INFORMATION REGARDING WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

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Town Council Workshop - February 14, 2017

DEP Original Agreement with Lisbon‏

 

DEP Consent Agreement

The Town should publicly disclose the detailed proposal to DEP. The 
public, Conservation Commission, Water Commissioners, ARWC, and 
environmental groups should have had the opportunity to provide input. 
Interested and credible parties with good working relations with DEP 
would have had a real opportunity to enhance the local environment.
 
Other communities around us are getting cash grants from the State of 
Maine for environmental projects. We likely would be awarded a grant if 
the administration was environmentally pro-active and not adversarial 
toward the DEP and local interests.
 
Lisbon has two models for managing our utilities and the results are 
clear. The Water Dept. is overseen by a board, with minutes and open 
public participation. Their public complaints and system operations 
issues are discussed and resolved in the open. The Sewer Dept. does not 
cooperate with the public on any such basis.  The environmental 
contamination by the Lisbon Sewer Dept. is the result of lack of 
visibility and accountability. For instance, there is no disclosure of 
the complaints from the Huston Park area related to the months of sewer 
line back-up or the system failures at the Sabattus River boat launch 
dumping perhaps millions of gallons of raw sewage into the river.
 
This clearly illustrates the need to keep the Water Dept. oversight 
structure. Bringing the Sewer Dept. under the same management would also 
serve the community better than the present system.

Submitted by: Steve Warren 

Just A Taxpayer

I'm sure most of the citizens in lisbon are unaware of just how wasteful this town is. For example public works, at the time when the council made Ryan Leighton public works director Elwood Beals was filling that position.  Mr Beals was director and he had his forman along with the rest of the crew. So what happen to mr beals when they made Mr Leighton the new director? The council decided to make a new position for Mr Beals . Operations manager.  No cut in pay . So now we have a new position making roughly 60,000 plus a year and we gave Mr Leighton 10 more grand on top of his soaring salary to be what Mr Beals was already doing. So Mr Leighton is now your town engineer , public works director, sewer treatment plant director. What's next make him police chief. Don't worry Brooks I'm sure the council will create a new position for you also . Think about this when you open your tax bill in September with the new revaluation numbers.  Like Paul le page said they're sticking it to us without providing any vasiline.

Revised (2) Lisbon Council Agenda‏ July 15, 2014

REVISED AGENDA
TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
TUESDAY, JULY 15, 2014
LISBON TOWN OFFICE
7:00 P.M.

 

1. CALL TO ORDER & PLEDGE TO FLAG
 
2. ROLL CALL
 
___Councilor Bickford ___ Councilor Brunelle 
___ Councilor Garrison ___ Councilor Lunt___Councilor Metivier
 ___ Councilor Pesce ___ Councilor Ward
 
Town Clerk reading of meeting rules

3. GOOD NEWS & RECOGNITION
 
A. Police Department and S.A.D.D. Public Service Announcement (PSA)

4. PUBLIC HEARINGS
 
A. Victualer's License for Laura Pelkey d/b/a The Cabin

5. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION FOR AGENDA ITEMS

6. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION RESPONSE

7. CONSENT AGENDA
 
2014-126 ORDER − A. Victualer's License for Laura Pelkey d/b/a The Cabin
 
B. Minutes of July 1, 2014
 
C. Minutes of July 8, 2014
 
D. Off Premise Catering Permit - Slovak Catholic Assoc for Knights of Columbus Grounds

8. COUNCIL ORDERS, RESOLUTIONS, & ORDINANCES
 
2014-127 RESOLUTION − 2014-2015 Municipal Budget Resolution
 
2014-128 RESOLUTION − 2014-2015 Economic Development Budget Resolution
 
2014-129 ORDER − 2014-2015 Sewer Department Budget
 
2014-130 ORDER − Authorize Contract with Hebert Construction for Public Works Building
 
2014-131 ORDER − Town Office Holidays
 
2014-132 ORDER − Library Holidays
 
2014-133 ORDER − Schedule Council Workshop
 
2014-134 ORDER − Personnel Staffing Study
 
2014-135 ORDER − FOAA Waiver Request
 
2014-136 ORDINANCE − General Assistance Ordinance (First Reading)
 
2014-137 ORDINANCE − General Assistance Appendices (First Reading)
 
2014-137A ORDER − Set Special Council Meeting for July 29, 2014

2014-137B ORDER − Public Hearing for the Qualified Energy Conservation Bond

9. OTHER BUSINESS
 
A. ECD Director's Report on Career Center & Healthy Main Street Grants
 
B. Town Manager's Report

10. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION NEW ITEMS

11. COUNCIL RESPONSE TO NEW ITEMS

12. APPOINTMENTS
 
2014-138 ORDER − Finance Committee Renewal term expiring June 30, 2017

13. COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS

14. EXECUTIVE SESSION

2014-139 ORDER − 1 MRSA § 405 (6)(C) Economic Development Revolving Loan Funds

1 MRSA § 405 (6)(F) Discussion of confidential records

15. ADJOURNMENT
 
2014-140 ORDER − To Adjourn

Outstanding bonds answer from School Information Night‏

There was a question asked at the School Capital improvements information night on Tuesday that asked, and I am paraphrasing here, what are the outstanding bonds that the town currently has out, and when they will be paid in full?  Well, since the finance committee, and the town council who were present could not or would not answer, here is the answer.  This is straight from the most recent audit that has been posted on the town’s website under the finance department.  The last one is from November’s election. 

