[0:02] Oh, good evening, everybody, and welcome to the Board of Selectmen's meeting for

[0:05] Tuesday, August 25th, 2026. Please join me in the Pledge of

[0:09] Allegiance.

[0:12] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

[0:17] and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under

[0:20] God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[0:25] Thank you for that.

[0:27] Item number three, town manager's report.

[0:30] And welcome back.

[0:31] Thanks. So there's not a whole lot substantive in my report because-

[0:35] That's okay

[0:36] ... I was at the conference, and then I was at

[0:39] my first vacation in two years, which was fantastic.

[0:43] The conference was really good. We had some really great speakers this year.

[0:48] Really valuable information on TIFs and some new things we can do with

[0:52] TIFs, writing RFPs, mental health, and advice

[0:56] from long-term managers. So,

[0:58] it was really good. The vacation had minimal interruptions, thankfully.

[1:03] One big one, but outside of that, not much.

[1:07] So, in other news, I've recently spoken with Gray Lewis, our attorney,

[1:11] on the Ingalls School matter,

[1:14] and the

[1:15] appraisal

[1:17] that wasn't finished yet. They did the walkthrough last week,

[1:20] and it could be a couple of weeks before we get the report, but that will be

[1:24] forthcoming.

[1:26] We also had an email this week from Bernice at R.H.R. Smith.

[1:30] That's our auditor.

[1:32] She wanted to let us know she was back on our audit this week and hopes to complete

[1:35] it by next week.

[1:37] The '23 audit,

[1:39] I'm a little concerned that Bernice is catching so many things in

[1:43] '24 that we've been doing that way for a while.

[1:47] And she is catching all of it, mostly.

[1:51] They're not material findings, but what they are

[1:55] is Trio does a lot of stuff that

[1:59] you wouldn't expect a normal financial system to do.

[2:01] A lot of the processes are manual, so you have to know what background

[2:05] journal entries to make and things to make things reconcile and balance.

[2:08] A lot of those weren't done, and it looks like they weren't caught in '23,

[2:12] so '24 should be the first audit we have with really good beginning

[2:16] balances in all of our funds

[2:19] since,

[2:20] I'm not exactly sure. Probably 2022 was the last good audit.

[2:26] So anyway, it's coming.

[2:31] I'm really glad Bernice has been on it because she

[2:35] finds everything. So we should be back on track.

[2:39] Good to go after she finishes all of our audits.

[2:42] Again, nothing to be concerned about, just things like when you have to make a

[2:46] transfer from due to, due from accounts or things like

[2:50] that that run in the background that are--

[2:52] they go to our balance sheet, but they do not go to our

[2:55] actual checking account, our actual

[2:58] balances in our budget, or anything like that.

[3:04] UMF is welcoming the students back this Friday.

[3:07] I believe so.

[3:07] So,

[3:09] I'll be speaking at the welcome ceremony as usual, but this year my daughter will

[3:12] be one of the incoming students, so that's a little special.

[3:15] That's cool.

[3:16] I'll think about not embarrassing her, but I may.

[3:20] You'll be there.

[3:21] That'll be a game day decision.

[3:23] That's all we'll see.

[3:23] We'll see.

[3:24] Be there or not.

[3:26] But at any rate, I do look forward to seeing the students back in town.

[3:29] The town's always a little more lively when school is in.

[3:32] I want to take a minute, though, to recognize our staff in the front

[3:36] office. It's been a rough few months for all of them with

[3:40] the amount of stuff they've had to deal with.

[3:43] First with the revaluation, then the change of fiscal year.

[3:47] Last week it was the tax lien notices.

[3:50] They've been

[3:53] listening to a lot of frustration and anger, which may be justified, but they're

[3:57] also taking some verbal abuse, which is not justified.

[4:03] And through it all, they've

[4:05] really handled it with grace and composure. They've remained professional.

[4:09] And I don't think that we really tell them enough how much we

[4:13] appreciate them.

[4:14] So, round of applause for those guys because they have

[4:18] just really withstood a lot, and they're still here, and they're still

[4:22] showing up every day at work with a smile. So really appreciate those guys.

[4:32] So that's all I've got for you tonight.

[4:34] Perfect. Any questions, comments?

[4:37] Yeah, just part of the problem is different systems.

[4:41] You have to go from system to system, and the contract guy that we had in

[4:44] for an interim period, every time we seemed to get

[4:49] somebody else in, we trade horses, and we're going around the track

[4:52] backwards.

[4:54] Neither Tammy nor I were trained in Trio.

[4:56] Yeah.

[4:57] They want $1,300 per module per day to train you.

[5:01] I see.

[5:01] So we've been trying to learn from other people.

[5:04] And with QuickBooks, that's not a fund accounting system.

[5:07] Mm-hmm.

[5:07] And nobody knew how to do what we needed to do in there except for the accountant

[5:10] who left us high and dry.

[5:15] Yeah.

[5:15] We just seem to keep shooting ourselves in the foot.

[5:18] Let me try the other foot.

[5:19] Yeah.

