Town of Lamoine, Maine
	The Official Website of Lamoine's Town Government
	Home	Town Hall	School	Fire Department		Boards	Calendars	Newly Added
	Administrative Assistant to the Select Board				Stu Marckoon
	Report for Meeting of October 7, 2021

A lot has happened in the 3-week period between meetings – at least on a personal level.  Some good, some emotionally draining.   

As you are aware, Deputy Luke Gross died when he was struck by a vehicle while working an accident scene in Trenton last week.  Luke often patrolled and responded to calls in Lamoine and I considered him a friend.  Luke lived in Hancock and leaves a wife and two young children behind.  He was a school board member, and everyone who ever met him liked him well.  He was a great police officer – just the right personality for the job.  My wife and I will attend his funeral this Thursday, so I will be out of the office for most of the day.  Jennifer will be in. 

On the town side, we’ve gotten a lot of money from the Federal Government for both municipal and school COVID relief funds.  The ARPA deposit for the town was for the amount expected ($89,000+), and the school received $137,000+ in relief.  I believe the plan is to use the school funding for another new portable classroom.  The checking account is very healthy at the moment. 

You may have noticed that the electronic sign at the town hall is out.  For some reason the sign stopped communicating with the internet.  I have sent the controller box back to Cirrus Signs for repair or replacement – have not yet heard back from them as to when to expect it back. 

Your meeting will follow the special town meeting at the school on Thursday the 7^th. The agenda is relatively mild, but some things need discussing.

Minutes of September 16, 2021 – Please look them over and submit written corrections if possible.

Expenditure Warrant 8 – This will be periodically updated on the website.  There will be two town payrolls on here.  The school warrants should come in this week (I am writing this on Monday the 27^th) – I have no idea how big those will be.  I would note that we got disconnect notices from Versant Power because they’d not received the checks we sent for the August 2021 bills.  Turns out they changed their mailing address from Lewiston to Philadelphia.  The mail is being forwarded but there is a problem at the post office in Philly.  I spoke with a customer rep – they will not turn off the power and will refund any late fees.

Checking Account Reconciliation – I will e-mail the results when that is done.  The statement should come out on Friday. It’ll probably be on Monday that I get the reconciliation done.

ARPA Funds Account – I would like to propose that the municipal ARPA funds be put into a separate account with First Wealth Management.  This will make the accounting for that a little more transparent for the future. 

Board Name Change – The Maine Legislature and the Governor has changed your office name.  You are no longer Selectmen, but instead are Municipal Officers by state statute (as of this meeting I believe).  The collective you are the Select Board.  Overseers of the Poor is no longer an office either.   This is going to take some getting used to.  I’ve changed your letterhead (and mine) to reflect the change.   The word Selectmen is all over our website, so that’s going to take a while to pick up on all the changes.  Be patient with me!

Transfer Station Holiday Hours – Christmas and New Year’s Day both fall on Saturdays this year.  I am proposing that we be open 12-5 on the Friday before and from 8am to 5pm on the Monday after.  

Annual Town Meeting Date - Yes, it’s time to think about that already!   In holding with the same schedule as the past few years (hopefully COVID will not be a factor for a change), I am proposing an election day of March 8, 2022 and the open town meeting on March 16, 2022.  If you concur, I will notify Joe Marshall to make sure he’s available at least for the Open Meeting.

Speed sign results – The Marlboro Beach Road results were so interesting, I created similar reports for the other locations where the sign has been located this summer.  Pinkhams Flats was downright scary, and the Lamoine State Park area results concur with anecdotal reports from some residents in that neighborhood that some drivers are criminally speeding. 

Welcome to Lamoine Sign – We have a proposal back from Jon Mohr.  I think it’s pretty reasonable and would recommend you proceed with the project. 

Lamoine 150! Continuing Celebration Proposal – There is a memo in your packet from Cynthia Donaldson and crew on this. 

Returnables – We have a very unusual situation on our hands.  No one applied for the returnables proceeds for September and August.  I have taken the liberty of filling out applications for the Parks Commission and the Lamoine VFD for your approval at this meeting. We also have a submission that arrived after those two from Casey Jordan’s project for Girl Scouts to build a transitional house for a homeless female veteran.  We have the check for August ($435 or so), but await the September proceeds. 

Code Enforcement Updates – Rebecca has been dealing as best we can with a couple of matters.  A memorandum and an e-mail chain are in your packet.  There is no action for the Select Board to take at this time.

Board Chair/Dept. Head meeting – October 21^st – This might be a bit of a logistical nightmare.  I think we'll probably have to hold it in the school or via zoom – not enough room to do it with COVID protocols in the town hall.  I prepared a compilation of the policies and implementation plan from the Comprehensive Plan for that portion of the discussion and that is in your packet, along with a memo to the affected personnel.   Let’s discuss that.

Broadband Expansion – Spectrum/Charter has sent a contract to proceed with the project.  We don’t have enough funding with just the ARPA payment for the first half – I don’t know if you want to take the chance that we will get assistance from Hancock County and CONNECT-ME, or perhaps dedicate some of the CTV fund for this project (we have more than $44,000 in that fund) to move forward.  Let’s discuss that as well.

Budget – 2022/23 – I’m starting to put some figures into the budget and will likely have an admin budget ready for the meeting to discuss.

That’s the agenda – I will see you on the 7^th at the school.

stu