The Rangeley Board of Selectmen voted to halt moving forward with the 2022 Airport Master Plan Update(AMPU) at their February 7, 2022 meeting.  The airport’s Capital Improvement Plan(CIP) had a Master Plan update scheduled for 2021 but complications from the Covid 19 pandemic pushed that into the 2022 time slot.  Four airport consulting firms responded to a Request For Qualifications(RFQ) issued by the Town earlier this year for the AMPU work.

The Airport Commission which functions in an advisory capacity to the Board of Selectmen had reviewed and rated the RFQ candidates.  The Commission intended to vote on a recommended consultant at their January 31, 2022 meeting.  At the January Airport Commission meeting Town Manager/Airport Manager Joe Roach asked the Commission to table any action on the AMPU due to concerns raised by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  FAA representative Ralph Nicosia-Ruskin questioned the value of spending $150,000.00 on an AMPU at this time.  Ralph stated that the current newly extended runway and reconstructed taxiways greatly exceed the needs of regular use and require a maintenance program and not additional planning of their layout.  He added that the diversion of funds from essential maintenance and operating requirements needed to be prudently evaluated.  The Airport Commission tabled the AMPU action to provide Town Manager/Airport Manager Joe Roach more time to continue communicating with the FAA and the Maine Department of Transportation’s Aviation Program representative Tim LeSeige.
The Airport Commission met again on February 7th to review all of the new information Joe Roach had gathered.  This information included the option to use most of the $150,000.00 AMPU allocation to repay the Town’s General Reserve Account for money spent but not reimbursed during the last runway expansion project.  The Airport Commission voted to recommend that the Board of Selectmen halt the AMPU and accept the $150,000.00 payment to the General Reserve.  The Board of Selectmen agreed with the recommendation and voted 5 – 0 in favor.
The Selectmen reviewed a proposed update to the Remote Participation Policy.  The one proposed change was the addition that “The Select Board can by majority vote, at any time deemed necessary, require ALL boards and committees to meet remotely.”  This was the First Reading and will be revisited at their next meeting.

The Franklin County Commissioners voted to support the collection of Orthoimagery (aerial photos) for all of the towns and unorganized territories in Franklin County.  They will use $40,382.00 of their American Rescue Plan money to partner with the Maine Office of Geography for 18” pixel resolution imagery.  The State will pay $80,740.00 for their two-thirds share of the project’s cost.  The Rangeley Board of Selectmen voted to “buy up” a much clearer and more detailed 6” pixel resolution and a composite image option for a cost to the Town of $11,850.00.  This imagery will be available to the general public, including real estate and land use businesses, but should be especially useful to public safety, planning, code enforcement and assessing departments within the Town.  This imagery, that has advantages over Google Earth, will be taken during the narrow window of snow free ground and the emergence of foliage this spring in 2022.
Developer Matt Teare, who is considering an attainable housing project on Cross Street in Rangeley is not available to meet with the Board on February 22nd as scheduled.  The purpose of the meeting has been modified to discuss attainable housing in general terms, not project specific, with the opportunity for public input.  This public workshop is scheduled to begin at 5:00pm on Tuesday, February 22, 2022 immediately preceding the 6:00pm Board of Selectmen’s meeting.
The Town Manager provided the Selectmen with a salary survey that included wage information from eight towns, including Rangeley, located in Franklin and Oxford Counties.  Salary surveys are used to comply with the Town of Rangeley Personnel Policy which requires annual wage adjustment analysis.  The Town Manager had reviewed the survey with non-union employees and informed them of his recommendations to the Selectmen per the Policy.  Selectmen questioned the inclusion of towns in the survey they felt were too different from Rangeley to be useful in wage comparisons.  Selectmen thought that a survey should be more comprehensive and include considerations of the longevity in a position and the value of fringe benefits as well as salary.  Continued discussion on this topic will occur at future Selectmen and Budget Committee meetings.
Correspondence was read into the record that documented the $4million increase in Rangeley taxable property last year.  In spite of this growth, taxes increased by over 7% continuing a multi year trend of substantial increases.  These tax increases are causing financial discomfort to fixed income and locally employed property owners. The Selectmen and Town Manager were asked what actions they plan to take during the budget process to lower or prevent any tax increases.  The actions will be determined as the budgeting process moves along after its initial start scheduled for February 28, 2022.
The Selectmen voted to accept the low bid for a bucket loader mounted power broom.  The three bids received ranged from $19,913.00 to $29,980.00 for a broom that can be attached to both the Airport’s bucket loader and the Highway Department’s bucket loader.  Allied Equipment of Hartland, Maine provided the low bid with a 90 day delivery date.  The broom will be paid with 50% Highway Department funds and 50% Airport funds.
Lindsey Savage, Rangeley Local Health Officer, issued a Covid 19 informational update on February 1st.  This update is posted at the Rangeley and Oquossoc post offices and can be accessed on the Town’s website.  Lindsey can be reached at [email protected] if you have additional questions.