire to the outside of the
Town Garage. The
motion was seconded and approved.
Jay has been
checking on the progress of those parties with permits.
He questioned if a
request for a permit had been sought by an individual putting up a weather
tower. There are stakes in the
ground, but no permit.
No paper work has
been received from a Mr. Nelson who is doing a tree harvest on the Lingley
parcel. There was a question as to
whether he would need a culvert according to Wilson Hess. The town could put in the culvert,
but who would supply it? This could be either the town or the individual. Steve Cross said that a used culvert
could be put in which could be removed after the timber harvest. Jay Guber said that the Lee Bros. had
some used culverts.
TOWN BOARDS:
PUBLIC WORKS
COMMITTEE
Steve Bennett
spoke about the snow plowing positions.
There are eight people who have been selected and assigned to different
shifts and back-up drivers.
First Shift: Clint Spaulding and Lendall
Chase.
Second Shift: Steve Spaulding and Gilman
Williams
Emergency Drivers:
Herb Abbott, Dave Bennett, Warren Spaulding and
Christine
Allen.
No driver should
drive more than eight hours if at all possible. This was
discussed with MMA Risk
Management. A discussion regarding
this followed. Steve Cross, who has
driven a snowplow, felt that they could do ten hours.
Steve Bennett felt
that since we have extra drivers, we should spread the time around. A question
was asked regarding overtime if driving more than eight hours. Wilson Hess felt that forty hours had to
be worked before overtime was a factor.
A motion was made,
seconded and approved that the drivers drive no more than eight hours if at all
possible. This was approved.
Wilson Hess also felt that there should be a four-hour break before they drive
again.
Herb Abbott will
be the call out person.
Clint has been
asked to help train the new drivers and to sit in as a coach with them. He was
agreeable to this. There was a
brief discussion of whether they need a man to run the loader. Steve Cross did not feel this was
necessary. It was a waste of
manpower and cost.
Jay Guber felt
that the drivers be versed in the proper procedures to use in using the loader.
Rotation of
driving is important according to Steve Bennett.
Wilson Hess
brought up the fact that there are several areas that have been discussed in the
past and still need attention before the ground freezes.
1. Ayer Ridge
Rd culvert needs attention.
2. Culvert at
Keller’s, near Bo Sellect’s
3. Stevens
Rd, a request of Cy Reynolds for ditching or gravel
4. Waning Rd.
has big holes at the bottom of the hill.
Needs cold patch or gravel.
5. Ditching
by Tom Fleming’s
6. Plugged
culverts by Audrey Williams, along with other culverts that need to be flushed
out.
Are these things
going to get done before the weather prevents attending to
them?
Steve Bennett will
call Dave Bennett about this list and decide what can be done now and what can
be put off.
Steve Cross
wondered if we could lease a piece of equipment and if insurance would cover it.
Steve Bennett and Wilson Hess both felt that it would be covered, but Wilson
pointed out anyone can sue anyone.
Jay Guber
suggested that we lease the jobs out to someone who is local.
Steve Bennett
wondered if the wing of the plow could help to alleviate some of the run-off
problem that they had last year.
The storms last year were unusual.
There are wires, which demand special attention according to Wilson Hess.
Steve Cross said
that it would be helpful to take two or three scoops of snow away from the
beginning of the culvert.
A resident on
Clark Rd spoke to Wilson Hess about a conversation he had with someone who was
driving a grader for the town of Unity.
They were not going to grade or plow beyond his house. An arrangement had been written in the
past with Unity according to Steve Cross that they, meaning Unity, do the last
few yards of the road.
Steve Bennett will
speak with Leroy Trull, Unity Road Commissioner and discuss the situation with
him. Lee Bros. has been doing the
plowing on Unity Road and it may be that the contractor needs to be informed of
the agreement.
Jon Willette
installed a new alternator today on one of the trucks. The bill was for $150. He is also working on a gearbox. Later, there will be a bill for that.
COMPREHENSIVE BOARD:
No report
tonight.
OLD BUSINESS:
There is a
workshop for people on the planning board on November 3rd. There are five individuals who would
like to attend. A motion was made,
seconded and approved to pay the fee of $50 for each individual to attend, for a
total of $150.00. No travel
expenses will be paid. Steve
Bennett thought that they were all going to go in his car.
NEW BUSINESS:
Warrants: none
available to be signed tonight.
Approval regarding
the Plow Truck drivers has been discussed under the Public Works
Committee.
Warren Spaulding
would like to cut a line of trees behind his barn and the 3rd base
line and dugout. He would leave trees that are on the line or in the wall. Then
he could remove all of the stuff that had been thrown in there over the
years. There were several ideas on
what to do with the wood. John
Willette could come in and do stumpage, firewood would be available for a fee to
the town and or it could be given away.
The line is pretty
well marked according to Steve Bennett.
All the trees that would be cut are on the Town land.
Wilson Hess felt
that he had a bias regarding removing the trees. He felt that someone with expertise in
this matter such as an urban forester makes this decision. Trees can be taken
down quickly, but take years to grow to maturity. According to Steve Bennett most of them
are locust trees.
Steve Bennett felt
that if the trees were removed, the area could be cleaned up.
Steve Bennett felt
that Wilson Hess should talk to the Recreation Committee. They were also considering making some
of this an area for
Parking.
Steve Cross felt
that we should not hire a forester regarding this issue.
Wilson Hess will
follow up regarding this matter. He has access to knowledgeable individuals in
this regard.
