There were quite a few interesting discussions at the Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's Meeting last evening.
The video is broken down into 6 parts for you to more easily access the portions that interest you.
We try to edit out all the paper signing and pencil pushing for you, but sometimes it just happens that a bit of that sneaks into the video footage.
At the meeting on Monday evening, 7/13/15, Deborah was a bit late getting there. Sandy began the taping at approx. 4:06 pm. There had already been one resident in to see the Selectmen that did not get onto the video.
Lower Guinea Road resident Richard Small was not part of the evening's planned agenda, but he had been written into the agenda earlier in that afternoon by Selectman Heath.
According to Mr. Small, Selectman Ben Thompson had promised him that the section of Lower Guinea Road where he lives and operates a business selling horse trailers, would be asphalt paved. However, Thompson has no recollection of ever saying this. Small also states that Lower Guinea Road was scheduled to be asphalted when a former Selectmen's Board had asked department heads to shave as much as possible off their budgets in order to help the Town fund the "misappropriated" $208,000.00 from the Rescue Department. Thompson said he had no knowledge of what the former Road Commissioner had planned or discussed with Small at that time.
Thompson, says that ALL the town's departments gave back what they could during that difficult financial time in Lebanon, including late Road Commissioner Larry Torno. The dollar amount was then placed on the June 2014 Town Ballot, and Lebanon voters agreed to place the total into the fund to cover the huge debt incurred by the town by the former Rescue officials.
Mr. Small, very angry, spent time calling Thompson a liar, and stating that the town should owe the Road Department the $300,000 that it took from Roads Budget, however Thompson maintains that the total amount that Torno had given back into the fund was in the area of $34,000, not $300,000.
Thompson reminded Small that he personally was not the acting Road Commissioner during that time, but that the entire Board of Selectmen were acting as Road Commissioners, so any decisions would have been made by the entire Board.
According to Thompson, after many complaints regarding the condition of Lower Guinea Road this Spring, the Board did address the issue with then Road Supervisor Tom Torno and that money was spent adding gravel and trying to address the problem. Thompson said that Lower Guinea Road has always been an unimproved road, has never been asphalt paved, and that Small bought his property on an unimproved roadway.
Small stormed from the office and the building, meeting Deborah on her way into the building with the video camera. He had a few choice words to offer regarding the Selectmen, stating that Heath and Thompson were both "f'***ing liars" and although he was asked to slow down and speak with Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers for a moment, he refused comment, saying "Go in and ask the liars what it's all about!" before getting into his beautiful black antique Chevy Bel Aire and leaving the parking lot. (***NOTE*** I've been told Mr. Small drives a Ford, not a Chevy and these eyes MAY be getting old, but it sure looked like it said "Bel Aire" in silver letters on a black car. If I'm wrong, it's not an attempt to lie or mislead. Just a mistake!! Anyway, I was admiring the car, that's why I mentioned it!!***)
In part 1 of the 7/13/15 Selectmen's meeting video tape, we note that Select Board Chairman Ben Thompson is plagued with a horrible case of larangitis and is very hard to hear. So if you are interested in a particular portion of the meeting, you will have to turn up your volume and listen carefully.
Some Tax Assessment concerns are spoken about, mostly in connection to the town's mobile homes.
SEE Part 1 of the 7/13/15 Selectmen's Meeting Video HERE:
In Part 2 of the Meeting, Lebanon Code Enforcement Officer Mike Beaulieu speaks to the Selectmen regarding the planned Country Music Festival at the 4X4 Proving Grounds. The Selectmen want to be sure that Beaulieu knows there is a Mass Gathering Ordinance in place, even though it is antiquated (created in 1983) and that 4X4 Proving Grounds will need to adhere to that permitting process through the Code Enforcement Office.
Thompson states that the business has stated they are expecting about 1500 people at the event, and that he has spoken to State Police Sgt. Shapiro who has concerns regarding the security details inside the property, and that he wanted to make Beaulieu aware of the need to review the Town's Mass Gathering Ordinance and be sure that adequate security would be provided for that number of people.
