Special Council Meeting Agenda‏ June 9th, 2015

AGENDA SPECIAL 

TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015

 TOWN OFFICE 7:00 P.M.

1.   CALL TO ORDER & PLEDGE TO FLAG 

2.   ROLL CALL 

___Councilor Bickford	___ Councilor Brunelle	___ Councilor Crafts	___ Councilor Garrison
___ Councilor Lunt	___Councilor Metivier	___ Councilor Pesce

      Town Clerk reading of meeting rules 

3.  GOOD NEWS & RECOGNITION 

      

    4.   PUBLIC HEARINGS − NONE 

5.  AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION & RESPONSE FOR AGENDA ITEMS 

6.   CONSENT AGENDA − NONE 

7.   COUNCIL ORDERS, RESOLUTIONS, & ORDINANCES 

− NONE 

8.   OTHER BUSINESS − NONE 

9. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION & RESPONSE NEW ITEMS 

10. APPOINTMENTS − NONE 

11. COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS 

    12. EXECUTIVE SESSION 

2015-76   ORDER − 1 MRSA § 405 (6)(A)  Personnel Matters - Town Manager Evaluation 

    13. ADJOURNMENT

Can You Get A Great Lobster Roll In Lisbon?

We would like to hear from our readers what they think.  Some are still waiting for the crustaceans to be pulled from the Androscoggin River, we wish them lots of patience.  Yeah Lisbon has Moxie but people coming to Maine to visit want a darn good lobster roll.  After all the state did put dead Lobsters on our license plates as an incentive to "tweak" the interest of those doing their vacation planning by looking at license plates.  Well, we present you with the following parody that does glorify our favorite sandwich.
Enjoy!

 

I Love Lobster Rolls [Parody]

Everyone in New England knows that lobster rolls are the best food you can make with a crustacean. This parody of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" perfectly explains the love for these lobster-filled delights.

http://wdea.am/hilarious-i-love-lobster-rolls-parody-glorifies-our-favorite-sandwich/

Whoever was the first person to think of shoving lobster into a buttery roll is an absolute genius.
Newick’s Lobster House in Dover, NH knows how much we all love lobster rolls and let us come to their restaurant and share the news on this New England staple. Lobster rolls are eaten, the crustaceans got a lot of loving and plenty of shenanigans are had.
I love lobster rolls. You love lobster rolls. It stands to reason that we are all in love with this crustacean-filled sandwich. Watch this music video inspired by the popular rock anthem “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” to see why.
New Hampshire’s own viral star, The Hillbilly Weatherman, even made a cameo in the video to show his support for everything lobster.


Read More: Hilarious 'I Love Lobster Rolls' Parody Glorifies Our Favorite Sandwich | http://wdea.am/hilarious-i-love-lobster-rolls-parody-glorifies-our-favorite-sandwich/?trackback=tsmclip

Lawmakers Sidestep Obama, Make Huge Move in Case of Ex Marine Jailed in Iran

By clyde - Jun 6, 2015

 

Though President Barack Obama is the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces, he hasn’t done anything whatsoever to bring home a jailed U.S. Marine who has been held captive in an Iranian prison cell for over three years.

To begin the process of bringing home Amir Hekmati, a former Marine Corps sergeant, a large group of lawmakers has banded together to sidestep Obama’s dereliction of duty in an attempt to convince Iran to free him.


TO READ MORE: http://gopthedailydose.com/2015/06/06/lawmakers-sidestep-obama-make-huge-move-in-case-of-ex-marine-jailed-in-iran/

‘Black Lives Matters’ Plan Rally to Support Arrested Terrorist Who Planned to Behead Pam Geller and Police

By clyde - Jun 5, 2015              

So-called “Black Lives Matters” protesters have announced a Friday rally to be held in Ferguson, Missouri, in support of Islamist and would-be murderer Usaamah Rahim–the terrorist who wanted to kill cops and behead anti-Sharia activist Pam Geller.