Type of Bond	Date of issue	Original Amount	Date of Maturity	Interest Rate	Balance
Town Bond	May 2009	$1,310,855	November 2019	2.08-5.58%	$917,600
Town Bond	May 2005	$368,000	November 2020	1.50-3.70%	$226,492
Town Bond	October 2006	$540,000	November 2021	1.8-6.25%	$324,000
Town Bond	October 2011	$270,000	November 2021	0.50-5.50%	$243,000
Sewer Bond	August 2004	$350,000	April 2024	1.93%	$192,500
Town Bond (LCS)	May 2004	$12,899,710	November 2024	4.41%	$7,739,830
Water Dept. Bond	October 2005	$3,000,000	November 2024	2.05%	$1,893,910
Sewer Bond	October 2005	$500,000	October 2025	1.43%	$325,000
Water Dept. Bond	October 2006	$393,000	November 2025	3.0-5.0%	$255,450
School QSCB Bond	July 2010	$350,000	July 2030	5.28%	$280,000
Town Bond	May 2010	$1,070,000	November 2030	2.06-5.56%	$963,000
Water Dept. Bond	October 2010	$970,000	November 2030	2.06-5.56%	$873,000
Water Dept. Bond	November 2013	$650,000	November 2034	3.76%	$650,000

Submitted by: 'False Deluder'

Now this is what The Lisbon Reporter was created for. Where else can you go to have such great community involvement with activities and information in OUR Town?  A BIG Thank You to local citizen False Deluder for researching and bringing forth information for our community!!!

Outstanding bonds answer from School Information Night‏

There was a question asked at the School Capital improvements information night on Tuesday that asked, and I am paraphrasing here, what are the outstanding bonds that the town currently has out, and when they will be paid in full?  Well, since the finance committee, and the town council who were present could not or would not answer, here is the answer.  This is straight from the most recent audit that has been posted on the town’s website under the finance department.  The last one is from November’s election.  

Submitted by: 'False Deluder'

Now this is what The Lisbon Reporter was created for. Where else can you go to have such great community involvement with activities and information in OUR Town?  A BIG Thank You to local citizen False Deluder for researching and bringing for information for our community!!!

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]

Lisbon Town Council Workshop Agenda February 11, 2014

AGENDA
SPECIAL TOWN COUNCIL WORKSHOP
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014
LISBON TOWN OFFICE
7:00 P.M.

1. CALL TO ORDER & PLEDGE TO FLAG
 
2. ROLL CALL
___Councilor Bickford
___ Councilor Brunelle
___ Councilor Garrison
___ Councilor Lunt
___Councilor Metivier
___ Councilor Pesce
___ Councilor Ward

Town Clerk reading of meeting rules

3. DEPARTMENT PRESENTATIONS
• Public Works, Solid Waste, Waste Water Treatment Plant Department Presentations
 
4. EXECUTIVE SEARCH PROPOSAL DISCUSSION
 
5. AUDIENCE RESPONSE
 
6. COUNCIL RESPONSE
 
7. ADJOURNMENT

Lisbon Taxpayers Are Going To Pay Again, So The Question Is How Much More Will You Take Before You Demand Corrective Action?

TOWN FINED BY EPA

I enjoyed your article but I have some real concerns about the manner in which the town is handling this situation.   This reminds me of when I sued the town over information.  A competent Town Attorney and a Town Manager with many years of experience should have known that I was entitled and provided the information instead of taking it to court at a cost of over $10,000 tax dollars in legal fees.

Now the town is faced with a similar situation.  The Enforcement Division of the Bureau of Land and Water Quality forwarded to the town a letter dated February 25, 2013 outlining the violations by the Sewer Department back in 2012 and an appropriate fine of $22,307.00.  There were three violations stated in the letter:

a.        On May 25, 2012 it was discovered that a blockage in the Huston Street cross-country sewer was causing untreated wastewater to overflow from a manhole and discharge to adjacent small brooks that flows to the Androscoggin River.

 

b.      On November 5, 2012 another spill occurred at the Route 196 pump station of approximately 550,000 gallons of untreated waste water that ended in the Sabattus River.