[5:21] I just wanted to agree with you for the kudos for the staff.

[5:25] I popped in here last week,

[5:27] and it wasn't a delightful day that you were having, so-

[5:30] Yeah. It's been several

[5:31] ... great job.

[5:36] Questions, comments? Seeing none.

[5:38] We'll go to item number four, department head reports.

[5:42] Questions or comments on these?

[5:49] I'm waiting for it. Don't worry.

[5:50] You sure?

[5:52] They're not coming up.

[5:55] No, I can't. Mine, I made a note of it.

[5:56] Yeah, go ahead.

[5:58] We'll wait for Ken's.

[5:59] I like

[6:01] Ken's,

[6:04] Chief Chau's report about the

[6:08] Kind of moving away from the whole camera project-

[6:11] Yes

[6:11] ... I think that's appropriate.

[6:13] Yeah, I do at this point.

[6:14] It would be a-- No matter how well it would've

[6:18] been handled, I think it would've always had a bit of an

[6:22] aura to it that-

[6:23] Mm-hmm

[6:23] ... was...

[6:24] So I think he made the right choice of pulling that back.

[6:27] I would agree with that.

[6:30] Yeah.

[6:31] Did you find your place there, Dennis?

[6:32] No.

[6:33] No?

[6:34] No.

[6:35] Wow, okay.

[6:36] Good.

[6:38] Yep.

[6:39] It looks good.

[6:40] All right.

[6:44] With that, we'll go to item number five, is to review proposed change order

[6:47] regarding brick wall and Hippek Field.

[6:53] Back again.

[6:54] Back again.

[6:55] Back again.

[6:57] How about if...

[6:58] If I was a Batman, I'd say it probably won't be the last time.

[7:00] Oh, in next meeting, too. So now I can go that far.

[7:04] The grand scheme will be determined next meeting

[7:07] with the final price.

[7:09] Beautiful.

[7:11] That's it. I can dream.

[7:14] All right. So you all must have a copy of the change order proposal

[7:18] from Scully Construction.

[7:20] So basically, they hired structural engineers to reassess the wall and

[7:24] to not redesign it but reevaluate it, and that was in the original

[7:28] contract, only because our engineers, they're civil engineers, and they don't have

[7:32] structural engineers in-house, so...

[7:34] It's

[7:36] stamp of approval.

[7:37] Yeah, stamp of approval. So the scope of work,

[7:40] this change order proposal is basically,

[7:43] the original design consists of a eight-inch-thick brick

[7:47] wall.

[7:48] Mm-hmm.

[7:48] So the thickness of the original design was to match the

[7:52] interior wall that remains, which is eight inches thick.

[7:57] So their

[7:59] proposal is to increase the wall thickness

[8:02] to 12 inches,

[8:04] and the reason for is to withstand wind

[8:08] loads. Yeah. So the structural engineers have their own

[8:11] standards and codes to meet, so I believe a wind

[8:15] load proposal is roughly around 185 miles per

[8:19] hour.

[8:21] So that's what this change order, and the price is

[8:25] 39,319 lump sum.

[8:29] And this is

[8:31] mostly just material costs.

[8:34] So-

[8:34] And adding, because it would have the rebar.

[8:37] Yeah, and-

[8:37] Like, it would make it, which makes it have better durability.

[8:41] Yeah.

[8:41] And then it's up to codes because codes have shifted.

[8:45] Yeah.

[8:48] So I'm kinda,

[8:51] I don't know, I'm-

[8:53] Hemming and hawing.

[8:54] I've been hemming and hawing this since I've received it.

[8:57] I didn't want to make a direct recommendation

[9:01] because there's

[9:04] like two scenarios with this. One,

[9:08] it's

[9:10] insurance, I guess, to meet code in case if something happens.

[9:15] Or two,

[9:17] what I was looking at is the 100-year-old existing interior brick

[9:21] wall that's been standing for-

[9:23] It's still sitting there

[9:23] And it's still sitting there.

[9:24] Without a full foundation-

[9:26] Right

[9:26] ...

[9:27] that

[9:28] you all approved at the last meeting to strike and re-mortar, and the condition was

[9:32] great. So

[9:35] that's where

[9:37] it's-

[9:38] So it's just kind of like, would it matter to get insurance, stuff like that.

[9:41] And then,

[9:43] so just not a call that obviously we want to, need to have thoughts

[9:47] and opinions on.

[9:48] Yeah.

[9:48] Have they

[9:50] taken into account, too, that we're going from a

[9:53] wall that is

[9:56] slatted to basically a front?

[9:59] Yeah.

[10:00] Is that going to... Is that some of that, too?

[10:02] Is it going to change the pressure on the wall?

[10:04] So this is, I actually had this conversation with-

[10:05] I mean, that's got to-

[10:06] You'd have to step-

[10:07] You start putting eight foot of water in, that's got to be some pressure.

[10:10] Right.

[10:11] So this could be a potential scenario in the future.

[10:14] So the reason

[10:16] this whole scenario started was because of the slats getting damaged from plowing.