So, now “Black Lives Matters” haters are supporting admitted Islamist terrorists.

.

 

“#BlackLivesMatter Protest police Murder and Profiling of our Black brothers. We must stand strong and resist tyrant pigs and feds who killed Usaama Rahim. Invite your Family and Friends and lets take our streets back,” the page says.


TO READ MORE: http://gopthedailydose.com/2015/06/05/black-lives-matters-plan-rally-to-support-arrested-terrorist-who-planned-to-behead-pam-geller-and-police/

THE PEOPLES' PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS LOST FOREVER!

The Town of Lisbon began to lose our freedom of speech began with former Councilors Lori Pomelow and Michael Bowie.  When these two changed the Council Working Rules prohibiting the people from speaking on agenda items after the sponsor explains the reason for the change.  Asking the people to address agenda items before understanding why they are changing something; is totally ridiculous.  This was the beginning of the end.

The Council placed a non-binding referendum question on a ballot.  The understanding was the Council would comply with the wishes of the people. The people voted over 2,000 to over 500 in favor of voting on the Municipal budget.  To this date, the people cannot vote on the Municipal budget.

In accordance with the law, the Town Council provides Public Hearings on various items to include the School and Municipal budgets.  The residents show up and voice their opinions and the Town Council totally ignores them and does whatever they want.   

In the past three years, the people have had issues with these budgets and every time they are ignored.  The law requires the Council to hold Public Hearings for the purpose of allowing the people to speak but nowhere in the law does it say the Council has to comply with the wishes of the people.

During Audience Participation of every Town Council meeting, residents express their opinions on agenda and non-agenda items.  But once again, they are totally ignored by the Council.

The Town Council says that the Charter is there for the people to utilize when they have an issue such as the Council changing the bottom line of the School Department budget.  However, as demonstrated recently no matter what the peoples’ wishes are, the Council will find a way to harass or punish the people for challenging the Council’s authority.  718 signatures were gathered in less than 48 hours is a clear indication of the desires of the people and yet this action was thrown out on a play on words. 

It is very apparent that the voice of the people is a waste of time because the Town Council does what it wants at any cost.  We are at the mercy of the Town Council and the only relief is to vote them out in November and hope and pray to get a new set of Councilors that will listen to the people.

Larry Fillmore

MORATORIUM ORDINANCE PROHIBITING MARIJUANA DISPENSARY FACILITIES

At the last Town Council meeting, Agenda Item 2015-141 and 2015-142 dealt with prohibiting marijuana dispensary facilities in the town of Lisbon.  This was extremely strange because agenda item 2015-141 was for a Second Reading and then 2015-142 was to schedule a workshop to discuss this ordinance after it was approved.  It would make more sense to have the workshop to discuss this prior to approving it as an ordinance.

During the Audience Participation, the owners of Drapeau’s  Costumes Shop spoke on the differences between a marijuana dispensary and a marijuana care-givers unit.  It was extremely interesting.  The major difference is that under a dispensary, customers come to the dispensary and purchase marijuana over the counter.  In a care-givers system, the marijuana is delivered to the customers and no one comes into the unit.  I am in favor of a care-giver unit but cannot support a dispensary.

The building used to be a bank and has two vaults, bars on the windows and an alarm system already in place.  The owners of Drapeau’s Costume Shop (Kris and Jim Mc Cormick) explained the store has been on the real estate market for over two years without an offer and now they have been talking to an investor to convert the building to a care-giver unit.  There would have to be some renovations to the building which will increase the property value.

 Councilor Metivier spoke out against having a care-giver unit in town because he does not want any marijuana in Lisbon.    In the real world it is everywhere.  However, Chief Brooks admitted there is a drug problem in town.  A care-giver unit is strictly controlled and perfectly legal; the taxpayers would receive revenue from the increase to property value.  It would also increase the water consumption.  As long as there is marijuana already in town, why not take advantage of it?

