Town of Sabattus

Selectmen’s Meeting Minutes

April 10, 2007

Roll Call of Board of Selectmen:

Present: Bill Henshaw, Chairman

Present: Guy P. Desjardins, Selectman

Present: Gino R. Camardese, Selectman

Present: Mark R. Duquette, Selectman

Present: Paul W. Loesberg, Selectman

In Attendance:

Tracy Fabrizio, Town Administrator George Merrill, Assistant Fire Chief

Suzanne Adams, Town Clerk Marcel Deforge Jr. Assistant Fire Chief

Thomas Fales, Police Chief Donald Therrien, Fire Department

Gary LaBonte, Acting Road Commissioner James Avery, Fire Department

Jerry Sabins, Transfer Station Manager Mark Belanger, Fire Department

Robert Scott, Fire Chief Tim Pinard, Public Works

Andre Marquis, EMA Director Dave Pinard, Public Works

Denis Castonguay, Planning Board Chairman Susan Lauria

Amedeo Lauria, Budget Committee Amy Therrien

Steve Wood, Town Manager Committee Kermit Peters

Bill Fessenden, Town Manager Committee Peggy Peters

Michelle Ames, Planning Board

Scott Lansley, State Representative

Motion to accept the minutes of March 27, 2007 made by Selectman Gino Camardese and seconded by Selectman Mark Paul Loesberg.

All in Favor.

Department Heads:

Tracy Fabrizio, Town Administrator

Review Delinquent Taxes- Delinquent taxes as of 03/23/07 is $70,723.54 consisting of 61 accounts. Taxes collected from 3/26/07 through 4/5/07 was $4,845.83.

Motion to accept the Treasurer’s report as read made by Selectman Gino Camardese and seconded by Selectman Paul Loesberg.

All in Favor.

Gary LaBonte –Acting Road Foreman-Informs the Board that there are dead tree limbs on many power lines. This needs to be taken care of by professionals. Asks if the Town should hire a tree service for a day. The Board asks Tracy to call CMP to see if they will take care of the problem. Gary will give Tracy a list of streets that need attention.

Jerry Sabins-Transfer Station Manager-Informs the Board that he will be attending a recycling conference on April 30^th and May 1^st.

Robert Scott, Fire Chief-sent the fire trucks for a pump test. All of them pasted but Engine 6.The primer pump needs to be repaired, the cost will be less than $500.00.

Andre Marquis, EMA Director-Requesting to purchase a laptop. Found a Dell Inspiron 1501 for $608.00. Asks the Board for their wishes. The money was voted on at the last Town Meeting under the EMA Budget. He is also requesting a cell phone.

Motion to allow Andre Marquis to purchase a Dell Inspiron for $608.00 made by Selectman Mark Duquette and seconded by Selectman Paul Loesberg.

All in Favor.

Motion to allow Andre Marquis to enter a 2-year contract for a cell phone for EMA for $37.39 and then purchase a car charger and case made by Selectman Mark Duquette and seconded by Selectman Paul Loesberg.

All in Favor.

Bill Fessenden-Search for Town Manager Committee-the Committee will be meeting next week. The application deadline is April 12^th. Hope to have all the applications from MMA by next week. The Committee is hoping to have the whole process done by May 1^st. The Town Manager will then be able to start by July 1^st.

COMMENTS FROM THE FLOOR:

Gino Camardese, Selectman-We need to elect a chairperson who will serve until the November election. Also would like to have Selectman Paul Wayne Loesberg represent the Board at the General Assembly for AVCOG on April 19th. Appointment papers will be drawn up for the next meeting.

Motion to elect William Henshaw as Chairperson until the next election made by Selectman Gino Camardese and seconded by Selectman Mark Duquette.

All in Favor.

Steve Wood, Resident- Comments on the bad conditions of the roads last Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Also asks the Board if they are planning on taking a cut in pay once the Town Manager is hired or if they will keep their current pay of $6000.00 annually. The Board responds that they will visit this issue once a Town Manager is hired.

Ken Spencer, Resident- States that with the three plows that went off the road, the Acting Road Commissioner had his hands full.

Peggy Peters, Resident- Commented that even the plow trucks on the turnpike were going off the road and with the rate of snowfall, it was impossible to keep up with it.

Amedeo Lauria, Budget Committee-Tells everyone present that the Budget Committee will be reviewing the Selectmen’s pay on March 17^th. Also informs the room that there is a recall in effect to recall William Henshaw as Chairman of the Board of Selectman. One of the statements for the recall is that Mr. Henshaw has no regard for the safety of the residents of Sabattus. But in fact under Mr. Henshaw the Fire Department’s budget has increased by $24,000.00. Mr. Lauria will be contacting the media and plans on attending every Selectmen’s Meeting until this is resolved.

Steve Wood, Resident-Commends William Henshaw on the great job that he is doing and backs Mr. Lauria’s comments.

Donald Therrien-Informs the Board that he didn’t start the recall but that his wife did with a few other people. He also had told them that whatever they did would reflect back on him. He also states that the Fire Department’s Budget had gone up because he wanted more compensation for his men.

Amy Therrien, Resident-requests that Bill Henshaw meet with her to discuss their issues. Selectman Guy Desjardins encourages Bill to do this. Bill agrees to meet.

William Henshaw, Chairman- Asks Steve Wood to come up to the Board. Presents him with a plaque thanking him for years of dedicated service on the Board of Selectmen, from March 13^th, 1998 to March 2^nd, 2007. Cake will be served after the meeting.

Unfinished Business:

1. Transfer Station, compactor-motor switch problem- to be continued until April 17^th. Selectman Mark Duquette would like to have a chance to speak to Jerry Sabins before continuing.

New Business:

Kenneth Spencer, Resident- Requesting Board to take the lowest bid every time works goes out for Public Works. Requests that the Board gets at least two bids. The Board will look into it.
Board of Selectmen to accept the Road Foreman’s resignation- They accept Dennis Atwood’s resignation and appoints John Hyde as the new Road Foreman.
Steve Wood, Resident-Requests copies of Selectmen Minutes Tapes for July and August of 2004. He did receive the hard copies but there are some issues not covered in them. There is difficulty in locating these, as many of the tapes from that year are not labeled. The Board is concerned, as they were not notified of the situation. They should have been notified as soon as Mr. Wood requested this information. Then a letter should have been sent to him by Tracy letting him know that his requests are being worked on. The law also allows the Town to charge for the time spent researching. The Board will also start each meeting stating the date which would eliminate the problem.

Also wanted to know if the Town has a procedure on notifying employees of possible loss of their vacation time at the end of the year. The Board responds that this is a personnel issue and is under review. Mr. Wood would also like to know if one was under effect for December 2006.

Motion to move into Executive Session for Personnel matters at 7:30 pursuant to 1MRSA, Sec.405,(6) (A)after a 5-minute made by Selectman Guy Desjardins and seconded by Selectman Gino Camardese at 7:10.

All in Favor.

Motion to move out of Executive Session at 8:07 made by Selectman Mark Duquette and seconded by Selectman Gino Camardese.

All in Favor.

Motion to adjourn at 8:07 made by Selectman Gino Camardese and seconded by Selectman Mark Duquette.

All in Favor.

Selectman Meeting Minutes of April 10, 2007, Accepted On__ ___ , 2007.

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Bill Henshaw, Chair

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Paul Loesberg, Selectman

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Gino R. Camardese, Selectman

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Mark R. Duquette, Selectman

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Guy Desjardins, Selectman

MEETING MINUTES COMPILED BY SUZANNE ADAMS, TOWN CLERK