The Wiscasset Board of Selectmen held a special, workshop-style meeting June 23 to take the first step restoring four department budgets rejected by voters June 8.
Voters rejected budgets for the Police Department, Waterfront and Harbors, Municipal Planning and Code Enforcement, and the airport. Each department currently operates on a three-month budget at last year’s funding levels. According to Acting Town Manager Sue Varney, residents will vote in early September on adjusted budget figures.
The $331,510 budget voters rejected would have allowed the town to hire a police chief, but not to maintain 24/7 coverage.
“It would probably be appropriate to take the chief off the table,” Selectman Bob Blagden said.
The Police Department originally requested $343,910, an increase of $12,400 from the rejected budget, but “The additional cost would be somewhat less,” Interim Town Manager Don Gerrish said.
The Department can’t hire the two part-time officers necessary to maintain 24/7 staffing until the town approves their new budget. In the meantime, Gerrish explained, Wiscasset will save the money the town would otherwise spend on the new officers’ salaries.
Pam Dunning expressed reservations about abandoning plans to bring in a chief. “The chief is alluded to directly in the union contract,” Dunning said. Without a chief, she said, the town makes itself vulnerable to lawsuits.
“A disgruntled employee could open litigation,” she said.
Polewarczyk disagreed. “In my opinion, we don’t have that liability,” he said.
In a June 28 phone interview, Polewarczyk elaborated on his statement. Although a Chief of Police is mentioned in the Department’s most recent union contract, that contract lapsed Dec. 31, 2008, Polewarczyk said. In order to avoid vulnerability to litigation, the town simply needs to remove language referring to a police chief in any new contract, he said.
A police chief isn’t necessary for the department to function, Polewarczyk said. “We could accomplish proper supervision by establishing proper ranks,” he said.
The $43,995 budget sent to voters included a sharp drop ($15,500 to $9500) in Harbormaster Peter Dalton’s salary and took away Dalton’s town-owned boat.
According to Dunning, the pay cut coincides with a decrease in duties. Changes in the Harbormaster job were overlooked in the past, she said. “Because you’ve been overpaying someone for four years doesn’t mean you should continue overpaying someone,” she said.
In order to avoid such confusion in the future, Gerrish told selectmen to “look at all your job descriptions… make sure your compensation meets those requirements.”
According to Gerrish, Harbormaster salaries vacillated wildly between 1999 and the present, from as low as $2200 in 2008 to as much as $16,000 in other years. Gerrish provided earnings statements from those Harbormasters to selectmen.
Dalton defended his performance. “I was hired at $15,500,” he said, and his salary has remained steady for three years. “I’ve gone above and beyond the hours. I don’t even know why I keep the hours.”
As for the boat, Dalton said, he took it out of storage and repaired it himself.
Colby took a strong stance in Dalton’s favor. “Give [his salary] back to him and give him back his boat,” she said. “I don’t see how you can pay someone a salary for three years and then just cut it. It’s not fair.”
Dunning dismissed suggestions that the cuts were rooted in a personal issue between Dalton and the selectmen. “Take the personalities out of it. It has nothing to do with personalities,” she said.
“I believe you need both those positions,” Gerrish said.
David Nichols also spoke about the value of the departments. “I think they’re both an asset to the town,” Nichols said. Before Hinderliter’s arrival, he said, the Planning Board met haphazardly and “it would take a year to get an ordinance through.”
Bob Blagden said he thinks voters rejected the $133,828 article because it’s “too much money.”
“We can go back and come back with a reduced budget,” Gerrish said.
Selectmen also discussed splitting the article to allow separate votes on each department’s budget.
“We actually bring in all but about $5000 of this,” Boudin said.
Before the election, Boudin said, the Airport held an open house, setting up video installations and other exhibits with the intent to educate voters about the airport’s function within the community. Unfortunately, Boudin said, “No one showed up.”
According to a recent letter to The Lincoln County News from Airport Manager Ervin Deck, of the Airport’s “$60,500 proposed budget… 53 percent, or $32,700 comes from revenue… most comes in the form of leases.”
In addition to this revenue, property taxes from 32 hangar owners at the Airport account for “nearly $23,000 in additional revenue from the airport,” Deck said.
In total, he said, “this revenue totals nearly… 92 percent of the airport’s budget, leaving less than $5000 from the taxpayers.”
Gerrish and selectmen discussed the possibility of adding a brief explanation of the Airport’s self-sufficiency to the warrant.
Blagden asked Boudin if the Airport could reduce mowing costs for the fields around the airport.
According to Boudin, keeping vegetation at a manageable height is a concern for the Federal Aviation Administration and is crucial to help pilots spot nearby animals.
“I’ve landed at that airport at two o’clock in the morning with six deer on it. When the wheels are four inches off the ground, you can lay on the brakes all you want. I was lucky,” Boudin said.
In other business, Gerrish and Selectmen indicated that they would not seek a second vote on a $20,000 portable generator for the town.
Selectmen also discussed vacancies on several committees. Polewarczyk suggested that the town contact everyone who received write-in votes for the budget committee in the order of the votes received. Interested residents will need to fill out an application for appointment.
Gerrish encouraged selectmen to put specific descriptions and responsibilities of each committee in writing.
