I may not be perfect, but at least I'm not fake.

I may not be perfect, but at least I'm not fake.
This page is copyrighted by Deborah Dorey Wilson, The Lebanon Truth Seekers. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's Meeting 8/17/15 Video.

 
LEBANON MAINE
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Meeting of 8/17/15
 
 
 
The first person on the agenda for the Board of Selectmen's meeting on Monday evening 8/17/15 was Road Commissioner Tom Torno. The Board has had Mr. Torno on their agenda several times in the past few weeks without him actually coming in, so we were glad to see him come in!!
Torno discusses with the Board some upcoming bids he will be putting out for supply of sand and supply of salt, he presents his Road Plowing Contract (for use with Independent Plowing Contractors) for the upcoming Winter ( 2015-2016) and explains a few changes that have been made.
Road Commissioner Torno says that Mrs. Abbott approached him and has a tow behind street sweeping unit that she would like to donate to the town for their use. 
There are a few dead tree branches hanging precariously over the back roads of Lebanon and Tom says that he is going to call and have them removed. Selectman Heath also identifies a utility pole that is in need of some attention. Torno says that he has had a problem getting CMP to respond to his calls regarding this issue, but he will continue to call. There have also been multiple calls made trying to get some stone for finishing a few projects in town. It seems everyone is busy this season!
Ditching has been completed on Center Road down near the Henderson's.
Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers Deborah Wilson asks Mr. Torno if he's had the time to go over his 2014-2015 budget and figure out where the discrepancy is. Torno had previously claimed that there is about a $9,000 difference in what he thought was there and what year end budget reports claim was there. At Monday evening's meeting, he stated that he had been too busy and hadn't had time yet to go over the numbers.
Ms. Wilson also asked Mr. Torno about his newly hired Road Crew member working at the Lebanon Transfer Station on Saturday, August 8, 2015. Mr. Torno stated that he had nothing to do with that and has no idea how that happened. When questioned as to why his worker would have needed more hours in the week and why he would have hired someone if he didn't have the hours to keep them busy, Road Commissioner Torno stated that he had given his new employee 30 hours already that week, anything at the Town Transfer Station was in addition to his already full time card. Mr. Torno stated that he had "No Clue" as to who had called his employee, how they knew his number, or how they could just call his man to the Transfer Station.
At this time, Mr. Nadeau spoke up and said "We're changing that," continuing on to say that the policy of calling random workers into the Transfer Station was how the Department had acquired Royce Heath as an employee. Nadeau also stated that it would not happen again.
 
SEE PART 1 of the 8/17/15 
LEBANON MAINE SELECTMEN's VIDEO HERE:
 
The second part of the 8/17/15 Meeting video may get a little stale for the average viewer, but for those of us trying to understand the scope of work needed in assessing a town's property tax values, this section is helpful. Selectmen's Assistant, Sue Collins, comes in to speak with the Board on their assessment of mobile homes on Saturday, 8/15. It's interesting that there are several changes on properties that don't seem to be on the last assessment but that don't seem to have had building permits, however, over the years, Code Enforcement seems to have been spotty at best.
Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers Deborah Wilson asks the Board for help with a question she received from 2 residents of Evergreen Trailer Park on Rt. 202. The question is in regards to a resident there who is building a large closed in addition to his mobile home without building permits. The Board advises Wilson to ask Code Enforcement Officer Mike Beaulieu to have a look.
 
SEE The SECOND part of the Monday 8/17/15 Lebanon Maine Selectmen's Meeting Video HERE
 
The third part of the Selectmen's Meeting Video, Lebanon Code Enforcement Officer comes in for a brief chat with Selectmen regarding a tenant vs landlord complaint in town. The Board and CEO are both questioning how much involvement he can have in ending the dispute. Code violations may be at play here, but they're not sure until Beaulieu goes out and has a look. Selectman Thompson explains that this may be a civil issue that needs to be acted upon by the courts rather than the Board.
There is discussion on a course Mr. Beaulieu would like to take which includes solutions on just this type of issue. The Board is taking that course under advisement.
 
