[0:00] We have a large audience today. Nice to see you. Uh this is the Tuesday, April

[0:06] 21st and the finance committee meeting the city of Oldtown. And the first thing

[0:12] is to call to order, which I have done in approval of the minutes for March

[0:16] 16th. >> I make a motion to approve the minutes

[0:19] for March 16th, July 6. >> Second.

[0:23] » That's quick. >> All in favor?

[0:28] So moved.

[0:32] Danielle Ruby, finance director will update committee on the March 2026

[0:38] financials and the financials are attached.

[0:43] Before I start, do you have any questions on the financials?

[0:49] Any questions? I don't have any.

[0:53] » I don't have any at this time. >> That's

[0:58] perfect. So, uh, going down through, I'll make it quick just in, uh, effort

[1:01] of time because we have a budget discussion, uh, right after this. Uh,

[1:05] we're at the 75% mark 9 months into our fiscal year. So, anything above or below

[1:10] that, 75% on on revenue and expenses is, you know, good or bad, uh, depending

[1:15] what we're at. There was nothing significant in the month of March that

[1:19] stood out uh, as far as things that we needed to do. Going through the month, I

[1:25] realized I hadn't build the pollution for our services. We build them a set uh

[1:29] percentage every month in a March. So that you'll see in April coming through

[1:37] the tree growth uh that was uh money you'll see a negative 21,500

[1:43] that was acred into June and when I went down through I saw that we had received

[1:47] it back in October and forgot to reverse that out. So that

[1:50] » can you say where where that is please? So following down

[1:54] » truth uh page one, it's the fourth one up from the bottom.

[1:58] » Thank you.

[2:03] » Okay. >> Any questions on general revenue?

[2:06] » I do have one question. The general assistance reimbursement.

[2:10] » Yes.

[2:13] » Yes. So the the general assistance reimbursement that is um we get 70% from

[2:19] the state of expenses. So you'll see on the expense side, the general assistance

[2:24] uh expenses are higher. So the revenue is higher as well.

[2:35] Moving on to expenses as I said uh within that um 75% above or below one of

[2:43] the so the general assistance if you look on the under the central services

[2:47] the advertising and outreach that one is overexpended by 138%. So that's where

[2:52] the general assistance you'll see um we've overexpanded but we've been

[2:56] reimbursed from the state buyout. Again, there was nothing significant in

[3:01] the month. I you know, we've been tried to right along. Nothing significant um

[3:05] that we've been reporting on for the prior eight months.

[3:10] So, any questions on the expenditures?

[3:24] » Yep. Moving on to the balance sheet. Again, this just shows uh where we're at

[3:28] with collecting our receivables, where we're paying our bills. Uh we're doing,

[3:33] you know, very well on uh taxes receivable for the current year. We're

[3:36] down to um a million dollars of uncollected as of um March 31st. We're

[3:42] going to get ready to put uh send out 30-day notices in May, and we'll have

[3:47] leans in June. So, between now and then, uh we're going to collect a lot more

[3:51] than that. So, that's reassuring. Again, the negatives on the liability side,

[3:56] that's just a prepaid uh you know, the health insurance is negative 101 that we

[4:00] just prepaid for the month of April. Any questions on the general balance

[4:05] sheet? >> Are we about on track as normal for the

[4:08] taxes? >> Yes. Yes. We ran a a report uh last

[4:13] Thursday and I think we had like 336 unpaid taxes and again from there we've

[4:20] had a lot of people that come in and pay. A lot of them are the timing of the

[4:23] interest, like if they do a late payment either in September or March, they'll

[4:26] have a little bit of interest. And we sent out some reminders a week ago. So,

[4:30] some of those will be coming in as well. Do you get a lot of people pay only for

[4:35] uh uh September and then March or do do you get a lot of people that pay one

[4:41] lump sum? >> Yes. Yep. Some people pay it all in

[4:44] September. Some pay will pay it all in March. Some people pay it 18 months from

[4:48] now. So if they if they pay it in in uh say September instead of uh March is

[4:55] there is an interest on that? >> No, because they're paying it's all due

[5:00] in September. It's just we have two installments to pay it. So they don't

[5:04] pay any interest if they pay early, nor do they we don't give them interest if

[5:08] they pay early. >> Oh, all right.

[5:12] Thank you. >> Uh moving on to pollution. Um, again,

[5:17] nothing significant. They're right on track as far as their revenues, um, and

[5:22] their expenses. They're they're doing very well at managing their expenses to

[5:25] keep their cost down. So, that's nice to see.

[5:31] Any questions on the pollution revenue or expenses,

[5:38] and their balance sheet, again, they're doing very well on their balance sheet.

[5:42] uh you know, we have some cash in the savings account, which is good because

[5:46] as the bills are going to start coming in for the bridge, we're going to try to

[5:49] pay them uh with cash instead of taking a loan out for them as they trickle

[5:54] through over the next couple years.

[6:09] » Moving on. >> Moving on. Uh next will be the update on

[6:13] uh fiscal year 2025 2026 budget.

