Board: Sabattus selectmen
Met: Tuesday night

Marijuana moratorium
Issue: Since voters statewide OK’d medical marijuana dispensaries last November, several communities have taken steps to prevent them from coming to town. Code Enforcement Officer Steve LeBrun recommended Sabattus adopt a 90-day moratorium on the dispensaries.

The scoop: Selectmen approved the emergency ordinance. It can be renewed once.

Up next: They plan to hold a public hearing on the topic in the future.

Bennett leaving

Issue: Jim Bennett has served as interim town manager since September. This week he accepted the town manager post in Presque Isle.

The scoop: Selectmen accepted his resignation, effective at the end of February, “with much regret.”

New TM interviews

Issue: Sabattus needs a new town manager. A search committee, helped by Bennett, has been looking.

Up next: Selectmen have called a meeting for Monday at 6 p.m. in the Town Office for more candidate interviews. The meeting is expected to go straight into executive session; those interviews will take place behind closed doors.

Special town meeting

Issue: Last May, due to an error, townspeople voted to spend one sum of money twice.

Up next: A special town meeting has been called at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 at Sabattus Central School. Voters will be asked to move $49,356 from the excise revenue account to the local roads highway fund to cover that gap. Moving that money won’t affect taxes, according to selectmen.

Police spending

Issue: Police Chief Thomas Fales asked for permission to spend a $3,907 grant on new bulletproof vests, fingerprint lab kits, monitors in the cruisers that would track the cruisers’ high speeds and training.

The scoop: Selectmen approved.

Up next: Fales is going after grant money to pay for an officer for a year. The department is currently down two people due to budget cuts.

Staff writer Kathryn Skelton can be reached at 689-2844 or [email protected].