Charter could be altered for municipal position elections

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    BROWNVILLE — Currently the language in the town charter is somewhat vague in regard to whether part-time and per diem employees can to be elected to boards or committees. Chad Perkins, a resident and corporal with the Brownville Police Department, wrote a letter to Town Manager Matthew Pineo about this situation, and he met with the board of selectmen on Oct. 9 to discuss the matter.

    Perkins, who serves on Brownville’s budget committee and represents the town on the SAD 41 school board, said he conducted some research. “Based on what I read, the wording needs to be a little more distinct and a little more defined,” he said. “We could make it a little more clear so we have no liability in case anything comes up.”
    Perkins said in other Maine communities part-time or per diem employees are able to serve on town boards or communities when there is no conflict of interest according to the town manager and/or selectmen. He gave an example of a recreation department summer baseball coach, who would be considered a town employee but in actuality would have little to no conflict of interest if serving in another capacity. Perkins said Brownville has had trouble filling some positions — he said he was asked to fill a vacancy on the school board — and he would not want to see someone willing to serve be unable to do so because of part-time or per diem employment but having no conflict of interest.
    Any change to the town charter would need to be approved by residents via a town meeting vote, Pineo said. He said any proposals to the document would be first looked at by the charter commission, and town officials could “have the entire charter reviewed while they have been appointed.”
    The selectmen are scheduled to take up the proposal at their November meeting after reading through the charter and other related documents.
    In other business, Pineo told the selectmen that the fireboxes for the furnaces in each of the fire stations have cracks and are leaking carbon monoxide into the buildings. The furnaces are about three decades old, being installed during the original construction.
    “Right now we have a liability and safety issue in each building that requires action,” Pineo said. He said the two units can be replaced for a cost of a little more than $5,000, with the funds possibly of coming out a town-owned property account and/or fire reserve account with revenues from the town woodlots a possibility to refund the costs in the future.
    Pineo said firefighters do not sleep in either station but the leaks could still pose problems, such as for meetings held during the colder months when the buildings are closed up. The town manager said a decision on the fire station furnaces does not require a motion from the selectmen, but he said he will always keep them apprised of such financial matters.
    Earlier in the year a $10,000 repair was needed for a plow truck engine to keep the vehicle up and running. Pineo said he had tried a few options to fund the engine work, but nothing covered the full cost other than taking the money out of public works reserve. The account has about $38,000, which Pineo said is for fixing or replacing department vehicles.
    The selectmen approved using $10,000 from reserve to cover the repair costs. Pineo said if the public works budget has money left over at the end of the year these funds could go into the reserve account.