FARMINGTON – Selectmen voted to delay requiring town employees to pay their share of increased health insurance rates until their pay raises take effect April 1, according to Town Manager Richard Davis Wednesday.
At their meeting Tuesday, they voted 4-to-1 to allow employees to wait until raises take effect to begin paying their half of any insurance rate hikes, a requirement passed earlier this year by the board. The town’s health insurance rate is slated to increase 9.05 percent starting Jan. 1. Employees will still pay their full half of the insurance increase, but will not be required to begin doing so until April 1.
Farmington residents will see a rise in the cost of cable access, according to a letter the town received from Bee Line Cable earlier this month. The cable provider plans to increase rates by about 7 percent – up to $16.72 for broadcast and $45.85 for basic service. Although the company “has made significant cuts in operating costs,” they have seen large rate increases from suppliers, fuel and insurance, George Allen, Bee Line Cable general manager, wrote.
Selectmen also approved a new memorial for Meeting House Park dedicated to Korean, Vietnam and Iraq war veterans. Proposed by Charles Bennett, commander of American Legion Post 28, the 8-foot-tall by 4-foot-wide black granite monument will feature an American flag and an engraving of three veterans. It will be placed near the Civil War obelisk and an existing bench in the southwest corner of the park.
Cost for the monument is estimated at between $10,000 and $12,000, and the American Legion plans to hold benefit functions and raffles and to solicit donations to pay for it.
Selectmen also:
• Discussed repair costs and efficacy of repairing the Walton’s Mill Dam: MBP Consulting, a Portland engineering firm, estimated the project to cost up to $258,000 over the next four years. Selectmen plan to get a second opinion on whether construction costs, as proposed, are realistic and may hold a public hearing to determine residents’ feelings about saving the more than 200-year-old dam.
• Approved an anti-idling policy for all town vehicles: The policy states: Idling is prohibited when the outdoor temperature is above 32 degrees, and when it falls below that mark, idling is limited to 10 minutes. Idling is not allowed without a driver in the vehicle. Emergency vehicles are exempted. According to Davis, employees are already voluntarily turning off vehicles when standing.
• Unanimously voted to transfer $22,000 in excess balance from the Webster Road bridge account to the public works reserve account.
• Purchased a bucket truck for $1 from the University of Maine at Farmington and later approved accepting a $1 donation from Emily Floyd for its purchase.
• Appropriated $907 from the cable franchise reserve account to cover the franchise fee shortfall – the reserve account has about $60,000, according to Davis.
• Accepted donations of weight-training equipment for the Community Center from Dean and Joanne Chancey, and $100 from Robert and Laurel Samson for the police department drug education fund.
• Approved spending $100 from a $3,000 balance in the selectmen’s special projects account to send the town clerk to a New England city and town clerk conference.
• Confirmed Thomas Cassidy of Farmington as a part-time custodian for the municipal building.
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