Buckfield Board of Selectmen

September 3, 2019

 

BUCKFIELD — The following action was taken by the Buckfield Board of Selectmen at the Sept. 3 meeting:

Facility Use 

What happened: After some wordsmithing, selectmen passed the Municipal Building & Facility Policy with amendments.

What it means: There will no charge or deposit for town-sponsored and nonprofit groups to use town facilities. For-profit groups will be charged $30 per event plus a $30 deposit. Selectmen added next to the for-profit fees and deposits “(any series of classes less than six months is considered one event for deposit purposes only.)” Selectmen also added a “flat use fee” for unique circumstances such as a wedding event at the Old Church on the Hill. They also tweaked Agreement of Building Use. Letter N now reads, “At times when the Town Office is not open, the applicant may be required to pay the wages of a town employee to be present while the room is being used if a municipal representative duly authorized by the town manager is not available.” Selectmen also added that groups would be responsible for any damages to the building “exceeded the $30 deposit”.

What’s next: Roach will tweak the Facility Use Application & Agreement form to match the newly adopted policy and bring it back to selectmen at a future meeting.

Winter sand 

What happened: After postponing action at their last meeting, selectmen awarded the winter sand bid.

What it means: Based on the gradient report, selectmen voted to award the winter sand bid to W.A. Lucas of Sumner in an amount not to exceed $24,375, which was what was budgeted for at June town meeting. The Lucas bid was for $9.75 a yard for sand piled outside. The other bid came in from K.R. Youland & Son of Turner, which was $9.50 a yard for sand piled outside but had more smaller particles that could blow off the road. Roach noted they’re both reputable companies with good sand samples, but recommended Lucas because of the slightly better gradation report.

What’s next: The sand will have to be piled outside for this winter. No bids came in for the sand and salt shed project after the Aug. 27 deadline, Roach said, and he will work with the engineer to rebid the project.

Education

What happened: After hearing a report about the findings of the ad hoc Education Exploration Committee from member Sandra Fickett, selectmen dissolved the committee and created a liaison position.

What it means: Fickett and committee members worked with and gathered information RSU 10’s superintendent, Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner administration and the community. She noted town gets more than its bang for the buck with the amount of students the town has and the amount the town pays for its portion of the school budget and the amount of local students getting their education outside of RSU 10 and the students outside of the district attending RSU 10 are basically a wash. The liaison position will help keep the lines of communication open between town and school officials and the community.

What’s next: Fickett will finalize an electronic and paper survey for community members to share their input and concerns and bring it back to selectmen.

Meetings 

What happened: Selectmen adjusted a number of fall meetings due to a Maine Municipal Association convention and set workshops.

What it means: A public hearing on an automobile graveyard is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, with the regular selectboard meeting to follow; a public hearing on referendum voting is at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 8, with the rescheduled selectboard meeting to follow; a public hearing on cable TV franchise agreement is at 6 p.m., with the rescheduled selectboard meeting to follow; a public hearing on medical and adult use marijuana is at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 5, with the regular selectboard meeting to follow; a cable TV workshop is scheduled for 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 19, with the regular selectboard meeting to follow; and a personnel policy review workshop is at 6 p.m., on Tuesday, Dec. 2, with the regularly scheduled selectboard meeting to follow.

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