Madison Selectmen's Meeting May 27th 2026

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:06]I call this meeting to order. Good evening, everybody. Thank you for coming. Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

[00:00:11]I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[00:00:26]Going to make a have a need a motion to add an executive session to the end of our our executive session piece at the end, citing 1 MRSA 405-6C for real estate.

[00:00:41]So moved.

[00:00:42]Second. All in favor?

[00:00:45]So moved.

[00:00:46]Okay.

[00:00:48]Um please let it be known that all selectboard members are here and present.

[00:00:53]Consent agenda AP warrants number 32, 05, uh 12, uh I'm sorry, 5 12 26, um and payroll register number 19 5 7 26. Need a motion to approve.

[00:01:07]So moved.

[00:01:10]Second.

[00:01:11]All in favor?

[00:01:14]All moved.

[00:01:15]Okay. Acceptance of the minutes of the selectboard meeting on May 12th those are not available tonight. Um they will be ready at the next meeting.

[00:01:23]Did you do payroll and AP? Yes, I did.

[00:01:26]I I believe you missed payroll number 20. Oh, I'm sorry. I did. Okay.

[00:01:31]Um also we need a motion on payroll number 20 5 14 26. So moved.

[00:01:37]Second.

[00:01:38]All in favor?

[00:01:40]Thank you. Sorry about that.

[00:01:42]Okay. Old business. Selectboard revisit discussion to clarify ordinances directed to the planning board for review on 4 27 26 meeting.

[00:01:52]Okay.

[00:01:55]Um so in your packets, um, you will find uh the information that I had put together. I had looked at some towns that were mentioned at the last select board meeting, um, such as, uh, Old Town, um, >> [clears throat] >> Rockland, um, and I added in Rumford as well. I looked at, um, areas areas that were, um, similar in population size, but also similar in situations.

[00:02:22]Um, so, that does a breakdown of what they do and their ordinance language. Um, and then, um, there is a chart of common ordinance topics used in Maine, um, and then also in your packet was an example wording of what could be brought to the planning board.

[00:02:47]Um, it's very rough, um, but it includes some of the things that we had discussed at the last meeting, including public space, obstruction, disorderly conduct, um, temporary structures, um, and there's also factoring in, um, uh, public nuisance conditions, um, excessive or unreasonable noise, um, and uh, elaborates on obstructing sidewalks, entrances, stairways, trails, public parking areas, or public rights-of-way in a manner of interfering with reasonable public access.

[00:03:27]Um, the purpose of it would be public spaces must remain safe and accessible for all residents and visitors.

[00:03:34]Um, and then, excessive noise, obstruction of sidewalks and public ways, disorderly behavior, littering, unsafe encampments, and other nuisance activities that negatively affect the community would help be outlined in this.

[00:03:47]Um, so, if you would like more elaboration, um, before I hand this off to the planning board um, where it's been voted [clears throat] to go to them.

[00:03:57]Just let me know that I think that this broadly covers enough to be able to bring it to them to make sure that we're covering everything that we need to and wording everything appropriately.

[00:04:09]What the select board would like to see.

[00:04:13]I'd be interested in hearing from one of these communities that has already had experience with an economic planning.

[00:04:19]I guess one particular Yes.

[00:04:22]Hearing from somebody over there what their experience this this far has been.

[00:04:26]I'm not sure how long yours has been up and running. Right. But it would be interesting to hear from another community that's already dealt with the issue at hand.

[00:04:35]Like seeing what the enforcement of their ordinances is.

[00:04:38]>> Yeah, and just you know, information about what their experience has been thus far.

[00:04:45]Yeah, maybe a question Yeah, like have them zoom in and a question and answer.

[00:04:49]Yeah. Sort of phone that would be good.

[00:04:52]Just to get some information on it.

[00:04:54]Um it might be worthwhile to look at Bangor as well.

[00:04:59]Who's experienced some things more in an extreme level Okay. They're larger than than what we're looking at, but maybe seeing what they're doing in regards to enforcement of their ordinances that are in place. Okay.

[00:05:11]To see what we do at a smaller level.

[00:05:14]That sounds good.

[00:05:15]Sounds good.

[00:05:19]So is that it then?

[00:05:20]Are you good with sending this to the planning board?

[00:05:24]I'm personally comfortable giving it to them. I think it's a clear sense of direction that they were looking for.

[00:05:29]Okay. Um I just want to make sure that it covers everything that the board would ideally like to see in an ordinance.

[00:05:40]So we don't need to vote on that I don't think we've already done that. So Okay.

[00:05:44]I don't know about anybody else, but I'm sitting in the front and I barely hear you guys.

[00:05:48]Can't hear nothing over there. Yeah, it's hard to hear.

[00:05:52]Sorry.

[00:05:54]Sorry to interrupt.

[00:05:55]No, it's good. No, thank you. We tried.

[00:05:58]These things are no fun button.

[00:06:01]Okay.

[00:06:03]Um Moving on to number two, warrant articles correction, carry forward articles missed in initial review. Can you hear me now?

