Thomaston Select Board Approves Licenses, Grant Letter, and Committee Appointments

[0:01] Select Board Chair: Welcome to the Thomas Sliquid meeting, Monday, September 28, 2026. We just had a great workshop on the Riverview Park entrance to try to help us out into our fire station property when the fire station gets going. I'd like to call the meeting to order. Our first order of business is public hearings. I have a motion to go into public hearings. So moved. The first. Will, second. All those in favor of public hearing? Just waiting for that last 5-0. A. Review the renewal of patient blocks alone for the consideration of on-premise license to sell beer and wine as a property located at 173 Main Street pursuant to Section 653 of Title 28-A of the Maine Revised Statute. Do you want to ask the Chief your normal question? Yes. [1:07] Speaker B (unidentified): For this particular business, have you had any problems? [1:16] Speaker C (unidentified): No, I haven't. Okay. I just want to keep the license. I'll [1:24] Select Board member: just use that. Yeah, it's just they've been running the Crooked Spoon, is it? Oh, that's what they say. I didn't recognize the name, and that's why I was throwing it off. Well, I thought maybe they're just keeping their license active. But either way, we've never had any interest in them. Does the Crooked Spoon need a liquor license, or can it be under, I'm not sure. It could be Blockspoon, DBA, Crooked Spoon. [1:51] Speaker C (unidentified): It's different now. It is, but there's no other agreement. There, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're doing it that way. [2:00] Select Board member: I just thought it was weird. I was like, oh, they're not in business. [2:07] Select Board Chair: It's just like a health place with someone that you both have [2:10] Select Board member: to have them. Oh, okay. Sorry. [2:15] Select Board Chair: Is there any other discussion? Can we go out of public hearing? So moved. [2:26] Select Board member: I move we approve that and I'll second it all of the favor 5-0 that's what we're gonna go back [2:43] Select Board Chair: I'll second yes all those in favor to go back and hold your fire okay letter B review this qualified catering current special event application of the waterworks restaurant to cater an event at Walt's Hall on October 24 2026 from 6 30 to 10 p.m. pursuant to title 28 a section 107 6 of the main revised statutes there's [3:15] Select Board member: been any issues that the was what's all right it's what funny racing event correct I was there for their event Friday night it was [3:30] Select Board Chair: really great blues yeah it's a fundraising concert benefit it goes music any other discussion I'll entertain a motion to go back out of public hearing so hold that feet well all those in favor 5-0 I'll make a motion to approve the application and I'll second it okay all those in favor and [4:12] Speaker B (unidentified): last but not least [4:14] Select Board Chair: I'll entertain a motion to go back and develop a motion. [4:17] Select Board member: So moved, so seconded. [4:20] Select Board Chair: All those in favor, okay. C pursuant to 22 MRS to review the amendment of the general assistant orders by repealing and replacing appendices 80-8 of the existing ordinance, which shall be in effect in fact from October 1st 2026 through September 30 in 2027. Is there any discussion on this one? What I read it looks like it's kind of a state of main thing they set the maximum every. [5:09] Select Board member: This looks like it maybe went up slightly, but it's still pretty low. I'm. [5:17] Speaker B (unidentified): Sure the slight amount that they went up has already been chewed up by the economy, the fuel oil this winter. Hang on folks, is. [5:34] Select Board Chair: There any more discussion on this? If not, I'll entertain a motion to go back public hearing. Well Pete, all those in favor, 5-0. And then I'll entertain a motion whatever we want to do on, let us see, will prove it, prove it, second, all those in favor, 5-0. We're out of public Darren open in public comment. I. [6:07] Select Board member: Have something just to mention that the Thomas the Community Development Corporation now owns the grocery store and to and have applied for a northern borders grant for improvements. This committee, this board approved and wrote a letter of recommendation, a letter of support for us to make the initial application. And we've now been approved as eligible to make the formal application and would appreciate, as we are speaking on behalf of John Eaton, who sent me the letter, would the corporation would very much appreciate a letter of support for us to go ahead and apply for a northern borders grant for improvements to the store. That's. All it's from a meeting I was out with. [7:23] Select Board Chair: Daryl today freedom of things that's going on at the Watts Hall. This one is the sound of hope piano and flute Saturday October 3rd at 2 p.m. It's free will donations greatly accepted. It's flutist Robert Carr who has performed under the baton of such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein will be joined by Matt Manister at the piano in a program which the flute becomes a voice, and that one's October 3rd happening. And then there's another one, another event Saturday October 10th. This is a dot Jameson and Lucy Mayo Memorial and it is a bean supper potluck casseroles and sweets to benefit Thomaston inter-church fellowship food pantry. Entertainment by yukes Roth. It's ten