EDDINGTON SPECIAL TOWN MEETING SEPT. 29

Last night the Eddington Board of Selectmen signed a Warrant for a Special Town Meeting to be held September 29 at 6:00pm. That date coincides with what would have been the second Selectmen's meeting in September. A Public Notice will be posted for the meeting. (Public Notices are usually posted at the Eddington Post Office, The Eddington Store, and at the Tradewinds store.) I do not believe Notices will be mailed to town residents.

It appears there is a requirement for a Special Town Meeting if more than $5,000.00 is going to be expended if the money was not approved at the Annual Town Meeting; so this Special Town Meeting may (or may not) be because of the Amendment to Article 11 which the voters required at the 2009 Annual Town Meeting, but, regardless the "reason", it is the right thing for the Board of Selectmen to do. Now it is the Civic Responsibility of the town voters to SHOW UP, LISTEN, and VOTE.

The purpose of the Special Town Meeting will be for the sole purpose of discussing and voting as to whether or not the Town should take the necessary money from the Fire Department's Reserve Fund to match the Americorp Grant for an additional firefighter position. Eddington will have to provide a match of $8,900.00 to receive the Americorp grant which is for 11 months only. The grant would begin in October 2009 and end in September 2010.

Last night I asked the Board what will happen to the position after September 2010? Will the position be eliminated? Will the town be responsible for fully funding the position (which is a "long-term commitment" as defined by Article 11)? There were a variety of answers provided. The voters at the Special Town Meeting will probably want that question answered before committing the money from the Reserve or accepting the Americorp grant.

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The Board of Selectmen have been notified by the SAD63 Interim Superintendent of the September 28 Board Meeting - at the Holden School (note the location) at 6:30pm. The Public is invited and encouraged to attend. A primary subject on the agenda will be whether or note certain parcels of land, which now belong to the school district, should be turned over to the Town of Holden. Members of the Eddington Board of Selectmen will be in attendance along with the Eddington Town Manager to represent the town's position on this matter.

At last night's Board of Selectmen meeting, the Town Manager reported he has sent the Town of Holden's proposed Release Deed and Recitals (provided in full in a previous blog posting) to the Eddington town legal counsel for review and has requested a legal opinion. There was a discussion by some Selectmen as to what is currently located on the parcels of land since the Release Deed doesn't specify that information (other than references to the ballpark). I told the Board that Holden Councilman Harvey confirmed to me (in a conversation outside the School Board meeting) the school property in question includes the ballpark, the newly paved supplementary parking lot, the Nature Walk trails, and the Veterans' Memorial. The Selectmen stated that information should have been specified in the documents provided by the Town of Holden.

It was agreed the Eddington School Board representatives should be made aware of the Board of Selectmen's position (once they have formed one) in advance of the September 28 School Board meeting.

Residents and taxpayers of Eddington may want to communicate their feelings regarding this issue to theie School Board representatives who are: Karen Clark, Pam Dorr, and Therese Anderson.

An interesting fact re: How School Board Votes are Weighted. Even though there are four (4) positions on the board from Holden, three (3) from Eddington, and one (1) from Clifton - and one of the Holden positions is the Chair, which under Robert's Rules of Order does not get to vote unless it is to break a tie vote...something which the current Chair consistently ignores..., the voting is not just a simple 1 vote per representative. Each vote is weighted based on the town's population of the representative. For example, the total population of Clifton is 749, which includes every man, woman and child as reported to me by one of Clifton's Selectpersons. Therefore, when Clifton's sole representative on the School Board votes, his vote is weighted as "749."

The Eddington Town Manager is currently verifying the current population of our town. Then, when each of our three representatives votes, her vote will be weighted as one-third of Eddington's population.

It is expected the Holden's Town Manager is currently verifying that town's population. It will be important to ensure that the three Holden representatives who are authorized to vote - at one-third of Holden's population per vote - are the only votes counted.

If the votes by hand count are tied, for example - 3 for and 3 against with 1 abstention (or absence), the weight by population is what should determine the results.

This information was provided by one of the School Board reps who stated the rules are set by the authority that governs Maine school boards.

If the property is given to the Town of Holden under these circumstances, I project any consideration for school consolidation will go right out the window.

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Tomorrow, Thursday - September 3 - there will be a public forum at the Bangor Public Library which will be conducted by the Maine Municipal Association (MMA) which is the umbrella association to which all local governing bodies belong, such as the Boards of Eddington, Clifton and Holden. The purpose of the forum (and the public is welcome) will be to discuss the impact to local government should the November referendums pass pertaining to the Maine Excise Tax law and TABOR II. (The November ballot is reported to also include the referendum issue as to whether or not to repeal the mandate to consolidate all school districts.)

I have very limited information regarding these two tax-related referendums. However, there was a comment at last night's Board of Selectmen's meeting that suggested that should the voters approve the referendum relating to the Excise Tax (which I am inclined to believe would reject some aspect of the Excise Tax - which is probably an increase since I've not seen a single genuine decrease in any tax in Maine since moving back here), it would result in a decrease from the State to Eddington in the amount of $137,000. An impromptu remark by one member of the Selectmen was that the $137,000 would have to be passed on to the property owners in Eddington in the form of an increase in property taxes.

I find it strange that no member of Maine government at any level seems capable of understanding that Maine taxpayers are voting to repeal various state-imposed taxes, whether it be the new Maine income tax law or this Excise Tax because taxpayers (both personal and business) are fed up with being taxed to death, driven out of business and off their own land. The message to government at all levels is CUT YOUR COSTS. And yet here in our own town and in our School district we don't here or see this attitude at all. We certainly don't see it in the bottom line of the proposed budgets. We are having to cut our household budgets because of your taxation. It's time local government started doing the same thing.

As to TABOR II (the Taxpayer Bill of Rights), I think we can find more information regarding this on the Internet. I'll be looking for some clarification and will be reporting what I can here. I do know that when the original TABOR referendum was introduced a few years ago, it was narrowly defeated. With the level of discontent that is rampant across the state now, I won't be surprised if TABOR II passes. Until these is a better environment for businesses and property owners, there is no reason to believe our year-round state population will grow. That is what is needed is we want to raise the funds to pay for the needed improvements in state and local infrastructure. Taxing people to the point of driving our young educated people and our retired people out of state at least long enough to avoid state income taxes is only hurting the state and our local communities.