[00:06:15]Is that better? No?

[00:06:18]I don't think it's the speaker or something. Yeah, it's not coming through the speaker at all.

[00:06:22]Don't know what to tell you. That's your job, Frank.

[00:06:25]Hello? No.

[00:06:28]Try it one more time, Sally.

[00:06:29]Hello, Ryan.

[00:06:30]>> Yeah, they're off. Okay.

[00:06:32]Do we need to turn them on? I don't know.

[00:06:35]They said they're on. Oh.

[00:06:37]Are they? Is there a volume?

[00:06:41]You have to be small.

[00:06:44]I don't like these.

[00:06:46]They're not But you could hear them.

[00:06:49]Isn't that weird? I feel like we need like on or off. I don't know.

[00:06:52]I don't know. Kathy said when she came in she could hear us down there talking.

[00:06:56]>> hear them. I mean I couldn't What happened? Oh, hello.

[00:07:01]Tada.

[00:07:04]Oh.

[00:07:05]That's probably from you guys. I didn't plug it in, huh?

[00:07:07]There we go. Thank you, Ryan.

[00:07:09]Okay. Yeah, I'll be fired for the next one.

[00:07:12]>> [laughter] >> Okay, I'm going to redo this one. Um number two, warrant articles correction, carry forward articles missed in the initial review.

[00:07:21]And I will leave that up to Cheyenne to enlighten us. Okay. Um so I put together a sample town meeting warrants for the board and there is a copy available for the public.

[00:07:33]Um but what hasn't been covered would be article 28, article 29, and article um 30.

[00:07:43]So, one is for carry forward for road surface projects, the other is carry forward for sidewalk maintenance maintenance, and the other is carry forward for cemeteries. So, these were missed in our initial review at the last meeting. And after doing a proof myself with a finance officer and just checking with department heads, this should be the last correction in regards to the warrant articles.

[00:08:12]So, we need to vote? Yes. And you'll find it in your packets. I put little little notes on you guys's.

[00:08:17]>> Okay.

[00:08:19]Um page It's labeled page 58. So, I pulled it from the town report.

[00:08:23]>> 58. Okay.

[00:08:25]Okay. So, we'll do them one at a time?

[00:08:28]Um okay. We need a motion on article 28 to see if the town will vote to authorize the select board to carry forward $21,900 in previously designated unspent capital funds for road surface projects. Select board recommends.

[00:08:43]So moved.

[00:08:45]Second.

[00:08:46]All in favor?

[00:08:49]So moved.

[00:08:50]Article 29, to see if the town will vote to authorize the select board to carry forward $35,950 in previously designated unspent funds uh unspent capital funds for sidewalk maintenance. So moved.

[00:09:03]Second. All in favor?

[00:09:06]Article 30, to see if the town will vote to authorize the select board to carry forward $24,000 in previously designated unspent capital funds for the cemeteries. So moved.

[00:09:17]Second.

[00:09:18]All in favor?

[00:09:20]Okay.

[00:09:22]I did note a couple of spelling uh grammar things I can let you know afterwards. Yeah, definitely. Okay.

[00:09:31]All right.

[00:09:33]That completes that, yes?

[00:09:36]Okay. Items of communication. Number one, town manager's report on expenses, revenues, and GA through April for year end 26, currently at week 47.

[00:09:53]Okay.

[00:09:54]Um so, we haven't had any large revenues uh that were received. I can say um that we did just receive um March's reimbursement for general assistance.

[00:10:05]Just to [clears throat] note, that came through PayMode uh yesterday.

[00:10:09]Um uh Expenditures have increased since the last select board meeting uh due to the large bills that are in warrant 32. Um so, that was the large 991,000 uh that you saw there. Um included in uh your packets, I've actually done a general ledger summary review, um a review summary, and an expense summary.

[00:10:33]Um and that's for you as a board uh to take a look at to realize the scope of what we're working through uh internally uh regarding our financials. Um it's very specific as to what what accounts really need attention.

[00:10:48]Um I had a meeting with RHR, um and they had advised uh for me to really familiarize myself uh with the process and what needs to be done.

[00:11:00]Um I'll be working with our finance officer who is um dedicated office time moving forward to be able to address some of the bank reconciliations and to work with me through some of the remaining things that need to be adjusted. Speaking with the auditors, we have missed our time slot uh for the audit, so we're looking about 3 months out uh to be able to start sending Well, we can upload things to them and send it to them, but they can't officially start our audit until they have time for us. Um because when you miss your slot, they're going to fill it in with the next town.

[00:11:34]So, that's where we're we're at, but we're still making good progress. We had Trio come in and offer more on-site training to our finance officer and myself so we could get a better understanding of the financial side of Trio. Um we have RH R to ask basic questions up until we start our audit process.

[00:11:54]Um and we have Patrick Dolan still as a resource. Okay.

[00:12:00]Any questions with regard to that?

[00:12:03]This piece Yes, sir. Thank you, Cheyenne, for that.

[00:12:07]It was absolutely fantastic to go through. You applied yourself a lot on this and there is so much more clarity for myself throughout the finance aspect of it. Thank you.

