Town of Lamoine, Maine
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	Administrative Assistant to the Board of Selectmen				Stu Marckoon
	Report for Meeting of June 3, 2021

Another town meeting is in the books, and I am pleased it is over from a meeting prep standpoint.  Many thanks to the school staff which set up the gym and the sound and camera gear for broadcasting the meeting.  I did very little work!  As for the meeting itself, Harvey Kelly did an outstanding job keeping things on track while allowing the necessary latitude to have all sides heard and issues explained.  Was it pretty?  Not always, but that’s the form of government we have and it worked last night.

Your meeting is going to start at 6PM with the Hodgkins Scholarship awards.  That will be in executive session, followed by a job review meeting at 6:30 PM and the regular meeting starting at 7PM.   The plan, unless you say otherwise, is to have this be a fully in person meeting – no Zoom!  Face coverings are not required in the town office any longer, though for those who might be unvaccinated, coverings are recommended. 

We continue to be very busy at times in the town office.  Our property appraiser has been here all week working on the many transactions and building starts, and Jane Fowler has been doing her thing in anticipation of the property tax commitment. 

Jennifer is taking June 1^st through the 8^th off.  Nancy Jones will be in to cover a few hours each afternoon – mainly to answer the phone and process simple transactions.  I’m writing this on the 27^th and she’ll be in today for some training updates.

It’s a very busy agenda!

Minutes – May 20, 2021 – Please look over the minutes for any errors!

Expenditure Warrant 28 – This is posted on the website and will be periodically updated prior to the meeting and the printed version generated on the day of the meeting.  So far it's not very long.  There will be payroll on here (I’ll do that on Monday).  The School’s AP warrant came in as I was writing, and it looks like they’re paying for half of another portable classroom ($50,000).  This will mean we’ll have to transfer some funds from investments to cover the warrant next week.  

Cash & Budget Reports – These will also be updated and posted periodically and printed on meeting day.  At last check the town was doing very well!

Checking Account Reconciliation – I presume that will be available on Wednesday the 2^nd.  When it’s done, I will email it to you.

Privy Maintenance – You have received the email from me regarding the situation with maintaining the outhouses at Lamoine Beach and Bloomfield Park.  I have called two companies that maintain porta-potties for prices.  One is unable to do it due to a shortage of manpower.  I await a price from the other.  The Parks Commission has this on their agenda being prepared for June 7^th

ARPA Funds – Reams of information have come out on this.  There’s some sort of webinar that MMA is putting on Wednesday afternoon.   Our allocation is up about $10,000 (roughly $179,000) now.    I had attempted to log into the federal website after last meeting to make sure we are signed up.  Turns out it appears that the state will distribute the money – we’ll just need to know what kind of accounting requirements there are.  I am hoping there will be a replay of the webinar that I can learn more. 

One of the provisions of this program is premium pay for essential workers, up to $13/hour above what they were paid during the emergency, with a maximum of $25,000.  I have prepared a list of employees and their hours between 4/1/20 and 4/1/21 and that’s in your packet.

Cell Tower Lease – The e-mail from American Tower came in during your last meeting.  That is in your packet.  We could check with Dan Pileggi, but I believe you would need town meeting approval to renegotiate the lease.   My recommendation would be to retain him for advice on this.

Broadband Expansion – The Town of Mt. Desert is asking if other towns wish to join them in this activity.  A memo is in your packet.  It’s probably time to call in the Tech Committee & Brian Lippold to figure out what we do next.  I’m still waiting to see what Spectrum will do on their end toward funding expansion.

Town Meeting Review – Gary asked about the written ballot request last evening.  I’ve put excerpts from the Moderator’s Manual in your packets in regard to that.

As you know this was Harvey’s last open town meeting for us.  Let’s discuss future moderator possibilities. 

Lamoine 150! – They met before town meeting last night. I suspect Jo will have an update.

Regional Shellfishing – The Town of Franklin is getting things in place for the changeover.  License sales can start June 15^th.  I suspect Katherine will have more to report.

Road Matters – I’ve not had any success with MDOT thus far in finding suggestions for someone to administer the paving for this summer.    We have the proposal from Haley-Ward for $9,000 to do that.   What I might suggest is that we have Haley-Ward do the bidding process, and we can rely on the contractor to certify the paving supervision. That would reduce the price to $3,000.

I’ve asked Randy Kelly to fill in that pothole on Buttermilk Road until he can replace the culvert.  It’s got a pretty good jolt to it again.

The beavers are back on Needles Eye Road.  I’ve been in contact with IF&W about how to go about removing the dam and trapping the critter.  They’re suggesting a beaver deceiver be installed at the culverts as well.

Personnel Contracts – I’ve put drafts of contracts in your packets.  We can discuss them.

Upcoming Vacancies – I will do up a list of board appointments that expire.  We can discuss that as well.

Honor Grads – I have calls in the MDI & Ellsworth for the list.  I’ll do up certificates when I get the names.

Elementary School – The informal group that has been making sure the school staff is well supported wants to recognize that Lamoine was one of very few schools across Maine that did not have to close due to the pandemic for even one day this year.  I’ve e-mailed Lynne Williams for some sort of recognition from Augusta and she’s working on that.   We can discuss other appropriate ways to note that as well. .

Sorry the packet is a little late in getting done.  Town meeting week is always a bit hectic.

We’ll see you on Thursday.

stu