[10:20] Mm-hmm.

[10:20] From pressure from snow pressure.

[10:22] Right.

[10:23] Okay, so slats were cheap to repair.

[10:27] If something was to happen to a brick wall, a crack-

[10:30] Right

[10:30] ... structural, that

[10:32] could be costly in the future. So, yes, we're

[10:36] making the sidewalk in front of the wall wider to be able to

[10:39] hold more snow in the winter months for plowing-

[10:43] Mm-hmm

[10:43] ... which should help relieve some of that pressure against the wall.

[10:46] But still,

[10:50] I was looking at the drawings earlier and the design.

[10:53] There is number four rebar going all the way up from the very

[10:57] base. So six feet

[10:59] under the ground's going to have a full foundation-

[11:01] Yeah

[11:02] ... with a 12-inch footer.

[11:04] That's going to be buried, a full frost wall.

[11:07] So what you're going to see with the brick is going to be a eight-foot wall above

[11:11] that.

[11:12] Mm-hmm.

[11:12] So everything's-

[11:13] Tiny.

[11:13] Yeah, everything is still going to be structurally locked together from

[11:17] rebar all the way from the very bottom of the footer all the way up to

[11:21] the walls or the top of the wall.

[11:26] Yeah, and there's two different scenarios where these walls, in the past

[11:30] from, like, building schools of Southern Maine.

[11:32] So this is considered, it's a brick freestanding wall.

[11:36] It's not a brick veneer wall. So a brick veneer wall would be concrete-

[11:40] Mm-hmm

[11:40] ... all the way up, and then just veneer with brick.

[11:42] Brick faced.

[11:42] And we wouldn't have to worry about the structural

[11:45] stuff like that, wind loads and that.

[11:47] Mm-hmm.

[11:47] So since this is going to be a freestanding brick wall locked in with

[11:51] wire ties, rebar, and

[11:54] some concrete-

[11:54] Right.

[11:56] Yeah, that's why they're stressing the wind loads.

[12:01] Sounds like a bit of overkill,

[12:04] to say the least.

[12:06] Could we go back to a concrete wall with a facing?

[12:12] The brick they go to the eight-inch

[12:16] A concrete wall with a veneer, a brick veneer-

[12:18] Yeah

[12:18] ... that'll eat up quite a bit of money. A lot more money.

[12:21] It'll need more money to do that?

[12:22] Yeah, because typically those walls, I don't know if you've noticed the

[12:26] car wash being constructed.

[12:28] Mm-hmm.

[12:29] Yeah, that's quite an undertaking.

[12:30] Either one is precast walls, they come in and set with cranes and

[12:34] stuff, or they pour it on site.

[12:37] Yeah.

[12:41] Were there any other engineering considerations or concerns other than the wind

[12:45] load? Did you mention any other factors?

[12:48] Not that... No.

[12:50] No.

[12:51] So, we're talking about flood, we're talking about snow-

[12:55] Yeah

[12:55] ... talking about ice.

[12:57] Those weren't part of their calculations.

[12:59] Yeah. Their biggest thing was wind.

[13:01] Yeah, just wind. Yeah.

[13:06] Just seems to me every time we hire an engineering firm to do some

[13:10] bid specs for us, we come back-

[13:12] They have to find something

[13:13] ... and bite me a*s again, and I just get tired of that.

[13:15] I don't know why we're paying good money.

[13:17] Happened at the rec center-

[13:19] Mm-hmm

[13:19] ... and this is the second change order on here.

[13:23] As we get into stuff that I thought somebody that comes out and looks at

[13:27] it and does a plan is going to be thinking about.

[13:29] Now, I understand, okay, civil, structural, whatever.

[13:32] I don't know if we're hiring the wrong people, but...

[13:36] And the other thing is, I got to think if we're talking about wind shear up to 185

[13:40] miles an hour, there's going to be a whole hell of a lot of damage all over town.

[13:43] That wall isn't going to be the only thing that takes a hit,

[13:46] at this point. And I think we're talking FEMA money or-

[13:50] Mm-hmm

[13:50] ... whatever.

[13:52] It sounds like it.

[13:54] Because I just can't see that being a

[13:57] one-time only, or one

[14:00] area only, could be hit with it. So-

[14:02] Right

[14:02] ... I think just-

[14:04] Just to be clear, I heard 85 miles an hour, not 185.

[14:07] No, 185.

[14:08] 185.

[14:09] 185.

[14:09] Yes, 185.

[14:10] 185.

[14:10] Yep.

[14:10] Seriously?

[14:12] Is it justified?

[14:14] You are right.

[14:15] That's what the wall is rated for.

[14:18] Yeah, yeah.

[14:18] Do we need 185? Okay.

[14:21] That's why we're bringing it to your attention, because it's hard, because we need

[14:25] something.

[14:27] That's it.

[14:27] For 100 miles an hour?

[14:29] 185.

[14:31] What a good little piggy house you have.

[14:35] I got the sticks one.

[14:36] I know some woodcutters.

