DRAFT--MINUTES ARE NOT OFFICIAL UNTIL APPROVE BY THE TOWN COUNCIL--DRAFT
MINUTES
TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
STANDISH, MAINE
TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2006 – MUNICIPAL CENTER 7:00 PM
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Christy called the meeting to order and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
ROLL CALL
The roll was called by the Clerk. All Councilors were present.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING (S)
The minutes from May 22ND and June 17 meetings were accepted as presented by unanimous consent
PETITIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS
There were no petitions or communications at this meeting.
REPORT OF THE TOWN MANAGER
Town Manager, Gordon Billington said that he would give his report after the awards presentation.
Senator Bill Diamond and Representative Gary Moore presented legislative awards to the following persons:
Serena Freitas for receiving the NBC Affiliate of Maine award for the Teens Who Care Award. She
prepared Christmas gifts for inmates at the Windham Correctional Center.
The Heggeman family, Kathy, Steve and Shelby for their work with the Senor Olympics program.
Debbie Hubbard for being selected as EMS person of the year.
Matt Warren for being recognized for his dedication to the Standish Fire Department.
Will Flanders for being named the most improved recruit by Standish Fire/EMS.
Rob Caron for being named the Standish Firefighter of the Year.
At this time Fire Chief Jordan presented plaques to the Fire/EMS personnel.
The Walker Family was awarded a legislative award on behalf of Ruth Chaplin their mother for her years of dedicated public service included 45 years of work at the Steep Falls Library, 20 years as a reporter for the Guy Gannet newspapers, reporting Standish news for the American Journal and St. Joseph’s College. She also worked for the well child clinic, Salvation Army, Republican Town Committee, Steep Falls Cemetery Association, Steep Falls Village Improvement Association, President of Standish’s Senior Citizens and a member of the Federation of Woman’s Clubs.
Chair Christy said that when his family moved to Standish he fondly remembered the Chaplin’s visiting their home as the Welcome Wagon to town.
The Manager’s Report included the following:
· There will be two resolutions regarding the Standish Family Festival. The weekend will include a parade at 10:00 am on the August 5th beginning at the Honeywell parking lot and ending at the Old Red Church.
· The Blueberries and Blossoms program will be at the Marrett House sponsored by the Garden Club. Several activities will be held throughout the day ending with a fireworks display in the evening.
· Manchester Road bridge construction is going to commence on or after the 16th. There will be periods when the road is completely closed. The contractor will use signs to warn commuters of the pending periods of closure. Roger will meet later this week with the contractor to work out the details.
· New house starts for this last year remain about on a par with the past few years at 61 new units with is below the growth cap of 85.
· The Boat Launch site parking conditions and launch conditions are worse this year than in previous years. Traditional areas where boaters parked are no longer accessible. The cross connector road has been posted no parking and is no longer being maintained. One of the two concrete ramps has started to crumble and is difficult to use. Be patient when using the facility. Due to the high use of the facility it is recommended that boaters arrive early because parking is limited.
· A joint water rescue exercise was conducted last month with the CCSO Dive Team and responding water rescue units from Standish, Raymond, Windham and Gorham on Sebago Lake. It was highly successful exercise showing the capability of local water rescues units in recovering victims from severe water accidents. Well done to Fire/EMS for their participation.
· As many of you may know, the MaineDOL Safety Division has become quite aggressive in enforcement inspections and penalties for non-compliance. MaineDOL is the public sector equivalent to OSHA. They have levied heavy fines other area municipalities and even one Fire Department was decertified for deficiencies. To prepare -- our Fire conducted an extensive internal self inspection and training program then called MaineDOL for a courtesy inspection. We passed the courtesy inspection with several items found that needed to be addressed. Then MaineDOL returned for the follow-up inspection. The result of that inspection – passed with flying colors with plusses ranging from addressing
ergonomics to an active and effective internal safety committee. As a result MaineDol proposes that the Town be entered into their “Shape” program meaning we will proceed under an honesty system reporting our condition and be exempted from further unannounced inspections. Again, well done to Fire/EMS.