[6:19] » Before that we have a dump truck. >> Yeah, we have a

[6:23] » Oh, sorry for that. Danielle again, finance director will update the

[6:28] committee on March 26th. No, I already did that.

[6:30] » Discussion on the bid. >> Oh,

[6:33] I did discussion.

[6:36] » She's excited to get to the budget. Here's the dump body on the 2019

[6:42] 6x410 wheeler dump truck for the public works

[6:46] department. The body sustained damage from a hydraulic line failure in

[6:51] February of 2025.

[6:58] So on this uh dump body we had, as it says, you know, we had a a hydraulic

[7:02] failure in February 2025. Uh we thought it was something that we could fix. So,

[7:07] our mechanic on staff was able to fix it, but it was a temporary fix and now

[7:12] the body is twisted. And so, we've tried to go through the insuranceances to get

[7:17] um you know, submit the incident report and get them to pay it. But because it's

[7:20] a mechanical failure, um it's not anything that's covered by the

[7:24] insuranceances. So, now at this time, it's cheaper for us to replace the bed

[7:29] itself as opposed to get a brand new truck.

[7:36] So, are we going to uh discuss this and bring it forward to the committee uh

[7:41] meeting or our next meeting? >> Yes.

[7:44] » Yeah. Because we'll get it on to the next council meeting for the first one

[7:48] in May. >> Go for it.

[7:50] » Uh Steve, did uh who built that truck originally for us?

[7:56] » Got a Viking. >> Do you have a preference on which one of

[8:00] these two? Well, like Ally, yeah, it's it's an MG body. We used to run them

[8:07] quite quite a bit back in the in through the '9s and early 2000 with pretty good

[8:13] success. I really I really don't want to throw it on the Viking body on it. And

[8:18] the other one is it's the Fairfield body is quite a bit more.

[8:23] » So, a lot more. I mean, >> so you prefer the Allied equipment body

[8:29] on it? Yeah, I do. >> Okay, excellent. That's the least

[8:34] expensive one, too. >> 125 bucks.

[8:37] » The one that's so much more expensive. Is it for all the same things or is

[8:40] there something additional? >> Um,

[8:43] it's got AR AR grade steel in it. Um, it just has better wear properties. But if

[8:50] if we were like a construction outfit hauling with that every day and having

[8:56] material dump it in and out of it then but with what we do and what it's used

[9:01] for. I mean we've never had any trouble with them with those other corn style

[9:06] bodies. It's >> Sure. Thank you.

[9:11] » I make a motion we move to the full council to

[9:15] spend $49,550 allied equipment to increase the body.

[9:19] I'll second that motion. >> Made a motion to

[9:26] And we're looking at the Allied one that is for $49,550.

[9:33] » I I do have a question, but Danielle, what account will that money come out

[9:36] of? >> Uh we have a heavy equipment reserve

[9:39] account that will come out of that. >> I didn't think it ought to come out of

[9:42] their operating.

[9:46] Any other questions? Discussion move. Okay. So, the motion is to move this on

[9:52] to favor to the next next

[10:01] meeting that's held in May first of May. All those in favor? So, moved.

[10:17] Danielle, you're still sitting at the spot where you're

[10:21] » waiting for the next budget. >> Waiting for the next budget.

[10:26] » Now I can hear update on the FY 2025 2026 budget.

[10:33] » I think Bill is excited to talk about that.

[10:38] » I can tell it. Go for it.

[10:42] » Um, looking at the information you have here, just to go down through, um, you

[10:47] obviously have a lot of detail in the back, but you got a you got a budget

[10:50] summary page here, onepage budget summary. Um, if you look at that, uh,

[10:56] just to run down through the budget notes, um, just so we're all thinking

[11:01] about this in in the same way. um wages that have been budgeted in this budget.

[11:06] Uh it's 3% um for non-un employees. We're looking uh again working on a

[11:13] salary survey uh just to check and see where we're at in the market. Last one

[11:17] we did was in 2022. Um fire union employees are in here uh

[11:23] through their contract three and a half plus uh two 2% step increases. Uh PD's

[11:29] in at one with 2% step increases. um health and dental, we have an 8%

[11:35] placeholder um on current rates. We're working on um different uh plan options

[11:41] here. Um we'll do a presentation

[11:46] um coming up in about two weeks uh to run over with the employees to look at

[11:51] that. Um our main pers uh union 3 plan went from 11.4 to 11.5 and non-union the

[11:59] plan had no change. just stayed at 9% this year.

[12:04] Um on the expense side, uh debt service increased uh by about $57,000 on our

[12:11] bond schedule. Um biggest part of that was our global secure building that we

[12:15] built. Um and the clerk under other contractual um you'll see $2,600 in

[12:22] there for anticipated ordinance changes. um software decrease $3,700

[12:28] and miscellaneous expenses decreased $26.

