| Joanne Cole |
All things Fairgrounds were the focus at the Select Board’s March 3 meeting. Topics included a $25,000 grant application for age-friendly Fairgrounds improvements like benches, options for funding and next steps toward construction of permanent bathrooms, and revised terms and fees for users of the Fairgrounds and other town facilities.
The board also had a demo run using hybrid meeting technology that will allow remote participation, finalized an ordinance for a new Board of Assessment Appeals and talked budgets and roles.
Hybrid meeting technology run-through. The board took a trial run with the Town’s hybrid meeting technology, courtesy of New Gloucester’s new cable TV manager Chris Daggett. Daggett used the board’s laptop and Microsoft Teams to demonstrate how to welcome participants from beyond the Meetinghouse walls with just a few clicks.
Daggett walked through a demo meeting step-by-step. Board members who’d used Zoom during Covid days saw familiar elements, like letting remote guests in and unmuting their mics and cameras. They also heard about differences. With Teams, remote users register via an online link and receive an access code, unique to and identifying them. It isn’t sharable, adding a layer of protection against any would-be Zoom-bombers or disruptors, Daggett said.
Once logged in, participants can raise their hand if they want to speak, and the system automatically shows who was first, second and so on, giving the board the option to call on folks in order, Daggett said. No special software is required for remote users. The technology would allow board members to participate remotely, not just the public, he noted.
Monday’s hybrid demo was Daggett’s first appearance at a board meeting as New Gloucester’s station manager. His part-time position is shared with Gray, where he serves as media production coordinator, in addition to his full-time role as IT systems administrator at Gorham High School. Introducing him to the board and community, manager Bill Kerbin said Daggett had “hit the ground running.”
Kerbin and Daggett will revise New Gloucester’s hybrid meeting policy with Teams in mind, as well as address board questions. Those include how to handle the order of in-person and remote speakers, grounds for muting remote speakers and the like.
Turnkey estimate for Fairgrounds bathrooms/storage project; next steps. Parks and Rec Director Sarah Rodriguez updated the board on the price she’d received for the complete turnkey bathrooms/storage project at the Fairgrounds: $239,500, including sitework and electrical. Septic work is already done.
Using capital and ARPA funds on hand and already approved for the project by voters, Rodriguez said the turnkey cost could be covered if voters approve Parks & Rec’s $75,000 FY26 capital request. The obstacle? The board had assumed the project wouldn’t happen this year and was recommending only $50,000 in capital funding. With a firm price at last and ever-escalating costs, would the board please reinstate that last $25,000 and send the full $75,000 request to voters to consider, Rodriguez asked.
Board members acknowledged the project’s costs and offered a variety of perspectives. Member Tammy Donovan wanted the project to go forward, saying all taxpayers would benefit from the facility and that waiting would cost even more. Member Colleen Strickler agreed and called the project “an investment in the town.”
Vice chair Stephen Hathorne and member Peter Bragdon objected to the scale and quality of the proposed structure and facilities and the resulting cost. What started as replacing porta-potties with something basic had become, through three years of board discussion, the attractive four-season facility depicted in an architect’s rendering considered by the Planning Board as well as the Select Board.
Tammy Donovan commented that the goal from the first had been to “build for the future,” rather than do something that would quickly prove inadequate. Colleen Strickler noted the difficulty of getting any contractors to provide quotes at any point in the process.
On the specific question of the capital funds request, Chair Dustin Ward pointed out that the $75,000 was what Parks & Rec had initially requested and was the amount the CIP Committee had reviewed and ranked. If an additional $25,000 is needed to close a funding gap, Hathorne wanted it to come from Parks & Rec’s special revenue account.
The board made no decisions about the $25,000 at the March 3 meeting. Instead, they’ll hear what, if anything, residents say about the Fairgrounds project at the budget public hearing on March 10. The Finance Committee will then offer its own take, and the board in turn will make its decision after that.
The board also looked farther ahead and discussed putting the bathroom project out to public bid with language making the contract contingent on securing funding at town meeting. But that’s later, they concluded; first comes the question of Parks & Rec’s capital request.