Having a legal care-giver unit in town could cut into some of the drug dealers’ profit.  It possibly could encourage residents to get a legal script from a doctor and make them legal instead of sneaking around to get what they need.  A care-giver unit could very easily be an asset to the town.

The Town Council should give serious consideration to the idea of a care-giver unit in town.

 Larry Fillmore

Editor's note: There is a very good article in today's Bangor Daily News that explains how a lifelong barber has begun to "clip" marijuana plants instead of heads of hair.  One can only bet that his buds will be the best groomed one's around.  But it goes deeper than that. Read the article here.

To Pave or Not To Pave, A Hot Topic That Needs Smoothing Over

PAVING REQUIREMENTS

E. Ryan Leighton Town Engineer

 

At the last Town Council meeting on June 2, 2015, Mr. Ryan Leighton requested the Council approve to go out for bids on paving the 18 roads/streets on the list below:

(click on the above to enlarge or print)

As we all know the selection criteria for which roads/streets should be paved is determined by the following: 

1. The condition of the current road/street. The worst should always be repaired first.

2. The number of residents affected by this paving.

I suggested to the Council the road/street from Capital Avenue to the Transfer Station and in front of the Public Works garage be the first one paved. This road/street is in the worst condition of any road/street in town and is traveled by more residents than any other road/street in Lisbon. 


The majority of citizens utilize the Transfer Station, when it is open. The School Department uses this road/street for buses to get to the schools. All town vehicles use this road/street to refuel. Based on this, it is easy to determine which road/street affects the most residents. 

However, when Mr. Ryan Leighton was questioned why it was not on the list his response was “it was not budgeted”. Well this is about the dumbest answer possible but what can you expect. Conditions change and it is necessary to adjust accordingly. The Council accepted Mr. Leighton’s response. The Council had the power to order Mr. Leighton to make the necessary adjustments in order to pave this area but did not. I cannot comprehend any scenario why the Council would not order the road/street to be given the highest priority in order to save wear and tear on every ones vehicle. 


You may be wondering why I refer to this area as road/street instead of identifying it by name. The reason is simple; it has no name. Can you imagine a heavily traveled road/street not having a name? This is probably another reason why it does not make the paving list because they do not know how to identify it.


One of the Councilors asked why Public Works does not use the Asphalt Reclaimer to repave this area and according to Mr. Leighton they tried and it did not work. I know that on October 21, 2014 the Council approved the purchase of the Asphalt Reclaimer which cost the taxpayers approximately $31,490.00. This is a considerable amount of tax dollars wasted if this Asphalt Reclaimer does not work. 


How much more of Ryan Leighton’s lack of credentials do the taxpayers have to put up with before the town returns to Mr. Buttons Beal as the Public Works Director? The town never suffered any of these setbacks when Buttons was in charge. Also, the Public Works Department has lost three employees in the last few months. Are we going to have sufficient employees to support winter snow removal? 


I believe that the first priority for paving should be the area in front of the Public Works garage to the entrance of the Transfer Station. If you agree, contact the Town Manager and your Councilors. 

 Larry Fillmore

Rudy Giuliani: I Would Have Already Brought Hillary Before A Grand Jury Over ‘Clinton Cash’

By clyde - Jun 5, 2015

On the heels of the blockbuster book “Clinton Cash,” former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani says that there is already plenty enough evidence to charge Hillary with quid pro quo corruption and if he were in charge she’d already be facing a grand jury.

In an interview on CNN, Rudy said Hillary should have been indicted already.

TO READ MORE: http://gopthedailydose.com/2015/06/05/rudy-giuliani-i-would-have-already-brought-hillary-before-a-grand-jury-over-clinton-cash/

The Voice of the People, Stifled Again!

At the Town Council meeting of May 19, 2015, the School Department budget was presented to the people and Town Council.  This budget contained no increase of local funds.  However, the Town Council did not accept this budget and made additional cuts to this budget by approximately $399,000.00 plus.   
During the Audience Participation portion of the meeting numerous citizens voiced their concerns about the additional cuts.  No matter what the residents said, the Town Council refused to listen and approve the School Department budget with the numbers the Council wanted to go on the ballot for June 9, 2015.  As the RSU, the Council has a perfect right to do so.