[12:31] Um underneath my part of the budget, audit fees, there was an increase this

[12:36] year coming up uh $5,000. Um our IT services are going to go down

[12:42] 15,000 on server upgrades. Uh and Juniper Ridge Landfill on our impact

[12:48] fee. That's that's built into that host community u agreement. So that changes

[12:54] basically on a yearly basis. So it went up about $10,000 this year.

[13:00] Um airport, you'll see in there uh on expense changes, janitorial supplies

[13:05] increased around $1,400, which really reflects the work and the amount of uh

[13:10] supplies that they've been using. Um there's a decrease in there under their

[13:15] capital outlay on the hanger reserve side. It was down about $28,000, but

[13:20] that's always project specific on how much comes out of the hanger reserve.

[13:25] So, not as not as big a projects this year. So, that's a that's a decrease.

[13:30] Um, you'll see in the PD uh information, there's a K9 cost in there, $5,000

[13:37] um on an expense line. Um public works, uh there was an increase um in the sand

[13:44] gravel loom. Um that's up about $32,000. Um as Steve reported out earlier this

[13:50] year, first time he's seen the back wall in the sand shed for I can't remember

[13:54] exactly how many years, but it's been a long time. So

[13:56] » since 2000 >> y

[14:00] » um in parks um another request from the public works director is he did not want

[14:06] he didn't want to see the uh the sewer cost in his budget anymore. We moved it

[14:10] to parks where the uh comfort station >> really didn't do anything except we did

[14:15] move it over there because it does kind of make sense for that being there.

[14:19] » Um revenue changes that you'll see in this

[14:23] year's budget. Um the Oldtown U housing payment L taxes, there's a decrease in

[14:30] there of $12,000. Um they're they're changing their housing designation. Um

[14:37] so that's like half that's like a half a year. So, it' be the same thing again

[14:41] for next year. Um, that that pilot's going to decrease. Uh, again, I just

[14:48] talked about that Juniper Ridge landfill impact fees. Uh, it's contractual

[14:52] increase that's in there. Um, treasure revenue. Uh, we adjusted what, um,

[14:58] finance charges out for wastewater treatment services because they handle

[15:02] all the billings and accounts payable and receivable for them.

[15:07] um phone reimbursement. There's a decrease of almost $1,700 pool

[15:12] and rec center contract changes. Um we have not put this in the budget

[15:18] and we don't do this every year. So typically we have a fund balance

[15:22] transfer. We had $400,000 in there last year. We don't put that in there without

[15:28] coming back and requesting it. So that's that's not shown in these numbers.

[15:33] Um, TIFF revenue, there's a decrease of $192,000.

[15:37] Uh, that's final impact from mill closure. Our homestead's up $32,000.

[15:44] Um, Betty is down. Um, part of that is a mill. We've also had some equipment

[15:50] changes in some of our bigger construction companies. So, that'll

[15:53] definitely have an increase a decrease on that. Uh, main revenue sharing's down

[15:59] $184,000. Uh we have a increase in highway block

[16:04] grant fund of 157,000. Um solar reimbursements going to be up

[16:10] $56,000. That's a new uh tax that we're going to be able to collect on solar

[16:15] farms. That hasn't been there legislatively in the past. Um our EMS

[16:20] services, uh we got an insurance rate increase, so that's going to go up about

[16:24] $32,000. lease parking permits actually went down

[16:29] because we changed the $250 to $25. You remember we did that. So that's down

[16:34] $2,400. Um there's an increase in the school

[16:37] resource officer of $3,300. Um tip fees, uh we're getting a decrease

[16:44] on that. Waste management started taking their trash over to Hamon commercial

[16:49] stuff from Oldtown, so we don't get that revenue anymore.

[16:53] Um, and I mentioned that before on the airport hang reserve. That decrease is

[16:57] all project specific. That's that's in there. And economic development, you'll

[17:02] see an increase in there due to the global secure shipping uh lease on their

[17:07] rent payment that they make. Um, when you put all this together

[17:13] and you look uh at where this sits on that summary page

[17:19] of of all the departments, a one-page summary page here. Um, when we started

[17:25] out a couple meetings ago, we were up around $520,000

[17:29] increase in the budget. We're down now to $258,000, which is a 1.5 uh%

[17:36] increase. Um the biggest issue that we have in here is not on the expense side

[17:42] of the budget, it's on the revenue side of the budget because we've lost a lot

[17:46] of revenue. Um it uh so when you roll those numbers

[17:51] through, I had Danielle put together our yearly estimated tax rate calculator.

[17:59] That number right now would be around 8%. Again, that doesn't include like a

[18:04] fund balance transfer in there, which would pretty much cut that number in

[18:08] half, but we don't have that in there because we haven't come back and asked

[18:11] for it. Don't know what you folks want to do. So, just rolling the numbers all

[18:15] forward based on what you have right now. That's what that that's what that

[18:20] number would look like.

[18:24] And I know this is throwing a lot of stuff at you.

[18:32] » Oh, I'm sorry. >> You're all right. Uh, I just got a

[18:34] question about the disconnect between the 1 1.54%

[18:40] projected increase in total city operations, but we're looking at an 8%

[18:43] increase in the mill rate. Where is that?