As of today's date, 4X4 Proving Grounds, or the promotional company they are working with, Clear Choice Events, have not applied for the permit, even though their chosen date, August 15 2015, is now only a little over 30 days away.
SEE PART 2 of the 7/13/15 Selectmen's Meeting Video HERE:
Part 3 of the Meeting of Monday, 7/13 shows the Selectmen reviewing some paperwork, including the town's "County Tax" of over $255,000, which is the town's share of county expenses. Resident Erik Davis enters the meeting as part of the evening's agenda to speak about the Lebanon Youth Soccer program that is scheduled to begin taking sign ups on July 15th.
Mention is made that Davis, former President of the Lebanon Youth Soccer program had responded originally to a post he had seen on Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers page regarding the failing of the group to provide parents and young soccer players with all they had promised for their sign up fees.
Selectmen Thompson stated that the Selectmen wanted to be clear that this program was a private entity, not being overseen by the Town or within the confines of the Lebanon Recreation Department. It is a private program now being overseen by Georgianna "Georgie" Allen. Thompson further stated that the town holds no liability insurance for this program and is in control of none of the money or policies of the Youth Soccer program.
Davis stated that he understood that and that he had tried to be in touch with Ms. Allen to offer his assistance in several matters in her efforts to revitalize the struggling soccer program.
Mr. Davis is concerned that the program has no known affiliation with the Soccer Maine group, the people who oversee the quality and training of referees of soccer programs here in Maine and who provide insurance programs to cover children and spectators on Maine soccer programs. He states that he has offered to meet with Ms. Allen and provide her with documents from his time as President of the group, the tax ID number, and banking information, but that Ms. Allen has refused to speak with him and that he is not saying anything derogatory, he is only trying to resolve these issues and be sure that the children are safe.
Thomspon stops Davis a bit short stating once again, that the Town of Lebanon has no involvement in the program.
SEE PART 3 of the 7/13/15 Lebanon Board of Selectmen's Meeting HERE;
Part 4 of the Selectmen's Meeting video shows Town Clerk Mandy Grenier speaking with Selectmen regarding the Re-Commitment of the town's Taxes.
Lebanon Maine Truth Seeker Deborah Wilson questions the amount of money returned to the General Fund from the $28,000 pushed into the Road Department budget only days before the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year and was spent on the repaving project on Center Road. Since Thompson was not in the office on Thursday, he did not participate in the Accounts Payable for that day, so he claims no knowledge. Selectmen Heath and Nadeau both claim to have no knowledge, although they were the ones who signed the Accounts Payable on Thursday, and Heath believes that Wilson's question is "throwing him under the bus", even though Wilson has asked this question at each and every meeting since the Thursday, July 2, 2015 meeting.
Lebanon Truth Seeker Sandy Adams questions once again, the dollar amounts and statements made by Mr. Richard Small earlier in the evening, and Thompson, once again, claims that Small was wrong in his thoughts on Roads Department budget amounts.
Wilson asks Selectmen's permission for a small group of volunteers to clean up some of the smaller cemeteries in town that are not on the Cemetery Mowing list. There is talk of the importance of this and of the town conforming to Maine State Laws regarding the town's responsibility of maintaining "ancient burial grounds" and "veterans graves". Thompson states that as volunteers, townspeople do not have the right to trespass on people's private property, and Selectman Heath states the Board could not grant permission to anyone to maintain the cemeteries. With a second thought to the request, Thompson hands Wilson a post-it-note with a Maine State Law that protects homeowners from "tresspassers such as hunters and fishermen" saying that he believes this law would also protect homeowners if the volunteer group were to go and clean up the small cemeteries.
Selectman Heath got a little Snippy with Wilson in speaking about volunteerism and Nadeau didn't seem interested in offering an opinion.
