A frozen ceiling pipe burst in the Rangeley Town Office meeting room after the weekend cold snap. This made the room unusable, so the Selectmen met via Zoom for their February 6th meeting. Three of the five Board members were able to “zoom in” which met the requirement for a quorum.
The Selectmen’s first order of business at 6:00pm was to enter into an Executive Session for a consultation with the Town’s legal counsel. Any public viewers were placed into a Zoom waiting room until the executive session ended at 6:55pm. The Selectmen did not take any action as a result of the executive session.
The Town’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) attorney, Alyssa Tibbetts, provided the Board a Draft #7 of the TIF Policy and Guidelines. The Board members did not have any questions with the wording of this latest revision and voted 3-0 in favor of accepting the First Reading of Draft#7. This document can be viewed in its entirety on the Town’s website.
A clean version of Chapter 38, i.e., the Rangeley Zoning Ordinance, was given to the Selectmen for their review prior to public hearings. Town Attorney Kristen Collins is creating a summary of the major changes proposed for this ordinance. A public hearing with the Selectmen, Planning Board and public has been scheduled for 6:00pm on March 21, 2023, at the Rangeley Town Office.
A pdf of Chapter 34, i.e. the proposed Short Term Rental Ordinance (STR) which included Town Attorney Kristen Collin’s feedback was emailed to the Selectmen prior to their meeting. The Highland Overlook Landowners Association members forwarded a Short Term Rental Ordinance from Gray, Maine to the Selectmen for their consideration and public discussion. The Draft Chapter 34 Ordinance has been posted on the Rangeley Town website and a public hearing has been scheduled for March 15, 2023, at 6:00pm at the Rangeley Town Office.
The Town Manager had posted a request for comments and suggestions on the best use of the $50,000.00 no match grant that the Town was receiving from the Climate Resilience Plan. No feedback was received. Town Manager Joe Roach recommended the money be used for a new energy efficient heating system at the Highway Garage. This topic will be discussed further at the next Selectmen’s meeting.
The Select Board voted to appoint Town Manager Joe Roach and Administrative Assistant Traci Lavoie to the Maine Service Center Coalition as Rangeley’s representatives. This is a group consisting of towns that serve as service centers to the smaller towns which surround them. The Board also voted to select Stantec as the Town’s airport planning and consulting firm.
Joe Roach made a recommendation to the Selectmen that the Public Service Director position be left open, and the focus be shifted to hiring a Parks and Recreation Director. Joe is hoping to bolster recreational programming and improve maintenance of buildings and grounds. This recommendation will be discussed in more detail at an upcoming meeting.
The Office Assistant/Customer Service Representative position became vacant on February 10th. The three Selectmen participating in the meeting voted to table discussion on filling this position until all five Board members are present.
Due to the February 20th Presidents Day holiday, the next Selectmen’s meeting has been rescheduled to Tuesday, February 21, 2023.
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