dollars a person of five dollars for children under 13. And these are all, remember, at the Waltz Hall. This is the third one. Join us at the Waltz Hall for our monthly brown bag lunch, October 14th at 20 26 at 12 p.m. Disney and musicals and jazz with Sean Fleming and Joel Morris. And now when you bring a bag lunch, a free presentation along with sweets and drinks will be provided. And that was October 14th in 2026. But I told Carol that I would get those out to the public tonight for them. [9:01] Select Board member: Is there anyone else that has any public problem here? Sarah, I just wanted to let everyone know that we just found out today that the police department was granted or approved for twenty thousand seven hundred and fifteen dollar grant from the Main Bureau Highway Safety. So that's going to cover special details, so four hour walk details, that pays for the officers. So it's no cost to the town for the clicker ticket, so seatbelt campaign, speed enforcement, OUI enforcement, and a checkpoint at some point between now and the end of the year. Thank you Angela. So now she put the whole grant together. She sent it, and so that's a, it's huge for our own place for the town, just to be able to not, you know, for that to be funded for us, so we don't have to, we can have that extra patrols about it. So that's it. That's a big chunk of change, so excited about that. I just want to let everybody know, be on the lookout for those extra patrols. Thank you. Well, the approved part-time position in July isn't still filled yet, but we've had some interviews, and I'm just, I'm being a little, I want to get the right person who's qualified. We're still looking. Still looking for that, but full-time spots have been filled for over six months now. No. Did you do it? Yeah, sure. You and me. Absolutely. I can't do that. No, we've been fully staffed for over six months, and it's been, things are great. So I just wanted to kind of throw that out there as a kudos to Angela for putting that together. And there's full coverage, right? What's that? Currently full coverage. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Two officers, unless there's somebody out on leave or whatever. There's two officers plus myself during the week here 24-7. Except for Sunday, I'm sorry. Sundays are still one person. Every other day is two. There's a person. Oh, yeah, of course. There was a point in our... There's never not somebody working. I can assure you of that. [11:18] Speaker C (unidentified): I did not get a grant yet, but I do have the fall festival still promoting for October 24th. It's a Saturday. There are a few other community events that day, so I am really upping the amount that I'm talking about it and getting it out. I'll be carving out some time to fly her around town in the next week, but that includes an Elvis performance starting at 11 a.m. that day. There is a crack fair. Really, everything kind of starts at 11. Bounce houses start at 11. The softball tournament will start earlier in the day. That is a Halloween theme, so whether you're playing or just want to watch, there's a bunch of adults dressed in full costumes, and then food trucks. As of right now, we have Jenny's, which is comfort food, mac and cheese, hamburgers, hot dogs, smoked barbecue, the chicken wings for Fourth of July, raucous donuts, and we have an ice cream truck that they just bailed because apparently people don't want ice cream in October. But looking at maybe a couple, if not one other food truck vendor there, and then Cemetery King is being offered, selling for $25, a supply kit, which will get you all the necessary supplies and chemicals that are safe for the stones, and the Cemetery Committee is working on the history of the stones. That will actually come as a full experience to those that choose to participate in it, and I have sold two with the promise of two more. So out of the available 20, I've advertised it now for about a week. So very drastic as well. [13:14] Select Board Chair: Good progress. Thank you. Is there any other open and public comments? [13:21] Speaker C (unidentified): Trumpet Street? No. Trumpet Street is October 30th. It is a Friday. It's at 4.30. It's out here, and I think we're up to at least five vehicles right now and counting, so I think we'll hit the goal of ten no problem, and I will start shopping for [13:47] Speaker B (unidentified): candy in the very near future. Yes, returning from looking at a tree problem this morning, I was going north on Green Street, and there was a car parked on the other side, and there was a car coming at me. So I just got over, and I figured we could both pass each other. And all of a sudden, I thought I was being shot. Why? The fiberglass rods, they're right on the edge of the pavement. My rear view mirror was kicking them out, so they came back and slapped. Did I put them there? What? Did I put them there? No! This was this morning, coming back from looking at a tree. I pulled over and all of All of a sudden, noise-wise, and I knew it was on this side because I was ducking, I thought I was being shot. And what it is, there are a row of fiberglass rods right on the edge of the pavement. And it was startling more than anything because it was raining. You know my kids were on so I yeah and I'm just wondering my hands to stop people parking there was that right but if everybody in town started to do that would we have a problem Pete Brandon has talked to that homeowner and address it okay well it was quite exciting is all I can tell you [15:41] Select Board Chair: Justice, you owe me now, as one of the. [15:43] Speaker C (unidentified): Yes, and Jessica, the captain, signed up as well, the local photographer on the right side of the academy. So I might actually be up to six. The library? I'm going to count in the library. I didn't want to count you specifically, because I'd like you to bear with the boys. [16:02] Select Board member: We should be able to call us the fire department. [16:04] Speaker C (unidentified): I think the fire department's all set up. [16:06] Select Board member: I'll have the car there. Out of curiosity, why Friday and not Saturday? [16:12] Speaker C (unidentified): I don't know. It's always been a weekday after they get out of school, so I just kind of jumped on that continuation of what's worked. [16:18] Select Board Chair: All public retreats are not on the... [16:21] Speaker C (unidentified): Yeah, I'm actually closest to Halloween when you look at all the other local ones around. The Inspiring Beginnings Child Care is actually doing their trunk retreat the day of the fall festival. So that's where the fire department will be with a touch-a-truck event on that day. Cool. Yeah. I think that's it for now. [16:44] Select Board Chair: Is there any other open public comments? Okay. Moving on, approve the minutes of April 13th, which is myself, Pete, Alan, and Will. Do we either have anybody that has any corrections on them or a motion to approve? [17:07] Select Board member: Motion to approve. Seconded. [17:11] Select Board Chair: Town first, Pete second. All those, all those that can, four. I want to say, yep. I have a motion to approve the warrants. So moved. All those in favor? I've been saying yes, I have. We do have an adjustment to the agenda. Authorize the town manager to sign an engagement letter with attorney Benjamin McCall of Drummond Witness to assist the town in repairing and adopting ordinance amendments required by recent changes to Maine State Housing Law for legal fees to be paid through a $10,000 grant from the Maine Office of Community Affairs. [18:09] Select Board member: Courtney forwarded this to me last week, and the planning board is recommending going with this attorney for the updates, and they have started actually, tonight they had a workshop at 5 when we were meeting up here for the Riverview Park. So they're going to be meeting twice a week now through January, probably, with their land use updates. Are they going to work with the attorney, or is he going to do something separate? No, they're going to work with them specifically on the housing laws. There's so many. Yeah,. Move to approve. [18:47] Select Board Chair: I will second. I'll second. We'll second. Any other discussions? All those in favor? Count boards and committees update. We have either Alan or Cindy that would love to give us an update on the transfer station. [19:11] Select Board member: So I guess we'll just take turns. [19:15] Speaker B (unidentified): Do you want to kick it off? Sure. [19:18] Select Board member: So let's see. We started with the annual meeting of the board and re-election of the chair, co-chair, secretary, and treasurer, which were all re-elected. They are working on an interlock agreement between the towns. and so Bruce the chair is going to coordinate a workshop in order to get the three towns together to finish that draft and get it moving get it approved to get I have that we talked about snow removal actually I'll have you talk about that on because you did the flyer for that sure we're going to put asked for bids for snow ploughing for this season at the transfer station. And actually, I did put an ad together, which is now out on Thomaston Talks and various other social media sites. I've been speaking to the local paper, but I'm sort of waiting for them to quote, So it looks like it will be overly expensive to use the newspaper in any sizeable kind of ad. And also they can't get it in until the 8th of the month. And we want bids in by the 15th, so it will only be for a week. So I'm hopeful that we will achieve, get sufficient interest from the social media stuff we put out. Are they members of MMA? Because they can post bids on their website for free too. Yeah, we can do that. And I'll also give it to the office. You can go on the town website and that kind of thing. So I'm hopeful. I think that's all we need to say about that at the moment. and we had one employee that we were examining who's been part-time at the transfer station for over a year, I think well over a year, and working pretty much the same hours as everybody else. We were recommending that he be promoted to a full-time employee and that was voted on and approved. approved. We wanted to broach some of the issues, questions around the current financial situation there and so on, and how it's looking going forward. There was general good will about trying to make that work, but the bookkeeper was not able to attend due to health issues unfortunately, and the treasurer wasn't present either at that meeting, so but I have said that we, Cindy or I, will want to speak with the treasurer separately and just go through things, and that's been agreed to, so that will be our next step there. We're struggling to find an auditor, but want to find an auditor, and we were recommending that perhaps we could use the auditor that Thomaston uses, and they were agreeable to that, and I was wondering if Cara, if we used you as a go-between, that might curry some favour with the auditors, yeah, the introduces, and