 

c.       The town is in violation of Special Condition H of the wastewater treatment permit because the town does not have an O&M plan (operation and maintenance) that includes a systematic approach for proper operation and maintenance of the collection system.

There is no question that the town was at fault in each of these situations.  So why did the Town not admit they were negligent, pay the fine and move on?  The town would rather try and get out of paying the fine instead of paying the fine and move on.  Tell me again about who has values and who does not.  Remember, if the town does not reach an agreement with the state this will end up in court and cost the taxpayers a ton of tax dollars in legal fees.

All of these situations could have been prevented if the town had a competent Town Engineer and a Chief Administrative Officer (Town Manager) to oversee the Town Engineer.  A basic management tool is the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) or the O&M (operation and maintenance) plan.  If Mr. Leighton was qualified as a manager the first thing he should have down is to prepare an O&M plan.  If the O&M plan was in place the sewer personnel would  known to monitor the alarms and when to clean manholes on a schedule.

The town can continue to negotiate with the state.  It is not going to change the fact that the town was negligent and as a result the town has now suffered two (2) spillages.  The fact is the town has incompetent personnel in managerial positions who will not accept responsibility when they are wrong.  It is so much easier to cover it up and keep unqualified personnel in critical positions. 

This Town Council needs to take direct action to prevent further occurrences of this nature.

Larry Fillmore

LisbonMaine.net: We Should Pay Our Fine and Move On.

On May 25th 2012 when Lisbon employees were cleaning the Huston Street sewer line they observed a high level of wastewater backed up in a manhole. Upon investigation they determined that a blockage in the Houston Street cross-country sewer was causing untreated wastewater to overflow from a manhole on the cross-country sewer line and discharge to an adjacent small brook that flows to the Androscoggin River. This spill was in violation of Maine’s Water Pollution Control laws, 38 M.R.S.A. ss413(1).

Lisbon also is in violation of Special Condition H of the wastewater treatment permit because they don't have an O&M plan (operation and maintenance) that includes a systematic approach for proper operation and maintenance of the collection system.

On Nov. 5, 2012 another spill occurred  at the  route 196 pump station of approximately 550,000 gallons of untreated waste water. This spill ended up in the Sabattus River.  This may have been prevented if the alarms were working properly.


On Feb 25th 2013 the Enforcement section or the Bureau of land and water quality sent an updated proposed agreement to Lisbon’s Manager Eldridge that  contained a penalty payment of $22,307. 

According to the documentation I have seen there is little doubt that both of these spills occurred and they were in clear violation of our waste water license.

As of last week Lisbon hasn’t paid this fine or as far as I know even spoken with the Enforcement Division of the Bureau of Land and Water Quality. 

Ignoring this problem will only make matters worse. If this isn’t taken care of in a timely fashion we will probably end up in court with the State and we all know how much that will cost Lisbon.  Is it really worth spending Thousands of dollars in court costs to try to save a few dollars.

I think we should fix the problems with the wastewater system, pay our fine and call this a learning experience.


Documentation for this article: Click Here

Anyone in Huston Park with information on this sewage spill is invited to share that information with the public. Our email address is   admin@lisbonmaine.net

Respectfully
Joe Hill
lisbonmaine.net

Is Lisbon Following in Chelsea's Steps?

TOWN CONTRACTS

Our Town Council has approved two contracts which are NOT in accordance with the town’s Purchasing Policy.  This is extremely disturbing after reading about Carole Swan and everything that went on in Chelsea.  I hope this is NOT what Lisbon is in for.

During the council meeting on July 2, 2013, the council approved a renewal on the Biosolids Disposal contract with Casella Organics (formerly New England Organics).  The town has maintained a contract with this company since 2008.  This contract is for approximately $80,000 tax dollars and per our Purchasing Policy is required to go out for bid. 

The town engineer and the town manager failed to put this contract out for bid.  According to these two, New England Organics was the only business to submit a bid in 2008.  Five years has passed and a lot has changed and this is why it is important to comply with the Purchasing Policy and put this out for bid.  None of the councilors asked an obvious question, “How are the surrounding towns disposing of their bio-solid waste and what companies are they using?”  

Before the town manager or the town council can claim this renewal is in the “best interest of the town” they should at least make an effort to see how everyone else is handling their waste.  Instead they just approved the renewal, which begs the questions “Why ignore our Purchasing Policy and is someone receiving a kick back?

During the break in the meeting, I explained the obvious problems with renewing the contract without submitting it out for bid.   Two councilors said they would look into it.  On Monday night, I received a phone call from one of these councilors stating the council recognized their mistake and will correct it.  When I brought this out to the council, Chairman LaRochelle stated there was nothing wrong with the renewal and moved on with the meeting.

