Buckfield Board of Selectmen

Oct. 2, 2018

Buckfield Municipal Center

Planning Board

What happened: After a public hearing on proposed amendments to the Planning Board rules, selectmen scheduled a special town meeting on Election Day.

What it means: No one spoke during the public hearing. Proposed changes to the document include adding the word “ordinance,” reducing the number of members from seven to five, eventually reducing terms from five to three years, and no longer requiring a monthly meeting. Town Manager Joe Roach said current members still have five-year terms, which will be phased out once their terms are up.

What’s next: Absentee ballots will be available Oct. 5. Voting will take place during the Nov. 6 general election. The Planning Board, which now has a quorum, will meet at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Municipal Center, 34 Turner St.

Survey

What happened: Roach announced he had sent out a survey to all town committee members on last month’s idea-sharing workshop.

What it means: The first idea-sharing workshop gathered ideas from selectmen and townspeople about the future of Buckfield. Roach divided the ideas into four categories: general ideas, economic development, operations, and communications. The survey asks committee members to rank these ideas in matter of importance, which will be shared at the upcoming idea-sharing workshop with selectmen and the committees.

What’s next: The workshop will be held at 6 p.m., Oct. 9, at the Municipal Center.

Roof bid

What happened: Selectmen voted 2-1 to accept the only roofing bid for work on the Municipal Center and the Old Church on the Hill.

What it means: Voting for the measure were Chairwoman Cheryl Coffman and Selectman Dona Grant, though Grant noted she was disappointed there weren’t more bids submitted. Vice Chairwoman Tina Brooks voted against the measure because there was only one bid but agreed with Grant and Coffman that the work needed to be done. Robert’s Roofing of Norway was given the work for $2,500 for temporary repairs to the Municipal Center’s rubber roof and $4,850 to paint the Old Church on the Hill’s roof and temporary repairs to the belfry.