As to what to do
with the trees that are removed, Wilson Hess felt that having firewood for the
needy would be a good idea. Both
Steve Cross and Steve Bennett agreed with that idea.
Jay Guber, sitting
beside the air-conditioner, felt that it was time to remove it. This will be done.
Also there will be
no Selectmen’s meeting next week, Election Day.
The meeting was
adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Marion
Bowers
Minutes of the
Town of Freedom Selectmen’s Meeting October 19, 2004
Those in
attendance were 1st. Selectman Steve Bennett, 2nd
Selectman Wilson Hess and 3rd. Selectman Steve Cross was absent due
to illness.
Also present were,
Thressa Abbott, Betty Sienkiewicz, Thelma Ledden, Barbara Higgins, Diane Lee,
Dave Bennett, Tom and Hilery Fleming, Jay Guber and Sallyann
Hadyniak.
1st.
Selectman Steve Bennett called the meeting to order at 6
p.m.
Minutes of the Previous
Meeting:
The minutes were
corrected to read as follows:
A. A.
Page 2, corrected the spelling
of Hiliary, to Hilary
B.
B.
Page 3, there was a discussion
in the minutes authorizing Dave Bennett to do the work at $820.20 but the motion
made by Wilson Hess and second by Steve Bennett was left out. It is now corrected to read the motion
was made and carried. Wilson Hess wanted to honor the correction showing that a
motion was made by him and second by Steve Bennett authorizing Dave Bennett to
do the work.
C.
C.
Page 4, Craig Overlock and not Keith
Overlock is someone who is interested in the position as emergency management
officer when Jim Waterman is ready to terminate the
position.
D. D.
Page 2, Steve Bennett made a
comment and wanted it noted in the minutes that the cost of workmen’s comp. is
$2,593.00 a year.
Wilson Hess made a motion to accept the
corrections as read and Steve Bennett second it. Motion made and
carried.
Steve Bennett
welcomed guests Barbara Higgins and Diane Lee. They came to the meeting to speak to the
Selectmen about their concerns of their family cemetery located on the corner of
Raven and Ayer Ridge Road, right behind the light pole. Their great grandfather is buried
there. Since the son of Eric Weed
(Shawn) built a house on the land, he does not want the trees cut down because
he does not want to see the cemetery from his house. Prior to building his home, the people
accessed the cemetery by Ayer Ridge Road.
Mrs. Larson also said she would allow them to go through her property and
was willing to move the cemetery onto her land just to show how good hearted she
is. Wilson Hess did some research
regarding the cemetery and this is what it yielded. There are two classes of cemeteries that
the town has responsibility for, one is a public cemetery that the town in
essence owns, and the other is a type of private cemetery that the town has an
obligation according to state law.
It comes under the Ancient Burial Ground that was created in 1880. The town has an obligation to go in and
clean up the cemetery if there is a veteran buried there. After a lengthy discussion, Mr. Hess
stated that the town has no authority or mandate to go in and do that because
there isn’t a veteran buried there.
It was decided that this problem be handled between the people
privately. Mr. Hess also looked for
an easement or a right of way but was unable to find one. Thressa Abbott, Betty Sienkiewicz and
Wilson Hess had a conversation with the Weeds and they were welcomed to attend
this meeting but didn’t show up.
There are 6 people buried there between the garage and the road. They were buried as far back as 1847 and
this private property now belongs to someone else. There is no more then 150 feet between
the side of the garage and the road.
Steve Bennett
stated that there should be access to any cemetery. He wants to be quoted as saying, “by not
allowing access, is not being very neighborly to say” no”, you can’t go in there”.! It may be legal, but not right. Since there isn’t any easement, it will
be up to the people. Mrs. Briggs
was the name of the Grandmother.
Mr. Hess said to be kind and persistent. It is not reasonable to say “no”, you
can’t go in there.
CORRESPONDENCE:
A. Mr. Hess did not have any
correspondence.
B Mr. Bennett said a letter came from the
Maine Revenue Services showing the proposed town valuation of Waldo County 2005
for the Town of Freedom is 35 million.
It is less then 33 million now.
Mr. Hess said we should not appeal this.
Knox proposal is 37
million
Brooks is 42
million
Thorndike 32
million
Troy is 36
million
Unity is 73
million
Palermo is 103
million (has Sheepskin Lake)
Liberty is 75
million
SELECTMEN’S
REPORT:
A. A.
Steve Bennett is still working
on the Workmen’s Comp. (Jim Waterman was suppose to be at this meeting but
wasn’t). Mr. Bennett found out that
they do count every volunteer fireman is covered by our Workmen’s Comp. but we
have to add $500.00 per fireman.
There are 18 firemen from Freedom and we must cover other firemen from
other towns. We have Mutual Aid
Agreements with Unity, Albion, Montville and Thorndike. Mr. Hess stated that he believes that we
have a written Mutual Aid Agreement with Knox for some time. If we don’t have a Mutual Aid Agreement
with Knox we will have to add them onto our Workmen’s
Comp.
B.
B.
Plow Truck Drivers: We have two completed applications and 4
others incomplete. Mr. Hess stated
that there is snow predicted in the very near future and must be prepared by
having drivers. Mr. Hess and Mr.
Bennett will meet on Friday, October 22, at 8 a.m. to go over the
applications.
C.
C.
There is a position available
on the Planning Board and Mr. Bennett asked if anyone was
interested.
TOWN BOARDS: