The Selectmen's Meeting wasn't all that bad!!!
As a matter of fact, it felt really good to sit down and have a chat with Selectmen Thompson, Heath and Nadeau. We kind of miss those old boys, you know??
We guess the problem the Board wanted to discuss originates with the fact that the "former administration" was always raising money for multiple projects and many of those projects were never realized.
A lot of money donated, no product delivered.
You get the idea.
And there IS a State Law that talks about how Municipalities are to go about accepting donations from its citizens. Title 30-A, Part 2, Subpart 9, Chapter 223, Subchapter 1, Subsection 5655.
The law states simply thus:
A gift without conditions, of any type of property, offered in a municipality may be accepted or rejected by its legislative body, except for forfeited assets conveyed to the municipality pursuant to Title 15, chapter 517, which may be accepted by the municipal officers.
The donation of the 02 Fur Life Animal Resuscitation kits also falls under this law, and yes, it clearly says that donations and gifts must be presented to the Board and they must accept or reject the project.
However, when passing us the printed copy of this law, the Board Chairman clearly read from subsection 5653, which calls for notice of intent at a Board meeting, presented in writing, and then for the Board to answer their acceptance or rejection in writing within 10 days, but this subsection of the law only applies when the gift is money or property in trust, which our donations are clearly not.
So.
Were they right to ask me to present our Community Donation of the O2 Fur Life Animal Resuscitation to the Board prior to collecting donations??
YES, they were right that I have to have the donation approved by the town.
NO, we don't have to submit in writing and then allow them 10 days to accept or reject in writing unless the Board creates, presents and approves a Town Ordinance, or Town Policy requiring this process.
Tonight Chief Daniel Meehan was at the Town Office to discuss several issues, and he was kind enough to stay as I presented my project. His agreement to the need for the equipment made it much easier to present our project to the Board.
The Board heard us out on getting the community together and gathering donations for specific projects within the town.
There was discussion as to whether or not all Community Donation projects would only benefit the Fire and EMS Department and I told them NO, but that as of this moment, no other department heads in the town had discussed any furndraising needs with us, but that we would be open to any suggestions and ideas. After all, we did all band together to replace the Town Office sign when that need was identified.
One of the Board Members was worried that people would be calling him complaining that we were always asking for money. We assured him, and you, that we will only do a small number of projects a year, and that we will not sit down at local businesses with tin cans asking for spare change. Instead, we put our project out there and accept money donations as you all see fit. The choice on which projects to support or donate and how much to support each project to is your own.
The donations do not come from LMTS, they come from individuals in the community, joining together on projects that are important to all of us as a group.
We do understand the reasoning behind accountibility in the donated dollar amounts and for the Board to receive the donated equipment and the need for surety that the gift is donated without conditions, deals, or expectations. Really, this only makes good business sense for the Town.
One good thing though, the Board did agree that donations of food or coffee toward feeding the Lebanon Fire and EMS responders, or for use at Lebanon Fire and EMS fundraisers would not need to be presented to the Board for approval, however we offered, in good faith, to give them a copy of our inventory log so that they could be sure that the item were being used as intended.
In a town where FUN and FREE were the motto of the old Fire Department and Rescue Department but where FUN and FREE clearly cost everyone dearly, whether they wanted to donate or not, we actually applaud the Board for making tonight's meeting easy to understand and friendly.
At the end of our discussion, Selectman Heath got up and left the room as the time for a decision was nearing, however Selectmen Thompson stated that he was "all for" members of the community coming together to complete projects needed in the town, and when he called for Selectman Nadeau's opinion he agreed to allow the project as well. Two Selectmen is a quota, so I guess we're good to GO.........
Finally, just a shout out to Mr. Dana Coull for taking the time to come and listen to the parameters set up by the Board, and for coming and hanging out with us outdoors in the cold, sharing a conversation and a smoke while the Board was in Executive Session with Chief Meehan on ComStar billing issues. It's always nice to have company and Mr. Coull is a joy and a pleasure. Thank you to our lawyer Mr. Ed McNally for explaining the law the Board handed us this evening, and thank you to each of the great people in our community who have donated toward this project so far, and who are considering donating in the future.