[14:37] I'm a four-foot wall.

[14:40] I don't hide.

[14:42] Randy.

[14:43] 185 miles an hour. I don't know if we've ever seen 185 miles an

[14:47] hour in this town. And we have a wall which is going to take that

[14:51] load, and they think it's not going to be enough.

[14:57] We have windows in that wall, right?

[14:59] Mm-hmm.

[14:59] Yeah.

[14:59] Those windows blow out before the wall fell over, so

[15:03] that takes a bit of load off the-

[15:05] The wind-

[15:05] ... structure

[15:05] ... the wind shear. Yeah, exactly. So the windows are bonded there.

[15:09] They're just going to be open.

[15:10] Yeah.

[15:11] Yeah. Exactly.

[15:13] So I think you got space for wind to go through there without-

[15:16] Mm-hmm

[15:16] ... knocking down a wall. And I agree with the idea, I think we're more

[15:20] likely to see problems with flooding-

[15:22] Mm-hmm

[15:22] ... than we are with a hurricane,

[15:25] tornado, or

[15:28] winds in that area. It's a pretty load.

[15:32] Do they actually look at the area or do they just assume-

[15:36] ... that it was going to be a wind problem in the-

[15:40] They looked at Google Earth.

[15:41] Yeah. It's just the nature

[15:44] of structural engineering

[15:48] code.

[15:49] It's just a standard.

[15:51] Yeah.

[15:51] Not so much on our project in particular, it's just any place you build

[15:55] brick wall anywhere, and they're going to say the same thing.

[15:58] Yeah.

[15:58] Mm-hmm.

[16:00] So what would happen if we didn't go with this?

[16:03] If we did go with it?

[16:04] Did not.

[16:04] Oh, did not.

[16:06] We're still going to get a wall that matches the existing, and we're still going to

[16:10] get a full foundation, full footer.

[16:14] Down.

[16:15] Yeah.

[16:16] And this covers,

[16:21] I'm assuming it involved flooding-

[16:23] Yeah

[16:24] ... with this in there.

[16:25] So that's one thing that Dirigo was familiar with.

[16:28] And they added, in the original design, was that full footing and

[16:32] footer to withstand the hydrology-

[16:35] Yeah

[16:35] ... end of it for the flooding event.

[16:37] Right.

[16:37] Yeah.

[16:38] To withstand it.

[16:38] To withstand, yeah.

[16:39] Mm-hmm.

[16:39] And that would cover that without, with the eight-

[16:42] Yeah

[16:43] ... eight-inch wall.

[16:45] Right.

[16:45] Have you checked with any of the insurance companies just to see if this is an

[16:48] issue?

[16:51] I haven't checked with insurance companies.

[16:54] That would be the only thing, I don't know.

[16:57] I'm sure they'd still insure the property-

[17:00] Right

[17:00] ... because a lot of our properties are insured without it being to

[17:04] code. Yeah.

[17:05] Okay.

[17:06] And hurricane had come.

[17:08] Yeah.

[17:09] Well, it was kind of touched on. The structural engineers are going to give you

[17:12] the worst possible case-

[17:14] Mm-hmm

[17:14] ... because it's their liability if they don't.

[17:19] It's up to us whether we want to accept that risk or not.

[17:22] As far as our insurance goes, we are under an

[17:26] aggregate policy, which means we are insured for a grand total

[17:30] aggregate of-

[17:31] Okay

[17:32] ... I think it's 43 million or something, because the likelihood of every

[17:36] facility being taken out at once is very low.

[17:39] Right.

[17:39] So we'd have to have a lot destroyed to reach that end.

[17:42] Yeah. Okay. That makes sense.

[17:44] Yeah. Thank you.

[17:46] Yeah, go ahead.

[17:47] So really the only change to it is going from an 8 inch to a 12-inch

[17:51] wall,

[17:52] and that's another 40 grand-

[17:54] Yeah

[17:54] ... for another four inches of brick.

[17:56] Yeah.

[17:57] Yep.

[17:57] Does that come out of our pocket, or is it split grant money-

[18:01] No

[18:01] ... are we paying for this whole wall? I don't remember.

[18:03] Yeah, no, I'm going to submit it through the MDI grant process for 50%

[18:07] reimbursement.

[18:09] But we don't know at this point.

[18:10] Yeah, we don't know at this point.

[18:11] Oh, to crap shoot. So it may only cost us 20 grand.

[18:14] Yeah.

[18:16] Still something that we need.

[18:19] And the existing wall is eight feet?

[18:21] It is eight inches.

[18:22] Eight inches.

[18:22] Yeah.

[18:23] Eight inches.

[18:23] And it's withstood the test of time so far.

[18:26] Decades.

[18:27] Yeah.

[18:28] Yeah.

[18:30] I make the motion that we don't approve the change order.

[18:33] Second.

[18:34] And we stay with the eight inch. Yep, just a minute.

[18:38] Second.

[18:38] Motion and a second to not approve.

[18:42] Any more questions, comments from the board? Seeing none. Mr. Spiott.