[00:12:19]You're welcome.

[00:12:21]I might agree with that. Thank you.

[00:12:23]Okay.

[00:12:25]>> [clears throat] >> Moving on to number two, the sheriff's report. Okay. So, on the sheriff's report, that's available in your packets and put out for the public.

[00:12:35]Um and moving forward, I'll be trying to focus on some things that are being put in these reports. So, if you don't have time to read, you'll at least be able to have a note from it. My note for this one is is there's pretty some pretty interesting pictures of Mike in there. I like the one with you at the library. I do, too.

[00:12:55]Yep.

[00:12:56]We have your autograph.

[00:13:00]Okay. Any questions with regard to that?

[00:13:02]No? Moving on.

[00:13:04]Uh number three, update on the heat pump grant uh for OPA school and town office.

[00:13:11]Okay. Um so, where we're at with the heat pumps for the town office and for this building um is the heat pumps will be put in for the town office in June um in July for this building. Um we had a meeting, myself, the finance officer, the code enforcement officer, um with KBCOG and the contractor that will be doing the work to install the heat pumps.

[00:13:39]Um we were actually able to reduce uh a bit of the cost um by taking away some of the um just appearance things, just in the way that they're going to be installed. Um instead of going up through the uh ceiling for the the drippage of them, um it'll be running along the side of the wall, and that will bring uh the town's small cost towards that project close to zero. Um keep in mind this is a $112,000 project. So, getting that much grant funds is really good. That's huge.

[00:14:16]Any questions so far related to that?

[00:14:19]I think not. Okay, moving on to number four.

[00:14:21]Thank you to individuals involved with adding wood chips to the Main Street playground.

[00:14:26]Uh so, last Friday, um we had um the school students help uh spread out wood chips at the Main Street playground.

[00:14:38]Um and I want to thank a couple of individuals that made the project happen. Um uh Julie Forbes, thanks for sparking the conversation. Um uh thank you to Chris Roy um for helping arrange the project. Uh thank you to highway um for having It was Charlie, right, Jeff? Yes, Charlie the Flame.

[00:14:58]Charlie, um operated a piece of uh What's that called?

[00:15:02]>> Equipment, that small machine, small machine. Okay, good. I can't remember [laughter] that.

[00:15:07]Um but he was there um helping spread it out across the playground, and then thank you to the students um who volunteered their time to spread them all out. It looks really nice. Great.

[00:15:18]That looks great.

[00:15:19]>> Yeah, it does look good.

[00:15:22]Okay, moving on to number five. Update on financials, overview of progress and next steps. Well, I got a little excited and I kind of did that. I think so.

[00:15:31]>> Didn't we just we just did that, right?

[00:15:34]Nothing else to add? No, I think I covered it. Okay.

[00:15:37]Okay.

[00:15:38]Um okay, moving on to new business.

[00:15:40]Select board to sign warrants for town meeting election. Okay.

[00:15:45]I have So, um I have the school >> [clears throat] >> warrants that need to be signed. And if you have a few grammar errors for me to adjust before you want to sign the town one, that's fine. But it's also on a separate page, so I can do that.

[00:16:02]Um you could Yeah. Yeah, we'll just As long as the actual warrant articles themselves are all right, I think we can move forward like that. I'll just send out a final review to your email.

[00:16:12]Um so, that's those. Those will need to be posted very soon.

[00:16:18]And just an update to um I'm pretty sure the board is well aware, but to the public that um the town meeting will be on June 8th at 7:00 in the auditorium um at the Main Street School. And then election day will be here 8:00 to 8:00 in this room um on June 9th.

[00:16:42]And that's just the top one that we need to sign. Yes, for the town meeting. But for um the school warrant then um there's more signatures because they require each copy to be signed.

[00:16:54]>> we'll we'll pass those around.

[00:16:57]Do you want us to continue then with that? Yeah.

[00:16:59]Um I'll give you my those corrections that I made after the meeting. That sounds good.

[00:17:07]All right. Um moving on to G, citizens concerns.

[00:17:14]Robert.

[00:17:15]I actually have two.

[00:17:17]One of them's is just a comment, the other one is actually a sermon.

[00:17:21]And I had to write it out because I knew we'd forget half of it.

[00:17:25]So, that being said, we gather here together we gather here today citizens and board members alike to discuss the day-to-day business and the future of the town of Madison. That opportunity exists because generations of men and women fought to protect our freedoms including our right to speak openly and participate in public life.

[00:17:46]They do not serve under easy or comfortable conditions. Their sacrifices were not made in pleasant weather or ideal surroundings. Whether facing storms, hardship, or uncertainty, they endured difficult circumstances so that communities like ours could come together freely and respectfully.

[00:18:03]That is the point we should remember today. The freedoms we exercise in this room were hard-won and they deserve our gratitude and our care.