I have tried to reconstruct a timeline for what took place during this entire process.  I was not involved so I am relying on individuals who were actually there.

 PETITION TIMELINE

WED (05.26.15)  Turned in Affidavit for petition because the Affidavit did not have Under Oath in it; it was rejected.   Also, there was no address where to send petition.  This was then corrected and resubmitted at o/a 05:50 PM.  According to Town Clerk, this paperwork had to be reviewed by the Town Attorney.

THUR  Returned to pick-up blanks and was told awaiting legal review.  This was 08:30 AM.  Talked to Town Manager and asked why a legal review prior to receiving signature.  Returned at 01:00 PM and told the legal review was not back.  Called the Maine AG and was told to call DA.  Called DA and was told to make a compliant with Lisbon PD which we did; however, never received a copy of the compliant.  

FRI      Town Office Closed.  Received a message through Facebook from the Town Clerk saying they would receive blanks between 08:00 – 09:00 AM Sunday.

SAT     LJAL held opening day which was a perfect time to gather signatures but did not have the necessary blanks.

SUN    The Town Clerk issued signature blanks at approximately 09:00 AM and provided emails from Town Attorney.  Starting gathering signatures (451)!

MON  Gather signatures totaling 718.

TUE     Turned in signatures at 10:20 AM.  24 petitions were filed.  The Town Clerk acknowledged 24 petitions with 718 signatures.

WED (06.03.15)   Petition was denied by Town Clerk.

If you review this timeline you will see several inconsistencies by the town.  The first one is asking for a legal review prior to issuing the blank forms.  The second legal review came after the citizens had gathered the signatures.  If it was not legal why waste the peoples’ time?  This is by design!

Second, knowing that LJAL had there open day ceremony on Saturday; why wait until Sunday to issue the blanks?  Again, this was by design.  The Town never figured that this group of citizens could gather the required number of signatures in a timely manner to meet the deadline. 

These were delaying actions to keep the people from gathering the required signatures.  Also, it was as much as harassment or punishment for challenging the Town Council.  If the Town Attorney, Town Manager and Town Clerk had prior knowledge that the petition was not legally sufficient; why put the people through this drill for nothing?  This is not the way to treat citizens of this community.

As you can see on Wednesday this group of citizens were notified that the petition was denied for two reasons.  The first reason was that the School budget is not legally adopted until it is voted on by the people.  This means that the Town Council, which is a legislative entity of the town, has no legal standing on the School budget.  Also, the Town Council is acting as the RSU as defined by the state and as such has no legal standings at all.   

How can the School budget amended by the Town Council be placed on the ballot if it is not legally adopted by the Legislative Body of the Town?

Third and more important, according to the denial letter below it stated and I quote, “A special town meeting to reconsider a school budget approved by the Council and the voters in a secret ballot validation referendum would not be consistent with the statutory and Charter requirements for adoption of school budgets.” 

Denial Certificate (click on to enlarge)

  

 Apparently, under no circumstances can you petition for a special town meeting on school budgets.  But according to our Charter, paragraph Sec. 8-11(d), it states and I quote “ Special Town Meeting.  The qualified voters of the Town shall have the power to reconsider any budget appropriation at a special Town meeting called by petition.  The petition must cite the specific appropriation(s) to be included in the warrant for the special Town meeting.”  I hate to point out to members of the Town Council, Town Manager and the Town Attorney, who apparently cannot read, that the Charters states “ANY BUDGET APPROPRIATIONS”.  Our Charter does not state that Special Town Meetings applies only to Municipal budget appropriations.

Now let’s apply some common sense to the situation.  What would be the purpose of a Special Town Meeting after the people had voted on the budgeted appropriations?  The people will have already voiced their opinion.  This provision in the Charter is intended to have the people correct or make appropriate changes to the budget prior to it being voted on. 

