LIVERMORE FALLS – More town employees will have to carry higher bonding insurance, after a vote by selectmen raised the bonding requirement to $300,000.
The town also voted to require all bonded employees to sign an acknowledgment that states that they are aware that if they lose their bonding status, they will no longer be employed, Town Manager Martin Puckett said Tuesday.
The positions that will now require bonding are town manager, sewer clerk, treasurer, tax collector, road commissioner, excise tax agent, general assistant administrator and any deputies of those positions, Puckett said.
The reason selectmen wanted the bonding insurance increased from $100,000 to $300,000, Puckett said, is because that is the most in revenues the town receives in a month.
The town’s former Sewer Clerk Faith Nichols was no longer bondable and selectmen said they were never informed about it. Nichols has admitted to taking more than $100,000 from the Sewer Department during her employment. The matter is still under investigation by the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department.
Puckett said town auditor Ron Smith was present Monday and gave selectmen an update on the audit during their meeting. The audit has not been finalized yet.
Smith recommended that the town have three months worth of operating expenses, about $900,000, in an undesignated fund balance to cover town government operations.
The town has funds to cover about two months of operating expenses, Puckett said.
The town has $694,327 that is undesignated, Town Clerk Kristal Flagg said Tuesday, and $69,785 that is designated in reserve accounts or capital improvement accounts.
Flagg previously recommended the town should have three months worth of operating funds reserved in case of an emergency.
Selectmen also discussed recalculating the sewer user fees, Puckett said.
The auditor believes with the town’s healthy sewer operating balance, it could possibly lower sewer rates, he said.
In other business, selectmen signed a contract with Jay retroactive to Jan. 1, 2005, for solid waste and recyclables. The contract is for five years.
The board also signed a contract with the Department of Transportation to develop, design and construct a pedestrian walkway along the Androscoggin River. The project is estimated to cost $220,000, and is mostly funded by grants with some local money already in reserve.
The first phase of the two-phase project is slated to begin this summer or early fall, Puckett said. The initial phase is expected to go from the municipal building to past the ball fields on Foundry Road.
Puckett also said he plans to request bids to fix the town’s tower clock atop the bank building.
Various organizations and individuals have donated money to help repair the clock that is no longer working.
So far, $6,900 has been raised and the current estimate for the repair is about $8,000, Puckett said.
Selectmen also took the following action:
• Set the town meeting for 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, at the New Norland Grange Hall in East Livermore. Selectmen also gave the go-ahead for the New Norland Grange members to put on a dinner prior to the meeting.
• Scheduled cleanup week for April 24. Residents are allowed to leave unbagged yard waste such as leaves and dirt – no branches – out by the road, and highway crew workers will pick it up.
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