Town of Lamoine, Maine
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	Administrative Assistant to the Board of Selectmen				Stu Marckoon
	Report for Meeting of May 20, 2021

This is one of those weeks where everything seems to be humming along nicely.  The Maine DOT is painting the lines on the state highways.  Our sweeping crew is cleaning up the local roads.  The fire department held its annual training last night with great attendance.  The finances here at the town office are doing very well – Versant registered all their trucks, and we’re way over budget for excise tax.   The budget is all developed and town meeting is ready to go.  And, it appears the ospreys on Mud Creek Road are sitting on at least one egg!  The Bangor Daily News had a nice article in the May 12^th edition about the osprey camera, and there have been nearly a quarter million hits on the website already.

I’m writing this on May 13^th.  The 150^th committee meets this afternoon.  Jane Fowler is in working on assessing stuff for the coming year, and Jennifer and I have done a major filing project with assessing records – purging a lot of things that just were not needed after 30-years and taking up file drawer space.

As you’ve no doubt

Your agenda isn’t too lengthy.  Remember, you’ll start at 6:30 with the Code Enforcement Officer’s annual review and then at 7PM the public meeting starts.

Minutes – May 6, 2021 – Please look over the minutes from the previous meeting.  Any written corrections are most appreciated.

Expenditure Warrant 27 – This is a big one.  The tuition bill from MDI is on here.  I’ve asked our investment managers to move $325,000 to the checking account to cover the bills.   The bill for Osborne’s Plumbing & Heating was for installation of the water lines to the new washer & dryer.  That project is complete, with the department paying for the machines, and the town budget covering the electrical and plumbing.  The warrant will be periodically updated on the website and printed for meeting night.

Cash & Budget Report – Revenues are through the roof.  We reached the budget for excise tax on Monday the 10^th, and then Versant registered their fleet the next day, so we’re well over $400,000 in excise collections already.    The new vehicle registrations have slowed significantly, as there is virtually no inventory on the local car lots. 

I do not see any red flags on the expense side (at least for the municipal budget).  I’m not sure where things stand with the school and portable classrooms.

Meeting with Fire Chief – Skip wanted to bring the board up to date on fire trucks.  The department plans, in the next couple of years, to replace Engine 401, which is a 1994 pumper.  I’ll let him fill you in on details, but this will need to be built into the 2022-23 budget, and I would suggest financing it over a 5-year period as we have done with new truck purchases in the past.

Request for Memorial Bench – A letter was left at the town hall with a request to place a memorial bench at Bloomfield Park.  My suggestion is that this be referred to the Parks Commission.

Federal Funding – We have more info on the federal money that can come to the town (roughly $178,000) and how it can be used.  My recommendation would be to utilize it for broadband expansion and the water tank project at the fire station ($100,000 for broadband, $50,000 for the tank), and to authorize the treasurer to make out the on line application.    I’ve put the information about this program in your packets.

Budget/Town Meeting – The Budget Committee recommended the school budget, the increase to Administration to cover the higher salary for my position, and the after the fact transfer on the 2019 tax commitment issue.  You signed the warrant on May 12^th which I will post today.   That’s ready to go.  I’ll be doing up a power point for the town side of the budget for display at the meeting on the 26^th. 

I will have the updated Admin Budget figures so that one of you can make the amendment to the recommendation on the town meeting floor. 

Lamoine 150! – They (as noted) meet this afternoon.  I am sure Jo will have an update.  The Conservation Commission has some great ideas for the celebration week.

Meet with Debbie Verrill-McFarland re ACO Job – We’ll talk over the position with Debbie as a job interview in executive session after all the public business is done.

That’s really it for the agenda.  See you on the 20^th at 6:30.

stu