[00:18:12]Yesterday members of the American Legion Post 39, Sons of the American Legion Squadron 39, Legion Auxiliary 39, VFW Post 7865, Girl Scouts Troop 351, and guest speaker State Representative Jack Ducharme, and a few community members gathered in difficult weather to mourn and honor the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

[00:18:37]This town once held a Memorial Day parade led by the American Legion. Over time, however, attendance declined and the parade was eventually discontinued.

[00:18:47]In its place, separate ceremonies are now held at five monuments. One in Stark, one in Anson, and two in Madison, and one in East Madison.

[00:18:58]I now ask, where were our town leaders? I did not see members of the select board there, nor did I see town employees in attendance either. For that matter, I didn't even see any of the candidates running for select board.

[00:19:12]I didn't expect Cheyenne to pay for three-year-old ever though in the pouring rain.

[00:19:18]But if we benefit from these freedoms secured by those who served, then we should also show up to honor their sacrifice.

[00:19:25]To honor their sacrifice, public service carries with it a responsibility to remember, to participate, and to lead by example.

[00:19:34]>> [clears throat] >> The other concern I have is um we're worried about bringing an ordinance in front of the planning board for homelessness.

[00:19:46]What are we doing as a town to prevent some of the homelessness?

[00:19:51]I know I wrote a letter to the board um right after the last meeting asking that you bring forth the ordinance for uh lot rent mobile home lot rent uh Yeah, what's the word?

[00:20:10]Stabilization.

[00:20:11]>> Stabilization, thank you.

[00:20:13]Um and to take another look at that.

[00:20:16]If we don't and I gave [clears throat] you some examples, I also gave you I also um have sent to Melanie a couple of more examples. For instance, Saco had a uh mobile home park that went up $200 on their uh residents.

[00:20:34]Looking at the town the town's two mobile home parks I can speak about Hidden Acres specifically. There are 35 trailers in there.

[00:20:50]Five are empty, seven have handicap ramps. One of them doesn't have a ramp, but she has Parkinson's disease, and that'll soon be coming.

[00:20:59]So therefore, that shows proof we have disabled and or low-income people there who will become homeless if a large conglomerate like what's happened in Saco from California comes in, it buys that property, and jacks the lot rents up by 100, 200, maybe even three.

[00:21:20]I think it really needs to be looked at.

[00:21:22]I know I signed a petition that came around to ask you guys to look at this again.

[00:21:28]But I see nothing on the agenda about it.

[00:21:32]I can speak to that. Okay. Shayan and I have talked about it. Um and I was going to bring it up under um select board concerns, but we can talk about that.

[00:21:39]>> hear you. I'm sorry. We can talk about that now. I was going to bring it up under select board concerns if it didn't come up. And basically, um I just want to acknowledge that we did receive the the the um paperwork that you sent, that you that you signed. Sorry. Um and I I agree with you. I we don't want to see that happen to this park. Um but I think that we need to the board needs to decide if they want to go further with this, or if not, we need to um if you want to do a full petition, there is a a method that we have to go through to do that for for a moratorium, or for the actual ordinance, correct?

[00:22:21]I Yes.

[00:22:23]Um And basically, I'll just read this. At this At this time, the petition has not been determined to require a formal board action under the official petition process. Because of that, no vote or official action is scheduled this evening. That's why it wasn't on the agenda.

[00:22:38]Um the purpose of discussing it tonight under chair and select board concerns is simply to allow the board an opportunity to share initial thoughts, ask questions, and decide whether there is an interest in bringing the matter back to at a future meeting as a formal agenda item if needed.

[00:22:55]So, that's basically where we're at at this point. So, having said that, um what does the board feel?

[00:23:05]And we do I think you have copies of the petition that was signed in your paperwork.

[00:23:12]It's my understanding we had to get an official >> [clears throat] >> petition. That was an unofficial petition.

[00:23:19]>> Mhm.

[00:23:21]I don't think this person that Right.

[00:23:23]knew that I had had had Okay.

[00:23:26]Well, There was something forward, right?

[00:23:28]>> to stop homelessness in our town.

[00:23:31]>> Yes. Yeah. But what are we doing? We're not stopping it through this.

[00:23:35]And I'd rather I'm hitting the naked with my oxygen and cane on a fixed income. Mhm. It would be terrible if something like that had happened. Yeah.

[00:23:45]It would probably put my wife and I out.

[00:23:47]Yeah.

[00:23:48]Thank you.

[00:23:51]Does anybody have any concerns or comments to add?

[00:23:58]So, Yes, John. I'm on a fixed income, too.

[00:24:02]Mhm. I am a home homeowner.

[00:24:05]So, if we put the moratorium in place, does that mean my taxes, my insurance won't go up anymore? No.

[00:24:11]No.

[00:24:12]But add that onto these low-income and fixed-income people who are in these mobile home parks and if their lot rents go up to five, six hundred dollars a month, and maybe they bring in seven to a thousand dollars, seven hundred to a thousand dollars, you're going to put them out in in basically they're going to become homeless in Fitchburg. Do we not have section eight housing around?

[00:24:36]That I don't know, but that's not Well, this this is strictly This isn't regarding section This is regarding mobile homes only, mobile home parks, excuse me. So, that's basically what we're discussing right now.

