Minutes of the Chebeague Transition Committee March 28, 2007 at 7:00pm at the Parish House.  (Accepted 4/4/07

 

The meeting was called to order by John Martin at 7:10am.

 

Members present: Donna Damon, Mark Dyer, Leon Hamilton, David Hill, John Martin (Chair), Jim Phipps, Doug Ross and Carol White

Absent: Stephen Todd.

Beth Howe served as secretary.

 

Visitors: 5

 

Minutes:  Jim Phipps moved, seconded by David Hill to accept the minutes of March 14.  Passed 6 to 0 with two abstentions.  Jim moved, seconded by Doug Ross to accept the minutes of the March 21 meeting.  Leon asked about Senator Turnerıs use of the term ³commuter² for islands. Carol White said he meant schools that send their children to school on the mainland.  The motion passed 5 to 0 with 3 abstentions.  Jim moved approval of the minutes of March 25.  Several people said they had not read the minutes yet.  Carol moved to table the minutes of March 25. Passed unanimously.

 

Public comments:  Ken said that at the Cumberland Firemen;s banquet Fire Chief Dan Small and Bill Shane had praised Doug Rossı work on the transition.  Ken and Jason Hamilton and Ralph Munroe were given awards.

 

Report of the Public Safety Committee

Doug Ross said he did not yet have his next set of recommendations but gave an update on dispatching.  There are three fees involved .  The County charges a flat fee of $1700 and change per year.  Horizon radio company had an additional charge; and a third company will reprogram the repeater and will be paid for that. 

            Gorham has just replaced their minitor radios with new ones and made their old ones available to Cumberland.  This will save Chebeague $6,000 to $8,000 for new raidos and reprogramming.  He will find out who should be thanked and will give David Hill a budget adjustment.  

Jim Phipps asked for a clarification about the billing for the rescue service from Yarmouth.  Yarmouth will bill the patient and file for reimbursement.  Freeport actually does the filing for both towns.  Ken Hamilton asked what they do if someone cannot pay.  Doug said he had discussed this with them.  They bill the person but if they donıt pay, Yarmouth doesnıt send it to a collection agency.

 

Old Business:

            Donna Damon has received a letter from Nadeen Daniels about Cunberlandıs compliance with ADA at its various public buildings.  The ramp at the Hall may need to be changed.  Cumberland will be striping the Stone Wharf in May and will create handicapped parking spaces at the Hall, the Rec Center and the Firehouse.  The various organizations involved need to be notified.  Donna has asked Peter Rice for his help in resolving this issue. Mark Dyer said he would like a reading from Peter about whether the handicapped counter arrangement that Cumberland has is sufficient.  He said he thought they could get a building permit in early April.  It would be good to have a plan to show to the public.

 

Hiring: Donna Damon said that interviews for the Town Administrator will be held on Sunday April 1.  All the applicants sounded enthusiastic.  The meeting will be in executive session.  Beverly Johnson is organizing food for the day.

 

Next week Donnaıs committee may have a preliminary job description for the selectmen – what they can and cannot do. This will probably be reflected in a number of warrants at the Town Meeting.  Also they are working on charges for Town committees.  Beth Howe said that her committee was drafting legislation for the Planning Board and Lands and Conservation Commissions.  Donna said that an ordinance is more specific than a charge and that is better.

 

Budget:  David Hill reminded people that an item had been added to the budget for $100 for the Health Clinic, to indicate that support may be needed for it in the future.  Donna Damon said she does not want people to think that the Town is making a commitment to the Health Center.  David agreed.

            Carol White reported briefly on the education budget.  She said that money had been put in the capital budget for replacing the roof.  The state numbers on school aid have been released.  About $40,000 is pretty certain for special education and there may be more for debt service, but that is not certain yet. 

John Martin suggested setting the dates for public meetings on the budget.  There was a discussion of whether to have one overall meeting and two detailed sessions.  Carol White said that it would take at least two weeks to prepare and send out a mailing about each meeting.  It was agreed to send out two sheets: one for revenues and one for expenses plus an agenda for the meeting and some description of how the meeting will be run.  The mailing will be clear that the budget is still subject to change.  Leon Hamilton said he would like the budget to be as certain as possible before the meeting.  Jim Phipps said that the reason for having a public meeting is to get feedback and adjust the budget accordingly.  Since Easter and school vacation come in April, it was decided to have a meeting on April 22 at 2:00 at the Hall.  The mailing will be sent out before April 10.  John Martin will draft a letter to go with the budget.  A second meeting on May 13 was suggested but not set.

 

Hiring for the School Department:

            The selection committee has identified two candidates to be inverviewed by the TC.  The question was when should the interviews occur and what would be the role of the Education and Transition Committees.  Carol White has a list of questions for the candidates that she will circulate.  It was agreed to have the meetings in the evening, one candidate per evening.  Carol will see if Tuesday April 10 and Thursday April 12 are ok with the candidates.  They will come on the 5:00 boat and meet with the Education Committee initially.  Then at 7:00 thee TC will interview the candidate.

 

Meeting with Peter Lowe:  Carol asked whether the meeting tomorrow with Peter Lowe is just to cover warrants.  Donna Damon said she has some questions about hiring.

 

At 8:45 David Hill moved, seconded by Mark Dyer to go into executive session pursuant to MRSA 405.6.A.1 – Title 1, Chapter 13, Section 405 to discuss personnel issues.  Approved unanimously.

 

At 10:05 Jim Phipps moved seconded by David Hill to come out of executive session.  Approved unanimously. 

 

At 10:07 the meeting was adjourned.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Beth Howe