Grant application for Fairgrounds improvements approved. The board unanimously approved an application prepared by the Economic and Community Development Committee for a $25,000 no-match AARP Flagship Grant. If funded, the grant would support age-friendly improvements at the Fairgrounds, such as benches around the track, a seasonal dock and shoreside boat rack, ADA picnic tables with a shade canopy and expanded gardens.
ECDC Chair Connie Justice told the board that the application benefited from a joint meeting with the Parks & Rec Committee, including specific suggestions from Parks & Rec Director Sarah Rodriguez, like having benches with arms, a railing for the dock and incorporating other age-thoughtful elements.
Manager Bill Kerbin and Justice will submit the grant request. If it proves successful, volunteers will lead the installation work this summer and fall.
Revised Buildings and/or Recreation Facilities Use Agreement and fees. The board discussed a revised agreement and fee schedule for renting town buildings and recreational facilities. The agreement was prepared by Parks & Rec Director Sarah Rodriguez and sets rental fees (or no fees) depending on the users. ‘In-house’ or Town-sponsored uses are free; local non-profits pay a low fee. Others pay a standard rate or, for larger groups, a commercial rate.
Under the revised terms, users are responsible for cleaning up and carrying out trash. Fines and a security deposit would serve as motivators.
Board members discussed setting higher fees for nonresident users and whether to waive liability insurance requirements for community use of the Pavilion. Other topics were policies for food or beer trucks, pets and more. Rodriguez will undertake further revisions, the result will be run by Legal, and back the agreement will come to the board.
Budget and Finance Committee matters. Budget season has once again raised questions about the role of the Finance Committee. It’s an advisory group—not binding on the Select Board–but its recommendations find their way onto the town meeting warrant as an option for voters.
The budget process begins with the manager’s budget, prepared in consultation with department heads. The manager’s budget is then reviewed and typically reduced by the Select Board. That preliminary budget is sent on to the Finance Committee along with the manager’s figures.
This year, the Finance Committee wanted to add $20,000 for Planning Department compensation, in hopes of enticing applicants for the open Planner position, Peter Bragdon said. Can the committee recommend more for a department than the manager requested or the Select Board proposed?
The town charter is silent on that specific question but says the Finance Committee “shall review the preliminary Annual Budget and, using independent judgment, make separate preliminary recommendations on all expense and revenue accounts.”
Board members split over whether the Finance Committee is constrained by the proposed budget numbers or has a free hand. Given the language in the charter, Colleen Strickler leaned toward the free hand view: “Nothing says they can’t,” she commented. The Finance Committee shouldn’t be able to recommend a $90,000 pick-up, Stephen Hathorne said.
Peter Bragdon said the committee “should have leeway” but cautioned that could become a slippery slope. “Why serve if the only thing you can do is reduce?” asked Tammy Donovan. The committee should have a voice, she said.
In the end, a consensus emerged to consider policy about the Finance Committee’s role once this budget is behind them. For now, Dustin Ward proposed sharing the board’s concerns and asking the Finance Committee to reconsider.
The board also discussed how much money can be used from the town surplus, or Undesignated Fund Balance, in the FY26 budget and still maintain the minimum balance required by the charter. The board has proposed using the UFB to reduce taxes and fund capital items. Exactly how much they can take depends on whether the Town receives a hoped-for $242,000 reimbursement from FEMA and other factors. More to come.
Other items. In other action, the board approved revised ordinance language creating a Board of Assessment Review. The new board would offer a first stop, in-town avenue of appeal for taxpayers contesting their assessments. Currently, such appeals go to a Cumberland County board. Onto the May town meeting warrant the ordinance will go for voters’ consideration.
The board tentatively penciled in May 28 as a tentative date for a joint workshop with the Land Management Planning Committee regarding housing and plans for the Upper Village. Town-owned properties beyond those in the Upper Village might be included in the discussion.
Your new dump truck and loader are in service and on the roads, Public Works Director Ted Shane wanted the community to know. And your roads are posted against heavy loads as we all wait for spring.
Watch the video of the Select Board’s March 3, 2025, meeting at this link. Find contact information for Select Board members and links to meeting agendas, minutes and related documents at this link.