[18:45] » Revenue revenue being down. So, revenue is down like almost 1.2 million.

[18:52] uh 5,000 new expense line. I thought that was being taken care of on the

[18:57] police, the K9 cost. Is that >> with the grant?

[19:01] » With the grant. So, it's just going to go from one to the other. Okay. That's

[19:06] three years, correct? >> Yes.

[19:10] » Thank you,

[19:14] » Danielle. Are there any revenues uh budget compared to actual that we're

[19:21] expecting not to collect in full like by the end of the budget cycle?

[19:27] » No, the biggest one was the rec center which we took care of that earlier. So,

[19:32] um I don't foresee anything not being collected.

[19:35] » Great. Thank you. >> First,

[19:39] » so Bill, you talk about the fund balance.

[19:42] » There's not an ask yet. But would there be a projective ask

[19:46] depending on how where we want to be at? Correct. Is that what you're saying?

[19:49] » Y. >> So if we technically did the 407, that

[19:53] would drop that down to a 4% increase roughly

[19:55] » like 4.3 in that area. >> Yep.

[20:00] » I'm not looking at Danielle because I know she doesn't like that question.

[20:02] » Yeah. >> I wouldn't look at her.

[20:05] » Um because last year was 400,000 as well.

[20:09] » 407. >> 407 as well.

[20:11] » Can Can we handle that? Can we handle that again this year?

[20:14] » Taking it up. >> Can we handle more?

[20:20] » Because the balance is currently 6.2, right?

[20:23] » Uh yes. But there the 6.2 there's money in there that's committed and

[20:28] restricted. So we would we go with like 4.2 4.5.

[20:34] » I think we should plan going forward for me to plan on 400,000.

[20:41] I agree with that balance. >> I don't start there and and see where it

[20:46] ends up by the end. >> You know, Bill, you talking about

[20:49] possibly a decrease with insurance costs.

[20:52] » Yep. That's And that's not reflected any reflected yet. That was my question

[20:56] either. So, but that's what you said roughly 70 maybe.

[20:59] » Could be around 70. >> Could be around 70.

[21:02] » Still not a huge debt. So, I agree with you Dave too. I mean, I know

[21:06] historically for several years we didn't touch it and last year we had to touch

[21:09] it. >> And I know it's not your favorite thing

[21:12] either, ma'am. >> Right.

[21:13] » The understanding is it's there for if something historic like catastrophic

[21:17] happens and that type of stuff. But >> listening to the neighbors, the

[21:22] residents, that type of stuff, too. Um, I really think that it's a it's a option

[21:28] we need to really. Bill, are there things uh we had talked

[21:33] at one time about uh maybe the trash pickup being less cost to the city?

[21:39] » Are there things we could look at like that that would benefit the taxpayers,

[21:44] not necessarily in monetary, but in a benefit? Is that still in discussion

[21:50] stages or is that off the table? >> Yeah. So, and you know, we're we're

[21:55] doing everything we can to get the state um

[21:59] to actually sit down and talk with us about the host community benefit

[22:02] agreement. Um I believe there's one person right now that's that's not in

[22:09] agreement with that at the state. Unfortunately, it's a commissioner um

[22:14] that doesn't agree with that. And I don't really I don't really see how that

[22:17] is. I've I have met with and talked um with Cassella. I certainly don't want to

[22:23] represent their thoughts on it or or anything else, but um

[22:28] it's it's troubling that we're having to push this through legal means to try to

[22:36] get the state to sit down and talk about this because legislatively it was passed

[22:40] to take place. Um but right now they're not doing anything and we've asked to

[22:46] get something back in writing and haven't gotten anything back in writing.

[22:50] Um, I think there's certainly things in there that are in the expense side of

[22:54] our budget, um, that could certainly, you know, help taxpayers in town and

[23:00] help the budget ultimately. >> Did Jim ever have it get his chance to

[23:05] talk to Janet about that? Jim Dill was going to go talk with Janet.

[23:09] » So, so in her office, he's speaking with someone. Um, but that was supposed to

[23:17] happen last week and I haven't really got an update so I'm not really sure um

[23:22] where that stands. It's

[23:29] my position is is that they should have been sitting in a room talking with us

[23:33] this past fall. Um, and I've made that very clear to everybody that I've talked

[23:38] to. If

[23:41] » they don't agree with me though, but >> I don't agree with them either.

[23:45] » If something was passed that requires talks, what are our steps if the state

[23:49] keeps resisting >> at some point? I mean, it's it sounds uh

[23:55] it sounds strange. I mean, the only way to the only way to resolve that is to

[23:58] file some type of suit, which, you know, that's why we're trying to get back in

[24:02] writing um from that department in writing like, why do you not agree with

[24:08] this? And so far we haven't received anything back. So

[24:13] » thank you. >> So my patience is running short.

[24:16] » I bet. >> Sure.