I think that's about it. Did they mention anything about who [23:13] Speaker B (unidentified): who is plowing now and why they aren't continuing, yeah, did you make out, no [23:20] Select Board member: actually I think it was, it was, it was that previous Jimmy Kellogg had done it yeah, and then this last winter they were for some reason without a plow person in the snow, and so they just hired I think the person that plows for one of the board members, and they signed a contract with him for the, for one year right, season, right, or season, yeah, well I think I seem to remember that whoever it was wasn't available for this year, right, or, and that we agreed to put it out to bid soon, which is the right thing to do, right, yeah, we did approve for the purchase of the four foot forks for the tractor at the transfer station. I guess they've been using the bucket to move heavy equipment, so refrigerators and things like that are, you know, somebody has to tip the bucket, refrigerator has to come in, they have to, you know, it's not, it's not great, so they approved for purchase, we approved for purchase of four-foot forks for the tractor, which should run somewhere between eight hundred to a thousand dollars is what they suspect, and there was money in the budget for that 's about it with the employee the part-time employee that's full that's spend full time, I think that 's why they're already at 40% of their budget, 23% of the way into the year. It's because that was a temporary position that was created for sticker time. And he's just been getting 32 hours every week. Yeah, I think I was under the understanding that he was hired as more like a per diem type position, and that he saw a need to be at the transfer station more, and so he filled that need, but I'm not sure that it was requested of him to fill that need So I think now the position will be more defined for him, so that he'll know exactly what hours, so that it can be budgeted appropriately. It was general agreement that he's needed and that he's a great employee. Thank [26:00] Select Board Chair: you for taking sure these positions and in the interim, yeah, in the [26:06] Select Board member: interim, oh, I'll also mention they need people on the bulk waste committee. They're looking, they need to people from Thomaston to be on the bulk waste committee, so if anybody has a desire to do, we have a bulk waste committee which I think is a fun job, sure, as mattresses, wait a minute, I didn't know they're taking mattresses. No, that they're looking into trying to do a bulk [26:46] Select Board Chair: waste facility, so part of the that committee would be trying to figure out how that might happen, so that's what they want, I believe that's true, yeah. [26:57] Select Board member: three times together on one bulk waste at one stand up I'd like to see if was it 's Jeff point graves that's the treasurer yes I wouldn't mind him coming here and answering the questions about the budget. I don't think that would be a good idea, and I think that we can ask him if he'd be willing to do that, yeah. [27:19] Select Board Chair: Yeah, I mean, I think we also started out and sending me right, and they [27:23] Select Board member: might get all the answers that we need. Is he the tracker? Yes, and also maybe they have answers to our questions that we've previously asked and gotten no answer for. Well, I was wait until we've been there for a while, yeah, I got stuff, I don't bring anybody on trial, thank you guys. [27:50] Select Board Chair: How many old business, new business, but a 2027 tax commitment update from [28:11] Select Board member: Yeah, so commitment happened on Wednesday, September 16th. I was away last week at the Maine Association of Assessing Officers Conference in Sunday River. So this is the first meeting since then. All the text information is now online. It's on the assessor's website as well as the tax collector's website. The bills are being sent out. There's a third party that's mailing them. But the PDF version is available on the website. You open it up. It's all the bills under one thing, a little Control-F bind. If you don't want to wait for the mail, that's where they'll be. Abatements are due if you don't agree with your value of your property or your taxes, and you want to request an abatement, that I can walk you through the process. Feel free to email me, call me, send me an email, or stop by the office. We can set up a time to discuss it. But legally, they have to be in 185 days after commitment, which is Monday, March 23rd, 2027. And that's, again, on the website. It's posted in the hallways. We'll know a very important date after that time. It's kind of too bad. You only have a brief window, well, brief, fairly long window. So the budget went up across the board for Knox County, the school, and Thomaston. There was new added value. However, it's not, even though commitment happens in September, it feels like there should be a lot more added value. But since everything is taxed as it sits April 1st, there's a lot of value that is there now that will next year's commitment but that's not quite there, so our budgets went up and our total valuation actually dropped this year. It went down a little bit even with the added value. We had a 73 percent ratio, which is not ideal and not good. So that means a reduced homestead exemption for folks, a reduced blind and veterans exemption assumption, all personal property doesn't get valued at 100% of value. It actually gets taxed and billed at 73% of the