MINUTES OF THE DUXBURY SELECTBOARD July 9, 2007 The meeting was called to order at 6:30. Members present: Jo Ann Berno, Craig Isvak, Todd Liberty Others present: David Quenneville, Zeb Towne Craig Isvak made a motion to accept the minutes of June 11, 2007. Todd Liberty seconded the motion, and all were in favor. Road Report: There was a short discussion on supplies and costs of gravel and chloride. There will be no blasting this year. We’re just getting by with culverts at this time and have one of each size on hand. Todd Liberty raised the issue of the grant that was approved by the State to pay 80% to repair a bridge on Camel’s hump Road—Bridge 37. That grant will expire in July 2008. The grant is for $84,200 which is 80% of the cost of the project. The town has to come up with the other 20%. However, the town will have to pay the total cost of $106,000 up front and will not get the state’s share of the money until the check clears in payment for the project. This money is available in the capital reserve fund. There was some question regarding whether or not the voters need to approve this at a town meeting. Jo Ann will check with Mark Morse on this issue. There have been some concerns by townspeople on the quality of the grading. The selectboard directed David Quenneville to train the road crew on Duxbury’s grading style. A curb cut request was signed for Louis and Rhoagere Trust Fund. Regarding Jeff Poitras’ property, Ernie Englehardt from the District 6 office did a site visit at Jeff Poitras’ house in regards to the culvert, ditching, and erosion. The selectboard is going to request that he put his fact finding conclusions in writing, and this will be brought up at the next meeting. Jo Ann received a call from Brenda Hartshorn regarding speed limits. The sheriff had said that Crossett Hill was not properly signed. Jo Ann checked and saw signs were there and recalled that Brett Myer did a road visit a few years ago and said we were fine. David will call Sam Hill at the Washington County Sheriff’s Department about this. Townspeople to Address the Board: Zeb Towne gave Jo Ann a document with information regarding highways and town roads. Jo Ann said that she had received an email from the town’s lawyer regarding the situation with Richardson Road. Following Jo Ann’s reading of the email aloud, Todd Liberty made the motion that the selectboard enter into an agreement with Erik Mogensen based on the recommendations from the board’s legal counsel and permit the legal counsel to assist in drafting an agreement with Erik Mogensen as per the lawyer’s recommendation to the selectboard as specified in the email of July 9, 2007. Craig Isvak seconded the motion and all were in favor of it. Following this, Jo Ann put in a phone call to Erik to let him know about this, but he did not answer his phone and had not called back by the time the meeting was adjourned. Update on Town Office Space; Dick Charland and Kym Andrews met with Mark Reeves from the state who suggested that we look into reorganizing the existing space with new shelving. Two companies will meet with the Selectboard, and they will be preparing their recommendations. Old Business: Jo Ann reported that the State Farm sale deal is no longer a deal because one of the people involved has pulled out. After some discussion, the board decided to contact Representative Bob Dostis to see if he can tell them what is happening. New Business: Jo Ann Berno made the motion to approve the Northeast Delta Dental contract. Todd Liberty seconded the motion, and all were in favor of it. The board has some concerns about the town clerk’s absence at Selectboard meetings because there is information that he could provide at the meeting that would be helpful. Sometimes townspeople come to the meetings and have questions, and the board doesn’t have a way of getting that information out of the town clerk’s office. There was a question from the board concerning the office hours and staffing for June 15, but the town clerk was not in attendance to reply to the question. Some people are concerned with what the assistant town clerk’s duties are, but the town clerk was not in attendance to reply. The Selectboard was concerned about follow up of reimbursement of expenses on Line Items 133 and 145, but the town clerk was not here to respond. The Selectboard expected to be able to approve the tax rate at the meeting, but was not able to do this because they did not have adequate information. The Selectboard had some other questions for the town clerk regarding the 2007 tax rate calculations: 1) Why is there a discrepancy between the total budget number versus the tax rate calculations set. 2) Where is the Thatcher Brook Line Item? 3) Why is there a discrepancy in differences between 2006 and 2007 residential and non-residential rates. 4) Where is the new tax rate sheet? At 8:10 Jo Ann Berno made a motion to go into executive session. Craig Isvak seconded the motion and all were in favor. The board came out of executive session at 8:14. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50. The next meeting will be Monday, August 13 at 6:30. Respectfully submitted, Pam Dever