LEBANON MAINE SELECTMEN'S MEETING 9/10/15
Part 1 of the Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's meeting begins with Selectmen's Assistant Sue Collins addressing the Selectmen with the final few properties needing attention for the 2015-16 Tax Assessments.
Lebanon Maine Truth Seeker Deborah Dorey Wilson asks the Board if anyone has contacted J&S Masonry of Brownfield, Maine regarding their contract with the Town of Lebanon to keep many of the town's smaller cemeteries and Town properties mowed. No one has made the call even though it has been brought up in several meetings now. The job had been delegated to Selectman Heath, and he continually refuses to make one telephone call on behalf of the Residents of Lebanon.
Ms. Wilson also asks if anyone has heard from MIA Road Commissioner Tom Torno, and the answer is still that the Board has not contacted him about attending a Board of Selectmen's Meeting, a job that was delegated to Selectman Heath.
The Board discusses their plans for finalizing the Town's Tax Commitment during the early days of the week, perhaps Monday, September 14 or Tuesday, September 15.
SEE the FIRST part of the Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's Meeting of 9/10/15 HERE:
In the second part of the 9/10/15 Selectmen's Meeting Video, Lebanon Maine Truth Seeker Sandy Adams addresses the Board with her concerns regarding Selectman Royce Heath's negligence in office. Ms. Adams questions any reprisal the Town residents might have if Selectman Heath continues to be negligent in his responsibilities as a Selectman. Sandy continues on, stating that so far this year, Selectman Heath has collected over $16K in salary and although he has performed the necessary measuring and property visits to finalize the Town's tax commitment, he has done little else besides continually refusing to comment, refusing to bring Road Commissioner Tom Torno before the Board of Selectmen, and refusing to contact the Town's private contractor in charge of mowing cemeteries and town properties.
When Ms. Adams asks Selectman Heath if he has anything to say for himself. The Selectman treats Sandy to a barrage of "NO COMMENT" statements before starting his famous paper shuffle and pretending that she is not speaking to him.
There is some discussion regarding the opening of bids, the 9/10/15 accident at the Town Office where a vehicle hit the front flower box causing very minor damage, and then Selectman Heath forgetting that he has to finish assessing before finalizing the Town's tax commitment.
Lebanon Maine Truth Seeker Deborah Dorey Wilson asks the Board if J&S Masonry will be paid the full $10,000 plus dollars of their contract even though they did not complete all the work in satisfactory manner, due to the fact that they have never been contacted regarding their insufficient work. Selectman Thompson states "Most Likely".
Ms. Wilson turns to Selectman Paul Nadeau and asks him if he will please take over the task of calling J&S Masonry, and after a brief conversation, Mr. Nadeau agrees to "call somebody" on Friday when he gets into the office.
There is discussion on a course that Town Clerk Mandy Grenier found that she thought the Board might be interested in having Animal Control Officer Mary Kinney attend, but after a brief discussion, it is said they will just ask if Mary would like to attend.
Selectmen's Assistant Collins returns to the meeting with a few additional assessment concerns.
Ms. Collins asks once again if the Board has considered her request to attend the Annual Maine Municipal Association in Augusta on September 16 and 17. Selectman Thompson tells her that the Board will be discussing it later on in the evening's meeting, but it is never revisited.
Lebanon Maine Truth Seeker Wilson asks the Board if there has ever been any discussion with the Road Commissioner regarding the concerns brought up in the Board's meeting of 8/31/15, by resident Chris Gilpatrick, regarding the fact that the Road Commissioner is paying a private contractor $55-$65 per hour for the use of a pick up truck with driver, and said pick up truck is being operated by a Town Employee who is on the clock for the town. Selectman Ben Thompson agrees that this is a problem that needs to be addressed, but there is no further discussion on when or how.
The Board discusses some wording options for the Festivals and Outdoor Events Permit Ordinance scheduled to be placed on the November 3 ballot by Town Clerk Mandy Grenier and Lebanon Code Enforcement Officer Mike Beaullieu. Discussed are issues on whether to use this permit ordinance to replace the current Mass Gathering Permit Ordinance (1981), whether time restrictions should be part of the ordinance or dealt with for individual permits, and whether or not noise restrictions should be part of the ordinance or whether a separate ordinance needs to be placed on the ballot creating verbage against late night noise.
As part of this discussion, Select Board Chairman Thompson reads aloud a complaint he has received only recently from a Lebanon resident regarding the late night noise "after the midnight hour" that is coming from Sky Dive New England on a constant basis. According to the Upper Guinea Road resident, the noise at Sky Dive New England is every weekend and includes, music, loud vehicles racing on the air strip, hooting and yelling, and fireworks. Thompson says that he thinks it is time for a noise control ordinance of some kind for the town, due to the fact that the Board is constantly having to "negotiate" between private parties due to noise problems. Selectman Nadeau doesn't want to do anything with an ordinance at this time, stating that he'd rather wait for June 2016's Town Election as he "doesn't trust" a November election and that Town business should be done in the Spring.
There was discussion on ordinances of the past, including a noise ordinance, that was on the Lebanon Ordinance Books in the past, but had been repealed years ago.
The Board ends the discussion on noise ordinance with no decision.
WATCH PART 2 of the Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's Meeting 9/10/15 HERE:
Part 3 of the Board of Selectmen's Meeting of Thursday, 9/10/15 shows a local woman, Ms. Mattingly present for the bid openings on the Sanding and Painting of the Exterior of the Lebanon Town Office. Ms. Mattingly works for Sherwin Williams paints and although she has no bid on the table herself, she is present just to offer any advice that she can to the Board and observe the opening of the bids. Three bids have been received for the Sanding and Painting bid, listed in the order they were opened......
