SABATTUS – A proposed new town charter calls for a town manager and five selectmen as the form of government. Voters will decide in November whether to accept the charter.
Sabattus now has a five-member Board of Selectmen and a town administrator.
“The idea of saving money with a town manger won’t happen,” Selectmen Chairman Guy Desjardins said. “But (the town) will run more efficiently.”
What role a town manager would have was a question brought to selectmen by the Charter Commission during a joint meeting this week.
The two bodies talked about having a manager also act as the road commissioner, with a road foreman to ensure the road care and maintenance desires of the town manager were carried out.
In term of the Budget Committee, commission members and selectmen agreed that in the charter it will read that six Budget Committee members will be elected and three appointed. If not enough members run for election, selectmen will have the power to appoint members until the committee is full.
All members at the meeting were opposed to any set term limits for candidates.
One commission goal is to reduce the length of town meetings. Commission Chairman Jon Mennealy said he would like to see some articles that are in the town warrant every year eliminated and dealt with by the governing body.
One such article asks if the town will authorize selectmen to dispose of town-owned personal property by bid only unless prohibited by law.
“We just want to take out the everyday stuff that we vote on every year that slows up the process,” Mennealy said.
He said before any final decisions are made, the commission will check with the Maine Municipal Association for legal advice.
A town charter is a legal document outlining and defining the inner workings of a town’s government along with its privileges and purposes.
The Charter Commission meets at the Town Office every first Wednesday and third Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. For more information visit www.chartercommission.sabattus.net
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