[24:20] » Yeah. Okay. >> Daniel on the balance sheet the the

[24:24] projects reserve. >> Is that earmarked as just a general fund

[24:28] for future projects or do we is it dedicated money?

[24:31] » We have dedicated money for it. I can bring the list um to our next meeting.

[24:36] And then I know we we have revisited this over and over, but really has never

[24:40] gone anywhere, but the skateboard park money

[24:44] allocated or not considering we've never really done anything with it. And I'm

[24:49] talking this is way before my time. >> Yeah, this has been

[24:54] forever.

[24:57] » So I don't know how it was earmarked if it had a precedent that Yes, it was for

[25:02] the skateboard park, but that's never come to fruition. Correct.

[25:05] » Do we have a >> So that that reserve um

[25:14] got established um

[25:18] like in the early 2000s. I think there's $38,000 in there.

[25:24] » Yeah. >> It's a small chunk of money, but at this

[25:28] point, anything's going to help. >> Yeah. So, I just like like Christy said,

[25:32] is there an MOU out there that requires us to use it for the park?

[25:36] » I think it was just a council resolved that established it.

[25:44] » I Well, I have a question though, too. Is that um the whole idea of uh

[25:52] Go ahead. I know this is a tall order, but do we

[25:56] think that it would be possible to get a list of all of our department's

[26:01] subscriptions and services that we're subscribed to? Cuz I was talking to

[26:04] Linda about this before the meeting, and I just would like to have a list of what

[26:08] we subscribe to and what it's used for, and just see if there are more modern

[26:12] options, uh, what's needed, what's not needed. Um, and I suspect we're not

[26:19] going to find much, but I think that any dollar amount is helpful.

[26:22] » And that go that goes along with what I was going to bring up is the fact that,

[26:26] and I know it's just because of convenience, the way you do it, is that

[26:30] most of the line items are 3%. And I'm thinking in the same thought that he is,

[26:35] is that I think we could get some savings out of that if not I know wages

[26:41] and those things are set. I'm not looking at that. I'm looking at things

[26:44] like your dues and subscription kinds of things, even travel. Is there a

[26:49] possibility that uh your the departments could look at those and say, "We really

[26:55] need to do X, Y, and Z, but we don't have to do ABC." And then that way we

[27:01] could I know it won't be a lot of money, but I think we could uh tighten the

[27:05] belt, per se, to to get a few more bucks.

[27:09] » Yeah. So, so when we started out, that original list was at that 3% which was

[27:14] like the $520 something,000. So, we've gone back and looked at like actual

[27:20] versus budgeted amounts. >> Yeah, they on this one they changed a

[27:24] little bit because the one I had most of them there 3% 3% 3%. And I understand

[27:31] why, you know, holding that uh holding that to that line. I understand that. It

[27:36] would help us as a council to know, okay, we know for sure that you need

[27:42] this money for that and easier to say yes to instead of saying no to

[27:46] something. >> So I I can go back and do that, but

[27:49] there's as many lines that will come down, there are lines that will go up.

[27:54] So like if you look at the utility line, I just did 3%, but if utilities is

[28:00] understandable, that's that's going to go up. I mean, we know that and because

[28:04] of just the way things are, we understand that. But I'm not looking at

[28:08] those types of lines. I'm looking at the ones that uh we look, like I said,

[28:13] advertising. Those are the types of lines I'm looking at because we know you

[28:18] the utilities, at least I do. Uh and I know gas is going up. I understand all

[28:24] of that. But if we just look a lot closer to some of the other things we're

[28:28] doing, uh even supplies that you guys have, is there a chance that that you

[28:34] look at and go, well, you know, we really don't need that much money in the

[28:37] supplies area, >> right? But but to that point, like the

[28:40] utilities, we have a 3% increase, but it should go up eight or nine%. So, you

[28:46] know, that not increasing it to where it should be, um, you know, is keeping the

[28:53] budget artificially low where, you know, like the travel and or the supplies and

[28:57] stuff. So, I mean, I I can go through, but

[29:00] » I don't want to just take away without adding in.

[29:02] » Yeah. Okay. That's true. And if you want to do that, that's all right with me,

[29:07] but >> there's not one of us around here that

[29:09] doesn't realize that that's not going to happen. budget. There's still, I think,

[29:13] a way to look to see if there's a place to save a few bucks.

[29:19] » Yeah. Like on the advertising part of it, a law to what we do um is required

[29:24] by law and they require us to put it in a public paper like the Bangor Daily

[29:31] News, which their advertising rates are outrageously high. If we have a list of

[29:36] what's happening, it's easy for us to say we're spending that money because

[29:40] because we can explain it to the uh uh our constituents that this is what's

[29:47] going on. >> Anyway,

[29:52] and also the other question I have, you and I talked a little bit. I don't mean

[29:57] we were talking about this building. Y >> we owe money over it on it. When will

[30:03] When will we have it completely paid off?

[30:05] » Uh, two years. >> In two years.

[30:07] » We have two more years. You want to sell it?

[30:09] » No. No. Sell it. >> No, I don't.

