FARMINGTON — At the March 28 meeting Selectmen signed the fire service agreement with the Town of Industry and hired two administrative employees.
On March 11 at the annual Town Meeting, Industry voters approved a one-year contract to have Farmington Fire Rescue Department provide oversight and fire emergency response. The $30,000 contract would not include emergency medical service calls unless NorthStar requested assistance. There is an opt-out clause for either party with three months notice or one month notice, if serious enough.
The agreement was sent to the town’s attorney, who added some legal wording, solidified things, Fire Chief TD Hardy said.
According to the latest agreement wording, Industry will appoint Farmington’s Fire Chief as fire chief for Industry for the duration of the agreement.
Hardy expected Industry Selectmen to sign it at their April 4 meeting.
Selectman Stephan Bunker, who is also a member of Farmington Fire Rescue sat in on the joint meetings held previously to discuss the proposal. The mutual understanding will be a good learning experience, could set up a vision which other communities may consider, he noted.
Select Chair Matthew Smith said when he first came on the Select Board he put on a fair amount of miles going to fire stations in Franklin County, trying to develop a regional service. “I am really happy to see this, it’s the start of what we could be seeing in the future,” he noted.
Some details will be worked out after Industry signs the agreement, anyone will be able to call Farmington without going through Industry Fire Department, Hardy said. “We answer calls, somebody knows we will answer the phone,” he noted.
Interim Town Manager Cornell Knight said Leah Giusti had been hired as the executive assistant. She fills the role Nancy Martin left a few weeks ago to take a job at Maine Municipal Association.
Following a closed door session, Diane Dunham was appointed as the new town clerk/registrar of voters. She replaces Susan Murphy who was hired as town clerk/human resources director in December but resigned March 16. Dunham most recently was finance manager for Franklin County, had served as town clerk/registrar of voters in Wilton previously.
Giusti and Dunham will begin work in Farmington next week.
In other business, Matthew Foster, parks and recreation director said a proposed community resiliency grant to help fund a new HVAC unit at the Community Center [once the roof is fixed] didn’t meet Efficiency Maine’s requirements. At Hippach Field the ice skating area and field house, which has a couple of older air conditioning units, would be places where electric heat pumps could be installed – that is what the grant is looking for, Foster noted. Another place to put a heat pump would be the office space and weight lifting area downstairs in the Community Center, he added.
Foster is regrouping, pulling things together to meet the grant deadline the end of April.
Selectmen tabled a decision on approving an expenditure of up to $26,933.60 to install an EV charging station in the downtown municipal parking lot. Doing so gives the Downtown Tax Increment Financing Committee time to meet and consider the proposal, as TIF funds could be used for the project. A $14,000 Efficiency Maine grant has been awarded to help fund it. The project had not been put to the committee, Selectman Joshua Bell noted.
The vote to approve the funding failed at the March 14 Selectmen meeting because they weren’t sure if funding had already been approved and because there might be grants to help pay for it. There is a July 31 deadline for having the charging station up and running.
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