DRAFT
Minutes of the Board of Selectmen, Sweden, Maine
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Meeting was opened at 7 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Present were Road Commissioner Clifford, Fire House Building Committee Wolfgang Duve, Assistant Fire Chief Carroll Murphy, Selectman Willey, Jones and Noble, Clerk Gibbons. Warrants were approved. Minutes of the Special Town Meeting were corrected to state valuation per hundred thousand.
Notice has been received from the Town of Bridgton concerning lowering of Highland Lake on Sept 29 for the purpose of a private individual doing cement work.
Knights Hill Road Compliance: The procedure for abandoned property of less than $750 is that a letter will be sent from the lawyer. The former residents are given 14 days to respond and 10 days to remove their property. The dwelling unit is owned by Greentree who financed the trailer. $12,000 is owed on the trailer. It was suggested that we charge Greentree for rental of the unit on Town owned property. The animal control officer had found calf and canine bones on the lawn and various drug paraphernalia.
Tynan Property: Mr. Tynan had left a message on the town answering machine threatening to sue the town for up to 1 million dollars, accusing the town of diverting water from one private property to his property. Mr. Tynan had appeared 3 times in Road Commissioner Clifford's drive-way threatening him. The Selectmen were in receipt of an email from Mr. Tynan that had been sent to the Code Enforcement Officer. This email was received after the phone call, which was the first any of the current selectmen had heard of these complaints. Carroll Murphy stated that he had noticed a hole in the roof and windows left open in the winter. He and Mr. Clifford are the write statements and have them notarized for the town file. It was suggested that MMA insurance be notified of these threats. Reportedly there was water on the property before the culverts were repaired. No new culverts were installed. The work was done to FEMA standards. The road was ditched so that the water would run down the side of the road. It is believed that the property had water on it before the house was built. The Road Commissioner is to refer any harassing calls or visits to the Selectmen. Mr. Noble will be responsible for taking this information to the MMA Casualty pool inspector as Mr. Willey is dealing with the Knights Hill Road Compliance case.
A telephone call had been received from Heather True of the Cumberland County Water District. Mr. Perry is working on a section of Hardscrabble Road. Mr. Drew will work on another section of Hardscrabble Road. She requested information on work done previously under the FEMA grant. When the work is completed the town will be billed for its portion ($4,200). Mr. Perry seeks permission to close the road for one day to more effectively complete the work. Mr. Noble moved that the road be closed one day. (3-0) Mr. Noble moved that Mr. Perry be requested to use inert fill to widen the shoulder on Mr. Genesio's property. (3-0)
Tax Advisory Committee: A committee of Ken Forde, Jean Bouchard and Ron Sislane will report to the Selectmen concerning the sending of notices on tax deficiencies. Carroll Murphy reported errors in tax records for R8 25. The tax books do not show that the property was divided between Mr. Labelle and Mr. Brackett. Other errors have been reported concerning R5-6 and R5-7. In addition, there was a property sold by Mr. Robertson to Mr. Chapman on Plummer School Road. There was a miss filing of R3-14. Consequently R2-14 owned by Mr. Kimball was never charged taxes.
The new vacuum cleaner has become non-functional. Jane Gibbons is to have it repaired as it would be cheaper to do it locally than send the machine back to a Hoover Center in NY State.
Mr. Noble reported that the septic tank for the Town Meeting House needs to be pumped out. During a wedding, June 22, the toilet in the women's room was non- functional Previously the men's toilet overflowed during the June 10 election. Mr. Noble will contact Treasurer Flint concerning the wedding party's payment for use of the building and possibly refunding ½ of the fee.
Mr. Duve reported that the town float on Keyes Pond had a broken ladder. Mr. Willey agreed to fix it.
Mr. Duve reported the matter concerning the error in surveying for the Fire Station Building lot. It will cost $350 to resurvey. Gary Ingman from Points North did the survey. Changes will be made in the deeds to reflect an additional 20 feet in the front for the town and an exchange of similar footage for Mr. Valley in the rear.
Issues were raised concerning the charge to the Fire Station Building Committee. Mr. Noble will look up what the charge had been. A new charge will be worked up by the selectmen. Mr. Duve had an informal bid from someone for a shell building with no heat, no electricity, no excavation, no driveway, no insulation, no plumbing of 150-160,000 dollars.
The Glen Cole Family Foundation is offering to place a veteran's memorial bench by the Veterans Memorial northwest the Town Meeting House.
Meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
Jane Gibbons, Clerk