WATCH part 3 of the 8/17/15 Selectmen's Meeting Video HERE
 
A brief session with Town Treasurer Jeanette Lemay regarding the Board's closing on the TAN (tax anticipated note) for $1 Million dollars which is scheduled to take place Tuesday 8/18/15.
Representative from F.R. Carroll company, Tim Benton, arrives to observe the Bid Opening for Bituminous Paving products scheduled for 5 pm.
Town Clerk Mandy Grenier arrives carrying the sealed bids for Bituminous Paving and for IT Services. She states that the Town received no bids for their Sanding and Painting bid request, and none for their Electrical Services bid request.
 
Part four of the 8/17/15 Lebanon Board of Selectmen's Meeting HERE:
 
Part 5 of Monday evening, 8/17/15 Selectmen's Meeting Video shows Select Board Chairman Ben Thompson as he opens the bids received for the town's Bituminous Paving bid request and the IT Service bid Request.
Mr. Tim Benton of F.R. Carroll, Inc of Limerick, Maine is present for the opening. His company bid for $62.45 per ton supply of machine applied hot mix asphalt and $100 per ton for labor. 
Also submitting bids without representatives present were:
Pike Industries, from Belmont NH who submitted several prices including $91.00 per ton hot mix asphalt, machine applied.... $10 per ton hot mix asphalt hand placed....and $2.65 per ton Reclaimed and fine grade.
R.D. Torno & Sons Paving from Lebanon Maine rounded out the trio of bidders with a bid price of $71.80 per ton for machine applied hot mix asphalt and $135 per ton labor.
 
The second bid opening was for that of IT Services to the Town. It has been identified that Lebanon is in huge need of upgrades in technology, security and storage capability. It was confusing, at best to watch these bids being opened due to the fact that none of the 5 companies bidding seemed to be bidding on the same thing.
Companies bidding for IT Services to the town of Lebanon were:
207 Technology of Mars Hill, ME
Tri State Computers of Dover, NH
Tek-EEZ of Lebanon Maine
Systems Engineering, from Portland, ME
and WG Technologies, from Westbrook, ME
 
No decisions were made and no contracts awarded on Monday evening. Bid awards are expected on Thursday, 8/20/15 at 5 pm during the Board of Selectmen's Meeting at the Town Office.
 
The Board goes into Executive Session with Town Clerk Mandy Grenier to interview 3 people being considered for the Collector / Deputy Clerk position open at the Town Office.
 
SEE Bid Openings for Bituminous Paving and IT Services in Part 5 of the Lebanon Board of Selectmen's Meeting Video HERE:
 
The sixth and final section of the Board of Selectmen's Video shows the Board discussion their meeting on Thursday with a resident asking the Board, as assessors, to take a second look at his home as the Real Estate valuation was lower than the assessed value by about $50,000. The Board has been to look at the home.
The Board talks briefly about the 8/18/15 closing on the TAN through Kennebunk Savings Bank. Thompson reveals that after paying AP on 8/17/15, the town still has $714,469.31 in their account, which Thompson says he is pleased with that amount.
Although the Board can not adjourn the meeting due to remaining work, Selectman Nadeau leaves for the evening before the meeting is adjourned.
Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers requests that she have time for questions. Selectman Heath does not want to answer any questions, and Wilson says she will wait for her chance after he is finished for the evening.
Selectmen Heath and Thompson give Wilson 3 minutes.
Wilson is questioning how the Road Crew member wound up working at the Transfer Station on Saturday, 8/ 8/15. Thompson says he would also like to know, but Selectman Heath does not disappoint with his "NO COMMENT" answer.
Selectman Thompson says that he would like to know, but cannot go outside the scope of the Board. He could personally ask Transfer Station Manager Ronal Patch, however that would not be an "on the record" conversation.
Wilson assured Select Board Chairman Thompson that she will call Mr. Patch in the morning and see what happened that caused 2 Selectmen and a Road Crew member to be working at the Transfer Station on Saturday 8/8/15 while Manager Patch and his family were all out of town.
Selectman Thompson says that Nadeau has stated "It won't happen again," but that if it does, it will become a problem.
The Board continued processing Accounts Payable for quite a while before adjourning for the evening.
 
SEE the sixth and FINAL portion of the Lebanon Maine Board of Selectmen's Meeting of 8/17/15 HERE:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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