Regular Meeting (08-04-2014)
Selectmen Present: Suzan Rudnicki, John Luce, Joseph Pelletier, Douglas Small and Earlyn Bowers
Town Manager: Tom Richmond
Recording Secretary: Coreen Sylvester
Guests Present: Linda Ricker, Mary Holland, Lilly Holland, Karl Rudnicki, Fire Chief Walter Hall, Leroy Hall, Keith Rogers, Katie Tondreau, Debbie Luce, Allison Simpson, Rhonda Crowley, Irving Gray, Adam Crowley, William Crowley, Ralph Shaw, Steven Cyr, Jason Urquhart, Robbin Lanpher, Willard Lane, Timothy Hall, Kristen Hall and Ryan Simpson
7:30 PM: Suzan Rudnicki called the meeting to order.
MINUTES: John Luce made a motion to accept the minutes of July 28, 2014 as written. Douglas Small seconded. Five voted in favor.
NEW BUSINESS:
Ambulance and Fire Chief Concerns: Town Manager Tom Richmond explained that last week there was discussion about what to do about the Fire Chief position. Members of the fire and rescue service stated they were also here because they had heard the Town was considering doing away with the ambulance service for Carmel, and all of them spoke in favor of keeping the ambulance service. Earlyn Bowers stated there was only a general discussion at last week’s meeting about different ambulance service options, one of which was the possibility of an outside service housing an ambulance here, as the Town of Corinth does. It was decided at the time that Carmel would not have enough business for that to work.
After discussion about the fire chief position, Suzan Rudnicki made a motion to have a special town meeting to see if the Town will vote to hire a full-time Fire Chief/EMT from January 1, 2015 until Town Meeting in 2016. Earlyn Bowers seconded.
Selectmen decided to continue tonight’s meeting to tomorrow night to have a joint meeting with the firemen to discuss the matter.
General Assistance Hearing (adopt new ordinance): John Luce made a motion to set a hearing date to adopt the General Assistance Ordinance for August 11, 2014. Earlyn Bowers seconded. Five voted in favor.
Michael Azevedo Grievance Hearing: Joseph Pelletier made a motion to set August 11, 2014 as a hearing date for Michael Azevedo, and let him know when to be here. Doug Small seconded. Five voted in favor.
WARRANT: John Luce made a motion to accept the accounts payable warrant of July 30, 2014 in the amount of $8,945.42. Earlyn Bowers seconded. Five voted in favor.
WARRANT: John Luce made a motion to accept the payroll warrant of August 4, 2014 in the amount of $4,265.10. Earlyn Bowers seconded. Five voted in favor.
WARRANT: John Luce made a motion to accept the Full-time fireman’s payroll warrant of August 4, 2014 in the amount of $826.97. Earlyn Bowers seconded. Five voted in favor.
WARRANT: John Luce made a motion to accept the accounts payable warrant of August 4, 2014 in the amount of $40,032.44. Earlyn Bowers seconded. Five voted in favor.
ADJOURNMENT: Sue Rudnicki made a motion to adjourn until 7:30 pm tomorrow. Earlyn Bowers seconded. Five voted in favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:59 pm.
Reconvened in joint meeting with Fire Department, 7:30 pm August 5, 2014.
The Board of Selectmen and the Carmel Firemen held a joint meeting in the fire station concerning the future of the Fire Chief and EMT Position.
The Town Manager Tom Richmond started the meeting with an opening statement where he expressed his views that he thought the two positions could be combined with a suggested salary of $50,000 and $10,000 of benefits. This would be a salary position and not an hourly position as it had been with the grant. The funds would come from the following:
Ambulance Income $ 40,000.00
Current Fire Chief Pay $ 5,000.00
From Taxation $ 15,000.00
Total of $ 60,000.00
After discussion it was obvious that there were concerns with combining the positions and other alternatives were discussed. However, it was the general consensus that the full-time EMT position was needed.
Suzan Rudnicki made a motion to rescind her motion from Monday night to have a special town meeting to see if the Town will vote to hire a full-time Fire Chief/EMT from January 1, 2015 until Town Meeting in 2016. Earlyn Bowers seconded. Five voted in favor.
Joe Pelletier suggested that, rather than rush into a town meeting, by mutual consent of the fire department and the Board of selectmen they could approve using current ambulance income to fund the position.
The Fire Department took a vote and agreed to fund the position for the balance of this year through Town Meeting in 2015.
Suzan Rudnicki made a motion by mutual consent of the Fire Department and the Board of Selectmen to fund the EMT Position through the end of 2014. John Luce seconded. Five voted in favor.
Suzan Rudnicki made a motion by mutual consent of the Fire Department and the Board of Selectmen to fund the EMT Position from January 1, 2015 until Town Meeting 2015 from the ambulance income account. John Luce seconded. Five voted in favor.
Further discussion was held on needed training for active members that would like to become EMT’s and to fund that training out of the Ambulance Income Account. The Town Manager suggested approving $5,000 if needed for training.
The Fire Department took a vote and agreed to approve using up to $5,000 for the training of EMTs.
Suzan Rudnicki made a motion by mutual consent of the Fire Department and the Board of Selectmen to approve up to $5,000 to be used from the ambulance income account for training of EMTs. Earlyn Bowers seconded. Five voted in favor.
ADJOURNMENT: Sue Rudnicki made a motion to adjourn. Earlyn Bowers seconded. Five voted in favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:22 pm.