The Damariscotta Board of Selectmen, at its Nov. 2 meeting, voted 4-0 to ratify a three-year contract with soon-to-be Town Manager Matt Lutkus.
The term of the contract runs from Jan. 1, 2012 to Dec. 31, 2014. A one-year extension will automatically take effect unless Lutkus or the town moves to alter or terminate the contract.
Lutkus will receive a minimum of $80,000 per year, subject to annual review – an amount equivalent to former Town Manager Greg Zinser’s salary upon leaving the town.
The contract stipulates that Lutkus, upon termination, will not receive compensation for unused sick leave. The issue raised concerns when Damariscotta cut the departing Zinser a $35,000 check for reportedly “sick leave and vacation time.”
The town also agreed to reimburse Lutkus up to $2700 to terminate the lease on his Colorado apartment.
Lutkus is currently the deputy city manager of Westminster, Col.
PACE meeting
A special town meeting to vote on a proposed Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) ordinance, originally scheduled for Wed., Nov. 9, has been pushed back one week to Wed., Nov. 16, at 6:30 p.m. A selectmen’s workshop scheduled for Nov. 9 has been cancelled.
The ordinance would allow residents to apply for state financing for energy efficiency-related home improvement projects.
DPAC
Damariscotta Planning and Advisory Committee (DPAC) Chairwoman Robin Mayer, Vice Chairman George Parker and DPAC members met with the selectmen to discuss the future of DPAC.
Mayer presented the selectmen with a memo outlining the committee’s suggestions for 2011-2012 tasks.
The proposed tasks include assisting with the ongoing update of Damariscotta’s comprehensive plan, assisting with ordinance review and in the development of a capital improvement plan and conducting a community survey.
The memo also recommends changes in the way DPAC recruits members, advocating for the adoption of a more formal method.
The committee lacks a clear mission at present, a problem Parker outlined in an email to the selectmen.
“[N]ot many people want to commit to regular meetings with no clear purpose for an indeterminate length of time,” Parker wrote.
Parker proposed a somewhat more informal recruitment process: “organizing a large group of people that would make themselves available for tasks in areas of their interest and expertise.”
A smaller team would continue to meet regularly to provide the larger corps with direction.
In other business, David Atwater, the chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said the traffic lights at the Biscay and Bristol Road intersections with Main Street are “operating strangely again.”
A Dept. of Transportation crew was at work at the Bristol Road intersection Nov. 7.