Recap Town Council Workshop Meeting - February 11th ‏ 2014

                       RECAP TOWN COUNCIL WORKSHOP – FEBRUARY 11TH

At last night's Town Council Workshop, there was a presentation by Mr. Ryan Leighton.  Mr. Leighton outlined the responsibilities of the Public Works Department, Solid Waste, Sewer Department, Technology Department and finally the Town Engineer’s office.  This presentation was informative and very well done by Mr. Leighton.

One of the highlights of the presentation was when Mr. Leighton announced that the replacement of the Police Department servers was not charged to the Police Department budget.  Instead, this cost was charged to the Technology Department.  I am sure this was done to reduce the amount taxpayers are forced to pay for the enormous Police Department.  There are several other costs that are not in the Police Department that are solely used by the Police Department.  

How can anyone tell how much it costs the taxpayers to operate any department when all costs are not charged to that department?
Next, the Council had a discussion on which of the three organizations, which had provided presentations, as to what they will do for the town in search of a new Town Manager.  The majority of the councilors chose Eaton Peabody Consulting with Municipal Resources coming second and no one really voicing their support of the Maine Municipal Association (MMA).  There were some unanswered questions pertaining to the total cost by each organization and timelines.  The Interim Town Manager, Mr. Dale Olmstead was asked to contact each organization and seek the missing information prior to Tuesday’s Town council meeting.  The Council will vote on the issue at that time.

Larry Fillmore

[Originally published on 02-12-2014 4:57am]