[30:12] » Let's borrow. >> You can sell it.

[30:16] Don't have very many people in here. >> Sure. You don't want to sell it?

[30:18] » Yeah. Don't sell it. >> No. I'm just c because that would be

[30:23] meaning that there is actually hopefully a little bit of a help in a couple years

[30:28] or >> to have that happen. How much are we

[30:32] paying each year? >> Uh $70,000.

[30:34] » $70,000 >> and and principal and it's like six on

[30:38] interest. So just about just under $80,000.

[30:42] » That's a lot of money. >> Yeah. We've got capital expenses that

[30:47] we've got to deal with at some point in time,

[30:50] » right? Yep. >> Take that and then some we can't let

[30:54] that go forever. >> Yeah, that's right.

[30:59] » Any other questions? I got one more. >> Go. Yes.

[31:02] » The when the police and the fire departments come to present to us, there

[31:06] are a lot of big equipment upgrades and needs that are down coming down the

[31:10] pipeline. Are any of those factored into this? And no, not at this time. Uh

[31:16] nothing that we expect will be directly needed this year.

[31:20] » Well, we do have some equipment that's needed and and so we're working on

[31:23] getting quotes and preparing that list. And so again that list will end up

[31:27] coming out of reserves which again we can only do that for another year before

[31:31] you know our reserves will be depleted and then

[31:34] » we're not putting any more money in. >> Correct. We are not

[31:38] this will be our third year not putting money in reserves.

[31:45] » Yeah. Yeah, if you look back at that summary page, you'll see that um you

[31:50] know capital items uh capital items in 2023 were a million6, 2024 a million7

[31:57] and then they've been 514,000 for the past 3 years.

[32:02] » Okay. >> Just not putting money in

[32:04] » and that's where that's where the building would be. Correct. C. No,

[32:08] » no, under the debt service. >> Oh, sorry. Wrong place.

[32:20] Okay.

[32:28] Any other questions? Anything else you want to add or

[32:34] you all set? >> Yep.

[32:38] And everyone's all set. Is there a motion to adjourn?

[32:43] Second favor.

[32:48] » Thank you.

[33:05] » Okay. I'd like to call to order the Tuesday, April 21st, excuse me, city

[33:10] council meeting. Uh, first flagg

[33:20] to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it

[33:25] stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice

[33:30] for all.

[33:34] » Next up will be roll call. >> Silent roll call has been taken and a

[33:37] quorum is present. Thank you. Approval of minutes for the March 16th, 2026

[33:41] special city council meeting. I have a motion.

[33:43] » Move to approve the minutes. >> Second.

[33:47] » Dave. >> All those in favor?

[33:52] » Additions, communications, and citizens requests. Anybody in the audience?

[33:58] » There's no public. >> There's no public.

[34:00] » Yeah. >> Reports. Council President, I do not

[34:03] have anything. Standing committees, city councilors.

[34:10] » Yes, sir. >> As our legislative affairs liaison, I've

[34:14] reached out officially to Mike Tipping and Jim Dill to see if we can get some

[34:18] face service and have them come in and just give a little bit of a legislative

[34:21] update. It' just be nice to have a connection that's a bit stronger between

[34:25] the council and our representatives. So, Mike Tipping's on board. He's locked in.

[34:29] We just need to come up with a date that will work. I don't know if we want him

[34:33] to come in during our budget season or wait maybe until July, but we can figure

[34:37] that out. And I haven't heard back from Mr. Dill, but he's going to be speaking

[34:41] with us at Rotary this Thursday, so I'll be able to ask him right then and there.

[34:45] So, I'm sure we'll hook him, too. >> But that's all I have.

[34:48] » Thank you, sir. >> Chris.

[34:49] » Yes, sir. >> I have something. Uh there's been a lot

[34:53] of talk. I don't know if you noticed it in Shaolin's notes uh about uh things

[34:58] going on at the lake questions on zoning and I was wondering if there was a way I

[35:03] was hoping April or uh Travis might be here tonight but I'd like to ask Bill or

[35:10] someone to see if there's a way that we could get some people from the lake that

[35:13] have concerns to meet with them. Uh I don't know how we do that, Bill. What's

[35:17] the best way to do it? Maybe just have one or two people come in and see April

[35:21] and Travis. >> Yep. that that's to start with.

[35:25] » Uh some of the questions arise are around uh seasonal I mean uh the zoning

[35:30] how it's zoned now and short-term rentals and things like that. So those

[35:35] would be the two issues. >> Okay.

[35:37] » If we could set that up or something and I'll get a couple people from the lake

[35:41] that would come in maybe meet with them. >> Yep.

[35:49] » City attorney. >> Nothing. Thank you. Special committee.

[35:54] And how about city manager, sir?

[35:59] » Yes. Sure. You can finish writing your note.