[00:24:47]So, So, you as a board can discuss and decide if you want to make it, well, basically rescind your past vote and then bring it up to be another vote at the next meeting.

[00:25:04]Um or you have the option not to. So, um really what what Sally was saying is it's up to you as a board to discuss, you know, what is your interest in regards to this, um seeing the petition that was brought forward. While it's non-official and it's not forcing you to take action, you guys can have the conversation to see what you want to do knowing that this has come to you as board members.

[00:25:34]What's your pleasure?

[00:25:45]Can I just say something? I think this is disgusting. You're just sitting there not saying a word.

[00:25:50]Honestly.

[00:25:53]My feeling is and I'll go out on a limb here, um that we should we should bring it back and we should look at it again and have and and possibly go for either a moratorium or an ordinance. But that seems work.

[00:26:07]Just so everybody knows. Does that So I've already done a lot of the work for you. Does that have to go back to the planning board, Shane?

[00:26:16]Yes. It goes If you guys are looking to to make a motion for a vote, that would be up to you to make the motion to bring it back to the planning board, which that would be rescinding your previous vote, um because you're basically voting against the previous decision that you made.

[00:26:36]And you So and they would revisit the whole the whole ordinance.

[00:26:43]Is that what That's how that would work?

[00:26:45]They would revisit it if they gave them They've pretty much done the footwork.

[00:26:50]They have.

[00:26:50]>> Correct. Most of it. There's more And there's definitely more. And there's more of the of the public being involved as well.

[00:26:57]>> wondering, I would recuse myself.

[00:27:00]Um so so she they've done a lot of footwork. We We voted to table it.

[00:27:04]>> to table it.

[00:27:07]Are we allowed to do Are we allowed to do a moratorium at this point or do we have to wait? You have to go through the process for a moratorium. Okay.

[00:27:17]Um but you should first decide whether you want to um go back on your vote to not have the planning board continue their work on it before deciding if there's going to be a moratorium. [clears throat] >> [snorts] >> Done.

[00:27:32]Um I think the process which our signatures were invalid.

[00:27:37]Um I know that there are people that are not happy that live in the park.

[00:27:42]Um but I think the process has to be fulfilled properly for us to rescind our vote and um get this thing moving into a moratorium.

[00:27:54]We voted with the understanding of what the people already spoken and we just a few weeks ago voted to um put this off for the in the future. So, I'm going to stand on that and if she uh if she or the residents there um want this to move forward in the moratorium sense, I think that she should get the signatures or they should get the signatures properly by not only the people that live there, but also the citizens of the community.

[00:28:23]And that's where I stand.

[00:28:29]At the risk of sounding callous on on my part, I'm going to hold with my original vote to not move forward.

[00:28:41]So, we have no motion. Can I just say something?

[00:28:43]>> We can. Yes. Also, so Yeah, we've been working on this in planning board for a while, but we we do know that we're way ahead of the ball on this and way ahead. Like Robin, we've discussed it. We're as far as a town, we're way ahead of it.

[00:28:57]If this goes if we continue it, we would vote on it the next June, not this June, but next June at the town meeting. Is that how that works? As far as the residents voting.

[00:29:07]Is that how that would work?

[00:29:09]There's also an emergency meeting emergency, but a No, that's special coming in the If you do a special town meeting it could possibly be put to the fall meeting, right? I mean, it's obviously too late to do it for the Right. Right.

[00:29:20]Right. Um I don't understand what you mean we're ahead of the game.

[00:29:24]>> We're ahead Well, Mary said that herself. We're we're ahead of the game as far as towns looking at these ordinances. We're we're we're way ahead of big cities in southern Maine. No, we're not anymore.

[00:29:34]>> Okay, you know, I don't want to argue about that, but let's let's I'm just My point is we still have a little bit of time and we might have higher priorities on the table in the next few months. But we need to put it back into planning board's hands though as the vote.

[00:29:47]If for you to continue.

[00:29:52]Just another just another comment on Both these parks are for sale at the moment.

[00:30:01]The person who was going to buy Hidden Acres has backed out because of some past work that didn't get done.

[00:30:08]If and he happened to be a big conglomerate out of New Jersey.

[00:30:13]If we get some of these financial companies that want to come in and invest in whatever, they don't really they just care about getting higher lot rentals from us.

[00:30:28]That's what I'm I personally am concerned about.

[00:30:32]Right now, some of us I don't even know.

[00:30:34]We all have different lot rental amounts that we pay.

[00:30:38]But as in the case of Saco, there's one up 150, I believe it was.

[00:30:43]And that was the second increase for them this year. Or it was actually last year that it happened.

[00:30:50]So, this has been going on for a couple years. And this is not just in Maine.

[00:30:55]This is countrywide.

[00:30:57]And it's specifically targeting mobile home parks.

[00:31:01]Not people who own houses or rent um rental apartments or anything, but mobile home parks. Cuz they see it as easy money. And they see it as these are mostly um Like I said, low-income, um disabled people they know that they don't have any place else to go other than going into assisted living, which we don't have enough of.

