LISBON TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING

Council Meeting-Special

Minutes

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SUBMITTED BY:  TOWN OF LISBON

LISBON CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS

Charter Communications Notification - Effective March 29, 2018

Please see attached letter.

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SUBMITTED BY:  TOWN OF LISBON

TOWN COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP

Council Meeting-Workshop

Budget Workshop

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SUBMITTED BY:  TOWN OF LISBON

TOWN COUNCIL MINUTES

Council Meeting

Minutes

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SUBMITTED BY:  TOWN OF LISBON

LISBON PUBLIC HEARING

Public Hearing Notice - New Victualers

Notice is hereby given that the Lisbon Town Council intends to hold a public hearing on Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 7:00 PM in the Town Office Public Meeting Room to hear comments on a new Victualer’s for Tyson LaVerdiere & Jason LaVerdiere d/b/a The Flux Restaurant, 10 Main Street, in Lisbon Falls, ME.  The public is invited to attend.

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SUBMITTED BY:  TOWN OF LISBON

LISBON PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Hearing Notice

Amend Chapter 70, Zoning Ordinances, Division 13.-District Uses, sec. 70-531 Table of Land Uses

Notice is hereby given that the Lisbon Town Council intends to hold public hearings on April 17, 2018 at 7:00 PM in the Town Office Public Meeting Room.  They will hear comments on the Amendments to Chapter 70, Zoning Ordinances, Division 13.- District Uses, sec. 70-531 Table of Land Uses.  A copy is on file at the Clerk’s office and online. The public is invited to attend.
The Council also intends to hold the following public hearings on April 17 to hear comments on new Victualer's Licenses for the Flux Restaurant,10 Main Street, Lisbon Falls; Walts Place, 13 Village Street, Lisbon;  EZ Marts of Maine d/b/a X-Tra Mart, 10 Frost Hill Ave, Lisbon Falls; and Richard George d/b/a Subway, 568 Lisbon Street, Lisbon Falls..
 

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SUPPORT VETERANS

LOSER

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CAN YOU SAY TERM LIMITS

FACTS

A REVIEW OF TOWN COUNCIL WORKSHOP – PART 2

 

The numbers at the end of the Departments is the time it started to be discussed.  This can be used for the people to review exactly what was said.

 

This is my take on the three and a half hour Town Council Workshop held on March 27, 2018 pertaining to the proposed 2018-2019 Municipal Budget.  It started off with:

 

ASSESSING DEPARTMENT (1:22):  There is only one employee in this department and her Medical Insurance increased from 2018 - $3,060.00 to 2019 - $16,644.00 which seems to be excessive but no one questioned it.  Also, they want to add an additional employee part-time for 20 hours at a rate of $14,560.00.

 

TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT (23:10):  This was most entertaining.  They had a discussion about whether or not the new software was working as well as advertised.  I find this odd because the time to have this discussion should have been before the town entered into any contract.  The question was which is better MUNIS or TRIO.  The town intents to maintain both software packages which make it very hard to learn two different systems let alone pay for two software packages.  This should have been ironed out before entering into a contract.  Also, there is no disaster recovery in place and why not?  The town wants to keep the Vehicle and Assessing modules of TRIO and convert everything else to MUNIS.  Also, there is no Life Cycle Management in place.

 

TOWN BUILDINGS DEPARTMENT (1:12:30):  The town will have to adjust Electricity and Heating line items at a later date.  R&M Building was reduced $35,000.00 because some items are being taken care of using the Undesignated Funding. 

 

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT (1:45:46):  The major problem here is the salary for the Public Works Director is based on a comparison of other towns with a population close to Lisbon, however, it should be based on total Revenue.  It is impossible to determine the salary without having the Revenue coming in to pay this employee.  Think of it like this:  “Is Food City the same as Shaw’s or Hannaford?  Is Family Dollar the same as Walmart as far as the Revenue the towns receive?  It is not possible to determine the salary without first knowing the Revenue you have.  The Town Manager, Diane Barnes, is looking at the Department Head salaries of other towns with much more Revenue to work with.  A simple comparison is to check out the number of businesses of Lisbon and Skowhegan.  How can towns pay the outrageous salaries when they do not have the money to pay them?  This is directly responsible for the increase in taxes EVERY year.  You have to compare apple to apples and not apples to oranges.  This outrageous salary of $75,005.00 needs to be adjusted to reflect what the town can pay based on the Revenue received.

 

 I do not understand why the Town Manager is advertising for a Public Works Director when the town still employees Elwood “Button” Beal.  Button Beal was the Public Works Director for many many years and has a very satisfactory track record.  Button Beal was before the Town Manager’s time but Public Works functioned very professionally and provided a great service to the community.  Going outside to get a new Public Works Director is totally misuse of an excellent asset already employed and a total waste of time and money.  It is a disgrace by the Town Manager who apparently does not realize that promoting from within increases the moral of the staff.

