Taking it easy after several medical procedures this evening, I was unable to attend the Thursday night Selectmen's meeting
Rebecca Beal attended in my place and did a wonderful job of getting some notes for me.
Newly elected Selectmen Paul Nadeau, attended his first meeting as a seated Selectman. For most of the meeting, he sat, silently drinking in all that was happening around him.
Mr. Paul Pelletier from Train's Tavern on Rt. 202, was present with complaints that he can't seem to get the State Police to work with him on a cooperative basis. Pelletier stated that he now has 32 Video Surveillance cameras on the Train's Tavern property and that the State Police have Frank Lyons coming to the establishment on July 6th at 4:45 pm to work with Train's staff with a training class on serving liquor. Pelletier invited the Selectmen to attend the training session.
Selectman Ben Thompson presented information to the trio regarding the new agreement with Comstar, the service that Lebanon uses to do the billing and paperwork for our Rescue Department. Comstar has been charging our town at 8% interest, Chief Daniel Meehan had worked with them to get the rate slightly lowered, and then Selectman Thompson finished up, working with the service to drop Lebanon's interest rate down to 6.75%!!!
The Selectmen spent some time focusing on Assessment issues, looking specifically at waterfront properties and mobile homes in town.
Mr. Tom Craven, and his wife Brenda, the town's Emergency Management Agency Representatives arrived to turn in their resignations from the Department. According to word from the Craven's Facebook page, the couple were angered when Selectmen neglected to inform them of the Referendum Meeting held on May 26th. The couple have been working with the Emergency Management Agency for 29 years and have usually spent some time at Referendum Meetings in the past, explaining what their Department does. The Selectmen accepted their resignation noting their regret in doing so.
A very irate citizen arrived to speak to Selectmen. It seems that in the past, this man was working with a former Code Enforcement Officer. He felt that he had been working toward meeting all the requirements put forward by that Officer and he was angry that now he's being given a new list of requirements for his project and that some of the documents and paperwork are now missing from the Town Office file on his project. It seemed that the man was very agitated by the presence of non-Selectmen in the room and he said that he would be speaking about specific town employees. Select Board Chairman Ben Thompson asked the man to wait and put the Board into Executive Session stating that the matter involved personnel and so the discussion should not be held in public.
After the issue was solved, the Board discussed the appointment of Tom Torno as Acting Road Commissioner to complete the 3 year term his father had been elected to before his untimely death in February of 2015. Torno, who had been acting as Road Supervisor under the guidance and approval of Thompson, Heath and Philbrick, will now be able to have more say in decision making and budgeting than he had previously been able to participate in while the Select Board held the official title just beyond his grasp.