[00:31:30]We don't have enough Section 8 as somebody mentioned. So, that really isn't an option, especially there's 35 people 35 trailers in our our our our at the moment, and I think believe Western's had 20.

[00:31:44]So, you're going to see all these people trying to cuz they can't afford it trying to find housing.

[00:31:50]Um did you have something to add? No, I don't have anything.

[00:31:55]I have a question. Yes.

[00:31:57]Could you explain like so for a proper protocol or like when do you have to have um the petitions? Like in her case, what would she have to do or what Can you explain how that works with like what would have been the right way for her to go about it?

[00:32:20]>> I have the key requirements for the petition piece, if you want me to read them. I certainly can. Yeah. Um the petition must be submitted in writing.

[00:32:29]The petition I got to put my glasses on, sorry. Must clearly state the state the article request or action being proposed. Signatures must come be from registered voters of the town of Madison. The petition must contain at least 10% of the number of votes cast in in Madison for governor in the last gubernatorial election. So, 10% of the of the Yeah, for governor, right.

[00:32:55]And the petition must be filed with the town clerk within the statutory deadlines before a town meeting or requested special town meeting. So, those are the criteria. For a petition requesting a special town meeting, once a valid petition is certified, the select board is generally required to call the meeting within the time frame required by state law.

[00:33:15]So, in other words, we would need 200 signatures.

[00:33:19]At least.

[00:33:20]Yeah, pretty close to that. Yeah. And they have to be legal, they have to be registered vote, you know, voters in that that whole thing. So.

[00:33:28]So, who makes the petition? I'm curious who makes the who designs the petition?

[00:33:32]Is there like a template or The petitioner does.

[00:33:36]So, it's not like you have to it has to have special language.

[00:33:41]I feel I mean, I just if they're going to go through the process of doing this again, I would I would want them to be able to have it be accurate this this next time and not have something make it be invalid. I I have a copy of the one that was actually with the signatures um that somebody went around and got them all of us.

[00:34:03]And and I I can share that with whoever wants to do it.

[00:34:07]And with that legal I I don't remember, but with that The wording was clear for a citizen's petition. The only thing that made that particular one was the number of votes. It didn't have the 10%.

[00:34:22]But the biggest thing when it comes to a petition that citizens are bringing forward is to be clear in what they're asking for and having reasons as to why which that page did it was just a signature pardon.

[00:34:40]Okay.

[00:34:43]Anybody have anything else?

[00:34:45]So are we at an impasse as to >> Oh I'm sorry. Lisa.

[00:34:50]I've said this before but I'm going to steal Mike's phrase and say at the risk of sounding callous.

[00:34:58]The last time we spoke about this publicly this room was overflowing with people who were not for this and I've said this before as well. You as a board are elected by the people of the town to represent those people's interests.

[00:35:18]There was overwhelming negativity against bringing this up and going further and apparently you agreed because that's what you voted on last time but just think at the very bottom line if something like this were to to go into effect you're setting a precedent for every other class of renter to come forward and say well what about me? What about my retired home status? What about my apartment status? What about my this kind of rent? If you if we put something like this into effect you're you're setting a precedent for everyone else to come forward with their handout and say where's mine? And I will say that a lot of the folks that were at that meeting were people who owned rental property other than other than mobile home park.

[00:36:13]Yeah. And then also just bringing to light that that was worded incorrectly at that meeting. The word lot was not in that title again. People didn't realize it was the lot rental stabilization not their rent on their trailer. Right. And that's what I think the the landlords were upset about was thinking that we were going to go after them next. And Mary corrected that.

[00:36:36]>> Yeah, it it's that's totally not correct.

[00:36:40]But I understand what you're saying, Lisa. Yeah, but I mean, if you set that precedent, you're you're saying they're going to come forward, want something else from you. Yeah. Well, unfortunately, it's an issue and the and the and the other the whole state is faced with this, too. So you know, I I I sympathize. I really do.

[00:36:59]I just I don't know where we should go with it. In In my estimation, I I would I if I could vote again, I would change it and give it to the give it to the planning board and let them have at it.

[00:37:12]Well, when we become homeless, I'm sorry.

[00:37:16]>> we'll put your tents on your lawns.

[00:37:17][laughter] Right. That's Chris, do you have something? I was just curious and maybe Rob can answer it. Has the Has the tenants in the park approached the park owners currently to see if they can buy their individual lot from the from the sale? None of us can afford it, Chris. And And it was discussed, but none of us can afford it.

[00:37:40]Um we I And I did I personally looked into where some of the towns in some of the towns, I think it was Oakland, they bought their own um they came in together and bought the whole park together as [snorts] as owners.

[00:37:55]That's really not an option for most of us that are in these two parks.

[00:37:59]Um >> put down when they sent us a letter I'm sorry?

[00:38:06]They sent us a letter in the fall saying that if we had Right. And they're going to do about $1.6 million if we had to get together.

[00:38:17]Yeah, the the the The itself is up for sale for 2.something million.