[18:47] So,

[18:51] excuse me if I've missed hearing some of the things discussed, but

[18:56] I just want to understand what's going on here.

[18:58] We hired a designer who designed the project,

[19:04] prepared the bid documents,

[19:07] but had a

[19:09] clause in there that said they're not competent to

[19:13] address

[19:14] the structural aspects of this issue.

[19:18] Is that right?

[19:19] Yes.

[19:19] Yeah.

[19:19] Exactly.

[19:20] We've done that several times in previous projects, because we

[19:24] typically hire civil engineers to do our road work and drainage.

[19:27] Yeah.

[19:27] And then, what they do is they put in a contract that the

[19:31] contractor's responsible for obtaining a structural engineer to do

[19:35] retaining walls on Front Street and retaining walls around town, similar.

[19:39] So, when we went out to bid with a project estimate,

[19:44] that was left

[19:46] out there somewhere

[19:48] with no

[19:51] provision for

[19:53] the increase.

[19:55] Right. Exactly.

[19:57] So now we're at a change order.

[19:58] Yep.

[20:00] Who initially designed the brick wall?

[20:04] Who was the designer on that?

[20:05] It was Derrick Engineering.

[20:08] And they prepared the bid documents.

[20:13] Yeah.

[20:15] Mm-hmm.

[20:16] Who, I assume Scully prepared the estimate for the

[20:20] change order?

[20:21] Yes. Yeah, they did.

[20:23] Okay.

[20:24] And has anybody

[20:26] representing the town reviewed that estimate

[20:31] to determine the appropriate accuracy of that

[20:35] proposed change order?

[20:37] Yes, I've been in contact with Ideal, the contractors directly, and

[20:41] their sub-structural engineer contractors directly too.

[20:44] We've done multiple site inspections with them and, yeah, we've

[20:48] been in contact with them.

[20:50] Right. So, we've been in contract with the

[20:53] person who prepared the change order price.

[20:55] Yeah. Yes.

[20:57] Okay. But has there been a representative from town

[21:01] to review that estimate for,

[21:05] to determine whether that truly is the

[21:09] cost of the change order?

[21:10] That's Phil's position.

[21:11] Yeah.

[21:11] That's-

[21:12] Phil did.

[21:12] Phil did that.

[21:15] Phil, he did.

[21:15] Yeah.

[21:16] Yes.

[21:16] That's his job.

[21:17] Yes.

[21:17] Okay.

[21:19] Yeah.

[21:19] So,

[21:20] you're okay with the change order?

[21:23] I'm okay with it,

[21:25] yeah.

[21:30] Okay. I don't have any more questions.

[21:32] I do have one later

[21:34] for

[21:35] the parks and rec issues.

[21:37] Okay.

[21:39] With that, any more questions, any more comments?

[21:43] Seeing none. All in favor?

[21:45] Thank you. So...

[21:50] All right, moving along.

[21:57] Item number six, to accept the FY 2025 FEMA

[22:01] Homeland Security Grant on behalf of the police department in the amount of

[22:04] $15,366

[22:07] for the purchase of three mobile data terminals.

[22:10] So, Ken is stuck in Boston, waiting

[22:14] for another plane. He will be available by phone if you have specific questions for

[22:17] him.

[22:19] This is another Homeland Security grant that they applied for.

[22:23] That's how they've been replacing most of their mobile data terminals.

[22:27] But it also is tied into... It's

[22:31] in

[22:32] conjunction with the fire department's

[22:36] piece of that allocation, which I can let TD speak to.

[22:40] Another memo was produced today. We didn't realize that the two were

[22:44] tied together as we were putting the agenda together, so.

[22:49] Do these go in vehicles? Is this, are these-

[22:52] Yes.

[22:53] All right.

[22:55] Yeah, and they're expensive, so.

[22:56] Right.

[22:57] Mm-hmm.

[22:59] You talked about these before. Yeah, they're $6,000 a piece,

[23:03] and that's if you don't have to buy any new hardware because your vehicles have

[23:06] changed mounting, so

[23:09] yeah, they're a pricey item.

[23:14] Questions, comments, motions?

[23:15] I would make a motion we accept the Homeland Security grant.

[23:20] I'll second it.

[23:21] I'm always happy to get free money.

[23:25] Especially to Ken.

[23:27] Right. We've got a motion and a second to accept the FY

[23:30] 2025 FEMA Homeland Security grant

[23:33] for the amount of $15,366 for the purchase of three

[23:37] mobile data terminals. I think we have to accept it along with

[23:41] the other piece, though. So, we could either do a separate

[23:45] vote, but we can't actually accept the bid,

[23:49] the grant- ... without also approving the fire side of it.

[23:52] So, what they usually do, so this is a change in their process.

[23:55] Which they used to do, it went to the county, and then we'd get,

[23:59] each department would get an MOU with the county.

[24:01] They just did an MOU just with us this year.

[24:04] So, it's under, so if you look at that, I don't know if you saw the email that

[24:08] I forwarded.

[24:08] Mm-hmm.