· The Clerks office has been extremely busy – as busy as he’s seen it -- with long waiting lines for extended periods -- even though there have been four clerks waiting on customers most of the time. Well done to Mary to keep it together. Additionally, they processed auto registrations for the Town of Windham for two days during Windham’s move into their new offices. Windham expressed great gratitude for the support.
Councilor Lymburner said that she wanted the public to know that the problems at the boat ramp were not caused by the Town of Standish. The limited parking and inability of the Town to maintain that area is through orders from the Portland Water District.
Todd Delaney representing the Kiwanis Club of Standish wanted the public to know that two items regarding the Family Festival have changed. First, the Club will open access to the beach at 9:00 am rather then at 3:00 pm. Community service groups can set up their displays at the beach if they choose to do so. Also, the monies raised from the chicken barbeque will go to purchase a defibulator unit for the George E. Jack School.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
There were no hearings at this meeting.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Councilor Lymburner announced that the Appointments Committee had met Monday evening will present an amendment to the appointments order by adding the name to the order.
Councilor Spencer explained that the Community Center Committee has sent out requests for architectural engineering qualifications. The submission deadline is August 4th a committee meeting will be held the following week to review the materials submitted.
Chair Christy said that on Friday he attended a meeting for the Watchic Lake Association Meeting. He said that the Association will work on reviewing their by-laws and look at issues involving the lake.
Chair Christy said that the next meeting of the Ordinance Committee will discuss the Historic Preservation Ordinance, the sidewalk plan and the site plan review standard ordinance amendment that is currently on the Council agenda.
CONSENT CALENDAR
There were no items at this meeting.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
79-06 Order to Accept Public Easement over Selected Rangeways (Tabled at 6/6/2006 Meeting) [Christy]
This item remained in the table.
89-06 Amendment to Site Plan Review Standards for Architectural Design (First Reading)[Christy]
Chair Christy said that this had been introduced by Councilor Richardson to give the Planning Board a tool for architectural standards for developers.
Isabel Higgins said that her concern was that this would discourage businesses and limit what could be built in a very large area. She thought that this was not a wise move because it would limit the businesses that might want to build in Standish.
Todd Delaney said that in his experience that it can be very expensive to improve older buildings using newer standards.
Councilor Lymburner said that this ordinance will only affect new construction. She said that it was her opinion that only requirement of the ordinance was to comply with Colonial New England design. The rest of the language is only suggestive language as to what materials may be use. She said that she thought that this will help maintain the rural character of Standish. She noted that there had been a comment about property taxes and the Council is frugal and works hard to keep taxes low.
Councilor Biegel asked if they are considering adding information about signage and landscaping in addition to the architectural requirements.
Chair Christy said that those were separate issues.
Chair Simpson said that an ordinance is a strong document and it has to be followed. He said that these are conditions for approval. He said that the word used is shall and is pretty strong they didn’t use the word may. He said that if this is passed anyone wanting to put a building in a Village Center will have to comply with this ordinance. He said that with the Comprehensive Plan there will be changes to the ordinances and changes should wait for the elements that come out of that discussion.
Councilor Stack questioned if all three village centers were included in this.
Chair Christy said that the majority of the discussion revolved around Standish village but all the villages would be included.
Councilor Stack said that the Comprehensive Plan looked at each of the three villages separately. He also said that timber framing would limit the construction and impact on the costs. He said that he was not in a position to vote for this.
Councilor Pomerleau said that the more we push-out the tradesman and manufacturing jobs, where do we want to put these. He said that he wanted to know where in town would they put small manufacturing companies that will be the tax base of town.
Councilor Biegel said that she is glad to see this here before we are at the stage that other towns are at.