1. A&J Services (Sanford, ME) offers a bid for hand painting, no spraying, using Sherwin Williams paints, in the amount of $3,675.00
2. Sunrise Over Cedars Property Maintenance Services LLC (Acton, ME) offers a bid for spraying of $7,082.00
3. Pete's Precision Painting (Sanford, ME) offers a very detailed bid using the spraying method of paint and stain in the amount of $6,355.00
There is discussion regarding the differences in paints and the difference in application methods between hand painting and spraying. Ms. Mattingly is very helpful to the Board with her knowledge.
The Board awards the bid for Sanding and Painting of the Exterior of the Lebanon Maine Town Office Building to Pete's Precision Painting.
Selectman Heath made the motion, seconded by Selectman Nadeau. 3 in favor, 0 opposed.
SEE the THIRD part of the video of the 9/10/15 Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's Meeting HERE:
The fourth part of the Video of the Board of Selectmen's Meeting of 9/10/15 shows Select Board Chairman Ben Thompson opening the folder for the Electrical Services Bid for testing and maintaining the Town's emergency generators, among other things. Everyone is surprised that although this has been bid twice, there are no bids to perform this service.
Discussion is made by Selectman Heath on utilizing the services of Selectman Nadeau's nephew for these services.
See the Fourth part of the Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's 9/10/15 Video HERE:
Part 5 of the Thursday, September 10, 2015 Board of Selectmen's Meeting shows the opening of the Winter Sand Supply and Delivery Bid. There has only been one bid received, and it is from STS Construction (Lebanon, ME) in the amount of $8.23 per cubic yard.
All Board members agree that STS has done a fine job of providing Winter Sand for the Town and the bid is awarded to STS Construction.
WATCH the fifth part of the 9/10/15 Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's Meeting Video HERE:
Part 6 of the 9/10/15 Board of Selectmen's Meeting Video shows Selectman Heath motioning to accept the bid of STS Construction for the Supply and Delivery of Winter Sand to the Town of Lebanon. Selectman Nadeau seconds the motion. 3 in favor, 0 opposed.
The Board moves on to a final folder containing a bid for the Town's request for proposal for bids on Roadside Mowing. There are no bids for these services.
There is a final folder in the bid opening stack, and it is for Town of Lebanon Road Grading. The folder includes 1 bid from R. D. Torno and Sons Paving, Inc. The amount of the bid by Torno and sons is not disclosed. There is discussion as to whether this bid was ever published to promote competitive pricing and it does not seem that Road Commissioner Torno ever published such a Bid Request as the process requires, so Select Board Chairman Thompson moves that the bid be disregarded. Selectman Nadeau seconds the motion and the Board votes 2 in favor with Selectman Heath abstaining.
SEE Part 6 of the Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's 9/10/15 Meeting Video HERE
The seventh and final portion of the 9/10/15 Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's Meeting video shows the Board as they prepare to leave the building to go and assess the final few remaining properties for the year prior to the beginning of the Lebanon Budget Committee Meeting which was scheduled to begin at 7 pm.
Board Chairman Ben Thompson provides Selectman Heath the option to read the minutes from the previous Board Meeting as scribed and provided by Lebanon Maine Truth Seeker Sandy Adams. Although both Thompson and Nadeau have gone over the minutes and approved them as public documents, Selectman Heath refuses the option to review them.
Lebanon Maine Truth Seeker Deborah Dorey Wilson questions Mr. Heath regarding the June - August 2015 Meeting Minutes for which the Selectman was responsible for taking and transcribing. Select Board Chairman Thompson states that neither formal minutes, nor draft copies have ever been turned in by Selectman Heath, but that he had requested Selectman Heath to provide him with at least the draft copies of said public documents by that evening.
Selectman Heath states that there is no law stating that any Board be required to take minutes of any meeting, and in face value, he is correct. However, once minutes are created in any form (draft or final) during a public meeting, they become the property of the public that the agency serves. (In this case, the Town of Lebanon and it's taxpayers).
HERE is the LAW......
Who enforces the Freedom of Access Act?Any aggrieved person may appeal to any Superior Court in the state to seek relief for an alleged violation of the FOAA. 1 M.R.S. § 409(1) Relief can be in the form of an order issued by the court that directs the government body, agency or official to comply with the law, such as by providing access to a public proceeding or by making public records available for inspection or copying. In addition, the Office of the Attorney General or the District Attorneys may bring an enforcement action seeking penalties if the alleged violation is willful. 1 M.R.S. § 410
What are the penalties for failure to comply with the Freedom of Access Act? A state government agency or local government entity whose officer or employee commits a willful violation of the FOAA commits a civil violation for which a forfeiture of not more than $500 may be adjudged. 1 M.R.S. § 410 Under the current law, there are no criminal penalties for failure to comply with a request for public records. It is a Class D crime to intentionally remove, alter, or destroy documents belonging to a state office. 1 M.R.S. § 452
Chairman Thompson reminds Selectman Heath that while it is true that no Board is required to take such minutes, once the minutes have been created, even in draft copy, they are considered public documents and therefore must be kept in the Town Office for review.
Discussion is held regarding the town's tax commitment to be set on Monday, September 14, 2015.
WATCH part 7 of the video of the Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's Meeting of 9/10/15 HERE:
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