value. So that is a huge drop. That's the main reason why our valuation went down. We also had a couple high value properties go into non-exempt status. So they were removed from the tax roll. So with that shift, the mill rate this year is going to be $25.75. It was going to be the lowest that I could possibly get. It was above $26, but with our TIF and the driving TIF coming to an end pretty close, I worked with the top manager and finance director. We had a couple of meetings, and we were able to shelter less of the monies going into TIF. Usually 90% of the value goes into the tax generated go into a tip account or a bunch of course or a sinking fund account, and then 10% goes into the general fund. We shifted it this year so that 25% went into the general fund. So that's how we dropped the mill rate, dropped from 26 down to 25 75. So a couple main things that I'm sure everybody will ask about it, you'll see in your tax bills, with a 73% ratio, that means that folks get 73% of the total homestead value exemption amount. So that's going to be $18,250. And then for veterans, instead of the full $6,000 in exemption, they'll get $4,380. And then for the blind, it's reduced to $29,020. So it's not that people are receiving less of an exemption. It's that the houses, your properties, your residence, your land, are being valued less than. So our values are only at 73%, so you can only receive 73% of the exemption. So it's not that you're losing money, it's just kind of Peter to Paul in a way. I'm trying to think if there's anything else. Else. Kara is going to talk about the budget a little bit if anybody has any questions. The biggest factor of that $3.50 increase in the mill rate is our ratio being lowered. It was at 77% last year, 73% this year. The big reason is the increase in budgets. Knox County from last year to this year went up 12%. And this is not total Knox County. This is Thomaston's portion, so our appropriations, how much Thomaston owes towards Knox County went up 12%. The school went up 12%, and the town went up 10%. So when you have all three budgets going up significantly, even though the amount of money that went into the TIF was reduced significantly. It was a 19% decrease over last year. It still just really put tax dollars higher. Lindsay, is there any dollar amount estimated for the median taxpayer? No, it really depends on so many different factors. I mean, Assessor's favorite phrase is, it depends. I mean it really does depend on I mean you could say an average but there's just whether there's exemptions or not exemptions or people could be widely why it really different that's where it especially in mass appraisal I really focus on the valuation and high end but there's not really kind of an average I mean the best thing to do is if you're curious you can just look through the tax bills online, and you can see people's land value, building value. The exemptions aren't broken down individually. It's a lump sum of exemptions, but I mean, you can see based on the amount if it's a homestead or whatnot. Hopefully next year we'll have some more added value to help drop the mill rate some. It's all dependent on whether or not a TIF gets approved or it goes into a TIF, so that will shake things up a lot. Also, the revaluation is now we have kind of a set date where it should be done and go live as of 4-1-2028. So the 28-29 tax year is when the revaluation is scheduled to be completed. Do you have a question, Pete? Yes. [35:28] Speaker B (unidentified): I'm thinking about the people who were not watching us because they don't have whatever it's called in this wonderful world. How can we get number one, how can we get that information to them? What information? All the information you just gave us. They can call me, they can come by the [35:49] Select Board member: office, they can make an appointment, any of those things. I'm happy to sit down. [35:54] Speaker B (unidentified): there are some people in Thomaston who don't do what you just said it can what Once you just said be put on black and white and be available to be sent to their home via the United States Post Office. [36:11] Select Board member: So, Pete, to answer your question, the newsletter that just went out, Lindsay put in some information about where we're at. And we also put this together that we're going to have in the newsletter, on our website, and at the front counter for the staff to hand out. And it goes to where do my tax dollars go, broken down on a pie chart. How is the mill rate broken down by school, county, town, where, what are the services you're paying for? We tried 80 year old, no, we're trying our best, we're trying our best to get the information out there. But I do know Lindsay did an outstanding job the last year and the year before and explaining to people like when they come in and having that sit down conversation. Yes, I agree with that. And I'll continue to do it. Anytime anybody has confused, you know, educating people, taxes are, you know, we all have them. Anyone who owns a house, property taxes are such a huge part of the government and just of life in general. And knowing people who are on a fixed income who are older and what can they do, come in, have a conversation. The second half of the newsletter that was sent out is a list of available options with Maine Revenue Service for folks who are having a hard time. I am preparing to do another educational form or letter of some sort that will go out with more information directed on the breakdown of the taxes. But