[00:38:23]And even if it were half that, I can't see us How many lots is there in the There is 35 with the ability to expand to I'm going to say 60, but don't quote me on that cuz that whole back road is still undeveloped. Um the problem with that is is Wetlands? No, not ne- not necessarily wetlands, but Tim Ames who owned it prior to was directed by the planning board to do some things with that particular area. I know one of them was paved in the area and whatnot. And the um gentleman or the the company from New Jersey that wanted to buy it figured it was going to cost him him another million just to bring the park up to where it was supposed to be and sort of for lack of a better wording up to date.

[00:39:16]Um so that would have been 3 million plus the other parts he was buying.

[00:39:21]Um so it wasn't suitable for him.

[00:39:23]And I don't see where, you know, we would have to do the same thing as as um owners of our trailers are we'd have to bring it up to in order to buy the lot to him in the park, North Brother.

[00:39:35]Um I would just like to see maybe the board direct the town manager to uh possibly talk to the park owners to see if we can come to an agreement uh a reasonable agreement that maybe these folks can afford. And maybe they if it's not going to sell, maybe they can owner finance it to them or something. They're already paying the lot rent and they can you know, if they can do a half I I I think see if if the if the town manager would uh be interested in working with the the park owner to see if they can do something for our residents.

[00:40:09]That's That's a That's a good idea.

[00:40:10]>> That's a really good idea.

[00:40:12]One thing on that and I agree with Chris. I think that's a great idea. The reason the park is up for sale is one of the owners is retiring and the other one wants nothing to do with it. They don't care at this point.

[00:40:24]Until I sent them a certified letter about a couple of [snorts] things and they're managing to make good on those, but um they really don't care anymore. And it's unfortunate. Um I have spoken with They won't even answer our phone calls. I don't know if any of you guys have called in, but they won't answer our phone calls anymore.

[00:40:42]I had to resort to a registered letter.

[00:40:45]I think it becomes from the town manager. Yeah, I was going to say. It might be This might be a good time to go after them then if they're like not worrying about it anymore and don't care, then maybe they'd be willing to do some sort of a break.

[00:40:57]I mean, it's worth a try. I think it's a great idea. Yeah, that's all.

[00:41:01]I'm more than willing to to speak with them. Um I I believe I've spoken with them in a for something different before. Um so I can at least have that conversation.

[00:41:12]Um Definitely. That's a good idea.

[00:41:16]Thank you, Chris.

[00:41:17]Yeah. Thanks, Chris. Okay. So I guess we're not There's no motion to give it back. This was just a a discussion that it had been received and then you could have made a motion to put it on the next agenda. So that way there was public notice for it. Um but it Creative thinking I think is underway, maybe.

[00:41:42]Cuz that's definitely a good idea.

[00:41:45]So.

[00:41:47]Okay.

[00:41:48]Are you good, Robin?

[00:41:50]So far? I haven't got no choice, do I?

[00:41:52]>> [laughter] >> Not really, but I'm smiling though.

[00:41:55]That's all. You know, I'm just bringing you a concern. Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate I have actually two concerns.

[00:42:00]And I'm sorry I didn't see any of you there yesterday.

[00:42:03]Sorry.

[00:42:04]My two cents, if you could come forward with an official petition, I don't want to get this board into a place where we get unofficial unofficial petitions from various people across town and then have to deal with it. I think if it becomes official, I'd like that better.

[00:42:22]If you can get to that point.

[00:42:25]I can ask the >> I just don't want to be buried with unofficial petitions that we got to deal with when we don't need to.

[00:42:32]I do have handouts in my office, too, um that I could provide for all of the requirements, um depending on what somebody wanted to do for a petition. We said that letter was sufficient, wasn't it? The letter is sufficient. It was just a number. Just the other I don't see why that person can't do that. Okay.

[00:42:52]Okay. Just use the same letter and get the signatures in your hand. Okay.

[00:42:56]Any other citizen concerns this evening?

[00:42:58]Yes. How is the um Is there any work being done towards the organs for the business park?

[00:43:06]So, then any more on that?

[00:43:09]I So, what we had discussed earlier with the public spaces, um that was to cover all town, oh, sorry.

[00:43:18]All town-owned property. Um for individual business owners um or private property, um correct me if I'm wrong, Mike, but it's it if there's any form of trespassing or anything like that that somebody doesn't want on their own property, then they can report that. Um so, the selectboard had decided that we were going to take a look at uh public spaces and things that are not covered by private citizens ownership. So, that's what we had just brought up um at the beginning of the meeting. There are steps being made towards Yes, and a lot of the concerns that had been brought by the public, um en- encampments, um just loitering, um things like that, the selectboard also has had concerns about um and those will be be to the planning board at their next meeting.

[00:44:08]Is it reasonable to say that we'll have an ordinance in 6 months? Can we ask for a commitment that something is going to be done? You know, I recognize that all these different issues are work on your part.

[00:44:25]But, you know, looking at Bangor in the news every day, um we really need to have something before this clinic comes in here.