Moved by Lymburner Seconded by Stack and Voted to refer this committee. (6 Yeas – 1 Nay, Christy)
90-06 Amendment to Site Plan Review Ordinance (First Reading) [Christy]
Moved by Lymburner Seconded and Voted to Waive the Clerk’s reading of the ordinance. (Unanimous)
Gordon Billington announced that since this was drafted additional legal review has been done. He suggested that it be sent back to the Ordinance Committee for further review.
Isabel Higgins said that she had the same concerns about this ordinance as she did the earlier one.
Moved by Lymburner Seconded by Simpson and Voted to refer this committee. (Unanimous)
NEW BUSINESS
101-06 Amendment to Town Council Rules of Procedure [Pomerleau]
Councilor Pomerleau explained that this was initially started as a citizens committee. It was re-formed into a Council sub-committee and very little has come out of this committee. He said that he thought that the committee should be set aside for a year or put out as a citizens committee.
Councilor Simpson said that he was not sure that he wanted to see this totally removed but agreed to maybe set it aside for a year to work on the language.
Chair Christy said that according to the Rules of Procedure this need to be laid on the table and be brought up at the next meeting.
Moved by Lymburner Seconded by Spencer and voted for this to lie on the table until the August meeting. (Unanimous)
Councilor Lymburner asked if this will be discussed on the workshop agenda.
Chair Christy said that it would be.
102-06 Resolution Establishing August 5, 2006 through August 6, 2006 as the Standish Family Festival Weekend [Christy]
VOTE: 7 Yeas – 0 Nays
103-06 Resolution Supporting Standish Family Festival Parade [Christy]
VOTE: 7 Yeas – 0 Nays
104-06 Resolution Adopting Newly Developed Chart of Accounts for Accounting Purposes [Simpson]
Councilor Simpson said that the order speaks for itself. Dana Fischer has spent a considerable amount of time updating them and there may be additional changes in the future.
VOTE: 7 Yeas – 0 Nays
105-06 Waive Bid Process for Purchase of Excavator [Pomerleau]
Councilor Pomerleau explained that Roger had found this excavator and it will meet the town’s needs. He explained that Roger has inspected it and operated and believes that it will work well for the town.
Councilor Stack said that he was at first concerned with waiving the bid requirement but after hearing that Roger had done due diligence in researching the information he was satisfied with the order.
VOTE: 7 Yeas – 0 Nays
Moved by Lymburner to collectively on 106-06, 107-06, 108-06 and 109-06.
Roger Mosley asked that order 109-06 be taken separately.
Moved by Lymburner Seconded by Spencer and Voted to collectively on 106-06, 107-06 and 108-06. (Unanimous)
Roger Mosley explained that these three have been inspected by him and an engineer and are ready for acceptance. There are a few minor housekeeping items that need to taken care of and the deeds need to be reviewed by the Town attorney.
Councilor Stack said that last year he stood before the Council an complained about the bump in the road near Corrine’s Place. He went on to say that the bump had been corrected and wanted to thank them.
Councilor Lymburner questioned the performance guaranty.
Gordon Billington said that a bond is put in place.
VOTE ON ORDERS 106-06, 107-06 and 108-06: 7 Yeas – 0 Nays
106-06 Road Acceptance Request Submitted by Gilbert Homes, Inc. for Sunrise Acres / Sunrise Street [Christy]
107-06 Road Acceptance Request Submitted by Chase Custom Homes for Prouty Subdivision / Prouty Drive [Christy]
108-06 Road Acceptance Request Submitted by James Cummings for Corrine’s Place / Lucky’s Run [Christy]
109-06 Road Acceptance Request Submitted by Jocelia Hartwell for Knights Woods / Quail Ridge [Christy]
Roger Mosley explained that this road was not ready for acceptance at this time. The developer will bring it back next July.
Moved by Simpson Seconded by Pomerleau and Voted to indefinitely postpone this order. (Unanimous)
110-06 Request the Department of Transportation Establish Speed Limits on Newly Accepted Town Roads [Christy]
VOTE: 7 Yeas – Nays
111-06 Utility Location Permit – Central Maine Power Company – Oak Hill Road [Christy]
Councilor Lymburner questioned the need for a street opening permit.