This process is either definitely broken or the Town took inappropriate action to delay processing of this petition in order to keep the people from speaking or make changes to the Council approved School budget at a special town meeting.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE ACTIONS OF THE TOWN, CONTACT THE TOWN MANAGER AND THE TOWN COUNCIL AND LET YOUR CONCERNS BE KNOWN!!!!!!!!

Larry Fillmore

NaturalNews: UK media begins covering news on vaccine-injured children

The Berlin Wall of vaccine injury denialism is starting to crumble. The mainstream media in the UK is now covering the issue of vaccine-damaged children with a sense of REAL journalism.

Meanwhile, the U.S. mainstream media ridiculously pretends vaccines harm no one!

READ STORY

At the same time, the U.S. is hiding new data that shows the Vaccine Court has paid twice the number of awards in the last 16 months as the previous 8 years combined: http://www.naturalnews.com/049960_vaccine_injuries_governm...

Research scientist claims to have documents proving Monsanto and the EPA knew glyphosate causes cancer back in the 1970s: http://www.naturalnews.com/049958_EPA_Monsanto_glyphosa...

We've known for years that high doses of IV vitamin C kill viruses. Now scientists are proving it also kills cancer, leaving healthy cells unharmed: http://www.naturalnews.com/049957_vitamin_c_cancer_natural...

 Morgan Freeman has created a bee oasis on his 124-acre ranch, planting flowers, lavender and clover to help sustain the population:
http://www.naturalnews.com/049952_Morgan_Freeman_bee...

Safe and effective? Look at this list of adverse reactions listed by Merck, the MMR vaccine manufacturer, and see how "safe" it really is: http://www.naturalnews.com/049954_MMR_vaccine_adverse...

  Learn how to use coffee enemas to detoxify and promote healing:
http://www.naturalnews.com/049950_coffee_enema_detoxific...

Thursday on The Robert Scott Bell Show 7-9PM EDT: RSB and Jonathan Emord talk with Campaign for Liberty’s Norm Singleton about the USA Freedom Act and the 95% failure rate by the TSA at finding things that are actually dangerous.

Call with your questions at 1-866-939-2355.

Listen in at www.NaturalNewsRadio.com »

GreatFallsTV: Lisbon Town Council Meeting June 2, 2015

Part One
 

Part Two

Dastardly Actions At Lisbon's Town Office Are Heading To Another Day In Court

Will Lisbon Taxpayers Be Forced To pay both sides of This Law Suit?

On May 30th the following people,

Kasie Kolbe -- Dean Willey--- Marcey Crosskill--- Nicole Sautter

Norman Albert ---Angela Shambarger--- James Harriman ---Michelle Houston and Lorrie Potvin

 formed a "Petitioners Committee" and started to collect petition signatures to hold a "Special Town Meeting" in an attempt to override the Town Council's reduction in the proposed school budget . The Committee collected  and submitted over 700 signatures to the Town Clerk.

(Click on the above to enlarge)

On June 3rd the petition was certified as being "insufficient" (rejected) for the following reasons:

*** Because it was not filed within the 15 days period following the legal adoption of the  budget. 

***And because a Special Town Meeting to reconsider a school budget approved by the Council and voters would not be consistent with the Statutory and Charter requirements for adoption of school budgets. 

It has been rumored that the Committee's  next step is to sue the Town using School Department money to pay for the legal representation.  I hope this isn't true.  If School Department money is used to sue the Town  we will have a situation in which the Residents of Lisbon will be paying money to sue themselves. 

I feel the above named committee has every right in the world to sue the town  if they are paying the bill. But Lisbon Residents shouldn't be required to pay for both sides of  the lawsuit.

Respectfully

Joe Hill
lisbonmaine.net

DISCLAIMER

The Lisbon Reporter posts informational articles submitted to the Editor. These are the opinions of citizens. The purpose of the Lisbon Reporter is to keep the citizens of Lisbon informed as to what is happening in Lisbon, Maine.