Discussion of code enforcement and the code complaint process continued between town officials and residents for the third consecutive meeting of the Bremen Select Board on Thursday, April 20.
At the opening of the meeting, Mark Stults, of Waldoboro, was appointed the town’s new code enforcement officer.
Town Clerk Melanie Pendleton said Stults will take over from Stan Waltz, who has acted as deputy code enforcement officer for the past two weeks in place of former officer Corey Fortin. Fortin was appointed in late September 2021.
Pendleton declined to provide additional information on the staff change, saying it is a confidential personnel issue.
Fortin did not return a request for comment.
Waltz has the files for all open complaints and will work on the transition with Stults, according to Pendleton.
Stults is currently a member of the Waldoboro Planning Board. Waltz is the code enforcement officer for Waldoboro and Nobleboro and has worked in the role for other area towns.
Code enforcement concerns have been raised by residents at select board meetings over the last month, focusing on access to information about the town’s response to complaints.
Resident Kim Hetherington said Thursday that she wanted the town to make a notification system part of the code enforcement officer’s job so residents did not have to go to the town office to follow up on their complaints.
“Why should you have to do that when it could easily be broadcast?” she asked.
Hetherington asked that the code enforcement officer’s job description be expanded to include emailing public weekly or biweekly reports of properties he had visited and decisions made there.
Board member Stephen Page said code enforcement decisions are often complicated, emotional, and difficult to simplify.
Complaints and follow-ups are public record and available on paper in the town office, board member John “Boe” Marsh said, but he wanted the board to seek legal advice before creating a new, separate document listing actions from the code enforcement officer.
He said he was concerned about disclosure issues from a legal standpoint.
Steven Wallace, vice chair of the Bremen Planning Board, said separately in his report that the board had discussed listing permits issued by the code enforcement officer on the town’s website, and its attorney had advised members to rethink it.
Marsh said the board would consult with the town attorney about options.
“It’s going to be tricky, but I’m just guessing, like we’re all just guessing,” he said. “We’re going to see how we can broaden that in a legal sense.”
Discussion continued with an agenda item for the town’s complaint policy, approved by voters in August 2022. Marsh read it aloud to ask for resident feedback.
The policy is not available on the town website because it is not an ordinance, Pendleton said, but it could be added.
Audience members asked at the April 6 meeting that they be provided with an emailed receipt of complaints when they submitted one to the town office.
Resident Martha Frink said adding this to the policy would let complainants know their issues were being addressed.
In other business, Pendleton reported the town is working to add another speed limit sign on Fogler Road following resident requests. Page suggested adding a sign warning drivers to slow down ahead of a curve in the road.
“We do have people going pretty darn fast,” he said.
Speed limits are determined by the state, and towns cannot modify them, Marsh said.
Pendleton also reported the town has completed browntail moth removal from three trees on Route 32 that the department of transportation ran out of funding to complete.
The Bremen Select Board will next meet at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 4 in the town office and by Zoom.
