Annual Town Meeting/Municipal Election

Reminder to everyone that this year’s annual town meeting will be held on August 18 and will be by referendum (secret ballot) voting only. There will be no open town meeting.

This election includes voting for two positions on the Select Board, four positions for the Budget Committee, one position for the Library Committee and one position for SAD 28/Five Town CSD School Board and all of the municipal budget and business articles that are normally discussed at the open town meeting.

Absentee ballots are currently available from the Town Clerk’s Office and I encourage everyone to vote absentee.

Infrastructure Projects Update

A Requests for Proposal (RFP) has been made available for the Vehicle Exhaust Removal Systems at the Public Safety Building and the Public Works Garage. The deadline for me to receive these proposals is August 13th.

An RFP for the Public Safety Parking lot repaving has also been made available with a deadline of August 3rd.

The Old Rockland Street Reconstruction Project has also been put out to bid with proposals due on August 11th. Upon engineer Will Gartley’s advice, we are bidding that project with an alternate start date of next spring as we are receiving feedback from many contractors that they are currently having difficulty finding labor and finishing current projects. It is expected that the bid prices may be lower if the project is started in the spring of 2021 because of this.

Public Works and contractors continue to prepare roads for paving by replacing cross culverts and ditching. As noted previously, some sections of road have had to be rebuilt because of poor base material. For example, one 325-foot section on Beech Hill, after investigation, only contained about 10 inches of gravel and then clay which explains why the roadbed was collapsing. All-States Asphalt has reviewed all the roads to be paved and is currently scheduled to start paving the week of August 25th.

Megan Brackett, Mike Young, and I have developed a tracking system to monitor the materials being purchased and used and the contracted services on the infrastructure bond projects to ensure proper billing and budgeting is completed.

Economic Development Specialist

As I mentioned during the budget discussions, the Midcoast Economic Development District (MCEDD) which we contract with for planning services, has agreed to provide an economic development specialist for one day per week as part of our current contract. I expect Brian Dancause to begin sometime during the first two weeks of August. I suggest that he replace Bill Najpauer as a staff member to the RES Redevelopment Committee. Brian served as the Director of Small Business and Entrepreneurship and manager of the small business assistance program with the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development over an 18 year period and worked for the Town of Brunswick as a development and support specialist before working for MCEDD.

State Board of Property Tax Review

Assessor Kerry Leichtman has been appointed to the State Board of Property Tax Review effective July 28, 2020 by Governor Mills. The Board consists of 15 members for terms of three years. The Board hears appeals from denials of tax abatements by assessors or local boards of assessment review regarding non-residential property with a municipal assessed valuation of $1 million or greater, tree growth, farmland, open space, mine site and working waterfront classified properties as well as municipalities disputing their annual equalized state valuations. This appointment is a well-deserved recognition of Kerry’s knowledge and skills.

Wastewater Extension Project

The final plans for the wastewater extension project along Route 1 are nearing completion. The only remaining item for the engineers is to add the water line designs to the plans as Maine Water has officially joined the project. Other than the water line design work, there are two tasks that remain: finalizing the landowner agreements for the locations of the two pump stations, and obtaining the highway opening permit. It is expected that the project will be ready to go out to bid September 1st.

Maine Municipal Association Dividend

The Town received a $6,465 dividend check from the Maine Municipal Association as a result of its good loss experience and loss prevention programs. Of this amount, $2,487 was from the workers’ compensation fund and $3,978 from the property and casualty program.

Planning Board Secretary

Fran Hodgkins, a part-time employee at the Library, has been hired as the new Planning Board secretary. She will attend meetings, take notes, and draft minutes of the meetings. This will take the burden off Administrative Assistant Mandy Marriner-Everett as she has been taking on this task along with her regular duties. I appreciate Mandy’s help over the last several months.

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