[00:44:38]And to have something ready to go. And you know, is it reasonable to ask that, you know, we're going to have an ordinance in place the next amount of months? And I don't know. I don't know how you go about that, but Uh so, we were looking um to do a um a special town meeting um for the 15-ft setback to be changed.

[00:45:04]Um And we weren't able to put it on to the regular town meeting. Um so, that was going to be looked at towards the fall because we have an opportunity through KBK um to if we look at some of our other ordinances, um we'll be able to cover the cost of the special town meeting. Okay. Um so, anything else that we have in the works we could work towards putting it together.

[00:45:27]Good. Thank you.

[00:45:30]Okay. Anybody else? I have one thing.

[00:45:33]Probably Jeff, this is probably more towards Jeff. So, we had uh Buck Schoolhouse Road was repaved last year. Yep. And it's supposed to last year, but it's already breaking up. I've already been in contact with the DOT and they are looking into the problems and the situation and they are going back on the contractor. It should be fixed sometime this summer. Okay. All right.

[00:45:56]Beth, what If there's no more citizens concerns, I realized um I missed something on the agenda.

[00:46:01]>> Oh, okay.

[00:46:02]Um so uh Chelsea is actually interested in being on the planning board.

[00:46:09]So, what's Chelsea being appointed Yes, that's it. Okay.

[00:46:11]Um so, I do have an oath prepared >> You do, too. to bring into till June, um the end of June, because that's when um Richard Cormier's vacancy would have ended. Well, with Richard's Cormier's vacancy, his term >> Chelsea's She's filling that one till the end of June.

[00:46:30]I'll make a motion for Chelsea What's her last name? Van Borden. Van Borden.

[00:46:36]>> [laughter] >> to um be on the planning board till the end of June to fill a vacancy.

[00:46:43]Second.

[00:46:44]All in favor?

[00:46:47]So moved. Welcome to the board, Chelsea.

[00:46:52]Okay, is that it?

[00:46:53]Yep.

[00:46:56]>> We already did it up top. Yeah.

[00:47:04]I think it's I think you should.

[00:47:09]>> Yeah?

[00:47:22]I believe so, yes. Yeah. Yeah. I know I invited everybody. Okay. Um so, we can move on to citizen I mean, to select board concerns.

[00:47:30]Mr. Don, Mr. Mike. I have one concern, but I'll talk to Cheyenne about it later. It's both this chair. I feel like I'm >> [laughter] >> Nobody likes that chair.

[00:47:39]You've got the bad chair, too.

[00:47:40]>> I got the bad chair.

[00:47:42]>> [laughter] >> You feel like you need a child's Cheyenne has the problem.

[00:47:47]Is that it? Is it up to me? Well, I think it's your turn.

[00:47:50]That's your turn. I don't have a concern. I would just like to thank Sally and Kathy for your time on the board.

[00:47:57]Since this is your last meeting, I congratulations and job well done and enjoy your time away.

[00:48:05]Thank you.

[00:48:06]Kathy. Um I don't have any concerns, but I would like to say that we did um hire a new town manager and um it'll go into it'll be effective July 1st um and it's Cheyenne Stevens.

[00:48:22]>> [applause] >> SHE'S GETTING HER MINUTE IN KATHY.

[00:48:27]>> [laughter] >> She's going to finish the interim through the rest of that our um fiscal year and then she'll move in completely to the town manager and hopefully we'll have a town clerk and treasurer replaced by then, but we'll see.

[00:48:47]But congratulations to Cheyenne. It's it's official. Thank you.

[00:48:51]What? And yeah, just to echo congratulations and very much very well deserved. Thank you. I appreciate it.

[00:48:58]Um I don't have any concerns. Um I just want to thank all of you for putting up with me for 6 years.

[00:49:05]Um this has been a wicked ride. Um I have enjoyed some of it. I have not enjoyed some of it. Um but I feel as though I've done the best that I could. Um I thank my fellow board members. These guys are awesome to work with. Uh it has been a bit of a challenge the last couple of months, but we seem to be moving in the right direction. Um we have a perfect town manager going forward and um I wish everybody the best of luck on the new board, but I will say to you this is very hard work and I hope that you understand that and that the questions need to be asked. Um you need to support your staff in the office. You need to support your highway department, your fire department. Get to know them. Talk to them. Um don't be a pest, but certainly um don't hesitate to go in and speak to Cheyenne and then the folks in the office. They really like to be recognized and they like their names to be called and and the library I wasn't done yet. Geez. [laughter] And the library Julie and Julie and her and her wonderful staff at the library and the the the walkways are beautiful over there. They look so nice and thank you to the town and and and Chris who's left but yeah, but thank you all for for putting up with me and my tantrums and I really really wish you all the best of luck.

[00:50:30]I see my buddies up here.

[00:50:33]>> [laughter] >> But thank you all. Thank you.

[00:50:36]Okay, moving on. We need a motion to go to executive session, please. I'll make a motion to go into executive session.

[00:50:43]Second. All in favor?

[00:50:45]So moved.