 

The town needs another mechanic and could use the money they want to increase Department Heads salaries to pay for another mechanic.  The town should establish a cap on Department Head salaries that is based on the Revenue received to operate the town.  It is critical that the Town Council get their heads out of their fourth point of contact and start cutting spending instead of raising the taxes on the people.  The Town Manager and Town Council were hired or elected to be financially responsible to the people and they are failing miserably.  The people need to elect individuals who will not be “YES men” for the Town Manager and instead do what is best for the community; raising taxes is not the right answer.

 

The line item “Motor Vehicle” was raised $15,000.00.  This is more spending for toys for the boys.  Look at how much the Asphalt Reclaimer is being used to help out with the roads.  Are you happy with our roads/streets?

 

 

Larry Fillmore

 

 

REMARKABLE

WORDS OF A GREAT PRESIDENT

THANK YOU LIBERALS

TOWN COUNCIL AGENDA - APRIL 3, 2018

 

LISBON TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

Council Meeting

Agenda and Attachments

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SUBMITTED BY:  TOWN OF LISBON

A REVIEW OF TOWN COUNCIL WORKSHOP – PART 1

 

The numbers at the end of the Departments is the time it started to be discussed.  This can be used for the people to review exactly what was said.

 

SOLID WASTE DEPARTMENT (2:56:01):    I found this discussion the most laughable one of the entire evening.  Chairman Allen Ward went into a rant about the staff at the Transfer Station NOT doing enough to educate the people on recycling to offset the 2% yearly increase in Waste Disposal cost.   Having the staff at the Transfer Station lecture the people about recycling equates to the statement by Nancy Pelosi “We cannot arm teachers; it violates the rights of the shooter.”

 

Not so long ago the Town Council established a sub-committee to investigate alternative options like pay as you go; curbside pickup and pay per bag.  The end result was THE PEOPLE like the Transfer Station just the way it is. Bases on the findings of this sub-committee the Town Council decided to keep the operations the same.

 

I cannot see the staff at the Transfer Station holding recycle classes or making it mandatory to attend a recycle class at the town office prior to being issued a Transfer Station pass.  However, it was suggested that raising the cost of the Transfer Pass to cover the increase in Waste Disposal and I believe this is a much better solution to offset the cost; providing the town does not go too crazy on the increase.  I can see the town raising the cost Transfer Station passes to cover the ridiculous increased in Department Head salaries.

 

Councilor Lunt brought up the FACT that the Transfer Station is under staffed.  I believe that Councilor Lunt has a point.  I go to the Transfer Station roughly twice a week and there have been numerous days that there was only one individual there.   As far as I am concerned, and I believe that I speak for the majority of the town is that the Transfer Station staff does an excellent job and is a credit to the community.  According to Ryan Leighton, (a very unreliable source in my opinion) there are three individuals on a daily basis and four individuals on duty on Saturday.  I have been back in Lisbon for eleven years and NOT once have I see Ryan Leighton at the Transfer Station.  Mr. Marcel Obie should be the Department Head, in my opinion, and that the staff needs to be increased.

 

Another point of discussion was that there is no one monitoring who uses the Transfer Station.   This means posting a full-time individual at the entrance checking for Transfer Station passes to ensure that ONLY authorized personnel are using OUR facilities.  Also, Chairman Ward pointing out that the lower building is NOT supervised; again, this goes back to staffing.  If the Town Council redistributed the funds currently designated for Department Heads salary increases; there would be more than enough to hire two more individuals at the Transfer Station to cover all the demands of the Town Council.  

 

I cannot understand how the wages increased but FICA, retirement medical insurance and unemployment line items went down.  An increase in wages should normally generate an increase not a decrease in these line items. 

 

WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT (3:12:48):  I have a real concern over the salary of the Waste Water Treatment Plant Director.  Again this is based on a comparison with other towns with the same or close population and not the Revenue of the other towns.  This is like comparing Food City to Shaw’s or Hannaford’s or even better Family Dollar to Walmart or K-Marts.  Salaries should be based on the Revenue the town has and the people can afford to pay.  Check out the number of businesses in Lisbon verses Skowhegan.  This salary need to be adjusted to meet the Revenue of the town and not population.

 

I do not understand why Postage has increased $500.00 this year?  But what is more puzzling is why no one on the Town Council questioned the increase.

 

Larry Fillmore

 

REVIEW OF BUDGET WORKSHOP

On Tuesday March 27 I attended the marathon town budget workshop.

I was the only member of the public that attended.

 

Prior to said meeting I printed the new budget so I could follow along.

 

I strongly suggest that each and every member of the community and taxpayer

obtain a copy of said budget and read it.

 

At the budget meeting I asked about the part time person in the Assessing

department, and the salary for the Waste Water Treatment Plant.

 

I was told that various towns in Maine, similar in population were called and that

some of those town had part time and some had full time assistants, and that was

the salary paid to heads of Waste Water Plants.

