Town of Lamoine, Maine
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	Administrative Assistant to the Board of Selectmen				Stu Marckoon
	Report for Meeting of September 2, 2021

As I begin writing, it’s already 71-degrees and it’s not yet 8:30 AM.  Been a steamy week. 

Volleyball season has begun, so finding me in the office after 2:30 in the afternoon some days will be rare.  These past two weeks have been pretty busy with property tax collections.  I am happy to report that as of this morning we have over $3,000,000 in the bank. 

You’ve got a busy agenda!

Minutes – August 19, 2021 – Please review the minutes for accuracy.  BTW – I am most pleased that you were able to have a summer where the planned once a month meeting was actually accomplished!

Expenditure Warrant 6 – The County tax bill is on this one.  Depending on the size of the school warrants, we should not have to transfer any money into checking for this one.   The warrant will be updated on the website periodically and printed for meeting night.

Cash & Budget Reports – This will also be periodically updated on the website and printed for meeting night.  I believe the last of the 2020/21 bills are in and no more encumbrances will be needed, so I’ll have a final (unaudited) report for 2020/21 printed as well.

Remote Meeting Policy – The policy you have proposed (based on the MMA Model) is in your packets.  There has to be a public hearing after which you are free to adopt the policy.

Cell Tower Lease Sale – Town Attorney Dan Pileggi will be in to meet with you on that.  There will have to be a special town meeting.  I would recommend that when that’s ready, it be combined with a question to authorize borrowing (if the Budget Committee recommends next Monday) for the new fire truck project.

Revaluation Bids – Bids for the revaluation are due the day before your meeting.  My suggestion will be to identify which bids have come in and refer the bids to the Board of Assessors for recommendation.  As of this writing, there are two bids.

Personal Property Tax Abatement – Conopco, Inc. appears to have ceased existing as all their mail has come back.  They failed to pay their $7.96 bill last February and the current year bill (less than $30) has also come back as undeliverable.  I’ve suggested to the Assessors that the current year be abated.  You are the only body with authority to abate the older bill, which is less than what it would cost to be any more aggressive in trying to collect.

General Assistance Public Hearing Date – Annually you update the ordinance to reflect updated figures from the state and federal government.  We utilize the MMA model ordinance and that too has been updated.   I’ve printed off the new figures etc. for you, but the new ordinance is more than 100 pages long.  I will post a link to it on line when the public hearing is posted and print one for anyone who wishes to review it.

Welcome to Lamoine Signs – As you may have noticed, the Welcome to Lamoine sign on Jordan River Road has been installed.  It was a gift from Jon Mohr of Mohr signs.   The one on Douglas Highway is getting a bit discolored and should be replaced.  My recommendation is to hire Mr. Mohr to make and install a 2^nd one there and pay him for it – he would like to offset some past due taxes.  I believe he’s also constructing the Whitcomb Woods sign and the cost of that can be applied too.  If nothing else, we should send a nice thank you to him for the Jordan River Rd. sign. 

ARPA Update - You likely got the e-mail from MMA on the recovery funds.  We have yet to see the actual e-mail for the portal so it’s not clear what hurdles we need to jump to access the funds.  There should be some answers by meeting night.

Marlboro Beach Road Speed – We got another e-mail regarding speed concerns on Marlboro Beach Road, which is in your packet.  One of the suggestions is a speed bump.  Included in the packet is an article from the Maine Town & City and guidance from MDOT on speed bumps/humps.  

Comments – There is some strong opinion regarding a school committee decision regarding masking that was made this week.  You may have some public comment on that.  As you well know school policy decisions are made exclusively by the school committee and implemented by the Superintendent.   You can certainly listen to comments but have no authority to intervene in a school decision. (I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know).

Meeting Dates – I mentioned that I am taking our vacation that was planned in April 2020 in November, and indeed, we will be out of the country on November 18^th.  Let’s discuss when you want to meet in November (the 11^th is Veterans’ Day, the 25^th is Thanksgiving, you already plan to meet the 4^th.)

That’s all for now….see you Thursday.

stu