On the agenda for July 16, 2013 town council meeting, was voting on the “Road Striping” bid.  The council voted to approve the contract to Markings Inc. out of Massachusetts.  I personally contacted the other two businesses the town said they sent the bid to.  Lucas Striping out of Sidney, ME said they never received a copy of the RFP but would like to bid on the contract.  I relayed this to the council but they did not care.  In fact, Councilor Ward stated she wanted to move on with this contract instead of allowing a Maine company to place a bid. 

 Why the hurry?   

I also contacted Sir, Lines-A-Lot, LLC who stated they received a FAX with the RFP.  According to Mr. Eldridge, a letter was forwarded to these companies but we know that is not true because Sir, Lines-A-Lot, LLC received a FAX and did not want to submit a bid.  But the strangest thing about the award of this contract was there was no bid attached from Markings Inc.  How can you approve a contract without a bid being present?  Instead of the tabling this until they received a copy of the bid from Markings Inc, they approved it without an actual bid being present.  This begs the question “Why approve this without a bid being present and why not give a Maine company time to submit a bid?” 

These inconsistencies in the contract/Purchasing Policy mirrors what Chelsea and Carole Swan are going through in court.  Is Lisbon going to be next?

Larry Fillmore 

  

UTILITIES COMMITTEE WORKSHOP – June 3rd

UTILITIES COMMITTEE WORKSHOP – June 3^rd

Last Monday was a historical moment in the town of Lisbon, three members of the Town Council and three Water Commissioners sat down at the table in response to the Maine Legislature’s mandate.  As far as I know, this is the first time these two groups have met to jointly work together on this issue.  

This workshop set the ground work for many many more such meetings by creating a mission statement; establishing a schedule, identifying a need for additional members and outlining goals for the next workshop.  All of these actions are steps in the right direction to keep moving forward.

The Mission Statement is to find the most cost effective way to provide Water and Sewer to the residents of Lisbon.  This is probably not the exact wording the committee came up with but it is as close as I can remember.  There are several options being considered and these are not in any priority:

A.       Place the general operations of the Water Department under the town.

B.      Establish a separate Water District and Sewer District.

C.      Establish a combined Water and Sewer District.

D.      Leave everything as it currently is.

This committee has agreed to meet the first Monday of each month, to start with and will meet at the town office starting at 06:30 PM.  The next meeting is scheduled for July 1, 2013.

The committee recommended adding two or three residents that utilize the town Water and Sewer to the group.  Those residents interested in being a part of the Utilities Committee can go to the town web side, click on Boards and Committees and scroll down to Application for Boards and Committees.  The form must be completed and submitted the application to the town no later than June 13, 2013 for consideration.  In the block call “OTHER” type in “Utilities Committee”.

At the next schedule meeting, the group will be briefed by members of the Water Department and the Sewer Department.  Also the group will be inviting members of other towns to come in and explain how they provide both Water and Sewer to their residents.

The Public is invited to these committee meetings and the last ten minutes of the meeting have been set aside for Audience Participation.  The group is interested in what you have to say.

Larry Fillmore

TAA DAA! Last Night's Town Council Meeting‏

LAST NIGHT’S TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

At last night’s Town Council meeting, the meeting was conducted very professionally by Vice-Chair Ward.  Chairman LaRochelle and the Sun Journal reporter were absent.  The only people in the audience were Ken Wells and Steve Warren who left during Executive Session.  Chief Brooks and, of course the very faithful, Dottie Fitzgerald and myself were also in attendance.  “Danny” was nowhere to be seen unless he/she was in disguise.

The three topics on the agenda were (1) Property Tax Foreclosure; (2) Sewer/Water Department Consolidation and (3) Warrant for June 11, 2013. 

(1)    There are 37 properties owing back taxes for the period Fiscal Year 2003 through Fiscal Year 2011.  If I understood the Finance Director, Jessica Maloy, 23 of these there has been no movement on; 9 of these are on a payment plan and 1 of these owed more in interest and penalties than back taxes.  Even though the council did not vote on the issue, the Finance Director was given permission to pursue Foreclosure proceedings on those without a payment plan.

I cannot understand why anyone on this list could possibly be charged interest and penalties when the Chairman of the Town Council, Fern LaRochelle has not paid interest and penalties on the back taxes owed to the town by LaRochelle Properties, LLC.  It certainly is strange that LaRochelle Properties, LLC was left off this list because the back taxes they owed go further than 2003.  Good Old Boys get special treatment in the town of Lisbon.

(2)     The council voted 6-0 to meet with the Water Commissions to discuss the Sewer/Water Consolidation because the Legislature told the town to work the problem out amongst themselves.

(3)     The council voted 6-0 to approve the warrant for the June 11, 2013 election.

It is very disgusting to go to a town council meeting and see such a small turnout of citizens.  I understand the council does not listen to the people and has restricted the voice of the people but it is important for the council to know citizens care about what they do.

Larry Fillmore