Roger Mosley explained that any new utility location within the right-of-way requires a street opening permit.
VOTE: 7 Yeas – Nays
112-06 Town Council and Town Council Chair Appointments to Various Boards/Committees [Christy]
Moved by Lymburner Seconded by Simpson and Voted to waive the Clerks reading of the order. (Unanimous)
Councilor Lymburner said that Mr. Coombs was interviewed last night and had unanimous endorsement of the Committee.
Moved by Lymburner Seconded by Simpson to amend the last paragraph to add the name of Gregory Coombs to serve on the Zoning Board of Appeals. (Unanimous)
Moved by Simpson Seconded by Pomerleau to table the Economic Development sub-committee of the Council until next month. (Unanimous)
113-06 Cast Ballot for Maine Municipal Association Slate of Candidates for the Executive Committee and Officers [Christy]
Moved by Simpson Seconded by Spencer and Voted to support the nominating committee of MMA’s recommendation.
VOTE: 4 Yeas – 3 Nays, Biegle, Lymburner and Stack
114-06 Cast Ballot for Maine Municipal Association Slate of Candidates for the Legislative Policy Committee [Christy]
Moved by Simpson Seconded by Christy and Voted to support Billington and Bruno.
VOTE: 6 Yeas – 1 Nay, Biegel
PUBLIC ITEMS
William Orr said that the public comment section was skipped on order 105-06 which was the waiving of the bid on the excavator. He asked if there had been any attempt to follow the Charter.
Councilor Lymburner made an appeal for board/committee members. She noted that there were four vacancies on the Budget Committee, one vacancy on the Public Safety Committee, one vacancy on the Recreation Committee, and one vacancy on the Recycling Committee. She said that those were all citizen vacancies. She said that they appreciate anyone who volunteers for the Town.
Councilor Stack said that he thought that at the last workshop it was announced that there would be an executive session tonight.
Chair Christy said that when the people are available for the executive session that session will be announced. It has been delayed due to people being on vacation.
Councilor Biegel said that it was here opinion that there was discussion that needed to take place on some of the legal matters whether an attorney is present or not. She said that she would hate to pay for an attorney for us just to have an discussion. She said that she would like to see them go into executive session.
Chair Christy asked if that was a motion.
Councilor Simpson called for a point of order. He noted that we can’t go into a executive session on legal matters without or attorney present.
Councilor Biegel asked what it was about following ordinances.
Gordon Billington said that was not an allow reason to go into executive session.
Chair Christy asked it the situation was a pressing matter that needed a special meeting.
Councilor Biegle said that her concern was that the more meetings that we have and the further we are away from the issue the more expensive it becomes. She said that for Standish citizens paying that bill it behooves us to act quickly.
Gordon Billington said that he was not aware of any pending action that we are supporting other that what is currently before the courts.
Councilor Biegel questioned the briefs that were in their package.
Mr. Billington said that those were regarding rulings that have already been filed. We are awaiting the ruling of the courts. He said that they may refer things back to a lower court which would require further legal support.
Councilor Lymburner asked what the time period would be if we have to make additional filings. Would the time allotted by the court be sufficient for us to get advice before it moves forward?
Chair Christy said that there would be sufficient time.
Councilor Biegel said that she had major concerns when she read the briefs. She said that the Council needs to take a hard look at what’s happening and how it is being done. She said that she doesn’t know what the best forum was for that but there was major discussion that needed to take place.
Chair Christy suggested that she meets with the Town Manager to get updated on all the cases. He went on to say that the attorneys will be at the next meeting.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Upcoming meetings were announced.
EXECUTIVE SESSION (S)
An executive session was not needed at this meeting.
ADJOURN
Moved by Pomerleau Seconded by Stack and Voted to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:35 pm by unanimous consent.
Submitted by: _____S/Mary Chapman_______________
Clerk/Secretary
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