ATTENDANCE: David King, Dale Chadbourne, Todd McPhee, Phillip
Skillin and Rita Sturtevant
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Prior to the beginning of the Selectmen's Meeting, the Town Administrator Lloyd Coombs led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country.
OFFICE STAFFING DISCUSSION: Motion by Rita at 5:00 p.m., seconded by Dale, to enter an Executive Session with Lloyd and Diane to review applications for the vacant Clerical Assistant position. The motion passed unanimously. Motion by Phillip at 5:35 p.m., seconded by Dale, to come out of Executive Session. The motion passed unanimously.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS MINUTES: Motion by Dale, seconded by Phillip, to accept the minutes of the meetings of July 6 and July 8, 2004 as printed. The motion passed unanimously.
ROAD COMMISSIONER'S REPORT: Jack Shaw, Road Commissioner, advised that receipt of an 8'x2' warning sign for the Barley Neck Road and Murphy's Corner Road intersection was expected shortly. Also regarding road striping, Jack advised that the state recommends striping on roads where the daily traffic count is 3,000 or more vehicles and the width of the road is not less than 18 feet. The best price that Jack could obtain was 10 cents per foot or approximately $500.00 per mile. David recommended that we not go forward with the striping on the Montsweag Road because of the cost and because residents in other areas of the town would want their roads striped and there was not any money in the budget for that work plus it would have to be done each year.
FIRE CHIEF'S REPORT: Ken Desmond, Fire Chief, was on duty in Bath and was not present. Ken had given Lloyd the following report. There have been ten EMS calls since the last Selectmen's Meeting. One was a no transport and one call was answered by Wiscasset Ambulance Service on a mutual aid basis. During the period from July 1 to July 19 the North East Mobile Health Services' Ambulance averaged 12 minutes per run to Woolwich. Ken also advised Lloyd that he had replaced two burnt out lights on poles at the Pedestrian Underpass and had found that every light in the tunnel had been broken. The Selectmen asked Lloyd to get a repair estimate from a Woolwich electrician.
OLD BUSINESS:
a. Ten Day Cure Letter Status: 63 Main Street &endash; Bill Longley reported that illegal burning had been taking place at Dot's Good Deals. Lloyd said that it appeared that some material had been moved. Bill said that the Selectmen's choices were "more time or go to court". David recommended that the matter be turned over to an attorney. Todd said that he was satisfied with the progress. Motion by Dale, seconded by Rita, to have Attorney Durward Parkinson send a "10 day or go to court letter" to Dot Schmidt. The motion passed on a 4-1 vote. Bill will contact Mr. Parkinson.
NEW BUSINESS:
a. Status of Property at Map U-02, Lot 84: The Selectmen noted that the property at Map U-02, Lot 84 was presently in foreclosure. The Selectmen decided to table the matter for two weeks while Dale contacted the owner to ascertain the situation.b. Transfer of Snowplowing Contract B: David Brodeur advised that his company, Dave's DirtWorks, Inc., had gone out of business and, therefore, would be unable to fulfill the remaining year in Contract B for the 2004-2005 snowplowing season. He asked for a letter relieving his company and him from that obligation. The Selectmen concurred in relieving the obligation. Motion by David, seconded by Dale, to offer the last year on Contract B to the three remaining Contractors at the price of $48,500.00. The motion passed unanimously. A public lottery will be held if more than one contractor expresses interest in assuming the responsibility.
c. Nequasset Meeting House Committee Appointment: Lloyd advised that Roland Bailey had submitted his resignation from the Nequasset Meeting House Committee because he was moving to Waldoboro in the near future. Lloyd also said that Roland had advised that Bud Reed was willing to be appointed in his place. Motion by Phillip, seconded by Rita, to accept Roland's resignation and to appoint Carlton D. Reed, Jr. to the committee. The motion passed unanimously. The Selectmen requested Lloyd to draft a letter thanking Roland for his long service to the Town.
d. MMA Legislative Policy Committee Election: Motion by David, seconded by Dale, to cast Woolwich's two votes for election to the MMA Legislative Policy Committee for Chester Garrison and Jane Scease. The motion passed unanimously.
e. Clerical Assessing Backlog: David advised that there was a significant backlog of clerical assessing work and that it needed to be caught up before commitment. David recommended that $1,000.00 be allocated from the Contingency Account for this effort at $12.00 per hour. He further advised that Juanita knew of a person who could accomplish this work. Motion by Todd, seconded by Rita, to allocate up to $1,000.00 from the Contingency Account for a part-time effort to reduce the clerical assessing backlog at a rate not to exceed $12.00 per hour. The motion passed unanimously.
f. Municipal Shellfish Warden Complaint: Adam Johns, a resident commercial shellfish harvester, made a complaint against the Shellfish Warden Jon Hentz. Mr. Johns' complaint was that the Warden was contacting the property owners on the Montsweag and Phipps Point Roads and recommending that they not allow harvesters to park or to cross their property to get to the flats. He also complained about the Warden performing "Sheriff's work" rather than concentrating on shellfish work. David advised that he would contact the town's Shellfish Conservation Committee to check on the validity of the complaint. Phillip advised that the CPR Committee was working to identify possible access routes to the flats.
CODES ENFORCEMENT OFFICER'S REPORT: Bill Longley, Codes Enforcement Officer, advised that he had received a partially completed plumbing permit application from the Colfer's on July 16, 2004 and received the balance of the application on July 19, 2004. It is being reviewed by the State and, if approved, Bill will sign off on it. Bill also advised that the Spaulding suit was going to court on July 20, 2004. Several neighbors express concern that Kenneth Vining was still conducting business from his Dana Mill Road home. The Selectmen requested Bill to send Mr. Vining a violation letter and to report back to them in two weeks. In commenting on the volume of work, Bill recommended that the Selectmen consider the employment of a full time Codes Enforcement Officer next year.
ADJOURNMENT: 7:20 p.m
Lloyd Coombs
Approved: /s/ David A. King, Sr.
cc: Selectmen/Staff