[24:09] They just bundled the two.

[24:12] They're actually under one project.

[24:14] So, I was actually getting ready to look at the paperwork, and I saw that they were

[24:17] both together. So, once we sign for one, we sign for both,

[24:21] so

[24:22] Which is part of that same grant program, we had applied to

[24:26] update our base radio station here, so we

[24:30] actually could improve it, actually have a second one.

[24:34] So we had applied for that also, and we also applied for two large computer

[24:37] screens

[24:40] to go along with that for our dispatch area.

[24:44] And we were awarded $10,000

[24:48] to do that project as part of the same grant.

[24:51] Okay.

[24:53] Do you amend the motion by $10,000?

[24:54] I would amend my motion to include the $10,000 grant to the fire

[24:58] department.

[24:59] I would amend my second.

[25:01] Okay.

[25:01] So then the total figure that we're looking at is

[25:03] 25,366?

[25:07] Yes.

[25:07] Is that correct?

[25:08] Yep.

[25:09] Any other questions? Fred?

[25:11] The question I would have is, what is the $10,000 going to be

[25:15] earmarked for? Is that something specific?

[25:18] So it's a specific base radio-

[25:20] A base radio

[25:20] ... like 100 watt base radio to go up here to access, so we'll have two.

[25:24] Okay.

[25:25] And then we're also going to have large computer screens that will

[25:28] broadcast our HER, RIP, BEAP programs, and

[25:32] that, and what have

[25:35] you.

[25:38] Any more questions, comments? Seeing none. All in favor?

[25:42] I do.

[25:43] Thank you.

[25:45] Item number seven,

[25:47] County Commissioner Tom Selby, our warm-up here tonight.

[25:51] Thank you, Tom.

[25:52] That's good.

[25:54] So,

[25:56] thanks to you.

[25:58] Move on to item number eight, approve the minutes of August 11th.

[26:01] So moved.

[26:02] 2025. Any remissions, Ed Das?

[26:05] Well, no, the only thing that I question is under number eight,

[26:09] the previous minutes and the board

[26:13] discussion

[26:15] that we talked about setting the sewer rates.

[26:19] And I believe D**k made some comments

[26:23] about that motion,

[26:26] that we would reconsider next year to catch back

[26:29] up, and I'm thinking that that should be part of what these minutes

[26:33] say, because that was, I thought,

[26:37] conditional upon

[26:39] accepting the 3%.

[26:42] I don't know. I mean, just to me-

[26:44] We did say that.

[26:46] Yeah.

[26:46] We had

[26:48] quite a discussion about that and the need to do it that way.

[26:52] So,

[26:54] I did not go back in to listen to the tape to see what the exact wording

[26:58] was, and if D**k doesn't feel, or the rest of you don't feel that it's

[27:01] important that we highlight that.

[27:04] But to me that was a-

[27:06] No, I think it's a good-

[27:06] It should be amended

[27:07] ... it's a good catch.

[27:08] I don't know if that was a given, that we would expect

[27:13] that next year or-

[27:14] If it's not on paper, it's not a given.

[27:15] Yeah.

[27:16] Well, the con-

[27:17] It's that easy.

[27:19] The structure of the conversation was that I said that I would support

[27:24] the motion, but that next

[27:28] year I would remember it.

[27:29] Right.

[27:30] And I would be expecting to support a motion

[27:34] for a 3% increase next year. Rather than a three-year

[27:38] sewer rate set that, multi-year that seemed to have been in the past.

[27:42] And that was- That this would be a one-year increase ...

[27:45] and that was in response to the fact that we were only curing part of the deficit.

[27:49] Right.

[27:50] And the rest of the cure

[27:54] would be-

[27:55] Yeah

[27:55] ... next year. Now, manager suggested that we could vote on that

[28:00] whole thing,

[28:02] that process at the last meeting, and we decided

[28:06] no, we wouldn't do that because we wanted to see next

[28:10] year's budget to see if the numbers changed any, if the deficit was any

[28:14] different.

[28:15] So we didn't take any action, it was just my saying that-

[28:19] Right

[28:19] ... that would be my position. But the minutes reflecting

[28:23] discussion, I just thought that was part of the discussion, and to

[28:26] clarify.

[28:28] It makes sense to make it-

[28:29] Yeah

[28:29] ... to put it in the record.

[28:30] Yeah. But not as part of the vote, but as part of the-

[28:32] But now it can be in the record for this meeting.

[28:35] Okay.

[28:36] Because I just said it.

[28:39] And so we don't need to go back and amend the old minutes-

[28:43] Okay. Okay

[28:43] ... because now we're going to have it documented in this one,

[28:47] excuse me.

[28:48] I do.

[28:49] So thank you for that.

[28:50] That's fine with me.

[28:52] And where it will be a meeting off. It'll take them so a week to find it next

[28:55] year.

[28:58] It won't take me any time to remember.

[29:00] If you use the system online, you can just search sewer-

[29:03] This is true

[29:03] ... rates and it will come up.