I kind of want to wait and see what kind of questions I get and what comes in first before I respond. I think it will be better use of my time because it's very limited. But, yeah, I'm available. You all know that. I've been around long enough that hopefully everyone knows my door's open. [38:10] Speaker B (unidentified): I don't know how – has anybody had oil delivered yet? Yeah, it's expensive. Right. Right, and I'm just scared of older people who have just oil-fired whatever. [38:26] Select Board member: There are a lot of options, a lot of opportunities, with property tax being a burden on top of things like inflation and raising oil prices and just being able to afford living. There is a position at Maine Revenue Service as a tax liaison on that has been expanded to help with situations and bring forth more information through outside governmental agencies maybe AARP or different organizations that can help offset taxes that I'm going to reach out after our meeting and find out you know some of that because I just don't know but I have no problem being an avenue of passing along information because people come to us. They come to the town looking for help, looking for programs. So I can't advocate for them because I don't know them personally, but that doesn't mean I can't give people the information. I can't give them the links. I was thinking that maybe you could speak if you had time at one of the senior luncheons. Oh sure, yeah. That's a great idea. You get a good amount of people come to those, right? Yeah, that's not a problem at all. I could come. I mean, we could even do something at the library if you wanted to just come and just invite when they have their community for all the seniors yeah I think that's what that's what he's trying to say get that word out there when people have a lot of questions rather if you have to see all the single people you know if we can get everybody in a group yeah it might be easier that newsletter goes out with the property tax demands or not I will say everyone that attends the [40:02] Speaker C (unidentified): senior luncheon does leave with the newsletter yeah we leave a bunch at the [40:07] Select Board member: the library, at Thompson Grocery, at Knox Hotel, like around town. Did we send a summary of any kind, press release, to the paper? We didn't do a press release. I did get asked for the certificate of assessment, which is kind of the blanket all-number from assessing for year over year from one of the reporters at the paper, and I sent him the information. So I know that they're working on putting something together, not just for Thomason, but for, you know, the area, the general area of how much of an increase it's come from a couple different places. I'm also going to be away for two weeks in October. I'm headed to Calgary for a conference. But I am planning on, again, putting something else together, a worksheet. I want to make sure there's as much paper, as much information as possible for people, and I will be very clear of, like, hey, I'm not here, but leave me a message. Do something when I get back. We can meet. We can go through stuff. And I've been working with Sally in the front office and just keeping her apprised of everything and giving her all the information because, you know, they're the front lines. Be nice. Don't shoot the messenger. Does anybody else have any questions? [41:25] Select Board Chair: No, thank you, Lindsay. Thank you for doing what you do. [41:33] Speaker B (unidentified): It's incredible because we see buildings go up, but they don't get on the tax rolls for another year. [41:40] Select Board member: It depends on explanations, but I'm happy to explain and work with people. [41:51] Select Board Chair: I'm a new business. I'm the center of the appointment of Phillip Pataco. To the budget committee I assume you might be Phillip back there would you like to come up [42:04] Select Board member: And just talk a little bit about yourself please my name is Philip I go by my middle name [42:19] Michael: usually michael so if any of you know me by that 's that's a confusion i've lived in I've been in Thomaston now for seven years, Maine for eight. Moved up here eight years ago, took a job in the Department of Corrections, worked at Maine State Prison as a social studies teacher. I've actually had to carry my civics class that I've taught since kind of the beginning of my tenure there. I have a degree in social studies education. I've worked as a social studies teacher for about 12 years now, if I count everything all together. Currently I'm in the education department at Polar Correctional Facility. I still teach at the prison, just not in the same capacity. Growing up in Connecticut, my father was involved in a lot of politics, a lot of government. He used to drag me along to help service election machines, things like that. Run up to the election. It's probably why I teach what I teach and I'm interested in the types of things I'm interested in. I'm the guy in the policy meetings at work that actually wants to go over the policy and enjoy it versus just being there. That being said, it's been seven years in this town of not being involved in the same capacity I was in a town I grew up in. It's something that was hammered into my head from a young age. I was appointed to finish my father's term as constable in the town of Greenwich after he passed, and then I was elected into that position following the end of that term, which I actually abdicated when we moved up here. Of all the