[36:07] Um on the economic development side, um

[36:11] Amy's work with the LLC and DTO just looking at, you know, possible

[36:15] restructure and and roles of both of those organizations. Um, so they're

[36:20] actively working at that. Um, we just discussed earlier, uh, been

[36:27] working on trying to get into the negotiations with the state. We'll

[36:30] obviously keep you folks, um, prized to that and we're we're pushing as hard as

[36:35] we can and hopefully we'll hopefully we'll get uh, we'll get that get that

[36:40] started. Um,

[36:44] some of the things I talked to to Casseller about uh was curbside, the

[36:50] cost of it, if we could we could get that changed. Um, you know, possible

[36:55] adjusting tipping fees and some additional benefits whether it's up at

[36:59] up at the transfer station or whatever. Um, I would say one thing to keep in

[37:05] mind uh in this negotiations is that and this is only me uh and I'm willing to to

[37:12] take any feedback from you folks, but you know

[37:16] throughout the course of this uh landfill in Oldtown, the state has taken

[37:21] a very active position in pushing stuff off to Cassella. It's their landfill.

[37:28] They own it. They started it here. So, in my opinion, they're responsible for

[37:32] picking up some of this stuff. I'm sure part of their push back is that they

[37:36] don't want to have to fund any of these things. But the problem is is that that

[37:40] landfill started out as a construction demolition debris landfill and they have

[37:45] allowed trash to be put in there and they have allowed all kinds of municipal

[37:50] solid uh municipal sludge to go there because of decisions they made on PAS.

[37:57] That's all well and good, but what they had negotiated and what they're doing

[38:00] now are two totally different things. So I believe the state carries a huge

[38:05] burden in that. Um so that will be my push when I talk to them.

[38:10] » Could Cassella be legally responsible for taking that stuff based on the

[38:16] agreement? >> The all they are is the daily operator

[38:20] of that site in the end. It's the states it's the

[38:24] state's landfill. um

[38:28] it's their responsibility to to deal with it and they tell Cassella

[38:34] what is going to go in there. Cassella doesn't have any control over whatever

[38:39] goes in there. The state sets all those parameters.

[38:46] Um letter of support went out to uh

[38:49] Northern Border Regional Commission support uh letter on the waterline

[38:54] extension from College A over to the Penny Road. Um wrote a letter of support

[38:59] for that. Uh it's a $500,000 grant. The water district has just over $4 million

[39:05] now. Um kind of in a capital stack of different grants that they've aligned.

[39:11] And that will be a good project uh when that happens because right now you know

[39:15] the water line kind of dead ends on College AB and it dead ends on this end

[39:20] of town. And if we can make that loop system particularly for the people on

[39:24] both ends of that are going to see a big difference in the water pressure they

[39:28] have and also if there was ever a fire or any of that stuff, we'll have some

[39:32] redundancy in those lines instead of it just stopping. So it' be a nice be a

[39:37] nice improvement there. And I know the University of Maine um has that in in

[39:42] some of their plans as far as possibly adding, you know, some stuff on campus

[39:47] because they'll have extra capacity with that with that water line there.

[39:51] Um, and the only other thing is that we're uh Danielle and I work on a

[39:55] capital plan um that uh Isabelle Lee asked about on the comp plan. And

[40:01] obviously when we get that done, we'll bring that forward for the council to

[40:04] take a look at and make sure you are in agreement with it or want to add things

[40:10] or or whatever. So that's it for me. We have a uh meeting coming up Thursday

[40:18] all planned this week. Yep. Thursday night. Yep.

[40:21] » Okay. You're going to be there? >> Yep.

[40:22] » Good. >> Okay. There wasn't very many there the

[40:25] last time. There was only like four of us.

[40:28] » So, >> but it was a good meeting. I learned a

[40:32] lot. So, good. Glad you couldn't be there.

[40:35] » Bill, on the uh I I think it was in your notes. I don't I don't remember just

[40:40] when, but something about you finally thought there was some movement from the

[40:43] mill on the access to the energy and enterprise pack.

[40:46] » Yep. >> Is that still going forward?

[40:48] » So, I'm just waiting to get back. So, they have u um Christie prepared uh all

[40:54] the information the the deed for that um right away easement there and they have

[41:02] that. I'm just waiting for a signature back from them.

[41:07] That's on my punch list to say, "Hey, >> yeah,

[41:10] » let's get it signed." >> Um, I'm gonna hate to ask this question.

[41:17] » Is there an ordinance based on the loudness of a vendor?

[41:22] » No. >> No. Okay.

[41:24] » We have a nuisance ordinance >> because I sat yesterday thought I was

[41:29] hearing things at home working in my office and then I realized that's I'm

[41:34] like that's ice cream truck music. There was an ice cream truck that drove around

[41:39] town yesterday. >> Honest to God, yesterday cuz I went and

[41:43] looked and I saw it and stopped at the high school and that music played for

[41:46] probably 20 25 minutes and yeah, it's all good. You're a kid and everything.

[41:52] But after a while, you're repetitive that music

[41:56] » making you a little crazy in your office at home.