SEE Part 4 of the 7/13/15 Selectmen's Meeting video HERE:
As part 5 of the video opens, Mr. Chip Harlow and Mrs. Nancy Newburg of the Lebanon Budget Committee arrive to talk about having the town's department heads meeting with the Budget Committee regarding their annual budgets.
According to Harlow, the policy had been voted on when Karen Gerrish and Ben Thompson were seated on the board, however, the policy had never been implemented or followed through with.
Harlow calls for the Budget Committee to go over budgets with town department heads line by line and then vote to recommend, or not to recommend, their support of the budgets, as proposed, to the town. "The department heads can't even answer questions about their own budgets," stated Harlow, adding "That's their job!"
Selectman Heath, states that he has "No Comment" and Chairman of the Board, Ben Thompson states that the Board will speak about this, while disclosing that the trio of Selectmen actually hold "illegal meetings" on Wednesdays where they are all seated together and conducting town business.
SEE Selectmen's Meeting Part 5 from 7/13/15 HERE:
The final segment of video from the 7/13/15 Lebanon Selectmen's Meeting shows Lower Barley Road residents gathered to speak their concerns to the Board regarding problems they're having with vehicle traffic on the badly deteriorated and unused part of Lower Barley Road.
According to Traci Place, late at night there is a lot of traffic happening on the unpaved road of trucks, "creating all hell and havoc."
Accompanying Mrs. Place are her husband Tom, their son, and Lower Barley Road resident Shad Colwell.
The group states that State Police and Game Wardens have been called to assist them several times, but that the majority of the activity happens after "State Police are done for the night".
Lebanon Truth Seeker Deborah Wilson questions this statement and Mr. Tom Place advises that Sgt. Shapiro has told him that after 11 pm, the closest Trooper is located in Biddeford, Maine and that they're not readily available for even a call back on the situation until after 7 am, which Traci Place describes as a "rather unsettling feeling." Tom adds, "Short of you bleeding out, they're not coming," and "If I've got a problem at 1 in the morning, I'm in trouble".
Mr. Colwell states that he is discouraged. That he pays his taxes just like everyone else in town but feels that for Lower Barley resident, "the world stops at Greniers" (his neighbor).
After speaking with Game Warden Richardson, the group are asking Selectmen to be able to erect a sign which would officially close that 1/4 of a mile of unimproved Lower Barley Road to vehicle traffic, only allowing ATV's and snowmobile traffic. They say that Warden Richardson tells them that to do this, would give him the "tools he needs" to stop other traffic down into that area.
The group left without much of an answer, but the Selectmen were going to look into their claims that former Road Commissioner Larry Torno had told them that the portion of road they were concerned with was "discontinued" as a town road back in 1938.
As the group make their way toward the door, Selectman Nadeau makes a quick motion to adjourn the meeting, being held short of that goal by Thompson who reminds the new Selectman that the group has some work to do in Executive Session.
See the Final portion of Selectmen's Meeting video from 7/13/15 HERE:
Once outside, it was only minutes until Selectman Nadeau left the building. After another 10 minutes (give or take) Lebanon Truth Seeker Deborah Wilson re-entered the building to find out where the other 2 Selectmen were and to be sure there were no additions to add to this report, finding the two remaining Selectmen busy going over paperwork and cleaning off the desk for the evening. When asked why they were still working and Nadeau had left for the evening, Selectman Heath stated that Nadeau always leaves as quickly as possible after the adjournment of the evening's meeting and that the remaining two are left to file and clean up.
***Provided as an addendum to this Selectmen's Meeting Video Tape coverage from 7/13/15.
I had asked if there were any videos or Meeting Minutes from the last time that Mr. Small had appeared before the Selectmen's Meeting complaining about the condition of Lower Guinea Road. I have been provided with this copy of the minutes from the March 26, 2015 Selectmen's Meeting, signed as correct by Chairman Ben Thompson, Selectman Royce Heath, and Selectman Paul Philbrick. Their conversation with Mr. Small is under the 4:00 - 4:30 pm conversation with Road Supervisor Tom Torno.
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