 

I always assumed that each and every town and city, not only in Maine but across

the country was different and unique.

It would seem that I am wrong.

 

It would seem, according to Town Manager Diane Barns, that that salaries of

department heads in the town of Lisbon need to compare to each and every

town of equal population in the Great State of Maine, no matter how many and

types of businesses or industry, income of residents and tax payers; if homes

and businesses compare in value.

 

As I said, each and every town and community is unique, we and not them.

 

                                "WE ARE LISBON" 

  

Note: read and pay attention to the articles Larry Fillmore has witten in the Lisbon Reporter

on the Town Budget. Be informed.

 

Note: We, the citizens of Lisbon, can vote on the school budget, but cannot vote on the town budget.

We have to rely on the common sense, or lack of, of members of our town Council.

 

SUBMITTED BY:  DOT FITZGERALD

                             CONCERNED CITIZEN

 

 

LISBON GRAND OPENINGS

New Lisbon Businesses Grand Openings & Ribbon Cuttings

Walt's Place - Family Fun Center - Saturday, March 31, 2018 - 2:00 p.m.
Flux Restaruant & Bar - Thursday, April 12, 2018 - 11:00 a.m.

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SUBMITTED BY:  TOWN OF LISBON

2ND AMENDMENT

TALK ABOUT OUT OF TOUCH

WHEN DOES COMMON SENSE COME IN???

 

I would like to know “When Common Sense is applied to the proposed budget?”  I am just am country boy from Freeport, Maine but I have handled many many budgets in my career.  The basic principle of budgeting is that you cannot spend more than you make.  You see this basic principle applied daily in every household budget in the world with the exception of Lisbon, Maine.

 

The Town Manager and the Town Council must believe that the citizens of Lisbon have very deep pockets and can come up with any amount of money.  This is the reason that our taxes go up every year.  Let’s take a look at the Department Heads salaries:

 

DEPT HEAD                          2018 Salary             2019 Proposed      Difference

Town Manager                   $95,047.00              $96,482.00              $1,435.00

Assessing Director                58,565.00                59,452.00                    887.00

Code Enforcement               73,090.00                77,777.00                 4,687.00

Finance Director                   75,394.00                77,228.00                 1,834.00

Town Clerk Director            54,217.00                56,560.00                 2,343.00

Chief of Police                       76,130.00                77,270.00                 1,140.00

Fire Chief                                69,797.00                75,005.00                 5,208.00

EMS Director                           1,523.00                   1,546.00                        23.00

Public Works Director        42,246.00                75,005.00              32,759.00

Solid Waste  Director          21,123.00                          0.00              -21,123.00

Recreation Director             61,014.00                61,922.00                     908.00

Library Director                    51,788.00                54,089.00                  2,301.00

General Assistance Dir        10,353.00                10,508.00                     155.00

Economic Director               53,878.00                57,276.00                  3,398.00

Treatment Plant Dir             21,123.00                82,717.00                61,594.00

                                                                                                TOTAL           $97,549.00

 

This is all part of the $1,900,000.00 increase in this year’s budget over last years.  This will raise the current mil rate by 4.36 mils.  I believe last year’s mil rate is 23.2 which mean that this years’ mil rate will be 27.56.  There is no telling how much your taxes will go up.

 

These salaries are supposedly compared to town with the same size populations as Lisbon.  This is not based on the Revenues of these towns so you are comparing apples to oranges.  Lisbon is basically a retirement (bedroom) community where in Skowhegan has many more businesses that generate revenue for the community.  Remember Revenues must exceed or equal Expenditures.  In Lisbon, the expenditures (money paid out) exceed our Revenue (money coming in) and so the town has to get more money from the people in taxes to offset this loss.  The proper way to correct this problem is to reduce your expenditures until it equals your Revenue.

 

The Town Manager and the Town Council had rather raise taxes than to reduce expenditures.  A prime example is the Lisbon Communication Center, which is nothing more than a message center, which passes information from the Androscoggin County Dispatch to our First Responders, at a cost to the town of $345,246.00 this year.  By eliminating the middle man by having Androscoggin County Dispatch contacting our First Responder directly, there is a cost saving to the town of approximately $200,000.00 annually.  This clearly demonstrates an unwillingness to reduce expenditures.  It is easily for the town to raise taxes on its people rather than cut spending.

 

The Town Council voted to cover the failing Lisbon Emergency Service, Inc. at an additional cost to the taxpayer of $127,885.00 this year.  I support this investment in our community but the Town Council and the Town Manager need to reduce the operating cost of this town (Spending) and so far they are NOT willing to do this.

 

Basic principle, Revenues (money coming in) must match the Expenditures (money going out) or eventually you go bankrupt.  The Town Manager and the Town Council are irresponsible when it comes to looking out for the people’s tax dollars in my eyes.

 

Call your Councilors and discuss this issue with them if you care about your taxes.

 

Larry Fillmore

 

HE MUST HAVE BEEN A DEMOCRAT