excitement of moving up here, it was probably one of the biggest drawbacks because for somebody like myself, raised the way I was, being able to see my name on a ballot, being involved in town politics, town government to that degree was something that I personally enjoyed. It was a high point in my career, And there was a similar position in Maine in general, even in the town of Tomlinson. I probably would have pursued it at this point. Kathy asked me to get involved for years. But so far, the closest I've come is helping cook at the Fourth of July, and how about another capacity is that way. Long and short of this, I've made my home here, raising the children here. I'm trying to instill the same type of values that I was raised with in being involved in my town. The high point, low point in a town like Thompson, it's small, it's very intimate, everybody knows everybody, but at the same time it means that the money that we have has to go a lot further. So I'm interested in the position in and of itself, but I'm also interested in playing a role in helping shape how Thompson grows in future endeavors, even if it's in that limited capacity, but it's also never a bad place to start. I've been in this position before where I've asked to say my business as to why I need to work in this position, so I'm happy to answer questions. I feel that I'm qualified. I feel that I'm interested enough to contribute positively to it, and hopefully I'll get the approval, and you'll see what I see. But that's what I'm trying to wrangle into this. [45:20] Select Board member: So if you have any questions, [45:21] Michael: anything I wrote on the form that I filled out, or anything in general, please, by all means, open book. I'm happy to answer any questions [45:28] Select Board member: well thanks for stepping on and how are you I came here from Wilton, Connecticut not too far from here and I had here one question do you think you can handle the bulk waste committee as well? [45:59] Michael: I really was happy to go along with my dad when I was younger, mostly because it was just my dad dragging me along to do things, but it instilled a certain passion in me that from the first year that I started in prison, being asked to help organize the voter registration and the ballot request drives that they do every year, it's grown. I've worked in the Secretary of State's office, we just had it last week, so I helped confirm addresses on the part of the DOC for that purpose. I'm happy to be involved in any single way. It kind of comes out to me in the sense that something needs to be done. Usually I will raise my hand for it, and one of the things I said about my father after he passed is if you were in a room where somebody needed somebody to volunteer, nobody would raise their hand if you were that kind of person, and I've tried to pass along myself. I also have two young boys, one who was born here, one who we brought here with us, and you know, my personal goal as a father is to instill that same sense of civic responsibility in them as what was instilled in me at a young age, so if it ever came to helping out communities and offering my two sons on that, I'm more than happy to. I'd like to get my feet wet here and then see where we go from there. Thanks so much. I'm always happy to help out where... [47:16] Select Board Chair: Thank you, Michael. Can we vote him into one committee first? [47:22] Select Board member: I'll come back in a few weeks or another. [47:25] Select Board Chair: Will make a motion. [47:26] Select Board member: To approve your application. To approve. [47:28] Select Board Chair: Pete, second it. You have any more comments or do we go to vote? Okay, all those in favor? Five-0. Welcome, thank you. [47:37] Select Board member: Welcome,. I think we can do it. Would you do it the same way? I'm not creating this thing. Well, we go from [47:54] Select Board Chair: putting somebody on the budget committee to accept with regret the resignation of Ron Gammon from the budget committee. So, [48:02] Speaker B (unidentified): just in time. Accept with regret. [48:07] Select Board Chair: Pete. Both of you accept with regret? Yes. Who's second? [48:11] Select Board member: second all those in favor I love these that two members of the old budget committee three to everyone hadn't been on the very long it's using Oh Susan yes right yeah Susan Patricia I've been Visiting the Women Leading Government group. We're launching a new website and planning trainings, and I'm still mentoring a woman. We had a transportation meeting with their attorney, which he gave us an update tonight, so I'm not going to go into that. Thomaston Harbor Committee, I went to their meeting. They're discussing the grant that we received for replacing the working harbor floats, and they're going to be getting some updated quotes with the hope of having those in place for the spring. So we'll call out the old ones and they were discussing what to do with the old ones. We're hoping somebody maybe out there wants them for free and we'll haul them off. They're 25 plus years old, but they might be useful to someone. Lindsay and I met with Ann Matlack and Rhiannon Hanson. Ann actually reached out to me, she was instrumental in implementing the dark store theory law with the state, and so she wanted to meet with Lindsay and I and talk about how it affects us at a local level, and are there holes in the law, are there other things that they could pursue at the state level that would really advocate for the municipalities, because