[42:00] » I turned my music up in my office. But like, so that was just curious too

[42:04] because it had a big yellow deck. It was a purple van with a big yellow duck on

[42:07] the side and going up and down the side streets and I'm like since when did

[42:13] Oldtown get an ice cream truck? And then they're at the high school for a while.

[42:17] So >> it's not just Oldtown. They go around

[42:19] there bunch of different corno they go through Milford.

[42:23] » Okay. >> Generally it's around the time of day.

[42:27] Um, so if we started getting multiple complaints about that, um, we deal with

[42:34] that, but usually it's like early morning and the more typical thing that

[42:38] we run into is someone has a day off from work and they start their wood

[42:42] chipper at 6:00 a.m. and they're running it. And that's not real popular. So that

[42:46] would be an example of, you know, next door you're doing something that's

[42:51] impeding on someone's, you know. >> So I was just like I was so dumbfounded

[42:57] to watch that truck go by and then hear that music for a good 20 25 minutes. I

[43:01] was like, >> and the thing is, I mean, we, you know,

[43:05] » they're doing that >> and

[43:08] » they're probably sitting there and they're so used to it that it's on and

[43:11] they're not even thinking about it because you're not going to, it's not

[43:14] like once you park in the parking lot up there at the high school, there's

[43:17] already how many kids there? You don't have to leave the music on like for the

[43:20] next 15 minutes. I mean, we could we could find out who it is. We could reach

[43:25] out to him. I mean, that's not a problem.

[43:27] » Does he have a permit? Does she have to have a permit?

[43:30] Oh, to sit on city own property you do. >> Yeah,

[43:33] » they weren't I mean they were just literally driving up and down the

[43:36] streets and stopping with the kids and stuff.

[43:38] » Which was fine, but it just like I started to laugh going that's ice cream

[43:42] music though. Like what is this? And then all a sudden I saw him go drive by.

[43:45] I'm like okay that's good. That's nice. And then 20 minutes later I'm like okay

[43:48] I'm done. >> But okay. Just curious about that.

[43:53] » Lucky duck. Yes. >> So all right. Anything else?

[43:58] » All right. We'll move on. Consent agenda. The city council will consider

[44:01] approving the renewal of a liquor and Victoria's licensing for the businesses

[44:05] in Oldtown. Council Wilds. >> All right. Suggested motion is that

[44:08] resolve the Oldtown City Council approves the renewal licensing for the

[44:13] following businesses. Nanny's Restaurant located at 241 Main Street for a city of

[44:18] Oldtown Victillers and State of Maine liquor license. The Oldtown Theater

[44:22] located at 261 Main Street for a city of Oldtown Victillers and State of Maine

[44:26] liquor license. Governor's Restaurant located at 963 Stillwater A for a City

[44:32] of Oldtown Victillers and State of Maine liquor license and the American Legion

[44:36] Post 75 located at 20 Water Street for a state of Maine liquor license. All city

[44:42] inspections have been done by code enforcement and the fire department and

[44:46] past inspection. >> May I have a second?

[44:51] » I'll second. >> Any questions?

[44:56] Right. All those in favor? So moved. We have no old business, no new business.

[45:02] Uh next up is um we'll move to take up an item not

[45:07] listed in the agenda. The old um actually we'll have

[45:12] » I wrote you a motion to add the item to agenda.

[45:17] » Okay. So we'll make a motion. The Oldtown So I need to read this then.

[45:20] Okay. Oldtown City Council will consider entering into executive session pursuant

[45:23] of 1 MRSA 4056E for the purpose of consulting with the

[45:28] city's attorney regarding a lease agreement with the Herbert Sergeant

[45:31] building between the city of Oldtown and the Oldtown YMCA.

[45:35] So that's my motion. Do I have a second? I need a second. Please

[45:37] » second. >> This is to add it to the agenda.

[45:40] » Can't you make any motion during new business?

[45:43] » So why would you need a motion to add it to the agenda?

[45:45] » It's not already on the agenda. >> It's not on the agenda. It wasn't

[45:47] previously. No, >> I don't have it.

[45:52] » No, nobody does. It just was decided to >> Well, no, I know. That's why I'm saying

[45:55] it was being added because I didn't have it on mine when I turn it off.

[46:02] » So, I have my second table.

[46:05] » Who was the second? >> Yes. Thank you.

[46:10] » So, we're adding it to there. But I still need to read it though, don't I?

[46:13] Yeah. Right. All right.

[46:20] And you read it. >> I read it. So we're good.

[46:22] » So you're good. We should >> move on. Okay. So we don't need any

[46:24] further discussion at that point. >> All right.

[46:27] » I guess. >> Thank you.

[46:28] » And then you'll adjourn after. >> Right. So

[46:31] » So we're going to executive session. Thank you everybody.

[46:34] » Do we need a motion now to enter executive session?

[46:38] » That is the motion though, too. >> That is the motion. So

[46:40] » Okay. 647. >> That's what was throwing me.

[46:43] » Just worded really strangely. I was going to say you don't need to make a

[46:48] motion to add something to an agenda.

April 21 2026 Council

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