Buckfield Board of Selectmen

June 4, 2019

BUCKFIELD ­— The following action was taken by the Buckfield Board of Selectmen at the June 4 meeting:

Hazard inspection

What happened: Town Manager Joe Roach informed selectmen the town’s insurance company conducted a hazard inspection at town facilities at the end of May.

What it means: A few things needed to be addressed and will be if they haven’t been already, Roach said. This includes reinstalling the downed wooden snow fence around the sand and salt shed, putting exit signs above the doors in the office at the Transfer Station and filling out forklift inspection paperwork.

What’s next: Resident Martha Catevenis suggested the town contact Safety Works to do an inspection to possibly prevent the town from being cited for safety violations during a state inspection.

Insurance increase

What happened: Roach told selectmen the town’s insurance could increase by $3,000 or $4,000 and he’s looking for a new carrier to lower the cost.

What it means: Roach had already budgeted a 6% increase in insurance costs for this year’s budget. He said the best case scenario is another carrier can cover the town for what was budgeted and the worst case is it’s more than what was budgeted, the warrants at town meeting will have to be adjusted.

Senator Collins

What happened: Roach announced Ellen Wainwright from Sen. Susan Collins’ office will be at the Buckfield Municipal Center at 34 Turner St. from 3 to 4 p.m. on Friday, June 7.

What it means: Roach said no appointment is necessary and residents can come and talk with Wainwright about issues they want Senator Collins to know about.

Emergency Operations Plan

What happened: Roach presented selectmen with a first draft of the town’s Emergency Operations Plan, which they tabled for further review.

What it means: Roach said selectmen need to update, review and approve the policy every year and he has already done some updates to the 83-page document.

What’s next: Selectmen will review the plan at their meeting Tuesday, July 2.

Volunteer coaches

What happened: Selectmen reviewed and tabled the first draft of the Volunteer Coaching Policy.

What it means: Some items selectmen suggested looking into and/or updating included adding that formal complaints must be in writing, contacting Buckfield Rescue to provide a CPR/First Aid course for coaches, outlining the process for violations of the policy, adding in that vulgar language at or in front of the kids is prohibited and defining what each league is.

What’s next: Selectmen will continue reviewing the policy at their next meeting on Tuesday, June 18.

Sharing services

What happened: After Roach was approached by Hartford Selectboard Chair Lee Holman to discuss possibly sharing services, selectmen decided to host interested towns at one of their August meetings.

What it means: Holman and Roach discussed talking about code enforcement, emergency management and daytime fire coverage. Roach said Sumner would most likely be interested

What’s next: Roach will speak with Holman and Sumner officials to see if Tuesday, Aug. 6, or Tuesday, Aug. 20, would work for the meeting. Any interested town officials are invited to attend.

Budget workshop

What happened: Selectmen set a workshop with the Budget Committee for Tuesday, June 18, which will follow the regular selectboard meeting and is a follow-up to discuss this year’s budget process.

Town meeting refreshments

What happened: Selectmen decided to provide light refreshments for the annual town meeting, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, June 15, at the Buckfield Junior-Senior High School, 160 Morrill St. “I just think it’s a nice gesture. … If you feed them they will come, right?” said Vice Chair Tina Brooks, who suggested the idea.