I think that a lot of communities that have these big-box stores are affected, impacted by them. I know we are, even that dark store theory walk is a blessing, it's helped a lot of towns, but we're still fighting big-box stores with their appeals and they have deeper pockets, so it's, if there's ways they can advocate for us at the state level, we're open to it. Jodell and I met with Leticia Van Buren from Knox County. She is their GIS manager and she's developed story maps for the town of Union, the town of Rockport, and Knox County. And she's going to build us one for Thomaston for our budget. And we hope to have it launched in early April, so a couple months before our town meeting. I love to, I can't remember if I shared the links with all of you or not. [51:17] Michael: I did. Yes. Okay. [51:19] Select Board member: So really. From other towns. Yes. Right. So we really could build anything that we want out of it. I think it would be a great way to share as a resource for people. She's also meeting with the cemetery trustees to do mapping for the cemetery, and it's, she's not charging us, it's coming as a service from Knox County, so I thought that was great. We've had two meetings with fire DMS building 51, Port City has engaged a consultant Ian Hauser to assist with the federal funding requirements, and then we had one with the architects to go over the building design. We'll be meeting every two weeks going now until this project is finished. For anyone that's out there, I just wanted to thank everybody that helps with the new resident night, all of our departments, all the staff, they really did a great job this year with the setup and the tables. I know we didn't have as big of a turnout, but we might not have had as many new residents either from the previous year, but I thought it was well done. I feel like there were more tables and more, there was more information for sure. And you had the funnest one. [52:50] Select Board Chair: Everyone wanted fun. Yeah. [52:53] Select Board member: Yeah, I've been talking to Gallagher, she's a resident on 18 March Road, there's been issues with her sewer line, so the environmental department over there, lastly there's a line break near the road connection, which is bad news for us but good news for her. She thought she was going to have to replace the whole water line and had gotten quotes like $18,000. Yeah, so both public works and Ted will work together to get it repaired, but it will be a much less cost where it's just a line break I think there's a way they can fix it without replacing the whole line. We had a GA appointment for rental assistance, we just had the kickoff meeting this morning for the police union, and I met with Lindsay about the tax commitment, and then we also had a discovery meeting today with Time Clock Plus about the online timekeeping system that we're looking to implement for the employees. And I didn't put it on here, but also we scheduled a workshop for October 21st at 6 o'clock with the Select Board and the Economic Community Development Committee about the East End TIF. I think that's all. Next week our office is closed on the 7th and 8th for the MMA convention in Augusta. [Select Board Chair: When was the] committee meeting? October 21st. Wednesday night and [54:51] Speaker B (unidentified): the town office is closed on October 7th and 8th I think [54:55] Select Board member: it's a Wednesday and a Thursday, yes, yeah, and I think you and Kim are going, yeah. Kim, do we need a vote about this letter of support for the focus, or is that just something, if you wanted, I think, I don't want, I just Whatever, yeah, you guys supported the first layer. Can I make a motion that we do support the second letter? Okay, just to get it, that, yeah, I'll second. All right, here, I better abstain from that letter of support. All those in [55:39] Select Board Chair: favor, yeah. Closing public comment, I just want to say that I just want to say that Kathy and I, you'll see us a lot together on the next month, people work in struggling and getting the loose ends together so we can get everything tied up. We're done getting some merchandise with China 50th. We had a great meeting this morning with some crew from the Watts Hall to get stuff together and Jessica for that, so, and we kind of got our matching orders this morning from that, and we've got some more that we've got going on, so we're getting closer, but then we're going to need everybody once that's done. So we've got, obviously, Joe on board getting pictures and getting stuff together for us to get it out there and get it, hopefully, as fun as Justice makes her table at the new residence. But Justice helped too, Joe, on some of the stuff also. Jess, did you have something else? [57:08] Speaker C (unidentified): No, that was really just for Alan. I have a couple of landscape companies. I didn't see your post on Thomaston Talks, so I would like to see it. It's approved and I sent it to both of them, and they said that they were happy to put in bids. It's both WJR and Fenner's Landscaping with a new shop down here. Speak highly about both of them. Both helped. One sponsors a team for my soccer, but also anything that's come up with an oopsie at the field. I don't know how to start my mower type of thing, yeah, great guys, great companies, great work, so [57:40] Select Board member: thanks, appreciate it, if there [57:44] Select Board Chair: is nothing else, I would entertain a motion to adjourn. Have a second, Alan, all of them favorite, excellent.