[29:05] Oh, no kidding. I need to write that one down.

[29:07] You have to get it online, Das.

[29:09] All right. There's been a motion to accept the minutes. Is there a second?

[29:12] Second.

[29:13] There's been a motion and a second to accept the minutes.

[29:16] Any other questions, comments?

[29:18] Seeing none. All in favor?

[29:20] Thank you.

[29:25] Other business.

[29:27] Erica?

[29:28] I have none.

[29:29] Okay.

[29:32] I know it kind of ties into you. I always like the

[29:36] idea of being able to hear how the progress is being done at the Hippic

[29:40] field. You go by there every day, there's always something different going on.

[29:44] And

[29:45] could you take just a couple of minutes to bring us up to date on what's out there

[29:48] right now?

[29:50] Yeah. So basically, I mean, there's a

[29:53] lot of activity. I mean-

[29:55] Mm-hmm

[29:55] ... one site this morning, I mean, you got the skateboard park being constructed,

[29:58] you got

[30:00] the field guys gliding the fields and fixing that.

[30:03] Right.

[30:03] You saw that.

[30:04] We're doing all the baseball stuff that's being done today, too.

[30:06] Yeah.

[30:06] And the 27th. Yeah.

[30:07] And then, so Curb Saw-

[30:09] Mm-hmm

[30:09] ... Curb Saw is the contracted curbing company that's actually doing the granite

[30:13] work.

[30:13] Mm-hmm.

[30:13] They do an amazing job.

[30:16] Mm.

[30:16] Unbelievable.

[30:17] They're moving fast.

[30:18] They're fast.

[30:19] Yeah.

[30:19] So fast.

[30:20] Yeah.

[30:20] So, I would recommend them to anybody

[30:24] Yeah. So, I'm down there on a regular basis.

[30:27] I was down there this morning, just trying to figure out.

[30:31] I think I told this to Erica,

[30:35] and John, there's going to be a future change order in drainage,

[30:39] but the change order is going to be a decrease in cost,

[30:43] which is a great thing because hydrology, you

[30:47] tend to... That's overkill as well at first,

[30:50] until you start to get into the ground disturbance stuff and expose things.

[30:53] So-

[30:54] Shooting some numbers

[30:56] ... shoot some numbers. But the biggest struggle right now, we're still waiting on

[30:59] three easements,

[31:01] from individuals locally, in order to get the poles relocated.

[31:06] So I believe there was five already returned and ready to go, so we're still

[31:09] working on three. They're going to do all the work around

[31:13] the poles, install the granite curbing up to 10 feet to the poles.

[31:16] CMP technically allows two to three feet, but they're going to say 10 feet just to

[31:20] not jeopardize anything. But once those poles are relocated,

[31:24] then the ball is going to start to happen, the full foundation, because they have

[31:28] to dig six feet,

[31:30] a footer on the wall,

[31:32] only a few feet from a telephone pole.

[31:34] So,

[31:36] trick is fine.

[31:37] Not a great idea.

[31:40] No.

[31:40] But now it's coming along great, this.

[31:42] How is the advanced team?

[31:45] I'm coming to the next meeting with a change order.

[31:47] I'm just waiting on-

[31:48] Oh.

[31:49] Yeah, we'll wait for that next meeting.

[31:50] Yeah. So, I'll be there next week.

[31:53] Working to get different quotes that are-

[31:56] Reasonable

[31:56] ... reasonable. Yeah.

[31:58] Yeah.

[31:58] That's a great word to put that.

[31:59] Yeah.

[32:00] Yeah.

[32:01] It's foreboding.

[32:05] It's like an ashtray.

[32:07] The yellow tape is no longer stretched across, but I suspect it's not from

[32:11] you guys taking it down.

[32:12] Right.

[32:13] No.

[32:14] Yeah.

[32:14] The wind.

[32:15] Yeah, the wind.

[32:16] 187 mile an hour wind that whipped through it.

[32:19] The 185 mile an hour wind.

[32:20] Yeah.

[32:20] Sorry.

[32:21] Yeah.

[32:22] Good, Donna, Randy?

[32:24] I'm good.

[32:24] Good.

[32:25] The good news is you get to watch what's going on in slow motion as you

[32:29] go down- ... that site every day.

[32:33] Two things, old business type stuff.

[32:36] I'm wondering

[32:40] what the update is on, I see we got a bill on the cemetery, and

[32:44] they're doing all kinds of work on the park aspect of the

[32:48] cemetery. I'm wondering where we are with the park monuments

[32:52] at downtown, and the

[32:56] sister city monument as well, that that's

[32:59] something that's been discussed and going to be looked at.

[33:02] And, I'm just wondering where we are with that.

[33:06] I haven't submitted it yet. I've shown it to Erica.

[33:10] For the Lake Megantic, we have a

[33:13] bench typed in there with the same type of format.

[33:18] And Ken's looking around to try and tie in

[33:22] the World War II monument with that, and so they kind of go

[33:25] together.

[33:26] Okay.

[33:28] There's more to come. It is in the works.

