Government at a Glance

Board: Minot Selectmen

Met: Monday night

TV cable contract

Issue: The town’s cable television franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable expires in December.

The scoop: The town’s cable contract committee has met several times in the past eight or nine months to draft a contract proposal. Selectmen reviewed the recommended contract agreement Monday night. The new agreement would be for a three-year period. It adds a provision whereby when an unserved mile of road does not meet the 15-signed up subscriber requirement, the town may apply a portion of the franchise fee it receives toward the cost of stringing service lines in order to provide service to parts of the town “that come close” to meeting requirements. The contract also increases the franchise fee that the town receives from 3 percent to 5 percent.

Up next: The agreement will be sent to Time Warner for confirmation.

Sale of school

Issue: Now that the town has joined Mechanic Falls and Poland to form RSU 16, it must, in compliance with the school consolidation law, transfer ownership of school property to the RSU.

The scoop: Selectmen reviewed a quit claim deed and bill of sale for the Minot Consolidated School, as drafted by attorney Jack Conway, and found them in order, except that one provision was found to be lacking: If the RSU no longer requires use of the property, the property would revert to the town. Selectmen determined that the school consolidation law requires the provision that the property be returned to the town if the RSU is no longer using it.

Up next: Selectmen returned the quit claim deed and bill of sale with the added provision to Conway. It is expected that the transfer of the school and about seven acres of land could be complete within a week or two.

Impact fees

Issue: For the past five years, the town has operated an impact fee program to offset the costs of residential development to town facilities.

The scoop: The town’s impact fee committee has decided to leave the fee structure the same for the time being but to investigate hiring a consultant to review and determine if the fees need changing. Consideration is being given to eliminating collecting impact fees for schools but retaining them for improvements to fire and recreation facilities.

Up next: The impact fee committee will interview consultants, and if the decision is to pursue the program, there will be a recommendation for a town meeting warrant article to fund the study.

Sand pile

The scoop: Road Foreman Scott Parker reported that the winter sand pile has been properly covered, “It is the best looking sand pile ever, and the tarp was big enough to cover the whole pile. I am already looking forward to next year’s sand pile.”

Unpaved roads and shoulders

The scoop: Parker reported that the town crew has completed grading the town’s unpaved roads and shouldering work on Harris, Brighton Hill and Old Buckfield roads, as well as Fortin Drive; also that the town crew has been grading and shouldering roads in Hebron to pay Hebron back for time owed for work the Hebron crew did in Minot this past summer.

 
—Winslow Durgin