Members: Wolfgang Duve, Julie McQueen, Patrick Wood, John P. Smith, Wayne Miller

Absent: Bill Morrisseau (who will be unable to attend until May)

Public & Guests: Marsha Storkerson, Warren Noble, Carroll Murphy

Assignments from the April 8, 2008 Meeting: (see the end of meeting minutes)

• Julie requested that all members who have recommendations regarding possible contractors, etc. please verify current names, addresses and additional contact information and forward them to her. She will compile a list so the Town is prepared to move forward when it comes time to pursue a cost estimate.

* This request was made again at the March 25, 2008 meeting.

• Ted Harris is to make an inquiry with Maine DOT regarding the acquisition/storage of excess fill required for site work.
• We have not received an update on this item as of the March 25, 2008 meeting.

These notes are not necessarily in the order in which things were discussed. They are loosely organized by topic

• Wolfgang called the meeting to order at 9:05 am.
• Discussed preparations for the upcoming Informational Meeting.
• The objective of this meeting will be to present the information that the Committee has gathered and answer questions by the public in a non-biased manner.
• The Committee will work to put together a presentation that is as orderly as possible. There are a lot of topics to be discussed so being prepared and having good backup is extremely important.
• The Committee discussed a 7 page outline that Julie had prepared to review the proposed topics to see if there was anything that should be added or omitted.
• Several topics were discussed; among them:
• Another option to financing the project with a bond or a loan is a lease purchase option. There are some companies that provide this option but the Committee has not investigated this possibility.
• The possibility of receiving donations was discussed. However, without a check in hand or at least a signed commitment from any potential donor; it is not possible to consider donations as part of the financing discussion. The possibility of receiving donations can certainly be mentioned but it is inappropriate to include this in the calculations.
• The Committee will do their best to respond to the topic of future costs of maintaining and operating the proposed fire station by contacting Towns with stations of approximately the same size and with the same features as what is being proposed by the Committee.
• The Committee discussed what is required for a town to be part of a mutual aid agreement. Essentially the town has to provide "reciprocal in kind" manpower and equipment.
• Wayne explained that there are currently 13 towns involved in Sweden’s mutual aid agreement.
• Julie & Wayne will review the NFPA information together in an attempt to address the role that NFPA plays in the fire safety decisions that need to be made. The information is copyrighted and cannot be copied.
• Several members of the public have asked questions regarding the possibility of either merging with or contracting with other Towns to provide fire protection.
• The Selectmen have asked the question of the Bridgton Selectmen and are awaiting a response. Warren gave the Committee a copy of the E-mail sent from one of the Sweden Selectmen to the First Selectman of Bridgton’s Select board.
• Carroll Murphy acknowledged that when he, Bill Centamore and Earl Buker were selectmen; they discussed similar options with both Bridgton and Lovell. At that time there was no interest but there is nothing in writing.
• John and Marsha each brought a copy of an article from the April 3, 2008 "Advertiser Democrat" entitled "Towns eye merging fire departments" which addresses the possibility of the fire departments of Norway, Oxford and Paris merging and the reasons that they are considering it.
• There was also discussion about a recent article in the March 2008 "Maine Townsman" entitled "Small towns respond to population decline" which addresses several issues including the options of collaboration, contracting out services and some towns actually "deorganizing".
• John simply wanted to make the point that collaboration or contracting out services might be other avenues for the Town to consider.
• According to Wayne, the Emergency Operations Plan indicates that the fire station is the place from which direction is to be given in case of an emergency.
• The requirements for Emergency Operations include a radio, phone, fax machine and emergency power (an emergency generator). An application could be made to Homeland Security to possibly provide these items.
• There was some discussion that if Sweden had no mutual aid, service could be provided on a fee or contractual basis provided that another Town was willing and able to provide that option.
• The original Fire Station Building Committee was formed in 1995.
• The volunteer fire department was incorporated some time around 1950.
• The volunteer fire department has an implied contract with the Town to provide fire protection.
• The current fire station was put into uses some time around 1950.
• Wayne will provide a current roster of the Volunteer Fire Dept. and the answers to the questions regarding the how many members who live in Sweden, work in Sweden, etc. will be given. The individuals who meet each of these requirements can be indicated directly from the roster.
• Wayne indicated that the amount of training required limits the number of individuals who are able to volunteer in this day and age.
• Health and safety are key issues.
• Patrick had some questions relating to the number of calls the department receives each year and how this would be addressed if the Town went to a fee based or contractual agreement.
• There was also some discussion about the affect that any of these options might have on Homeowners Insurance rates might be addressed.
• The committee has some information on Homeowners Insurance rates, but this question should be asked by every individual of their own insurance company. This is not something that the Committee can answer definitively.
• Without a fire department, the Town would have to contract with another town to provide service in some way. This would be a matter for the Selectmen to take up initially with the Selectman of another town.
• Carroll Murphy mentioned that he believes that the towns of Albany, Mason and Upton do not have fire stations. He suggested that it might be worth contacting these towns to find out what they have for coverage and what it costs them every year.
• John Smith was unable to attend the last meeting, and was interested in the engineer’s estimate received by the Committee. The engineer’s estimate was for approximately $302,500 but is not all inclusive.
• There was also some discussion about the need to hire a "clerk of the works" and to have someone manage the contract to build the proposed station in order to avoid certain issues that have been experienced in the past by many towns.
• The Committee came up with an abbreviated "To Do’ list:
• Questions received for the Fire Dept. will be compiled and forwarded to them.
• Questions for the Selectmen will be compiled and forwarded to them.
• Julie & Wayne will get together and review the NFPA information to put together some information to use at the Information meeting.
• Denmark will be contacted to get some information on what it costs them to maintain their fire station.
• Center Conway may also be contacted to get information on what it cost them to maintain their fire station.
• Julie & Wayne will get together and measure the equipment that the Town currently owns in order to make templates for the information meeting.
• Julie & Wayne will also compile some information on mutual aid.
• Julie & Wayne will also review the Emergency Management Plan for information that might be presented at the Information meeting.
• Wayne will provide a copy of the current volunteer fire department roster which we will use to answer the questions related to it.
• There was some discussion about the length of fire engines and equipment. According to Wayne, an average fire engine for use in a Town such as Sweden would be 34-35 ft. long, X 8 ft wide with 2 ft mirror width (total of 10 ft. wide) and 9 ft 9 inches to 14 ft. high. It would be impractical for a small town to have a truck that is 40 ft. long or 14 ft. high.
• Meeting adjourned at 10:30 am.

• The next meeting will be on Tuesday April 22, 2008 from 9:00 – 10:30 AM at the Town Office