[33:29] It's creeping along.

[33:30] It has been slow.

[33:31] Okay.

[33:31] At a snail's pace, but it is creeping.

[33:34] Well, I just want to keep-

[33:35] Yeah, no

[33:35] ... that can around.

[33:36] It is, yeah.

[33:37] Or your can.

[33:38] It's okay.

[33:41] And the other thing, while Phil is still sitting here and attentive,

[33:45] we did talk about getting a cost for

[33:49] cure

[33:51] at the Little League field out at Philbrook.

[33:55] Oh, that's still ongoing.

[33:56] Well, yes, and I understand there's a lot of other stuff happening, but part of

[34:00] that whole thing is you had said it would be relatively easy to come up

[34:04] with what it would cost us to, in fact, improve

[34:07] the drainage and make it more playable and whatever.

[34:10] A side issue to the other.

[34:13] Everything else.

[34:14] Yeah.

[34:14] We're setting up a time to shoot more grades out there.

[34:18] Yeah.

[34:18] Right now, obviously, I think it's been the focus this week with having to get

[34:22] all the change orders and things ready.

[34:24] I just know in those moments when you're slow and wondering what you can do to bide

[34:28] your time- ... I want to keep that on your plate.

[34:31] Yeah.

[34:32] That's it. That's all I got.

[34:35] Okay. Anything?

[34:37] I'm glad to see the paving going on around town.

[34:39] Mm.

[34:40] 43's done out to Mosher Hill. They even got a

[34:44] second coat on it.

[34:46] It is really bogged down in traffic out there.

[34:50] Yeah. I've been traveling to Wilton a lot this year, and

[34:54] they're working around the lake and on the backside of the lake, and it's

[34:57] miserable. So,

[34:58] thankfully, they got most of that done.

[34:59] Progress is miserable. They have a lot done.

[35:02] Yeah.

[35:03] I did want to-

[35:04] Yeah, go ahead

[35:05] ... so I did want to just welcome

[35:07] Nathan Hills to our meeting tonight.

[35:11] He's a newly elected selectman over in Wilton.

[35:14] And-

[35:16] My condolences

[35:17] I was just going to say the same thing.

[35:18] He probably came here to listen to Tom Samiolo, which Tom Samiolo isn't

[35:22] here. Or maybe he has some other issue.

[35:24] But I did note the other day that Nate is offering

[35:29] a public meeting.

[35:30] Yeah.

[35:30] What is it, every Friday at Steve's Market

[35:35] over in Dryden from like 11:00 to 12:00.

[35:38] Anybody who wants to come and sit at a picnic table and discuss either

[35:41] Farmington/Wilton common issues, or if you happen to own property in Wilton,

[35:46] a Wilton issue. Anyway, thought it was a great idea, and

[35:50] so kudos to Nate.

[35:51] Yeah.

[35:52] Thanks.

[35:52] And good luck. Mr.

[35:56] Spiell.

[35:58] The reason I came here tonight, I knew

[36:02] Jennifer and Tim would be here. Unfortunately, Tim has left.

[36:06] But,

[36:08] I had a concern about, I attended

[36:12] night baseball games this summer at the Hickory field, and

[36:16] there was at least seven lights out.

[36:19] And on one post hole, it was actually a

[36:23] fixture missing. And when we installed those

[36:27] lights a few years ago, the rec

[36:31] department and the fire department worked together with their

[36:35] ladder truck to replace those bulbs.

[36:37] And I just want to update why we've got so many lights

[36:41] out now.

[36:42] I did not see that many lights out, so

[36:45] are they still powered off right now?

[36:46] Yeah. They're locked and powered off.

[36:47] The electricity's still powered off right now, but I know we've talked with

[36:51] Jennings and that I'm meeting with them regularly, updating those each season.

[36:54] So, and now that I'm glad that you're mentioning it to me, because I don't always

[36:57] drive back at night, dark. I'm surprised none of the coaches have mentioned it to

[37:00] me, so I will reach out to them regarding that, because

[37:03] normally they would've already brought that to my attention, so thank you

[37:07] for mentioning it.

[37:07] It's something that should be done this fall.

[37:09] In the spring, the ground's too soft with a ladder truck.

[37:12] Right. As long as I have electricity, and we're good to do permission to be in

[37:16] there to do things, we already have a plan for the lights, so

[37:20] I'm surprised that that is the case.

[37:22] So they will be able to replace-

[37:23] Correct

[37:24] ... this fall and a new fixture.

[37:27] Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

[37:31] Anything else?

[37:33] Seeing nothing, we'll move on to item number 10.

[37:35] It's a holding executive session pursuant to 1 MRS Section

[37:39] 4056A, personnel matters.

[37:43] Can I have a motion and a second?

[37:44] So moved.

[37:46] And a second.

[37:48] Peace to you, too.

[37:49] We've got a motion and a second. Any other questions, comments?

[37:51] Seeing none, all in favor? Thank you.

[37:55] Thank you all for coming

Farmington Select Board Meeting - August 25th, 2026

Transcript