Select Board Meeting Minutes Thursday, December 19th, 2024

Select Board Meeting

Thursday December 19, 2024

 

-Opened the meeting and established a quorum. S. Ford, C. Pert and B. Duffy present. Also, in attendance; D. Ford, D. Carter, J. Wetterskog, L. Dow, S. Webb, E. Webb

-Reviewed and signed Treasurer’s warrant

-Read and approve minutes from 12/12- Motion and 2nd to accept as written. 3-0 approved.

-Read and approve minutes from 12/16 emergency meeting- Motion and 2nd to accept as written. 2-0-1 approved. (Pert abstained, not present for emergency meeting)

CEO report deferred to Sullivan/Vaughn/Hardie tax discussion. Mr. Andy Vaughn, the holder of the mortgage for Beth Sullivan property on Old County Road discussed with the Select Board the situation in which he just learned that the property owned by Sullivan, rented by Hardie, taxes were seriously delinquent. Hardie who has lived there for 6 years and paying rent to Sullivan was unaware of the situation herself. Hardie and Vaughn requested that Hardie pay the taxes in lieu of rent; $650.00 on the 27th of each month to the town. Motion and 2nd to accept the payment arrangement. 3-0 approved. Hardie will get with Lyndsey to have an agreement written up. Vaughn asked about the value of the land and his position as mortgage holder. The select board recommend he chat with assessor’s agent and seek legal counsel regarding his options for foreclosing the mortgage. 

CEO REPORT

Duane discussed the “housekeeping” going on and that previous permits and documentation were being sorted by year, making it difficult to try to find something when someone called and asked. Lyndsey recommended filing by map and lot so that no matter who the owner, when someone needed to see a plan or permit it would be easily obtained. This project will be ongoing. Cindy called Duane about a permit for Wes Martin at 244 Carter Point rd. The contractor had supposedly submitted or tried to submit a permit/money for solar but could not be found. Duane visited Mr. Martin with a form and was told work wasn’t scheduled to begin until mid-week after all. After discussing with Matt Caldwell of RJD, solar panel are tax exempt but would be good practice to continue with the notification forms. There is some talk at the state DEP regarding natural methods of remediation? and that it may be a good time for the planning board to begin discussing changes to the shoreland zone ordinance regarding this change and setbacks. Changes to this ordinance require public hearings so the timeline but be carefully followed.

FIRE CHIEF REPORT

David Carter brought the contract from Caldwell Deisel for the select board to sign for the cab/chasse and a check was written to submit with the contract. 4 Guys does not require any payment until delivery of the truck in 2028. The FD has been busy since last week including responding to motor vehicle accident/entrapment where they had Deer Isle assist with the stabilizers- to stabilize the car as well as the pole while they awaited versant. Occupants of vehicle were okay. 

DISCUSSION and/or ACTION ITEMS:

  1. Jerry W. Comprehensive Plan Update- Jerry provided maps and charts/descriptions from the surveys conducted last year regarding comprehensive plan ideas. He touched on key points and projects that have been started and are ongoing and some that have been completed. Handouts will be made available and posted on the website upon review and approval by the planning board.
  2. Abatements- Assessor’s agent Matt Caldwell has provided two abatements for two properties with adjustments missed during spring work this year prior to commitment. One was for Diagon Alley, Ann Rittenberg, the building was destroyed during a controlled burn in Dec 2023 during a Fire Dept training. Motion and 2nd to accept. 3-0 approved. The second one was for a small structure on a property on Pertville Rd. Motion and 2nd to accept. Approve 3-0. Select Board signed the forms. Lyndsey will process abatements in TRIO accordingly and mail a copy of signed abatement with receipt to the property owners.
  3. Review Special Meeting—no discussion
  4. Schedule budget updates/formatting Town Report- Third party requests continue to trickle in. Susan and Lyndsey will begin attaching documents to the Town Report using the template from last year. Lyndsey has taken over for Barbara and will begin notifying the necessary parties for their pieces of the report.

 UNREOLVED BUSINESS:

No meeting during the holiday week. Susan will be away; Colby and Barry will come in to sign the warrant only. Office closed for business Tuesday 12/24, Wednesday 12/25 and Thursday 12/26. No posted Clerk hours. Tax Collector will be available Monday 12/23 from 8am to 3:30pm and Friday 12/26 from 8am to 4pm.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Susan Webb was asked to contact L. Schneider regarding information on the Budget Committee practices and expectations.

ADJOURN:

Motioned and 2nd to adjourn. Approved 3-0 @7:16pm.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Lyndsey Dow

approved 3-0 01/02/2024